The ashlands were different after the storm. Where once the air had shimmered with heat, now it hung thick and heavy, clogged with soot that drifted like falling snow. Every fissure exhaled smoke in heavier breaths, as if the land itself labored under strain. The silence was deeper than before, not peace but aftermath, the kind that followed devastation. Zeke lingered low against the stone, his glow dim, filaments stretched wide to taste the new balance of the world.
The training he had forced upon himself lingered in every thread. Split still bled mana, but he had learned to endure its strain longer, to hold fragments steady without frantic collapse. Yet the hunger was worse now. The storm had drained him, and every filament screamed for fuel. The urge to gorge pressed sharp against his thoughts, more insistent with each passing heartbeat.
"Not yet," he whispered inwardly. The cold clarity that had carried him through the storm returned, dulling his instinct with calculation. "Measure first. Feed when balance permits."
Something moved.
At first it was only the faintest hiss, ash sliding against ash. Then came a tremor, shallow but deliberate. Zeke stilled, threads tightening, the world narrowing around that sound. Too heavy for rodents, too rhythmic for burrowers. Not prey. A predator. He dimmed further, pressing himself into the dust, every fragment of his essence holding still.
The tremor grew sharper. Then heat rippled across his awareness, not the passive glow of fissures but a concentrated, pulsing body. It was close. Too close.
The creature erupted from the ash with no warning. A serpent in shape, yet clawed and plated, its body rippling with jagged obsidian scales that glowed faintly at their seams. Its head flared with ridges like broken stone, and from its maw leaked ember fumes, teeth gleaming with molten fire. It was smaller than the Ash Stalker, but its movements were quicker, sharper, built not for stealth but for sudden violence.
It lunged instantly.
Zeke Split into six, fragments scattering outward to encircle it. Pseudopods whipped from every angle, cloaked in Darkness, tipped with Fire. They struck like lashes of shadowed flame. The serpent twisted, obsidian scales screeching as they deflected strikes. Claws slashed, teeth snapped. Two pseudopods tore apart instantly, shorn by the serrated edge of its scales. Pain burst through Zeke, sparks flaring from severed threads. He recoiled, fragments trembling, but forced them tighter.
The hunger howled. Consume. End this. Gorge before collapse.
He strangled it, driving cold clarity to the surface. "No. Hold. Measure. Do not gorge."
The serpent whipped its tail, obsidian plates cutting through ash like blades. One fragment slammed against stone, nearly unraveling. Zeke reeled it back, threads bleeding mana in violent sparks. He struck back with Light, one fragment flaring bright. The predator hissed, ember eyes narrowing, blinded for a heartbeat. In that instant, a Fire-laced pseudopod coiled around its flank and squeezed. Scales cracked with a sound like splitting stone. Molten blood hissed against ash. The serpent thrashed violently.
It twisted free, rolling across the ground in a blur of scales and claws. Another pseudopod shattered, sparks bleeding uncontrolled into the air. Instability surged. His body wavered, fragments trembling, threads stretched thin. He felt collapse looming. The hunger pressed harder, promising strength if he simply consumed without restraint. His glow flickered. "Not yet. Control first." He forced the words like chains upon himself.
The predator spun again, tail striking wide. Fragments scattered, some nearly lost to the ash. He clamped down, reeling them back. Every thread screamed. His control was failing. Too much mass, too many fragments. One more strike would unravel him. Desperation burned.
He lashed out with Darkness, wrapping the serpent's forelimb. Fire followed, searing through its scales, but the beast rolled, ripping free with skin blackened but intact. It turned, mouth glowing, then exhaled a blast of ember fumes. The ash ignited in a brief flare, heat washing across him. One fragment melted at its edge, threads unraveling before he yanked it back. Sparks bled uncontrolled, destabilizing his core.
He reached for resonance. Darkness pooled in one fragment, Light in another, Fire threading through both. The edges quivered, unstable, but he forced them together. The clash rippled out in waves that warped the air, a flare of opposing truths bound by fire. For an instant the serpent staggered, its movements distorted. Zeke seized the moment, pseudopods lashing in unison. Fire seared, Darkness bound, Light struck eyes blind. The beast screeched, convulsing violently, claws tearing stone in futile fury.
The serpent thrashed one last time, tail smashing into the ground with explosive force. The impact shattered stone, sending cracks racing through the ash. The shockwave nearly tore Zeke apart, fragments scattering wide. For a heartbeat he thought he had lost them, that collapse had come at last. But he clenched harder, dragging each back with sheer will, CTL threads quivering but unbroken. The serpent sagged then, molten blood pouring freely from rents in its armor. Its ember eyes flickered weakly, then went dark.
Zeke sagged too, fragments collapsing back into one trembling form. Sparks leaked from him, glow dimming. The corpse steamed before him, ember fumes rising from its cracked scales. The hunger screamed for it, louder than ever. He could not resist any longer. He dragged it in.
Assimilate surged. Heat and matter dissolved, molten life flooding into his essence. His body swelled, mass pressing against every thread. Instability screamed, near breaking. He Split instantly, fragments bleeding weight into the ash. Threads quaked, holding only by force of will. The hunger laughed, triumphant, as molten power sank into his core. He held only by clenching tighter, dragging clarity like a blade against his own thoughts.
When it ended, the serpent was gone, only blackened ash and scorched stone left behind. Zeke shivered, fragments trembling as he pulled them together again. He had survived. He had grown. But each step forward frayed him thinner, closer to collapse. Split could not hold forever. He knew this. And yet, for now, he endured.
The silence returned, heavy and watchful. His filaments brushed outward again, wary of more predators. Prey had not yet dared return to the surface. Perhaps they sensed what he did—the ashlands themselves were restless, a land that tested him as much as the beasts within it. Storms, predators, hunger, instability—all were trials, shaping him sharper with each cut. He trembled faintly, but not in fear. In resolve.
"I will endure," he pulsed softly. "Even if I must tear myself apart to do so."
The System stirred.
System Update
Status
Name: Ezekiel Ashbourne
Race: Prime Slime (Unevolved)
Level: 12 → 13
Affinity: Fire (Basic), Light (Basic), Darkness (Basic)
Stats
STR: 7 → 8
AGI: 7 → 8
VIT: 10 → 11
WIL: 10
RES: 11
MNA: 38 → 42
CTL: 13 → 14
Skills
Active Skills:
Split (Lv.4): Divide body into fragments. Fragments sustain longer, coordinate better, and bleed less mana. Overflow dispersal more efficient.
Assimilate (Lv.6): Absorb matter or energy to recover essence; smoother, more efficient absorption. Can now pull minor elemental traces.
Pseudopod (Lv.6): Tentacle-like appendages with whip precision and crushing power. Limited to two, but refined.
Passive Skills:
Amorphous Body (Lv.6): Immune to blunt trauma, flexible morphology. Reshapes seamlessly under combat pressure.