White Flower, Black Feather

Spine Duo Lizard

Miriam struggled all the way to the east, desperately needing to move away from the Fae and Sunny. That insidious idea…

It would be so easy…

‘Shut… up…’ was still eating at her mind

Sunny wouldn't complain…

‘Shut…! Up!’ just as her anger grew, she managed to focus on a different idea ‘Water cutter…?’ she focused on the river ‘Replacing my sword… with a spell…?’ she was so focused on not going to the west, that she hadn't noticed the swarm of wasps moving in that direction before

She was noticed, but the Line was in the way and even if it wasn't, she would have used the river to avoid the wasps. Just like she was using it, to make a water sphere float next to her before grabbing it with her hand

‘Pressurize, Aim, Focus, Impulse, Cut, Single Point Release’ Miriam aimed her spell to a rock on the ground… feeling stressed by everything was happening to her… including the memories from the man… ‘Water’s Wrath!’ and she poured her emotions in the attack

Crack!

Seeing it cut the rock and deeply into the ground, even when she started to move the sphere to the side creating a deep line in the ground for as long as she had water…

Hiss…

The spell left her trembling slightly with all her emotions boiling in her mind…

HISS!!!

But she didn’t tried to bottle them, instead she raised her left hand and using her emotions, Miriam made the water of the river move up to two meters of height, mimicking the shape of her hand and arm-

SPLASH!!!

She swiped her left arm and the water arm did the same, throwing a fish out of the water that she coiled around with her tail

‘WATER’S WRATH!!!’ then she moved her hand to the ground in front of her, and her spell fired the water jet from the palm tracing the line along the area she indicated with her movement

It took her a moment to realize why the angle of the cut was different to what she expected, the spell came from her left and not from her hand, but it was just as deep as the one she caused with the sphere

‘AAAHHH!!!’ she stopped the beam and raised her other hand making the ground take the shape of her other arm and hand… stopping as she noticed the differences between it and her arm…

Taking deep breaths as she paid more attention to the two things she made with her magic, before letting the water collapse and taking some seconds to fix the ground back to normal…

‘This… must be what “Living” mean…’ she focused on what she saw of the two arms… ‘The water was turbulent and wild… the ground had a lot of sharp edges and spikes… my magic is affected by my emotions…’ she focused on her breathing

Not moving for some minutes…

‘I don’t want to see how my magic interacts with Berserker now…’ Miriam looked at the dead fish and swallow it after a prayer ‘Need more food…’ the wings on her head twitched and she looked to the Line

There was an annoying sound coming from the other side, it started like a buzz that was wildly different from Sunny’s and was followed by something digging…

‘Let’s go see what it is…’ the wind wasn't moving in a direction that would let her have an idea of what the creature was by smell

Miriam crossed the river placing extra care into not letting her wings, or the items under them, get wet. While she was starting to climb, she made sure her aura was retracted, and that it didn’t got released while using her new spells…

‘Ugh…’ trying to remember when she had released her aura before, caused her to think about Jess. That distraction made a rock fall down while climbing, but a quick use of her magic, stopped it from making sound against the ground… and seeing the river from above, Miriam pulled a water sphere for her to use

She reached the edge and carefully looked over it, partially hidden by the Terror Stone she could see a wasp digging on the ground using its mandibles, with its stinger towards her general direction

‘Easy…?’ she made the water move slowly towards the bike-sized wasp, not having any problem to reach it… but her lack of regeneration made her be extra careful before using her spell ‘Water’s Wrath!’

Crack!

Piercing the whole body of the wasp, from the abdomen to the head in less than a second, making it collapse…

‘Yes, easy…’ she got closer and confirmed it was dead, before praying and using the rest of the sphere to cut the stinger plus some of the sharp parts of the wasp, starting to eat it once that was done ‘Status?’

‘Ah… good thing I didn’t meet one of these earlier…’ as she finished with the wasp, Miriam noticed the vibrations and smell coming from the place where it had been digging ‘A mouse…? Or a rabbit…?’ but she wasn't interested in hunting something so small, or cute, and returned to the cliff…

Where she looked at Sunny… not seeing any difference from normal… she was looking exactly as she remembered…

‘Something’s wrong…?’ but she couldn't help but wonder if her bad feeling was due to wanting to eat the Fae… or if something really was wrong with Sunny… ‘What happened with Sunny?!’ so she asked the nearby trees

Rustling

‘Frustrated…? Remind her that I believe in her, please…’ she couldn't help but feel that something was off with the answer she got, and looked back at Sunny… ‘Ugh…’

But she couldn't get closer to confirm it… not until enough time passed for Jess to hide…

The climb down was a bit difficult now that she was full, while fighting the idea once more… but soon enough she was on the place where she practiced her new spell…

And she pulled her attention to the sharp bits of the rock she broke with the spell…

‘Oh… that’s a better idea…’ she was very grateful for the fruit that helped her recover her magic, as she made use of more water spheres for some time

Miriam used the spell to cut some of the stones around, and a few she found while moving, making a more uniform edge for her earthen sword, that she started to carry while fully formed under her right wing

Completing her sword took her a lot of time, but the fish and wasp she ate were enough for the rest of her day… even if her hunger woke her up in the middle of the night for a moment, before the cold put her to sleep again…

/////

He was walking along a tunnel without illumination before reaching a wide stone room, for some reason that she didn’t fully understood, she had no problems with the lack of light anywhere…

Or rather, Titan had no problems with the darkness, and that was reflected in his memories

Miriam could “Remember” the… happiness… that he was feeling as he got closer to Grim…

It was a happiness that quickly got suppressed by the hatred of the discovery, and her own hate… to the point were she almost woke up from the dream at the sight of that punchable face…

“I’m finally back…” but she felt that the memory was important… “I didn’t slept yesterday in order to get here today” and tried to focus on it… almost as if someone was placing a calming hand on her shoulder…

“I suppose that hunting a Frozen Tusk in the middle of winter, explains the long wait…” Grim looked emotionless while talking

She got an image of a woolly elephant with four long tusks made of ice, when she tried to focus on that name for a moment

“The most annoying part were the glaciers… let me explain, it didn’t took me too long to reach the thing, barely just in time to stop it from destroying the main bridge to the north, but it started to run away when I cut its nose and it was faster than me on the ice and snow…” Titan on the other hand, sounded excited about talking of his adventure…

Giving a lot of details of the route, the tracking, the other creatures that got in the way…

“The chase finally ended when we almost got buried by a glacier collapsing on top of us” she wasn't sure if Grim had paid attention to him at all… “It got stuck and I killed it, but I lost some of my gear on the avalanche, so I had to move while dragging it all the way south to have something to eat”

She also didn’t understood why Titan hadn't talked about the wounds he got from that collapse… nor about how close he got to dying on the way back… she also had memories of him sleeping inside the creature to stay away from the cold…

“I see… and now I understand the reason for the quest. That bridge is useful for us too…” he still sounded emotionless “But… the white snake that I wanted you to bring me, became the Fourth Ruler at some point after you left… and I assume adventurers told you about the tree?”

“Yes, a giant Guardian Tree?” Grim nodded at the question and continued… increasing Miriam’s anger at how little he cared about the one she guided through the mist

“Some say it’s the child of that fake plant goddess… but whatever it is, it blocks a lot of ground” he gesture to a nearby ‘Map’ on top of a stone altar “But I digress, our material provider was attacked here by the new Ruler…”

Miriam couldn't see the drawings on it clearly, the only clear thing on it, were a familiar slope drawn on it, and the route that Titan traced with his finger, ignoring everything else on it

“And today…” Grim moved a shaking hand to the spot she punched… “It destroyed a Doll and the puppeteer that was controlling it” almost touching it… “I need you to kill it…” but he clenched his trembling fingers while sounding…

Obsessed…

“I will…” there wasn't doubt on Titan’s voice… “I just have to assume, that we aren't going to use it to create an essence crystal…?” the one that showed hesitation, was Grim…

“I’ll leave that to your discretion… but the moment you feel any danger. Kill it…” he gave Titan three small bottles, one was red while the rest were yellow “These two are my most potent antitoxin, the slavers said that it has a breath attack that rots flesh quite quickly, so, drink one before and after fighting it”

He took the antitoxin bottles and placed them in his bag

“Anything else?” Titan sounded annoyed… and antsy…

“Sadly… the slavers were selling the information in chunks, so we only can say for sure that it’s a maddened creature, or that it has Berserker” he pointed to the red bottle “The Gauge Concealer is just the standard precaution, using it, is up to you”

Titan nodded… but didn’t moved away

“I’ll finish it and come back tomorrow…” he hesitated… “Can we talk after that…?”

Grim blinked, not changing at all, but he did moved closer and placed a gloved hand on Titan’s armored chest

“We already used a sword essence with one of your two crystals…” he looked up to him “I can’t let you use that bottle, until we use a second essence on the other… you are my greatest, and oldest, weapon. You need to be perfect, before you ascend to immortality”

Titan hesitated for a moment… but in the end he just shook his head and smiled before leaving…

With Miriam moving at his side and away from Grim… feeling disgusted by the emotions tied to that memory…

‘If those “Essences” are like the crystals I ate from Spawners, then a second one would have made you explode… maybe, I just know that the gods told me to not repeat colors…’

She looked at him… but she realized that it was impossible for her to obtain an answer… it was just one of the memories that survived the purge of his chains…

She was alone…

But thanks to that memory… Miriam learned the route to the Spawner under the city…

And so did the First Mother…

/////

Once she woke up…

‘Everyone…!’ she struggled to remain calm ‘Tell Sunny to be careful…’ even with the headache she awoke to ‘Grim might try something against her…!’ the trees told her to not worry… but…

Her inability to go towards Sunny, the headache, and the fact that the Trait didn’t finished evolving until after she ate the fruit that came from the trees…

Ding

‘Finally…! Status’ frustrated her a lot…

‘What…?’ still, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat happy with the result… ‘No way… Traits? Damn… this actually happened…!’ she shook her head a couple times, but the number remained the same ‘I really need to finish him off… wait…? Why did I got…?’

Miriam froze for a moment, before gripping the ground under her and pulling a huge sword made of dirt out of it… while taking a stance eerily similar to Titan’s… but her amazement didn’t let her attack, or, try any of his movements

‘Fuck me… I wonder if I’ll learn more things from his memories…’ she was about to try some of the things she avoided the day before… ‘…?!’

When her attention was caught by the rustling trees to the east…

‘Got it… I’m on the right track…’ one of the creatures she needed to hunt was close

So she returned the ground back to normal, before grabbing and hiding the Terror Stones she was carrying and started to go in that direction for a few minutes…

‘Hmm…’ becoming bothered by something she noticed ‘Titan ran nonstop to come and kill me… she needed three days to do that… if he had taken his time to rest, I would have died… was that because I’m younger than the other Rulers…?’

She wasn't sure… but had the feeling the he had seriously underestimated her, to fight her while sleep deprived…

Still, she didn’t dwell on that idea… or on what he was feeling at the time… there was a distasteful smell getting closer, and judging from the vibrations, many creatures were running towards her. So, she moved closer to the river, just enough to use the water for what was to come

Once she saw the first one dashing between the trees, trying to remain unseen while moving towards her, Miriam used her Terror Stones to form a “Wall” behind her. The vibrations were telling her that the… things… were trying to surround her

For some reason her Instinct was against the use of her aura, and she didn’t released it just in case, waiting for a few seconds before the first one jumped from between the trees and she calmly turned towards it…

It looked like a dog whose mouth extended far into the engorged neck. It was growling while baring its fangs, with its hackles raised with what she assumed was fear and a stiff tail. It only had a singular eye on top of the long snout focused on her

And while still looking at it, she dodged a long tongue fired at her from behind-

Slash!

Cutting it off with one swing of her sword, making the thing that tried to attack her, to start writhing in pain while coughing blood as its organ went back. This made the one in front of her try the same action, but Miriam easily caught the attack with a hand, letting her see that the tip of the gray tongue seemed to be hardened and sharp-

Crack!

Before looking back and impaling the writhing one, not letting go of her opponent. Barely noticing that the first creature… if they could be called so… that attacked her, had been at two meters to the south of her and she cut off at least a meter of the organ

Graaahh!!!

Slam!

A third thing, next to the dead one, roared after recovering from the shock and charged towards her, but she used the one struggling to release its tongue as a weapon, killing both of them with the impact of their bodies… at the same time she caught the smell coming from their blood…

‘Not as bad as monsters…?’ that was the reason she was confused with the identity of the things, but she didn’t had the time to ponder about that

Three more started to prowl towards her from the river and she raised her now free hand, making them flinch and move backwards from her

‘Water’s Wrath!’ right into the range of her spell, that killed them without them realizing what happened… and sending a couple more of them, that were hiding, fleeing away-

Crack!

Instead of chasing those, Miriam just dropped her spell and used magic once more to impale them, before ducking under three tongues that came from behind her wall. Using her skill to move close to them and kill those with a single swing of her sword

‘Eleven… is that all of them…?’ she started to breath deeply, trying to stay on the edge of using her Berserker without letting it out of control… feeling the vibrations around her…

Moving to cross the invisible wall again… patiently waiting for something to move while turning her sword into a pair of scissors-

Crack!

Finally feeling something move behind a tree and trying to attack it, but this one had jumped to the branches of said tree, dodging the spike before leaping towards her with a roar-

Snap!

Ding

Just to get cut in two…

‘Ugh… it’s still a bad smell…’ she looked up, still trying to hear anything moving around her, even after the notification… ‘What are these things…?’

‘A… prison…?’ she doubted that her answer was the right one, but had no idea of what else it could be…

‘So… I need to destroy that place?’ Miriam ignored the first message, she didn’t wanted to get in a discussion about doing it for her siblings, and not because she liked to work…

That idea felt oddly familiar… but she couldn't remember those two complaining about her going to work…

That message thoroughly confused her, but she didn’t had time to talk about it-

Crack!!!

An arrow made of dirt was fired at her, and she split her sword in two to destroy the projectile with them. Seeing the lizard that fired it, moving through the ground towards her…

The brownish purple reptile, had one of its two heads looking at the ground, while the other was glaring at her. A green undulating dorsal fin was on its back, and ended before the split of the necks, its tail looked unusually short, but the creature still was over three meters long

The lack of vibrations was explained, by how its legs moved. It was like looking at the spell she made to move and hide underground…

The glaring head snarled, making the other head look at her and do the same while the creature started to get out of the ground. Letting Miriam feel vibrations from those steps…

Sadly…

Hiss?! Hiss?!

Crack! Crack!

For the creature… Miriam’s power over earth magic was stronger than its own, and it got trapped in the ground with both heads being pierced by a spike. Unable to do anything about it…

Ding

‘Ah…? That was one of the creatures I need to kill…?’ the trees confirmed her question…

While the following messages just made her more and more confused…

/////

After eating most of the lizard, the fin was too sharp, and some of the weird creatures that she piled up. Miriam checked her Status

‘Did those count as monsters?’ she had found the lizard a better food than the others… but she had no idea of why she got the notification sound, twice…

-No…-

‘Hmm…’ she also wasn't sure about keep moving that day, or just staying around that place to eat all of them… ‘Can they evolve to humanoids? And while we are talking about them, may I know more about that Dungeon?’

That message got another one dropped on top of it and making it go away, she had almost laughed at what she read, but that event made her snort

‘Noted…’ Miriam tried to see about it in the memories she had, but nothing about that topic came up… ‘Tell me when I can go and destroy it. It sounds like a pain…’

She got distracted… and the wings on her head stood as high as they could. There was a cutting sound coming from somewhere above her, that made her brandish her sword while Imbuing it…

Waiting and looking at what she could see of the sky between the branches, slowly becoming more and more certain of the direction the sound was coming from-

SKRAAAA-!!!

[Sword Wave]

Making her fire her attack the exact moment a big shadow flew above her

‘…?!!!’ and she got surprised by the fact that the creature managed to avoid her roaring attack

SLAM!!!

Landing on top of the creatures she had piled up, before roaring once more at her

It was a flying gray reptile of rough looking scales, with many white horns on its head and along the back of its neck. Its two frontal legs had turned into membranous wings, while its rear legs allowed it to stand on them and the blade-like talons it had. A long armored tail that ended in a heavy looking bulb, was swinging behind it, ready to use

Again, Miriam’s Instinct told her to not use her aura-

SKRAAAA-!!!

But the wyvern enraged her by just existing… to the point where she didn’t noticed how her feathers were ruffled due to her anger… so, she interrupted its roar by slamming her aura against it and a hiss of her own…

Making it flinch, and take flight while carrying most of the creatures she had killed…

‘HEY!!!’ something that made her even more angry, to the point where she used her [Sword Wave] again, but she barely missed… ‘…?!!!’

And had to struggle forcing her magic up, to make sure her attack didn’t hit a Terror Stone of the Line, she didn’t hit the stone, but her attack scored the roof over it…

Letting the wyvern flee east at a speed she found ridiculous…

‘GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!’ hissing at it, not realizing that she was using her Scream of Terror, and making it fly faster… ‘I’M GOING TO SHOVE THAT TAIL!!! UP YOUR CLOACA!!!’

‘But that it’s supposed to be strong! Right?!’ the trees confirmed that it was one of her targets ‘Then! Why it’s stealing my food?!’

Miriam almost rushed towards it, but gave a glance at what the wyvern couldn't carry and moved to eat it first. Thanks to Absorb she wasn't worry about over eating, even if she became a bit slower due to it once she started to follow the flying creature…

-Angry…-

Hiss…

‘Of course I am!’ she hadn't realized that her aura was still released… ‘Once I catch that under-evolved chicken I´ll have it be electro-cooked!’ she was too angry to realize that, until a few hours passed… ‘And what are those wings?! Reptiles are supposed to evolve feathers! Not skin membranes!’

‘Did it evolve from something that had those?!’ the Triad answered with a negative ‘Then is my duty to fix that living mistake!’

When asked about her anger a few days later, Miriam had no idea of why she got like that…

…

And everyone decided to not mention, that the creature thought that she was trying to attract a mate, by making a pile of food…