The Great Core's Paradox

The first choice was as tempting as it was familiar. In fact, it was even more tempting with how strong its opposite had proven to be.

Death: You are a symbol of the eternal, just as you are of many other things. You are a symbol of death. You gain the ability to transform mana into the essence of death, using it to fuel deathly abilities. (Provided by: Ouroboros)

[Mana-Life Conversion] had created an entire new series of abilities over time, each of which had proven powerful on their own merit. Its opposite, which I assumed would turn out to be [Mana-Death Conversion], would more than likely do the same. While there was no real way for me to know what abilities I could create through the use of death essence, I couldn’t imagine any future where they weren’t useful or effective. And, judging by the way that life essence was still providing new abilities even after all this time - [Vigor] and [Vitality] most recently among them - I had a feeling that it would be better to get started on learning how to use death essence as quickly as possible. While unlocking [Mana-Death Conversion] might not give me a giant increase in power immediately, I guessed that it was one of the rewards with the highest potential for growth.

More importantly, the Coreless weren’t with me - without their fangs to wound my enemies, I would need more ways to fight alone. Inflicting my enemies with the essence of death itself sounded extremely appealing, and was bound to be delightfully painful for any bad-thing that chose to go against the Great Core.

Of course, [Mana-Death Conversion] did have one problem that my slow-venom and death-venom didn’t: it, like [Mana-Life Conversion], relied on my mana. Unless I chose another option to increase my mana stores or regeneration, I would probably start to run dry much faster than I normally did.

Still, it was tempting enough that I almost chose it then and there regardless.

The second option the thought-light presented, however, didn’t tempt me at all.

Rebirth: You are a symbol of the eternal, just as you are of many other things. You are a symbol of rebirth. You shed your skin, marking the birth of a new cycle. (Provided by: Ouroboros, [The Endless Cycle])

I was grateful for the lack of temptation; even if I wouldn’t have picked it anyway, it was nice to know for certain that I didn’t need to. [Rebirth] could be ignored.

The remaining choices could not be.

[Bloomhaste] was the first.

Bloomhaste: You are intrinsically linked to Time itself, and have learned to direct its streams between plants that host them. You gain the passive ability to alter the streams of time further, tripling the rate of growth for plants in your vicinity in return for a period of halted growth after leaving your range. (Provided by: Ouroboros, [Verdure Parasite])

[Bloomhaste], though not particularly exciting to me at first thought, could still be extremely useful. The fight against Tiamat’s Ascended had proven how powerful [Verdure Parasite] could be with enough plant-flesh around me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t something that I would normally have. Plant-flesh wasn’t all that common within the World Dungeon - not like it had been within the many-nest above.

Thinking about it, I doubted that I would find anywhere with as much plant-flesh to draw from again; in the end, the spore-mist itself, with the uncountable spores that formed it, had been what made [Verdure Parasite] so strong. [Bloomhaste] alone wouldn’t come anywhere near the instant-growth that I had been able to create with the spore-mist around me, but it would help quite a lot - and I could only imagine how effective it would have been in the ruined many-nest itself, with the plant-flesh around me growing three times as fast.

It could even be useful in times when there was no plant-flesh to draw from with [Verdure Parasite], helping my spore-roots passively grow faster so that [Spore Puppeteer] could take effect more quickly. And if plant-flesh was around…needing three times fewer sources to draw from could make all the difference.

With how effective [Spore Puppeteer] had proven to be, that alone made it worth considering. Especially if I was forced to slither through the World Dungeon alone. With [Bloomhaste], I could turn bad-things against one another far more easily.

The next option, however, forced me to push the thought to the side. Like [Bloomhaste] was connected to [Verdure Parasite] and [Traveler] was linked to [Chrono Fire], the next choice was born from the skill that devouring a Core created. One that I hadn’t even been able to test yet.

[The Golem’s Fading Heart], the last remnant of Tiamat’s fallen Ascended.

The Golem’s Echo: You have absorbed the last vestige of a defeated Ascended, taking its heart for your own. You gain the ability to temporarily return your defeated enemy to a semblance of life, materializing a fragile echo of The Golem to fight by your side. (Provided by: Ouroboros, [The Golem’s Fading Heart])contemporary romance

Like with all of the other rewards revealed by the thought-light, it was hard for me to be sure exactly how strong [The Golem’s Echo] might be. I didn’t know what temporarily might mean. I didn’t know how fragile fragile was.

But I did know that The Golem had been powerful in life. With the Great Core’s blessings, its echo would be too.

More than that, the presence of the ability itself itched at my scale-flesh. Scratching that itch would feel like righting a wrong; the Ascended, while it was still alive, had been under Tiamat’s sway.

And yet, finally freed from the blasphemer’s influence in death, an echo of itself could serve the Great Core.

There was something wonderful about that.

Something right.

It made me wonder if I could get a similar reward from devouring the Cores of other Ascended. The idea made me hiss with even greater excitement than before as I revelled in the possibility. I imagined an army of defeated Ascended mixed in with the Great Core’s followers, and a bloody and beaten Tiamat laying before them.

Only one thing put a damper on my mood - I was already being offered too many tempting choices, and I couldn’t pick them all. There would only be two until I earned a reward again.

With that depressing thought, I moved on to the next of my possible choices.

Revealing Possible Rewards Unlocked Through Titles And Their Interactions…

The first two, just like many others, were familiar; choices that I had already seen multiple times, but dismissed in favor of others. Despite that, I couldn’t help but look at them in a new light. Mana, after all, was becoming more important than ever. .

Mana Restoration: You are a unique being, the embodiment of the cycle of renewal. Now, you have taken that even further. [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] gains the ability to heavily increase passive mana regeneration when activated. (Provided by: [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail], [Minor Mana Core])

Mana Blood: Your blood, already a storage for toxins, has become a storage place for mana as well. Greatly increases capacity to store mana. (Provided by: [Venomous Retribution], [Minor Mana Core])

The first choice, [Mana Restoration], would let me recover more quickly. With my small size, it was easy to imagine slipping into the safety of the wall-cracks to let my mana restore itself, only slithering back out when I was ready to strike once again.

The second choice, [Mana Blood], would be better in times when I couldn’t get away, letting me draw from a much greater amount of mana than before - though I was curious what would happen if I converted all of the mana stored in my blood to either life or death essence.

Maybe nothing; maybe something. Either way, [Mana Blood] itself had clear benefits regardless.

If I wanted to rely heavily on both [Mana-Life Conversion] and [Mana-Death Conversion], both [Mana Blood] and [Mana Restoration] were far more tempting than they had once been. Of course, if I wanted [Mana-Death Conversion] now, I could only pick one of them. If I wanted both - or even if I wanted any of the other options that I had already seen - I would have to wait until later.

Again, it was a depressing thought.

Not wanting to think about it, I pushed the choice aside, looking at my other options.

Fire Aspect: Your mana has been Touched By Fire, imbuing it with the Aspect of Fire. Mana costs for flame-based abilities and manipulation are reduced. (Provided by: [Minor Mana Core], [Touched By Fire])

[Fire Aspect], though familiar as well, was less tempting than it had once been. Now that I had more uses for mana than before, it just didn’t seem worth it - especially when I had so many other options to choose from. Maybe if, one day, I didn’t have anything better to choose from. For now, it just wasn’t worth taking.

The final option, however, was both new and fascinating.

Just like so many other things I had seen, I wanted to try it.

Guardian Link: The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail has come far from where it started. You have become a growing Legend, the Little Guardian, with a likeness able to confer powerful blessings. You gain the ability to tap into any of your Foci’s blessings as long as you are within range of their various effects and activating The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail. (Provided by: [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail], [Little Guardian])

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