Aziel seemed to seamlessly overwrite the phenotype of the plasma being he had slain, and the notifications that had been alarming in his mind every second, warning him about the chaotic energy, had suddenly dropped off.
He could still feel the hum of energy, but not the chaotic one this time.
However, unlike the plasma forms he had seen before, his own body wasn’t flickering at all.
In fact, his body wasn’t even changing state of matter vigorously.
To him, his body felt almost human, even now... except for the blinding light layering his body.
’Could it be a mutation, as stated for complex species...’
Aziel thought to himself, recalling the moment he tweaked something within the description to create the skill.
"Heck, even the arm which had been destroyed has regenerated again... at least that’s what I would like to call it."
Then, as if an idea struck his mind, he raised his limbs forward, his face twisted in anticipation under the veil of the blinding energy.
"How do I do it!... I need to learn, at least that one. Others, well I could manage," Aziel grumbled under his breath, as he stomped the ground.
"I totally forgot about it, though it was one of the most important things I decided to pull the stunt for!"
He nearly screamed, as he stared at the crater that had formed on the ground from the impact.
He was able to feel it.
Earlier, it felt as if it was virtual.
He had to take constant precautions, always keeping in mind, consciously, not to stay at one place for too long, shifting his feet just to avoid being consumed.
Now, he was even able to punch through it.
The anger accumulated earlier, from his failed attempts, subsided in an instant, as if sucked away by some all-consuming insect of grief. The source of thɪs content is 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝘯𝘦𝘵
A wave of bliss hit, convincing him that getting rid of one concern might be the first step toward completing the quest.
Aziel drew in a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly.
"One more... hurts like hell, but that’s what I’m in right now, so it doesn’t even matter," he muttered.
This time, he didn’t raise his hands.
He stood still and closed his eyes.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then, suddenly, he could see.
Streams of energy flowed like liquid light, tracing intricate channels, branching and converging, pulsing with steady rhythm.
Currents twisted around each other, crossing in arcs and spirals, surging through narrow conduits, filling the space with heat and vibration.
Sparks jumped between strands, and pockets of energy shimmered and rolled.
He focused, and the flow split — five distinct streams emerged, each moving independently, branching toward separate paths.
Each one thickened, tracing its own channel, flowing toward the ends of the openings.
Massive openings appeared, in millions, along the surface, letting energy escape in controlled bursts, mostly closed.
He willed the exits open.
As soon as it did, the streams poured into them, twisting and colliding, splitting into a million smaller parts to pass through the openings.
Finally, he opened his eyes and stared intently at the surface of his palm.
An aurora-colored gas emerged from under his skin, though in a minuscule amount, fighting for space.
Aziel’s smile widened under the cocoon, as he clenched his fist, trapping the gas.
"IT works, it fricking does.
And that’s enough for now... I just need to spare some time for practice sessions."
Aziel turned his face towards the direction from which he had come, then let himself fall backward under gravity.
The landscape changed instantly, from land to upward, to sky in an instant.
His vision suddenly blurred for a moment, and he felt himself being dragged downwards, but gradually he rose up again.
More importantly, a tremendous force pulled him forward.
The force was so intense that he could feel his head straining, trying to rip off his neck.
Aziel did not try to resist it, as the liquid was already too dense to fight against.
If he pushed back, it would only drain him faster.
Instead, he let his body get dragged towards the pull.
It was not as if he had submitted to his fate, neither did he want to unravel the mystery of the enigmatic pull, as enigmas were all he had been encountering since he came here.
And at this point, another riddle was the last thing he wanted gnawing at his mind.
Aziel had been relentlessly walking, fighting, thinking for as long as he could recall.
He was tired as hell, and needed to rest to recover mentally at least, if not physically now.
His limbs felt heavier with each passing moment, as if weighted by chains only he could feel.
He would only exhaust himself more.
"And what better opportunity than resting while floating in an ocean endlessly?" he muttered.
Furthermore, he had no real destination.
If anything that looked like land, a goal, or something worth checking out appeared, he’d push against the pull whenever it came close enough.
That was the extent of his planning.
Anything beyond that was wasted effort.
"For now all I can do is figure out how the heck am I supposed to make sure I do not die... I’ve got plenty of time to plan some mayhem, don’t I now?"
He let the words hang in the air, the smallest trace of a laugh leaving his throat, more tired than amused.
The sound quickly drowned in the heavy silence of the endless liquid, but for him it was enough.
Enough to remind himself that he hadn’t been broken just yet.