Symbiotic: Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Sara stood outside her Residence, the Greatworm Egg cradled against her side, spores drifting in a faint shimmer around it. Tas’s advice echoed in her mind: find a place of strong ambient energy for the bond to take root.

She considered the obvious choices. The Village Square near the Control Crystal? It’s energy was potent, humming with System resonance. But if anything went wrong, the collateral damage would be catastrophic. Too much risk of building damage. Too many bystanders. Not a good choice.

The Dungeon was stronger still, its ambient energy thick and primal. Yet Sara’s instincts warned her: Territorial Instincts of Greatworms were sharp, possessive. That ‘Mindlessly Hostile’ instinct might override the delicate bond she needed to form.

So, she lingered outside her Residence, gazing down into the valley. The wind carried the scent of ash and stone, as she scanned the valley below for Inspiration and her mind turned over possibilities. Slowly, a grin spread across her face.

Tas, watching her carefully, frowned. “That look… Viscount Bloom, just what are you thinking?”

She slowly began to turn, eyes gleaming. “Somewhere with strong energy, right Tas? Higher ambient energy the better? Away from structures? Away from bystanders? Somewhere the ambient energy might even benefit the bond…”

Tas’s eyes widened as he realized where her gaze had settled. The Volcano Crater. The Residence itself perched at its edge, overlooking the yawning mouth of fire and stone.

“Now,” Sara said, voice playful but resolute, “where could we find something like that?”

Tas began to run through a long list of why this was a bad idea, but sighed, already knowing Sara would not be dissuaded. With a flick of her hand, she teleported them both to the crater’s rim. Together they gazed down into the crater heart, where rivers of lava had once pulsed through jagged tubes, leaving veins in the mountain’s flesh.

Tas scanned the crater, her expression tightening. “The ambient energy here is… considerable. Far above the valley average. But it’s Fire based, volatile. Dangerous.”

Sara’s grin only widened. “Danger Sense will guide me. My body’s Physical Defenses are strong. Heck, my skin will probably fare better against the heat than my armor would. And if it gets too hot, or too dangerous…” She tapped the Signet ring on her finger. “I can always escape back to the Residence. Or you can pull me out if necessary.”

Tas shook his head, muttering under her breath, but Sara, mad grin wide and Greatworm Egg under her arm, was already moving.

“It’ll be fine!” she called back, voice ringing with confidence.

With that, she hopped down into the crater, the Egg tucked close, spores shimmering like a protective veil around it, feeding it. The heat rose in waves, the air thick with the scent of sulfur and stone. She picked her way toward the lava tubes, eyes scanning for one that might lead deeper. Closer to the Volcano’s core, where the energy was strongest.

Each step carried her further into danger, but also closer to the bond she sought.

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The lava tube sloped downward in a lazy but consistent winding path, its walls blackened and cracked from molten flow centuries ago. Sara pressed her palm against the stone as she moved, feeling the residual heat radiating through it. The surface was hot to the touch, but not blistering. An old tube, dormant yet still alive with the memory of what it had once birthed. Her Danger Sense vibrated faintly, not in alarm but in quiet vigilance, as though reminding her that it was watching, waiting, ready to flare if true peril arose.

She adjusted the Greatworm Egg against her side, spores shimmering around it in a protective cocoon. Each pulse of Soul energy she fed into it was answered by a faint thrum, a resonance that seemed to grow stronger the deeper she went. The tube narrowed suddenly, forcing her to crouch low and squeeze through a collapsed section. Stone scraped against her shoulders, and she gritted her teeth, pushing forward until the tunnel widened again.

The heat rose steadily, oppressive and unrelenting. Sweat beaded across her brow, dripping down her arms, sizzling as it struck the stone floor. She knew that any ordinary NCP would have collapsed long ago, lungs seared, body overwhelmed. But her defenses held firm, her body hardened by countless battles and the resilience of her spores. She pressed onward, each step deliberate and measured.

The tunnel thinned again, forcing her to smash through a wall of brittle obsidian stone. The impact echoed, shards scattering across the floor, but the tube remained solid, steady in its winding descent. She paused, closing her eyes, tracking not only herself but the Egg with Mark Target. Her heart quickened as she sensed its state. Not only was it unharmed, but it was thriving. The Egg pulsed with quiet joy, its aura brightening as the ambient fire and stone energy grew stronger. It was drinking in the heat, savoring the volcanic resonances of fire and stone as though this place had been made for it.

Sara’s lips curled into a grin.

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She continued downward, spores cocooning the Egg tighter, feeding it her Soul and spores steadily. The oppressive heat pressed against her skin, but she welcomed it, knowing it was strengthening the bond. She would endure if it helped her Companion thrive. Occasionally, she brushed her hand against the walls, feeling the faint tremor of energy coursing through the stone. Though dormant above, the volcano below was still very much alive, its heartbeat steady, its power immense.

Finally, the tube opened into a wider cavern. The walls stretched high above her, jagged and uneven, the air shimmering with heat. Multiple lava tubes converged here, their mouths gaping like the throats of ancient beasts. The cavern floor was cracked and uneven, stone glowing faintly from the heat beneath.

Further in, the darkness was broken by a shifting orange yellow glow. Sara’s watched from a distance, eyes widening. She could see it. The volcano’s molten core. A lake of fire churned and rippled, its surface glowing like liquid fire, casting flickering shadows across the cavern walls as it’s heat both ate and created the stone shore around it. The sight was both terrifying and beautiful, a reminder of the raw, untamed power that lay beneath the Valley.

She tightened her grip on the Egg, spores gripping it tightly in response. This was the place. This was where the bond would be tested, forged, and perhaps completed.

But even as awe filled her, her Danger Sense flared sharply. The quiet vibration became a warning pulse, insistent and undeniable. But she felt it was not the heat that Danger Sense warned her of. The heat was blistering, but manageable. She froze, scanning the molten glow.

The cavern was not hers alone.

Shadows moved under the lava flow, shapes too deliberate to be tricks of the heat. Things stirred near the core, presence masked by the shimmers of molten glow.

Sara’s pulse quickened. She straightened, spores tightening protectively around the Egg, her body bracing against the oppressive heat. The perfect area to enhance her bond was close, so close she could feel it thrumming in her veins. But so too was something else. Something waiting, watching. Something that did not care for invaders.

Sara expanded her Sporesight to 200 feet, and winced as the overbearing heat of the environment burned her spores at the edges. She quickly drew the Spores back. Sporesight to 100 feet. Then 50. Then only 30, where she was finally able to empower her Spore cloud with her aura, protecting it from death by cremation.

Senses limited unlike anytime since she first gained Sporesight, Sara moved against the lava hot wall, hoping that it would help hide her presence if the creatures ahead worked by heat sense like the Magmites, and focused inwards towards her network. Defending her cloud from the heat was taking up too much of her concentration, and trying to find while blinded and Mind occupied like this was a recipe for disaster. She needed some time to acclimate herself to the added strain. Hopefully whatever awaited in the Magma lake would continue to wait just a little bit longer.

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The cavern’s heat pressed against Sara like a living wall, the molten core pulsing in the distance. Her spores shimmered faintly around her, but every second she felt fire gnawing at their edges. She pushed harder, pouring Soul energy into her cloud, forcing it to hold against the assault.

It was not enough.

Her Sporesight, normally a steady 200 foot radius, shrank and flickered as the volcanic energy clawed at it. She withdrew her cloud to only 30 feet around here, gritted her teeth, tripling the Soul Sum expenditure just to keep the cloud intact. The drain was immense, her reserves burning faster than she liked, but she refused to let the spores collapse.

Sweat hissed as it struck the stone floor, her body trembling under the strain. Inch by inch, microbe by microbe, she began to see. Not just the heat of the air, but the truth beneath it. The fire energy of the cavern was not passive, it was predatory. It hunted her spores, tearing at them, killing them as invaders trespassing in its domain.

Her mind sharpened, analytical instinct cutting through the haze. If the fire energy was attacking, then it was not simply an environment, it was an opponent. And opponents could be fought.

She inhaled, steadying herself, and shifted her focus. Instead of overwhelming the heat with raw power, she began to shape her defense. She guided her spores to resist, to adapt, to convert. The fire energy clawed at them, but she redirected its bite, pulling the heat into the spores and studying the results, twisting it into strength.

The cavern shimmered, her spores glowing faintly orange at the edges as the System registered her success.

*Ding* [New Energy Manipulation Mastery SubSkill Acquired]

Fire Energy Conversion (Subskill of Novice Energy Manipulation Mastery)

• Alters existing controlled external energy to empower with fire energy.

• Costs −1 temporary Thought per use.

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Sara groaned in appreciation, the strain easing as her spores shifted. The fire no longer devoured them, it fueled them. Her cloud stabilized, Sporesight holding firm, its edges burning with a faint ember glow. She smiled, the Egg pulsing warmly against her side, and pressed her new flame resistant Sporesight out to 100 feet. Then 200. And felt the spores slide along superheated stone and furnacelike air without issue.

She had not just survived the volcano’s assault. She had learned from it. And now, she could carry its fire within her. Elsewhere it would be an attack, but here, it was a life saving defense.

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She narrowed her eyes, every sense sharpened, every muscle coiled. The creatures, for they were definitely creatures, swum through the magma lake ahead. Sara could sense them, could see their movements. But she could not See them to Mark or Identify.

And so, eagerness rising, and ready to toss the Egg back into the safety of Storage, she carefully stepped closer.

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