Stillness.

  Suspended in the deep, Eo drifted between consciousness and something else—something deeper. His mind was sluggish, his senses dulled, yet his instincts whispered of change. His body was no longer what it had been.

  His last clear memory before hibernation was absorbing the elements—Mist, Amber, Earthy Orb, Tideflow, and more. Each had woven into his form, feeding the endless hunger for evolution. But there had been others.

  Elements unknown to him.

  They had seeped into his being without resistance, as if his body was no longer bound by the laws that dictated what should and shouldn’t be possible. The process was seamless, like a chemical reaction in perfect conditions. Stability. Fusion. Transformation.

  He wasn’t simply growing stronger.

  He was becoming something else.

  The merging of Abyssal Instinct and Amber had triggered a chain reaction.

  Abyssal Instinct, the fusion of Mist and Bloodlust, had once been an external force—a suffocating aura of killing intent that could break weaker wills. But Amber, with its stabilizing nature, had altered it.

  Now, it was no longer just an aura.

  It was part of his biology.

  A predatory presence woven into his core, reinforcing every fiber of his being with heat and resilience. It no longer radiated outward uncontrollably. Instead, it curled within him like a living thing, waiting to be wielded with intent.

  Then came the others.

  Tideflow and Stormgleam—water and lightning, once volatile, now coexisting. The energy crackled within him, threading through the shifting tides of his form like a network of living conduits. Conductivity. Efficiency. A reaction that optimized movement and precision.

  Galecrest and Frostshard—wind and ice. A paradox of speed and stillness, freedom and preservation. Their merging allowed him to shift temperatures within his own form, manipulating his density and fluidity with newfound control.

  Ironroot and Verdant Core—metal and nature, resilience and adaptation. His structure had subtly changed, reinforcing itself against the constant stress of evolution. His body was no longer merely growing—it was refining itself, learning with each change.

  And then there were the unknown elements.

  He could feel them, deep within his being.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  One was slippery, like something that refused to be grasped. It did not move like the others but instead bent—not his body, but something more fundamental.

  It was Chronoflux—Time essence.

  Yet no matter how much he tried to sense it, it remained elusive, slipping through his awareness like grains of sand through his fingers. His body had absorbed it, but he could not wield it. Not yet.

  The other was even stranger.

  It was like a void—an emptiness wrapped in potential. Where the other elements moved, this one distorted. Space itself seemed to flicker around it, but no matter how much Eo tried to call upon it, it barely responded.

  It was Graviton—Space essence.

  The presence was there, yet distant. Weak. Almost as if his body was struggling to fully integrate it.

  If there had been limitations to his evolution before, they no longer existed.

  Eo was no longer just a mutated polyp.

  He was an anomaly.

  Eo’s eyes opened.

  Darkness stretched endlessly around him, yet everything felt clearer. His senses expanded, touching the currents, the distant movements of life, the faint pressure of the abyss watching him.

  Slowly, he moved. His body reacted with fluid ease—familiar yet undeniably different. His form was no longer bound by its old limitations.

  He flexed his will.

  Abyssal Instinct did not explode outward—it responded. No longer a wild, uncontrolled aura, but a tool. It obeyed him, slithering through the water like a tangible force, curling and contracting with precision.

  Yet when he reached for Chronoflux and Graviton, there was... nothing.

  A flicker. A suggestion of power just out of reach.

  It was there, but barely perceptible.

  Eo exhaled, his body shifting in the abyss. The elements within him were stirring, merging, shaping him into something never seen before.

  He was no longer adapting to the abyss.

  The abyss was reacting to him.

  Eo inhaled.

  For the first time since his slumber, he breathed—and the abyss trembled in response.

  Eo remained still, letting the abyss settle around him. His body, once a familiar vessel, now felt alien—each movement effortless, each shift in form calculated. He was no longer merely reacting to his environment.

  He was commanding it.

  His senses stretched beyond instinct, beyond the simple awareness of movement and heat. He could feel the shifting flows of the deep, the silent hum of distant creatures, the subtle tremors of the abyssal currents. The sea itself had structure, layered and vast, yet he could trace it all with an almost scientific clarity.

  He reached inward again, feeling the merged essences pulsing through him. The bonds between elements were no longer chaotic—they had crystallized into something stable, something greater.

  Abyssal Instinct curled within him, no longer just a killing aura, but a force of intent. Amber had tempered its raw aggression, turning it into something he could mold. He willed it outward, and the surrounding water shuddered as if suffocated by his presence. He retracted it, and the abyss settled once more.

  Fascinating.

  His form shifted slightly, testing the limits of Tideflow and Stormgleam. A sudden flicker of electricity crackled within him before dispersing harmlessly. The conduction was fluid, perfectly balanced between control and reaction.

  He flexed again, this time reaching for Galecrest and Frostshard. The temperature around him fluctuated, his body becoming denser for a brief moment before he allowed the energy to stabilize.

  He was learning.

  Understanding.

  Becoming.

  Far in the distance, the abyss stirred again. Something vast. Something ancient.

  The territorial lords stared on his direction.

  Eo turned his gaze toward the depths.

  It was time to see how far he had come.