The depths were silent again, but Eo remained motionless, his senses extended into the darkness. The disturbance had been small—too small for the level of disruption it caused. Whatever it was, it moved with precision, without the chaotic thrashing of larger predators. It was calculating. Intentional.

  Then, he saw it.

  A flicker of something unfamiliar.

  It was a creature unlike anything he had encountered before. Small, barely the size of his original form, yet it pulsed with energy that sent a strange tremor through the water. It didn’t carry Mist. Not a single wisp of it flowed from its body. Instead, something else radiated from it—something raw, volatile, and unfamiliar.

  Eo adjusted his vision, his heightened senses analyzing every twitch and movement. His body had become attuned to the flow of Mist, but this was different. This energy didn’t drift like Mist. It didn’t spread out into the environment in a passive haze. It clung to the creature like an aura, dancing in small, flickering wisps.

  Amber.

  Tiny, ember-like particles flared from the creature’s body, dispersing in rhythmic pulses before vanishing into the water. The sight sent a ripple of unease through Eo. Mist was fluid, malleable—this was erratic, unpredictable. Every flicker of the amber light carried with it a strange heat, something he had never felt before.

  A new element.

  Eo remained still, watching the creature’s movement. It darted in short bursts, faster than it should have been able to move at its size. The amber particles seemed to ignite with every acceleration, burning away the water resistance as if it were cutting through the abyss itself.

  Eo’s mind raced.

  What was this? Why did it behave so differently from Mist? Could he interact with it? Control it?

  He reached out instinctively, extending his presence toward the creature. In the past, he had learned to manipulate Mist, bending it, condensing it, shaping it into something tangible. He attempted the same approach now—gathering his own mist, reaching out to grasp the strange amber particles.

  The moment they met, his body recoiled.

  A sharp reaction—violent and foreign.

  The mist he extended was immediately repelled. The amber particles flared, consuming the mist in a brief, dazzling burst before vanishing completely.

  Eo hesitated.

  Mist and Bloodlust had merged within him, creating something unique, but this… This was something entirely different. The amber particles refused to blend, refused to mix. They were independent, standing apart from what he had known.

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  For the first time since his evolution, he had encountered something he couldn’t immediately understand.

  His curiosity burned.

  This was a new frontier—one he had to unravel.

  Eo didn’t act immediately. Instead, he observed. The creature moved with a grace that suggested purpose. It was no mere beast acting on instinct. It wielded this energy naturally, seamlessly integrating it into its movement.

  There was a pattern to it—a science.

  Eo settled deeper into the abyss, watching, analyzing.

  The discovery of Mist had been the first step. Bloodlust had been the second.

  Now, fire had entered the abyss.

  And Eo was determined to understand it.

  Eo hesitated only for a moment before attempting a different approach.

  He had learned from the jellyfish-like creature that Mist could be used to deceive, to manipulate perception. Perhaps, if he could mimic the nature of these amber particles, he could interact with them without resistance. He let his body shift, the mist around him thinning, altering how it spread. He didn't forcefully grasp the ember-like energy this time. Instead, he tried to let it flow through him, to understand its behavior as he had with Mist.

  For a fleeting moment, it seemed to work. The amber particles flickered around him, moving erratically but without immediate hostility. Excitement stirred within Eo. This was it—this was the key to understanding.

  Then, the creature reacted.

  Violently.

  The embers around its body flared like a sudden explosion, igniting the surrounding water with a searing force. The energy lashed out in an erratic burst, striking Eo’s form before he could react.

  Heat.

  Eo felt something new—something wholly foreign to his existence until now. It wasn't just an impact or pressure. It was burning.

  His outer layer recoiled, mist boiling off in a violent hiss. The sensation wasn’t pain, at least not in the way a normal creature would experience it. It was disruption. The fundamental structure of his mist was being unraveled where the amber energy touched him.

  His instincts screamed a warning. This wasn’t an element that could be absorbed like Mist. It was destruction incarnate.

  The creature pressed its attack, embers erupting from its body in pulses. It didn’t simply use its energy defensively—it weaponized it. Every twitch of its body sent another pulse outward, dispersing the amber particles in unpredictable patterns.

  Eo twisted his form, adapting to the erratic movements. He had fought many creatures before, some more savage than this, but none that wielded energy in such a volatile manner. His usual strategy of suffocating opponents in Mist or overwhelming them with sheer adaptability wouldn’t work here.

  This was different.

  This required something new.

  He needed to learn how to counter it.

  Eo shifted, spreading his mist thinner, pulling away from direct contact. Instead of trying to absorb the energy, he studied its motion. The amber particles moved in pulses, igniting and fading in a rhythmic pattern. They didn’t simply spread aimlessly—they followed the creature’s movement, burning away resistance like a living shield.

  A thought formed in Eo’s mind.

  If he couldn’t absorb it, he had to find a way to redirect it.

  Instead of meeting the ember-like energy head-on, he shifted his mist, allowing it to flow in a way that guided the particles rather than resisting them. He adjusted his shape, thinning his body into tendrils, coiling around the ember bursts rather than taking them directly.

  The result was immediate.

  The next pulse flared, but instead of striking him directly, the heat dispersed harmlessly to the side. The embers still carried their destructive force, but without a direct point of impact, they failed to burn away at his form.

  Eo watched, fascinated.

  This creature wasn't just using fire. It was generating it. The particles weren’t external energy being drawn in like Mist—they were being produced from within its body.

  That meant the creature itself was a source of power.

  A question burned in Eo’s mind.

  If he devoured it… would he gain this power too?