The ashlands stretched wide, endless haze and molten stone. Once, it had pressed down like a cage, but no longer. Hunger remained, yes, but it was no leash. Vessel Chambers drank deep, Compress folded power tighter, Essence Feast devoured smooth. The cycle was whole now. For the first time, Zeke moved without restraint. Unbound.
He struck forward.
Ash billowed beneath his advance. Filaments lashed like nets, Morphic Arms split into whips and spears, sharper each time. Every flicker of essence was prey. Burrowers erupted and died before their shrieks reached air. Winged things dove from haze, only to be shredded mid-flight. Sparks poured into Vessel Chambers, stable, waiting. Compress pressed them denser, every limb a hammer. Logos steadied the lattice, calm and precise. It was rhythm. It was system. It was massacre.
The tremors of larger predators stirred. A molten-glass serpent hissed from below, scales glowing bright. Zeke did not wait. He compressed inward, struck head-on. Fire roared, Darkness bound, Light cut seams. His arms crushed through its armor, chest split wide. He devoured molten essence whole.
[Level Up: 18]
[Skill Advanced: Essence Feast → Lv.2]
[Stat Increased: STR +1, AGI +1, VIT +1]
The serpent thrashed, spraying molten shards. Filaments tore, instability clawing at him. Compress folded tighter, denser than before, and he crushed its skull to silence. Sparks surged inward, vessel trembling but whole.
[Skill Advanced: Compress → Lv.2]
Another predator rose—a brute with six cleaver-limbs, shell plated thick. Its strikes hammered his nets, sparks scattering. He folded tighter, arms denser. Nets bound its torso, Fire seared, Darkness dragged, Light split weak points. The brute shrieked once before its chest caved in. Essence flooded him.
[Skill Advanced: Core Division → Lv.2]
The hunger pressed louder.
Feed. Press. Devour.
It was not Logos. Not instinct. A third voice gnawed at the core. Sparks churned, pressure mounting, and a pulse rose from within. A will not his own.
"Maw," Logos observed, tone steady. "Manifestation of hunger. Sub-core emergent."
[New Sub-Core Personality Awakened: Maw]
The voice snarled, raw and guttural. More. Always more.
Zeke pulsed faint, testing. Hunger was no longer faceless—it had a voice. A place. It pressed against his will, demanding fuel. For a moment, the system wavered, growth teetering on edge. Logos held one side, Maw pulled the other.
Predators still came. A crawling beast with mirrored shell burst upward, its carapace reflecting Fire-light. Zeke lashed with whips of Darkness, bound it tight, and drove compressed arms through the gaps. Sparks scattered like glass shards.
[Skill Advanced: Morphic Arms → Lv.5]
A flying swarm descended next, razored wings screaming through ash. He struck upward, nets spreading, limbs snapping bodies mid-air. Essence poured inward.
[Stat Increased: AGI +1]
Maw laughed inside, voice wet and sharp. Yes, yes, eat them all. Don't think, don't wait—more, more, more!
Zeke pulsed irritation. "Why are my skills leveling so fast?"
Logos answered with cold precision. "Constant use. Each strike, each restraint, refines pattern. Evolution reset baseline—progress accelerates until new ceiling."
Maw hissed over him, loud and eager. Ignore him. Logic is dull. Fight more, eat more, faster, harder!
"Faster growth without restraint leads to collapse," Logos countered. "Essence without balance is waste."
Balance? Maw sneered, giddy. Weakness. Feast until nothing stands. We are predator—we don't stop to measure!
"You risk fragmentation," Logos pressed. "Overindulgence destabilizes cohesion."
Maw's laughter rattled like broken teeth. And starvation kills slower? No! Feed now, refine later. Always more!
Zeke felt both voices coil around him, reason and appetite, scientist and beast. He did not silence either. He struck harder instead.
Another predator struck—a beast of ashstone with molten jaws, spitting waves of burning grit. Zeke compressed tighter, arms striking through storms, every blow heavier than the last. Fire seared wounds, Light cut glowing seams, Darkness held jaws apart. The beast roared once before collapsing into shards.
[Skill Advanced: Essence Feast → Lv.3]
[Stat Increased: STR +1, VIT +1]
But the ashlands held worse. Storm winds began to howl, ash rising in spirals. A predator emerged within the storm itself, a shifting beast of cinders and molten veins. Its body was barely solid, claws whipping through smoke, every strike dispersing sparks. Zeke lashed with nets, but they slid through vapor. Fire seared to little effect, Light only cut fleeting gaps.
"Adaptive form," Logos warned. "Density fluctuates—strike only when mass consolidates."
No waiting! Maw roared. Bite the storm, eat the air!
Zeke compressed, holding tighter, waiting for its form to thicken. When claws condensed, he struck. Arms hammered inward, sparks scattering through smoke. The beast shrieked, storm swirling harder. His vessel trembled on the brink, Compress close to collapse. Maw urged recklessness. Logos counseled restraint. He balanced between them—waiting, then striking, waiting, then striking again. Finally, his arms drove through its chest, tearing the storm apart. The ash scattered, and the predator's molten veins dimmed to silence.
[Skill Advanced: Compress → Lv.3]
[CTL Increased: +1 ]
Maw laughed in triumph. Yes! Yes! Tear storms apart too! Everything is food!
Logos was calm, yet edged. "Balance preserved. Instability minimal. Continue growth with restraint."
Restraint is leash, Maw spat. Unbind, and nothing will stop us.
Zeke pulsed low, not answering. Both voices pressed at him—clarity and appetite, science and hunger. He held them both, walking the line.
Silence finally fell. The wastes lay still, littered with corpses and molten fragments, graveyard of his passage. Zeke pulsed low, vessel trembling but intact. Logos quieted, still watchful. Maw whispered, restless. More tomorrow. Always more.
He considered the change. Logos gave clarity, paths of refinement. Maw gave drive, endless appetite. Two poles pulling him apart, both part of him. Too far to Maw, and he would dissolve into hunger. Too far to Logos, and he would calcify into stillness.
"Choose," Maw whispered. Feast with me. Tear until nothing is left.
"Or endure," Logos countered. "Balance pressure, and advance without collapse."
Zeke pulsed faintly. "I will walk between you both."
Neither voice quieted, but both lingered. And faintly, he felt more presences stirring inside. Sub-cores waiting. Pressure would shape them, just as Maw had risen. The spree was not just feeding—it was forging him.
The ashlands stretched on, endless prey pulsing faint beneath ash and haze. He moved forward, unbound, carrying Logos's precision and Maw's hunger in tandem. The spree had only begun.
System Update
Name: Ezekiel AshbourneRace: Prime Slime (Unevolved)Level: 18
Affinity: Fire (Intermediate), Darkness (Intermediate), Light (Intermediate)
Stats
STR: 9 → 12
AGI: 9 → 11
VIT: 14 → 16
WIL: 10
RES: 26
MNA: 60 → 66 (+3 per level, +3 from Lv.17 → 18)
CTL: 28 → 30 (Stability refinement under pressure)
Skills
Core Division (Lv.3): Divide essence into sub-cores. Fragments act with independent will under Logos's guidance. Nets hold stable under pressure.
Essence Feast (Lv.3): Devour prey essence directly. Converts sparks smoothly into stable fuel.
Morphic Arms (Lv.6): Limbs shift faster and strike heavier with Compress.
Compress (Lv.3): Condense essence into denser form. STR, AGI, VIT rise sharply while active. Instability risk increased.
Passive Skills
Vessel Chambers: Internal reservoirs stabilize essence, prevent overflow, and channel affinities.
Personalities
Logos (Sub-Core): Rational, calm, precise. Guides efficiency and stability.
Maw (Sub-Core): Hunger externalized. Demands endless growth and feeding. Venomous, relentless, always urging to feed.