Before there was light.
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~{REGISTERING...}~
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Before there was name.
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~{ATTEMPTING CREATION UNDER CODE: 74365}~
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Before there was hunger.
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~{CREATION ATTEMPT FAILED. PLEASE RE-INPUT COMMAND.}~
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There was a void— unseen, unwritten, and waiting.
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~{CREATION PROMPT RESUBMITTED. ATTEMPTING...}~
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~{CONGRATULATIONS!}~
NEW MONSTER WORLD CODE ID: <108796>
CODE NAME:
STATUS: CREATION SUCCESSFUL.
LOADING BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS...
>> Processing adaptive exoskeleton...
>> Infusing void-touched mandibles...
>> Engaging primal directive: DOMINION.
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~{BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS LOADED}~
Adaptive Exoskeleton (Tier I):
A basic carapace capable of resisting minor physical trauma. Limited adaptability to environmental threats.
Void-Touched Mandibles:
Serrated mandibles imbued with faint traces of void energy. Effective against small, unarmored targets.
Predatory Instinct:
Driven by an overwhelming need to feed, the creature emits a low-tier presence that unsettles lesser organisms.
Burrowing Trait (Unstable):
Can tunnel short distances through loose earth and stone. Precision and control will improve with evolution.
[Finalizing Entity Parameters...] Processing complete.
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Deep within a cavern, buried beneath layers of ground, stone, and bone, there was a pulse—not from the air. Not from life. But from a structure…
No.
Calling it a structure was only being generous.
Truth be told, it was barely distinguishable from the rock that surrounded it, almost entirely covered in thick layers of illuminating fungi. Time had long since left its mark—and consumed it.
The pulse returned once more, stronger this time.
A low hum echoed through the cavern corridor as the structure began to glow.
It radiated a faint Tyrian-purple hue, slowly dissolving the fungi that had made the surface home.
Symbols formed midair—an ancient language, resembling a code being written into the world itself.
Was it magic? Was it divine?
Or could it be something older, long since buried beneath the laws of both?
The air vibrated again, as if bracing itself for a birth not performed in ages.
The air tore.
There was no sound—the cavern folding inward on itself, forming a point just above the structure.
Then… it began.
Sections of hardened chitin emerged midair, thick and polished over with voidlight.
Segmented plates snapped into alignment, rotating and locking into even greater precision—forming over nothing, like the air was solving a puzzle.
The abdomen curled itself into existence, pulsating with violet veins beneath translucent layers.
Then came the thorax, twitching over and over again until it finally locked forward—rigid and trembling.
Mandibles formed next, jagged and obsidian black—opening and closing in a musical rhythm.
Legs unfolded violently, one by one.
Each joint clicked into the puzzle with wet snaps, layered with sharp spines.
Final segments twitched erratically before finally falling and digging into the stone floor.
A faint wail of steam exhaled from the shell before the carapace sealed itself, turning the creature's body into armor.
Last but not least—a set of red-glazed, glowing eyes formed.
Eyes that could invoke fear into even the toughest of warriors.
This world had just unleashed an abomination among its kin.
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~{INITIATING SYSTEM PROMPT <982365>}~
~{DIRECTIVE: ASCENSION CYCLE—PHASE I}~
~{ASSIGNED BY:
~{NOTICE: Entity designated for divine progression. All protocols now active.}~
~{Commencing foundational development sequence...}~
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The air had fallen still.
The creature newly formed, still twitching with leftover heat, remained mostly motionless.
But behind it, the relic of a structure groaned.
Tiny hairline fractures created a spiderweb across the exposed stone.
The glow faded. Its purpose had been fulfilled.
The structure fell inward—slightly, gently—seemingly disintegrating into dust and stone.
Whatever it once was, it was now meaningless.
Nothing more than part of the cave.
Silence lingered.
The cavern held its breath.
Then suddenly—it moved.
A leg twitched upward, quickly followed by the others.
They moved like a machine—sharp, mechanical—yet twitched with an uncontrolled rhythm.
The mandibles clicked open.
Its head was clouded… thought? No.
Something more primal—an internal command, searching.
Not for something it could name, but for something it could feel.
The carapace creaked as the creature shifted its full weight, buckling onto all four limbs upright.
It didn't know what it was.
It didn't know where it was.
But its head... its head seemed to guide it,
as though commanded by a second mind.
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~{INITIATING SYSTEM PROMPT <982366>}~
~{DIRECTIVE: STABILIZATION}~
~{PREDATORY VESSEL: UNCALIBRATED}~
~{REQUIREMENT: CONSUME TO STABILIZE}~
OBJECTIVE: Hunt and devour 10 organic lifeforms.
REWARD: +10 EXP | Core Alignment: Predestined Predator.
FAILURE: Starvation. Biological termination.
~{ENGAGING HUNTING PROTOCOL...}~
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The creature didn't understand these strange symbols.
Not the code.
Not the structure.
And definitely not the voice.
But the meaning—
that was clear.
The message translated itself automatically into a form it could understand.
It must hunt, kill, and feed.
That was what had been burned into its purpose.
It stood still for just a moment longer, its red eyes scanning the dark corridor that had served as its birthplace...
There was nothing.
Only the sound of its legs clacking against the ground.
It took its first real steps forward—jagged, unnatural, but not unsure.
At the far side of the room, there was a crack in a stone door.
Barely visible, with jagged rocks and debris blocking the way.
There was no food here.
It had to move.
The creature began to crawl forward, wobbling at first—but with each step, the motion became easier.
Smoother.
More natural.
The doorway loomed in front of it—broken, jagged, half-collapsed under its own vast weight.
Yet there was the crack—just barely large enough for it to squeeze through.
It didn't hesitate.
The front limbs slipped through first, folding inward as its torso twisted unnaturally.
Chitin ground itself against the stone with a low, grinding scrape.
Pieces of the door broke off as it pressed forward even harder.
Thin lines were etched into its shell—yet even now, they were already beginning to heal.
Halfway through, suddenly, it sensed something.
A collection of things.
They were moving.
They were warm.
And faint.
Yet that only made it push harder, bursting the crack in the door wider—nearly twice its original size.
Its mandibles clicked.
It knew what waited ahead.
Prey.
The creature moved forward, faster than before.
Each step came quicker than the last.
Its body was adjusting—finding rhythm.
Limbs flaked against the ground in the same musical patterns as before.
The scents grew stronger.
Life.
Warmth.
Movement.
They were getting closer.
The corridor narrowed, then curved upward.
The creature climbed with ease, claws digging into the stone.
The scent became overwhelming.
Prey—everywhere.
To the left, to the right, above, even below.
It overcame the last ridge—then stopped.
The tunnel ended.
Before it, a sudden drop lay—a cliff overlooking a massive cavern chamber below.
The space stretched far beyond, glowing with hues from every direction.
Fungi.
Cavern plants.
Even the creatures themselves pulsed with faint bioluminescent light.
The ceiling vanished into darkness.
The creature looked down.
And it could see it now, not just sense it—hundreds... no, thousands of shapes.
Insects.
Rats.
Lizards.
Bats.
The list kept going.
They all pulsated with life.
And all were unaware.
It didn't understand the concept of an ecosystem yet.
But it didn't care.
How to get down, though?
It knew it couldn't just leap.
Its instincts screamed—"NO!"—the moment it looked over the edge.
It was a steep drop, far too high.
A tumble would mean destruction, not survival.
But as it scanned the ledge, it noticed something to the right—a jagged outcropping jutting from the cliff face, just large enough for it to grip.
Beneath it, a narrow slope clung to the cavern wall, barely visible if not for the glowing fungi growing along its edge.
The pattern repeated itself, step after step, all the way down.
Convenient.
Too convenient, perhaps.
Had this once been a path?
A route carved long ago for something—or someone—to move between levels?
It didn't matter.
The creature moved toward the outcropping, carefully lowering itself onto it.
One step, followed by another.
The stone trembled slightly under its weight—comparable to a small to medium-sized dog.
It was brittle from years of cavern dew erosion.
It crouched low, tensing, before lunging toward another platform.
As it descended deeper, the cavern's glow engulfed it even more.
Until eventually, it dropped onto a patch of bioluminescent fungi and plants—hitting the collection with a hard thud.
But the descent wasn't over.
Of course it wasn't.
The scents only grew stronger, pulling it downward faster.
It worked its way across more small platforms, learning to shift its weight, to fall into controlled slides, to use gravity rather than fight it.
It continued to stumble downward, maintaining speed with each crossed ledge.
But it was still a newly created creature.
Still incomplete.
One step went too far.
At a slightly awkwardly slanted platform, its footing shifted—unstable, off-balance—and it fell.
The creature tumbled the rest of the distance, crashing and twisting, its shell slamming against jagged stone.
Cracks splintered across its carapace, glowing faintly along the fractures.
It hit the ground with a brutal, echoing thud.
And lay still.
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~{WARNING: IMPACT DETECTED}~
~{DAMAGE: EXOSKELETON INTEGRITY BREACH – MINOR}~
~{ACTIVATING PASSIVE TRAIT: ADAPTIVE EXOSKELETON (TIER I)}~
Repair in progress...
Estimated recovery time: 42 seconds.
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It twitched.
The creature's legs shook as it struggled to regain balance.
Its frame still reeled from the fall, cracks pulsing faint purple.
But its passive skill was already at work—slowly sealing the fractures with a dim, glowing hue.
A slow process.
But it didn't stop.
The smells were overwhelming.
Yet first... the surroundings.
They were nothing like the place it had been born from.
They were full of life.
Towering stalks of glowing fungi stretched far upward, their caps pulsing with bioluminescence—blue, red, green.
It was like the gods had placed the stars themselves in this cavern.
Thick, twisted vines, wet with condensation, draped from the ceiling—each twitching with unseen inhabitants.
Roots crisscrossed the cavern floor, tangled around rocks and bones—some no larger than a quarter of its own size, others massive, easily two or three times larger than its birth chamber.
Pools of faintly glowing liquid dotted the terrain, casting eerie ripples of colored light across the undergrowth.
In one, something small and quick darted just beneath the surface.
As the creature observed, suddenly—
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
Adaptive Exoskeleton (Tier I): Repairs Completed.
Exoskeletal Integrity: 100%
Mobility Stabilized.
Predatory functions fully operational.
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The repairs were complete, and the creature stood still, softly illuminated by the glow of the cavern.
Until suddenly, something moved— very quiet, and very fast.
Its limbs shifted through the undergrowth, body weight spread evenly across a broad, moss-covered leaf.
The creature froze, its red eyes locking onto the figure ahead.
It was a long-bodied reptile, its scales glowing faintly blue and green.
The initial quick movements had slowed—becoming rhythmic, unaware of the threat lurking behind it.
The creature crept forward...
Then leaped.
The distance was crossed in a mere second—limbs coiling and releasing like striking wires.
The reptile barely had time to react, lifting its head instinctively, before void-pulsed mandibles pierced straight through its neck and body.
The prey squirmed violently, thrashing against the inevitable, until—
A sharp crunch echoed through the cavern.
The creature held firm, its mandibles tightening until the last signs of struggle vanished.
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
[1/10 organic lifeforms consumed.]
Progress toward stabilization: 10%.
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Without hesitation, the creature devoured the reptile entirely.
But it wasn't done yet.
It continued.
The creature slipped through the undergrowth, moving forward like a shadow between the towering fungal stalks.
The scents led it from target to target, each prey falling as easily as the first.
A sleeping bat, clinging upside down to a root—ripped from its perch.
A slow-moving beetle—its carapace thick, but brittle.
Another reptile—smaller than the first.
(We already saw how the last lizard held up.)
Each kill became more efficient.
Each motion, more natural.
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
[4/10 organic lifeforms consumed.]
Progress toward stabilization: 40%.
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The creature's momentum was at a high—
until, ahead, nestled near one of the glowing pools, sat a larger creature.
It was motionless.
At first glance, it appeared to be just another oddly shaped rock or root, coated in fungus, vines, or whatever other unknown growths clung to this place.
But the creature's senses twitched.
It was breathing.
It crept closer.
A squat, hulking form sat at the pool's edge.
A toad—but not like any most had seen.
Its skin was a mottled mix of dark violet and green, covered in patches of glowing fungi that allowed it to blend perfectly into the terrain.
Thick limbs—each the size of Zareth's full body—were tucked beneath it.
It pulsed once—breathing—and the entire surface of the beast shifted subtly.
Zareth's mandibles clicked instinctively.
This wasn't simple prey.
It was much bigger than him.
Maybe more.
The creature hesitated.
Charging this... might not end the same as before.
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
~{BONUS OBJECTIVE DETECTED}~
TARGET: Gloomback Toad (Uncommon Variant)
OBJECTIVE: Kill and consume.
REWARD: +5 Bonus EXP | Trait Absorption Chance Increased.
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The system's silent message burned into its awareness.
It didn't understand the words.
It didn't need to.
All it knew was the feeling.
Kill. Feed. Grow.
Its legs twitched, and muscles tightened .
There was no plan.
No calculation.
Only action.
It lunged.
A flash of motion—mandibles snapping wide as it launched itself from the cover of the roots, aiming straight for the toad's exposed side.
The toad shifted.
Faster than expected.
One thick limb slammed outward, catching the creature mid-leap.
The impact cracked through the cavern like a whip.
The creature was hurled sideways, bouncing once across the stone floor before skidding to a halt.
Its shell groaned under the force, small fractures splintering along its left side.
It twitched violently—confused, but not broken.
The toad turned now, golden eyes locking onto the smaller predator with slow, deliberate focus.
This was not like the hunts before.
This was a fight.
The creature twitched again, legs scrabbling against the stone.
Pain flared through its frame—not sharp, but deep, thudding, resonating through the cracked shell on its side.
Hairline fractures spiderwebbed across the chitin, faintly glowing along the seams.
But even as it staggered upright, the fractures began to mend.
Slowly. Imperfectly.
The shell thickened, knitting itself back together with threads of voidlight that pulsed once—then twice—sealing what it could.
There was no time to recover.
The toad moved.
It lunged forward with surprising speed, one massive limb crashing down toward the smaller creature with the full weight of its body behind it.
The creature barely reacted.
It threw itself sideways, skidding across the rough ground.
The toad's strike slammed into the stone where it had been an instant before—sending shards of rock and dust exploding into the air.
The creature scrambled, slipping on loose moss, mandibles clacking wildly as it tried to regain footing.
The toad came closer, croaking once—a low, wet rumble that vibrated through the cavern floor.
This wasn't passive prey.
This was a fellow predator.
And it intended to crush the intruder.
The toad struck again—this time, catching him.
One massive limb pinned the creature against the stone, driving the breath from its frame.
Cracks splintered anew across its carapace.
The creature writhed, legs kicking out, mandibles clacking uselessly against the toad's thick, armored hide.
It croaked again, a guttural, wet sound of triumph.
Then—
The tongue lashed out.
Thick. Barbed.
It darted forward, aiming for the creature's head—meant to pierce, to crush.
But instinct moved faster than thought.
As the tongue struck, the creature twisted its body with a violent jerk, snapping its void-forged mandibles wide.
They closed around the fleshy mass with a sickening crunch.
The toad reared back, the tongue caught between Zareth's jaws.
It thrashed wildly, trying to rip free—but the creature's grip tightened, mandibles grinding deeper into the soft, wet flesh.
With a final wrenching twist, it tore a massive chunk free.
Blood gushed from the severed tongue, splattering the stone in thick, steaming arcs.
The toad let out a horrid, gurgling roar—stumbling backward, limbs flailing, its wounded mouth leaking ichor.
The creature hit the ground hard, finally released.
It didn't hesitate.
It didn't think.
It scrambled upright, mandibles still slick with blood, the taste of victory igniting something deeper inside its hollow, primal core.
But, the toad wasn't done yet.
Even as blood poured from its mangled tongue, it reared up, croaking a broken, gurgling noise that echoed across the cavern walls.
Its limbs smashed into the ground around it—blind strikes, meant to crush anything in reach.
It charged.
A clumsy, furious lunge powered fully by instinct and rage.
The creature didn't run.
It moved forward.
As the toad lunged, the creature slipped low, dodging beneath the wild swing of its massive forelimb.
It used the momentum, scrambling up the toad's thick, slimy side, claws digging deep into the folds of armored flesh.
The toad bucked, trying to shake the pest loose.
Too late.
The creature's mandibles snapped down—this time, not at soft flesh, but straight at the base of the toad's head.
It tore.
Void-forged blades crushed through flesh and cartilage.
Blood sprayed upward in thick, black streams, coating the glowing fungus around them.
The toad let out one final, broken screech—its body convulsing wildly beneath the assault.
The creature didn't stop.
It ripped.
It tore.
It devoured.
Until finally—the toad collapsed, twitching once... then falling still.
Silence returned to the cavern.
Only the sound of ragged breathing—and dripping blood—remained.
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
Bonus Objective Complete: Gloomback Toad defeated.
+5 Bonus EXP logged, to be applied later.
Rare consumption detected.
Analyzing genetic material...
Dormant Trait Hatch Unlocked:
[Adrenal Burst] (Tier I)
Effect: Upon falling below 30% vitality, movement speed increases slightly for 10 seconds.
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The creature stood over the dead toad, its shell cracked.
Without an ounce of hesitation, it tore into its flesh, ripping bits of flesh free and swallowing them in full chunks.
Each bite dulled the growing ache in its body.
It didn't think.
It didn't plan.
It simply fed.
It fed until there was nothing left worth taking.
Then it moved again.
The scents pulled it forward—fainter now, but still present.
Another beetle, crushed beneath a single blow.
A sleeping bat, torn clean from its roost.
A blind rat, squealing once before it was silenced.
The hunt became easier.
The kills, automatic.
By the time the creature dragged the last twitching reptile into the roots and tore it apart, its shell had finished mending.
Its strength had grown.
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
Primary Objective Complete: 10/10 organic lifeforms consumed.
Stabilization achieved.
+10 EXP logged, to be applied later.
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
EXP Applied: +5 EXP (Bonus Objective — Gloomback Toad)
Level 2: 5 EXP Required — Acquired.
LEVEL UP.
Current Level: 2/5
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~{SYSTEM NOTICE}~
EXP Applied: +10 EXP (Primary Objective Completion)
Level 3: 10 EXP Required — Acquired.
LEVEL UP.
Current Level: 3/5
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The creature twitched again, blood drying in dark streaks across its shining shell.
Its body felt heavier now, stronger
More complete.
But something still lingered.
A pulse.
Not from its flesh.
From the system.
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~{SYSTEM OVERRIDE ENGAGED}~
Entity has reached stabilization parameters.
Name designation required.
Forcing identity imprint...
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The world around it seemed to freeze.
In the void behind its hollow mind, letters formed—etched in cold fire.
Typing...
Typing...
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~{NAME APPLIED}~
Designation: Zareth
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The creature's mandibles twitched once.
Not from hunger.
Not from pain.
But from something else.
Recognition.