Chapter 71: The Serpent Feeds

While Jet sat several rooms away studying the conditions required to unseal Ilios, Frey Valentin D’Aubigné was sitting cross-legged on the floor of his own room with considerably less patience.

His combat coat had been thrown over the back of a chair the moment he entered, one boot rested beside the bed while the other had somehow ended up near the bathroom door, and the rest of his damaged equipment occupied an untidy pile against the wall.

Only his weapons had received proper treatment. His twin curved swords had been cleaned before Frey even bothered taking a shower, and both now leaned within arm’s reach beside the bed.

Scratches remained across his forearms, bruises darkened his ribs and shoulders, and exhaustion from the expedition still sat heavily inside his muscles, but none of that was enough to make him sleep.

Not when several Monster Cores were arranged across the carpet in front of him.

Frey had been thinking about them since Greyvault asked whether he intended to sell them.

The answer had been obvious. Money wasn’t something he desperately needed, certainly not enough to exchange valuable progression resources for more of it, and his recent battles in the Thousand Boughs had made him increasingly aware of how much room Vritra still had to grow.

He could now maintain five manifestations of Vritra’s Coil simultaneously, something that would have been impossible immediately after awakening, but the Rune itself remained at its earliest developmental stage.

He wanted to know what would happen when he finally fed it properly.

Frey raised his right hand and summoned the Red Moon System. Crimson light gathered before him before expanding into the familiar interface every Awakener possessed.

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[ STATUS ]

Name: Frey Valentin D’Aubigné

Age: 18

Race: Human

Star Rank: 1-Star

Star Saturation: 40.00%

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[ ATTRIBUTES ]

Strength: 16

Agility: 17

Stamina: 15

Vitality: 15

Perception: 13

Intelligence: 14

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[ INVENTORY ]

• Monster Cores

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[ DIVINE RUNES ]

Divine Runes: 1 / 1

Divine Rune Rank: A

Active Runes: 1 / 1

Active Divine Rune: [Vritra — The World-Encircling Serpent]

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Frey’s gaze lingered briefly on his Star Saturation. Forty percent wasn’t bad, but it also meant he wasn’t even halfway toward the saturation required before he could begin seriously thinking about his next Star ascension.

That was a problem for another time. Monster Cores wouldn’t solve it anyway. His Star foundation needed Mana Crystals and proper refinement. What lay on the floor in front of him belonged to a different side of his progression.

He selected Vritra.

The Status disappeared and another panel replaced it.

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[ DIVINE RUNE ]

Name: Vritra — The World-Encircling Serpent

Rank: A

Status: Active

Rune Stage: Dormant

Synchronization: 8.00%

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[ ABILITIES ]

• Vritra’s Coil

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Eight percent.

Frey rested one arm across his knee as he stared at the number. His growing familiarity with Vritra had already made the Rune easier to use, particularly when controlling several Coils at once, but Synchronization remained the clearest measurement of how deeply Vritra had integrated with him.

Eight percent wasn’t terrible considering how recently the Second Red Moon had occurred.

It still looked painfully small.

Frey reached for the nearest Monster Core and rolled it between his fingers. "All right, big guy. Let’s see how hungry you actually are."

He circulated Mana into his palm.

Vritra responded instantly.

The serpent tattoo winding across his body grew warm, and something stirred beneath his skin as the Rune recognized the supernatural essence contained inside the Core. Frey closed his eyes and established the connection carefully.

A faint current entered through his palm first, traveled along his arm and disappeared into the Rune. The sensation wasn’t like absorbing ordinary Mana.

Monster essence carried something rougher and more concentrated, a trace of the creature from which it had been harvested that had to be processed through the Divine Rune rather than simply dumped into his body.

The Core gradually lost its glow.

Frey kept the absorption steady.

Several minutes later, the first crack appeared across its surface. The light inside weakened further before disappearing completely, leaving behind something that felt empty in his hand. More fractures spread across it until the exhausted Core broke apart and crumbled into dull fragments.

[Monster Core Absorbed.]

[Divine Rune Synchronization Increased.]

Frey immediately checked Vritra’s panel.

[Synchronization: 8.72%]

His eyebrows rose. "Now we’re talking."

He dropped the useless fragments into an empty container and picked up another Core.

The second absorption came more easily. Frey already understood the rhythm now: establish the connection, regulate the flow, allow Vritra to process the essence and avoid forcing more through his Mana pathways than they could comfortably carry.

The second Core began dimming between his hands.

Then a shadow appeared behind him.

Frey stopped drawing energy.

Nothing stood between him and the room’s lights that could have produced it.

He slowly turned his head. An enormous serpentine face hovered behind his shoulder.

It was translucent enough that Frey could see the wall through it, yet its shape was unmistakable. A massive snout, sweeping contours and scales formed from dark Mana occupied a space far too large for the room.

Then it vanished.

Frey stared at the empty air for several seconds before glancing at the half-drained Core. "Okay. That’s definitely new."

He resumed.

The apparition returned. This time it didn’t disappear. As more essence flowed into Vritra, the massive head became clearer and a neck began forming behind it.

Translucent scales appeared one after another, overlapping across a serpentine body that passed straight through the hotel wall without disturbing it. Frey watched carefully and quickly understood that he wasn’t looking at an actual summoned creature.

Nothing physical had entered the room. No furniture shifted, no pressure displaced the air and the wall remained untouched.

It was Vritra or rather, an illusionary manifestation produced by the Divine Rune as it reacted to the essence being fed into it.

The second Core cracked apart.

Frey grabbed the third.

Vritra became clearer.

By the fourth Core, the enormous translucent body had begun coiling around him. Sections disappeared through the floor and walls before emerging elsewhere, creating the impossible image of a serpent large enough to wrap around the entire building somehow curling itself around one man.

Its scales remained partially transparent, but every Core gave them greater definition.

Frey could feel the difference inside himself as well.

Vritra wasn’t simply taking energy. Their connection was deepening.

Curious, Frey raised one hand and activated his existing ability. Mana gathered beside him before a spectral serpent emerged and wrapped around the leg of a heavy chair.

Vritra’s Coil.

Frey tightened it carefully and stopped before the wood cracked. The response was smoother than before. There was less hesitation between thought and movement, as though Vritra understood his intention before he had completely expressed it.

He summoned another Coil.

Then a third.

A fourth.

A fifth.

Five spectral serpents occupied the hotel room while the colossal illusion of Vritra remained wrapped around everything behind them. Frey moved each Coil independently, making one rise, another loosen and a third change direction while the remaining two held position. Five Coils weren’t new; he had already reached that level through training and repeated use.

The ease was new.

His ability hadn’t evolved into another stage. Nothing on the System indicated that it had. Increased Synchronization simply meant Vritra responded more naturally to him, reducing the effort required to translate intention into action.

Frey dismissed the Coils before he accidentally demolished something expensive and reached for another Core.

Time passed.

He absorbed one, rested when his pathways became uncomfortable, drank water, then continued.

The pile steadily shrank.

Dead Core fragments accumulated inside the container beside him while Vritra’s presence became increasingly overwhelming. Frey didn’t know what Jet was experiencing in his own room, nor did he know what resources Asura demanded.

He only knew that his A-Rank Divine Rune was devouring everything he offered and giving him measurable progress in return.

Eventually sweat covered his face and chest.

The illusionary Vritra had become enormous.

Several coils surrounded Frey without physically touching him, portions passing through the ceiling and floor because the room simply wasn’t large enough to contain the image.

Its head hung above him, almost touching the ceiling despite clearly extending beyond it, while individual scales had become visible across its body.

Frey checked his remaining Cores.

One.

He had deliberately saved one of the densest for last.

He picked it up with both hands and rolled his shoulders before settling back into position. "Last meal. Make it count."

The serpent seemed to tighten around him.

Frey began absorbing.

The reaction was immediate.

Essence surged into his hands with enough force to make his fingers spasm, and Frey quickly reduced the absorption rate before the pressure became painful. His Mana pathways heated as energy traveled through them.

The tattoo burned against his skin, while the enormous Vritra manifestation grew darker with every passing second.

Frey kept going.

The Core dimmed.

Its internal light weakened and Vritra’s scales sharpened.

Frey’s breathing became heavier as the final portion resisted extraction. He increased his Mana flow carefully and drew another stream into his body.

The enormous serpent surrounding him shifted, its impossible coils tightening around the room until Frey felt as though he were sitting at the center of some ancient creature’s embrace.

A crack appeared across the Core.

Then another.

Frey clenched his jaw and continued until the final trace of supernatural essence disappeared.

The Core collapsed between his fingers.

At that exact moment, the gigantic serpent above him opened its eyes.

Two burning points of light stared down at Frey.

His Red Moon System erupted across his vision.

[Synchronization Threshold Reached.]

Frey froze with the dead fragments of the Core still resting between his fingers as another notification appeared.

[Vritra — The World-Encircling Serpent has achieved sufficient development.]

The illusionary serpent lowered its enormous head until it hovered directly behind him.

Then another crimson panel unfolded.

[New Divine Rune Ability Unlocked.]

Frey’s eyes narrowed.

[Calamity Reservoir]