Revived as a Mutant in the Apocalypse

Super Core, or a Mutated Nucleus? (2)

After the previous experience, Xie Yi's senses could recover almost the instant she made contact with that evil thing. Alas, it was all too late as her stupid tongue had moved by itself as if it had a mind of its own.
She found to her horror that her tongue had swept around the smooth ball for a total of three rounds!
Sigh, there it goes another round of brushing and rinsing the hell out of her...
Xie Yi was just about to spat out the ball when suddenly, she felt the previously hard nucleus turning soft and chewy before it dissolved into a warm liquid that automatically trickled down her throat and "gulp", she swallowed the sweet liquid out of instinct.
'Wait, sweet?'
Xie Yi wrapped her hands around her throat, her clear eyes widening at her impulsive act as she panicked.
She tried to puke out the insides of her stomach once more, her body half supporting the toilet as she forced herself to retch, only to terribly fail as she let out a satisfied burp instead.
– Hic!
Xie Yi covered her mouth, surprised by the sound she just made. Just a second after that, sweat started dotting her forehead and drenching her back as she suddenly felt every inch of her body burning hot.
It was as if someone had lit a huge fire within her, roasting her from the inside. However, rather than pain, she merely felt uncomfortable and stiflingly hot.
The heat that had come from her abdomen rose through her neck and to her cheek, flushing her entire face red like a ripe tomato. As a sense of fatigue hit her, Xie Yi found her four limbs softening as they lost strength.
Xie Yi didn't know how she had managed to move herself to the bed by then. All she knew was when her heavy head finally hit the soft pillows, her eyes automatically fluttered close as she fell into a deep slumber, her figure motionless with no strength left to spare.
A loud snore escaped out of her gaping mouth, which was soon followed by a series of 'popping' sounds that came from within Xie Yi's relaxed figure.
Oblivious to her, her entire body was undergoing a tremendous change at this moment. Her churning blood was running around the vessels of her body thrice its normal speed, prompting all the organs within her to work just as hard.
And yet, despite all the strenuous work, the current Xie Yi wasn't the least bothered as she had completely lost herself in the magical realm of her dreams.
There, she was pulled back to the night where she met her 'mother'. With tears flowing down her pitch black eyes, the creature whispered softly as she lovingly caressed Xie Yi's face, leaving a trail of blood– her child's blood, wherever it went.
"Soon... we will meet again soon, my child. Once you have recovered, once you've grown strong enough, we'll reunite so please, stay strong... mother begs you..."
It was the last thing Xie Yi could remember before losing her consciousness completely.
***
When Xie Yi finally woke up from her sleep, she turned her head to peek at the drawn curtains, finding herself awake at the dead of the night. The faint light of the lone moon trickled past the thick fabric, casting a soft glow in the dark and silent room.
Examining the insides of her room with a foolish and distracted gaze, Xie Yi walked in the dark whilst yawning and rubbing her tired eyes when all of a sudden, broken scenes from the previous incident flooded her mind, waking her up in that instant.
Her mother's melancholic whispers chimed in her mind,
"... once you've recovered... once you've grown strong enough... we'll reunite so please, stay strong... mother begs you... "
Without her realizing, tears started pooling at the ends of her eyes, sending her emotions to the state of turmoil that it pained her so much.
It was the first time Xie Yi felt this way, and she was confused as to what to do to coax herself. Her head felt heavy and the discomfort wrapping her whole like a cocoon made her feel uneasy.
She hated this feeling greatly. However, the more she resented this feeling, the more she missed her 'mother'. She wanted to quickly meet her once more, and once she did, not even death could separate them.
But, without a core, how would she be able to grow strong enough to the point where she could once again return to that unexplored forest and find her mother?
As Xie Yi digested the repeating words in her mind, she was suddenly reminded of the foreign power lying dormant within her. The amount wasn't much and as she couldn't touch nor move it no matter how hard she tried, she had long thrown the information of its existence to the back of her mind.
However, after what had happened yesterday, Xie Yi couldn't help but hope for a miracle to happen. With an intensely beating heart, she placed a hand on her lower abdomen and closed her eyes, willing her perception to sweep the entire area.
It was entirely calm and empty within the chamber of her lower abdomen, a situation that had been a common sight for her since 2 months ago however, the small pool of dormant energy was nowhere in sight either.
Holding back her agitation, she carefully examined the insides of her lower abdomen numerous times until she caught sight of something foreign.
There, hiding at the furthest and darkest corner of the chamber, squeezing itself onto the folds of her inner walls was a shiny object that was about the size of a baby's fingernail. If it's not for her strong belief and persistence, Xie Yi was sure that she would've missed the little thing for it was so tiny to the point of almost being nonexistent.
'Is this... a core?'
Xie Yi could faintly sense a thin strand of strangely familiar yet unfamiliar energy pulsating from within the tiny thing. And to prove her doubts, she tried wrapping her perception around the tiny core before forcing it to work as she willed.
And just as she had expected, a small swirl of newly-formed energy burst out of the rotating 'core', painting an energetic image in her once sad and depressed empty abdomen.
'That dormant foreign energy had actually birthed a core!'
Although she had once thought that this might happen, Xie Yi couldn't help but be shocked when it truly did come true! However,
'If this little thing is truly a legit and working core, how can it be this small?'
She studied the fingernail-sized object carefully, a myriad of questions floating in her mind. Still, nothing matters as long as it could work. With that kind of mentality, she tried utilizing the most basic display of her recovered ability.
"Ice Form"
Xie Yi concentrated her super energy onto the center of her open palm, feeling the difference between her past and present form of energy. Although unrefined super energies were intangible, as the owner to the ability, Xie Yi had a special connection with her super core and the power it generated.
Xie Yi was previously an Ice ability user and thus, her previous energy had a sort of frigid coldness and hardness to its aura. However, at this moment, under her careful examination, she actually perceived an additional sense of sharpness and durability in her newborn power.
With this knowledge in her mind, Xie Yi turned expectant towards her new form of strength. However, she could feel the struggle within her trembling tiny core.
'Am I being too forceful with the little thing?'
Xie Yi thought as sweat dripped down her glistening forehead. She could sense her tiny core trembling whilst letting out a faint sizzling sound only apparent to her ear.
The core was working hard, revolving nonstop as it struggled to squeeze out a miniscule amount of energy until...
– Kretek... kretek...
'Wait, was that the sound of a machine breaking down?'
Xie Yi could only watch dumbfoundedly as the tiny core spasmed erratically, threatening to break down. Till that point, Xie Yi could only stop her evaluation, concluding that this new core of her was practically useless.
Xie Yi was disappointed at the size of her core. Still, a core is a core, and she wholeheartedly believed that it'll steadily grow with time. As for how she would be boosting the growth of her newborn baby core...
Xie Yi recalled the effect of that B-ranked Nucleus she previously consumed. After consuming that nucleus, her body had actually shown a reaction and even birthed a core!
What if she 'ate' more of them? Wouldn't her super core evolve greater and greater until she reaches her previous strength or even more?
She couldn't hold the anticipation and excitement within her from bursting out, bringing her expectation towards the incoming future days to a whole new level.