The cavern stretched far beyond what Damon had first assud. Massive stalactites hung like the fangs of a great beast, so encrusted with glittering crystals, others dripping a slow, viscous green liquid that hissed faintly as it hit the stone floor.
All the drops of the liquid gathered together to form a big oozing pool at the center of the chamber, its surface bubbling like lava. The air above it shimred with toxic heat waves. Dense wisps of corrupted, toxic miasma wafted out of it.
"Well, hello." Damon grinned. It looked like another skinny dipping session was in order.
The pool seed to react to his presence, its bubbling intensifying, sending up fat globules of venom that popped with wet, hissing sounds.
Each burst released an acrid scent that clawed at his lungs, but instead of coughing, Damon inhaled deeply, letting the poison roll through him like a fine wine. His skin prickled, and his blood humd, the faint burn spreading into sothing oddly... invigorating.
"So, do you mind if I take this lake as well?"
Erin was confused. "Take? Do you wish for to store the miasmic waters in vials, my Lord?"
Damon shook his head, smiling. "Don’t worry about that. I can just directly absorb it."
Erin’s eyes widened for a mont before she simply smiled and nodded.
"Perfect. Thanks." Damon did not bother feeling guilty about robbing every little thing from his newest follower. He stepped right up to the edge of the oozing pool, the venomous heat rolling over him like a suffocating blanket, and then started undressing.
"Allow , my Lord." Erin quickly stepped forward and started helping Damon.
Her fingers deftly undid clasps and buckles, and piece by piece, removed all of the armor and garnts. When the last of his clothing was gone, she stepped back, bowing her head slightly. There was no awkwardness or shyness in her behavior.
Damon chuckled lightly and shook his head. Well, if she did not care, then he did not mind it either.
Without another word, he stepped forward, the soles of his feet eting the slick stone at the pool’s edge. He then stepped into the pool without hesitation.
The mont the bubbling miasmic liquid closed over his ankles, a sharp, searing sensation shot up his legs, racing into his veins like molten acid. Instead of recoiling, he sank deeper, crimson eyes glinting with anticipation as the toxic embrace began its work.
The concentrated miasmic waters were a lot more intense than the miasma he had absorbed outside. So it took a while for Damon to settle into the place and adapt to the new environnt. For a couple of seconds, it was even touch and go as he had to pump a lot more healing energy into his body to keep up.
But eventually, the initial agony dulled into a deep, thrumming heat that settled in his bones. His muscles loosened, his veins sang, and every breath he drew tasted of venom and raw power. The water no longer felt hostile.
Toxic energy swirled in his core, twisting and mingling with his own blood essence, refining it in ways he hadn’t thought possible. Notifications flared in the corner of his vision, system ssages blurring together as his resistance skyrocketed and his affinity climbed with every passing mont.
Erin watched from the shore. She knew this pool had claid the lives of countless intruders over the centuries, yet here was her Lord, drinking it all in.
"Why are you just standing over there and staring at ? Co on in, the water’s fine. Let’s have that chat."
Damon grinned, already feeling the poison energy in his body explosively increasing. At this rate, he might even end up finishing the second cycle of the Nine Million Poison Body technique right here.
He was fully absorbed in feeling the poison move through his body when suddenly he heard a faint ripple in the miasmic waters. His crimson eyes snapped open, and his gaze flicked toward the source.
It was Erin, slithering into the pool without a single splash, her movents serpentine and unnervingly graceful. The venom-laden water seed to welco her, coiling around her body and hugging her.
Damon finally had a chance to observe her beast form in its full, unrestrained glory. Her massive serpentine body stretched far into the pool, so vast that Damon couldn’t tell where she ended. Sections of her tail looped and disappeared beneath the bubbling miasmic surface before reappearing elsewhere.
Her entire body was covered with erald scales like shards of polished jade, each scale edged with a frost-white outline that made them shine amidst the toxic haze. Her head was crowned with white, antler-like horns, and her eyes were a piercing fusion of glacial blue and venom green.
This sa beast had appeared nacing and predatory just a while ago, but now Damon could only appreciate how beautiful she truly was. The lethal grace in the way her body moved, the subtle shimr of her scales under the erald glow, and the quiet authority in her gaze gave her an almost regal allure.
"You look very beautiful." He gave a thumbs-up.
Erin blinked, not used to such a complint. She then hurriedly responded, "My Lord flatters ."
Damon smiled. The bubbling miasmic water lapped at his shoulders, searing his skin in that strangely addictive way, while Erin’s massive coils shifted lazily through the depths around him like a living current.
He was actually taking a dip in a poisonous lake with a snake monster as his company. Never in a million years would he have expected sothing like this to happen. He chuckled lightly and then ca to the main point.
"Erin, can you tell a bit more about yourself?"
The great serpent’s head lifted slightly from the water, droplets of venomous liquid sliding down her polished jade scales and hissing as they struck the pool again.
"My Lord, I am Eryndral from the Palecoil Bloodline. My bloodline allows to create and command miasma. I can weave it into clouds that devour armies, rivers that lt fortresses, or threads so fine they can slip through armor and poison the heart before the victim even knows they’ve been struck."
***
Mass release sponsored by Syphatrol
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