The Great Core's Paradox

Mana flowed through me in what felt like a never-ending torrent, burning its way through my flesh. And yet, each flicker of the thought-light brought me a small measure of relief, allowing me ever-so-slightly greater control over what had once been an unmanageable tide. Despite that, my scale-flesh was consumed by the fire-pain that it created, and I almost felt as if my mana core itself would crack under the strain.

It didn’t, but that didn’t stop my fears.

Even worse, I could still hear the blinded bad-thing raging just out of reach; I could feel the vibrations upon my scale-flesh as the ground was split by mighty limbs, thrown about aimlessly.

In some ways, we were the same - both blinded, left to rely on our other senses to understand the world. However, our blindness was different. While the bad-thing had been blinded permanently, my vision was only temporarily gone - lost to the river of mana that consumed me, yet able to return soon enough.

And so I ignored the danger of the rampaging bad-thing; I knew that, if I were to die, I would just try again. I could always try again.

The might of the Great Core guaranteed it, and my most recent deaths had only reinforced my faith.

I had fallen, and I had failed.

I had tried again, and - eventually - I would succeed.

The Great Core willed it, and I would answer.

Pushing through the agony, I blindly reached for my tail, opening my mouth and clamping down upon it. My scale-flesh began to knit back together, the wounds that I had taken during the battle beginning to itch as they repaired themselves.

A roar sounded out somewhere nearby, an agonized shriek that announced the Coreless’ continued efforts. A clang of claws on ore-flesh came next, the cracking of stone, the cutting of flesh. With the distraction that they provided, I had all the time that I needed to recover.

My vision returned, and I released my tail.

Before me, Needle and not-Needle still battled the blinded bad-thing. A staggering number of needle-fangs pierced its flesh, having found their way past the bits of stone that covered and protected it. Without an eye with which to see, there was nothing that it could do to stop them.

Another needle-fang cut through the air, whistling as it buried itself in the backside of the bad-thing’s knee, forcing it to stumble just as not-Needle sliced into its other leg with brutal efficiency. The flesh parted, and it stumbled a second time - the stone echoed with a thunderous protest as the injured bad-thing crashed to the floor.

The Coreless fell upon it with a savagery worthy of the most dangerous of the bad-things, gleefully removing its flesh and digging fangs of ore-flesh into its exposed back.

They hadn’t been happy to see how many ways they might have - and did, really - die.

The fallen bad-thing suffered for it.

Further back, Will and the Unrepentant One held off the second bad-thing. They were holding, but little more than that. Yet, despite that, the bad-thing was struggling; Will was in his element, defending against a single attacker. I slithered closer, starting to cut a path towards the enemy before it was too late.

A heavy-muscled arm came down, smashing into a wall of shining ore-flesh that raised itself just in time, nearly smashing the defending Coreless into the ground. He fell to one knee, bracing against the ground, his limbs shaking as the bad-thing bore down on him.

Despite that, he wasn’t alone.

The Unrepentant One rushed forward with a deafening roar, swinging his giant claw of ore-flesh at the bad-thing’s side. It bit deeply, the ore-flesh sinking far enough into the creature’s flesh that it disappeared entirely.

It roared and pulled back sharply, allowing Will to find his feet again. The claw of ore-flesh came with it, stuck so deep into the bad-thing’s side that the Coreless was unable to remove it. The two Coreless made noises at one another, and Will tossed his own weapon to the other male.

The bad-thing struck again - even harder this time somehow, the blow likely fueled by unimaginable pain and rage. Will turned with the strike, using both arms to send the attack skittering off of the wall of ore-flesh while the other Coreless punished the monster’s eagerness - smashing into its overextended arm with an audible crack.

Somewhere behind me, a bad-thing cried out its last.

Experience Gained! Reduced Due To Assistance Received.

Level Up x 4!

4 Trait Points Gained.

The thought-light flickered as the female Coreless finished off the blinded enemy. I wasn’t surprised; wounded and grounded as it was, I had known that it was doomed.

The remaining bad-thing turned in response - and an orange glow began to build again. Will rushed forward, trying to place himself between the incoming blast and the rest of the Coreless.

It didn’t work.

He moved too quickly; the bad-thing was huge, and blocking its attacks required the Coreless to brace carefully against the ground or deflect blows at an angle to bleed off some of the power.

Overbalanced as he was, the bad-thing batted him aside, sending him tumbling through the air - leaving nothing between itself and the two female Coreless that stared back.

Nothing except for me of course, frozen in the middle of the bad-thing and its targets.

As much as the Coreless had proven useful, in that moment I only wished that it didn’t notice me.

The glow grew further, and the flame-gaze bad-thing revealed the reason for its name once more.

The inferno licked at my scale-flesh, forcing me to put everything I had into [Illusion Spark] as it hissed and shriveled. Only the pink-red fluid that coated my scales kept the heat far enough back that I lived. Spots began to fill my vision as the flames became too much, drying out my eyes and ruining my sight.

And that was when the flames weren’t even meant for me.

I pushed myself forward, each slither only increasing the heat that pressed against my scale-flesh - yet also bringing me closer to my target.

Finally, I reached it.

My fangs sunk into the bad-thing’s foot, barely piercing its flesh.

It didn’t matter - with the mana that I had stolen from its partner, that was more than enough.

A mixture of slow-venom and death-venom flowed through the hollows of my fangs, finding release in the flesh below me. I let them rush through in twin floods, heedless of the way that my venom sacs began to dry out.

For an enemy as strong as a flame-gaze bad-thing, even that might not be enough.

Lesser Core Skill: [Mana Venom VI] Increased.

[Mana Venom VII] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Mana Venom VII] Increased.

[Mana Venom VIII] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Mana Venom VIII] Increased.

[Mana Venom IX] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Mana Venom IX] Increased.

[Mana Venom X] Acquired.

Though [Mana Venom] increasing didn’t do anything to help immediately, I welcomed the thought-light gladly. I could only imagine how much more potent my mana venom would be the next time that I created it; even now, I was already starting to notice its effects begin to set in.

Or at least, my target had begun to notice it. It began to turn towards me and look down, flames still bursting from its single eye. As the heat approached, I desperately wound myself around its leg, finding refuge from the attack by hiding behind the creature’s own heat-resistant flesh.

It was slow. Whether that was from the wounds that the Coreless had inflicted, my own venom, or some combination of the two, the fact remained.

It was slow - and I was already safe from its deadly gaze. As the flames began to die, I peered around its leg, looking towards the female Coreless that had been its first target - already suspecting what I might find. The air between us shimmered, and the black spots that still filled my vision made things even more difficult.

But I saw them.

They pulled themselves out from underneath the first bad-thing’s corpse, having used it as a shield just as I had the second’s - a little singed, a little burnt, but alive.

Angry.