Before anything else, he became intensely aware of the dampness. It felt suffocating. Reflexively, he tried to roll over but all it did was elicit a gasp as his shoulder was drenched in cool water. His nose nose was squashed against a plank of rough, creaking wood. Realization dawned and he sighed.

Ah, crap…

Just to make sure, he thrust his arm upward where it slammed into yet more frail wood. Yeah, there was no doubt about it. He was back.

Sitting up, his head as well as his entire torso effortlessly broke through the flimsy barrier, dank air invading his nostrils like a stinky ghost. Aura hissed into existence all around him and blocked out the stench.

"Hey, I'm not in the mood for this crap right now – ow – ow!" he shouted to nobody in particular. For once, he'd appreciate to be heeded. "I'm serious – erious – erious!"

He gave it ten seconds but eventually got to his feet and sloshed the few steps to the soft bank where he flicked off most of the swampy grime stuck to his legs, back, and ass. He bounced a few times on the balls of his feet, rolling his shoulder and feeling his body.

In here, all the fatigue and damage inflicted upon him by the Backflow of Profound Toxin seemed to have vanished completely, leaving him healthy and spry. That was one thing about this that he could appreciate at least.

"Seriously," he muttered as he looked around the vicinity of the little pool for anything out of the ordinary. Wasn't there a fracture somewhere that could take him back out again or something? He tried everything that might have been what triggered an exit during his earlier visits but nothing did the trick. He didn't have time for this right now. He should be out there and supporting his friends. Sonja had just died! And here he was dicking around in some weird other world.

Struck by anger, he practically flew back to the coffin bobbing gently in the center of the swamp pool, gauntlet of crystallized toxin enveloping his fist, and crushed the decrepit structure into dust. This snowballed him into a rage-filled tantrum that involved shattered tree trunks and deep craters in the wet swamp soil.

For minutes he vented, screaming and crying as he went wild. Eventually, when the fiery fury had calmed somewhat, he was left mostly with quiet rancor that demanded a more substantial release.

Living Manifestations streamed out of him, sent to locate their wild kin and bring them back for their master to pound into lifeless puddles on the ground. He went on the hunt himself as well, running at full tilt toward the mountain to get to the zones where the tougher beasts seemed to reside.

On the way, he smashed the occasional mob but what he really wanted was something that could eat a few punches before going down. At this point the first tier snakes might as well have been rolled up pancakes flying at his face for all the danger they posed to him.

Even when he found the more powerful variant, nothing much really changed. He still went through them with no difficulty at all.

Cresting the hill where he had previously encountered the toxic drake offered a welcome sight. The clearing below with its little lake where he had drowned and been maimed offered the hope of some much needed resistance.

The first drake charged him from a dense copse of trees as he descended the steep hill. He met it with a boot planted solidly in its face. Facial features of this rank of toxic beast were now developed enough to see the way its entire face warped as its elongated snout was squashed halfway flat. Head over tail, it tumbled back the way it came, Eik following like a predatory bird.

He gripped it by the tail with such power that its body began to burst, whatever outer membrane holding it together spilling liquid across his hand and arm. With a grunt of exertion, he hurled it over his head and into the ground where it was destroyed.

Seven more were killed like that before an idea struck him that he just had to try. All of these guys were made of Profound Toxin, weren't they? Wouldn't that mean…

About to go hunting for another one to test out his idea, a deep, distant rumble reached him from somewhere within the seemingly unending forest. Stopping to listen, he could only conclude that the sound was growing louder and louder with every second that passed.

Something was coming, and it sounded significantly more dangerous than anything he'd encountered thus far. But on the bright side, it might be what killed him and sent him back to the real world so he could get started on some of the numerous actual problems he had to deal with out there.

Stepping in behind the widest and largest tree he could quickly find, he waited as the rumble turned into a rumpus and then a thunder. He risked a glance in the direction where the origin of the noise would appear any second now.

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From the underbrush ahead emerged a single little Living Manifestation, slithering speedily toward his position. The fact that he could sense it told him that it was one of his, rather than on of the wild ones living in the area of the coffin. The rest of them he could also feel. All of them were rapidly converging on his position but this tiny fella was the first one to arrive.

Could they perhaps have come back to lead him to a nest of monsters somewhere? They really did care about him after all.

But how the hell was such a little guy making such a ridiculous commotion? Was it some kind of special ability of theirs that could only be used here in the realm of Profound Toxin?

"What are you doing there, little guy?" he asked with puzzlement and stepped out to meet the Profound Toxic beast. "How are you making all that…" he trailed off as not only the underbrush but the trees themselves began to vibrate and shake. "noise?"

At least a hundred blue monsters of varying sizes suddenly broke through the green barrier, reducing both trees and shrubs to kindling. They toxic beasts were practically rolling across each other to get at the little Living Manifestation that now leapt and desperately climbed back into Eik's skin, leaving him to deal with the crap.

His first instinct was to turn around and run, and so was his second so that's what he did. "When I said 'find me some monsters to beat the shit out of' I didn't mean find me all of the monsters! By Mimer's greasy beard, do a worse job next time!" he shouted as he legged it through the trees.

Given his superior speed, even without activating Movement Boost, it wasn't difficult to pull ahead of the raging throng. He had no intention of running forever, though. Testing his new idea out came first and then he would get himself killed to be ejected from the realm.

He had considered simply doing to himself what he hoped the monsters would to get back to the real world, but judging by how his earlier, horribly painful experiments had gone, that didn't really seem to be how it worked. He also didn't like the thought of getting used to doing something like that. It would only add to a mind that already felt like it was warping considerably more than what was healthy.

He skidded to a stop and turned to face the oncoming horde. Activating Movement Boost, he exploded forward and snatched one of the foremost beasts — one of the tier three drakes —off its feet and leapt backward, hauling the large monster along by its tail.

Having gained a bit of distance, he triggered Accelerant throughout its entire body. And, boy, had that little idea of his been right on the money.

As always, a booming pulse wave rocked through the living toxin, only this time, since the toxic part was… all of it, he could see exactly how it reacted to the trait.

The blue liquid roiled violently against the thin but durable outer membrane before exploding with a piercing echo that was accompanied by a bright, almost blinding blue light. The shock wave came as no surprise but the sheer power of it threw him bodily through the bushes, and the main detonation left a deep and ravaged crater in the ground. But not even the smallest trace of the blue drake that had been the origin of the explosion remained anywhere to be seen.

Holy shit, it had worked. Almost too well, in fact. This opened up new potential ways of fighting that could make him significantly more versatile.

Toxic hand grenade snakes, anyone? What a fucking riot that would be if he could get it to work.

Catching himself in a roll and come to his feet, he watched the horde bumble closer.

All those beasts were really stumbling and climbing over each other just to be the first to get to him it would seem. It almost looked like they were stumbling into each other in their haste.

Actually, wait a minute…

It didn't just look like they were squishing into each other, their jelly-like forms were definitely mashing together and gradually, as they lost their individuality, transformed into a single entity.

"Hot damn…" he muttered, putting his head back just to be able to see its head.

It took the form of a humongous snake, its lumbering movements surprisingly quick for its size. However, considering the sheer number of smaller creatures that had gathered to create this monstrosity, it was certainly lesser than the sum of its parts.

It wasn't as large as the A-ranked Lake Serpent that had lived in the water near Forest, but it was impressive in its own right.

The second it flew toward him, propelled by a tail that acted like a spring, he too leapt forth in response, raising a fist to pummel it like a piñata. Upon impact, its forehead dented inward against the small, fist-sized point of contact. A good amount of the snake's momentum was arrested immediately and the beast tumbled to the ground.

Eik, being much lighter, was sent hurtling and spinning into the trees like a throwing knife. He crashed against a tree trunk, ripping out a large chunk of wood as he passed. The second trunk he managed to hit feet first and activate Movement Boost with a leg focus before launching himself back into the battle. And having recovered quicker, the gigantic serpent was already there to meet him.

He barely managed to get his leg up for a kick when its head suddenly blurred back and its tail instead came up from below to slap him into the air. Like a damned rocket he ascended. All he needed to do was explode and the fireworks display was complete.

From up here he could see the colossal mountain on the horizon more clearly than ever before. It was nothing short of magnificent.

Giving chase, his opponent rose up, maw opening on a flexible jaw to swallow its prey.

Like hell it would!

A long spear of blue formed in his palm and he hurled it downward with as much power as his unstable position in the air would allow, even as he continued to shoot upward at gradually waning speed.

It pierced the monster's membranous body and plunged deep into the gel-like substance inside. In this world, the crystalline constructs seemed capable of maintaining their shapes even at a distance from Eik.

The beast recoiled for a moment but quickly resumed its hunt, Eik throwing another.

But as he was winding up the third, something struck him at extreme speed and sent him sailing through the air, tepid winds buffeting his face.

In his periphery he saw a blue beast on luminescent wings just as it barreled into him again, sharp claws raking his skin painfully. Simultaneously, the tenacious serpent approached from below, having seemingly already forgotten about the two shafts of toxin buried in its body.

Alright, fine then!

Time to end this.

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