Symbiotic: Chapter 11

The river was quiet. Stereotypically too quiet. Her [Danger Sense] told her it was a lie, a soft but constant drumbeat in her head. Something lived there. Something claimed the river as theirs. Something kept a jungle of predators from its waters.

She didn't like this quiet. As if everything from insects on up either refused to make noise within sight of the water, or just refused to come near enough to be heard. She was doubly thankful that she had found a tall tree with interwoven branches enough to act as almost a floor earlier and had spread her spores around the safe center of the tree woven platform.

*Ping* Regrowth Location 2 of 3: Jungles Edge 813.095474 448.68594 32.0063]

Now, Sara crouched at the jungle edge, her robes pulsing faintly with silver threads as she scanned the water. Her [Danger Sense] was quietest here, a rare gift, and she dared to think she might cross here. The river was wide here, but lazy. The current was slow and steady, the surface smooth.

Caution on high, she carefully made her way closer to the water edge, eyes constantly scanning the water and riverbanks. Seeing nothing of note only made her worry more. Danger Sense was adamant that there was danger here, but seemed unable to identify more. And danger she couldn’t see what more terrifying than danger she could! Spear poised to strike, she silently slipped closer to be able to peer into the water.

That was when the first ripple appeared, a broad shadow gliding just beneath the surface. Her [Danger Sense] thrummed loud, sharp and sudden, but not overwhelming. A cautionary warning, not a scream. Sara froze, spear in hand, eyes locked on the movement in the water.

But the shadow was moving away. Retreating into deeper waters. Relief flickered. Maybe if it moves far enough away I can swim for the other side… She stepped closer. Trying to see the escaping creature well enough for Identify.

Then her [Danger Sense] erupted. From the opposite side of the river.

Another shape, suddenly massive, surged upward from previously calm waters. Jaws snapping, water exploding.

[Identify]

[River Gnasher]

Core Stats (T2)

Body Force 34 | Speed 22

Mind Thought 24 | Knowledge 20

Soul Self 22 | Sum 20

Exp: 300

Microbe: 150

River Gnashers are massive, 10–12 foot long reptilian predators resembling gators, but far more dangerous. Their jaws can crush stone, and their bodies are built for ambushes both in water and on land. They control currents and water pressure instinctively, using the river itself as a weapon to drag prey under or shield themselves from attacks. Their sheer Force makes them terrifying, but their cunning and Soul resilience mark them as more than just beasts, they are territorial apex predators that dominate entire waterways.

Abilities

• Bonebreaker Bite (Active) – Delivers devastating Force damage; can shatter armor and bone.

• River Surge (Active) – Manipulates water currents to drag prey under or deflect incoming attacks.

• Death Roll (Active) – Spins violently underwater, tearing apart anything caught in its jaws or coils.

• Twin Hunt (Rare) – River Gnashers often hunt in mindlinked pairs, coordinating strikes to overwhelm prey.

• Hunters Aura (Passive) – When hunting in Twin Hunt, one of the River Gnashers emits little to no recognizable signature, making them truly deadly ambush predators.

The first River Gnasher had been bait, its retreat a lure to draw her attention. The second struck from the blind angle, its massive body launching from the shallows in a coordinated ambush, even as the first spun and launched itself back at her from the rear.

Sara barely twisted aside as the second Gnasher’s jaws slammed shut where she had stood, the impact cracking stone. The first surged back in, currents whipping around her legs, dragging her toward the water.

Her spear flashed, stabbing at the scales, but off balance from her desperate dodge, her strike held little power & the weapon skidded uselessly off the armored hide. The Gnasher’s tail lashed faster than she could respond, knocking her sideways. She hit the ground hard, breath knocked from her lungs.

Her [Danger Sense] pulsed again. A second warning, sharper, faster. She continued rolling instinctively, just as the returning bait Gnasher’s bulk crushed into the earth where her torso had been, snapping jaws following her as she continued her mad scramble to stay head of their strikes.

The two predators moved like one mind. One baited, the other struck. One circled, the other thrust. Their coordination was terrifying, a dance of death perfected by countless kills.

Sara’s robes absorbed a glancing blow, fungal plating cracking but holding. She scrambled backward, lungs burning, spear raised. She couldn’t win here, not against two apex predators in their element.

Her [Danger Sense] screamed again, and she obeyed without thought, diving into the underbrush as the river itself surged upward at the Gnasher’s call, currents smashing against the bank. The Gnashers roared, jaws snapping, but she was gone, scrambling through mud and roots, heart hammering, still managing to stay half a step ahead of certain death.

“This isn’t going to work.”, she thought to herself. “I can’t fight back if I can’t stop long enough to put up an offense. I need a way to slow them down!”

She looked around as she darted past shattered tree trunks from previous Gnasher assaults. If she could catch one in some loose ground, or jungle vines, maybe it would slow it enough for her to be able to get some strikes of her own in.

The twin River Gnashers surged again, jaws snapping, currents whipping around her legs. Sara’s [Danger Sense] pulsed like a drumbeat in her skull . Every warning a fraction of a second before death. She knew she couldn’t win by trading blows. Their Force was overwhelming, their coordination flawless. She had lost count of how many times the Sporespill effect of the Battle Robes had likely saved her life already, as jaws clamped closed or tail smashes slid past by the slightest of margins.

She needed to break the rhythm.

As she ducked around a shattered trunk, she moved too slow to escape cleanly, a massive tail whipping into a swiftly raised shield she barely managed to get up in time. Her breath was smashed from her lungs as she felt her ribs and arm break as she was tossed aside.

Sara thrust her hand outward, spores spilling from her robes as she focused on trying to slow the seemingly inevitable charge of the River Gnasher.

[Mycorrhizal Network Ability Unlocked: Ensnare] Effect: Converts 150 microbes to cause fungal vines to lash outward, rooting into the environment or directly into a target. The spores weave into tendrils that lash, bind, and immobilize prey, slowing movement and even restraining foes all together if the Network’s Soul Sum overpowers the targets Body Force.

[Remaining Network 850 of 1500]

Even as the vines began to lash at the Gnasher and attempt to bind it, Sara knew this was only a delay. She could not hope to restrain the raw force within the River Gnasher’s form. Knowing time was of the essence, she spared but a moment to heal herself and knit her bones back together as she rolled.

[Ability Activated: Repair Self] Wounds Restored. Bones Repaired. Mobility Restored.

[Cost: 50 Microbes. Remaining Network 800 of 1500]

Pivoting as she landed, she immediately leapt towards the briefly restrained River Gnasher. Her only hope was to wound the one enough before its partner arrived. And, with the Gnashers Twin Hunt ability, she was well aware that what the one knew, the other knew as well. Leaping in front of the briefly bound Gnasher, she thrust forward, turning one stab at it's face into three and forcing her spores into the wound.

[Rapid Jab Activated -1 Body Speed]

[Infested Strike] Cost 100 Microbes. Remaining Network 700 of 1500]

Even as the Gnasher began to rage and thrash as the spores began tearing at it from the inside, Sara was already kicking off of its head and throwing herself into the air to escape the death racing towards her back.

Tucking and rolling away on the opposite side of the Gnasher tearing its way free in its pain, she laughed as she heard the avalanche of sound of the two Gnasher bodies smashing into each other.

With the twin River Gnashers distracted with the dying pains of one, she was able to angle around unseen to strike at the less armored flank of the other.

[Rapid Jab Activated. -1 Body Speed]

[Infested Strike] Cost 100 Microbes. Remaining Network 600 of 1500]

She continued her assault, racing along the Gnasher’s flank as it spun.

[Rapid Jab Activated. -1 Body Speed]

[Danger Sense] warning her just in time of the attack from behind, Sara ducked and rolled as the two monstrous beasts rammed into each other, their innate hunting coordination spoiled in their maddening pain.

[Rapid Jab Activated -1 Body Speed]

She struck out again as the raced for the edge of the jungle line, feeling her body begin to slow from her necessary overuse of her body draining skills. But it was either use everything she had, or die and…. And it was only then, mid sprint for safety, that she realized she hadn’t det any new Spore points and if she died, she would Regrow all the way back in Fracking Cave #284,379! Days away!

“So. Less dying and more stabbing!”, she huffed between gasping breaths as she raced around a tree only to see that she was easily outpacing the now lumbering, bellowing in pain, River Gnashers. She watched as they stopped their chasing and turned to make for the safety of the river.

“No, no, no… You started this, but I’m damn well going to finish this. My Network is hungry!”

Tossing her spear and shield into her Pocket Dimension, she brought forth her Mycorrhizal Bat and began laying into the Gnasher’s legs with her very first unlocked skill.

[Power Swing Activated x8. -8 Body Force]

Making quick work of the Gnasher’s legs, she was then able to more safely pepper the hunting twins with blows, avoiding tail swings and bonecracking bites until, finally, she was the only thing left moving at the river’s edge.

*Ding* [Your party has killed River Gnasher (T2) x2.]

600 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

Error: Party size (1501) exceeds limit. Negligible experience gained.

Current Experience to next level: 411.73 of 500]

All that was left to do then was the cleanup, and to get across the, hopefully now empty, waters before something even deadlier took over.

*Ping* [300 Microbes gained. Current Network: 1100 of 1500]

*Ping* [Compatible Biological Sample Detected: River Gnasher x2]

(T2) River Gnasher Sample 1-2 of 5 absorbed.

Effect: Stat growth stored to be triggered during Regrowth.

Note: Stat increases limited to 5 samples per biological source.

Condition: Growth only occurs if source stat exceeds host stat.]

Item Collected: Medium Blue Crystal x2

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Now cleansed of its fearsome guardians, the river stretched wide before her, its surface glinting faintly in the morning light. The current was steady but not overwhelming. Manageable, if she kept her focus. Sara inhaled deeply, then exhaled, steadying herself. She wasn’t the strongest swimmer, and she didn't dare wait for the self imposed drains to her Body Force and Speed to wear off. The spot she had picked to cross was wide and slow. As good as she was going to get. But she still didn’t want to risk it bogged down with gear.

Her robes shimmered once before vanishing into her Pocket Storage. She followed with her spear, dagger, and shield, each disappearing with a thought. Naked of armor and weapons, she felt exposed, vulnerable. But it was the only way she was confident she wouldn’t be in over her head. “Ok, Sara. No drowning jokes now!”

She stepped into the water. Cold. Heavy. Every sense sharpened. Her [Danger Sense] pulsed faintly, not in alarm but in vigilance, reminding her that not all dangers were attacking creatures. Sometimes the land itself wanted to kill you if it could get away with it. Keenly aware of her defenseless state, she kept her eyes darting scanning above and below the waterline. She swam forward, arms pulling, legs kicking, eyes flicking constantly across the surface and into the depths.

Halfway across, she saw it.

At the bottom of the river, half-buried in silt and stone, a glow pulsed, a deep cerulean blue, swirling like liquid light. She didn’t know what it was, but she could feel it was important.

[Identify Activated]

[Tidal Core Shard]

Type: Resource Node (Unique)

Affinity: Water / Life / Force

Function: Enhances the area & creatures within it’s sphere of influence over time, granting the area additional potential resource density & defenses, and creatures possible Water Affinities or Abilities.

Effect on Mycorrhizal Network: Unknown.

Warning: Ownership contested. Apex predators will be drawn to it until it is claimed.

Sara’s breath caught. The River Gnashers had guarded this shard, their power drawn from its currents. But they were dead now, consumed into her network. And the System’s warning was clear. Something else would come soon to claim it.

Now or never.

She filled her lungs with air, then dove. The water pressed heavy against her body, muffling sound, slowing movement. She kicked downward, eyes locked on the shard. The glow intensified as she neared, cerulean lights swirling within it like a storm contained in crystal.

For a moment, she was lost in it. Hypnotized by the dance of blue currents, the way they seemed to whisper of power. The way the water around the shard swirled and flowed in response to the lights within. Her mind drifted, lulled by the beauty.

Her [Danger Sense] pulsed sharply, snapping her back. She shook her head, grit her teeth, and dug her fingers into the silt. The shard resisted, embedded deep, but she pried it free with raw determination.

It came loose with a pulsing surge of force and light, water currents rippling outward. Sara clutched it tight, then willed it into her Pocket Storage. The glow vanished from her hands, replaced by the faint warmth of ownership. The river waters slid back to slow and steady.

[Tidal Core Shard Ownership: Sara Bloom]

She kicked upward, breaking the surface with a gasp. Air filled her lungs, relief flooding her chest. She swam hard, arms burning, until at last she pulled herself onto the far bank.

The river lay behind her, the shard of as yet unknown purpose or value secure, her body trembling with exhaustion but alive.

She lay back in the grass, robes flickering back into existence around her, silver threads pulsing faintly. She whispered to herself as she gulped in air and waited for her limbs to stop feeling like day old Jello: “Water Levels are truly The Worst!”

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