Symbiotic: Chapter 5

Sara’s hunt became a relentless march through the jungle, her robe whispering with silver threads as her bat pulsed faintly in her grip. She no longer waited for predators to find her. She sought them out, following the subtle tug of her Danger Sense like a compass. Each flicker of warning was not a call to retreat, but a beacon guiding her toward the next fight, the next source of strength for her growing network.

The first Jungle Cat came from above, its body woven from vines and wood, leaping from the canopy with claws extended. Sara pivoted, bat raised, and met it mid-air with a crushing [Power Swing]. The creature shattered into splinters, leaving behind a glowing green crystal that hummed with microbial energy. She scooped it up, feeling the spores inside her stir, feeding on the prize.

Another Cat prowled in a clearing, its eyes glowing faintly as it circled her. They clashed in a storm of claws and splinters, her robe absorbing some of the strikes, though bruises blossomed beneath the fabric. She ducked low, sweeping her bat in a wide arc, and the beast collapsed, unraveling into broken vines. The microbes surged again, filling her veins with warmth.

The battles blurred together into a rhythm: ambushes from caves, lunges from shadows, snarls from the branches above. Each time, Sara learned a little more, fought a little smarter, her body battered but her spirit sharpened. She invoked [Repair Self] when wounds grew too deep, spores knitting her flesh mid-battle, turning pain into strength. Her robe tore and mended, her bat hummed with impact, and the jungle floor grew littered with the remains of fallen Cats.

With every kill, crystals and microbes poured into her network. She felt it swelling, expanding, the silver threads beneath her skin glowing brighter with each victory. The numbers climbed… 400, 500, 600… until at last, after one final brutal clash that left her breathless and bloodied but victorious, the System’s voice rang out.

[Network Capacity Reached. Current Network Size: 666 / 666]

Seven foes found, Seven foes eliminated. Sara stood in the clearing, chest heaving, robe torn but radiant with silver light as the thick fungal threads slowly repaired themselves, (Something that had come as a startling, but so very welcome surprise to learn). Her bat dripped sap and blood, spores drifting lazily in the air around it as it too continued to repair and reinforce itself. She had filled the network, every slot brimming with energy. In the dimming light as day seemingly turned to night even without a visible sun, she took a quick moment to check the System display for results.

First, her tragic uphill climb towards Level 2.

*Ding* [Your party has killed a Jungle Cat x7]

1050 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

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

Current Experience to next level: 5.05 of 250]

A day. An entire day spent tackling every challenge she could find, and she was two percent of the way to Level 2. It didn’t just feel like a challenge, it felt like an insurmountable climb. She might never reach level 2, but thankfully her Mycorrhizal Network blessed her with another path to growth.

She had also filled her pocket with these crystals, adding 7 more small green crystals to the 7 brown and 5 green she already carried. “Probably useless without levelling, but who knows.”, she muttered as she tossed her 12 green crystals into one inner pocket and her 5 brown into another. “God, I love Pockets!”, she chuckled to herself.

<>

Realizing that whatever called itself night around here was just around the corner Sara staggered into a cave she had cleared of its Jungle Cat occupant earlier, the shadows deepening as whatever passed for night in this jungle began to descend. The air was damp, and heavy, almost as if Day and Night were two different places, not just times. She crawled into the cave opening and sat back against the stone wall, spores humming faintly beneath her skin, and closed her eyes.

Sleep came quickly, but safety was an illusion.

She woke with a jolt, ribs screaming as pressure crushed inward. Her breath hitched, vision swimming. Something massive had coiled around her, its body rough and jagged like stone.

Chest burned, vision narrowing, she tried to struggle free from whatever had her restrained.

[Identify Activated.

[Rock Constrictor]

Body: Force 20 | Speed 13

Mind: Thought 9 | Knowledge 3

Soul: Self 15 | Sum 5

Eight feet of muscle and shale-like scales wrapped tighter, squeezing the air from her lungs. Sara gasped, panic surging, but one arm was free. She clawed for her bat, gripping it desperately. She swung, but the angle was wrong and her one-handed swings against the coils wrapped around her own torso. The bat thudded uselessly against stone-hard scales.

Her breath wheezed, the world dimming. She dropped the bat, fingers trembling, and forced her mind to focus. Use the network. Use it now.

[Create Basic Object Activated. Item Created: Punch Dagger]

[Remaining Network 566 of 666]

A small blade with a pistol like grip formed in her hand. Something she had seen demonstrated and been surprised at the lethality in the demonstration, fungal fibers weaving into a short, brutal weapon. With her vision swimming, she drove the dagger into the Constrictor’s body again and again, each strike fueled by desperation, weakened by failing oxygen. The snake hissed, its coils tightening once more before shuddering. She punched harder, spores glowing faintly with each thrust, until at last the creature’s strength gave out.

The Rock Constrictor slackened, its body unraveling from her chest. Sara rolled free, collapsing onto the cave floor, gasping and coughing as air rushed back into her lungs.

*Ding* [Your party has killed a Rock Constrictor]

200 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

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

Current Experience to next level: 5.35 of 250]

She lay there, clutching her ribs, every breath ragged. Relief washed over her in waves, but before she could even begin to recuperate, her Danger Sense flared.

Her eyes widened.

From the cave entrance, another Rock Constrictor slid across the stone, its shale scales grinding faintly as it moved. Drawn by the sounds of combat, it was already beginning to enter the cave, its body coiling with predatory intent.

Sara’s heart pounded. She had barely survived the first. Now another was coming.

<>

Sara’s lungs still burned from the crushing coils of the Rock Constrictor she had just slain. She lay on the cave floor, ribs aching, spores pulsing faintly beneath her skin as she tried to steady her breath. Relief was short-lived. From the entrance, another Constrictor slid silently across the stone, its shale scales grinding faintly as it moved.

Before she could rise, the System’s voice cut through the tension, sharp and undeniable.

[Quest Notification]

Defense Quest Activated: Hold Your Ground

Objective: Successfully defend your location for 1 hour.

Condition: Waves of Creatures will be spawned to assault your position until you are defeated, you leave the disputed territory, or the timer runs out.

Reward: Territorial Authority Token

Effect: Claim a location as your territory. All allied creatures within your territory gain benefits.]

Sara’s heart pounded. A quest? She had seen skills, abilities, stats, but this was different. This was purpose. Structure. A challenge laid bare by the System itself.

Her mind raced. One hour. That’s sixty minutes of survival against wave after wave of stone-skinned predators. If I succeed… I gain authority. Territory. A place that is mine.

The thought was intoxicating. She had been running, fighting, bleeding, barely surviving. Even trying to take a nap was a death defying action in this deadly Tutorial. But this… This was a chance to carve out safety, to anchor herself in the chaos. A Territorial Authority Token that would let her claim this cave, make it more than just a hollow in the rock. It would become hers.

The Rock Constrictor hissed, sliding closer, muscles rippling beneath its shale hide. Sara forced herself to her feet, her small punch dagger in her hand, and 8 feet of rock and muscle at the door.

She braced herself as the serpent slid into her cave.

[Quest Timer Initiated: 60:00]

The countdown began.