The ashlands no longer blurred. They surged. Every step Zeke took left molten fragments crushed beneath his weight, every breath pulled sparks into him until Vessel Chambers thrummed with excess. Compress folded the pressure tighter, sharper, denser. Logos measured. Maw demanded. Neris restrained. Three voices, constant, pulling him in different directions.
The spree had carried him far. Too far, perhaps. Predators rose and fell in rhythm, sparks devoured smooth, bodies broken. His skills grew with every fight.
[Skill Advanced: Essence Feast → Lv.5][Skill Advanced: Compress → Lv.5]
Still, he felt the instability mounting. His vessel shook with every battle, not from collapse, but from conflict. Three voices inside, never silent. Logic, hunger, caution. Balance frayed. And the ashlands stirred again.
A tremor rolled, heavier than before. From beneath the ground, the juggernaut rose. A beast plated in obsidian armor, shoulders broad, claws like pillars of stone. Sparks burned deep within its chest, steady as a furnace. It bellowed, and the ash shook loose in waves. Unlike the serpent's speed or the stalkers' agility, this one was weight made flesh.
Zeke spread nets. Anchored filaments into ash. Compressed tighter. Arms lashed, but struck only sparks off armor. His blades cut, but shallow, unable to pierce. The juggernaut pressed forward, each step like thunder, shrugging off lashes of Fire and bindings of Darkness. Light carved lines, but they closed as molten stone flowed.
Maw shrieked. Harder! Tear! Put everything into the strike!
"Refine," Logos corrected. "Target weak seams. Blunt force is waste."
Wait, Neris whispered. Anchor. Wear it down. Do not rush.
Zeke obeyed all and none. He struck harder, but shallow. He aimed for seams, but found only sparks of stone. He waited, but the waiting cost him. The juggernaut slammed forward, claws tearing through his nets, chest colliding into his lattice. Sparks scattered like molten shards. His vessel shook violently. Compress screamed at the edge of collapse.
[Stat Increased: VIT +1]
Maw howled with laughter. Yes! Break or feed, either way we win!
"Instability rising," Logos cut in. "Redirect or collapse."
Retreat, Neris urged, whisper sharp. You cannot meet this head-on.
He faltered. The beast pressed harder, driving him into molten stone. Filaments tore, arms broke apart. Sparks bled uncontrolled, scattering into ash. He tried to anchor, tried to strike, but each voice pulled him different ways. Hunger demanded excess. Logic demanded refinement. Caution demanded retreat. All together left him frozen.
The juggernaut lifted claws high, furnace chest blazing. Collapse loomed.
Then—laughter. Not Logos's clipped tones, not Maw's guttural roar, not Neris's whisper. A new voice burst in, wild, reckless, delighted.
Finally! Enough talk. Enough waiting. Throw yourself in! Fall faster, strike harder, who cares if it kills you—at least it's living!
Zeke pulsed, stunned. The voice only laughed louder, echoing through his vessel. Let me show you how it feels to burn everything at once. No restraint. No hesitation. Just fall!
[New Sub-Core Personality Awakened: Kael]
The juggernaut's claws came down. Zeke did not dodge. He compressed tighter than ever, body trembling on the brink of disintegration, and threw himself upward. Arms lashed wild, not measured, not patient, not efficient—reckless. They shattered across armor, breaking plates with sheer force. Sparks tore loose in floods. Instability screamed, cohesion splintering, but he laughed with Kael. It was wild, chaotic, intoxicating.
Maw roared approval. Yes! More! Break it apart!
"Reckless," Logos warned, but his voice was drowned in chaos.
Anchor! Neris cried, but Zeke ignored her. He struck again, harder, arms whipping like a storm. Claws slammed into him, tearing sparks, but he struck back twice as wild. Pressure built unbearable. Compress folded so tight it cut him as much as the beast. But he did not stop. He laughed with Kael's madness.
The juggernaut reeled, obsidian plates cracking apart, molten blood spilling from seams. Zeke lashed wild, tearing into the furnace chest. Sparks exploded outward, flooding him in burning waves. He devoured without restraint, without control, only hunger and thrill.
[Level Up: 20][Stat Increased: STR +1][Stat Increased: AGI +1][Stat Increased: VIT +1][Stat Increased: WIL +1]
But the beast was not finished. It staggered upright, chest furnace blazing brighter, last fury pushing through. Zeke should have anchored. Should have retreated. Instead he dove in with reckless abandon, Compress screaming, arms lashing. The clash shook the ashlands, sparks bursting like molten rain. For every strike he landed, claws carved him in return. His vessel shredded, yet he struck again, laughing with Kael.
Finally, the furnace shattered. The juggernaut collapsed, chest split wide, molten core snuffed into silence. Ash drifted thick around the corpse. Zeke pulsed low, vessel fractured but holding. Sparks still bled from tears, but Compress folded them inward. For the first time, he had not held back. He had fallen—and survived.
He drifted in silence, gathering himself. Four voices stirred inside now. Logos's rational clarity. Maw's ravenous hunger. Neris's quiet caution. And Kael's reckless laughter, sharp and wild. Together they clashed, louder than ever.
"Dangerous," Logos said flatly. "Recklessness accelerates collapse."
Maw cackled. Collapse, feast, same thing! It works. We killed it, didn't we?
Neris whispered firm, And nearly died doing it. Balance breaks if you follow him.
Kael only laughed, loud and delighted. Break, balance, who cares? Did you feel it? The rush, the chaos, the fall? That's living. That's freedom.
"Freedom without stability ends in nothing," Logos cut back.
Freedom is eating until the world is empty, Maw countered.
Freedom is survival, Neris whispered. Measured steps, not wild leaps.
Kael barked laughter. Freedom is the leap! The fall! The gamble where you don't know if you'll hit the ground or soar higher. That's the only truth worth living.
They argued, voices pressing from every side. Zeke pulsed faint, trembling but whole. He did not silence them. He could not. They were him—each a fragment, each forged by pressure. But the weight grew heavier with every voice added.
And faintly, deeper still, he felt more presences stirring. Not yet formed, but waiting. Pressure would draw them out, one by one. He wondered if he could hold them all—or if one day they would tear him apart.
He flexed, arms sharp, nets wide, vessel dense. The spree was far from over. And the line between balance and collapse grew thinner with every step.
System Update
Name: Ezekiel AshbourneRace: Prime Slime (Unevolved)Level: 20
Affinity: Fire (Intermediate), Darkness (Intermediate), Light (Intermediate)
Stats
STR: 13 → 14
AGI: 12 → 13
VIT: 17 → 18
WIL: 11 → 12
RES: 26
MNA: 69 → 72
CTL: 31 → 32
Skills
Core Division (Lv.3 → Lv.4): Divide essence into sub-cores. Fragments act with independent will under Logos's guidance. Nets hold stable under pressure.
Essence Feast (Lv.5): Devour prey essence directly. Converts sparks smoothly into stable fuel.
Morphic Arms (Lv.8): Limbs shift faster and strike heavier with Compress.
Compress (Lv.5): Condense essence into denser form. STR, AGI, VIT rise sharply while active. Instability risk increased.
Passive Skills
Vessel Chambers: Internal reservoirs stabilize essence, prevent overflow, and channel affinities.
Personalities
Logos (Sub-Core): Rational, calm, precise. Guides efficiency and stability.
Maw (Sub-Core): Hunger externalized. Demands endless growth and feeding. Venomous, relentless, always urging to feed.
Neris (Sub-Core): Caution given voice. Patient, measured, anchoring restraint against recklessness.
Kael (Sub-Core): Recklessness given voice. Thrives on chaos, impulse, and risk, urging abandon and thrill.