《The secrets of the cores》 Chapter 1. Darkness ¡®??? POV: Astera a world made by us, existences that don¡¯t have a name so that we can give peace for those souls that couldn¡¯t rest. Without worlds, souls will become unstable, creating phenomenons that might destroy all possible existences. We shed our blood and sweat and, in the end, we created a universe where different races can live together. In the end, our expectation was blown away. At first, the races in this world started to cohabit, live and work together. Some of us decided to go to create other words and some decided to stay to guide the habitants of this world. The others and I became the pillars that held the world in one place. It was a marvellous sight, as our children started to create something big from the dirt, we gave them. Sadly, the peaceful days didn¡¯t last for forever. Right now, this world, OUR world is filled with magic, beauty and¡­ well, war. A strange disease invaded us, destroying all of us. The only way to saw our world was to take souls from other worlds that have been strengthened by the transfer, making them veritable heroes to fight for us. But who knew doing so will make matters worse? ***** Celestial Realm: ¡°Who the hell did that?!¡± ¡°How in hell should I know! They just appeared from thin air! I already contacted the others but we need to do something! ¡°Damn it! Why did this must happen right now? Can we stop the transfer?¡± ¡°No, but we can slow it down. Give me a sec¡­ Here, done. They will arrive 30 years later than scheduled. ¡­What the actual trick?! ¡°Now what?!¡± ¡°On of them got through! It¡¯s heading straight to the infected zone!¡± ¡°Was it a strong one?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ no, I don¡¯t think so¡­¡± ¡°Then leave it be! We have like 24 more! Make sure to erase all proof of its existence and keep silent about it!¡± ¡°Y-Yeah¡­¡± If we knew¡­ knew what we have done when we let that soul go. Maybe those tears newer would have felt¡­ ***** ??? POV: ¡°I¡¯m bored.¡± Well, what can I say, I have been stuck in this darkness for a really long time. Here I can¡¯t see, touch, smell or taste shit. At first, I was in a total state of panic, but now¡­ ¡®Is this Hell?¡¯ To be honest, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was at this point. Floating in nothingness makes you realise some things. ¡®I should have been nicer, more caring. Sight, I just hope I won¡¯t be stuck here for eternity.¡¯ Days, maybe years have passed since I got stuck here. I realize that I started to forget after a time. The face of my parents, my favourite food, my name, they have been completely erased. I can¡¯t even remember how I died if I existed in the first place. Then, for the first time in a very long time, I saw a light. It only started as a spark then it illuminated everything with white light. [Alert! Unauthorised soul detected! Commencing deleting protocols!] ¡®Hey, wait a sec! Why can I hear a voice of an old man in my head?¡¯ [Answer: I¡¯m [The Words of the World] a being that is in charge of the world now as Astera. You have been sent here to reincarnate, but your soul has some irregularities.] ¡®What does that even mean?¡¯ [Answer: It means you are a bad person. You might commit crimes if I let you reincarnate.] ¡®So, what, you will fix me?¡¯ [Answer: Impossible, your soul is to distorted to be fixed.] ¡®Then what, you will erase me? Without giving me a chance of redemption?¡¯ [Answer: Yes.] ¡®Huh?¡¯ [Process Restarted. The soul will be deleted.] Hey, calm down! Why, don¡¯t we talk about it? Let me live and I will be in your debt¡­ [Answer: Refused.] [Preparations are complete. Soul is deleted.] I have felt back to the darkness, but this time it looked different. I know it¡¯s stupid, I can¡¯t see anything in darkness but now it seemed¡­ I don¡¯t know deep? Like a rabbit hole? Sight, did I go mad, why do I think about something like this in this type of situation? And I was back to my nothingness. I thought being deleted will be¡­ I don¡¯t know painful? Maybe a little bit scarier with some voices or images. My expectations were so high? Well, I pretty used to dark places so I didn¡¯t really panic or anything. ¡°Zzzzz¡± Great, now I have started to imagine someone snoring. ¡°Zzzzz¡± ¡®Ah, I miss my bed. Maybe I should try to imagine that I¡¯m in it?¡¯ ¡°Zzzzzzzzz¡­¡± ¡®For #$%& sake stop snoring!'' ¡°Zzzz¡­hum? who is here?¡± ¡®What, you can hear me?¡¯ ¡°Yeah¡­ Yawwnn. Damn, I slept for so long! What time is it?¡± ¡®Don¡¯t ask me I completely lost track of time here.¡¯This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Really. You are a soul, right? What are you doing in the void?¡± ¡®Well, it¡¯s a long story. I heard another voice in my head that it said that I will be deleted or something.¡¯ ¡°Interesting. You have been destroyed and yet your consciousness is still in one piece. You do realise you have been deleted for 3 years, right?¡± ¡®Seriously?! It was just a minute ago that I talked to that guy.¡¯ ¡°Well I guess after a time; you must have lost your consciousness. Hearing me sleeping must have triggered you.¡± Dude, you really snore that loud? ¡°I am Somnus by the way, the god of slumber. I was taking a nap in this void when I heard you. I¡¯m surprised that a mortal soul can still exist even grinded to dust.¡± ¡®What can I say, I¡¯m hard to get rid of. So, you are a god, like a god god?'' ¡°Yes, I have born as one and I have unlimited power! Hahaha! ¡®Eh, ok. Then why were you taking a nap in this void?¡¯ ¡°¡­ Overwork. I¡¯m the god who makes people sleep, give them dreams and donations. I have to cover a lot of areas, unlike the minor gods who are only specialized in one field. Having power isn¡¯t always fun!¡± ¡®I can imagine. Can I ask you something?¡¯ ¡°Sure.¡± ¡®What will happen to me now?¡¯ I can¡¯t forget that I¡¯m currently dust in the void. Will I float in here forever or there is some salvation for me? ¡°Hmh¡­ I can¡¯t say it for sure, but after a while, your memories will fade away and you will disappear.¡± ¡®Hey, can you bring me back to life or something?¡¯ ¡°Me? Well¡­ I can try but I never did something like this before. Don¡¯t start complaining if I mess it up!¡± ¡®I believe if you mess up something, I couldn¡¯t even complain even if I wanted to.¡¯ ¡°Fair point. Let¡¯s see¡­ For the first time in a while, I could feel something. It was a warmth that gave me comfort and tranquillity. Yet again I was engulfed in light, but it had a hint of gold sparks in it. When the sparks disappeared, I was in a completely different place. It was a richly decorated room filled antiques, paintings and exquisite furniture. The one which was in front of me was occupied by a jong man wearing a pi jam. He looked really tired with the bags in his eyes. ¡°Here this should do it. You have a bit of insane luck my, friend. The part of your soul that retrains, your memories were untouched so it was easy to reform you. Before I reincarnate you do you have any wish." ¡®For what?¡¯ ¡°Anything! Family, race, wealth you name it.¡± ¡®Eh, a normal family would be okay. I don¡¯t want anything extra.¡¯ ¡°Very well, a normal family coming right up! At least accept this.¡± a ball of light award in his palms. ¡°This will certainly help you. See you later! I wish you to have a good life and many good dreams.¡± After his words, I lost consciousness and I drifted back into the familiar darkness. [Warning! The deleted soul has been restored. Countermeasures have been set¡­ Error. The system has been overwritten. Starting reincarnation procedure.] **** Almost a year has passed since I was reborn and right now I¡¯m crying my lungs out. ¡°There, there, everything is going to be fine.¡± The woman who was holding me was my mother. I didn¡¯t know her name jet so I only called her like this. I never saw my father and my mother really looked really tired from work. My new body was born in a poor family guessing from our modest home. The whole place was the side of a small apartment with only two rooms, one was we slept and the kitchen. Maybe three if we count the attic where the study is. My new name was Thomas Svelvon, guessing that was my maternal family name two. I have inherited her blond hair and blue eyes, but there was a problem. I think it¡¯s maybe the result of my soul being destroyed but I came out a little¡­ deformed. My right eye was strange, the colour of my iris and the white was swapped and some if my hair above it was whit. It made me scared the first time I saw it. In addition, it at glows at night with a pal light adding to the creepiness factor. Luckily for me, my mother never tokes me out and left me in this house when she went shopping. What a reliable person! I would call the child protective services if this were my old world! Well, I¡¯m a baby right now so there is no helping it. By the way like every reincarnation story, this world also had levels and status. Reminds me of all those video games I played. Now that I think about it, why can I remember video games and don¡¯t even recall my own death? Existence is a bi##... Anyhow, this is my states: __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: Human(?) Class: none Level: 0 HP: 10/10 Mp:10/10 Str: 3 Def:1 Skills: none Unique Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [Blessing of Somnus] __________________________________________________________________________________ Descriptions: [Ultra-Surgery]: a unique skill that grants the ability to perform any surgical operation without any risk. All surgeries have 100% of success rate. Able to heal other than the body. [Reincarnated]: a title granted to those who maintained their memories when reincarnated. Additional Abilities: None [Blessing of Somnus]: a title granted to those who were favoured by the god of slumber. Additional abilities: Locked. __________________________________________________________________________________ Yeah, I know, I¡¯m weak. I don¡¯t know what is the standard in this world but I¡¯m sure that the baby me wasn¡¯t one of the most powerful beings in this world. Plus, my unique skill is fairly useless in combat. Having a healing ability is helpful don¡¯t get me wrong but I preferred having a power that can do damage instead of removing it. And what is that question mark behind my race? I¡¯m 100¨G human! ¡®Or maybe it¡¯s a clue about my previous life? It would be cool if I was a doctor!¡¯ Yeah, the possibility of that is really slim. I spent my days training my body. I learnt how to crawl when I was 3 months old and walk at 1 year old. My mother, who didn¡¯t seem to have any knowledge of how to raise me didn¡¯t found it weird. She just laughs heartedly and praised me. I tried to read the language of the books but it was impossible. I couldn¡¯t even recognise the writing, let alone reading it. ¡®Seriously, buying a picture book could kill her? I¡¯m bored!¡¯ [Message received from: Somnus] [Do you wish to open it?] ¡®Eh, WW? (Words of the World) long time no see. Still, pissed about me reincarnated? [¡­.] ¡®Sight, yes open it.] [Opening message.] [Hey, friend, How¡¯s your new life? I hope it¡¯s comfy. I got back to work and get this! I was sleeping for 1000 years! Can you imagine the things I missed! The Romans have totally disappeared there is a thing called the internet and the others have migrated to this world! Anyhow, I send this letter to you for apologies because it seems. I made a little mistake in your body creation that may have resulted in unwanted complications in your new-found life. To make up for it, I have pulled some strings and the local church will help in your raising. Don¡¯t worry they won¡¯t turn you into a cultist or anything¡­ I hope. (-_-¡®) I have also sent you a lite gift that you will receive after you read this little message. Good luck! Somnus.] ¡®Heh, it¡¯s good to see he is having fun.'' [You received a gift from Somnus.] [Do you wish to open it?] ¡®Of course, it¡¯s a gift from a god!¡¯ [Opening present.] [You received package named [Beginners set]] [You have received new skill: [Languages comprehension] and [Basic Appraisal] ] ¡®Seriously, this guy is great!¡¯ He gave me just what I needed! My mother wasn¡¯t here so it was the perfect time for me to sneak to the study. Well, I call it study but it¡¯s only a small room which has all the books in the house. I quickly ran to the nearest booked and tried to read its cover. ¡¯69 ways to make carrots delicious.¡¯ Success! I can read! Hahaha, now I can read all these books¡­. ¡®Delicious meals for all the family''; ¡®Prodigies¡¯ ¡®Making sweets without sugar.¡¯¡­. ¡®What the hell?! This are all cooking books!¡¯ I checked everyone that I could reach but they all were the same. The other type of books must be on the higher ¡®You have to be friking kidding me! I¡¯m finally able to read and this is what I found out! No fair, I want rebounds!¡± I started to cry while throwing away one of the books in my hand. I couldn¡¯t help it I was still a one-year-old kid. Thump! Squish! [Target killed] [5 EXP received] Eh? I looked in the direction of my book I could see that I dropped it on something. I slowly raised it and saw a spider the size of a tarantula under it. ¡®Gross! Are all the spiders this big in this world?!¡¯ [Do you wish to appraise it?] ''Eh, ah sure?'' [Teran House spider: a small spider that usually lives in houses. It feeds on mouses and other rodents, making it grow quickly. Threat level: none existent] ¡®Small, it¡¯s written small. ¡® At that place I sward I will sleep with a bug zapper. ¡®WW, what is EXP?¡¯ [Answer: EXP means experience points. Every time you kill or complete a mission. When you reach a certain amount, your level will rise.] ¡®Level?¡¯ [That¡¯s correct. Levels define the overall power of the user. Every time it increases your overall stats also increase.] ¡®Oh, it¡¯s like a video game! Cool! But still poor spider I should do something about it¡­ Hm, what is this?¡¯ [Unique skill activated.] Chapter 2. New life [Unique-skill activated] There was a tiny gem covered by the spider¡¯s green blood. I took it into my hands to inspect it better. Now clean, I could see that it was white and transparent with a faint light coming from the inside of It. [Do you wish to analyse it?] ¡®Yes.¡¯ [Analysing...] [Failed.] [Trying by connecting skills] [Connecting [Basic Appraisal] to [Ultra-Surgery]] [Success!] [Teran House spider core: contains the basic skills and mana pool of the monster.] [Do you wish to see the details?] ¡®Yes.¡¯ __________________________________________________________________________________ HP: 0/5 MP: 0/3 Str: 3 Def: 2 Skills: [Thread Waving LV:1] [Climbing LV:1] __________________________________________________________________________________ [For more details pleas find the memory core.] ¡®Memory core? There is a second one?¡¯ I looked at the spider that was still twitching. ¡®Ah damn it, I¡¯m curious!¡¯ I closed my eyes and started dining into the carcass. ***** 5 minutes later: ¡°What have you done?! Look at you! You are entirely covered in slime!¡± ¡°Hehe¡± I found what I was looking for. There really was a second gem but it was black. It contained the race and passive abilities of the spider. ¡®The black one was at its head and the white one was at its thorax. If we follow this kind of logic, then the black core is located in the head and the white one is around at the chest. Those all the living beings in this world have cores? What about humans? I should really look into this later.'' After my intense bathing session, my mother locked me in into our bedroom. I was sitting on the bed while playing with the two gens. [Mana and mind core detected.] [Do you wish to further analyse the cores?] ¡®Yup, yup. I really curious!¡¯ [Analysing] __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: none Race: Teran House spider Level: 2 HP: 0/5 MP: 0/3 Str: 3 Def: 2 Skills: [Thread Waving LV:1] [Climbing LV:1] Passive Skills: [Danger detection LV:1] [Food Detection LV:1] Titles: [Kin Eater] __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡®Hey, it had [Danger Detection]! How the hell was I able to kill it! Must have an off day or I was lucky.¡¯ So, combining the two cores give me the full status of the spider. It was surprisingly week, it didn¡¯t really have any way to attack me. Maybe it was curious or hungry and came closer to me. In anyway thank you for your sacrifice. I took the black core into my hand. The small light coming from it became weaker I almost couldn¡¯t see it. [ Fragmented memories detected] [Do you wish to open it?] ¡®Open fragmented memories.¡¯ [Fragmented memories opened.] [Download data...] Before my eyes, flashes of images went through. I could taste the pray they the spider has eaten and real his pain when he died. After a couple of seconds, I became completely familiar with every little hiddy place of this old house. ¡®Wow, that was... Wow! I need a second!¡¯ [You have received a new skill: [ Mapping] ] ¡®So, I can learn things from this core what about the other one? I like the white stone into my other hand. Like the other one, the light that was coming from it became much dimmer. [Mana have been detected] [Do you wish to absorb it?] ¡®Yes.¡¯ [Absorption started...] ¡°Huh...huh!¡± I felt energised like I could run a marathon. Every part of my body was tingling with energy. [Absorption finished] [You received skill: [Overload]] [Do you wish to see your status?] Hm... oh, yes please.¡¯ __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: Human(?) Class: none Level: 0 HP: 10/10 Mp:13/10 Str: 3 Def:1 Skills: [Languages comprehension] [Basic Appraisal] [ Mapping] [Overload] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [Blessing of Somnus] __________________________________________________________________________________ Descriptions: [ Mapping]: The ability to create a map in one¡¯s head. The size and accuracy depend on the skills level. [Overload]: The ability to absorb more mana than your actual mana capacity. The overflowing mana will strengthen your body, but will disappear after a while. The amount and the time it takes to disappear depends on the level. __________________________________________________________________________________ Well, this great. I still Level:0 but I already have 4 skills. If I keep this up, I can get super strong in no time! But first¡­ I need a change of diaper. ***** Two months have passed since then. During this time some changes have occurred. I hunted down all the spiders in this house. Thanks to the first one¡¯s memories I was able to find their nest. All I did was wait for one of there friend to come out and squish it to death with a book. It was a disgusting process and the cores sometimes broke, turning into particles of light leaving only the carcass and some EXP. After my 10. victim I finally levelled up. My states have also increased by 1. Ah, whatever I do I just can¡¯t see the light at the end of the tunnel. The other change was that I discovered how to use my unique skill and how it¡¯s work. To turn it on, I need a target. I can only use it on living beings right now and they need to be injured. Then two things happen: - I will be able to detect the severity of the damaged part of the body. -Weary thin threads start to come out of my hands. These threads are able to cut through flesh and able to close open wounds. Once I squashed flat on of the spiders leg. When I used my skill the threads we¡¯re able to reshape it into its original form and completely heal the damage. Of course, it had limitations. I can¡¯t use it on people that aren¡¯t injured or inanimate objects. I can use it on the dead but it uses too much mana so I could only partially reform a flattened spider and it won¡¯t replenish blood loss. Also it inky help me see the damaged areas not the way to heal them, I need my own knowledge for that.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. In total, it is a really useful ability when it comes to healing but totally useless for offence. I can maybe use it to cut someone but first I need to make him bleed first. And there is something else, that I discovered during my tests. Something that I will look into a latter date¡­ ¡° Are you ready Thomas. It will be cold outside so be well dressed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready!¡± My mother has started to take me outside. Of course, she made sure to cover my right eye whit piece of clothing. I usually plaid at the village center with the other kids of my age. It was nice to be a kid once again. Complete lack of interest or responsibility whatsoever! Turns out we were living in a small village, not far away from the capital. The population was around 50 person or so most of them were old people or young kids like me. Most of the grown-ups most have left this place for the capital. Well, considering that this village isn¡¯t specialised in anything and that we have our own guard corp it isn¡¯t really a problem. Today we were outside shopping for food. The street where surprisingly lively due to the merchants that came today, with their exotic products. Being a black water village has its inconvenience like not having a hygienic life hood but it also has its pleasures. One of them is the merchants. When they leave the city, they have to sell the rest of the product so they come here where they get rid of it with extremely low prices. When they arive the village becomes full of life, almost like a festival. ¡°Come and see we have everything you need! Hurry, we don¡¯t have a lot of product!¡±( merchant) ¡°I want some rabbit milk!¡± ¡°Right away ma¡¯am!¡± ¡®Ugh, I hate this stuff. Seriously I can eat other things too, my teeth have started to grow you know!¡¯ We took the milk and went to the next one. He self different type of metal made objects. I ¡°How can I help you? I have the finest metal in this whole town!" ¡®Yeah, and the guy next doors!¡¯ ¡°We just looking around. Can you sharpen our knife for us?¡± ¡°Of course, it will be 5 copers!¡±(merchant) ¡®Wow, that¡¯s cheap!¡¯ If we try to this world¡¯s currency into dollars then we will get something like this: 1 copper= 50 cent 1 silver= 1$ 1 gold = 10$ 1 white gold= 100$ There is also another coin called ¡®Saint Coin'' that worth 100 white gold so around 10000$s. ¡®Yeah, something I will never see in my life.¡¯ You have to be rich or a noble to even see one. Sharpening a knife usually cost around 1 silver so we are lucky that he accepted doing this job so cheaply. He took the knife from my mother and raised it into the air. ¡°[Sharpening!¡± A faint light enveloped the object then he took out a piece of bread, to cut it like butter. ¡°Here you go, ma¡¯am. Nice and sharp. ¡°Ugh!¡± ¡°Hahaha, do you like magic little one? Then watch this!¡± He looked out something from the counter. It was a memory core, but this one was 5time bigger than the spiders. "You can have this!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t possibly accept it!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry ma¡¯am! It¡¯s only a goblin core, totally worthless! I have already sold its mana core so I was thinking about grow it way anyway!¡± ¡°Thank you very much!¡± ¡°No need to mention it! Come back when you need something next time! We left the merchant and headed back home. On the way, I touched the core. [No memory detected] [The over died long ago] ¡®Eh, so there is a time limit?¡¯ [Answer: After 24 hours the memories from the memory core starts to fade away.] ¡®Well, he didn¡¯t lie this thing is worthless.¡¯ I put the core into one of my pockets and continued enjoying the market. ¡°Thomas!¡± I turned around and before me stud Lilinet one of my friends. She was wearing a tainted brown cloth with her brown hair in a ponytail Will she was looking at me with her brown eyes glittered in excitement, she walked at us and took one of my hands. ¡°Isn¡¯t this awesome! Did you see the candies?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then come!¡± she pulled my hand in a certain direction. My mother just chuckled at that site while following us from behind. ¡®Hey, I¡¯m being kidnapped, look a little worried!¡¯ ¡°Look, Terrance and the others are waiting!¡± A group of kids have surrounded the place looking at the candies and puppet that are dancing on the table. Every one of them where older than me, but they still decided to play with me. Since I¡¯m far more intelligent for the kids at my age, it was a welcome oddity. Wellbeing the youngest gave me some privilege like getting the best candy or seeing the puppet show from the front row. After the show, we decided to look around the caravans. My mother left to buy some more food and make sure to ask the other kids to look after me. ¡°Let''s play hero!¡± the one who said that was none other than Terrance. He was an energetic kid, who was always making trouble and he had the face for it. Mischievous smile, excited brown eyes and brown hair, a typical trouble maker. His father was the village chief, granting home some immunity to punishment. ¡°No, we already played that today. What about that?¡± ¡°No Thomas is too slow for it!¡± ¡®Well, I¡¯m still one year old¡­¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s decided! I¡¯m the hero and the others will be the demons! We started to play. I had no idea what I was doing but it was fun. Ah if this peaceful day could go on forever. ***** ¡®Knock! Knock!¡¯ ¡°Who¡¯s that? It¡¯s still too early!¡± She went to the door and opened it. In front of him was a man dressed in entirely white, holding a golden staff. ¡°Sorry to disturb your rest, but I was sent here by the church. May I come in?¡± ¡°Eh y-yes! Can I give you anything? We have¡­ water!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡± he sat down at our only table and looked directly me who was playing with some wooden sticks. ¡°Your boy I presume?¡± ¡°Yes, his name is Thomas.¡± ¡°Well hello, there little fellow. Do you want some candy?¡± he took out a bunch of them and put them in the table. I slowly walked to it and took one. ¡®Ugh¡­ taste awful. How long did he have this?¡¯ ¡°Well then let me introduce myself. My name is Nicolas Hedgworks. I¡¯m a member of the church, one in charge of recruitment, actually. One of my superiors asked me to check for potential new disciples. I have been going house to house all day. Can I look at your soon status? It won¡¯t hurt I promise." ¡°Eh¡­ Yes, yes of course.¡± ¡°Much obliged. Thomas, right? Can you put your hand on this tablet, please?¡± I put my hands on the stone tablet that he pulled out from is robe. I could deal that my magic was being drawn away and in the next second a transparent square appeared above my hand. __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: Human(?) Class: none Level: 1 HP: 11/11 Mp:11/11 Str: 5 Def:3 Skills: [ Mapping:1] [Overload, LV:1] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Blessing of Somnus] __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡®Hey, there are things that are missing! Half of my skills disappeared! This thing is broken!¡¯ My mother and Nicolas looked at my states and they forgot to breathe from the shock. Nicole was the first to wake up from his surprise, he put back the tablet into his robe and took out a purse full of sound. ¡°Miss I would like to take your son with me immediately. Here 23 gold as an excuse for the sudden hurry. We will leave immediately, so please bag everything he will need. I will wait at the entrance when you are ready.¡± he left the house hurridly while he was holding a crystal. My mother still completely in dazed was just standing there not knowing what to do. ¡®Ah, there is no helping it I should use my secret technic! Ultimate killing Skill: [Baby Face]!¡¯ ¡°Mom, did I did something wrong?¡± ¡®My ultimate power that makes everyone¡¯s heart melt!¡¯ She looked at me and seeing my cute face her tens face have softened a little bit. ¡°No, no you did nothing wrong. Just¡­ you have to go. I have to pack your things¡­¡± It didn¡¯t take much time for me to be ready. Inside the bag that my mother gave me were a clean set of cloth and some food. She also put in the monster core that she bought from the merchant. ¡°Ok sweetheart be nice and be sure to follow what they say." ¡°Yes, Mom.¡± She hugged me very tightly and escorted me to the for were Nicolas was waiting with his horse. ¡°Ready?¡± he put me on his horse then he sat behind me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Miss I will inform you how your kid''s doing.¡± and then he turned around and started to gallop. ***** It took 2 days to arrive at our destination. During our travels, we only stopped so that the horse could rest. We or only I slept on the horse during it was galloping. Not a present sensation. We reached the city at none. Well, we reach the massive walls that surrounded the place. I couldn¡¯t even see the top of it forget about guessing me being able to measure it. The gate, that leads into this place wasn¡¯t large but wide enough so that a football stadium could easily pass through it. ¡°ID cards.¡± one of the guards asked. When we stopped at the entrance. ¡°Here.¡± he simply tosses a small metallic rectangle at his hands. ¡°¡­ Seems legit. And the kid?¡± ¡°He will be in my care.¡± ¡°Very well. Open the door!¡± Before us, the part of the gate slowly swings open revelling the city in front of us. Comparing it to the village that I lived it was like night and day. The streets were paved and clean, on the sides shops, showing their products in glass windows. ¡®So, I¡¯m really in a medieval-type world. I was hoping that there clothing was old but if this is the case¡­ there is no internet!¡¯ ¡°What do you think?¡± Nicolas smiled at me. ¡°Isn¡¯t it breathtaking?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t a talkative fellow aren¡¯t you!¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°Forget it. We will see the church soon.¡± He didn¡¯t lie. After we turned left, I could see the tower completely white peeking out the see of houses. The church itself was, we¡¯ll churchy. It had the shape and all. Except for the size. The building itself took three times the space than any other house, I saw until now. Here and there I could even see some golden glitter hiding in the corner of eyes. ¡®Someone is overcompensating.¡¯ We descended from the horse and entered the place. ¡®Yep, this is a church. Big, empty, giving me the creeps.¡¯ I never liked churches. I have no clue why; I¡¯m made like this. Maybe the paintings that looking at me? ¡®Now that I think about it, paintings are like the ancestors of comic books. Does this world have those? I hope that they do. I always liked Garfield¡­¡¯ I must have made a strange face while I was walking, Nicolas put his hand on his hands on my shoulder and smiled. ¡°Relax kid, everything is going to be fine. You are only going to be presented to the head priest and decided what will they going to do with you.¡± ¡®That those not help. At all.¡¯ ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Welcome my son!¡± Before us stud someone probably the head priest. Unlike Nicolas, he was wearing a simpler robe still white but made from a rougher looking fabric. ¡°Nicolas, is he the one you were talking about?¡± ¡°Yes, father. Here look yourself.¡± h gave him the tablet that he used in me. Seems it¡¯s able to store the data of people it was used, my status appeared at the moment when he touched it. ¡°Remarkable. Being 1 year old and have two skills already.¡± his eyes sparkled when he read it. When he looked at me he was grinding wieldy. ¡°My boy you will become such a great Saint.¡± ¡°¡­.What?¡± Chapter 3. Progress Six years have passed since I stepped into the church and became a member. The first two years were the most difficult. Because [Basic Appraisal] only allowed me to read I had to learn how to write. This happened during the morning and afternoon I was forced to do exercises like running or swinging sticks. After they were satisfied with the results they stepped up a notch. Since then my days became monotone. I started the day by going to the library where I had to read and learn the different cultural and geographical locations of this world. Turns out, this place is huge! There are many continents on this planet, each of the sizes of Eurasia. The one I was living in was one of the westes continents, which is divided into smaller kingdoms ruled by kings. The kingdom that I will be serving when I become a Saint is called Sercious, located in the middle of this continent. After I finished my exasperating reading I went to training. Even if I live in a church I¡¯m forced to learn how to fight or how to use magic. Since I became a candidate to be a Saint I was thought how to be a supporter, learning healing magic and how to pray to the gods. Especially praying to gods. I¡¯m now able to do a ritual for 15 different god, each with their own effect. ¡®It¡¯s hard to be an atheist when gods exist.¡¯ Today was no exception. My tutor, the head priest himself, was very strict when it comes to fait. He kept on babbling about the greatness and love of the higher being, how to appease them when they are angry and how to do sacrifices. Yeah, that¡¯s right sacrifices. Some gods are terribly eccentric, and when they switch is flipped only a killed goat or other animal can make them calm down. Personally I believed the whole process to be too messy. ¡®What do they even like about goats anyway? Is that some kind of godly fetish?¡¯ ¡°Before we start today¡¯s lesson, show me how do you pray to Kaldan.¡± Kaldan was the equivalent of Hephaistos, the god of forge and fire. Praying to him makes you extremely good at crafting and what not. I took a lightened candle from the altar before me, got on my knees and recited the prayer that I learned. It was long, full of difficult words and praises. Of I was the one that that prayer was coming to I would become deep red from embarrassment. ¡°, ... grant me your protection. Amen.¡± ¡°Amen. Very good you made some mistakes here and there but it was better than it was before. Tomorrow, you will recite it again so make sure to read it again.¡± ¡°Yes, father¡± ¡°Good. Follow me.¡± We went to one of the gardens where we kept the practise dolls. Being a priest turns out, is a very dangerous job. They have to train themselves in magic as in weapon-wielding for there own protection. Some of the greatest fighters in this country are actually priests. ¡°First, use one of your offensive magic. It those not matter which one.¡± Yup, I can use magic now. Jealous? There is in total 7 type of magic. Fire, water, earth, wind, light, darkness and none-elemental. Each one has there strengths and weaknesses. By the way, all my skills we¡¯re none-elemental type when I arrived here. It¡¯s a type that can be used by everyone and makes everyday life easier. But contrary to the other types where if you learn one of them you can use how you with, none-elemental spells need to be learned separately. For example: when you learn to create a fireball you will automatically get the skill[Flame magic] that allows you to shape it into a spear or an arrow. In the case of none-elemental, you can¡¯t do this. Of course, you can use a skill to another porous, like burning a stick with[Heat] but it has a large mana consumption that the common people can¡¯t afford. Right now the only one I can use is light magic. Not because it¡¯s the most compatible one with me, it was the first one that they thought me. ¡°[Purging Light]!¡± From my palm, a thin rayon of light shout out piercing the wall behind it. ¡°Again and this time aim better. The enemy won¡¯t be standing there like this!¡± ¡°[Piercing Light]! ¡° ¡°Mist, again!¡± ¡° [Piercing Light]! ¡° ¡°Again!¡± ... (An hour later) ¡°Again! What are you waiting to do it again!¡± ¡°Huff! Huff! [Piercing... Ughaaaa¡± I drank too many potions. Every time I run out of mana he gave me a file filled with a bluish liquid that was able to fill my MP to its limit. But over dosage course vestige and vomiting and those were the things I was experiencing. ¡°Hmmm, we need to work on your MP limits more. Clean yourself, the rest of the day is yours. Dismiss.¡± He left me there while I was still shaking and spitting blue. ¡°Damn, this... has to be...child abuse... ¡° After I emptied my stomach I went back to my room. It was located inside one of the towers that are located on the east side of the building. When I first moved in there was only a bed and a table but during the years, I also managed to get a cabinet and a shelf that I filled with books. Even now that I¡¯m living here, I never stopped my research in the cores. In all the books here I could deduce that they use the two stones differently. The mana core is used as a portable battery that contains a set amount of mana. Craftsmen even use them to build equipment that even has cores implanted into them. But the memory stone is completely useless. Most people throw it away will others make a decoration of it. ¡®This must be a mistake. I was able to extract memories from it! Then shouldn¡¯t it have another use?¡¯ For my experiences I still use spiders. These guys are like cockroaches they are literally everywhere. Go down the basement and you will see 4 running away from the light. I killed a bunch of them and brought them here, will make sure that no one saw me. I would be difficult explaining the green slime that tainted the rag that I carried them. ¡°Ok let continue.¡± I opened out the box that I was hidden under my bed. Inside was my newest test subject. This beauty is (you guessed it) was a spider but not any regular 8-legged nightmare. This one was my personal monster. I made it by stitching parts together from 4 different ones. It was a long work but I was content with the result. And now it¡¯s time for the main event. Half-heartedly drunk the blue potion that I needed out from the training. [Mp refilled to maximum capacity] ¡°[Ultra- Surgery].¡± I channelled my magic into the two cores that I put into the body. My threads connected to them without harming its body. As I expected the two gen quickly started to drink my mana and started to diapers it into every cell of the body. Slowly I increased the dosage to get up the cores. And then it moved. At first, I thought it was nothing but it became twitching. ¡®Yes, it¡¯s working!'' [Alert!] [?????????????????????] My ears started to bleed from the scream that resonated inside my head. And then... Boom! The spider blew up into bits leaving only green goo. ¡®What the $&#%#! This supposed to work! I didn¡¯t make any mistake! I resembled the spider perfectly and it was its original cores so it couldn¡¯t be a rejection. Maybe I put too much mana into it and went on an overload?¡¯ I decided to think about it while I was cleaning. Having one of the priests see my desk right now would be a faith worse than death. At least it became complete liquid so I didn¡¯t have to pick up ¡®the bits¡¯. ¡®I don¡¯t get it. Anatomically, the spider was capable to live. The cores have reacted, there was no mana leak. Maybe it¡¯s not even possible and I¡¯m wasting my time and energy on this... Sight, I will think about it later.¡¯ Today will be a big day. Guest from the castle will come to visit, to make sure the founds that we receive is not wasted. I changed my cloth and my eye patch. Since living here, I always wore a piece of clothing to cover my right eye. The only one to see it was the head priest and even he said that I should hide it. He even bought me a decorated one that I must wear on special ceremonies. ¡®¡°Having a disfigured eye can be bad for a Saint. Be sure to hide it when you are in public.¡±¡¯ When I finished, I went down to the kitchen to eat something. Today¡¯s menu was delicious as always, vegan stew with white bread. We don¡¯t eat meat here; some animals are considered sacred and it¡¯s a blasphemy to consume them. And because there are more gods than starts on the sky, it¡¯s easier to cut off all meat-based products.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Hey kid, a carriage just arrived you should go there before they kick you''re but!¡± (anonymous cook) When I heard this I quickly finished eating and rushed to the entrance. Being a student of the head priest I was always tasked to show around visitors in the building. I arrived at the nick of the time. A crowd of has formed to welcome our guests making the perfect chance to not be noticed. The crowd mainly consisted of the people who lived nearby and some adventures who kept things in check. The carriage that arrived was richly decorated with the usual golden pattern that I see in the church. From the inside, that person emerged. One of them was a young boy close to my age wearing fancy wearing cloth and next to him was an old man wearing a golden crown on his head. They had the same red hair so it was a safe he¡¯s to think they are related. ¡®The King? What the hell is he doing here?¡¯ Usually, a tax counter or a local noble will come. For the king himself to come here, it can¡¯t be good. ¡®Did something happen?¡¯ I followed them with the crowd. They lead us into the great hall where we hold our sermons and usually pray. The head priest was standing in an elevated platform, with his arms in the air, smiling like an idiot. ¡°Welcome great King to our humble church. How can we help your Majesty?¡± ¡°I was informed that the Saint is being trained here. I wish to see and teat him.¡± ¡°Of course, your majesty. Shall we wait at my office will someone fetch him.¡± ¡°That sounds like a good idea. Show us the way.¡± They exited the place by a side door. When it closed the place was full of murmurs. ¡°A Saint? Who it might be?¡± ¡°I hope she is pretty.¡± ¡°Knowing these guys she will be a little girl.¡± ¡®Eh, I¡¯m right here and I¡¯m a boy.¡¯ Yup, this is one disadvantage of being a Saint. The people¡¯s automatically believe that I¡¯m a cute girl with golden hair. Of course, my job isn¡¯t exclusive only to young maidens, but there is a key factor: looks! My predecessors all had good looks will I¡­ not so much. My short blond hair was messy all the time and started to take a brownish tone. My face could be called average and the eye patch gave me a quite wild look. And the other changes that started to appear on me? I don¡¯t want to talk about it. So yeah, sorry go break it to you guys, the young maiden will appear when I¡¯m dead! In the confusion I followed the king from behind, keeping a fair amount of distances between us. ¡®What do they want from me?¡¯ Since I was here I kept low, making sure to not draw attention to myself. I did the exercises and training on the level I believed that was average. My teacher never said that I had any talent for anything. Even I mathematics when they gave me the exercises I made sure to make mistakes. If they discover that I¡¯m a reincarnated person that they might interrogate me, do experiments on me or simply transform me into a hero and send me out to kill the demon king. Yeah, there are heroes our there but it¡¯s more of a title than a job. They receive it when they accomplish something great. When they receive it they have granted fame and riches with a very VERY short life. Basically, when a demon lord will appear, they will be the first to send to die. If they with some grace they survive they will be sent to the next one. ¡®Having a good but a short life? No, no thank you!¡¯ I might not remember my death but I do remember what happened next! That darkness that can make anyone insane¡­ I don¡¯t want to experience it again! This is why I continue doing my experiences so that one day I can conquer death I will never going back to that abyssal place! It¡¯s not hopeless there are many races that have crazy lifespans so if I can found out how they do it¡­ ¡®I will attain immortality and escape the prison which is death!¡¯ ***** ¡°So, you are the Saint that I heard about?¡± Right now, I was in front of the king who was drinking some tea in a relaxed position. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It''s ¡®Yes, my king'' to you!¡± Wow, the prince didn¡¯t like me at all, he was giving me death steers since I entered the room. ¡°Now, now my son. I don¡¯t mind at all. He never met someone like us before so overlook his behaviour for now.¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± he turned away without saying a word. ¡®Dude, how old are you?¡¯ ¡°Sight, anyway, I asked Theodor for bringing you here, because he said that you have the capacity of being the new Saint. We wish to see if you are able to prove that you are up to the task.¡± ¡®What, do I have to heal someone? Or pray to someone?¡¯ You will have a fight with my son, Radolf, - ¡®Eh?¡¯ ¡°-who is skilled in swordplay- ¡®Ehh?¡¯ ¡°-and has a great chance to be part of a hero party.¡± ¡®Ehhh?¡¯ ¡°W-What, my king! I don¡¯t believe that I have what it- ¡° ¡°Too late p, you are coming with me!¡± He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the courtyard where we use the dummies to train. The king and the head priest followed us while discussing something behind our back. ¡°Well then let¡¯s see if the Saint of our area is as great as the president!¡± ¡°Oh wait a sec I¡¯m not good at..." ¡°Too late! ¡° He dashed towards me with his sword in hands. With no more time to hesitate I used the only offensive spell I knew. ¡°[Piercing Light]¡± He skillfully evaded my laser and quickly shortened the distance between us. Zush Falling backwards I was able to evade the sword that almost gave me a new haircut. ¡®Is he want to kill me?!¡¯ ¡®[Piercing Light]!] He evaded again the attack and took a few steps back. ¡°Come one you can do better than that! Or do you can only follow orders like a dog!¡¯ He launched forward again, his sword ready with a vide swing. This time I was ready and surrounded my hands in thick magical energy, to block its second swing. The blade collided with the energy. I could feel the metal a few inches of my skin. ¡®Wait, it vibrates?¡¯ Faintly I could feel tiny vibrations coming from it slowly cutting through my layers. With all my might I pushed it away and laid a punch in the prince''s face. He flinched for a sec giving me a chance to aim a second hit in his abdomen. He felt on his back, but got right up and fired a fireball at me. I evaded it and fired another laser, with little success. ¡®Shit, if this continues on, I will get killed!¡¯ I evaded his attacks while he was bad mouthing me. ¡°What is that all you got?¡± ¡°Come one, give everything you have?!¡± ¡°You are weak!¡± I felt my magic getting thinner some of its attacks landed, wounding me all over my body. ¡®Screw it, I have to use it.¡¯ I concentrated and used my original magic. ***** Radolf POV: ¡®Weak, he¡¯s too weak!¡¯ Since my father received a report about a potential Saint, he was looking forward to meeting it. I also was excited about it, but not for the same reasons. All the Saints have the same characteristics: They are beautiful. In all fairy tales, they are described as girls with powerful mana and charms that are able to melt the heart of any beast. When he finally decided to go to visit this church I also came with him on my own. I decided that if the legends are true then I will make her my bride. Oh, you can¡¯t excited I was when the door If the room we waited opened. ¡®And then you came!¡¯ My dreams shattered to pieces in an instant. In a place of a maiden, a guy with an eye patch came in, presenting himself as the future Saint. ¡®I will make you pay for my dreams! I will hurt you so bad that they will start looking for your replacement! Go to-¡® Ba-dump! ¡®What is this?¡¯ Suddenly the aire around my opponent changed. It was heavy, thick, something you could only feel against seasoned opponents. Ba-dump! Every finer of my being yelled at me to run away, his in a hole, don¡¯t look into the eyes of the... thing that was standing in front of me. ¡°Hehe, if this is how you are going to play... [Flame armour]¡± My strongest magic, an aura of red flame that is able to protect me from almost anything! ¡°Come at me!¡± He didn¡¯t react the slightest he just kept steering at me. Ba- My breathing became heavy and I couldn¡¯t even stay on my feet. I felt on my knees, completely in the mercy of the force before me before I lost consciousness. ***** After the spare, I excused myself and run back into my room. Both of our spectators were surprised to see that the prince felt on the ground unconscious without me touching him. I used one of my self-made magic, called [Intimidation]. This beauty just popped up on my status screen when I was in the middle of hunting spiders. It can create a frightening aura around me that can make my enemies scared. It seems with enough mana (I used more than half of it) it can knock them out. This skill is such a cheat! When I arrived, I took out the spider bodies that I hid behind my closet and quickly reconstructed a spider. It wasn¡¯t as good as the previous one some parts we¡¯re out of scale and it was missing one of its legs, but it worked for now. [Mp refiled to its maximum capacity] ¡®Ugh, I hope it doesn¡¯t have any side effects.'' ¡°[Ultra-surgery].¡± Yet again I sent my threads into the cores and pumped them with mana, but now I tried something else. The prince sword was vibrating from, mana. If that¡¯s correct then that means that once you use mana on something there is a burden on the said object. Similar to a battery, if you put too much electricity in it, it will explode. The spider was the same. I over pumped it with energy, making it a liquid. Will remembering the sensation of the weapon,I was giving too the corps as little as mana as I could, while slowly increasing the dosage. ¡®Come on, this is my last mana potion.¡¯ [Alert!] [?????????????????????] ¡°Here it comes!¡± The screaming this time was louder when I first tried. I even started to bleed from my ears and from my right eye but I kept on going. Suddenly from the spider, a dark hole appeared that absorbed everything in this room, leaving me in dark with the screams. Then small light like stars formed then silver lines started to next the dotes. Shortly words appeared before my eyes. I didn¡¯t know the language but I understood them inductively. I started to read them the words literally crawled into my head. ¡°This... can¡¯t be.¡± When I finished reading it I reappeared in my room. [Warning! MP has dropped to 6¨G] ¡®What? How can that be? I was full a second ago!¡¯ Mirically, the spider didn¡¯t turn into a pile of goo this time. I tried to stop the flow of mana but something didn¡¯t allow it and kept sucking it out. [Mp had dropped to 5¨G] [4¨G] [2¨G] And then the screaming stopped. Silence rolled the entire room only my breathing could be heard. I slowly recalled my threads. I was completely exhausted. Twitch. Twitch. It stud up. The corpse that I made have stud up with its 7 legs. It looked around the room then started to clumsily move forward. When it reached the edge of the table it stopped then looked at me with its black eyes. ¡°I... I did it. I can¡¯t believe it. [Appraisal]!¡± __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: none Race: Teran House spider(dead) Level: 4 HP: 0/7 MP: 0/5 Str: 3 Def: 2 Skills: [Thread Waving LV:1] [Climbing LV:1] Passive Skills: [Danger detection LV:2] [Food Detection LV:3] Titles: [Kin Eater] [Slave] __________________________________________________________________________________ ''It¡¯s not alive?'' What? It¡¯s moving, it¡¯s breathing, its thinks... No, it doesn¡¯t think. The magic inside its body became centred around its mana core. The memory core became short on mana and can barely function. ''But still, it¡¯s and to move on its own. Did I accidentally create a zombie? No, if the books that I read were right, man-made zombies in this world can¡¯t move until they receive a direct order and will combust when they are touched by sunlight. So this is maybe an upgraded version?¡¯ I stopped thinking when I felt something going down on my right cheek. I touched it. It was wet and warm. It was blood. From my eye. I took off the blindfold and searched a mirror. My eye changed. It became completely black with little dots on it. When I looked at it closer I could see that some of them moved. ¡°Are those...stars?¡± My right eye, that still worked perfectly with had stars in it. ¡®What the hell happened to me?! Status?! The status board popped up in front of me showing my states. ¡®H-Hey, this isn¡¯t funny. What the hell happened to me?!¡¯ Chapter 4 The hunt Celestial realm: ¡°We are so screwed!¡± ¡°Stop whining and help me!¡± ¡°What for?! The Talma of fucking Reality has just broke! Do you realize what that¡¯s mean?!¡± ¡°Yeah, more work! So, get your ass up and help me!" The being that was held at by another got up from the shiningly clean floor where he was sitting and went to a rectangular console while trying to hide its golden tears. ¡°How sever was that breach anyway?¡± ¡°Who cares? We are dead! We will be discorporated for a week at least!" ¡°For the love of %&$#¡¯ stop crying! Look, we will send out someone to check if something happened and then we will act accordingly. Fine?" ¡°¡­Yeah¡± ¡°Good! Now let¡¯s see¡­ who is strong but also extremely stupid? Grandel?" ¡°No, his is a bootlicker, he will certainly talk.¡± ¡°Joey then?¡± ¡°Joey¡­ yeah, he might do it. We will instruct him on the radio during the whole time, trough.¡± ¡°I recommend Cred. He can¡¯t even count.¡± The two entities turned toward the unknown, voice. It was a woman around here twenties, with blond hair and blue eyes. Her entire figure was beautiful and with the cloth, she was wearing it even added to the mix. ¡°Miss Pandora. What a surprise!¡± ¡°Well, what can I say, I got homesick and decided to look around. Disappointingly nothing has changed, so I was about to leave when I heard you guys.¡± She leaned forward, facing the two entities with a bright smile, revealing her sharp teeth. ¡°So, what¡¯s the matter boys? Did some soul managed to escape the reincarnation process? Those an another external Devil is trying to attack us? ¡°N-No it¡¯s that¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, ¡­ well someone brek the Talma¡­¡± The smile on Pandora¡¯s face disappeared, replaced by a stunned expression. ¡°Come again?¡± ¡°T-The Talma of Reality¡­ someone brook it.¡± ¡°¡­ Did someone attack us?¡± The two beings looked at each other. ¡°¡­Well not exactly¡­. ¡°¡­ You see, miss¡­ from inside. ¡° Speak up!¡± For a second she lost her composure revealing a fragment of her true personality. ¡° F-From the inside¡­ it broke from the inside.¡± Silence. No one dared to say a word. ¡°¡­From the inside? Like someone living in this world actually broke a barrier made by almost all gods in this universe?¡± ¡°¡­ Well, if you are put it that way¡­¡± She didn¡¯t listen, she already left the room. The two entities looked at each other with sweats on their faces. ¡°¡­Could have gone worse.¡± ¡°¡­Shut up!¡± ***** When I started the day, my states was like this: __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: Human(?) Class: Saint (apprentice) Level: 5 HP: 15/15 Mp:20/20 Str: 5 Def:6 Skills: [Languages comprehension] [Basic Appraisal; Lv:3] [ Mapping; Lv:5] [Overload; Lv:2] [Light Magic; Lv:4] [Basic Healing] [Basic Human Anatomy] [Intimidation] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [Blessing of Somnus] __________________________________________________________________________________ And now it¡¯s like this¡­ __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: (?€£¤¡é^¡ê¦Ð) Class: Saint (apprentice) (Corrupted) Level: 1 HP:40/40 Mp:2/60 Str: 10 Def:16 Skills: [Languages comprehension] [Basic Appraisal; Lv:3] [ Mapping; Lv:5] [Overload; Lv:2] [Human Anatomy; Lv: 3] [Intimidation] [Slave Link] [Void Magic] Passive Skills: [Night Vision] [Corrupted Knowledge] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [Blessing of Somnus] [The one who saw the truth] __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡®What is this?! My states have exploded! What is that my race? I¡¯m human okay, 100¨G human! And my [Light magic]? Where did it go?!¡¯ [Answer:] [Do to [Void Magic] other elemental magic have been locked.] ¡®Eh? Show me it¡¯s description!¡¯ __________________________________________________________________________________ Description: [Void Magic]: magic that uses the energy that resides between dimensions. When used it has the ability to absorb all magic. It¡¯s power and consumption depend on it¡¯s level as well on the user. Its wilder can¡¯t use any other element. __________________________________________________________________________________¡° The f#ck... ¡®This magic is such a cheat! I can erase all magic? I became the worst nightmare of all mages! But this is a double-edged sword, not only it erased my only offensive magic, it even blocks the possibility for learning new ones! Still...could be worst.¡¯ The spider stopped at the edge of my desk and looked at me. Even if it wasn¡¯t alive it understands that I was its master. ¡°Sight, come here.¡± The order came automatically, like breathing. The title guy jumped on my lap and crawled on my shoulder. ¡®What should I do? Right now, I can¡¯t stay here too long, not with a status like this.¡¯ The discrimination against none human races aren¡¯t as bad here as in other countries, still, there are people who believe that they are far superior to other races. Being a Saint in this kind of situation is extremely risky and there is a big chance that I will be discriminated or even¡­ killed. Keeping my human appearance is extremely lucky, since its facilities my escape. Having a horn or a tail would be a pain in the ass to hide. ¡®Since the king is here, there must he guards stationed around this place in case of an attack. I could wait till he leaves, but the risk of being found out. I could sneak out during night time, but yet again, the environs are probably surveyed¡­¡¯ I gave up thinking about it and went to bed. The spider I made has grilled up on my wall and made a little best from its thread at a corner of my ceiling. ¡®Hehe, what a day!'' Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ***** After my ¡®mutation¡¯ I made extra sure not to grow too much attention. I keep myself far away from everyone and used the biggest weapon a kid at my age could: playing sick. Since I always was earnest and the king was here, they let me rest in my room, while a servant brought my food. In my free time, I was thinking about a plan to leave, while trying out my new skills. [Night Vision] and [Corrupted Knowledge] weren¡¯t so surprising. The first one made so that I could see in darkness with my right eye and the second one gave me a headache. Not a regular one, no sir! This was the headache of the headaches, something that left me one the floor for course will giving out sounds and substances that I¡¯m not proud of! And the [Void Magic]. Well, I don¡¯t really know how I¡¯m supposed to feel about it. When I used it, a black dote started to hover on my palm. I couldn¡¯t shout it out or shape it. When I touched it with my pencil, the part that made contact vanished like somebody took a byte from it. Yeah, this thing was a palm-sized black hole. Maybe in the future, I could use it for something, but with my current level, I only used it for one thing: cleaning evidence. Since I succeeded, sort of, I need to get rid of the bodies. All I did was create my little black hole and make it absorber the bodies, piece by green gooey piece. I keept the mana cores and absorbed the memories cores to widen up my [Map], before throwing them inside my dimensional dumpster. My first creation also tried to help, buy cleaning up the floor with an apron, made from its very own silk. I decided to call him August because he was made in that month. Before I started cleaning up, I worked on him a little and now it had all of its legs and at the right size. Will I was operating on him, he didn¡¯t move an inch from the pain. Well, he was technically dead so¡­ Thanks to the skill [Slave Link] I could see from his eyes and be able to find its current location. Using this, I scouted the exterior of the church. Turns out I was right, guards were posted around the building, holding diverse weapons that looked really sharp. ¡®I need a reason to leave this place my self. Sight, easier said than done, this guys never slowed me to leave¡­¡¯ ***** (3 days later.) ¡°A hunt?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°With the King?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°In the forest?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ''Bfff... The chance for me to escape have literally offered himself on a silver plate!'' While I was in my room studying none-elemental magic, a servant came with the news. It seems like the king will go to the nearby forest where a great number of monsters are living. Since I can use healing magic I¡¯m a perfect candidate to accompany him. ¡®Hehehe, this is perfect! I will run away during the hunt, making sure to look like I was killed or eaten by a monster! It¡¯s so much better than running away since no one will look for a dead man!¡¯ ¡°I understand. Could you tell the head priest that I will gladly join? When will be the hunt happen? ¡°Tomorrow, when the sun rises. His Majesty ordered me to tell you to bring with you your equipment and anything you might need.¡± ¡°Thank you. You may leave.¡± The servant bowed and left to its other duties. ¡°Auguste, come here!¡± My Franken-spider (name on pending) let itself fall from the ceiling onto one of my shoulders. ¡°I going to need a few things. Bring them to me, without anyone seeing you.¡¯ After i told him the list, it jumped straight of my shoulder and exited through the still-open door. '' I went down the kitchen while humming to myself when I accidentally bumped into someone. ¡°Watch it!¡± It was the prince. Like always he looked at me with hateful gasses. ¡°You? ...So you are still alive? I heard you got sick or something after our fight. What, did you got too scared from my talent?¡± ¡®... Weren¡¯t you the one who lost consciousness?¡¯ ¡°... Yes, I was. I heard the king will go on a hunt tomorrow, will you accompany him?¡± ¡°Well of course! I will be there so that we could hunt anything! I guessing you will come to? Will, he pumped out his chest he glared at me. ¡°Yes. His Majesty wants me to be there to treat the possible wounded.¡± ¡°You?! What can you do? Spite on the wound then bandage it?¡± ¡®He is annoying...'' ¡®...Dissect...'' I small voice started to whisper in my head. It was cold and distant, while somehow it holds a frightening power in its tone. The prince started to clap his finger before my nose. ¡°Hey! Are you listening!¡± ¡°Ugh... Sorry, i have to go.¡± I pressed past myself and hurried to the dining room. ¡®What was that? Did i finally go insane?¡¯ [Answer;] [No status abnormality detected.] [User is currently 90% sane.] ¡®That¡¯s good... wait 90%?!¡¯ ***** Tomorrow: Everybody was fully equipped and ready to go. We were in total of 20 participant pulse 10 or so carriers, cooks musicians and so on. You can guess, when we went to the city gate, it was a parade, people looked at us from both sides of the streets, cheering for the king. I was on a carriage that transported rations, so I wasn¡¯t really visible, but still felt embarrassed by the people looking in my direction. ¡®How can these people support this? I would be red as a tomato in 5 minutes!¡¯ Turns out hunting means killing high tier monsters. Yep, you heard it. I believed we will be going after a deer or a wild boar. I don¡¯t have the suitable equipment, i only wear my brown cape and a leather punch, where I stock some MP and HP potion. My only weapon is a sword that i borrowed from the treasury. ¡®I will die if I try to fight.¡¯ Good thing that August was able to bring me all the things on the list. We exited the city and now we were in the forest. Our group spread out into smaller teams, each with one healer and one carrier. Of course, I was assigned to the king as a healer. His son and himself were in silver full body armour decorated with golden symbols. Their movement where loud and sluggish, not to mention the light reflected on the armours. ¡®Isn¡¯t hunting an act that should be done in discretion? Or are they trying to irritate the monsters so that they attack?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t be too far from the truth, a group of goblins attacked us. ¡®Small, green, ugly, pointy ears and crowd weapons. Yep this all goblins all right.¡¯ It was strange to see an image so iconic in front of me. There was no fantasy game or novels without these guys. I kinda felt sorry for them, they were terribly thin and their weapons could only be described as bad. The king only needed one swipe of his sword to get rid of them. One swing and almost a dozen goblin were cut into two with the trees behind them. Around the cut crimson red flames appeared, incinerating the victims into shapeless forms of ash. ¡®Holy Moly! This guy is scary!¡¯ He sheltered his weapon; will he have turned to us with a smile on his face. ¡°May I ask you to collect the magic cores and what left of their horned?¡± ¡°Eh...Y-Yes of course... your majesty!¡± I quickly dismantled them and I quickly absorbed one of their memory cores. [Map updated] A new area appeared in my head, more precisely a big part of the forest and the different locations where this guy went. [Two major areas detected!] [Area one: Goblin village] [Area Two: Cursed Dungeon] ''Hm¡­ that last one didn¡¯t sound very appealing.¡¯ ¡°Ok, sir I¡¯m done. What should I-¡° Stab! I looked down to my stomach where a spear was pierced in. Around the wound, I could feel the blood leaking out. My mouth had a metallic taste in it, and I got dizzy. I looked at the one holding the spear. It was the king. His face was calm and cold, while his eyes were foul of determination. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He pulled out the weapon that followed by a fountain of blood. I dropped on my knees while looking at my hands, reddened by blood. August, who was hiding in my coat jumped out, its fangs pointed at the face of my enemy, but he was easily cut into two without much resistance. ¡®W-Why¡­¡± ¡°Why? Because you are a monster! I had my doubts when you knocked out my son but when I looked at you with my detection item, I became certain." He raised a pendant which was made to look like an eye, with glass at its centre. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you get into the church or what you are but know this: this is mercy. If the circumstances where different I would have executed you publically, but this method will keep your honour at least. Be at was, if your mother is human then we won¡¯t harm her. And now-¡°he raised his open palm in front of me.¡±-rest in price.¡± The next thing I knew was that I was burning. The heat and the pain were unbearable, I tried to roll around, but my body didn¡¯t allow it. I could only endure the pain while my mind faded away. ¡®Is this really the end? I will die again, without doing anything. When I finally was able to have results in my research? What a horrible luck.¡¯ I must have passed out because a second later the sky turned dark. The flames have dispersed leaving only smoke behind. Right now, there was no pain I guess my nerves were burned away. It¡¯s a surprise that my eyes survived. [User in critical condition] [Forceful activation of unique skill [Ultra-Surgery] [Error, missing piece detested.] I faintly heard a noise not far away from me. I looked in that direction and what I saw was my breaking point. It was a wolf, the size of a horse. Its pelage was snow with a black line on its back. It was happily eating something. Something that looked like a left arm¡­ ¡®Oh, you didn¡¯t! How dare he! I was able to survive a stab wound in my stomach and being burned alive! And now this big beast is here, eating my arm like it was a f#king chicken wing!¡¯ The anger helped me. It gave me a reason to get up. To stand on my feet and fight. My skill has healed me enough so that I could do this but it wasn¡¯t enough. It looked at me with one of its eyes, then it swallowed my arm whole and let out a satisfied belch. It didn¡¯t seem like it was in a hurry, surely it believed that it could kill me anytime it wanted. I knew this and it angered me more. ¡®I managed to reincarnate even with my soul shattered into tiny pieces, I work tirelessly so that I could have a good life and I managed to give life to August. For what? So that stupid king could take it away from me? Fat a chance! I will live, I will survive this and I will shave my foot into his mouth till he suffocates.¡¯ The wolf leapt forward, his claws bearing at my bare throat. I instantly raised my hand and my familiar black hole appeared, cutting through the monster like butter. He retreated while letting out a surprised roar. His pawn was completely destroyed, black blood was gushing out from it. I could only smile at the scene before me. ¡®Oh, do you like the taste of your own medicine? Don¡¯t worry there will be more. I took a step forward and the world halted back shaking like a leaf.'' ¡®You, the king, the church, this country, it¡¯s people, this continent, this entire world! Whoever tries to stop me, I will crush it! Mercy he said? Well, I won¡¯t be merciful when I¡¯m done with him, oh no! I¡¯m done playing the good guy! I will make my plans come true, I will do whatever I want to whoever I want. I will become an immortal, I will never go back to the darkness. I¡¯m going to- ¡°I¡¯m going to dissect all of you!¡± Chapter 5. Wish and new life. The goblin chief. The strongest being in the entire village, ruling the other members like a king. His exact title was ¡°Hobgoblin King¡± but because there were no others like him, he was simply called like this. He became the leader when he fought his way down to the 9th level of the cursed dungeon where he evolved and with the weapons, he got from there he took over the village. Nowadays he lived a quiet life. Well, quiet in goblins standards. He commended the warriors that made this place safe, attacked nearby tribes, killed countless human and stole a great sum of money. And now he saw something that made his day even better. The Silver Wolf, the king of this forest was dead. His corps laid before his feet, throne to bits only recognisable by some tuff of white pelage. Will the site made his subordinates shiver, his heart was warmed by the bloody sight. With the disappearance of this mighty beast, he became one of the strongest creatures in this forest. He lost so much of its people hunting this thing. The only thing he felt bad I that he couldn¡¯t kill this monster himself. Being the strongest of the group he rarely faced a strong opponent. Good fight only occurred when facing adventurers. ¡°Bring everything to the village make sure that nothing is left here.¡± The ones behind me groaned and started to work. He crossed his arms and kept guard. Unlike his subordinates, who were weak and thin, his body was tall and muscular. His dark green skin was covered in numerous cicatrices, from the fights he went through. ¡®A being that stronger than this wolf? I hope it will leave my village alone.¡¯ Rustle. Rustle. Looked at the moving bushes, readying himself for an attack. The only thing that came out was a rabbit that served as easy prey for a nearby goblin when it hopped out. ¡®Just my imagination.¡¯ When they finished they left the area leaving behind. They didn¡¯t see the creature that was looking at them inside the dark forest, with a white crystal in his month. ***** Things started to turn good for him, yesterday they were alle to kill a very juicy pray so right now they are having a banket. They opened up the wine barrels they have stolen from a passing by merchant and made a big campfire, where they roasted different kinds of meats. ¡°Drink up boys!¡± A loud cheer followed its statement. Being a hobgoblin, he was able to talk normally unlike his subordinates who grounded and scored to each other. ¡®What a weak bunch!¡¯ It was a shame that he was the only one of his race. If there were more then he could strengthen the village more. He could even conquer the whole forest and became an absolute ruler. ¡°Gwaaaa!¡± A bone-chilling scream filled the cheerful air. Everybody froze, then picked up their weapons and rushed to the direction of the noise. Everyone except the leader. He knew that there are lots of weak creatures out there that are capable of killing one of its people. Like horned rabbits, they kill goblins every day, while for him, they are only appetisers. ¡°Gwaaa¡± ¡°Gviiiii¡± The screens continued on the sound of battle could be heard in the distance. ¡°What, did someone attacked us?¡± The goblin chief got up from his spot and with his trusty axe, he went to the fighting grounds. What was in front of him, he couldn¡¯t comprehend? His people surrounded the intruder, weapons in their hands. They were surrounding the enemy that was largely outnumbered. And yet he was in advantage. The chief didn¡¯t know what that monster in front of him. It was wearing burned cloth, it skinny was red with countless cicatrices. Its head was completely hairless, while its back and left arm were covered in white pelage. In addition, the arm was bigger than its body and had sharp class at its end. ¡®What the hell is this thing? A mutated ghoul?!¡¯ One of its subordinates managed to cut the creature. It screamed from the pain and slashed the attacker int small bits. The wound that it caused has already healed. ¡°No way... this thing can regenerate!¡± He stepped forward while doing a diagonal slash with its axe. It was booked by the deformed arm, that was harder than steel. ¡°Ugh... Fall back! Evacuate the village go!¡± Everyone immediately turned away only leaving him and the monster. ¡°Who are you? What do you want?¡± ¡°...Ma...Ma¡± ¡°Mama?¡± ¡®Is it trying to find it¡¯s mother? How old is this thing?! ¡°Ma... Mana!¡± With its scream, it pushed me away with tremendous strength. I evaded a punch from his normal-looking right hand and retreated. From its body, black strings excited that reached out to the hobgoblins fallen comrades. ¡°You bastard, what are you doing to them!¡± ¡°Ma-Mana... Need mana... From the corpses, white crystals emerged, holder by the things. ¡°Their white heart? What are you-You bastard! The light from the cores vanished and the physical condition of the creature have improved. His burned flesh regrow and hire started to appear on its head. ¡®It absorbs mana to heal himself. He came here not to loot but to feed.¡¯ ¡°More... More... Need more... Give me more!¡± A jet of black string went in my direction. I raised my axe to block it, but they turned away in mid-air and when too the corpses behind me. ¡®Does it mean it can only absorb only from the dead?¡¯ He brandished his axe with all his force and shattered one of the nearest cores. It exploded into sand accompanied by a white light. The creature roared in anger and charged at him. The goblin chief blocked the attack from the giant hand and retreated in direction of his house. ¡®I need my equipment. Without them, I¡¯m good as dead.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t...run...away...¡± He creature went after him, but it was too slow to catch up. The hobgoblin safely reaches his house and quickly put on his breastplate. There where more equipment, like helmets and whatnot. The only problem was that they needed time to put on and time he didn¡¯t have. He grabbed his best weapon a red broad sword infused with fire magic, that he got from a chest and keep him alive during his adventure. I ¡°I counting on you.¡± Like it understood him the sword glittered once. ¡°Ahhh!¡± Screams. This time it wasn¡¯t a goblin. It was¡­ human. ¡°Shit, I forgot about the slaves!¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Yes, goblins use slaves. Usually, they capture them when they attack a nearby human village or capture a travelling party. They are an extremely valuable resource, especially the female ones since the goblins are composed only of males. Breading them between each other is the safest way and one of this village did this. Losing them now¡­ would be devastating. He rushed to the barn and what he saw made him completely immobile of fear. Everyone was thrown to pieces, the entire place was covered in bits of meat. At the centre of this bloody mess was the creature, covered in the red liquid. The treads were moving in every direction, picking up corpses and white hearts. ¡°Why? Why, did you do that?!¡± the chief shouted. ¡°Parts¡­ Not good not good¡­¡± ¡°You dame sick animal you will pay for what you have done! Red Clash!¡± His sword was suddenly in red light and swung it with all its might. The creature defended against it with its left arm. When the two collided, a shock wave swept the entire area, destroying completely of what rested of the barn. The chief charged again, covering the enemy with a barrage of attacks. ¡°Crimson Clash!¡± When he shouted this word, the blade was covered in a second layer of red aura. Sensing something was wrong, the creature, but it was too late. The weapon touched his arm sending it in red flames. The creature screamed and ripped off his blazing arm in front of the chief¡¯s eyes. ¡®T-Those this thing has no sanity?¡± Losing a limb, in this forest was equal do death. With a limb lost the pray can¡¯t run and the hunter can¡¯t hunt. Only a few exceptions existed from this rule. Pulling off an arm¡­ it¡¯s unheard off. From the monsters wound dozens of threads emerged flying to the bodies and ripping off pieces from them. It only took a few seconds and the creature had a newly constructed arm, made from different parts. The hobgoblin steered with eyes so wide that they almost popped out. Suddenly the creature jumped forward, holding in his palms something that looked like a black heart. This was enough for him he firmly grabbed his weapon and he activated all his offensive skills. He knew it this, was the final clash. Surviving depended on this strike. ¡°Red Ox Clash!¡± The two attack where both launched at the same time. The hobgoblins magic was stronger and faster than his opponents. But there was 3-second difference. 3 second that made a huge difference. One of the orbs landed on the hand he was holding his weapon and the other on his abdomen. There was no pain only a strange sensation of coldness. The weapon felt on the ground with its severed arm. He looked at his wounds. Where the orbs touched him there was nothing. On his abdomen, there was a gabbing hole, where blood was spilling out. Still in shock, he felt on his knees, feeling heavy. The creature steered at him and then also felt on his knees in front of him. His body was cut into two from his left shoulder till his right side of its tight. Two parts slowly divided, while spraying a fountain of blood. ¡°I-I won. I won!¡± He shouted and razzed his intact hand in joy. Will he survive from the wound? No. Those that mattered now? No. This was a fight that he was looking for. What those it matters for me if he dies for it? ¡°D¡­Don¡­¡± The head of the monster was still moving, from his mount blood flow out while he spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­believe¡­so¡­¡± Allover its body black threads shouted out grabbing the body of the dying hobgoblin. ¡®So¡­ This is it.¡± His immobile body was slowly being entangled and the last thing he saw was two orbs emerging from the monster¡¯s body, connected to the threads. ***** Thomas POV: I don¡¯t remember ever having a hangover. Not in the previous and definitely not in this life. I¡¯m not even sure that I ever drank any alcohol in my live(s)! In any case, when I got up my cranium hurt like a mother trucker! ¡®Not to self: losing consciousness after killing a wolf is not fun!... Where am I anyway?¡¯ My last memories were that I was brutally murdering a big white wolf and then everything went blurry¡­ ¡®Wait, first things first, how are my wounds. I check my body. My skin was strange. It was like a coat made out of different skins. I touched it and felt that three was a great gap between the skin and my muscles. ¡®What happened to me?¡± I tried to stand up. Then I raised something. My legs were a different colour. They were green and muscular. ¡°Wh- What is this? Status!¡± [Status open] [Status being updated do to corruption] __________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: Mana Feaster (Unique monster) (?€£¤¡é^¡ê¦Ð) Class: B Job: Butcher Level: 10 HP:60/100 Mp:79/120 Str: 25 Def:30 Skills: [Languages comprehension] [Basic Appraisal; Lv:3] [ Mapping; Lv:5] [Overload; Lv:2] [Human Anatomy; Lv:3] [Intimidation] [Slave Link] [Void Magic] [Body Reconstruction] Passive Skills: [Night Vision] [Corrupted Knowledge] [Mana Consumptions] [Starvation Berserk] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [The one who saw the truth] [Race creator] _________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°What is happening? How did I this happen?¡± [Answer: Due to the user critical state unique skill took over the body, for repair.] [Side effect caused the user to change rase.] [Consult the race details for more information.] ¡°¡­Show it to me.¡± [Warning: Due to the user¡¯s racial change race display will be updated.] [...Update complete.] __________________________________________________________________________________ Race description: Mana Feaster: a unique being that never been seen before. This creature, like the name implies, feast on the mana of its victims, keeping it alive. Similarly, to vampires, this monster has a racial skill, being able replace parts of its body by those of its victim, giving it a variety of shape and size. When facing this monster be sure to be well equipped. Danger Level: B Racial skills: [Body Reconstruction]: the user can change its body anytime it wants. The size and strength depend on the skill¡¯s and user¡¯s mana capacity [Mana Consumptions]: The user doesn¡¯t need any physical food anymore. Mana regeneration and cost of magic is halfened. [Starvation Berserk]: when mana capacity drops below 10% the user goes into a frenzy, slathering everything it sees, too sustain its hunger. During its activation physical states are doubled and intelligence is lowered. Reward for killing it: not yet set. __________________________________________________________________________________ I didn¡¯t know how to react to this. Being a monster wasn¡¯t anything new but to change to this point is unexpected. Getting stronger is a good thing don¡¯t get me wrong, but I lost my blessing from Somnus in the process. Those that meant that I don¡¯t need it anymore? Or that I¡¯m not worthy enough for it? I got a bad fealing about this. At least I could always make myself look human and technically my wish came true. It said that mana kept me alive. I could always change my body if it gets old. So, I only need food and I¡¯m okay. ¡®Yeah about that¡­¡¯ I left the barn and what I saw was a picture of hell. Bodies everywhere, houses in ruins sings of a fight at every corner. ¡®I should probably figure out how should I eat, without¡­causing a genocide.¡¯ I went to one of the houses that didn¡¯t seem in pieces and looked around. It was the biggest of them all and it was the most decorated one of all. I took some cloth since my old ones wherein a sorry state, as well as some coins, a pouch fool of medical herbs and a dagger. Well, I only took it for my mental safety. I would certainly use my black holes to protect myself from harm. While I was searching, I was able to study my new body a little more. My legs and my abdomen was coloured dark green. There was a visible line that stretched out from my left shoulder till my right leg. Further from it, my skin was a little reddish, my lost arm was replaced by a green muscular one. My face was completely ruined, full of cicatrices and burn marks. All my hair was lost except on my back that was covered by the white pelage of the wolf. I tried to pull it off, but it was completely fused to my skin. In addition, my body posture was like of an old man, my back curved making the pelage more revelling. Did I also take the bones of the wolf? Yep, I reached the point where I can¡¯t even call myself ¡®Human-like¡¯! Before I left, I made sure to bury all the dead. I didn¡¯t feel sorry or anything for them, but I felt that if I left them like that then I would be able to face myself. It took me quite some time and when I was done, I made a short prayer for them. In this world, the god of the underworld accepts every soul that he receives. I don¡¯t know if this true for monsters, but better be safe then sorry. Wait, scratch that, didn¡¯t I died and reincarnated without meeting him? So, they will also go through the process? Ugh, I hope they rebirth will be a better one than mine. I left the village and decided to go to the coursed dungeon. ¡®Why?¡¯ you may ask. First, I can''t stay here. I buried the bodies, but the scent of blood still lingers in the air, it may attract monsters. And there is the possibility that there are survivors who may bring back reinforcements. And there is the problem of food. Right now I can only absorb mana from the cores of the dead. I searched the bodies and I was able to salvage a couple of ones, still, I need a constant source of energy. A dungeon filled with monsters doesn¡¯t sound too bad. I can hunt freely there and maybe I could find something there that could¡­ ¡®What do I do now?¡¯ I became (technically) an immortal being. I severed (or burned my ties with the church and the humans. I even became something unique. ¡®Maybe I should try to reproduce?¡¯ Since I¡¯m the first of my race then isn¡¯t it logical to try and create more of me? Yes, that¡¯s it I will make sure that my race will survive! ¡°¡­ How the hell should I do that?!¡± ***** Demon realm, the monster council: In a dark council room several figures where murmuring between each other. They were all glancing at the chair that just popped out from the ground. ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°Yes, a new one has appeared.¡± ¡°How long has it been? 5000? Maybe 6000 years?" ¡°Who cares?! Let¡¯s meet him!" ¡°Calm down, old man. We need to find him first. Megalda, if you may?¡± One of the shadowy figures stepped forward and started to chant something. Suddenly a light emerged from the empty chair and letters started to dance in the air like fireflies. ¡°¡­Mana Feaster?¡± ¡°Sounds scary, I like it.¡± ¡°Is this some kind of vampire?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look at me!¡± the image changed again and a map appeared. ¡°The new one is in the middle of human territory. Even if you went there it would take you a year to get there.¡± ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°Hmph, maybe we should send a representative?¡± ¡°Nah, they would be killed instantly! Let send our children!¡± ¡°ChIlDrEn? WhY SHoUlD We SeNd HaTcHlInGs?¡± ¡°He has a point. Sending young one¡¯s is much cheaper than a representative. We can also test them by this.¡± ¡°I.AM. AT. THE. SAME¡­EHHHH? ¡°Page?¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°Then it is decided. Send out one of your children and bring us the new race first member, so that it can join us!¡± Chapter. 6 Companions ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡± I was walking in the forest for days now. I didn¡¯t feel tired and I had [Night Vision], so I just kept on going, occasionally talking out a core and eat it. Well, when I say eat it, I only touch it and suck out the mana from it. It had a faint taste of chicken which was quite delicious. Due to this, my stock of mana core has run out quite quickly. I only needed to touch them and poof! The energy is gone and I feel well-fed. I tied various thing will I travelled. First, I tried to eat plants. Yes, plants have mana, even when they didn¡¯t have cores. If I could eat it, I wouldn¡¯t have any problem with feeding myself in a forest. I touched the bark of one of the trees. I tried to push my threads into it and absorb any energy I could found. I spotted something like a knot that had a massive pill of delicious looking stuff. I connected too it and started to chiffon it out. ¡®Humph¡­ this is mana all right! It¡¯s taste¡­. Ugh!'' It was horrible! It tasted like rotting leaves! I can¡¯t eat this! It is worse than broccoli! I decided I will only eat plants when I¡¯m desperate. And when I say desperate, it means when I¡¯m the verge of dying! Next was hunting small animals. I managed to catch some rabbits. These little bastards where hard to catch, especially the ones that had horns! I mean, come on what the f**k, why those these guys have horns?! How can they even run so fast with those ridiculous things on their heads? I used the rope that I brought from the village to make an improvised trap. Anyhow, after catching 4 of them I started experimenting. I killed the first one painlessly. [You received 5 EXP] After I heard the message, I started to fill its body with my mana. The result was the same as August. A puppet that didn¡¯t have any thoughts of its own. I used my appraisal on it to see that something did change. [Warning!] [Due to race change [Basic Appraisal] have been affected.] __________________________________________________________________________________ Race description: Feaster Familiar (Horned Rabbit): a familiar created by a Mana Feaster. It possesses the mana of its owner, creating an unbreakable link between them. Able to evolve with its owner and shares the experience points gained. Danger Level: D Racial skills: [Mana Link]: creates a link between the creator and the created. Through this link the creator supplies mana to its creation, to function. [EXP Symbiosis]: 50¨G of EXP gained goes to the creator. [Slave Link]: creates a bind between the master and the monster. Reward for killing it: not yet set. __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°I see¡­ so August was also a familiar.¡± With these thoughts in mind, I turned to the second one, which turned out to be more interesting. I cut out the mana core (which was located at the left side of its chest, right next to the heart), and charged the mind core, after I sew the wound close, obviously. Turns out the cores are in a pouch made out of fine membrane, that is connected to a thin system of veins that spreads through the body. It was a real challenge to take it out without killing it. Poor thing was trembling the whole time, making the procedure longer. When I was done it was still breathing so I considered it a success. Next was the interesting part. From what I saw, this core also has a mana storage. If my guess was correct, then this should work. After a while, it started to move on its own and joined the other one which was looking at me. ¡®What is this? [Basic Appraisal].¡¯ __________________________________________________________________________________ Race description: Feaster Golem (Horned Rabbit): a golem made from dead flesh. Since it¡¯s an artificial undead, it cant evolve or gain EXP. Danger Level: D Racial skills: [Mana Link]: creates a link between the creator and the created. Through this link the creator supplies mana to its creation, to function. [EXP Donation]: all EXP earned goes to the creator. [Slave Link]: creates a bind between the master and the monster. [Unchangeable]: this creature can not evolve or level up. Reward for killing it: not yet set. __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Interesting... Then what about an alive one?¡± I turned the third one that was trying to run away, but the improvised didn¡¯t let it go. I touched it wiggling head and started to pump mana into its body. ¡°Please don''t explode. Please don¡¯t explode...¡± It exploded. No, to be more precise it liquefied then exploded covering me and the surroundings in red slime. ¡®Not to self: never do this again.¡¯ I looked at the last rabbit. Poor thing was looking at me with its eyes wide in fear. ¡®Well, it would be pointless if I stop now. Let¡¯s try like this...¡¯ I made a small cut one its neck and started to absorb the mana from its body while giving it the same amount from my own. I made sure not to overload it and I kept going till I couldn¡¯t take more. The result was surprising. Its brown fur turned grey and it eyes white. The horn has felt off and its teeth became extremely sharp. ¡®[Basic Appraisal]¡¯ __________________________________________________________________________________ Race description: Feaster Ghoul (Horned Rabbit): a dangerous monster created by a Mana Feaster. This living creature was tainted by the monster¡¯s mana, counting it into a ferocious beast, killing everything in its path. Surprisingly it leaves, the cores of its victims intact. Danger Level: C Racial skills: [EXP Symbiosis]: 50¨G of EXP gained goes to the creator. [Slave Link]: creates a bind between the master and the monster. [Ingestion]: there is 10¨G chance of acquiring a skill from the eaten target. Reward for killing it: not yet set. __________________________________________________________________________________ I was speechless. This monster was a jackpot! It was strong, didn¡¯t need mana like the other one and when it hunts it leaves the cores alone! I literally made my best hunting dog! I should make more of these! After my discovery, I decided to mass-produce this fellow. During the day I travelled and at night I hunted. Which wasn¡¯t really effective since I was a horrible hunter. During that time the only monsters that came out where predators and the like, so I needed to step up my game. I dig a hole, I put some wooden spikes that I made with my sword and covered the whole thing with leaves. For bait, I placed on it a piece of rabbit meat. I hid in a nearby bush with my sword in my hand. ¡®Now all I have to do is wait!¡¯ ***** (3days later.) ¡®Still nothing¡­.¡¯ I was sitting here for a couple of days. I didn¡¯t feel tired physically but it didn¡¯t mean that I didn¡¯t get depressed. ¡®What have I done wrong? I changed the meat every day, so it can¡¯t be its freshness! Maybe it¡¯s too obvious? I should look for¡­¡¯ [Level 11 reached] When I stud up, I understood the problem. Where I was hiding, it greatly limiting my vision, making be blind about the problem in front of me. Turns out my familiar was very active. There was a pile of dead bodies piling up in one of the corners. There where foxes, wolves and other animals that I couldn¡¯t even recognize. ¡®Did I accidentally create an animal terminator?¡¯ I approached the carcasses. The rabbit ghoul was eating leisurely a foot of¡­ a lizard? I wasn¡¯t sure anymore, it was too damaged to identify. ¡°Come here.¡± At my command, the hell-rabbit left his pray, jumped in front of me and made a move with his front leg that reminded me of a salutation from a soldier. ¡°Find me a carnivore and bring it back alive.¡± It remade the movement and disappeared in the bushes. While it was hunting, I tried to make something useful about this slaughter. First, I dig a hole and throw in it the parts that were too damaged. I sew together the intact pieces together forming little by little something that came out a nightmare. ¡°Thing about it as LEGO. Think about it as LEGO¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t. it was a pile of blood, guts and other disgusting things. I believed that I built up some tolerance against gore, but¡­ this was too much! I was lucky that I lived on mana and my stomach was empty! It had the head and body of a grey wolf, the front leg of a lizard. Its hind legs were those of a bird. I found half of a snake in the mess, so I decided to go creative. Its insides were made out of the different components that I found. The hardest thing was installing the core. Thanks to [Ultra Surgery] I was able to create the mana conducts, but I wasn¡¯t sure if the input will be correct. Too little and it will not move. Too much, I explode.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡®I should really do something like this in a sterilized environment!¡¯ In the end, I didn¡¯t became so bad, it even looked decent considering how it looked when I started. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s do this!¡± I did the same operation as on my first monster. The patched-up monster slowly studs up and looked around. The snake that I put onto it shakes it''s head around wildly trying to comprehend what¡¯s happening. [New title received: [Monster Maker]] ¡°Eh, well, making something like this is kinda¡­¡± The monster that I made finally looked at me. Its eyes were empty, almost dead. ¡°Sight, it a corps so it''s not a surprise. [Basic Appraisal]¡± __________________________________________________________________________________ Race description: Feaster Patched Beast: a monster made from body parts of different animals. It has the skills related to the body parts. Since this creature is an artificial undead it can¡¯t evolve or gain EXP. Danger Level: C Racial skills: [EXP Donation]: all EXP earned goes to the creator. [Slave Link]: creates a bind between the master and the monster. [Unchangeable]: this creature cannot evolve or level up. [Puzzle Anatomy]: Damaged arts can be replaced by new ones. Reward for killing it: not yet set. __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°¡­I¡¯m too tired to react to this. I need a snack!¡± In the body, there are currently three cores. Two mind cores in each head and a mana core in the chest. I made it so to see if I could put more than two cores into a body. ¡®Next time I should make one with 4 cores...¡¯ It made me excited while I eat. I don¡¯t know why but doing this is so much fun! I want to see different things, different creatures! I want to experience the trills of adventures. Maybe after I reach the dungeon, I will leave this country and go travelling. I will surely make more of my race since it would suck to bee alone. In the other hand, getting to know more about my surroundings can be beneficial. Yes, I will do this! I can¡¯t wait! ***** The ghoul returned after some days. It was dragging something that looked like a fusion of a fox and a snake. The front of it was normal looking, red fur fox looking head and legs. Past those things started to get complicated. It had an elongated body covered in red scales and had no hind legs. Its tail ended by three-finger looking appendages, with sharp claves. ¡°Oh, good boy! Have a snack.¡± I threw a piece of meat, that he chough in mid-air. To be able to bring something as big as this thing, just how strong is this thing? The fox tried to run away but it was pressed down on the ground by my wolf. While the rabbit was hunting (sounds weird) my creation (I name it September) have adapted to its body. It''s fully capable to use every part of its strange anatomy except the snake that has a mind of its own. [Don¡¯t kill me!] I hear a screaming voice in my head. ¡°Huh, you can talk?¡± [Of course, I can! Please don¡¯t eat me, I taste disgusting!] ¡°¡­Calm down, I won¡¯t eat you.¡± [Then what you will make your despicable beasts kill me? You are heatless!] ¡®This thing is annoying!'' __________________________________________________________________________________ Race description: Nguruvilu: a feared monster by travellers. They use their powers to make their river homes shallow, so that people are encouraged to try to cross on foot. They then make the water deeper, and create whirlpools, to suck down their prey. Danger Level: D Racial skills: [Water Magic]: the ability to use water. [Digging]: the efficiency of digging is highered. [Telepathy]: The user can exchange information by their mind. Reward for killing it: 3 gold __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°A ngurluiu?¡± [Its pronounced nguruvilu!] ¡°Oh, sorry- ¡° [Why can¡¯t anyone pronounce it properly?! Its ng-ur-uv-il-u! How can it be so difficult?] His personality took a complete turn. It was quite shocking in so many different ways. ¡°Fine, fine I get it!¡± I grabbed the fox¡¯s head and commenced the operation. [W-What are you doing?!] ¡°Making you dossal.¡± There was a bite mark on its abdomen where the rabbit dragged him here. I pressed my free hand on it and started to absorb the mana from it. [You lied! You are killing me! You abomination!] Not listening of its whining when I emptied half of its reserves I pumped my own mana into its body. The two energy mixed together perfectly then they became one. [Nguruvilu was added to your [Slave Link] After the message the fox-snake stop struggling. I let it go, waiting for seeing what will happen. [I humbly apologies for my behaviour. I swear loyalty to you, my master.] ¡­Its personality turned again! Not only that, the voice became feminine. ''Did I accidentally triggered something?'' ¡°¡­I accept your apology. Now come with me.¡± The fox nodded, then climbed on my arm and filtered around my neck like a scarf. ***** We continued our journey. We didn¡¯t stop at night, so the rabbit ghoul was resting on the back of the wolf and the fox snake was around my neck the entire time. Contrary to the personality he showed before us he was surprisingly lazy, only getting off me when he was hungry or doing little monster business. For food, we no problem. The rabbit and wolf have developed something on the line of personalities, making them capable of hunting. Thanks to our link he could find us easily and the surrounding monsters are D rank at best. When they returned they brought back the cores and some meat for the fox.If what the fox said was true, then the strongest being¡¯s live deeper in the forest. [WE need to stay vigilant thought! There was a white wolf near my home not so long ago. That beast will tear us into bits if we are not careful!] ¡®Eh, isn¡¯t that wolf is the one who¡¯s pelt is on my back?¡¯ ¡°By the way do you know anything about a so-called ¡°Cursed Dungeon¡±?¡± [Nope. I didn¡¯t really leave my swamp.] We walked in silence for a couple of hours. We reached something that looked like a main road. Thanks to my implanted GPS, I could tell which direction I should go. ¡°Halt, they''re ugly!¡± I turned around and saw a bunch of man dressed in turned up cloths and crude armour. The one who was talking was probably the leader, he was holding a halberd that has seen better days. ¡°What have we here boys! An ugly half-human and some best. They will fetch us some nice coins!¡± ¡®Sight, this is so clich¨¦.¡¯ ¡°Everyone attack.¡± After my short order, all hell got loose. Each one of them jumped on one opponent while I took care of the boss and the rest. As expected the Golem and Familiar didn¡¯t take to long to be defeated. It only took one swoon from the opponent and they were dead. September and the ghoul on the hand¡­ they destroyed everything in there way. The grey wolf bitted through their armour like they were made out of paper. Meanwhile, the rabbit jumped around fighting in the neck of its adversaries killing them instantly. Meanwhile I and Foxy fought together. During our travels, we trained together making ourselves stronger. What we decided is that she will hold my sword with her hand while I used my black holes. With this technique, we killed the first two quite easily. First I used my magic to make a hole in the head of the bandit in front of me, taking him out before he could react. Then Foxy cut down the other one which sneaked behind me. It was strange, even when I killed someone I felt nothing. It was similar when I killed the rabbits or the spiders. Did my mind also change with my body? How much is left of my original personality? The boss was shocked for a second giving me a chance to attack him. Unfortunately for me or fortunately for him, one of its men stepped forward and booked my attack. The black hole coloured with the blade making an awful screeching noise. ¡®Oh, so it can¡¯t absorb anything. I should look into it later.¡¯ ¡°Damn you are strong! Too bad for you I was a member of the royal army!¡± While shouting this the boss pushed away his subordinate and made a horizontal attack. Foxy was able to deflect it sadly giving me a window to attack again. Still, I was blocked again by that annoying subordinate. ¡®Ugh, this is getting annoying.¡¯ We continued our dance for a long time. Even when I didn¡¯t feel tired my body became slower and my magic started to fade away. ¡°On your last leg huh? Die here you stupid but!¡¯ I was stabbed in the gut by the halberd. ¡®Ugh, this brings back memories¡­¡¯ [Alert!] [Mana capacity reached 10%] [Activating [Starvation Berserker]] ¡°Oh, shit now you have done it.¡± ***** My name is Klaus. Klaus Herphman. My family was from the slums, we lived poorly. Every day was a fight for our survival. I learned fighting an early age, to face the many people who tried to rob or kill us. When I turned 16 I left my home and joined my army. My experience quickly rose me in the ranks until I was accepted to the royal army, composed of the best fighters. However, I always felt something missing. Later when the 6th Holy War ended I finally understood what. I was bored. Every opponent I faced was weak, insignificant. I wanted to fight strong people. I wanted to have some excitement. Before I knew I left the army and became a bandit killing everybody who was in my way. I was finally having fun! I was living. I knew I will die sooner or later if I don¡¯t change, but¡­ what was in front of me¡­ At first look he looked a complete amateur in close combat, only relying on its magic and its pet snake. We used a talisman to make his mana usage higher so that he can work himself out, giving us the opportunity to kill him. Yet, things turned bad. The demi that I opened a new hole in his stomach started to laugh. It was the laughter of madness, the only one who could make a noise like this is someone who lost its sanity. The snake looking thing on him untangled and disappeared in a bush. ¡°Damn it¡­Hey, guys come here!¡± I cried for help but no one was coming. Everyone was dead or passed out. The two creatures were sitting on the side of the corner, licking up the blood of there bodies. ¡®Shit, shit, shit!¡¯ Finally, the demi stopped laughing and dashed forward. My man stepped forward to block the incoming attack. He was a specialist in it, even I couldn¡¯t make a scratch on him. And jet the demi¡­no, the monster grabbed its head and toured right of its body. Blood sprayed everywhere, painting our surroundings in crimson red. ¡°Aaaaaaa!¡± I dropped my weapon and run. ¡®Screw this, I¡¯m out!¡¯ Chop! There was no pain. My vision became surprisingly clear. I saw the blue sky then a body. Why those it has no head? Why those it looks so familiar? ''I feel tired¡­'' ***** [250 EXP received] [Level 16 reached I came back to my senses after eating my fifth mana stone. These guys only had little mana, making them not very very fulfilling. In my berserker state, my mind was foggy and filled with violence. [Master, are you back to sanity?] Foxy slithered out of its hiding hole and claimed back on my shoulder. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Still, this was thought, we seriously need some training.¡± [Yeah, I was sure we will die!] I looked at the carnage I made. It was horrible a picture taken Out of hell. ¡®I need to learn to fight without using this skill. Who knows what would happen if I lost control again.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s go. We still have a long way to go.¡± ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: Mana Feaster (Unique monster) (?€£¤¡é^¡ê¦Ð) Class: B Job: Butcher Level: 16 HP:130/130 Mp:160/160 Str: 25 Def:30 Skills: [Languages comprehension] [Basic Appraisal; Lv:3] [ Mapping; Lv:5] [Overload; Lv:2] [Human Anatomy; Lv:3] [Intimidation] [Slave Link; slaves:3] [Void Magic] [Body Reconstruction] Passive Skills: [Night Vision] [Corrupted Knowledge] [Mana Consumptions] [Starvation Berserk] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [The one who saw the truth] [Race creator][Monster Maker] _________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter7. Army We finally arrived! It took us more time than I have expected, but I made it! The GPS inside my had started to beep like crazy. The Cursed Dungeon. I was waiting for something like a dark castle or some lava. Yet it was only a cave that leads to darkness. I was seriously disappointed. [Do you really want us to go down there? We can gather food easily now.] ¡°The food is not a problem. What I need right now is a safe place where I can get stronger and experiment.¡± [...And that safe place is a dungeon, filled with monsters?] ¡°...Yes. They are basically free materials. Ugly n.1, Ugly n.2 go down and clean up the monsters." The two corpses stepped forward and entered the cave. Mh? What? Did you really want such a precious resource? Fools! I want to create more of my race, which is human-based. Of course, I will use human corpses, especially fresh ones! I¡¯m not stupid! Well, I used some of them... The others where... uhm consumed. To more precise things happened and... slight, I need a flashback! ***** (After defeating the bandits.) ¡°Let¡¯s go. We still have a long way to go.¡± [Will you leave them like this?] ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot. Ehhh, we should loot them?¡± [I was talking about the bodies, knowing your personality, but sure.] We took everything useful and made to groups. The first, one where the still-living ones. They were unconscious or moaning in pain, completely defenceless against anything. Hehe, the perfect white mice! First thing first I tried the same thing with them as with the rabbits. The results were the same. One turned into a golem, one a familiar and one into a ghoul. The ghoul showed the most physical changes. The body became thinner, the skin became ash white. The facial features disappeared, leaving only something that looked like a skull with a thin layer of skin stretched on it. The teeth and nails have elongated and sharpened, while the eyes became foggy. ¡°Do you understand me?¡± Nothing only grumblings. ¡®Isee, the intelligence of the subject must be affected by the transformation. I need to keep experimenting on the¡­ hey!¡¯ My newly made ghoul jumped on one of the survivors and started to eat it alive. ¡°Holy¡­I¡¯m going to be sick...¡± I didn¡¯t. At that point, I believe I lost the ability to get sick. I continued my experiments until all living subject we¡¯re turned or killed. I created 3 ghouls, in addition, the others turned into lumps of flesh. Changing the amount of mana create a different type of phenomenon on each individual that I can only describe as ¡®Mana Rejection''. ¡®The mana from me seems to corrode them, turning them into ghouls. I need to study this ore.¡¯ I found a notebook in one of the bandit¡¯s bags. It contained all the information I needed, the location of the bass, the number of people killed and even where are the hidden treasure. Yep, yep this is perfect. Now that I thought about it, I needed equipment like weapons and armours. Diving into a dungeon was in itself a life-threatening thing even with proper equipment. I can¡¯t believe I almost went there unprepared! [Map been updated] [[Mapping] reached LV:2] ¡®Neat. Now then onto the new thing.¡¯ Working with humans is so fun. I¡¯m starting to understand why they are hunted by monsters. They are literal sacks of EXP bad mana, ready to open up. Take their memory core for example. The knowledge stored inside of one of them can¡¯t be even compared to anything that I have ever eaten. It was a scout who was good at hiding and opening locks. When I absorbed everything I was able to imitate him to the point of perfection, Still, I didn¡¯t get the skill which was annoying. With this discovery, I decided! I will eat every memory core! Bone appetite! ***** [Title received: [Memory Eater]] I¡¯m full! Not only did my map went up to LV:5, but now I had a detailed dictionary of skills and combat technics in my head. Sword technique? Have it. Lock picking? Have it. Various killing and stealing techniques that can make me rich? Have it. The guts to use them? Totally have it! I believe that I have done things that can be considered inhuman and heretical in so many different ways. What is some minor crime compared to it? The next thing was getting a new body. Luckily there was a wide variety of donors. Let me tell you again how I look right now. My left arm and everything down there was green. The great was red and burned completely. My back was covered by a white sure that was tainted by blood and other liquids from my experiences. I needed it. I don¡¯t care what others thought I needed it! Getting rid of a limb was surprisingly easy. I just thought which part I wanted to get rid of and then poof, the next thing I knew was that I was on the ground without legs and with one arm. Then my threads dragged me to a nearby corps and the magic started to happen. I couldn¡¯t and didn¡¯t want to describe it. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. When I was done, I had a shining new body. All muscles and nervous systems where functional and my mana capacities didn¡¯t get damaged. ¡®Seriously, what the hell is this ability! It¡¯s so overpowered!¡¯ Then the follow up was the face. I skinned one of them and put it on my head. The threads worked fast, it quickly fused with me leaving not even a mark while keeping my facial features. ¡®Nice! Back to normal!¡¯ [What are we going to do about the rest?] Foxy glided up on my arm and retook its position. ¡°Hmmm¡­ I don¡¯t care. They can eat them if they want. We have bigger fish to fry.¡± ***** (Bandit camp) It was quick and smooth. The ghouls killed the guards and then they attacked the rest. Who survived the attack I transformed them into, adding more reinforcement to our group. Shortly, my subordinates number doubled. I also made some golems from the dead. Unlike the ghouls, who could only fight with their claws and fangs, they could use weapons making them handier. The bandits, whit their equipment and poorly organized tactics stud no chance. I entered the buildings during the commotions, looking for anything that can be useful. ¡°They have surprisingly a lot of money. I guess taking it from them won¡¯t bother anyone.¡¯ During my search, I found some really interesting things. Like a white coat that was decorated with 3 black lines in the back. I didn¡¯t know why but it attracted me so I decided to keep it. When I left the house, it was already finished. I lost some of my ghouls but the incapacitated bandits were more numerous. ¡°Well then, time to make mo-¡° Boom! The corner of my eyes an explosion blasted into pieces some of my ghouls. From the debris, the silhouette of a man appeared holding a strange staff. ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer! I will not die by the hands of such a foul beast!¡± ¡®A survivor? And he can use magic? This is problematic.¡¯ ¡°Hey, you over there! Are you the one controlling these monsters?!¡± I ¡°Hmm, are you talking to me?¡± ¡°Do you see anyone else?! What have you done?! Are you with the King?!¡± ¡°The King¡­¡± Hearing these words rage have erupted inside of me like fire, that devours reason. ¡°¡­Let me tell you something. I¡¯m not working for anybody. You on the other hand¡­¡± Two ghouls sneeze behind him and threw themselves in the ground pinning him down. ¡°¡­will work for me now. Don¡¯t kill him I need him alive. Make sure he stays silent though, we don¡¯t need any more explosions.¡± ¡°Hmmm Hmmm!¡± He tried to say something, but the cloth that the ghouls put Inside of his mouth kept him silent. ¡°Stay still, I don¡¯t wish to harm you. Well, at least not kill you. You see, I have been experimenting. I made this thing out of the idiots who attacked. They are strong and fast but in intelligence, they are no better than a dog.¡± I kneeled before him and grabbed his head so that he could look into my eyes. ¡°You, on the other hand, can use magic. I really hope that that gives you a better chance than these idiots.¡± ¡°Hmmm Hmmmmm!¡± ***** And that happened. The magician didn¡¯t turn into a ghoul. Instead, he fell into a comatose state. Where I touched him raches appeared, coursing through his body. I saw them as signs of progress. My own transformation was also something like that so I didn¡¯t worry too much. We took a carriage from the campsite loaded with some rations and treasures and left the place. I transformed everyone into ghouls or golems making our numbers skyrocket. It also placed a great burden on my body. The golems needed mana from me to function. They suck out a quantity equivalent to the action they took, meaning fighting took more than walking. I posted forward as meat shields. The carriage was drawn by some of them while the ghouls were behind us. An hour later the two golems returned signalling us that the path was cleared. This time, everybody descended, prepared for an ambush. The inside of the dungeon was surprisingly clean and well lit with torches. The passageway was wide enough for the carriage to pass. It was a great bet to bring it with us since we can¡¯t turn around with it and if there is a trap then the whole thing gets stuck. Well, we can¡¯t leave the object behind since we don¡¯t know if they get stolen by someone, so there was no helping it. Thanks to the clean up the passage were safe, here and there I could see corpses of monsters, felt victims of my golems. The ghouls collected the cores and brought them to me, in return I let them eat. These stones were different than usual. First, there was no mind core. Each one only had a mana core nothing else. The second was that there was some sort of humming emitted from them. They hummed in a union like they were singing. It was quite mysterious. ¡®Could it be¡­¡¯ ¡°Stop!¡± To my comment, everybody stopped. [What is it, my Master?] ¡°I need to check something.¡± I jumped off the carriage and pressed my hand on the floor. ¡°I see¡­¡± Under our foot, there was a flow of mana. It was like a vein, pulsing the Sam way as the cores. ¡°I see. This must be how the dungeon controls the monsters. It gave orders by the humming of the mana. Wait, if this mana then¡­¡± I sent down by threads and tried to absorbed a little. Yep, I could eat it. ''Then could I¡­¡¯ ¡°Everyone, guard me till I¡¯m done!¡± I started to absorb and pump mana into the vein. The process was long and energy-consuming. The dungeon showed some resistance. First, it tried to cut off the mana supply by closing up the vein. To counter it I sent my threads deeper, sucking out the mana where it couldn¡¯t close it. Then it sent a wave of monsters at us. They came from every corner of this floor, enraged by what I was doing. My soldiers defended me, shredding them into small pieces. ¡®Come on, come on, I don¡¯t have all day!¡¯ [Warning!] [1st floor was corrupted.] [1st floor has been detached from the dungeons the main system] [Steven Selvon have been set as 1st floor''s master] [Job have been changed to [Dungeon Master](Partial)] ¡®About damn time.¡¯ After the announcement, the waves stopped. The remaining monsters all felt on the ground, motionless. They were still breathing and yet they looked like puppets without strings. ¡°Let¡¯s see what can I do with these guys.¡± I reconnected with the veins and started to move the mana under it, trying to imitate the pulsing. After a while, the fallen monsters started to move. Their skin became grey and there fangs elongated. They were at my commend. ¡°Well then, shall we continue?¡± ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Thomas Svelvon Race: Mana Feaster (Unique monster) (?€£¤¡é^¡ê¦Ð) Class: B Job: Dungeon Master (Partial) Level: 23 HP:160/160 Mp:200/200 Str: 40 Def:60 Skills: [Languages comprehension] [Basic Appraisal; Lv:3] [ Mapping; Lv:5] [Overload; Lv:2] [Human Anatomy; Lv:3] [Intimidation] [Slave Link; slaves:69] [Void Magic] [Body Reconstruction] Passive Skills: [Night Vision] [Corrupted Knowledge] [Mana Consumptions] [Starvation Berserk] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [The one who saw the truth] [Race creator] [Monster Maker] [Memory Eater] _________________________________________________________________________________ ***** (Royal palace) ¡°Did you ask for me, father?¡± ¡°Yes, I have a special task for you.¡± The king was in his study looking out the city, from his window. His son who just arrived was dressed in full plate armour like he was going to war. ¡°I received information about monsters behaviour strangely in the forest. They seem to run away from something. Since you were about to go hunting, I want you to investigate and if possible, solve the problem. Return immediately if you find it too difficult to complete this task, we don¡¯t want you to die vainly.¡± ¡°Yes, father I will not disappoint you!¡± He left the room, slamming the door shut. ¡°Is this enough?¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty~¡± From the shadows, a tall figure emerged. He was dressed in a well-tailored suit with a top hat. He wore a white mask, that had no decoration on it. It was a mystery how he was able to see. His way of speaking was weird. It was like he was singing, it had some kind of rhythm that made people uncomfortable. ¡°With this our deal is complete. Your kingdom will receive our protection during the war. Just bring us back the artefact. ~" ¡°Yes, we will keep the end of our bargain.¡± ¡°Oh, before I forget! Two of our people will enter your territory in about 8month from now. We don¡¯t want any intervention, if you know what I mean. ~¡± ¡°Very well. Just don¡¯t cause any unnecessary ruckus.¡± ¡°Hehe, as you wish. ~¡± The figure merged with the shadow completely disappearing from sight, only leaving cold air behind. ¡°¡­ Mary, what have your country become?" Chapter 8. Dungeon What is life? Is it our memories that define us? Or is it our bodies, that we use, fight and die with? What is even existence? This type of questions rolled down on my mind, while I watched the ghouls eating. We reach the 10th floor after a month or so. Tracking time is difficult in this place and my biological clock wasn¡¯t working, since I never slept. Food was not a problem, I eat the mana of the floors, turning them into my domain. I gained aces to all the previous floors, gaining more and more subject. I left the freshly turned ones behind, to protect us and having an army following me is too weird for my taste. I had only one problem. The deeper we go, the stronger the mana got, making it harder to digest. I could feel it, slowly killing me from the inside. It was clever, diluting me with his own power and ending me. A prof of intelligence if you ask me. The only way that I could bear with it was something that made me shiver. Cannibalism. Hardcore cannibalism. Let me paint you a picture. I was diluting my mana slowly with the dungeon''s, weakening me. By absorbing my creations, which contained 100% pour mana that came from me, I could suppress the pain. Since some of them were damaged or rotten to the point where I couldn¡¯t use them for fighting, it was more of recycling than anything. I was doing this right now. The monster waves intensified with each floor, destroying my warriors each time. The floor itself didn¡¯t really change, it was the same stone maze with lanterns and everything. Yet, the enemies were much different. Slimes. Trash monsters that are usually the first enemy in a game. Well in this world these guys are nightmares. They were slimy, brown and corrosive. One-touch and you¡¯re dead. My ghouls and golems protected me the best they could and yet, they melted one after other like ice-cream in summer. [10th been corrupted.] [10th floor has been detached from the dungeons the main system] [10th floor added to the domain.] [Corruptions have spread] [76%] ¡°Finally.¡± Like on the other floors the surrounding monsters dropped like puppets without strings, creating pounds of fuming acids. ¡°Phew¡­ I thought I will die!¡± I was eating the floors mana for at least a week. It was troublesome. [Master, I believe that we should retreat before we get killed.] Foxy, or Vuk as she started to call herself appeared from her hidey-hole and went back around my neck. ¡°¡­No, we are close to the bottom. We only descend one more floor and if we don¡¯t reach the end, we¡¯ll turn back.¡± [...If we die, I only want to say I warned you.] I absorbed the energy from the one¡¯s too damaged to be used and repaired the others with their parts. I have done this a tone of times since we descended this place. Most of my original companions were dead, like my chimaera wolf. I also used parts from the killed monsters on them. Some of them had increase muscles or extra limbs, giving them a pretty cool look. The only one that pretty much stayed the same was my insane rabbit that was able to stay in one piece for some reason. Even the mage that I caught has changed. Some sort of cocoon has enveloped his body, pulsing a faint blue light. Sometimes I could see that something was moving, so it was alive, but it made really difficult to carry. We left behind the carriage because of the stairs lead to the next level. In case, it was repurposed as a barricade if something followed. It might be paranoia, it felt like I was watched all the time. Still, I placed also guards at every entrance, each modified in a different way. ¡®Hehe, try following me now!¡¯ [Title received: [Paranoid Maniac]] ¡®¡­I can¡¯t say anything about this.¡¯ The next floor was different. A huge door booked our path where we arrived. ¡°¡­A boss room?¡± Like in games, there are areas in dungeons we¡¯re a monster stronger than the others lives. We meet one before on the 5th floor. It was an extremely overgrown goblin with full plate armour and a magic sword. The armour protected it from collapsing the I overtook the floor making us fought it. It was the first time that I fought since I came here. It was a hard fight, my opponent made me realise that I had a long way to go. In the end, it was defeated, I reanimated it and made him one of my subordinates that is still with me, even in his poor state. The doors slowly opened. It had the same design as the previous one, an arena made out of stones. The only difference was that in place of a door that should lead us to the next floor, a green crystal ball was floating emitting a gloomy light. [HOW DARE YOU!!!] A new voice ranged in my head and it didn¡¯t sound happy. [YOU TOOK AWAY MY FLOORS, YOU BASTARD! I WILL KILL YOU!] ¡°¡­For your govern, they were quite simple- ¡® [WHAT?!] A wave of murderous intent washed by us, chilling me to the bones. [YOU DARE, A SIMPLE HUMAN, TO JUDGE MY DUNGEON! I WILL KILL, I WILL KILL YOU, I WILL¡­WAIT WHAT HELL IS MY OGER IS DOING WITH YOU?!]¡° Oger? You mean this guy?¡± I pointed to the big guy behind me. [WHO ELSE?! WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING WITH YOU? HEY, YOU HEAR ME? KILL THEM!!!] The big guy didn¡¯t do anything and just moaned. ¡°Eh well¡­ he sorta ¡­joined us?¡± [WHAT THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?! I MADE HIM, WHY WOULD HE OBEY AN INFERIOR LIFE FORM! ANSWER ME HUMAN!] ¡°Hey now, you don¡¯t need to be so angry. I¡¯m not even a human in the first place!¡± [HOW CAN I BE NOT ANGRY! YOU, LITERALLY, CHOPPED OF PARTS OFF MY BODY AND MADE THEM YOUR OWN! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THAT HURTS?!] "In fact, yes I do-¡° [SHUT UP!] [Eh, master I believe it would be wise not to anger further the big floating core that is about to kill us.] ¡°Hey, it started it!¡± [ME?! YOU WHERE THE ONE WHO ENTERED ME AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!] ¡°Yeah, well¡­ you attacked us!¡± [THIS IS A DUNGEON GENIUS! WHAT DID YOU THOUGHT, I WILL JUST LET YOU STROLL IN, TAKE EVERYTHING AND SEND YOU OF WITH A POSTCARD?!] ¡°EH, it¡¯s true, but¡­¡± [You two are like a newlywed couple¡­] ¡°[SHUT UP!]!¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A magic circle appeared on the floor. From it, something that really looked like a dragon emerged. Its body was covered in crimson scales and his eyes were glowing yellow. Even from where I was standing I could tell that this creature was intelligent. Intelligent and strong. [FELL HONORED, THIS IS MY STRONGEST MONSTER! IT WILL MAKE YOU TE-] ¡°Who are you?¡± It talked. The giant reptile talked. ¡°Where am I? I remember flying over a mountain and then a white light- ¡° [IT WAS I, WHO SUMMONED YOU! OBEY MY ORDERS AND KILL THEM ALL!] The dragon turned around and snored when it saw the core. ¡°A low-level core summoned me? Good jock!¡± [BUT I DID!] ¡°Whatever. I will kill you all anyhow since you interrupted me in my search. Any last words?¡± ¡°Hold on a second? We didn¡¯t do anything!¡± The dragon lowered its head and looked at me with its crimson eyes. ¡°A human? No, you smell¡­ rotten. An intelligent undead perhaps? What is your race?¡± ¡°Eh, Mana Feaster?¡± Hearing this the dragon felt silent, then started to shine in a bright light. When I was able to see again in the place of the giant lizard stud a man wearing a red military uniform. ¡°Thank gods I found you! What a luck being summoned at the exact place where the person I¡¯m looking for!¡± ¡°You were looking for me?¡± ¡°Yes! I have it here somewhere¡­Ah!¡± He took out a piece of paper, the handed over to me. ¡°The council wish to talk to you in a later date. Please answer to this later when you are not busy.¡± ¡°The council? ¡­ Excuse me who are you?¡± ¡°Yes, pardon my rudeness. My name is Antony, one of the youngest children of the Dragon Elder. I was sent here to give you this letter. I must admit sir, you do really look like a human. If not for your smell I could never believe that you were a monster like me.! ¡°¡­Do I really smell that much?¡± I hadn¡¯t taken a bath since I was burned by the king. Being with dead all the time didn¡¯t seem to help. ¡°N-No of course not! Anyhow please answerer to the invitation as soon as possible.!¡± ¡°Answer¡­ How?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry! The paper is magical! You only need to write your answer at the backside of the paper and it will be sent! Now that it¡¯s done how do I get back?¡± ¡°I believe you should ask the floating ball behind you.¡± The core, that we completely ignored floated in the aire, silent. [¡­I USED UP ALL MY ENERGY THAT I ACCUMULATED FOR THIS?] It was completely destroyed emotionally. The green light it was emitting a why ago has considerably died down. Being someone who played gatcha, I could relate to the sensation. ¡°You can also leave by the way we came. There are some monsters on the way so be careful.¡± ¡°Ah, thanks. Then, see you later.¡± He bowed down before me before he hurriedly left the place. ¡°Now then, I suppose that it¡¯s time to get down to business.¡± [¡­WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?] ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± I walked in front of the core and placed my hands on it. The whole thing was made out of condemned mana, from the purest quality I ever saw. I slowly started to absorb and release my mana. Then a wave of pure mana washed through me. [DO YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVE THAT I WILL JUST LET YOU EAT ME! IN YOUR DREAMS!] The intensity kept on growing, tearing me up from the inside. ¡°Ugh¡­ two can¡­ play this game!¡± I connected myself with every monster in this room absorbing their energy, restocking myself. [Alert!] [Mana purity have fallen 50%] [Forceful activation of skill [Overload]] The mana that I absorbed started to be converted into raw power, yet it wasn¡¯t enough, the mana was still destroying my body. ¡°[Void Magic]!¡± It was a wast, bit I was out of option. Half of the absorbed magic was dumped into my black hole. It also doubled my effectiveness, speeding up the process [WHY?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THI?!] ¡°Why? Well¡­ I don¡¯t really know myself. Maybe for revenge?¡± To tell the truth, I wasn¡¯t angry. Don¡¯t get me wrong I will pay back the king for the things he has done to me, yet I wasn¡¯t enraged. The only thing I wanted right now is power. I admit, when I tasted how it feels like commanding others, I knew that I couldn''t stop. Then when I descended to this place, the feeling became stronger. I want to create more of my own race, yet all my experiences lead to failure. The only conclusion I could arive is that I was weak. I needed power. A power that can make me a king! [[Overload] and [Void Magic] reached Lv:3] [[Overload] and [Void Magic] reached Lv:4] [[Overload] and [Void Magic] reached Lv:5] [WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP IT!] [[Overload] and [Void Magic] reached Lv:6] [[Overload] and [Void Magic] reached Lv:7] [IM CONNECTED TO THIS LANDS MANA RESERVE! IF YOU KILL ME-] A new wave came breaking my concentration. This caused my black hole to disappear. Yet I wasn''t bothered by it and continued. [[Overload] reached Lv:8] [[Overload] reached Lv:9] [¡­ YOU FOOL.] [[Overload] reached Lv: MAX] [[Overload] is now capable of converting mana into EXP] [##### EXP earned] [Condition for evolution completed] [Commencing evolution¡­] ***** If they had to choose a day, when everything started, when the whole world became dark, this must be a day. When all living things, big or small, human or other, felt the cold air. An air that even made the gods shiver. At that day, every intelligent thing looked at the same direction even those who couldn¡¯t use magic. It was the day when the monster of monsters was born. ***** (Celestial Realm) A group of people were sitting around a table, watching a holographic projection, showing the map of the whole country. In the middle part, there was a black mark that started to spread slowly. The first to talk was an old man, dreaded in the fanciest clothing. ¡°This is a disaster. How can things escalate so fast?¡± ¡°If I may, my king, I may have an answer. You see Somnus over here have given his blessing to a mortal. This caused abnormalities in the mortal''s body, transforming it-¡° ¡°Wait for a holly second, why this is my fault!?¡± The handsome young man and the sleepy-looking Somnus cleared at each other causing sparks to fly between them. Literally. ¡°Stop, you two or I will throw you into a volcano. Somnus, did you really gave your blessing do someone?¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± The atmosphere in the room became gloomy and a beautiful woman facepalmed herself. ¡°Somnus you are an idiot.¡± ¡°Shut up Pandora, I haven¡¯t given my blessing for a millennium at least.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t give your blessing for a millennium because it¡¯s outrageous. ¡®The ability to turn dreams into reality''. What is it if not overpowered!?¡± Each god can give blessings to mortals, each with a different effect. Blessing from a fire or water god enhances the aptitude for that element. From warier or hunter god, the physical aptitudes are enhanced. Each one has a different effect that comes with some sort of limitation, booking them to become omnipotent. Only Somnus has the ability to give blessing without limitation, creating outrageously powerful people. His personnel blessing allows the user to turn events from dreams into reality. It can also create skills and object from thin air, making it in pair of creation magic, one of the rarest forms of magic. ¡°B-But I have already taken it away so there is no problem, right?¡± ¡°You really are a fool. Taking it away now won¡¯t change the matter at hand. You screwed up big time.¡± ¡°Well, he and those two shrimps at the reincarnation department. What we will do about them?¡± ¡°They, only did their job, Hep. They couldn¡¯t possibly know that one broken soul could cause all this." ¡°What about me?!¡± ¡°You shut up!¡± ¡°Guys, you should probably see this. The screen changed and a list appeared on it. ________________________________________________________________________________ System notification New race confirmed. Race details implemented into the catalogue. Due to race characteristics, new magic has been implemented into the system: [Void Magic] Current members of the race: [Feaster Ghoul] [Feaster Familiar] [Feaster Golem] [Feaster Chimera] [Mana Feaster] New member is under loading... ________________________________________________________________________________ Everyone in the room looked at the screen with wide eyes. ¡°This¡­ is getting worse and worse. Soil, can this world handle a change of this magnitude?" At the words of the old man, a brown-haired man shaped his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not my king. This world is still too fresh, it does not process enough stability to withstand something like this. I recommend the complete eradication of this menace.¡± ¡°Wait, you want to destroy a new race? Isn¡¯t that something that we agreed not to do?¡± Sert, so that this world can develop they made a pact that they may not interfere too much with the life of its habitats. ¡°Then what about the decedents of the heroes? They are strong, killing this fool will be a piece of cake for them!¡± ¡°For once I¡¯m with Aries. If they kill it we became praised and if they die trying the mortals will implore us for help. In any case, we gain some believers. In the worst-case scenario, we can also send actual heroes from our stocks.¡± The old man raised his hand and the one speaking silenced itself. ¡°I understand. Send messengers to the church. Also, order those two to prepare some heroes for reincarnation, in case. Pandora you will establish contact with this new race, see if you can resolve this situation without bloodshed.¡± Pandora bowed and disappeared in thin air. Biip! Biip! The screen changed again and a new text appeared. ________________________________________________________________________________ New member been loaded. New member set as leader of the race. New member name has been set as¡­ [Feaster King.] ________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9. Hail to the king! [Evolution completed.] [New race has been implemented into the system] [All skills levelled up by one] [All followers levelled up] [Due to unorthodox evolution the user¡¯s name has been lost] [The birth of the [Feaster King] is complete] I came back to my senses. I felt refreshed like I was taking a nap. I even remembered dreaming about a beach, where I talked with someone. The details are fussy. ¡®Damn, I feel great! I should raid more dungeons in the - ?¡¯ The place I was right now was completely different from before. It was something that looked like a throne room, from the Demon Lord¡¯s castle. Everything was coloured black except for the red rug that leads from the gate to me. I was sitting on a thrown made out of black rock or something, which was set on an elevated platform. ¡°Where the hell am I? Is there someone here?¡± Nothing. I was alone. ¡®What happened? I remember eating the mana core and then- I don¡¯t remember.'' I tried to stand up, but I was started by the height and felt on my knees. ¡°Did I grow?¡± Now that I looked at it my hands, where different. They were elongated and bony, with gold rings with each on them. ¡°What happened to me?¡± I touched my face. Since I fixed my face, I was bold, without any hair, and yet now I could feel something on the top of my head. ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense... [Status]!¡± ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: None Race: Feaster King (?€£¤¡é^¡ê¦Ð) Class: S Job: Dungeon Master Level: 1 HP: 1000/1000 Mp:1000/1000 Str: 300 Def:400 Skills: [Languages comprehension] [Basic Appraisal; Lv:4] [ Mapping; Lv:6] [Overload; Lv: MAX] [Human Anatomy; Lv:4] [Intimidation; Lv:2] [Slave Link; slaves:843] [Void Magic; Lv:7] [Body Reconstruction] [Citizens:1] Passive Skills: [Night Vision] [Corrupted Knowledge] [Mana Consumptions] [Starvation Berserk] [Uni-core being] Unique-Skills: [Ultra-Surgery] Titles: [Reincarnated] [The one who saw the truth] [Race creator] [Monster Maker] [Memory Eater] [Paranoid Maniac] [First King] _________________________________________________________________________________ If i had water in my mouth I would spit it out with the force of a canon. ¡°How did I get so strong?!¡± [Answer] [You went through an evolution, resulting in sewer physical changes.] [Temporary discomfort or muscle pains are normal.] ¡°Evolution? Like in Pok¨¦mon?¡± Yes, I know that I don¡¯t remember much of my old life, but one thing I know: Mimikyu is the best and I don¡¯t care what others say! [Answer:] [When an organism with a mind reach its level cap, causing it to evolve exponentially.] [This rule also applies to skills.] ¡®So now I¡¯m a king?¡¯ ¡°WW show me my race description and my new skills!¡± The panel appeared before me showing everything I need. __________________________________________________________________________________ Race description: The king of all Feasters. Being the oldest and wisest it has wast knowledge and power. Unlike the others, this monster poses the power to create other of its race without turning them into ghouls. When faced with this being, all adventurers under golden rank must flee on sight. Danger Level: S Racial skills: [Citizen]: all kings need citizens. When they become one they will be unable to lie or betray you. [Uni-Core Being]: beings with this skill has only one core. [First King]: The first blood of the great lineage of kings. Grants increased charisma and leadership. Reward for killing it: not yet set. __________________________________________________________________________________ ''Oh, not bad, so I became the ruler of a race while I was sleeping. No pressure!¡¯ ¡°I need a mirror!¡± I got up from the floor and went to the door. It opened silently before I could touch it. It showed me a row of stairs that lead up, probably to the level above this one. ¡°My mortal enemy¡­¡± I went back to the throne and threw myself into it. ¡°Now that I think about it, where dis that dungeon core go?¡± [Answer.] [Due to unique circumstances, the previous core was reformed into [Unnamed Entity]] [Do you wish to be transported to its location?] ¡®Reformed? What, is it catholic now?¡¯ ¡°Yes.¡± My surrounding changed, making me find myself in an underground of some sort. The place was illuminated by flight elites from the surrounding flowers. In front of me, there was a big oak tree, with as a bone, with leaves as red as blood. In closer inspection, I could see small fruits hanging from the brakes. When I got up from my throne (that came with me for some reason) one of the fruits fell on the ground before me. I slowly picked it up, slowly examining it. Stolen story; please report. It was an apple of some sort, yet it was completely white. It was pulsing in my hand, like a small heart. After a moment of hesitation, I took a bite. [[Overload] activated] [10 EXP received] Wow, this thing is filled with mana to the brim! ¡°I can use these¡­¡± [Do you wish to name this?] ¡°¡­ Eve''s Apple.¡± [¡­ Name set as [Eve¡¯s Apple]] [Consecutively source been named [Eve''s Tree]] Creek! From one of the corners of the room a door opened and a person wearing a white robe entered. I couldn¡¯t recognize him yet; I didn¡¯t feel any hostility from him. ¡®Do I know him?¡¯ The figure stopped in front of me and kneeled down. ¡°Oh, my king it is such a joy form to see you awake!¡± ¡®¡­Huh?¡¯ ¡°Excuse me, but do I know you?¡± ¡°How cruel! To think that you would forget about me!¡± The person made a pirouette at the same time he studs up. ¡°My name is Jeff, your first son!¡± ¡°My son? Are you the mage that I transformed at the bandit village camp?¡± ¡°So, you do know me! I¡¯m so glad! ~¡± He made another pirouette, smiling like an idiot. ¡°Yeah¡­ tell me what happened while I was ''sleeping''.¡± Hearing my order, he stopped playing the idiot and became serious. ¡°Yes, I also woke up a week ago. When it happened new information and orders pure into my head. One of them was to protect your Majesty and reinforce your domain. I used the ghouls to gather materials for you on the surface. Do you wish to see them?¡± ¡°Yes, that would be great. Wait you said week. How long have I been out?¡± ¡°A month. Give or take 10 days.¡± ¡®A month?! It takes this much time to evolve?!¡¯ He turned around and started to walk in front of me. The door he came in, lead us in a waste cave system. It didn¡¯t have any lighting, yet I could see perfectly, capable to distinguish the smallest details of my surroundings. ¡°How where you able to commend the ghouls? I believed I was the only one.¡± ¡°I received the skill [Inferior Comend]. It allows me to give orders to them, most of them. That rabbit was the worst, it kept on biting me.¡± ¡°I can believe that¡­¡± We reached another door. This one was made out of metal or something around those lines. ¡°When did you build all this?¡± ¡°I believed that it was you my Lord who made it.¡± We entered the place and what was in front of me¡­ put a smile on my face. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to capture them. We lost 12 goblins and 7 ghouls. The damaged were minimal on the structure of the dungeon. What will you do about them, if I may ask?¡± ¡°¡­You could say that I will settle a debt. But first, we need something. Send out the fastest ghouls, make them bring back any living being they find. If they can¡¯t bring it back alive then make sure that the bodies are in a usable state. We will be really busy.¡± ¡°As you wish. But¡­ May I ask you to follow me somewhere.¡± He escorted me to the floor above us. When we reached the top of the stairs, I was taken aback by the number of monsters in front of me. There were some that I made, some that popped out from the dungeon and some that seem to be totally new. ¡°We have been preparing for your away. Our numbers are exactly 834. We swear fidelity to our lord and king. Please, give us your orders! ¡° Everyone kneeled at the same time even Jeff. ¡®Orders? What orders?! I¡¯m getting nervous! Ok, calm down say something that sounds like that comes from a king!¡¯ ¡°¡­ My subject, I¡¯m finally awake. Starting today we will have a lot of work to do so prove to me that you are all able to please me! Now listen to me!¡± ***** (Royal Palace, 8 days later.) ¡°So, our kingdom, demand that your Majesty and your people swear loyalty to our empire.¡± ¡®He finally shut up!¡¯ The man sent by the holy Empire kept on talking about there imaginary superiority and the thing they ask so that his country be Spears by them. ¡®If only they knew.¡¯ Their country had an army of 5000 people, with 400 elite knights and if things descendants of the previous heroes who he controlled, like puppets with false promises. Even if things turned bad, his ¡®Friends¡¯ would also help behind the curtain. ¡®A mear army of 8000 won¡¯t make us afraid.¡¯ ¡°My King, they returned!¡± ¡°Finally, I started to worry. Bring him in I!¡± ¡°Yes, your Majesty!¡± The King smiled and turned to his wife. She was once the most beautiful women in the kingdom. Even after many years and 4 children, she kept her beauty, still making the head of people turn around when she walked past them. ¡°I told you that he will come back. Our son is too strong to be killed by a mere beast!¡± ¡°Yes, you were right my dear.¡± The prince walked in. His equipment was in horrible condition, full of dents and broken parts, that told the tale of the fight he had. His face was also full of scars and was very white, like a corpse. Yet the king didn¡¯t see anything in his happiness. ¡°Well come back, my son! I¡¯m happy to see that you have returned after so much time. Tell me how was your hunt? Why aren¡¯t your men here?¡± Hearing the questions of his father, the young prince looked at him his eyes clouded. ¡°W-We went to the forest as you ordered. At first, everything was fine, the monsters left us alone thanks to the artefacts we bought with us. Then when we¡­ then we¡­¡± The prince looked confused, he started to scratch his head violently trying to remember something. ¡°Are you alright my son? You can tell us what happened later when you are well-rested and-¡° Not hearing his fathers words, the prince scratched his head more and started to speak more loudly. ¡°Then we reached the center and everybody felt weak, the sorcerers even passed out, making us retreat. But t-they came. They t-took us and imprisoned us. Day after day my man felt I¡¯ll and became¡­ and became-¡± ¡°But you escaped and we will make sure that we will make them pay for what they have done!¡± ¡°¡­No father. I didn¡¯t escape.¡± ¡°What?¡± The king and his court were stunned by the story of the young prince. ¡°H-He came. He freed me and sent me here. With a message.¡± ¡°¡­What message?¡± The prince took off his left gauntlet, revealing what was inside. When his surroundings saw the arm, they cried out from disgust and fear ¡°This is a dream, right? A nightmare!¡± Even his beloved father was in shock. The prince''s arm was swollen red, with black wins coursing through it. It only had three fingers on it and a disgusting mouth. As it felt the contact of the fresh air the mouth started to speak, with a voice that resembled nails on a chalkboard. ¡°Dear King, what a joy is to me to finally talk to you! Sady what you are hearing is only a recording so please don¡¯t interrupt me. ¨C¡° ¡®This voice I recognize it.¡¯ the king thought. ¡°-Your Majesty may call me the Burned King. I¡¯m sending your son out like this to warn you! Do not enter my forest! If I see even one soldier in my territory then¡­well, let¡¯s just say what I did to your son was a beauty spa in comparison. I will send a messenger with an official contract that will contain the deal for giving me rule over the forest. Also, this messenger will have the antidote that can remake your son to its original form, so please be smart.¡± When the monster was done talking it shout up tightly, mostly completely disappearing. The court was also silent, afraid of the thing that became the prince. The one who had such a bright future, the one who had the chance to rule this land, the one who might have been the greatest man of this area. Now the only thing left of him was a monster with a talking hand. ¡°¡­Bring¡­my sone to his room. Send him the best doctor in the town to look at him.¡± One of the guards noted and took the prince away. ¡°General Heldar, resemble as many soldiers you are capable and send them out in the forest. If this self-proclaimed king believes that we will do nothing after what he did to my son, then he is as foolish as arrogant!¡± ¡°B-But my king, what about the prince?¡± ¡°We will make that charlatan heal him once we capture him! I won¡¯t tolerate anyone insubordination! Now everyone, get out my sight!¡± The throne hall was soon completely empty only leaving the king with his boiling anger. Even his wife run away from him, afraid from his anger and worked for his first-born son. ¡°I know you¡¯re here, show yourself at once!¡± From the shadows, a tall man appeared wearing a mask without any holes or decoration. ¡°You asked for me, your majesty. ~ ¡° ¡°you lied to me! You said that you will protect us! Yet my son became a monster! Our contract is terminated!¡± The atmosphere around the masked figure changed to a crushing pressure. ¡°¡­ You do realize what that¡¯s mean? If you cut the contract now, we will take everything that we gave you. Whit interest.¡± what he king could not say anything, to that, just glared at him in anger. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will look after what happened and fix it. Think about it as compensation for this accident. Rest assured we will make the one pay dared do that to your son. ~¡¯ The figure disappears into the shadows like it was an illusion ***** (Inside the Dungeon) ¡°Achoo!¡± I was sitting at my throne, looking at the report that Jeff made. I change my clothing since I woke up and now, I was wearing a black robe with exotic patterns on it. I also found a mirror, discovering that my face didn¡¯t change at all, only to small horns popped out on the top of my head. My body on the hand has grown, making me talker and more muscular. Also, I had hair! I was not bald anymore. Of only I could fix the ode, dark purple colour of it, then I would be a happy man! While I was working, I didn¡¯t leave the dungeon. I didn¡¯t have to, I had servants to do my bidding and I was sufficiently busy with the prey they bought. The increase of my subjects by kidnapping the residence of the forest was a good idea. By capturing new species, I was able to learn more about the different type of anatomies t this works could offer. The prince talking arm was also such thing. At first, it was some kind of worm that imitated the surrounding noises. I only needed to implant a message into its mind core and it was ready. The arm thing was only payback for before. If they decide to sign the contract and give me this land, extracting the bug is an easy task. Of Course, I made sure that I was the only one that can remove it without any side effects. We hosted the I turned ones in the cages, where we leave them for a week. The dungeon and the surrounding territory lingers in a special kind of mana that seems to incapacitate beings that are susceptible to it. When they are weakened to the point that they can¡¯t fight I bring them to one of the newest chambers that I made. If it was an animal then I transformed into an animal type ghoul or a Chimaera and ended it up to one of the upper floors. If it was human then I brought them to a special place that I called ¡°The Nest¡±. Here we stored the cocoonified humans that we¡¯re able to survive the process and didn¡¯t turn into ghouls. By the way, turns out that ghouls can also evolve. My rabbit also created a cocoon around itself and laid torment for a while. I hope it will not become something too horrifying. Currently, we held 21 humans that are in cocoons. If my guess is correct then they will stay in this state till a month. ¡°With this, I can finally start sending them in to the city or the villages I only need to find a way to not turn them into ghouls." Since I evolved, I¡¯m able to turn every human into a Feaster without a problem. Jeff, on the other hand, can turn people into ghouls with his blood as a medium for his mana. When I found this out, I started to work on a portable method to make Feasters. Up until now, the only thing I managed to make was a black serious that could be diluted in water and drunk by any living thing it would transform into a ghoul. Sadly, my goal wasn¡¯t to make a fantasy world style Racoon City, so I put it into storage for a rainy day. ¡°This is taking forever! Why can¡¯t there be a mad scientist nearby when I need one?¡± ¡°What about a goddess?¡± In the middle of the hall a woman, dressed in revelling cloth appeared from thin air. She was beautiful her skin was snow white with crimson eyes. The contour of her body could be described by one word: perfect. And yet- ¡°Who are you?¡± Nothing. I felt nothing looking at her. Maybe because I was no longer human or that I was a screwed-up person remains a mystery. ¡°How rude. I took so much time for me to come here. You do realize that this place is toxic right?¡± ¡®Toxic? I know that it weakens them but to be toxic is a little bit a stretch.¡¯ ¡°My name is Pandora, the goddess of curiosity and knowledge. Also, the mother of some monsters routing the planet. Technical you are my subordinate.¡¯ ¡®A goddess? What is she doing here?¡¯ ¡°Excuse my rudeness but I don¡¯t remember popping out of you. Could you tell me why I¡¯m your subordinate?¡± She smiled me, revealing her sharp teeth, that ruined her image in my eyes. ¡°You have the honour to talk to a god and yet you don¡¯t kneel before me? That¡¯s arrogance. ~¡± ¡®You are talking to me like that, and I¡¯m arrogant? Well, she is a goddess so I should hear her out.¡¯ I got off my throne and kneeled down before her. ¡°That¡¯s better. Now listen, the other gods aren¡¯t happy about you appearing and doing whatever you want. So, I came down to supervise you.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s means?¡± ¡°It means that I¡¯m staying!¡± ¡®Oh, f**k me!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t speak for a whole minute from the shock. ¡®A goddess living here?! Yeah, troublesome!'' ¡°If I may, this place is not equipped to be able to lodge someone at your status. If you may reconsider your decision- ¡°Believe me I don¡¯t doing it for pleasure. I was ordered here by the Creator so I¡¯m staying. But I can make my stay worthwhile.¡± She touched my chin and raised my head to look into her eyes, that where refer then blood and deeper than the night. ¡°You were looking for a way to turn yourself immortal, right? This is why you are in this state. But don¡¯t work I can make your wish come true.¡± ¡°- And what you might ask for me in exchange?¡± ¡°Nothing much, only a little chaos.¡± ¡°-I¡¯m listening.¡±