Elias woke to the sound of dripping water and the ache of a body that felt like it had been run through a blender.
He lay on the rocky edge of an underground pool, soaked and tired. His cloak was heavy with water, sticking to his skin like wet clothes that wouldn't come off.
The cave was dark, lit only by some glowing algae on the walls, making strange shadows around him. His head hurt from where he'd hit it during the fall—but that wasn't all. There was something new. A weird warmth ran down his back buzzing like electricity.
He slowly sat up, gritting his teeth. His boots slipped a little on the wet stone, and he leaned against the wall to keep from falling again.
His body felt strange—too light, too sharp, like his skin was full of static. He looked at his hands, expecting the usual rough fingers from all his typing. Instead, he saw Veyron's pale, clean hands with a fancy ring on one finger. But that wasn't what shocked him.
Thin golden lines glowed under his skin, moving like tiny wires on his wrists. They pulsed a few times, then faded, leaving a light tingling feeling. Elias's heart pounded. "What the hell just happened?" he said. His voice echoed in the cave.
He tried to remember the fall. The water. That thing in the pool—it looked like some glowing creature with long tentacles or hands and a beating light inside. He'd written about that thing before, hadn't he? It was meant for Lin, his story's hero, to find much later. A super old creature that lived off other beings, gave them more power, and changed their bodies. He'd thought it was cool and added it to his notes, but never explained how it actually worked. "Of course I made it sound awesome but never explained anything," he muttered, rubbing his face. "Typical me."
His chest tightened with worry. Did he just get infected with some alien bug?
He touched his back where the warmth still burned. No cuts. No blood. Just that steady pulsing, like a second heartbeat.
Ping.
The [Creator Tools] screen popped up on its own, glowing yellow in the dark cave.
Elias jumped a bit, thinking it might be broken. But no—it had a new tab, brighter than the others: Symbiont Interface.
He tapped it, and some cold, simple text started scrolling down the screen.
Host Status: Stable (Integration 10%)
Abilities: Nullbrand, Ultra Regeneration
Elias stared at the screen, then let out a short, shaky laugh. "Great. I'm testing my own plot device now." He tried tapping on the abilities to get more info, but a red message popped up: Not Enough Integration.
"I have to level that up too?" he muttered.
The screen didn't respond—obviously. He waved it away, and it vanished. He looked around the cave, half expecting the weird parasite to crawl out of the water again. But the pool was calm, glowing slightly with algae. Whatever had entered him… it was inside him now. And it wasn't saying anything.
"Okay, Elias," he said, trying to calm himself. "You're alive. You've got a magic parasite. And you're stuck in your own story. Deal with it."
Climbing out of the cave was easier than it should've been. His body felt… sharper. Like someone had tuned up his reflexes. His feet landed perfectly, hands grabbed the right rocks without thinking. He realized it was the symbiont. It was already helping him.
He stopped at the cave entrance. The waterfall behind him roared, mist hanging in the air. He flexed his fingers, feeling a strange energy in his chest. Veyron's magic—shadow affinity. It was weak before, barely enough to darken a room. But maybe now?
Outside, the butler waited by the cart, looking worried. "My lord," he said, eyeing Elias's wet cloak and muddy boots. "Are you alright?"
"I tripped," Elias said, waving him off. "I'm fine."