The tunnel still stank of blood and ash. Slime walls sagged, cracked where claws had torn them, and the reservoir rippled faintly, half-drained from the tremors. The laughter of the ash-hyenas had long since faded, but its echo lingered in Zeke's core.
He pulsed faintly, body trembling. Every fragment of his mass ached with exhaustion. Victory felt hollow. The nest still stood, yes—but scarred, broken, fragile. If another pack came tomorrow, he doubted he could withstand it.
He drifted to the reservoir, sinking low into the cool water. The liquid soothed him, but could not quiet the thoughts.
"I fought. I endured. And yet… look at me.Walls cracked. Traps ruined. Body thinned.Every time I win, I only signal louder to the ashlands.Every strength is another beacon."
The thought coiled tighter, darker."Perhaps there is no survival here.Perhaps I am only delaying death."
He remembered Cass's laughter, bright and careless, mocking him for sun-bathing on rooftops. "More like sun-fried idiot. You'll shrivel before you shine." It had been teasing, once. Now it felt like prophecy.
He pulsed bitterly, dimming his glow. The light he carried flickered weakly, a reminder of memory, of hope. But hope felt like a lie.
For the first time, Zeke allowed the thought:"Maybe I cannot win.Maybe the ashlands will swallow me, no matter how much I grow."
The despair was quiet, insidious. It did not roar like fire, did not blaze like hunger. It seeped like shadow, pulling him downward into stillness. He felt the weight of silence pressing around him, the hush that comes after laughter dies.
And in that hush, something stirred.
The System whispered.
[New Affinity Unlocked: Darkness (Basic)]
Zeke convulsed. A cold ripple spread through his core, not burning like fire, not gleaming like light—but heavy, hushed, endless.
Darkness filled him like water in an empty chamber. It was not hunger. It was not memory. It was absence. Cover. Silence.
He pulsed faintly, tasting it. The glow of his body dimmed until the chamber was black. Predators above could not see him, could not scent him. For the first time since awakening, he felt hidden.
He quivered, almost laughing. "So this is darkness. Not curse. Not despair. Camouflage. Secrecy. Endurance. If predators cannot see me, they cannot kill me."
Experimentation followed. He extended a pseudopod, watching it blur. The limb shimmered faintly, then faded into shadow. It was still there, yes—but concealed, blurred, its glow muted as though the ashlands themselves ignored it.
He pressed himself against the wall, dimming entirely. For a moment, even he could not sense his own outline clearly. The silence wrapped him like a cocoon, so absolute it almost frightened him.
He pulsed slowly, carefully. "Darkness costs mana to sustain. But the benefit outweighs the drain. Hunger can be sated with prey. Exposure, however, cannot be undone."
The more he experimented, the more he realized: this affinity was unlike fire or light. Fire demanded, devoured, consumed. Light remembered, preserved, revealed. But darkness… darkness hid. It asked for nothing but stillness.
Zeke sank into reflection. "Is this what survival means? Not endless hunger. Not brittle hope. But concealment. Silence. Not shining brighter, but vanishing deeper."
He thought of his nest. Walls, traps, ridges—they had failed. They slowed the hyenas, yes, but they did not stop them. Only his will and the narrow tunnel had carried him through. If something stronger came, walls would crumble again.
But if he could vanish—if he could become shadow itself—predators might never find him at all.
The thought pulsed through him with quiet power. "Perhaps this is the answer. Not to challenge the ashlands head-on, but to slip between its teeth unseen."
Still, there was fear. Darkness comforted him, yes, but it also pressed heavy on his core. It whispered of silence eternal. Of being unseen, not just by predators—but by himself.
He dimmed further, so faint his glow was almost gone. The chamber felt endless. No walls. No nest. No self. Only void.
For a heartbeat, terror stabbed through him. "If I sink too deep, will I vanish entirely? Will I forget I exist at all?"
A memory flared: Cass's grin, his voice echoing—"Zeke, you think too much. The sun won't eat you alive. But your brain might."
Zeke pulsed sharply, snapping his glow back bright. Water rippled, walls reappeared, and he quivered with frantic relief.
"No. Darkness is tool. Not abyss. Not prison. I will not be consumed by it."
His thoughts steadied. "Hunger drives me forward. Light ties me to memory. Darkness shields me from consequence. All three together—balance."
The despair that had almost drowned him now felt like gift. From hopelessness had come silence, and from silence, power.
He pulsed faintly, vow solidifying. "I will master this. Not as weapon alone, but as shield. Not to burn brighter, but to vanish deeper. I will not be prey. Not anymore."
The darkness pulsed within him, steady, cold, resolute. And for the first time in days, Zeke felt calm.
System Update
StatusName: Ezekiel AshbourneRace: Prime Slime (Unevolved)Level: 10Affinity: Fire (Basic), Light (Basic), Darkness (Basic)
StatsSTR: 5AGI: 5VIT: 8WIL: 4 → 5RES: 8 → 11MNA: 32CTL: 7
SkillsActive Skills:
Split (Lv.2): Divide body into fragments. Fragments now sustain briefly under Zeke's control but drain mana.
Assimilate (Lv.5): Absorb weak matter or energy to recover energy; chance to retain minor traits. Cleaner, more efficient absorption, but increasingly demanding.
Pseudopod (Lv.5): Extend body into tentacle-like appendages. Whip-like precision and striking power. Limited to two pseudopods.
Passive Skills:
Amorphous Body (Lv.6): Immune to blunt trauma, flexible morphology. Reshapes seamlessly under combat pressure.