In the middle of the great rock dome, Matt's screams disturbed the tranquility of thousands of years.
The echo resonated over the forest where the faint glow seemed to react with disgust to the desperate screams of the intruder.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the lake, on a mass of rock, Matt stepped back with his face disfigured by terror.
In front of him, a dark and viscous mass crawled slowly, waving a single tentacle with disturbing energy.
"No, no! Wait, wait! Stop!" He shouted in his hoarse voice after the screams of desperation.
Then it stopped. Its tentacle advanced a few centimeters and tilted to one side in a tone of confusion.
Matt watched it move strangely.
The hairs on his body stood on end.
'Is this what happens when a gift evolves!? How is it possible!?' He never expected his gift to have a will of its own.
An insecurity was born inside him. Although the strange liquid kept its repulsive appearance after the evolution, before that, at least he could say he had total control of it. But now…
Now it has its own will!
Observing the tentacle swinging in the air above its own viscous mass, he could not help but compare the Mutagen to a terrifying beast that would seek to consume his flesh at any moment.
'Can a gift rebel against its owner?'
After a brief thought, Matt found meaning in a previous message from the system.
Matt let out a slight sigh of relief.
'I see… So that's what "Loyal companion" refers to.'
Somehow, the system had foreseen his reaction and had informed him in advance about his companion.
Then, he was able to look at his gift with different eyes.
The mutagen remained in its place and timidly tilted its tentacle toward the ground.
Seeing this, a chill ran through his body.
Even knowing he was not in danger, the repulsion he felt toward his gift almost made him vomit.
'It doesn't matter! You are here to become strong!' He tried to comfort himself.
Gathering all his determination, Matt slightly bent his body in front of it.
If he wanted to become strong, he had to face it. Above all, the fact that his gift had life was an advantage.
It was not only loyal, at least that's what the system said, but it seemed to have its own consciousness. Therefore, a good relationship between both was ideal.
A trembling smile appeared on his face.
"Do you understand me?"
Upon hearing his master's voice, the mutagen shuddered, and with a hurried movement moved its tentacle up and down.
Matt could feel the joy of reaching him through the bond that connected them.
The sensation was somewhat curious, although it resembled what he felt after reading the system's message for the first time.
This led him to wonder, was the system really that fairy? If so, did all that anguish he felt back then belong to the fairy?
'It's not possible...'
Just an instant of that feeling had made him feel as if a thousand souls were tearing his own apart. However, that fairy would have carried that throughout her whole life, or at least most of it.
What kind of tribulations must she have faced to carry so much pain? And worse yet, would he now have to take that responsibility?
'No, it's not time for regrets.'
Then, his eyes fixed on his mutagen who remained watching or... aiming at him?
He didn't even know if it had eyes, well, certainly it didn't. But smell? Hearing?
It could hear him, but how was that possible if it was simply a liquid mass?
After grabbing his head with both hands, Matt decided to put those thoughts aside.
The important thing now was to gain strength and leave this place as soon as possible.
And for that, he had to understand his new abilities… or those of his gift.
They're still his, right?
Escaping from his thoughts, Matt focused on his gift.
"Hey... Show me what you can do."
The viscous liquid twisted its tentacle for a moment, then nodded energetically before losing its shape.
On the ground, its mass convulsed, sometimes extending and other times contracting. Until it finally stopped.
The imperfections disappeared, along with the opalescent light leaving a perfect matte black on a smooth figure against the ground.
'Huh?'
Matt tilted his head in confusion…
'What is that?'
His mutagen remained in place, its shape had a curved border on the sides and a smooth one on one of its fronts which was cut in its center by a wavy line that protruded like a steaming figure.
A cup… of coffee? What the hell is it trying to say!?
Matt shook his head escaping his confusion.
"Hey, hey, I mean the abilities!"
After a brief sigh, he decided to be more specific.
"What about analyzing, can you show me?"
After returning to its original shape, the tentacle emerged and quickly nodded. Then, it looked in all directions until stopping over the river to his left.
Under its gaze, like a dark liquid, his mutagen crawled slowly over the rock, meanwhile, its opalescent shine recovered just before reaching the river.
Once there, its body submerged in the water and then expanded, as if part of the water had fused into it increasing its mass and slightly changing its color with marine hues.
Then, the system surprised him with an alert.
[20% Of genetic material collected]
[40% Of genetic material collected]
His eyes opened wide upon noticing that his gift grew with each of these messages, even fusing into it.
At some point, it began to swim on the water, its speed also increasing with each of the alerts until it transformed into a dark blur.
Matt ran alongside the river chasing it.
[70% Of genetic material collected]
[100% Of genetic material collected]
[Water: Analyzed 100%]
By then, Matt felt a burst of emotion.
His mind flooded with knowledge he didn't have before.
Matt looked at the water with different eyes, somehow he could feel a connection with it as if somehow he could connect to it.
Following his impulse.
Matt crouched on the edge and stretched his hands touching its surface.
He sighed, disappointed… until his mutagen shot out of the water like a projectile.
As it ascended, the mass it had absorbed was expelled, falling into the river as if it had never belonged to it.
Upon landing, the tentacle rose in a triumphant gesture.
Matt smiled.
But his smile froze as he saw two huge yellow eyes glowing from the darkness just behind the mutagen.