THE RULES OF THE NEW WORLD

The forest was alive with more than just flora and small creatures, and Taylor quickly soon realized she wasn’t the only predator navigating its depths—though unlike the wolf she had defeated, not all of them attacked on sight.

Some had simply watched from a distance, curious but wary of her presence. Others had been openly hostile, lunging at her without hesitation. Taylor had learned quickly that not all of them could be overcome by brute resilience alone—some were faster, more cunning, or even poisonous.

She had survived by relying on more than just her resistance skills. Her ability to think, adapt, and strategize had made the difference.

. . . . .

She had encountered her first challenger not long after leaving the graffiti-marked rubble. It was a creature unlike anything she’d seen in Brockton Bay—a massive, boar-like beast, tusks gleaming in the filtered sunlight, that, unlike the wolf, had a hide that was thick and covered in coarse, bark-like fur. It snorted loudly and pawed the ground as it sized her up, its narrow eyes gleamed with an unsettling intelligence.

Taylor froze—or at least, the slime equivalent of freezing—watching the creature sniff the air. She tried to flatten herself against the ground, blending into the mossy terrain, while her newly sharpened senses allowed her to pick up the faint sound of the creature’s breathing and the rustling of leaves under its heavy steps.

When it turned its gaze directly at her, she knew she’d been spotted.

Taylor didn’t wait for it to charge. She sent her swarm forward, a buzzing tide of bees and beetles encircling the beast. They harassed its sensitive eyes and ears, forcing it into a defensive stance.

But the boar didn’t back down. With a roar, it charged, barreling through her swarm and raking its claws against the ground where she had been moments before. Taylor shifted her form instinctively, her gelatinous body flowing around the attack.

Thinking quickly, she wrapped her form around its legs, trying to immobilize it while her swarm continued its assault.

The fight dragged on longer than she expected. The boar’s thick hide made it difficult for her insects to do any real damage. She realized she needed something more—an offensive edge beyond simply outlasting her opponents or drowning them in venom.

Finally, through careful manoeuvring and strikes with her swarm, Taylor managed to outlast the creature; the boar collapsed, its body heaving with exhaustion. She didn’t waste the opportunity and extended her form, engulfing the creature completely.

The now-familiar rush of new abilities followed, flooding her consciousness with information.

Absorption successful. Biological properties: Thick hide and enhanced endurance detected. New traits acquired.

But as the rush subsided, Taylor felt a peculiar pull within herself, drawing her attention inward. She shifted her focus, and for the first time, she became aware of her core.

It was a small, crystalline structure nestled deep within her gelatinous form, pulsing faintly with a light that seemed to echo her thoughts.

The instinctual realization hit her like a bolt of lightning: this was her true body. The slime—her gelatinous form—was merely a vessel. If her core were destroyed, she would die.

The vulnerability unnerved her. Despite her growing strength and adaptability, she now knew there was a single point of failure she couldn’t afford to expose. She shifted her form instinctively, enveloping her core in a thicker layer of slime.

. . . . .

As Taylor moved deeper into the forest, she began experimenting further. She found that by focusing on specific traits, she could manipulate her body’s properties. She could harden parts of herself, becoming more resistant to blunt force, or spread her mass thinner to cover more ground quickly.

Her swarm control, too, had evolved. The sheer number of insects she could command was staggering, but she was learning to divide her attention more efficiently, using different groups for scouting, defense, and offense.

She also began to understand the “system” that governed her existence. Each battle offered an opportunity for growth, whether through new resistances, enhanced abilities, or outright new skills. The system didn’t explain everything—there was no clear guide—but Taylor had always been good at figuring things out on her own.

Still, there were limits. She couldn’t absorb inorganic materials—only living creatures or once-living organic matter seemed to provide benefits. And while her resistances made her tough, she wasn’t invincible. Some creatures had abilities she couldn’t fully counter yet.

Her most recent fight had taught her another lesson: not every battle was worth fighting. The boar had been a necessary challenge, but it had taken a toll on her swarm. She needed to choose her fights carefully, balancing risk and reward.

. . . . .

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the forest floor, Taylor paused to rest beneath a large tree. Her swarm buzzed around her, keeping watch. She was stronger now, more capable, but she knew she couldn’t let her guard down.

“This world operates on rules,” she thought, her mind racing. “Rules I can learn, bend, and maybe even break.”

She didn’t know where this journey would take her, but one thing was certain: she wasn’t the same girl who had fallen in Brockton Bay.

And if this world thought it could stop her, it was in for a surprise.