The ember-lizard's death had been Zeke's first true kill by intent, and the taste of it lingered in his awareness. It had not been luck, nor unstable outburst. It had been choice—his pseudopod striking, his will consuming. But as the thrill faded, unease gnawed at him. One limb. One strike. It was progress, yes, but not enough. What would happen when he faced another pride of ash-lions? What would happen if predators attacked from every side?
He pulsed faintly in the quiet of his chamber, considering the skills he had been born with. Split. It had lingered in his status since his awakening, an innate capability of his slime body. Yet he had never used it beyond panic, fragments tearing loose under stress. Perhaps now was the time to explore it deliberately.
Zeke spread himself wide across the chamber floor, then forced his mass to divide. The process was agonizing, like stretching too far until something tore. His body shuddered, threads of mana snapping as part of him sloughed free. The fragment quivered beside him, inert. Dead slime. He recoiled in disgust. Not Split. Not yet.
Again. He stabilized his core with mana first, anchoring himself before pushing outward. This time the fragment held longer, trembling with faint cohesion. For a moment, he felt awareness in two places—himself, and the piece. But it collapsed almost instantly, splashing back into him.
He panted inwardly, exhausted. But the thrill of that brief moment—of existing in two forms at once—set him alight.
He tried again. And again. Failures piled upon failures, his mass shrinking dangerously with each attempt. But persistence carved progress. At last, with careful mana weaving, he split into two fragments. Both wobbled, unstable, but they lived. He pulsed in wonder.
[Split Lv.1 → Lv.2]
The System confirmed what he felt. For the first time, Split was more than instinct. It was choice.
His awareness stretched across both bodies. Clumsy, awkward—but functional. He lashed his pseudopod from one fragment, rolled the other across the chamber. They collapsed quickly, but even that was victory.
The world wasted no time in testing him.
As he ventured out once more, drawn by hunger, he sensed vibrations beneath the ash. Small, numerous, fast. A swarm. From a burrow erupted ember-rodents—dozens of them, each a mouse-sized shape wreathed faintly in sparks. Their red eyes glowed as they poured forth, squealing with hunger.
Alone, he might have been overwhelmed. But not today.
Zeke split instantly, two fragments rolling to opposite sides of the swarm. The rodents hesitated, confused by the division. Then they swarmed.
The first wave rushed one fragment. Zeke lashed his pseudopod, slapping rodents aside in bursts of squeals. The second fragment surged from behind, engulfing stragglers. The pack scattered, their coordination breaking. Zeke pulsed fiercely, controlling both halves at once. It was chaos, clumsy and painful, but effective.
Rodents dissolved within him, their sparks fueling his core. The swarm broke entirely, scattering into the ash. A dozen remained within his mass, assimilated, their essence strengthening him.
He pulsed with triumph. It had worked. Split and Pseudopod together—a crude, jagged dance, but one that gave him an edge.
The System stirred.
[Pseudopod Lv.1 → Lv.2][Amorphous Body Lv.2 → Lv.3]
His limb extended sharper now, snapping with greater cohesion. His body itself flowed more smoothly, less strain in each reshaping. He quivered in satisfaction.
But triumph did not last.
The ground rumbled with a heavier vibration, long and deliberate. From the ash slithered a shape longer than Zeke's entire body, its scales gleaming faintly like molten glass. An ember-serpent. Its tongue flicked, tasting the soot. Its ember eyes locked onto him.
Predator.
Zeke split again, forcing himself into two fragments. Both trembled, his awareness stretched thin. The serpent hissed, body coiling before it struck.
The first fragment darted sideways, drawing its attention. The serpent lunged, jaws snapping shut on empty ash. The second fragment struck from behind, pseudopod lashing against its tail. The blow cracked scales, but the serpent whipped violently, hurling the fragment aside.
Zeke convulsed, nearly losing cohesion. Maintaining fragments under such stress was agony. But he pressed harder, forcing both pieces into motion.
The serpent struck again, fangs piercing into one fragment. Pain lanced through him as the mass shredded. But while it was distracted, his other body surged forward, engulfing the serpent's head.
[Skill Activated: Assimilate]
Heat and essence poured into him. The serpent thrashed violently, rolling across the ash. Zeke's bodies trembled, one fragment collapsing, the other clinging desperately. Pseudopod lashed again and again, smashing into ember-scales until they cracked.
At last the serpent sagged, its thrashing slowed, and it dissolved within him. Energy rippled through his core, filling him to bursting.
[Level Up: 7 → 8]
The System's whisper steadied him. Mana deepened, his form swelling larger again.
[CTL +1]
His precision sharpened. Where before his fragments wobbled instantly, now he could feel them more firmly, strings of mana binding them to his will. It was still clumsy, still unstable—but real.
Zeke sagged in exhaustion, drawing his fragments back together. He pulsed faintly, quivering with both pain and exhilaration. He had faced a swarm. He had faced a predator. And for the first time, he had chosen how to fight.
This was not luck. This was not outburst. This was him—shaping his body, splitting and striking, learning to fight as something more than prey.
System Update
Status
Name: Ezekiel Ashbourne
Race: Prime Slime (Unevolved)
Level: 7 → 8
Affinity: Fire (Basic), Light (Basic)
Stats
STR: 4
AGI: 4
VIT: 7
WIL: 3
RES: 8
MNA: 21 → 24
CTL: 3 → 4
Skills
Active Skills:
Split (Lv.1 → Lv.2): Divide body into fragments. Fragments now sustain briefly under Zeke's control but drain mana.
Assimilate (Lv.4): Absorb weak matter or energy to recover energy; chance to retain minor traits. Stronger pull, refined capacity for elemental energy.
Pseudopod (Lv.1 → Lv.2): Extend body into a tentacle-like appendage. Now sharper, more cohesive, and responsive. Limited to two pseudopods.
Passive Skills:
Amorphous Body (Lv.2 → Lv.3): Immune to blunt trauma, flexible morphology. Body reshapes with greater smoothness and less strain, supporting combat forms.