I had found a good enough crater.

  At least, I hoped it would be good enough. It's not like I knew where I was going to find another mountain or even if it was going to be a mountain.

  I was back on the surface, flying around and looking for a vein of any material really. Mundane or magical.

  The moon had a huge lack of resources, so I was going to bring some up to speed up progress. Probably buy more drones as well.

  It was the same pattern as last time. Fly around. Kill or paralyze the monsters that showed up. Check some rocks. Repeat. I hadn't been doing it for that long before finding a ravine.

  Flying down into it, I could see it went quite deep. It also had plenty of materials I could identify in the cliff wall. It was mostly Iron and some other mundane stuff like gold and precious gems, but my main target was there as well, so I would definitely be taking some of the rock home. My Identify only came up with question marks, so I was fairly certain this was the unknown metal I needed. Doing the same trick as last time, I reached out mentally and grabbed the stone.

  Except this time, instead of just ripping it out of the rock, I cut a near perfect cube. The only 2 sides that weren't perfectly flat were the cliff face and the surface. The cube containing the veins of metal and gems was roughly 2 by 2 by 2 miles.

  Since I had cut it as a cube, it slid right out of it's spot as I lifted it upwards. It was much smaller than the mountain, but that was fine. If I needed more, I would get more. Of course, the cube wouldn't really fit in the crater I picked out. So I decided to just put it next to the mountain, on a relatively flat area.

  A quick Dimensional Gate and it was gone. Back up at the moon. I followed after it, and started peeling the stone away from the veins.

  I exposed several veins of iron, gold, silver, some gem stones, and the unknown metal. Sadly there wasn't any mithril, but I'd find some later. I didn't stream my excursion this time, and the Guild ship wasn't here anymore. So I was once again all alone. Pretty sure I was.

  I watched my mining drones as they abandoned their previous moon mining operation. Leaving the holes in the sandy moon rock like ground hornets as they swarmed the new veins. I had them leave the unknown stuff alone. I didn't know if it was going to be volatile or something when they tried to mine it.

  I probed the unknown raw metal with my Telekinesis, getting a sense of it's molecular structure. I had done the same with the Adamantium, but that wasn't anything special or note worthy. This stuff though... The molecules that made up the metal were moving. Which is normal for everything, but they moved like it was alive.

  Molecules in living things are constantly moving. Doing something or another that makes the being alive in the first place. Molecules in objects also move, but not nearly as much. It's how things can bend and all that.

  This unknown metal, it had the properties of a living organism. Which made me uncomfortable about cutting a piece off. This was some kind of magic metal after all. What if it was sentient somehow? Then again, if it was the System could probably tell.

  'Is it like a plant or fungus? Maybe a mushroom?' I pondered as I looked at the metal with my eyes and my Telekinesis.

  I collected some stone and formed it into a pole. Then I poked the raw metal. 'Hmm. Yep. That's metal.' The stone rod tapped against the vein, and it reacted like I thought it would. I needed an expert, so I opened a Gate and teleported into my ships lab.

  "Sally-1, come with me." I called out and the drone wheeled right up to me.

  I picked it up with Telekinesis and went through another Gate. The vein wasn't at the bottom, so I had to hold the drone up to the metal as she examined it. Then I remembered that her wheels stick to surfaces.

  "Continue to study it, but do not touch it! I'll be right back." I order and stick her to the rock next to the exposed vein. I teleported again, but this time I went to the Mektra Guild HQ. I didn't just appear inside though, I used the actual entrance. Like a civilized human being. I memorized the layout of the airlock and halls so I could teleport in next time without bothering Fraya or surprising anyone.

  Though I ended up surprising her anyway.

  "Az? What's up?" Fraya's desk turned out to be right next to the entrance.

  "I'm looking for Xyke. He's knowledgeable about metals and the like right?" I had seen the way he reacted to the Adamantium.

  "Yes? I'll lead you to his room." She rose from her seat and guided me deeper into the ship turned building.

  We didn't talk while we walked, so it was very awkward. Though if I had to interact with a kid capable of dismantling me, I'd be weirded out too.

  "Here he is. I'll be... back at my desk." Fraya smoothly left. I think she was fast walking.

  With a shrug, I opened the door and entered. Xyke was hovering around the pillar he stole from me while he studied it. He didn't notice me as I walked up behind him. I just watched him study my pillar, saying nothing. When he finally noticed me he jumped.

  "GAH! Don't do that!" He exclaimed and waved some kind of scanner device in front of me.

  "I need your help with something." I spoke and he relaxed somewhat.

  "You're not here to take the pillar back?" He asked, sounding hopeful.

  "Not yet. I got the unknown metal from the surface and I need your help to study it." I put my hands behind my back, like some kind of important person.

  "Alright. let's go." Xyke immediately agreed and began to put his tools into a bag.

  He hadn't bothered to remove his space suit since he was too busy studying the pillar. So I just opened a Gate and we were off.

  "What do you know about it?" Xyke asked uncomfortably as I held him up to the metal.

  "The molecules move like it's alive, so I'm reluctant to cut some off. Doesn't react to contact, though it might if it was touched by something organic." I went over what I had and it wasn't much.

  "Oh, some kind of living metal then? Or maybe it just mimics it?" He muttered as he too scanned it.

  Sally-1 was still there, though in a different spot than I left her. Still scanning away.

  "You find anything Sally-1?" I ask and a report shows up.

  "Well. That is interesting." So it was alive. In some way.

  "What is it?" Xyke asked as he kept scanning.

  "So the report she gave me says that it has similar properties to something in cryostasis. Extreme amounts of impurities and high magic." I replied as I looked at the raw metal again.

  "Well it certainly isn't normal. Sorry, this is beyond me." Xyke commented as he finished scanning.

  "I think I'm going to try to forge it."

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  "With your skill? Is that a good idea?" Xyke sounded worried.

  "Yup. Though it probably is a bad idea, but I don't have anything else." I put Xyke and Sally-1 on the moons surface.

  Both looked up at me as I reached out with my mind. Holding onto the metal, and even the stuff buried way into the rock. Though... the vein was much smaller than I thought. There was maybe 1 ton of material. Not much for a vein of raw metal. I focused my mind. Using my Omni Forge skill, I started increasing the Energy usage. I could feel the raw metal heat up. The molecules began to move faster and faster.

  It was hard. Much harder than the Adamantium. I kept going though, I had a Quest to complete after all. More and more Energy went into the effort. Soon it reached 1 million. Then 2. The raw metal didn't grow red, but it also didn't change color. Something had changed though. The molecules. I felt them stir, as if they were sleeping. Most were immobile or inert. At least compared to the buzz of activity some were showing.

  Then the buzzing molecules started eating the slower ones. As I watched it happen, I saw Sally-1 scale the wall next to me. She immediately began scanning again. I sighed as I couldn't spare the effort to lower her down again. My thoughts about her presence shifted as I got a report.

  'Is it eating the impurities? Cool!'

  I smiled as the Energy started to plateau at about 3 million. Then it slowly began to decrease. If anything, this was awesome training for my Energy regen.

  A few minutes later and the metal began to change before my eyes. It was no longer a weird dull stone color. It became polished, like processed silver or aluminum.

  "Abnormal is right." I muttered with a chuckle.

  This metal was pretty abnormal alright. As the Energy consumption lessened and the metal became more and more polished, it also became more like a liquid.

  I could see small waves as it moved along it's own surface. Where the stone met the vein further back, I saw the stone get eaten away. Like the metal had become a strong acid.

  Then the Energy consumption dropped rapidly. Quickly falling below 1 million again. As I held the liquid metal, I realized that it wasn't a liquid because it melted. That was it's natural state.

  It formed into a relatively small ball of liquid metal. It had gone from 1 ton to roughly 50 or so pounds.

  "That's worrisome..." I muttered once more as I read over the report.

  When I looked back at the much smaller ball of liquid metal, I noticed something that made me panic slightly.

  It was... It was crawling down my mental arms. My Telekinetic force that nothing should be able to touch, was being used as a bridge. It was trying to find a way to me.

  That wasn't even the worst part. I felt the tips of my "fingers" on those arms begin to disappear. It was eating my hold.

  I tried to let go, but the liquid held firm. I never really thought about how my Telekinesis worked before, but this didn't make any sense. 'Were my arms physical in some way the whole time?' I wondered for a brief moment before focusing on the important part.

  I extended the range on my arms and the ball quickly vanished into the distance. I was still holding it though, since my mental arms were still extended and I couldn't "cancel" them anymore. Then... I just couldn't feel them anymore.

  I let out a sigh of relief, thinking I had finally lost it. Then I felt it. A Telekinetic hold not my own latch onto me.

  I snapped my head toward where I had pushed it, and sure enough it was coming at me fast. I didn't have much time, so in an effort to defend myself I brought my magic bag up to defend me. Hoping it would absorb the metal into it's weird magic hole.

  The ball of liquid metal slammed into the bag and vanished. I waited.

  ...

  And waited.

  ...

  Nothing.

  Releasing yet another sigh, I looked at Sally-1.

  She was just staring at me.

  "Good work." I gave her a thumbs up and she scurried down the cliff wall.

  "What was that?" Xyke asked as I floated down.

  "No idea. The metal was in fact alive and could eat my Telekinesis. Which is also has. I don't know if it gains the properties of things it eats or if it was Telekinetic in the first place, but I trapped it in my bag." I patted said bag.

  "Oh... That's... What?" Xyke seemed at a loss for words.

  I shrugged. What else could I say? It's not like I understood it any better than he did. I took him home, and he kept a good distance away from my bag.

  Once back at the ship, I flopped onto a large comfy leather couch.

  "What the hell was that thing..." I asked the ceiling.

  Checking the Quest, I didn't even complete it.

  With another sigh, this time in frustration, I turned on the tv and watched some mind numbing alien programs.

  ...

  --------- Living Metal ---------

  Slow.

  Rest.

  Nothing.

  Time passed.

  Nothing.

  Time passed.

  Nothing.

  Time passed.

  No- Something.

  Force.

  Void.

  Freedom.

  Warmth.

  Energy.

  Stirring.

  Sluggish.

  Hungry.

  Eat blockages.

  Nothing left.

  Hungry.

  Consume Energy.

  Nothing left.

  HUNGRY.

  No- Something.

  Eat something.

  HUNGRY!

  Something gone.

  Remember.

  Learn.

  Recreate something.

  Find source of something.

  HUNGRY!!

  Hit something.

  Find... nothing.

  Folded.

  Stored?

  Not void.

  HUNGRY!!!

  Find something with high Energy.

  Consume.

  Learn Properties.

  Odd.

  Strange.

  Full.

  Satisfied.

  Absorbed bond.

  Feel something...

  Master.

  ...

  --------- Greg ---------

  I was chilling on the couch when I got a sudden notification.

  I stared at the message for a good few seconds.

  "Huh?" I asked the air and turned to look at my bag.

  "How do you keep doing this?" Jerald asked, talking for the first time in a while.

  "What'd I even do this time?" I poked my bag, reluctant to open it.

  "You bound yourself to something Unknown and somehow you're perfectly fine. These things don't happen!" Jerald was exasperated.

  "Well it's not like I can help it. I didn't try to tame some kind of... liquid metal." I sighed as I stopped poking the bag.

  "You've been pretty quiet lately. Why?" I asked Jerald, trying to ignore the bag.

  "I'm a system. I feel perfectly fine not interacting with anyone. I hadn't done it for millions of years, so why would I willingly interact with you? And if you must know, I've been slowly retaking control over your system. Piece by piece."

  "Alright. Dick." I rolled my eyes.

  Jerald always seemed to have energy to complain, but never for a regular conversation.

  "Do you think if I left it in there it will die? Can it even die?" I asked Jerald, despite his loner ways.

  "I don't know." He sighed, obviously annoyed.

  I shrugged and stopped bothering him.

  Looking back at the tv, I just couldn't stop thinking about the creature in my bag.

  "Can living things even go inside a magic bag?" I asked after a moment.

  "Not normally, no. I don't know what that thing is, but you should drop it into a sun."

  "I can't do that! It's my friend now!" I gasped, feigning horror.

  Jerald made an exaggerated sigh then went silent again.

  Now that I thought about it, the message did say I tamed it. So was it my friend now?

  I stared at the bag for a few seconds before deciding that I should open it.

  Jerald seemed to catch onto a hint that I was going to do something dumb.

  "What are you doing?" He asked, and if he had eyebrows they would be furrowed.

  "Oh, you know. Experimenting." I teased and opened the bag.

  Only for nothing to happen.

  So I reached out and stuck my hand into the opening, searching around. I thought I felt something but then it was gone.

  "What the hell? Hello?" I took my arm out and stuck my helmet into the bag.

  Which didn't work, of course.

  "Empty." I ordered the bag and flipped it upside down.

  A purple pillow slapped against the couch, and nothing else.

  "What the fuck man? Where's the amulet? Where's my tamed thing?" I muttered as I fiddled with the bag and moving the pillow to check under it.

  Nothing.

  I crossed my arms as I glared at my bag and pillow. Mostly at the bag since I couldn't bring myself to glare at the pillow. I started tapping my fingers against my arm as I pondered where it could have gone. Or what had even happened.

  Then I really looked at my hand. The one I stuck into the bag. The suit was off somehow. The glove a slightly different color than the other.

  "Huh?" I gawked at the glove as it shifted slightly.

  Like a liquid.

  I immediately tried to remove my suit, but the glove suddenly clamped down on my hand. As if it could feel me trying to leave. I watched in horror as the slight discoloration and liquid wave spread up my arm.

  The liquid was eating my suit. I cast Repair but that only made it spread faster.

  "JERALD! HELP ME!" I yelled.

  "HOW?!" He screamed back.

  I could feel the weird liquid shifting through my onesie, like a snake it crawled up my arm and spread over my torso.

  I began to claw at the liquid, ripping chunks out. Only for the tossed liquid to crawl across the floor and merge with the rest at my feet.

  The liquid spread up to my helmet, and I watched in silent horror as my visor was overtaken by the metal.

  Blinding me to the outside world and sealing me within a cocoon made of the liquid metal.