Chapter 155: Healing And Enhancement

Chapter 155: Healing And Enhancement

I held my breath for as long as I could, but it was never a fight that I was going to win. I needed to breathe eventually; it was that or die. I chose to live.

Air filled my lungs, and the Lesser Cores spores came with it. Latching themselves into my mouth-flesh, my lung-flesh, and every other bit of flesh that they could reach. Digging in.

Trying to take control.

Beside me, The Grateful Ones face was quickly invaded by lines of green and black; unlike me, she hadnt hesitated to breathe in the spore-mist, taking in unconcerned lungfuls with each and every moment.

Instead, her head was twisting back and forth, turning about as she tried to track the movements within the mist. There were shapes there sometimes, figures like Coreless that formed themselves in the floating spore-mist for brief moments before they wiped themselves away. It was different from what I had seen before.

The Little Puppeteers that released these spores were stronger somehow, I knew. None of the ones that I had devoured before had reached level 10, and though that was far lower than my own level, that made them more dangerous than the others.

Less predictable, too.

Are you doing okay? The Grateful One murmured in [concern], reaching out with one of her hands to press against my scale-flesh. Even resting on her shoulder like I was, I could barely hear it. Something about the mist around us seemed to swallow the sound near-whole, devouring all but the tiniest remnants.

I didnt have time to worry about the changes in the mist, though.

Not with the changes that I could feel happening inside me; the spores were growing. Fast. Too fast for me to be comfortable with it. It felt like a betrayal.

My lungs pumped, traitorous lung-flesh following the will of the spores that infested them. I turned, punishing my own scale-flesh for its blasphemy - and at the same time, seeking sweet relief.

My fangs clamped down on my tail, activating [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail]. My insides tingled ever-so-slightly, spore-roots beginning to quiver as my flesh fought harder against them. A few drops of liquid gold joined the fight, [Life - Invigorating Bite] working alongside my first abilitys regeneration.

It helped - some.

And then I had to take another breath, and it started all over again with a new set of spores that invaded my lungs.

The world moved around me in clouds of swirling mist; figures that appeared and disappeared, but none that stayed. I was thankful for that, at least. I wasnt in any condition to resist if something had come. The Grateful One was saying something, one hand still pressed against my scale-flesh, but I didnt even have the presence of mind to check on her [Little Guardians Totem] for a hint on what it was. It didnt matter.

Nothing else mattered; not for a while.

Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Invigorating Bite XI] Increased.

[Life - Invigorating Bite XII] Acquired.

The pain lit a fire within my insides as every new spore tried its best to take root within my flesh; they slipped through again and again, only to be wiped away by the combination of [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] and [Life - Invigorating Bite].

So, rather than try to condense mass amounts of life essence in a desperate bid for power like before, I focused on a single droplet of life essence - the same as what I would send spilling down my fangs when I used [Life - Invigorating Bite] - and then I tried to force it to split. Not into halves necessarily, but into parts.

The two pieces that formed [Life - Invigorating Bite]s effect: regeneration and enhancement.

It fought me, just as the life essence did when I tried to condense too many droplets together. The life essence didnt like change, didnt like to be changed.

I kept trying anyway, though I was beginning to lose hope.

Separate, I thought-hissed. The little droplet didnt answer.

My scale-flesh twitched itself again, and I absent-mindedly sent two more free droplets of life essence down the hollows of my fangs.

The thought-light flickered.

Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Invigorating Bite XIV] Increased.

[Life - Invigorating Bite XV] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Life Essence Manipulation III] Increased.

[Life Essence Manipulation IV] Acquired.

And then everything just became a little bit easier. The tiny droplet in my minds eye began to quiver. Tremble. Shake. Break.

Separate, I thought-hissed again.

And, this time, it did. The little droplet split into two, and I sent each half-drop down a single fang, staggered carefully so that I could get a sense of what each did.

When the first touched down, the thought-light flickered again.

Gained The Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Vigor I]

And then the second touched down, causing another flicker.

Gained The Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Vitality I]

The spore-roots drew back again, beaten away by my healing flesh - but not yet defeated entirely. More spores always came.

Still, it was a start.