I settle onto my comfortable low chair formed by my Flesh-Shaping Skill out of bone, cured hide, and feathers. It’s almost as comfortable as the large mattress which fills half the space. I decided not to make my bedroom too big – it stays warmer that way and it’s big enough for my closest Bound to come and settle near me. Bastet particularly likes the thick feathered hides which cover the hard stone floor.

  A thought sets the fire in the hearth blazing, light flickering across the room. Even if we’re heading towards the longest day of the year, the warmth of the increasingly-hot sun doesn’t penetrate this far underground. The best that ever happens after a cloudless day is that the ceiling above my head warms a little, but not enough to impact the space below it much. So I still sometimes light a fire in the evenings just to warm the room for the night.

  Truth be told, sometimes on hot days it’s a bit of a relief to be able to escape the merciless glare of the sun into the underground area. I suspect that those days will be coming ever more frequently in the next couple of months before I go. Creating irrigation channels for the farmers will also be important, I note to myself – there hasn’t been much rain recently, and from what my Bound have been telling me, it will soon stop entirely – if it hasn’t already. The last rain shower was over a week ago.

  But that’s for later. And probably something I can deputise anyway. I’m determined to find the answer to whatever the long-dead Pathwalker did to embed her Skill in a Core. And that starts with me healing the damage spending time next to the Pure Energy stream did to my channels.

  Sinking into my Core-space, I immediately get to work on healing my corroded internal matrix. There’s a reason that I only check on the Energy Hearts every few days – even if the poisoning of my body from the ambient Energy around it isn’t an issue any more, it’s tiresome to have to regrow the exterior filaments of my internal matrix every time. The experience I gain just isn’t worth it when I can meditate in my bath and not suffer any ill-effects as long as I don’t stick around for too long.

  Not that I do too much of that either, both because of other responsibilities and because I fear other issues being caused by it. I don’t have any proof, but it seems that beasts can be impacted if not enough of their Energy is accrued from hunting and too much is gained from Energy Hearts or a dense ambient Energy like in my den. I don’t know that it would be a problem for me, but I don’t know it wouldn’t either. And certainly the fact that exposure to the Pure Energy in the stream below leaves my channels corroded is an indication to me that it’s not healthy in large quantities.

  Anyway, I’ve made it to level twenty-five largely due to the Pure Energy stream, one way or another, so I figure that I’m still coming out ahead. Even if it does mean becoming very practised at healing the corrosion of my Energy channels, particularly the ones which reach into the outside world. Fortunately, since I didn’t tarry too long, it’s only those ones which have been damaged, and not the denser threads which interweave to form the bulk of my internal matrix.

  With my increased Wisdom, the threads which extend into the world beyond are longer than ever.

  Actually, I wonder as I heal them, are they starting to branch?

  Up until now, those channels have always been a single straight thread that ventures outside the ovoid mandala which forms the rest of my internal matrix. But now they seem to be splitting, like damaged hair. Is this the effect of frequently suffered and healed corrosion? I ask myself feeling slightly worried at the prospect. If my visits to the Pure Energy are having long-term effects…. Except the splits don’t look like they’re caused by damage.

  Instead, they look more like…a nerve cell? I frown mentally as I zoom in on the furthest end of the thread I’m currently healing. Honestly, it looks uncommonly like a developing nerve cell – the split is coming from a node which is currently only a little wider than the thread itself, but might easily grow bigger and other tendrils are coming out of it. At the moment, there are only two and they’re thin and short. But in time….

  I get back to healing my threads while I ponder the conundrum. In the end, I’m unable to explain why this new development has suddenly happened, or theorise what the potential consequences might be. I resolve to keep an eye on it. Them, I correct myself as I see that this one isn’t the only thread showing this development – at least half of the other threads are also showing the same budding node at the end of them, obvious once I heal the corrosion marring them.

  Finally, internal matrix back to its usual condition, I pull my consciousness out of my Core-space and settle back into my chair.

  The first thing to do is try to get more information about the artifact which Flying-blade brought with her to try to take over my village. Not wanting to touch it with my bare hands, I wrap a hide around my hand as an extra precaution before reaching to pull the artifact out of where it’s been hidden away in my Inventory.

  The Core comes out wrapped in the spider silk that I used last time – good to know. I wasn’t sure that they would come out together. When I unwrap the Core, it looks just as I remember it, gleaming in the light. And as I examine it warily this time, I suddenly realise that the gleaming isn’t as I would expect it to be where it reflects the light of the fire. I shiver as it feels like fingers are brushing across my neck, a pit forming in my stomach the longer I stare into its depths.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I feel a pull, a tug of something deep inside myself. And thanks to my past experiences, I know exactly what’s being pulled – my soul.

  Shuddering, I force my eyes closed and shove the stone into my Inventory again, only opening my eyes when I feel its weight disappear from my hand. Cracking my lids open to check that it is actually gone, I find that I’m panting slightly, fear making adrenaline rush through my system.

  I push myself to my feet, unable to stay still with as much stress chemical is running through me.

  Doing a few squats and pressups helps me rid myself of that agitated energy and regain my peace of mind. Thinking back to the Core, I shudder again. That thing is dangerous.

  Why did it affect me so much this time? The last time I looked at it, it was inert as long as it wasn’t touching someone’s bare skin. Then again, last time was before I had that weird dream with the long-dead Pathwalker appearing. And it was before the Core seemed to find its way into my hand despite being on the other side of the room.

  I hate to think that maybe it’s built a bond with me of some sort, but I can’t avoid the possibility. That would explain how it was able to tug on my…on my soul despite having a layer of hide between me and it. The dream of the Pathwalker said that she’d put a bit of soul into the Core – what if she’s built a bond between my soul and hers? What if she’s trying to, I don’t know, possess me or consume my soul or something?

  I shake my head violently. If that is what she’s doing, then at least it seems that the stasis function of my Inventory works as well on soul-sucking Cores as it does on anything else. But it looks like I’m not going to be able to use the Core as an inspiration for my own task since I’m not going to tempt fate by taking it out again! Not until I know that shattering it will work completely and have enough Willpower to be able to resist its effects.

  Sitting down, my head tilts to rest against the back of my chair at that thought. Willpower…so much rests on that one stat with my Class being what it is. What if enough Willpower would allow me to resist the Core’s soul pull? What if I could somehow Dominate the fragment of soul within? Would I be able to use the ability without either my soul or those I use the ability on suffering? Would I want to?

  It’s an interesting question, but one that I’m not in the right position to answer yet. As this recent interlude has shown, I might have enough Willpower to be able to tear my eyes away from the Core, but that doesn’t mean I have enough to Dominate the spirit within. Assuming it’s even possible. Even as a fragment, an Enlightened Pathwalker who managed to bind and control at least several village’s worth of her own people must have had a significant Willpower stat of her own. And I don’t choose to enter fights I’m not confident I’ll win.

  I sigh. Looks like I’ll have to work out how to do this without any aid. I did ask Kalanthia how she had imprinted Lathani with her blueprint, but she just told me that she willed it to be the case and it was so. Though she did confess that when she attempted it, she hadn’t known it would actually take a chunk of her mana, health, and stamina with it. Nor did she know that she wouldn’t get them back until Lathani Evolved or died – she realised that only after she’d done it and then it was irreversible. I guess she didn’t do it with her other cubs for some reason. The ones who died.

  So not it wasn’t entirely helpful except to once more indicate that with enough Willpower, it’s possible to brute-force all sorts of things. Which I had already come to suspect considering how having a high Willpower stat has helped me overcome obstacles in the past.

  And perhaps that will be the case now too, though I have no intention of accidentally losing some of my health, mana, or stamina, or tearing off a piece of my soul – even if it does grow back.

  Resigning myself to a process of trial and error – probably mostly error – I pull out various items. One of each type of Energy Heart which I have access to and several different Tier two Cores, the biggest I have in my collection. Unfortunately, I don’t have any Tier three Cores available so I hope that they won’t be required.

  Next, I hesitate over which Skill to imprint. Or to try to imprint anyway.

  It has to be a Skill ranked at Master or above – that I know from Nicholas’ System knowledge stone. And I have three of those: Dominate, Flesh-Shaping, and Energy-Manipulation.

  Originally, I was planning on trying to imprint Dominate – after all, my village is currently so harmonious simply because there can’t be any infighting among the Evolved, I don’t permit it and my Bonds enforce my will. To continue the village the way it is now, someone needs to take my place. But therein lies the rub – whose hands would I leave the fates of everyone in the village to?

  If I was struggling to decide who I would entrust the secret to of how to create Energy Hearts, how much more would I struggle to decide who to give the ability to Bind others to their will? And practically, anyone using Dominate needs a high Willpower, which means that feasibly it would likely only be the Evolved eligible for the ‘honour’. Perhaps only the Enlightened which narrows it down to Flower or Windy, neither of whom I would entrust such a power to. Windy, for obvious reasons – she’s enough of a pain with the power she has let alone any more. Flower is too passive. She’s great at being a peacemaker, but she’s not willing to bring war when the opponent refuses the peace unless she’s forced. Instead, she hides – figuratively or literally.

  So neither of the two Enlightened Pathwalkers would be suitable. Running my mind through the different candidates, I find myself shaking my head at each of them. Shrieks is honourable but not flexible enough; Happy’s temper burns too hotly; Tarra is not enough of a visionary; Poison is too obedient to Shrieks. Not that that latter is a bad thing, but it does mean he can’t be a candidate for holding the power of the whole village. Bares-claws is a possibility, but I don’t know him well enough to say for sure. Besides, he’s not even Evolved yet and it’s possible he won’t be before I leave. Not to mention that having a non-Pathwalker become the leader might be pushing the break from tradition too much.

  I sigh, running my hand through my hair. I’m getting a headache. I didn’t even realise I still could get headaches.

  But if I don’t leave someone with the power to hold everyone together, what will become of the village upon my departure?

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