C101: Mutation, Pulse
Overall Word count = 1231 on 6/20/2024.
What Axel heard and saw next was the source of true despair. Whilst sleeping, a strange liquid fell upon Axel and the agony that flowed through Axel was unlike anything he had ever felt before.
The liquid spread like….jelly and soon covered 'Axels' entire body. His body was crushed by the shell while the initial drop of liquid had seeped into his body and was melting him down into sludge. He was stuck in darkness who knows how long as only 'his brain' remained within the sludge. Every sensation of his melted body squirmed and flowed around uncontrollably.
It was only after an unknown period of time that even the brain had turned to sludge, but that instead brought a positive change as Axel was connected to the entirety of the shell he was in. Essentially turning into a worm, 'he' wandered around until he felt thirsty, as such, he went about and ended up at the river that Axel had witnessed. Axel then somehow consumed the water until nothing was left in this region before he went backwards to search for another water source.
Yet before it could, the shell began to excrete the jelly substance which slid in between the various rocks and broken dirt around Axel. The very same sludge that Axel himself had come into contact with.
From that initial stop, Worm Axel went about his way to consume tons more water until it finally returned to its nest and continued resting. Axel slowly felt his body begin to reforge as the connection to the shell collapsed but he is coming back different. Stronger, bigger, more powerful.
As Axel gets lost in the evolutionary sensations, he soon returns to his own body which has finally expelled the jelly energy out of his body. Axel still feels groggy from living the life of the other creature and he needs a moment to orient himself that this wasn't just another vision of his.
Axel moves further away from the worm tunnel, 'he', made while moving around for water. He attempts to comprehend what he just saw and the reason for it. Yet he has no possible clue of why he saw what he saw. What he does know is that he got quite a bit stronger due to that jelly, yet it is too painful of an experience for him to continue attempting to absorb from it until he knows more.
'I better just focus on my mission for now. Ill investigate this sludge later. It will be a good backup plan as compared to fighting monsters in the dungeon if I need to get strong quickly. It had only been a few minutes that I had passed out after all' Axel reasons with himself to hopefully distract himself from the sludge and get back to work.
He gets up and now walking outside the worm pathway, he trails it. After half an hour he soon reaches a sort of intersection where he remembers the worm passing through the river here to reach the other side while also absorbing the water on the way. But his memories grow blurry around this point. As such, he struggles to tell where the worm might be as there are multiple curving paths past the river. He can only follow one until the end and hopefully he will recall where he should go from there or be forced to return to follow the second path.
Axel decides to follow the front right path as he is at least certain he went that way but not if he came back and for what reason if the river was already dried up in this region. He hops over the river and then once more over a part of the crushed path as he is truly afraid of the sludge that could very well be hidden in the ground like last time. He wants to avoid all contact with it unless necessary.
Unfortunately, following the first path was indeed a dead end. Though not in a traditional sense as it continued for miles until he encountered a minor river that was drained dry again. Axel could only go backwards until he arrived back at the river and followed the second path. This one was much more winding, as if the creature was uncertain of which direction to go.
As he follows the current winding trail, he pauses for a moment. A strange sensation passes over him. Axel takes a combat stance as he prepares for an attacker. His instincts honed after facing off against multiple legends the past few days. Yet multiple more rhythmic sensations passed over him with no one entering his sensory range (visual/hearing/scent). He analyzes the sensations and finds that it's a pulse….akin to a heart beat.
The idea of some sort of heartbeat reverberating across the land when said land is meant to be abandoned and untouched by anyone's touch does not paint a positive picture for Axel. While being alert, he continued along the path he was already following.
Along the way, he realized that the pulse was getting stronger the more he followed the path. This told him that he was truly on the right track to the source of the sludge and the possible worm.
His footsteps soon stall as he gazes off into the distance. He is lost in thought in the horror that lies before him. Gone is the worm that Axel had inhabited or dreamt of. What lies before Axel is miles and miles of a singular black snake. The snake is predominantly featureless as it wears a loose, ripped, gray mask. Axel can tell that it is shedding. It's size has long surpassed the way it's appearance looked like back in his infected vision.
What worries Axel most is that the snake is vibrating and it is this vibration that seems to be the source of the pulse he felt.
Suddenly the snake seems to tremble as it's back end is lifted up and slammed back into the ground. A massive crack that was already there is expanded longer while the vibrations of the strike seems to shake off more of the shed skin.
After maintaining his stance from the lesser earthquake he felt. He gulps. "Is this creature the reason for the massive earthquake a week ago?" He ponders out loud and continues approaching the creature.
His thoughts turn to ponder what type of creature it is? It's appearance would indicate something similar to a dungeon Worm, Lambdon but those are primarily gray or brown colored to blend against the dungeon walls and dirt. Yet this creature is pure black like a moonless night. It is also much larger than the typical dungeon worm that Axel has encountered.
Upon closer observation, it's body is covered in chitin-styled scales. Layered over each other to cover the whole body, like a rough shark skin instead of smooth snake skin. Its back end is also much slimmer than its front end.
The closer Axel gets, the more pulses he can feel. It is not a singular pulse that continuously echoes but multiple pulses as if individual body sections of the snake are shaking. It is only once Axel gets within half a mile of the giant snake that he notices multiple bulges on its body .Like something trying to escape the worms body and it's these bulges that are moving back and forth at their own but structured pace that causes the pulses.
Axel has sweat on his face over what could be inside this creature that is causing these pulses but it remains uncaring. He creates multiple terrorizing theories about the snake creature being some sort of hive creature for other insect type monsters that have reached maturity and are trying to escape it's protective skin. Yet his expectations are shattered by what happens next.
SCUELCH RIP TEAR PLUUUUUUU CRASH
"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGHHHHHHH"