The world was a blur of pain and exhaustion. Lin Feng lay in the undergrowth, the metallic taste of blood still fresh on his tongue, each breath a reminder of his bruised ribs and the superhuman effort of his escape. Beside him, Glob, his newborn dark slime companion, pulsed with a faint purple light, a strangely comforting presence in the cold hostility of the Umbral Ridge.
"We survived..." he gasped, more to himself than to the slime. The word felt hollow, for survival here was a temporary state, a brief respite between one danger and the next. The roar of an unknown beast, distant but drawing nearer, underscored that thought.
Glob emitted a soft gurgle that vibrated in Lin Feng's mind, a sense of urgency. Then, with surprising slowness for its form, it extended a pseudopod and gently tugged at the sleeve of his tattered robe, in a specific direction, away from the threatening sound.
Lin Feng looked at it. Trusting a mass of slime that had sprung from his own painful birthing of chaotic power seemed like madness. But the connection he felt with Glob was undeniable, a familiarity that transcended logic. Besides, what other options did he have? He was injured, almost out of strength, and his knowledge of the Umbral Ridge was nil.
"Alright, Little One," he murmured, using the mental nickname that had emerged for the creature. "You lead the way."
With an effort that tore a groan from him, he got to his feet, leaning heavily on the trunk of a tree. Glob seemed to understand and began to slide slowly, stopping every few meters to make sure Lin Feng was following. They moved in the shadows, avoiding clearings, the slime seeming to have an instinct for the less-traveled paths, those that smelled less of predator and more of damp moss and old earth.
The journey was torture. Every step was agony for Lin Feng. Glob, however, seemed tireless, though its pace was deliberately slow to accommodate its master's condition. On one occasion, as they crossed a narrow path between two rock formations, Glob stopped abruptly, its body vibrating intensely. Lin Feng froze. Seconds later, a pack of Serrated-Tooth Jackals, carrion beasts known for their pack ferocity, rushed past on the main trail they had been about to take. Glob had shrunk down, its color darkening until it almost merged with the shadow of a rock. Lin Feng held his breath until the last jackal disappeared. Glob's warning had saved him from an encounter that, in his current state, would have been fatal.
Later, cornered by a pair of low-level Ironscale Serpents that had emerged from some crevices, Lin Feng prepared for the worst. He had no strength to fight. But Glob, unexpectedly, slid forward. It didn't attack. It simply interposed itself between Lin Feng and the serpents, emitting a pulse of chaotic energy so subtle Lin Feng barely felt it, but which seemed to deeply disturb the snakes. They hissed aggressively but retreated, their movements becoming erratic and confused before they fled back into the crevices. Glob returned to Lin Feng's side, slightly paler, but intact.
"Incredible..." Lin Feng thought, increasingly amazed by the creature. It wasn't a fighter, not yet, but it possessed an influence over its environment and other creatures that defied his understanding.
After what felt like hours of arduous progress, with the sun beginning to descend and staining the sky in bloody hues, Glob stopped before a rock wall covered in a dense curtain of thorny vines. It looked like a dead end. Lin Feng was about to ask, with what little voice he had left, if they were lost, when Glob slid towards a particularly dense section of the vines and, with visible effort, seemed to push or dissolve a small portion of them, revealing a dark, narrow opening barely large enough for a man to slip through.
A strange smell emanated from the opening: ozone, damp earth, and something else, something primordial and vaguely familiar to Lin Feng's new chaotic nature. Glob slipped inside, emitting an excited gurgle that resonated in Lin Feng's mind as a clear invitation.
With his heart pounding with a mixture of apprehension and desperate hope, Lin Feng pushed aside the remaining vines and squeezed into the darkness.
The entrance was a short, descending tunnel that opened into a surprisingly spacious cavern. It wasn't large, perhaps the size of the outer disciples' training hall, but what made it extraordinary was the light. Faint veins of purple and dark crimson energy danced along the walls, converging in the center of the cavern where a small pool of black, viscous liquid bubbled gently, emitting the same spectral light. Crystals of an unknown material, also imbued with that dark energy, grew in clusters on the ceiling and walls, casting dancing shadows.
A whisper.
It was almost inaudible, more a vibration in the air and in his bones than an actual sound, but Lin Feng perceived it. It was a chorus of faint, ancient voices that seemed to emanate from the pool and the crystals, speaking in a language he didn't understand but that his Chaotic Heart seemed to recognize on a fundamental level. It was a song of entropy and creation, of limitless possibilities and final annihilation. This was, undoubtedly, a cavern of chaotic energy.
Glob, however, seemed to feel no oppression or fear. On the contrary. With a sound that could only be described as a shriek of pure joy (transmitted mentally to Lin Feng), it launched itself towards the pool of dark liquid. It submerged with a barely audible splash and disappeared beneath the viscous surface.
Lin Feng watched, holding his breath. Had he led his only companion to its death?
But seconds later, Glob resurfaced. And it was… different. Its black color was deeper, richer, and the purple light pulsing within it was brighter, more intense. It seemed slightly larger, its form more defined, less wobbly. It floated in the pool, greedily absorbing the dark liquid, its body expanding and contracting rhythmically. Occasionally, it would approach one of the crystal clusters and "lick" them with a pseudopod, and the crystals seemed to lose a little of their brilliance while Glob pulsed more strongly.
It was a feast. A primal feast.
As Glob reveled, Lin Feng felt something extraordinary. The constant pressure, the dull ache in his dantian where his Chaotic Heart resided, began to lessen. It was as if Glob, by absorbing the external chaotic energy, was acting as a lightning rod or a filter for him. Some of the volatile chaotic energy that still saturated his meridians after his last exertion seemed to be gently drawn towards Glob, or perhaps, the connection between them allowed the external energy Glob consumed to help balance his own.
He didn't understand the mechanism, but the sensation was undeniable. The pain in his ribs diminished, the fog in his mind began to dissipate. He could breathe more deeply. It wasn't a miraculous healing—his wounds were still there—but the internal burden, the feeling of being about to explode from within, eased considerably. He sat on the cavern floor, the whisper of ancestral energies lulling him into a state of strange calm. For the first time since he had entered the Umbral Ridge, he felt a glimmer of security.
Glob continued its feast for almost an hour. When it finally seemed satiated, it was noticeably larger, almost double its original size, and its gelatinous body had a firmer consistency. The purple light within it was now a constant, vibrant glow.
It slid out of the pool and approached Lin Feng. It emitted a soft gurgle, and this time, the mental sensation that accompanied it was clear: satisfaction, gratitude, and a surge of warm, protective energy directed towards him.
Lin Feng extended a trembling hand and touched Glob's surface. It was cool to the touch, but not unpleasant. It vibrated gently beneath his fingers. "Feeling better, Little One?" he asked softly.
Glob rubbed against his hand, like a cat. Then, it did something new. A small portion of its body extended and momentarily solidified, forming a short, blunt protuberance that gently touched Lin Feng's cheek. The contact was strangely comforting.
"So this is what you eat," Lin Feng murmured, looking at the pool and the crystals. "Chaotic energy. And it seems to agree with you very well." He smiled, a genuine smile despite the lingering pain. "And with me too, somehow."
He realized that this cavern was a treasure. A refuge and a source of power, at least for Glob. And through Glob, perhaps for him as well. If they could stay here, recover…
Suddenly, Glob tensed. It pulled away from Lin Feng's hand and turned towards the tunnel entrance, its body vibrating in a different way, not with pleasure, but with alertness. The soft purple light within it flickered, turning a more reddish hue.
Lin Feng felt it then too: a disturbance in the cavern's whispers, a discordant note. And then, a real sound from outside: the crunching of rocks, too deliberate to be an animal.
Someone, or something, had found them.
The ephemeral sense of security shattered. Lin Feng struggled to his feet, his heart pounding again. He looked at Glob, which had now flattened itself against the ground, its color darkening again, trying to go unnoticed but with a pseudopod extended protectively in front of Lin Feng.
The whispering cavern, their sanctuary of chaos, was about to be desecrated. And Lin Feng, though slightly recovered, knew that any confrontation would be brutal. But this time, at least, he wouldn't fight completely alone. He had his Little One by his side. And Glob, after its feast, seemed eager to test its new limits.
The first beat of their impossible bond had strengthened. Now came the test of their newly forged tie.