The tips of the mirror shards jutting out of Glint's body darkened. They jerked and twisted like worms were running beneath his flesh. The jagged glass that had been Glint's claws sharpened and lengthened, turning to honed, crescent-shaped blades.
His eyes brightened, the yellow within them intensifying as his jaw shifted to accommodate for the extra mirrored teeth pushing out from within his mouth. His arms and legs lengthened, his back hunched.
Three grating screeches rang within his body, muted by layers of gaunt flesh, as blades of glass, curved like the fins of a shark, sliced free his back. His flesh sealed around them as the new permanent additions found their home on his increasingly intimidating body.
All the noise finally faded away and left Glint standing before Alex expectantly.
Glint - Shardwalker (Novice 2)
"Well, look at you." A smile split Alex's mouth. Glint was looking positively terrifying — and this wasn't even a proper change yet. Monster Medley had strongly implied he'd actually be able to make concrete changes to Glint, not just make him stronger. He didn't know what something like Glint would evolve into, but he was eager to find out. Alex just had to make sure he lived long enough to do so. "Caught up with me already? I hope you aren't abandoning the whole mind-body bit that Meiderly just told us about. I don't suppose you understand me more now?"
Glint stared at him mutely.
A second passed before Alex let out a sigh and shook his head. "Okay, fair enough. I can't say I'm surprised. We'll just have to see how you hold up in a fight. You can head back."
Glint rippled, then transformed into a streamer of smoke that flew back into the card in Alex's left hand. He released the card and it vanished, disappearing from his mind as if it had never been there.
I wonder if the key to fully evolving Glint would be getting better soul flames to feed him. I'll have to try again when I've got something more worthwhile to feed him.
Alex cast his gaze around his soul once more. Aside from the faint basin in its center, there was nothing. A small frown flickered across his face as his eyes caught on something that he'd missed before.
Carved into the top of the basin were designs, so faint that he could barely make them out. Alex approached it and ran his fingers over them in an attempt to see if he could make them out.
From what he could tell, it was just three circles. A large one, with two slightly smaller ones just below it. Further studies revealed nothing.
I don't want to just start randomly reaching for things, but I'd imagine they represent something in my soul. Doesn't take a huge stretch to guess that might be my Soul Manifestation and the two Auxiliary Skills I've got. Not sure what that means yet, but I imagine I'll find out as I get stronger.
Meiderly put a lot of emphasis on making my Mind Palace stronger. It sounded like the System might not have let on about its importance to everyone else. I should keep that knowledge to myself for now until I learn a little more about what the System told everyone else.
Alex let himself slip out of his meditation. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in it and didn't want to waste any more time than he had to. Sensation trickled back as his attention returned to the real world.
Claire sat beside him, her eyes fluttering in attempt to keep herself awake. Her face was pale and she started slightly as Alex moved.
"Oh, huh. You did it," Claire said in a strained tone. "I forgot how long the first level takes. Did everything turn out okay?"
"Pretty well, yeah. How long has it been?" Alex asked.
"Five hours, maybe?" Claire's shoulder twitched in what might have been meant to be a shrug. "Kind of lost count. Not that long."
She did her best to keep the exhaustion from showing in her voice and tone, but her best wasn't nearly enough. Her words had started to slur and it looked like a light breeze would be enough to knock her over.
"Do you want to try eating? I've got no idea if it'll work, but it'll be a lot easier than having to sling you over my shoulder and carry you out of here," Alex said.
The smallest corner of her mouth quirked up for an instant. "You mean you wouldn't just ditch me back here?"
Of course not. Imagine the challenge reward I'd get if I lugged an unconscious person out of the Mirrorlands. Then again, we'd probably both just end up dead.
Claire shifted to lean against the wall and dragged herself over to Alex, who scooted closer to save what little remained of her energy.
"How does this work?" Alex asked. "And if you can drink my blood, make sure you leave enough for me to operate normally. I'm not letting you turn me into a shriveled husk."
"Noted," Claire said wearily. She took his arm and turned it over, bringing his wrist up to her lips. An involuntary shiver ran down Alex's spine as her mouth opened to reveal the rest of her fangs.
There was something deeply ingrained into his mind that screamed in protest against letting anything with long fangs get anywhere near him. Before he could get any second thoughts, Claire bit down on his wrist.
It felt like getting two shots at once, and not small ones. Alex suppressed a pained hiss. He hadn't consumed all that much vampire media before the apocalypse, but the things he had seen had all implied getting bitten would feel good or pleasurable.
That most certainly wasn't the case. Claire's wet lips pressed against his skin and she swallowed greedily as his blood ran into her mouth.
///Author's Note///
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