Symbiotic: Chapter 4

Sara had taken the time to rest, letting her body adjust to the strange new balance of her stats. The ache in her leg was still there, but she could feel the network humming faintly inside her, spores knitting strength into her frame. She wasn’t healed, not yet, but she was steadier. And steadier meant ready to hunt.

She moved through the jungle with purpose, eyes scanning for caves. The last Jungle Cat had been hiding in one, and she hoped the pattern would repeat. But the forest had its own plans.

A flicker of movement caught her eye, too subtle, too quiet. The vines and branches seemed to ripple, and then the shape of a Jungle Cat resolved, blending perfectly into the trees. Her heart lurched, but something inside her screamed louder.

[Skill Acquired: Danger Sense]

The warning hit her like a jolt of electricity. She jumped back instinctively, just as the Cat’s claws slashed through the space where her neck had been. The swipe missed its mark, but not entirely as pain ripped across her shoulder as claws gouged deep.

Sara hissed, staggering, but raised her bat as she backed up and took a defensive stance. The Jungle Cat snarled, vines twisting as it lunged again. They traded blows in a brutal rhythm: her bat smashing against its wooden limbs, its claws raking at her arms and sides. Each strike left her bruised, bleeding, but still standing.

She forced herself to think, to maneuver. The Cat was fast, too fast in open space. She needed to trap it. She baited another leap, sidestepping at the last second, driving it toward a massive tree trunk.

The Cat landed awkwardly, pressed against the bark, its escape cut off. Sara seized the moment.

[Power Swing Activated]

Her bat came down in a savage arc, silver-threaded fibers humming with force. The impact cracked through the Cat’s skull, splintering vines and wood. The beast collapsed, lifeless, its body unraveling into the jungle floor.

*Ding* [Your party has killed a Jungle Cat.]

150 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

Error: Party size (667) exceeds limit. Negligible experience gained.

Current Experience to next level: 2.77 of 250]

*Ping* [Compatible Biological Sample Detected: Jungle Cat

Jungle Cat Sample 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.]

Sara staggered back, chest heaving, shoulder burning from the gouge. She wiped blood from her arm, gripping the bat tighter. The jungle cat had tried to take her head, instead it fed her network. She touched her hand to the corpse.

*Ping* [75 Microbes gained. Current Network: 233 of 666]

And now, with Danger Sense whispering at the edge of her awareness, she knew she had one more tool to survive what the tutorial had yet to throw at her.

[Danger Sense] [Effect: Provides early warning of ambushes, hidden predators, or in some cases environmental dangers.]

<>

Sara pressed deeper into the jungle, her senses sharpened by the strange new skill. Danger Sense whispered at the edges of her awareness. Silent at most times, but a pulsing hum of warning when danger is nearby. Sure, most people would use Danger Sense to AVOID threats, to survive. But Sara wasn’t most people, and avoiding Jungle Cats wouldn't get her where she needed to go.

If I have a tool, I’ll use it the way I need, she thought grimly. And right now, I need danger. I need enemies to feed the network.

The whispers guided her, tugging her toward places where the air felt heavier, where silence was too complete. She found her first Jungle Cat crouched in the branches above, its body woven from vines and wood. The Jungle Cat’s failed ambush became Sara’s ambush instead. Her bat cracked against its skull, silver threads humming as the beast fell lifeless to the forest floor.

The second came in a clearing, its eyes glowing faintly as it prowled toward her. They clashed in a storm of claws and splinters. The Jungle Cat struck low, its claws raking across her front leg. Pain exploded, white-hot, and she staggered, barely able to stand. Her bat felt heavier, her movements sluggish. She swung again, but her body betrayed her without a solid foot to pivot on. Too slow, too weak.

She collapsed to one knee, blood soaking into the soil, trying to ready herself for one last desperate clash. The Cat circled, ready to finish her.

And then the System answered.

[Ability Unlocked: Repair Self] Effect: Converts 50 microbial energy to restore host body. Remaining Network 283 of 666]

Sara gasped as spores surged through her veins, glowing threads weaving across her wounds. The pain dulled, the torn flesh knitting together in real time. Her leg steadied beneath her, strength returning as the network repaired what the Cat had broken.

She rose, bat in hand, eyes blazing. The Jungle Cat lunged, expecting an easy win, but this time, she was ready. Swinging low to high, she sent the Jungle Cat flipping ass over tea kettle.

[Power Swing Activated]

*Ding* [Your party has killed a Jungle Cat x3]

450 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

Error: Party size (667) exceeds limit. Negligible experience gained.

Current Experience to next level: 3.45 of 250]

*Ping* [Compatible Biological Sample Detected: Jungle Cat]

Jungle Cat Sample 3,4,& 5 of 5 absorbed.

Effect: Stat growth stored to be triggered during Regrowth.

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

NO MORE STAT GROWTH MAY BE GAINED FROM JUNGLE CAT SAMPLES

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

Sara stood over the fallen creature, chest heaving, her leg whole again. She looked down at her leg, watching as the spores painted silver webs across her formerly bleeding wound, glowing faintly beneath smooth undamaged skin.

I can heal myself. I’m not just surviving anymore. I’m adapting. Growing. Becoming something more.

She fed the corpses to her network, collecting the three green crystals with the rest in her pocket.

*Ping* [225 Microbes gained. Current Network: 408 of 666]

The jungle was still full of predators, but she carried something they didn’t: a network that refused to let her fall.

<>

Sara leaned back against the cave wall, her breath steady now that her wounds had knit themselves closed. The jungle had stripped her down to little more than rags, the last shreds of her starting clothes clinging pitifully to her frame. She frowned, fingers brushing the silvery lines of spores glowing faintly beneath her skin.

If the network can make weapons… why not clothing?, she thought to herself. Knowing it will cost 100 Microbes per item, she decides on a thick Robe, with lots of pockets, instead of replacing both shirt and pants separately.

The thought crystallized into intent, and the System responded.

[Create Basic Object Activated] Cost: 100 Microbes. Remaining Network 308 of 666]

Her hands tingled, warmth spreading outward as fungal fibers began to weave themselves together. Threads of silver light laced through the growth, shaping not into a bat this time, but into fabric. Thick, layered folds unfurled across her body, pockets forming inside and out with uncanny precision.

In moments, she wore a robe, long-sleeved, heavy, and perfectly tailored to her frame. Dark green fibers shimmered with the silver fungal network, the design intricate and alive, as if the garment itself breathed with her.

She shuffled around the cave, taking a few test swings & marveling at the fit. It was warm, comfortable, and undeniably stylish. The robe hung with weight and purpose, its pockets ready to carry whatever she might need, and thick folds heavy enough to offer some protection from cuts and scrapes she is so prone to receiving.

[Equipment Created: Mycorrhizal Robe] Durability: Enhanced. Defense: +1]

Sara laughed softly, shaking her head. Man, I could have saved myself so many cuts and bruises if I’d thought of this earlier. The robe wasn’t just clothing, it was armor, a shield woven from the same spores that had become her lifeline.

She flexed her shoulders, feeling the robe settle around her like a second skin. For the first time since the System had claimed her, she felt not just like prey scrambling to survive, but like someone preparing for the battles ahead.

The jungle was still waiting. But now, she was dressed for it. She slipped the 10 small crystals, five brown & five green, into one of her inner pockets, and moved towards the cave entrance, trusty bat ready for action.