The ember inside him would not rest.
Zeke huddled within a shallow crevice, his translucent form pressed tight against the stone. The battle with the salamander lingered in his memory—its flame, the searing agony, the instinctual devouring that had saved him. Now, that devoured flame lived within him, coiled like a spark trapped inside glass. It pulsed at irregular intervals, burning faintly at his edges before sinking back inward.
He tried to ignore it at first. He drank from the ashstream, drew what moisture he could, and tried to mend the tatters of his form. But the ember was insistent. Each time it flared, heat lanced through his mass, uncontrolled and dangerous. It was as though his very body was turning against him.
"I… have to control it," he thought, though fear laced the conviction. If he ignored the ember, it would consume him from within. If he embraced it… perhaps it would kill him faster. But there was no choice. Survival demanded mastery.
He focused inward. His awareness coiled around the ember, probing the volatile fire. It was not a solid thing, not a piece of matter to absorb and dissolve. It was energy—alive, seething, foreign. The first time he tried to push it outward, it burst violently. Heat raced along his form, hissing steam into the air. His edges bubbled and collapsed, smoking as they scorched.
Agony wracked him. He retracted instinctively, pulling the ember deeper inside. His whole body trembled. The ash around him darkened, hardened into a thin crust where his body had scorched it.
"Even my power… hurts me."
But he did not stop. He could not. He tried again, slowly coaxing the ember toward his edge. He imagined shaping it, giving it form. For a moment, light flickered faintly—a spark dancing across his surface. But then it slipped, uncontrolled. A tongue of flame erupted, lashing across his own body. The heat seared him, blackening part of his mass. He shrieked silently, recoiling, the flame sputtering out.
He lay still for long moments, quivering in pain. But where the flame had struck, the stone itself had changed—thin veins of melted slag ran across the rock, glimmering faintly red in the darkness. The sight sent a shiver through him. Even uncontrolled, the fire carried power far beyond what he could achieve alone. If he learned to wield it, perhaps he could carve a place for himself in this hostile world.
The System stirred.
[New Affinity Unlocked: Fire (Basic)]
The words burned into his mind, a cold declaration amid the chaos. And with them came change. His awareness expanded, a new sense unfurling within him. Where before the ember was wild, now he could feel its shape more clearly—the rhythm of its heat, the pattern of its pulses. It was still volatile, but not entirely alien. A thread of resonance linked him to it.
[RES +3]
The surge steadied him. His form thickened slightly, his awareness sharper. But the flame was still a double-edged blade. He tried once more, guiding it outward. This time the spark flared brighter, a thin ribbon of fire lashing free. For a heartbeat, triumph surged. He had done it. He had shaped fire.
Then the ribbon curled back, searing his side. He convulsed, edges sizzling. The fire winked out, leaving only the stench of scorched slime. He quivered in place, pain gnawing at him. His first taste of true magic, and it had nearly killed him again.
"I can't… control it. Not yet."
Still, even failure brought growth. The System whispered again.
[Assimilate Lv.2 → Lv.3]
His skill had strengthened from repeated use, the absorption of elemental essence refining his control. The fire no longer lashed quite as wildly inside him; its pulses were steadier, less corrosive. It was progress—fragile, but real.
Zeke experimented cautiously. He tried to contain the flame deeper in his core, compressing around it. The heat stabilized, but each time he loosened his hold, the fire lashed outward in fits. One attempt sent a spray of sparks into the ash, igniting it briefly before it snuffed out. Another carved a glowing line across the stone wall of his crevice, a faint scar that whispered of potential.
The world reacted to his struggle. Ash hissed and glassed beneath stray sparks. Faint motes of smoke drifted upward, blending with the volcanic haze. His glow, dim though it was, drew the attention of insects. Fire-mites scuttled near, confused by the heat. Zeke devoured them absently, adding to his energy, though he noticed something curious: each absorption felt cleaner now, as if fire resonated with him. The affinity was already reshaping how he fed.
"…Fire is mine," he thought, conflicted. "But it burns me first."
The hunger stirred again, reminding him that his struggle was not only against power, but against emptiness. He fed on what little the ashstream offered, dulling the ache. Each pulse of energy brought faint reinforcement, the System acknowledging his persistence.
[Level Up: 4 → 5]
Relief washed through him. Strength and agility remained pitiful, but his mana pool swelled, and his body felt more resilient. The difference was subtle, but noticeable. Where once the air's heat had withered him quickly, now he endured a little longer. Where once movement had been sluggish, now he rolled with faint ease. Each level was a step, however small.
He pulsed faintly in the darkness, a glow of emberlight dancing inside his mass. The sight filled him with conflicted pride. He was still slime, still prey, still a fragile creature in a hostile world. But now he bore fire within. The same fire that had nearly killed him now answered, however clumsily, to his will.
"…If I can build on this," he thought, "I can survive. Maybe even more than survive."
He drifted into uneasy stillness, watching the ember flicker inside. It was both curse and promise. One day, perhaps, he could wield it without fear. For now, every spark was a wound, every flame a reminder of his weakness. But weakness was only the beginning.
He had been human. He had been scholar. Now he was slime, and fire had become his first tool. The path forward was dangerous, but it was a path nonetheless.
And Zeke would crawl it, burning if he must, until the fire no longer hurt him.
System Update
Status
Name: Ezekiel Ashbourne
Race: Prime Slime (Unevolved)
Level: 4 → 5
Affinity: None → Fire (Basic)
Stats
STR: 2 → 3
AGI: 2 → 3
VIT: 5 → 6
WIL: 3
RES: 2 → 5
MNA: 11 → 14
CTL: 1
Skills
Active Skills:
Split (Lv.1): Divide body into fragments; fragments are weaker and drain stamina.
Assimilate (Lv.2 → Lv.3): Absorb weak matter or energy to recover energy; chance to retain minor traits. Now steadier in absorbing elemental essence.
Passive Skills:
Amorphous Body (Lv.1): Immune to blunt trauma, flexible morphology.