Nicolai returned to the prison. He found it to be a scene of chaos.

  The undead he encountered were few in number, and seemed especially listless, standing in random spots and doing nothing unless bothered.

  There were bug corpses everywhere, and not only corpses. In small groups and singularly, bugs and strange creatures ranged through the area.

  When he entered into the main area, the great pit in the centre, he found that it was entirely taken over by the bugs. They roved in masses through the area, and it seemed like they may have taken over the mining operation. Nicolai was careful to fully Shell, then he crept down the side of the pit under his poncho, carefully avoiding them all.

  He got in a little trouble when one of them seemed to smell him, and then they heard him when he was forced to dodge aside from it. His ability to move rapidly and stealthily was somewhat reduced, as he was carrying the Key Rod used to unlock prison bands, a bulky item which he struggled to fit under his poncho.

  He judged that killing them would be at least as much a disturbance as simply fleeing, so Nicolai relaxed his Shell. He leapt off the side of the ramp and activated the Pegasi ring and the Grasping Finger, pulling himself down until he reached a lower level of the ramp where there were no bugs, then continued in stealth once more.

  He had a few more close encounters, but nothing major. There were quite a few groups of miners roving around down here, somehow survived. Nicolai changed that, slaughtering them as quickly and silently as possible for their Soul wisps which he fed to a Soul Trap he’d bought.

  In time he arrived at a deserted patch of tunnel he knew well. He checked carefully for signs there had been trouble here, but saw nothing to cause him unease. The rock was still in its place so he moved it aside then slithered through the crawl-tunnel.

  He heard them before he saw them.

  ‘Give it here!’

  ‘No, fuck off, I need it more, I’m bigger than you!’

  ‘You had the last one you fat fuck, I’m starving over here!’

  ‘Hey—!’

  There came a grunt and a yell of pain and fury.

  Nicolai peered over the ledge and saw the woman had been knocked to the ground, while the man stood a distance away, cradling a single piece of fruit from a sustaining seed. Looked like they’d ran out, but that no longer mattered.

  ‘Relax,’ said Nicolai from above. The pair spun to stare at him as he pulled free a protein nutrient bar, tossing it to the woman.

  ‘You,’ said the man, eyes narrowing.

  ‘Me,’ agreed Nicolai. His Soul Sense felt at them, and he saw that their Seeds were very close to the stage needed for Integration.

  ‘Hey! You need to get us the fuck out of here,’ the woman snarled up at him, ignoring the bar he’d thrown her. ‘There’s all kinds of shit going on out there. We heard it. What the fuck is happening?’

  ‘Yes…’ murmured Nicolai. ‘There’s been some trouble, which is why I wasn’t able to come earlier. I apologise for that. Your confinement will end imminently. Here.’ He tossed the Soul Trap Imbued down to them, and the man caught it. A rain of Oma crystals followed after. ‘Eat up. Big day.’ He settled onto the side of the pit, his legs hanging off of it. ‘Once both your Seeds are over 90%, we can get this over with.’

  The pair exchanged uncertain glances, looking at what he’d given them.

  ‘And then you’ll let us free?’ asked the man.

  Nicolai put a hand to his heart. ‘I am a man of my word. You can ask anyone.’

  ‘No one here but you,’ muttered the woman waspishly.

  ‘Then I assure you of my good characters,’ he said, smiling and bouncing his feet on the stone.

  It took a little more convincing, but they fed the Soul Wisps and the Oma crystals to their Seeds.

  ‘Now, the Integration. Place your Seeds over your chests and allow them to integrate. You have been working on the bonding, right? If not, you’ll be here a while longer.’

  ‘We practised,’ snapped the woman.

  ‘I hope so,’ murmured Nicolai. He had told the others to ensure the pair kept using their Seeds’ Soul Senses, even to the point of withholding food if they didn’t meet certain breakpoints.

  Fortunately, the pair had indeed kept up the practise, and they began the Seed integration. Nicolai waited patiently above as they went through the messy process, and in due time it completed.

  The pair rose and stared breathlessly around, their nascent Soul Senses moving over the area in exploration.

  ‘I’m stronger!’ laughed the man, moving his body, while the woman let out a whoop of joy.

  He almost envied them, remembering the rush he’d felt upon first integrating. ‘Indeed.’ They looked over as Nicolai settled onto the ground before them. ‘And you will have completed a challenge. That is the final piece of this. Accept the reward, and stand back as I take it, and you will be freed.’

  The pair were wise; they knew there was no way they could fight back, not while he was ready and watching them. Nicolai had the AA-12 in his hands and that was that. They accepted the rewards and two statues rose from the ground. They obediently moved to the far side of the hole when Nicolai came forward.

  As Nicolai was looking over the six Symbiotes on offer, they tried something. Both of them suddenly dashed towards him. He had been expecting this and put a hand to his chest.

  The Warden’s Chains spun free from where they’d wrapped his body and latched onto the pair, driving them them back into a wall. He pulled it free from where it had clung to his chest as all the chains rose off him body, and stepped towards them, holding the chain-rod out. The chains wove tight around them as they yelled and howled, until they were entirely bound and somewhat bloodied.

  ‘Be still now,’ he warned them, putting the chain-rod on the ground while he returned to the look over the Symbiotes. They might try to get to it, if they could somehow get some wriggle room within the chains, but he wasn’t concerned. This situation was similar to when he’d faced the Bird, except now he was the Bird. An enemy powerful enough that there was nothing they could really do to him.

  Seeing six Symbiotes before him stirred his greed, and he eyed them all with hunger before moving to Examine them.

  After doing so, he focused on two. The other four were of little interest to him—one of them the the Quivering Dome Crab, the same as Perro had chosen. Not his style. He wanted Symbiote that would improve his utility, mobility, or offense, and two of them managed to tick all of those boxes.

  Repulsive Burst

  Tier: 1

  Type: Force

  Node: Heart

  This Symbiote can be charged to generate bursts of force, emerging in all directions from the user. The range is limited, as is the force.

  Comes with ten days of food.

  Long Soul Snake

  Tier: 1

  Type: Spirit

  Node: Heart

  This Symbiote allows a Cultivator to thin their Soul Sense tendril without suffering collapse, effectively enabling the Cultivator to extend their Soul Sense.

  Comes with ten days of food.

  The problem with both of these, and in fact with all of them, was that they were meant for the heart Node. Each Node could only use one Symbiote at a time. As such, by taking these he would have to make a choice of where to use them, or the Blue Hornet, at each given moment. Not ideal.

  But Nicolai wasn’t particularly interested in these Symbiotes as-is. The reason they drew his interest was because of what he’d learned of Refinement. Most especially, the concept of side-grading.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The Repulsive Burst held a great potential, in that regard. Nicolai had learned, after his study of the Symbiotes in the Memory Tome, that his own Grasping Finger was part of a set. There were five force type Symbiotes with Finger in their name available at Tier 1. The Memory Tome had listed them all, and noted that they could be combined in order to create the Floating Hand Symbiote, a powerful and versatile Tier 2 Symbiote.

  The Grasping Finger had an opposite, Repulsive Finger. The moment he’d learned of this Symbiote, he had wanted it. It would work exactly as his Grasping Finger worked, except in reverse, pushing away instead of pulling towards.

  He desired this because it would significantly improve his mobility. He would be able to switch from moving forwards to backwards on a dime, whereas currently if he wanted to redirect in such a manner, he would need to move his arm and his Soul Sense from in front of him, to behind him. A process that was comparatively slow. Furthermore, the Repulsive Finger would give him some additional defensive and offensive capabilities.

  There was little point in using the Grasping Finger on a projectile like a grenade or a hunter killer drone. Pulling such an object toward him was the exact opposite of A Smart Thing To Do. The only time it made sense was if he had a wall between him and the projectile, so he could pull it into that. But with the Repulsive Finger, he would be able to push such threats away. He felt it would work very well with his current methods, helping to round out his capabilities.

  He had wanted it—and the other Symbiotes in the “Force Fingers” category, as he thought of them—since he read of it, but refining Symbiotes from first principles was not easy. In the castle, he lacked the kind of materials he would need, which should be more available in the jungle. He’d come to realise that the materials available from the Market were all supporting types. For each Symbiote he could refine, they all needed one primary Natural Treasure, none of which were available at the Market.

  However, this problem was now halfway solved. The Repulsive Burst was quite similar to the Repulsive Finger, and it should be relatively cheap and easy to side-grade it into a Repulsive finger, just using what was available from the Market.

  From his understanding, in order to sidegrade the Repulsive burst, the main thing he would need was a quantity of materials of the Soul-type. The kind of thing that would be used to feed spirit-orientated Symbiotes, for instance. He would also require a small amount of some additional Natural Treasures, which he felt he could make up from what he’d found so far. The Soul-type Natural Treasures were the sticking point however, as nothing suitable was available, not even if he was willing to spend points at the Trade Link. He felt sure he could find such materials, if only he spent enough time searching in the jungle, but it wasn’t a sure thing.

  The next of interest was the Long Soul Snake. After engaging with the Memory Tomes, and his more targeted inquiries of Kleos and Maric, he had learned much about Soul Sense. As he had observed himself, Soul Sense was very important. It was the method to control any Symbiotes or Imbued that operated at a distance, and being able to reach further was obviously of great benefit. When he didn’t need to use the Blue Hornet, he could activate the Soul Sense which would lengthen the reach of his Grasping Finger, and soon the Repulsive Finger, too.

  He smiled down at it, a little pale worm crawling over his palm. It was a good Symbiote, probably the best of the bunch.

  Nicolai glanced at the others on offer, and briefly considered the Earth Worm Tremor, which was capable of destabilising stone and could be used to cause collapses in the castle, but ultimately returned to the Repulsive Burst and the Long Soul Snake. The Earth Worm Tremor would be useful situationally, the Repulsive Burst and Long Soul Snake could be used in many ways and at many times.

  As he gazed at the Long Soul Snake, his gaze turned increasingly thoughtful. It was a Spirit type Symbiote. That meant its food should be exactly the kind he needed to sidegrade the Repulsive Burst.

  A laugh burst out of him, a huge grin on his face. These two were perfect. A warm glow of satisfaction rolled through him at the thought of a perfectly optimal pick.

  He took the Repulsive Burst Symbiote first. It immediately activated its namesake, a wave of force slamming into him and launching him backwards. Nicolai was ready, taking the blow and keeping his body tense, orienting himself with the Pegasi Ring.

  Then he swarmed the Symbiote with his Soul Sense, reached out and seized it with the Grasping Finger. It shot toward him and he caught it.

  Nicolai settled onto the ground, cross-legged, and began the process of breaking it in. He felt that this was the perfect place to do so, as there were crystals everywhere down here. He intended to grab as many as he could carry before he left, so using up the ones on his person was the best move. The expenditure would be effectively free.

  Furthermore, if he simply took them without breaking them in, he would need to constantly suppress them with his Soul. Doing so caused small ripples in the Aura, and would make it impossible for him to completely Shell. This remained a dangerous area, and it was best he make his way out with his stealth as thorough as possible.

  The Symbiote resisted strongly, but after an hour he was successful. It wove through his body and into his heart Node, and there it swam through the energy within towards the Grasping Finger. The two met and began to play, something Nicolai regarded with a combination of enjoyment and bemusement.

  However, he also felt a stirring from elsewhere in his Node, and saw the Blue Hornet turn to peer at the Repulsive Burst Symbiote. It flared with angry blue sparks within his Node, and he felt it suddenly draw on his Oma without his will. At the same moment the Repulsive Burst turned to gaze at it, and also flared with energy, also drew on his Oma.

  Nicolai’s eyes widened as the two Symbiotes flew toward one another within his Node, both of them letting out little cries of challenge.

  He intervened immediately, and the weight of his Soul slammed down on the pair, his will tightening like a vice around them. The two Symbiotes froze within him, floating quietly. But even with them suppressed Nicolai felt the enmity between them. For whatever reason, whatever quirk of how this all worked, the two Symbiotes did not get along. He had the impression that if he left them together, conflict was inevitable.

  Nicolai had the Repulsive Burst move out from his heart Node, sending it to one of his lung Nodes. The Blue Hornet flared with satisfaction as it watched its rival go, while the Repulsive Burst emanated a kind of primitive anger and shame.

  What the fuck? In general these things didn’t do much, they just relaxed in his Node and occasionally played. He had never imagined they might take issue with one another. The Repulsive Burst… was unhappy. On top of that, he felt something from the Grasping Finger. It was upset, because it wanted to be in the in the same Node as the Repulsive Burst.

  He reached for the Grasping Finger and took control of it, and he found his control slightly reduced. The unhappiness within it was like a warp in a handle, making it harder to grip.

  But, with the Repulsive Burst separated from the Blue Hornet, the issue of them fighting was gone. He released all the Symbiotes and they seemed content to go back to the kinds of things they normally did, just with some slight upset.

  After a moment he took control of the Grasping Finger again, and this time he sent it to the lung Node where it joined the Repulsive Burst. Now, they were both happy, and everything worked properly.

  But Nicolai was frowning. This wasn’t ideal. He’d found that his heart Node was the best for the Grasping Finger; it moved more quickly when sent from that Node to his hand, than it did from his lung. Keeping it in the lung Node would slightly slow the speed at which he could make it ready. On top of that, the Repulsive Burst was meant to go in his heart Node, that was where it functioned best. He could tell that he could still activate it in his lung Node, but he had the impression it would be far less effective.

  This was clearly something to ask Kleos and Maric about. He hadn’t realised Symbiotes required any kind of managing, but that seemed to be what was required.

  Next he seized the Long Soul Snake Symbiote. It didn’t attack, instead trying to slip away, but he caught it before it had a chance to get onto the ground.

  The process began again. Breaking the Long Soul Snake took significantly longer, an hour and a half. Nicolai suspected this was because it was a Soul type Symbiote, as he didn’t feel that its will was any stronger than the Repulsive Burst’s had been.

  Once done he watched as it swam through his Soul and into his heart Node, where it joined the others without issue. That done he looked over the food it had come with.

  Screaming Face White Grass

  This grass is said to grow where many have died.

  The name was very to the point. Each stalk of grass was pure white, and at the top of it the stalk was twisted into an odd, diseased looking nodule. This nodule showed a screaming, tortured visage. Nicolai found them rather artistic, and marvelled at the wonders of nature.

  All that done, he turned to consider the pair. They had tried to speak to him several times, all of which he’d ignored as he focused on breaking in the Symbiotes.

  ‘So, now you let us go, right?’

  ‘Right,’ said Nicolai absently. He turned away from them to block their view as he drew his pistol and a silencer from a pocket. The darkness within him would have drawn the next act out. The Mask might have done something else entirely. But to the true Nicolai, or at least he who thought of himself as the true Nicolai, this was simply something that had to be done, there was no purpose in prolonging it, and taking pleasure in it was beneath him.

  ‘Hey. What are you doing?’ one of them asked, concerned.

  Nicolai had just finished screwing the silencer onto the pistol. He turned in a snap and fired two shots, his arm moving in machine-like jerks. He fired so quickly they had no time to realise what was happening before the 9mm rounds punched through their foreheads and carved through grey matter.

  See, he told his squirming Mask as the two corpses slumped, eyes glassy, blood running from the holes in their heads. He began unscrewing the silencer, his motions calm. I killed them quickly and kindly. Humanely. They were always going to die, but now their death brings some benefit. So what is the problem?

  His Mask couldn’t really verbalise whatever point it had, but regardless it remained convinced that had he simply killed them back when he came upon them, instead of making use of them first, then that would have been the “better thing to do.”

  Nicolai shook his head, feeling that that was extraordinarily stupid, but he supposed morality was not necessarily logical. As he watched, two faint blue shapes floated out of the corpses. They vaguely resembled the two dead people. He tucked the pistol and silencer away, then pulled out the Lotus Blossom Soul Trap.

  When he activated and held it out, it emitted a kind of pulling force, catching onto the spirits. He frowned. The Soul Trap was sending significant ripples through the Aura, possibly the strongest he had ever generated. With wails of despair the Souls were dragged into the Lotus Blossom Soul Trap.

  Looking it over, he saw two of the five Inscribed Oma crystals on it were now filled with a dancing purple glow. Only three Souls to go to complete it.

  Nicolai retrieved the chains and got moving, concerned that the ripples he’d generated might draw the kind of attention best avoided. If the Bird had been able to sense such ripples, he felt sure a Centipede would.

  He made his way up to the slope, once more forced to dodge around the bugs. Fortunately there were fewer of them than earlier, and he made it to the top without issue.

  There he crept towards the rock-breaking area, where he saw many Oma crystals still littered around. The bugs, however, were also in larger number. They could be seen picking at the Oma crystals with their mouthparts and… taking them then dumping them onto the backs of bugs who had a certain truck-like look to them.

  These things are smarter than I thought. They’d taken over the undeads’ mining operation. He found this rather disquieting, and spent some time carefully looking the area over in search of the kind of competent, capable guards any intelligent group would leave to watch over a valuable place like this.

  He spotted a few nasty looking bugs lurking quietly amongst the rubble, blending in with it. With Threat Analysis’ help he was able to map and predict their locations, and then found a quiet corner the bugs had largely missed which was still littered with crystals.

  After filling all the pouches he carried, and the large rucksack he’d brought with him, he retreated and lugged his stolen goods away.