He was still scraping the last of the necrotic fungus from his paw when the echoing laughter bounced through the hallway and everything began to shift. He barked in surprise and planted his feet wide and firm, to keep his balance. But it only shifted up, as the ceiling shifted down. He realized quickly what its intention was - continue to fail and he'd be crushed.

That's more like it.

Motivated to do better by that little life-threatening threat, he pushed forward, pressing his eye hard against the wall and glaring with every ounce of malice, ill-intent, and savagery that he could muster and willed it to be consumed. And consumed it was, that decaying, horrific fungus spreading swiftly and tearing through the sinew holding the meat to the ceiling.

The final string of flesh twisted, spinning... and then at last gave way as fungus tore rapidly through it. The meat chunk fell, bounced, and then fell still atop the final pedestal.

The sound of grinding stone filled the air again--and abruptly the walls and ceilings were sliding away, taking the rats, rotting flesh and pedestals with them.

Emuh fluttered to the ground seemingly from nowhere, staring down at Anubis. "AHH! AH-HA, CLEVER AND STRONG. VERY GOOD." He leaned in, toxic green eyes gleaming, and lowered his voice as if to impart a secret: "The first one of your magic struggled much more!" Then his beak gave a sharp rap straight atop Anubis's head: at once, the jackal would feel the slow creep of magicka seeping from him.

It was as though his power were being drained, wholly. Emptied out, to make room for something else... but the reservoir that remained felt larger, somehow.

"NOW LEAVE," the owl barked, and took flight into his darkening room.

3/3

Anubis has Transcended. He is now a Transcendent Pupil, and may work his way back up to Transcendent Master. Upon attaining this rank, his player may post in Update Me to choose a Specialization (viewable in the Magic section of the Guidebook).

He has also learned the spell:

Fungal Bloom
Transcendent Intensity Offensive. Infect a target with spores which rapidly grow into fruiting bodies, consuming even living flesh. This can rapidly consume living beings, forcing them into their chrysalis or even killing them. Transcendent spells may be used once per thread.

@Anubis

Anubis watched the entire cave slowly slide away from around him, turning to face Emuh with a smug gleam in his eyes. "I told you, you never met someone like me." Nobody else used this magic like him. He allowed the contact between himself and Emuh, briefly, and he suddenly stumbled back at the feeling of emptiness.

He shivered, suddenly feeling cold, almost feverish at the feeling of hollowness in his stomach, but he quickly got used to it. He knew there'd be a cost to pay - he would be weaker for a time, but he could feel that well within, the potential he held. And that new power and knowledge that'd been granted to him...

This was good, very good. By the time Emuh had taken off, he was already padding to make his way outside of the cave, heading back towards Cassiopeia, without a single look behind or a thanks to the massive owl.

*exit