The spree did not relent. It escalated.
Zeke tore through the wastes in a blur of fire, shadow, and light. Morphic Arms lashed, each strike burning with affinity, each lash folding sparks into his vessel. Core Division wove nets so wide they blanketed entire ridges of ashstone. Essence Feast drank endlessly, Vessel Chambers swelling with every kill. Compress strained under the weight, folding and refolding essence denser and denser, each cycle harder to sustain.
He had pushed everything to the limit. Every skill sang, every affinity bled through him, every hunt was faster than the last. Predators did not stand, they collapsed before him, torn apart by the storm of his body.
[Skill Advanced: Core Division → Lv.10]
[Skill Advanced: Compress → Lv.10]
[Skill Advanced: Essence Feast → Lv.10]
The peaks. The final ceilings of his current vessel. Zeke should have felt triumph. Instead, his lattice screamed. His vessel shook as if rejecting its own perfection. Too much essence, too much weight. Sparks pressed at every seam like molten rivers trying to burst their banks.
The storm inside him rose sharper than the battles outside. Nine voices clawed and tore.
"Refine!" Logos snapped, clipped, every word like a knife.More! Maw shrieked, gnashing. Take more, drown in it, become more!"Anchor," Neris whispered, sharp with warning. Or you scatter.Kael barked laughter, manic. Yes! Scatter! Break! What's left will burn brighter than what stands now!Vael pressed heavy, velvet arrogance. You are ruler. Failure is beneath you.Shade sobbed. It's cracking, it's breaking—please stop!Veyne rumbled, cold, simmering. Pain fuels. Endure, repay.Avaris hissed. Keep it. Do not spill. Mine, all mine.Threx cackled. Twist harder! Layer affinities until they tear you apart—I want to see!
Nine voices. Nine directions. His vessel became battlefield. Hunger yanked outward, caution pulled back, pride pushed upward, fear dragged down. Recklessness spun him, rage weighed him, greed clutched everything, curiosity poked holes, reason stitched until torn apart.
The ashlands mirrored his collapse. Nets snapped wide, filaments frayed under their own weight. Morphic Arms lashed wild, Fire searing his own lattice, Darkness binding limbs, Light carving ragged scars across his body. Predators fell but their sparks only deepened the overload. Vessel Chambers swelled like bursting furnaces. Compress folded until filaments splintered.
[Stat Increased: VIT +1]
Sparks bled uncontrolled, spilling into ash. Instability howled louder than predator cries. His form sagged, amorphous, edges dissolving into puddles of molten essence. He staggered, threads unraveling. For the first time, clarity cut him: I am going to scatter.
The voices shrieked louder.
"Hold!" Logos barked.Devour! Maw shrieked.Withdraw, Neris begged.Dive in! Kael laughed.Rule or die, Vael pressed.We're dying, Shade sobbed.Bleed, then repay, Veyne growled.Keep it, Avaris hissed.Break it! Threx roared.
Nine voices, pulling, fracturing. Sparks sprayed outward like fountains of molten rain. Collapse was seconds away.
Then—silence.
Not absence. Weight.
It pressed inevitable, all-encompassing. Not sharp, not loud, not frantic. Quiet. Like the sun rising. Like the tide's return. Like winter thawing to spring. It did not demand space—it already owned it.
Asura.
He did not scream. He did not argue. He did not laugh. He simply was. His voice rolled like distant thunder, calm and encompassing.
"You will not remain a slime. This vessel is temporary. Evolution waits. What you forge now must be for what comes, not what you are."
The nine stilled. Even Maw's gnashing, even Kael's cackling, even Threx's manic hunger. They did not vanish. They bowed.
Asura pressed heavier, inevitability itself. "We forge now."
Compress trembled, seconds from collapse. Asura gathered the nine, pressed them into alignment. For the first time, they spoke together, not over one another, but into one rhythm—an unbroken cadence.
Logos: Structure. Flow without scatter.
Maw: Intake unending. Never starve again.
Neris: Seal. Do not collapse.
Kael: Risk everything. Break safety.
Vael: Supremacy. Vessel commands sparks, not the reverse.
Shade: Check the cracks. Catch them before they kill us.
Veyne: Reinforce with pain. Every wound harder steel.
Avaris: Keep it all. Waste nothing.
Threx: Test. Twist. Push always.
Asura: Unite. Rule.
The cadence built, a litany rising. Sparks bent to their will. For a heartbeat Zeke glimpsed it: not fragments tearing, but a council. Ten voices seated, one ruler enthroned. His future burned faint and terrible.
Compress broke. No, it didn't collapse—but was born anew.
[Skill Evolution: Compress → Sovereign Crucible (Passive)]
The forging tore through him.
Sparks that had flooded uncontrolled now cycled, endless and absolute. Not hoarded, not scattered—ruled. His vessel became a crucible, folding, layering, refining. Pressure no longer shattered filaments; it reforged them harder.
Affinities wove seamlessly into the cycle. Fire blazed through every strike, Darkness weighted every seam, Light sharpened every edge. Beyond them lay space for more: water, earth, lightning, winds to come. All would bend. All would be cycled.
His body was no longer amorphous sludge. It was a crucible. Everything that entered him was consumed, cycled, reforged.
Strength surged. Arms lashed denser, striking like meteors. Speed crackled, movements flowing sharp and absolute. Durability swelled, lattice layered into infinity, every crack sealing stronger than before. Will pressed brighter, anchoring ten voices in unity.
[Stat Surge: STR +4, AGI +4, VIT +4][Stat Increased: WIL +1]
The earth quaked with his pulse. Ash ridges split, stone cracked, predators fled in silence. The ashlands themselves seemed to bow.
The voices spoke—not clashing, not screaming, but harmony.
"Efficient," Logos measured.Endless feast, Maw murmured.Stable, Neris admitted.Risk again, Kael urged.Rule, Vael pressed.We live, Shade whispered.They bleed, Veyne growled.Ours, Avaris hissed.Test more, Threx laughed.And Asura, inevitable: Continue.
Zeke pulsed faint, scarred but whole. For the first time, he was complete. He had not collapsed. He had not evolved racially. But he was no longer Prime Slime. His vessel had been reforged, prepared for what came after.
System Update
Name: Ezekiel AshbourneRace: Prime Slime (Unevolved)Level: 20
Affinity: Fire (Intermediate), Darkness (Intermediate), Light (Intermediate)
Stats
STR: 19 → 23
AGI: 17 → 21
VIT: 23 → 27
WIL: 17 → 18
RES: 26
MNA: 72
CTL: 39 → 40
Skills
Core Division (Lv.10): Divide essence into sub-cores. Fragments act with independent will under Logos's guidance. Nets hold absolute stability.
Essence Feast (Lv.10): Devour prey essence directly. Converts sparks seamlessly into stable fuel.
Morphic Arms (Lv.10): Limbs shift instantly between forms, affinities threaded throughout.
Passive Skills
Vessel Chambers: Internal reservoirs stabilize essence, prevent overflow, and channel affinities.
Sovereign Crucible: Vessel is crucible, endlessly cycling and compressing essence. All affinities—current and future—integrate seamlessly. STR, AGI, VIT scale massively. WIL anchors stability. Collapse risk only if unity fails.
Personalities
Logos (Sub-Core): Rational, precise. Guides efficiency and stability.
Maw (Sub-Core): Hunger given voice. Relentless, demanding endless feast.
Neris (Sub-Core): Caution given voice. Anchors restraint against collapse.
Kael (Sub-Core): Recklessness given voice. Chaos, impulse, thrill.
Vael (Sub-Core): Pride given voice. Supremacy and dominance.
Shade (Sub-Core): Fear given voice. Cowardly, but anchors survival instinct.
Veyne (Sub-Core): Rage given voice. Cold fury that fuels endurance.
Avaris (Sub-Core): Greed given voice. Hoards sparks, wasting nothing.
Threx (Sub-Core): Curiosity given voice. Mad experimentation, chaotic insight.
Asura (Sub-Core): Emperor given voice. Quiet, inevitable, unifying. Ruler of the council within.