Ascent of a Dragon

Aleph stirs from slumber, groggy and sore. Ugh I feel like I just ran a marathon... Oh right, I did. Prying open her weary eyes she makes to stand, but finds her legs unwilling, or rather unable to move. Huh? She moves again, straining against the force binding her to no avail. What is... Peering back at her unmoving legs she finds herself bundled and bound, wrapped neatly in a tight cocoon of white threads. I see...

Her gaze turns forward, peering at the tiny perpetrator fuming before her. You know what? Now that I think about it I really can't blame her. I did just recklessly drag her around an entire poison algae and death shroom ridden floor, charged headfirst at a giant death plant, and leapt headfirst down a completely unknown and potentially dangerous tunnel. Twice. I'd be mad too.

The look of understanding planted on her face does nothing to placate the ceaseless squealing and angry chitters emanating from her fluffy companion. Pedipalps slap furiously against the dragon's snout as tiny legs wave up and down, all the while yelling what must have been a very colourful display of curses and complaints in her spidery tongue... palpi? Whatever, language. You get the idea.

I don't speak spider... or maybe I do actually? But clearly not this one. Either way this looks like it's going to take a while. Perhaps exactly as long as it would take for me to re-evaluate my current state of affairs and actually come up with a much needed plan?

Aleph begins to incorporate the ultimate technique, mastered by children and delinquents the multiverse over. Zoning out her eyes, looking vaguely in the direction of the rage fuelled fuzzball, and nodding her head occasionally in pretend understanding. The only piece of the puzzle missing being the occasional "mhm", solely by virtue of her inability to make the sound.

Okay then. First things first is to return to the first questions I asked in this world. Starting with 'Who am I?' Aleph Null is the name I chose for myself, because it's perfect like me, but it's not my true name. What is my true name? Can't remember. In fact, one thing I do remember, is that I absolutely must not remember my name! Why? Can't remember. So that's frustrating...

So what can I remember? I've been down this road before. Many times. How many? At least a dozen... probably more. If that dream is anything to go by, I expect none of them ended with me getting much closer to my goal. Which is what exactly? Get stronger? Not quite... it's something more specific, I just can't put my finger on what. But getting stronger definitely helps. At the very least I know it necessitates more Aether.

There's also that shadowy guy. Not sure what, but there's something important about him. Someone who interacts directly with souls is strange enough, but more than that there was something pulling me towards him back when I was still a soul. I don't think anything like that has happened in my previous lives, so this one must be important somehow. I wonder...

Through the eyes of an apoplectic arachnid

"Gah! You fool! Moron! Dumb-ass! I swear, if this labyrinth doesn't kill you first I will!" Chitters and squeals echo the cave walls as Lyla paces side to side, lecturing the bundled up dragon with furious zeal. "I was willing to let your recklessness slide at first with the walking boulder. After all, maybe dragons need a Mana rich diet to survive or something. I don't know! I'm not a dragon!"

"But then you stick your foot in that weird plant? Mycelium? Whatever, and you just freak the hell out! I get it fucked up your leg, but come on! How does that equate to 'I should run around like crazy and jump down the first moss pit I lay my eyes on'?! Did it not even cross your mind I might have healing magic? I don't, but still!" The dragon nods placatingly at her words. "And why do you keep doing that?! You clearly don't understand a word I'm saying! Gah!"

Through the eyes of a remarkably chill dragon

So what's Anime? I feel like that's also important. Hmm... no dice. Oh well, it's about time I start considering my plan. I need to get to the bottom of this place, in both meanings of the term, but if the size so far is anything to go by that's probably quite the distance. Seriously! That mossy cavern alone was bigger than the horizon of the one past life I actually remember in any detail!

But anyway... plan. I can't be so reckless anymore. This place clearly doesn't follow some hierarchy of 'weak at top, strong at bottom', as evidenced by that angry snake and those pretty death vines. Unless I'm just stupendously weak... Either way, I need to build strength without constantly challenging crazy strong monsters. Ambient Aether is a no go. I'd sooner die of old age with how little there is. And I don't think dragons even can die of old age!

I'm not at a stage where I can pull Aether out of things without heavily saturating it in my will first. So that leaves old and strong-willed beasts. Which I can't fight. What about allies? One of my mistakes in that dream-memory was always fighting alone despite having so many companions. Can't imagine I'd find many though, but I did find Bloop. Said spider continues her manic tirade of hisses and squeaks. She would be frothing at the mouth right now, if she had a mouth, and the ability to froth.

In that case I should consider communication. I think I know a few languages. Or maybe a decent amount? Okay I apparently know a lot of languages. None of which happen to be dragon. I think. Pretty sure I can only growl with these vocal chords. So I'll have to use Aether to speak a language I do know then. Vibrating the air is a no, since that'll just instil Aether into the air, wasting it, and it's too precise for me to do right now anyway. I could try using it to manually vibrate my vocal chords to produce specific sounds. I've never done it before, but I'm confident I can learn.

Okay, so then back to allies. Assuming I find none what do I do? I could summon a demon? Sounds like a good idea actually. Could also solve the language issue. But then there's the issue of payment. Even summoning a decently strong demon is expensive, and then I'd have to pay them more to stick around... Guess I'll have to come back to that idea later.

What else? Take my time. But not too much. Hope I stumble upon allies. Find something of value. Perform a Demonic summoning ritual. Maybe remember what Anime is? Reach the bottom of the labyrinth. Ask shadow guy why he stuck me in a dragon of all things. Well, its an improvement-Nay, a perfect plan. Not like I can think of something more specific anyway. I just don't have the info. Aleph brings her attention back to the real world, where she finds Bloop splayed on the floor, dazed and panting.

Shifting her weight, Aleph strains against the fabric binding her in an attempt to break free. Huh... This stuff is tough. Really tough. Probably Mana infused or something. I could be really petty and just walk on my tail like a pogo stick... But nah, I need the rest anyway. Finding no success in her search for freedom, Aleph chooses instead to relax and wait out her punishment. So how long will I be stuck like this?

Three days pass before Aleph is allowed free of her bindings. Three long, tedious, albeit much needed days in which she could rest, recover her battered body, and purge the lingering toxin from her system. Hm, that wasn't too long. A few hours maybe? Guess she isn't as mad as I thought. She muses as the spider reluctantly slices through the threads with her fangs. A look of defeat etches across the tiny arachnid at the completely unperturbed dragon before her.

Aleph stands, stretching her stiff wings and freshly recovered muscles. She makes her way to the remaining half of the vine chunk, a tiny experimental nibble taken out since she last saw it. Scarfing down the chunk, and ignoring the look of disgust coming from behind, she begins to flex her Aether, taking stock of the recent increase.

With this much, plus what I'm digesting, I could probably take a few hearty blows from that big rock lizard. Maybe even survive indefinitely against the attacks from the funky vine room. Wouldn't stop it from just suffocating me though, and I don't even want to think about that wall of death attack, so I'm not even going to try. Aleph stretches her wing into a platform for Bloop to skitter up and onto her perch, then sets off.

The tunnels of this floor weave and wind, wax and wane, much like those of the floor she hatched on. Only this time the walls are accented by sporadic patches of glowing moss. Their pace is slow as they steadily map out their new environment, identifying sources of food and water. Silence permeates the cave, save for the rumbling vibrations and hums from Aleph's voice practice, much to the tiny spider's annoyance. Trap plants appear much more frequently, though as the pair soon learned, they only seem to appear on the glowing moss patches, making them fairly easy to avoid.

Occasional hunts netting the odd rock lizard prove enough to sate the spider, with Aleph making up for the lack of meat by eating the toxic trap plants. Like a freak. Granted, her stomach being a matter burning furnace optimised to extract Aether means any toxins simply get disintegrated before reaching her bloodstream, but this does nothing to stop the horrified glares of her little spidery companion. Nor does it make them taste any less... gooey.

Eventually though, days pass by and the pair find themselves at another tunnel reaching down to the next layer. Ready to move on to new lands, hopefully with better food.

Silver Death-Vine

Appearance:

Littered across these glowing caverns are several plant-like creatures which meld into the ground below. They possess the remarkable abil--y to transform their colour to perfectly match their surroundings, even going as far as to imitate the signature glow of the moss they reside on. When un-camouflaged they appear as pale white vines which wrap around any prey foolish enough to step into them. The vines appear to run deep into the ground, spreading wide like mycelium. Where they lead I can only imagine.

On the floor below I have discovered what I believe to be the source of these vines. Rather than several separate organisms, I believe these all t- be a sprawling network of interconnected vines and plants. A single organism, collecting together in a centre point below, where lies a coagulated mass of pulsing vines. I observed its presence receding, luring me in to the cavern containing its core and closing the way behind me. Of course, regardless of the fact I could probably slay such a creature with ease, I am not foolish enough to simply waltz head-first into the belly of a ---st like this. I will have to find another way down.

Behaviour:

Normally these plants lay dormant, resting camouflaged against the floor. However when something makes contact with the petal-like vines on their surface, they swiftly wrap around the invading presence, snaking tentacle-like vines in from below to strangle their prey. Tiny bristles on the petals inject a potent toxin into their victims, rendering them impotent within minutes.

Their primary prey source appears to be smaller creatures like young Earth Drakes who, when alone, are unable to resist the vice grip of the vines. Larger creatures can simply pull free, though they may still succumb to the potent toxin in time, rendering them nu-b and unmovin-.

I have also noticed, that when narrowing my gaze away from these organisms and watch them at the very edge of my periphery, they appear to pulsate as if communicating. Yet as soon as I return my gaze they return to stillness. Perhaps they can sense my gaze? They seem to rely more on touch when it comes to catching prey, though such -n adaptation would still make sense, considering the reliance their prey have on sight. This could be a way of saving on resources which would otherwise be wasted on maintaining their camouflage, or perhaps it serves some other purpose?

Other Notes:

These plants are clearly too toxic to eat, enough to even break through my robust constitution and give m- mild food poisoning. They don't even taste good. The vine- -rom the cavern below taste no better. Worse even.

-Excerpt from sectio- -1 chapter 3 of the Lost Hero's Journal