Symbiotic: Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Sara’s excitement warred with her nerves as she coaxed Fluffy to lay flat across the cavern floor. Even prone, their adolescent bulk rose nearly ten feet high, a mountain of stone and magma that radiated heat like a living forge.

She pressed her senses to the limit. Mark Target, Sporesight, and even her sharpened Danger Sense probing into every inch of Fluffy’s expanded body. Top and bottom. Her mind searched for weakness, for cracks, for hidden wounds. But all she found were plates of armor so dense they looked like condensed rock, harder than steel, glowing faintly with molten seams.

Sara tested the thinner scales of Fluffy’s belly, where the thinner plates were ‘only’ half a foot thick, with the point of her spear. Fluffy squirmed, their voice rumbling through the Bond.

Fluffy (telepathically): “Stoooop! That tickles!”, they sent even as their body hissed and quivered.

She smiled despite herself, ordered Fluffy to roll over, then moved to the massive plates of their back, each a foot wide, System Compressed and impossibly heavy. She pressed her weapon into the seams where molten magma pulsed, only to watch in awe as the heat began to eat away at even her spore empowered spear.

Sara hissed under her breath, pulling the weapon back and repairing it with practiced ease. Anything that hits Fluffy is bound to have a ‘no good, very bad day’, she thought, pride swelling in her chest.

Try as she might, she found nothing to worry about. No weakness. No hidden injury. Just a creature reborn, bigger, tougher, and more unstoppable than ever.

Sara exhaled, her hand resting against Fluffy’s molten scales. “You’re back,” she whispered, relief flooding her voice. “And stronger than ever, my little worm.”, she whispered, half teasing, half affectionate.

The Bond flared with a sudden rush of indignation and pride. Fluffy’s voice thundered into her mind, deeper now, resonant with volcanic power.

Fluffy (telepathically): “Little? Sara, I am BIG now! I am HUGE! I am a GREAT greatworm!”

Fluffy shifted their coils, deliberately making the cavern tremble, their bulk filling the space like a living fortress. Their molten breath hissed against the stone, and they gave a rumbling laugh that echoed through her chest.

Fluffy (telepathically, playful): “I can bite a mountain in half! I can melt armies! I am not little anymore!”

Sara chuckled, shaking her head as she leaned against their massive side, patting the hardened coils affectionately. “Alright, alright. My great worm.”

Fluffy’s tail thumped against the cavern floor, sending sparks scattering and cracks shooting across what Sara was pretty sure was meant to be a near Indestructible surface.

Fluffy’s coils shifted, their massive body rumbling with anticipation.

Sara straightened, her spear gleaming in the magma light. Her nerves gave way to determination.

“Ok, my Great worm. It’s time to see what you can do.”

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The descent into the third and final floor was like stepping into a glittering nightmare. The walls shimmered with crystalline growths, jagged prisms catching the faint glow of magma from Fluffy. And each Crystal growth they passed near was a lottery. Some were Crystal Nodes, harvestable treasures. Others were explosive, detonating at any vibrations nearby. And some were no Crystal at all, but Crystal Crawler Swarms.

Sara’s grip on her spear tightened as she scanned the tunnels. She knew what awaited them here: Gem Mantises, Crystal Crawler Swarms, and the lurking menace of Shade Beetles. Not to mention that, somewhere, near indetectable until they struck, were the Hollow Ants and their deadly ambush assaults.

Her instincts surged. She dropped into a protective stance, every sense sharpened. Fluffy’s massive coils slid behind her, their adolescent bulk radiating heat and power. Logically, Sara knew how tough Fluffy was. Nothing short of the Dungeon Boss was likely to be a danger to her not so furry, not so little little furball. But Sara’s mind whispered only one thought after having felt what it felt like to think she had lost them: Nothing touches him. Nothing gets close.

The first Gem Mantis lunged, its diamond like claws flashing. Sara intercepted, spores blooming around her as she struck with precision. As more raced from the shadows to attack, she fought like a mother hen guarding her chick, every movement fueled by fierce protectiveness.

But then Fluffy moved.

Fluffy (telepathically): “Sara. Sara! Watch me!”, he shouted telepathically in the same exuberance as any four year old on the playground.

The adolescent Magma Greatworm surged forward, their body like a living fortress. Plates of System hardened basalt armor gleamed, molten seams glowing brighter as they slammed into the mantises. The creatures shattered like glass under their coils.

Sara froze, awe flickering through her panic. Fluffy’s so so far from fragile now. He’s the wall. The Valley wall… if that wall could bite a tank in half and shoot magma!

The Crystal Crawlers swarmed next, dozens of glittering insectoids skittering across the cavern floor and through the air. Sara raised her spores, ready to choke them out, but Fluffy was already there. They unleashed a cone of molten breath, magma and stone shards exploding outward, as Fluffy covered the cavern in superheated eruption. The swarms melted into slag, their crystalline bodies collapsing in heaps.

Fluffy (telepathically, gleeful): “Sara! Did you see that? I breathed fire! I melted them! I’m amazing!”

Sara couldn’t help but laugh, even as she repaired her spear from the heat. “Yes, Fluffy. You’re terrifying, buddy.”

Then came the Shade Beetles. Their aura pressed against her Soul, gnawing at her strength, whispering hunger. Sara braced herself, spores flaring defensively. But Fluffy only rumbled, his Soul defenses blazing through the Bond.

Fluffy (telepathically, triumphant): "Sara! It’s like they’re nibbling at me, but from inside me? It tickles! Silly Shade bugs can’t eat a Greatworm. I eat them!”

He slammed into the beetles, coils crushing, molten breath searing. Rows upon rows of magma heated obsidian teeth tearing. The aura shattered against him like waves against stone. Sara felt the Bond pulse, their combined strength overwhelming the corruption.

Battle after battle, Sara’s overprotective stance faltered. She realized she didn’t need to shield Fluffy at all. He was the shield. He was the fortress. And he was having the time of his life.

Through every strike, every bite, every eruption of magma, Fluffy kept up a running commentary in her head. Excited, eager, playful.

Fluffy (telepathically): “Sara! I bit one in half! Did you see? Oh, oh, I crushed three at once! Look, I can melt the floor! This is fun! Oops. Sorry about your shoes.”

Sara shook her head, smiling despite herself. Her heart still ached with protectiveness, but now it was tempered by pride. Proudly, she let Fluffy dominate the floor, while she focused on speed and killing any ambush attempts or ranged attacks.

It was with some surprise that Sara heard a familiar and welcome tone in her mind.

*Ping* [Skill Learned: Spear Dash] (Subskill of Novice Spear & Shield Mastery)

• Description: Spear Dash: A charge technique that triples Speed for 1 second. The momentum gained is immediately transferred into next spear attack, adding the bonus Speed as additional Force damage.

• Effect:

o Speed ×3 for 1 second.

o Next spear strike gains bonus damage equal to Speed increase.

o Can be chained with other spear techniques for devastating burst attacks.

• Limitations:

• Requires clear line of movement.

• Cooldown: 10 seconds.

• Cannot be used while slowed, immobilized, or heavily encumbered.

Laughing with battlejoy, Sara immediately triggered the new skill, and her already ridiculous nearly 500 Speed of was suddenly tripled. She flew across the cavern almost faster than her Mind could follow, smashing into a Hollow Ant just as it attempted to emerge from ambush. And the Hollow Ant simply…. Exploded under the might of the skills power.

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Shortly afterwards, during a brief lull between fights, Sara called for Fluffy to hold for a moment before rushing in to what she knew was the huge Dungeon Boss chamber. Their final test of the Dungeon.

Sara sat with her spear across her knees, letting her breathing slow after the rush of battle. The memory of using her new technique, Spear Dash, still lingered in her muscles. The way her body had surged forward with impossible speed, the strike carrying all that momentum into a single devastating thrust. How her target simply ceased to be at the empowered Force damage. Sure, Spear Dash was probably supposed to be some minor trick. A way to give a boosted strike of some extra power. But 3x more damage is a lot different with a nearly 500 stat as opposed to a, probably, below 50 stat when most people learned the skill. In Sara’s hands. It turned effecting into deadly.

Her mind wandered back to her training with energy manipulation. She remembered how it had increased from Novice to standard. Learning three distinct subskills had been the trigger, the spark that forced her core skill to evolve. Could it be the same with weapons? she wondered. Do I need three subskills under Spear & Shield Mastery before the core itself changes?

The thought made her pulse quicken. If that were true, then Spear Dash wasn’t just another trick. It was a step toward something greater. She imagined what that evolution might look like: a broader mastery tree opening before her, intermediate techniques waiting to be unlocked. Perhaps her stamina costs would lessen, her movements flowing more naturally. Maybe her strikes would carry passive bonuses, her Force and Speed scaling higher with every swing.

And chaining… she could almost see it. Spear Dash into Rapid Jab? And more as she learned them. Each one flowing into the other, a compound strike that could overwhelm any opponent.

Sara’s fingers tightened on the haft of her weapon, her eyes gleaming with determination. Yes. Subskills are catalysts. Once I reach the threshold, the core will strengthen. Just like before. And with Fluffy as my anchor, I can afford to focus on expanding my skillset rather than fighting just for survival. Fluffy had just grown, evolving into something stronger. Sara needed to do the same.

Together, they would climb the peaks of Perfection.

And together, they would be unstoppable.

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