《Labyrinth of Gods》


 1 - Another World, Another Struggle

    "Nngh.."


    There I was, lying on the cold stone ground without any clothes on me. I slowly opened my eyes in accordance to the seeping freeze crawling into my back and legs.


    "AH!"


    I jumped up quickly to avoid any unnecessary chilly shivering. As I raised my head, I was greeted by an extremely large red door that had snake patterns on both sides and an orb in the middle.


    "Wha..?" I didn''t know what to think of such a thing.


    ''Where am I, anyway?'' I wondered. I tried to remember anything prior to my awakening, but nothing came up except a blank state of mind.


    I looked around in all directions, but it was quite dark to see further than 10 meters, the only light source being the red door which gave off a dim glow. There were tunnels that lead into the darkness beyond.


    "No.... No... Fuck." I mumbled as I walked backwards onto the door and fell down. I was afraid, because I knew what it all meant.


    ''Another world.''


    I didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at this point. The ominous door and the dark tunnels started eating at my instincts. I didn''t doubt that it was another world, but I was open to anything more explainable aswell. Teleportation? Human experimentation? It wouldn''t be ridiculous at all if that were the case.


    I gulped down my worries and determined myself to act according to the scenario. If it truly was another world, it would mean survival. There wasn''t any time to act like a lost child and call for help.


    "Menu." I said.


    Nothing appeared.


    "Menu, status, start, inventory." I said.


    Nothing still appeared even after saying all those words in a row.


    ''So there''s noMMORPG kind of menu.''


    My doubts of another world grew larger as I wasn''t able to bring up a menu that would suit my needs in this situation.


    ''What about mana?''


    I concentrated on my hands and tried to feel anything of importance under my skin. The only thing noteworthy was my fingers twitching.


    I sighed and stopped my meditation. There wasn''t any point in continuing if the process didn''t show any results.


    Going into a squatting position, I started grabbing small pebbles and throwing them on the rock walls. Unsure of what to do, I simply kept repeating pebble throwing.


    After half a minute I stood up and turned around to look at the doorway. The white orb in the middle gave off no glow, even though it looked as mysterious as a black hole. I pushed the door, but it didn''t budge. I was just pushing myself further away from it.


    Seeing no merit in opening the door, I took my hands off of it and turned around.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ''That''s the only way..'' I thought as I stared at the dark tunnels which were large enough to fit an elephant through.


    I crouched and started walking slowly into one of the tunnels. The darkness came ever closer to shutting away my vision, but I did not falter and kept moving forward while using my limbs to determine the surroundings.


    It all felt so real; the rocky ground I walked on, the dusty air I breathed and my heart beating furiously enough for me to feel like it wants to jump out of my chest.


    After a few minutes of slowly crouch walking, I started to see faint light rays in the distance. My happiness meter started rising, being in the dark for a while wasn''t the best experience to be had when faced with the unknown.


    Once I was close enough, I peeked from around the corner of the tunnel to glance at the light source.


    Revealed to me was a cave chamber that was twice the width of the tunnel. In the middle of the chamber there was a pond in the ground which had glowing water. Mud and grass surrounded it


    I scouted the chamber again before heading towards the pond. Nothing out of the ordinary, charge!


    I hopped towards the pond and looked into it. What surprised me were the glowing rocks in the depths of the small pond. I figured that the rocks were the reason for the light that guided me, not the water.


    As soon as I put my right hand inside the water to test it for watery-qualifications, I could feel my hand being soothed.


    ''Wha?!''


    My hand felt so good, but it wasn''t something like my muscles being massaged. It was on another level. I could feel a sixth sense developing as I further reached my hand towards the glowing rocks.


    *GRRRR*


    "?!"


    Growling came from another tunnel that was connected to the chamber.I took my hand out as soon as possible and jumped back. From the darkness appeared a sharp and furry faced animal, it''s sharp teeth under heavy saliva intimidated anyone who stared.


    As the beast slowly came out of the tunnel, it''s shape was fully revealed. It looked like a black wolf without eyes. The eye sockets were there, but it was mostly covered with fur.


    ''Shit!!'' I screamed in my mind. This was not the situation to be in right now. Not only was I weaponless, I was naked aswell!


    I just stayed still and hoped that the wolf would pass by without having to do anything with me, but that was not the case. It''s nose was twitching towards my side as I tried keeping my breathing to a minimum. I slightly moved my hand so that I could cover my mouth, but that slight movement cost me my location.


    The wolf immediately jumped towards my direction, saliva flying right out of it''s wide open mouth, but I moved quickly to the side and dodged. Since I had unstable footing, the wolf didn''t waste a moment and ran towards me.


    I knew that running was of no use so I swung my right fist towards the wolf''s direction in hopes that I would hit it''s nose, but as soon as my fist got closer to the wolf, it bit my hand.


    "FUCK!" I screamed as it''s sharp teeth got deeper and it''s claws tearing at my arm. It was agonizing enough to make me cry, but I still had strength to struggle.


    With tears flowing down my eyes and a face full of pain, I yelled: "I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"


    I put my legs around the wolf''s chest tightly, my left hand swiftly grabbed the lower jaw of the wolf. I dug my right hand, even through all the pain, deeper into wolf''s upper jaw teeth so that it couldn''t struggle free. As I set up my position I started seperating the lower jaw from the upper jaw of the wolf. It struggled to escape, but unreal amounts of strength filled my arms as I tore apart it''s head.


    *SNAP*


    The wolf went limp after I snapped it''s head apart. I kicked it''s corpse off of me and immediately put my right hand in the water, as my instincts instructed me.


    The soothing feeling came back, but my wound wasn''t repairing. While trying to hold in my wheezing, I noticed that my sixth sense developed even further. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on it as much as possible. My wounds were especially prone to this mystical feeling.


    It was all becoming visible while I had my eyes closed. My hand, my injuries, the blood coming out.


    I didn''t have time to think about what I was feeling, all I knew was that it was helping mevisualize my wounds in a way that couldn''t be considered ''seeing with eyes''. With the help of the new sense I developed, I was able to also observe something else. It felt like... everything, but I knew it wasn''t there since I didn''t see it with my eyes.


    In accordance to the excruciating pain, I abandoned all thoughts of physical presence and focused on the things I saw with my sixth sense.


    Along with my visualization powers, I gained slight control over the mystical ''thing'' that was flowing all around the water. The control felt like I had another part of me available to use.


    With all my willpower, I started using the ''thing'' to close my wound while sitting patiently near the pond.

 2 - Understanding

    Blood circling around my hand and slowly entering back into my body; after hours of careful healing, I managed to handle control of the mystical and spectral material. I decided to take it known as mana, atleast, it was closest thing to it.


    ''If there wasn''t any mana, I would of probably been dead by now. With my little knowledge of medication arts and this enviro- Wait!''


    I interrupted my own mental dialogue since I remembered that beasts of a fantasy world usually have a core inside them. To confirm it, I reached out my left hand towards the wolf''s corpse. Extending parts of myself would help with detecting mana since my sixth sense reaches throughout my body.


    As expected, there was a reaction coming from inside the carcass. However, it didn''t have the same feel to it as the mana I was using to heal.


    My hand wasn''t done recovering, but my curiosity took over and I slowly moved towards the dead wolf. The dusty air burned my half-closed wounds as I took out my hand from the water, but I tolerated the pain with expectations of something great.


    Moving closer, I saw an approximately small pebble sized orb resonating deep inside the carcass. I placed my left hand over the fur, according to the location of the orb, and started moving the orb out. There were obstacles, such as possibly organ flesh walls, but I was able to cut holes in the path with the use of mana.


    It didn''t take long for the orb to appear out of the wolf''s broken mouth.


    I picked up the bloody orb with my left hand and shook it so that the blood would fall off. Examining the orb closer, I saw it''s true beautiful appearance with my own eyes. As if water and air combined, a gray substance danced around inside the orb full of bloom and light.


    I used my sixth sense to try grasp what the orb was, but the moment I did...


    "?!?!"


    My consciousness was being pulled somewhere.


    ...


    I awakened inside of a storm. A storm of a gray substance dancing around the center, which I was near of.


    "I''m.. inside the orb?" My thoughts were voiced aloud, even though I didn''t say anything. I looked at myself and saw an almost transparent body. In that moment, I realised what was happening.


    The whirling gray substance started to gather around the center, deciding on some kind of a form. It all seemed familiar.


    The substance took structure. A sharp and furry looking face appeared first, following that, the rest of the wolf''s body formed. The shape stayed the same, but the flesh and bone was no longer there. All that remained was the slightly dancing gray substance.


    I didn''t have any time to do anything before the ghastly looking wolf charged towards me. The situation was almost the same, it intended to reenact the fight earlier.


    I immediately cancelled my sixth sense and returned to my body.


    "AKKGHH!"


    A sharp pain took place inside my heart and head. Abruptly resigning from the orb resonated torment within my very being. It only lasted a moment, but it was extremely unpleasant.


    ''Shit...''


    My right hand was bleeding again since I fell back after exiting the orb. I went and sat down next to the pond again and continued my healing process.


    I also noticed something else when I looked at myself inside the orb. My soul''s right hand had holes in it the same size as the physical wounds initially. Even though I was almost done healing my physical body, the soul form remained the same.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ''Looks like I have to go back if I am to resolve this issue'' I thought.


    I wasn''t quite sure how I could defeat the wolf again, so I started tinkering around.


    There weren''t any tools around that I could use, so I stayed my hand in the water for healing. I looked at the glowing rocks in the depth and had a thought.


    I placed my injured hand deeper, right ontop of the glowing rocks. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my soul''s existence.


    Suddenly, power started surging into my soul through the holes made by the bite of the wolf. Mana invaded my body and I didn''t need my sixth sense to feel it.


    The warmth, the cold.


    The light and the dark.


    It felt like the mana before, but I was actually feeling it inside me.


    Huge quantities of mana were piling up inside my soul. I felt as heavy as a hippo, but also as light as an ant.


    Not only did the power surge fill me with mana, it also hastened my physical wound recovery by ten times!


    Once I was full with mana that reached every corner of my soul, I took my hand off the glowing rocks which I named mana stones.


    I didn''t know what to do with all the energy I consumed from the mana stones, but I tried to absorb mana again without the use of the stones. I was able to absorb mana from the surroundings if I concentrated, but only through the holes in my soul.


    Everything I learned so far helped me come up with a plan to defeat the soul of the wolf.


    After half an hour of soaking in the water, I took my hand out and dropped the orb inside. Soon enough, the orb started turning from gray to blue. It took an hour for the orb to turn into a vibrant blue dancing storm.


    I took it out and placed it between both my hands and utilized my sixth sense.


    Once again, the stage turned into a whirling plasma storm, but it''s color changed.


    The soul form of the wolf didn''t take long to appear, unlike before.


    Both of us full of radiating mana, standing still.


    I waited for the wolf to take the first step, and soon enough, it charged at me just like before. It''s movement speed didn''t change even with the energy it got from the mana stones.


    "As I thought."


    It came close enough to be within the range of my fist, but I didn''t move. It was only after the wolf''s head changed brighter that I striked my own strategy.


    Coating my left hand with half of the mana reserves I collected, I punched forward. The wolf took the bait and bit right into the thick mana layer, it''s teeth were shining vastly compared to the rest of the body. The wolf''s soul energy was all concentrated in it''s head, which meant everything below the neck was gray.


    Even with all the power the wolf bit, it couldn''t pierce through the thick layer and instead got stuck as I expanded my mana shield further.


    Coating my right hand with mana while the wolf struggled, I stabbed right into the wolf''s chest like a spear heading for impaling.


    The soul of the orb screeched and quaked.


    I was absorbing whatever I could inside the wolf''s soul, with my right hand. In a split moment, I found what I looked for, grabbed it and kicked the wolf far away with the remaining mana I had.


    Within my grasp was a piece of my soul that the wolf took away from me. I consumed it just like I consumed mana from the stones, and sure enough, the holes in my right hand were filled.


    "I knew it. The reason why I wasn''t able to recover my soul wounds was because you absorbed my soul with that skill when we were fighting earlier, in the physical world. That''s also the reason why the orb didn''t have a colorful tone to it, because you used up all your mana." I said with the intention of the wolf having to hear me.


    "Thanks to the position of the orb in your carcass, I was also able to figure out where my own part was located inside you. That must also be where you absorb mana through, isn''t it?"


    The wolf angered. Since it wasn''t able to use it''s skill properly, the mana it used was only a little bit. With the wolf being full of mana, and me being all empty, it saw a chance and charged at me again. This time, it''s speed was highly improved. The wolf abandoned it''s ghoulish bite and reinforced it''s body instead.


    "Oh, you think you''ve won because I ran out of mana?" I asked.


    I didn''t know if this bravery was coming out of my perfect plan or my confidence in beating the wolf before.


    "The mana I was using to heal my wounds prior to the mana stone usage, it didn''t come from inside me. Do you know what that means?" I almost started to giggle at the wolf''s planned defeat.


    "It means that I am able to control mana outside my soul, and right now, you are in my grasp!" I yelled and focused the next moment. The mana inside the wolf left it''s owner and started whirling around him instead.


    Using the wolf''s mana, I raised him up from the ground and circled it around him, creating a cocoon of blue energy.


    "Now, I will absorb you!"


    Between my palms, the orb''s shell cracked and the soul inside it was absorbed through my hands. It''s size was large, but using exterior mana, I was able to tame it.


    I let out a deep breath while sweating vastly.


    ''I gambled. If I had less mana than the wolf, then I wouldn''t have my left hand with me now.''


    I looked at my right hand with my even more evolved sixth sense. The holes in the soul weren''t there any more.


    Trying to absorb mana, I failed miserably.


    ''I need openings in the soul to take in mana...'' I thought.


    Even if I was able to manipulate the mana in my surroundings, it wouldn''t be enough to defeat a beast like the wolf without taking damage.


    I laid on my back as I thought about a solution. The mental exhaustion caused by the battle took a toll on me and I fell asleep.

 3 - Usage of Mana

    I woke up, but I didn''t expect to be warm. I knew the stone floor was cold, but I wasn''t affected by it.


    I decided to meditate on that thought and found out that the wolf''s spirit was keeping me warm by providing continous mana supply from it''s last reserves.


    As a token of gratitude, I shifted the spirit from my soul center into my right hand and placed it ontop of the magic stones in the pond. This way, I was able to gather mana into the wolf''s soul and using it whilst not having my own mana storage.


    ''The center of the soul is most likely the place where mana is absorbed through. For the wolf, it was near the chest. But for humans, it is most likely near our stomach.'' I thought.


    After absorbing the wolf, I noticed that I had way more soul space than the wolf. My mana capacity was eight times larger.


    I also gained knowledge of the wolf''s skill, the one that was used on me. If I coated my hand with sharp mana edges, I would be able to take away a creature''s soul in an instant.


    ''This is incredible...'' I thought. I completely forgot about the injuries I received thanks to the overwhelming victory of the wolf.


    My body was also beginning to get compatible with the wolf''s spirit. Sight, touch, taste, sound and smell. My five senses improved greatly. If I was able to absorb ten more wolf spirits, I would certainly be the strongest human from Earth.


    I figured that it would be best if I was cautious, there might be a nest around here. Either that or, if I am lucky, it was just a lone wolf.


    After the spirit was done absorbing mana from the stones, I stood up and looked at the only tunnel leading forward. I took towards that direction with silent steps while crouching. Since my sight improved, I was able to see farther than 10 meters across the dark.


    After a few minutes of slowly walking, I reached a stop. I sensed another tunneling leading to the right with my hand. It would be a tricky decision to choose, but using my sixth sense and my sense of smell, I was able to determine that the way forward is more dangerous. Multiple mana targets and smell of rotting corpses were a good warning not to keep walking forward, so I took the right turn.


    There wasn''t much of a difference in taking a turn, until I felt it. The muddy soil and grass were starting to appear more frequently with each step I took. A sweet smell invaded my nostrils aswell.


    It didn''t take long for light to appear, yet it was not as bright or blinding as I thought. It was neither the sun nor the mana stones.


    As I walked closer, I saw it. It was the moon''s light that shined on my path. The wolf''s spirit started to respond on it. I quenched it''s will to howl, but it was strange. My instincts were not believing this lie of the moonlight.


    I reached the end of the tunnel, and infront of me, thousands of trees resting on the ground quietly as the starry sky and the moon lit up the place and gave vision to any creature still awake.


    ''Artificial nature?'' I thought.


    The place was too small, I could still see the cavern walls surrounding all the trees and the roof was simply a mirage of the true sky.


    Nonetheless, the lush forest and the fragrant natural smell was pleasing enough.


    Since the tunnel was high off the ground from the forest chamber, I was debating whether to jump down or not.


    Using my sixth sense, I observed if there were any threats. How could I be able to categorize mana sources as threats? Well, I was able to also see the quantities of the mana now aswell. The only problem was distance. If I concentrated hard enough I would be able to detect mana as far as 500 meters away from my position.


    A couple sources popped up as I looked throughout the forest with my sixth sense. The mana they carried was less than that of the wolf.


    Ensuring myself that it would be safe, I jumped down. It wasn''t much of a fall, just a few meters.


    After jumping down, I looked around to see any abnormalities. The mana sources were far away and made no movement, so I didn''t nerve about that.


    I touched the ground. The grass and the mud felt real enough whilst I grabbed with my hand. The mana around felt more... green.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I used the wolf''s spirit to absorb mana and found out that exerting the ''green'' energy had more of an effect in the forest. More movement and more freedom overall.


    I glanced around again after playing with my mana and sixth sense. There were fruits on some trees. One of the trees even had apples growing!


    Unsure if the apples were truly edible, I grabbed one and cracked it open. It didn''t look any different compared to an apple from Earth. I grabbed a bite, chewed a bit, and swallowed.


    It was extremely tasty since I was actually hungry for a long time now. I plucked out a couple more apples from the tree and went back near the tunnel entrance, even though it was high up. Atleast the assurance of escape being near me was comforting.


    After I was done eating 7 apples, I ventured further into the forest. Carefully looking around for any dangerous features, I crouched towards the unmoving mana sources in curiosity. If the mana sources were coming from a creature, and if the creature was asleep, wouldn''t I be able to easily get a hold of their soul?


    It was all about survival here in another world, so it didn''t matter to me if I was killing a human or an animal. Although it would be sweet if I got some guidance from a human like me.


    ''Hm..?''


    There was a mana source near me. I feared that it was something dangerous, but to my surprise, it was only a small bush with lots of leaves on it. Not only was it safe to approach, it was also glowing blue.


    It''s brightness was actually quite impressive, possibly even having higher concentrations of mana than the wolf''s soul gathered.


    I looked around it to spot anything out of place, but there wasn''t much to see. I was wondering what mana smelt like so I put my nose near it and took a deep breath.


    I felt small bits of dust enter my nostrils so I retracted my head. Suddenly, I felt how I became extremely unstable, yet stable at the same time.


    My vision became crystal clear, hearing became ultrasonic, smell became extremely delicate, touch became hyper sensitive, but taste remained the same.


    My mind was fuzzled, yet it was as clear as day. I began moving without giving the command for it.


    I was looking for something fun. For a fight.


    My subconscious took control over my body and started moving towards the mana sources.


    I lost the authority I had and could simply watch as I ran at incredible speeds, avoiding all the obstacles along the way. Roots, tree trunks, thick bushes - none of them mattered in the vicinity of my subconscious body. I figured that the wolf''s spirit had some kind of a part in my subconscious, seeing as how a human wouldn''t be so proficient in such feats.


    On the way to the largest mana source, I encountered small mana sources that were stored inside slightly overgrown rats and birds. My instincts were in frenzy and slaughtered everything in the way with the skill obtained from the wolf, soul steal. Since I was able to fully kill the prey in one strike, I absorbed the soul as a whole.


    My mana, that was borrowed from the wolf''s spirit, slowly dispersed as I kept using the skill. Soon enough, my mana ran out right before I reached the final mana source.


    Pushing the branches full of vigor leaves away, I saw it. A huge beige belly covered with the moonlight and the shadows of the leaves. Legs as large as a fat human, hands big enough to handle tons of wood logs in just one go.


    ''An ogre, fuck!''


    I tried to back off with all my might, but my body wasn''t listening to me. Physical energy filled me, and a sour taste of apple filled my mouth.


    After calculating the surroundings, my subconscious started moving and immediately went for the neck with a straight hand. Even with all my bodily enhancements, I wasn''t able to penetrate through the giant creature''s skin.


    *ROAAR*


    It woke up alarmingly fast, but I was already hiding behind a tree nearby. My subconscious was as swift as lightning, utilizing every part of my body to it''s maximum.


    The ogre started smashing trees in one hit with it''s formidable strength. It was the fiercest power I''ve seen yet. As frightening as it was, I gathered up my determination and said to myself:


    ''If we are to win this battle, we oughta work together!''


    I activated my sixth sense and transferred the information I received to my body. I was able to move whilst sensing mana and other oddities since me as myself and my subconscious were on another level. Also, prior to the encounter with the ogre, I was absorbing mana with the newly collected soul. With all the time I had, I was able to get half my mana capacity.


    The ogre punched the tree trunk that I was standing behind and it broke from the center. I was ontop of the upper part of the tree as it flew overhead the ogre. Jumping off and landing on the ogre''s neck, I grabbed it and squeezed.


    It startled struggling and repeatedly tried to grab ahold of me, but I evaded his clutch everytime with my legs that were faster than his hands.


    I wasn''t able to do any damage to the neck either, it was huge!


    ''I haven''t fully brought out the usage of mana, the elements!''


    I put almost all my mana into my hands, and in a single moment, transferred it all to the ogre''s neck. What happens when so much energy is released in an instant? Explosion!


    *BOOM*


    A quarter of the ogre''s neck exploded and it''s flesh splattered all over my naked self.


    "I''m not finished yet!" I yelled. Coating my hands in mana, I cut the rest of it''s neck and seperated the ogre''s head from it''s body, whilst also absorbing the ogre''s soul.


    While the head went flying, the rest of the body fell flat on the ground and shook the fallen and standing trees alike.


    I cancelled out everything. My subconscious was itching for a fight, but I kept it under control with rage. Why was I raging? Because it was hard to tame the soul with my subconscious going around moving too much. My mana was almost completely empty aswell.


    It''s only due to the exterior green mana of the nature that I was able to keep down the ogre spirit''s uprising.


    With all my willpower and the last bits of mana I was able to squeeze out of the gathered spirits, I quenched the ogre''s wrath and tamed it''s soul.


    "Haaaaa...!" I released my worries and relaxed. The moment I let down my guard, my subconscious took over in an instant and continued it''s antics.

 4 - Consequences

    ''Hello, it''s me, Derian. Derian Ends. Strange last name, you say? Well, I decided on it just a moment ago. Got a problem with that?''


    ''...''


    ''Fuck, I miss talking with my family..''


    Why was I talking to myself?


    Well...


    When my subconscious took over again, after my soul taming, it started running circles around the artificial forest before heading back near the pond and tiring out. I resynchronized with my body and the exhaustion that I received was unbelieveable. Even though I didn''t have the need for sleep due to the mana dust I inhaled, I couldn''t move either.


    So I just lied there near the pond. Fortunately, my back was resting on the wall, so I was able to see the room itself. The carcass of the wolf near me was starting to smell awfully.


    ''Ugh... Should of moved that before heading out.'' I thought.


    Being talkative in my own mind was neither the result of defeating the ogre nor from the mana dust. It was boredom, after all, sitting in one place for hours is quite boring. The only thing I was able to do was warm my ass with mana so I wouldn''t freeze up.


    ''One sheep, two sheep, thre- Yep, this isn''t working.''


    I was frustrated out of my mind. If I was able to, I would of pulled out all my hair by now.


    ''Guess I have no choice... I wanted to do this after I got better..''


    I looked at the pond with water in it that reflected light coming from the magic stones. My sixth sense developed a whole lot more after my trip to the forest. I was now able to use it while keeping my eyes open. Focusing on both of them at once was still tough, but with every attempt, I got better at it.


    8 souls in total: 1 wolf, 1 ogre, 4 rats and 2 birds. With all the spirits I gathered and their capacity, I used the mana storage to release some mana towards the pond. I was able to control the mana that went through me much better than the exterior mana. Like a slithering snake moving in for it''s prey, the mana moved smoothly in a curvy line.


    Once the mana went inside the water, I started lifting it for starters.


    The water wasn''t heavy at all, my mana actually outweighed it. The weight of the mana would purely depend on it''s density. That''s why there are easier to use elements such as by order: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth. All of those required their own mechanism to be used, but water was one of the easiest, so I started with that.


    Mana density wasn''t a problem, since I only had to compress the large amounts of quantities in my storage.


    The water lump floated in mid-air right above me. I looked at it''s beautiful form, but noticed it was dirty. I plucked out the impurities with seperate mana hands; stone pieces and blood drops flying everywhere.


    Once I was done cleaning the pond water, I cut off a piece and drank it. I was able to use my digestion organs because the mana dust didn''t affect them.


    I put the rest of the water back into the pond and looked at the carcass next to me. I figured that the best way to learn mana is through practice.


    I manifested three large hands and two knives, all made out of mana. All of them had high density and I wasn''t even using a quarter of my mana.


    With my three hands.. or ''claws'', I picked up the wolf carcass and had it float in the air, only a meter away from me. I needed to see what I was cutting, since I haven''t done this before.


    From the palms of the claws that were holding the carcass came out tiny sized threads and entered the corpse. Using those small threads, I seperated the inner flesh from the furry skin. With a large knife I cut a straight line in the torso and the skin just slipped off.


    After that was done, I used the two knives to cut off the fresh looking meat from the bones and caught them with newly manifested smaller hands. The room was now filled with the energy seeping out of me.


    It took me 5 minutes to complete the process. The carcass was now only a pile of blood, bone and rotten flesh. I threw it in the tunnel between this room and the forest, far away.


    ''Finally! The awful smell is gone, although I''ll need to check up on that later.''The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I looked at the bloody skin on the ground. Seeing as it''s not fit for use with such a displeasing look, I soaked it with water from the pond. I grabbed the skin of the wolf by the legs and raised it up with my mana hands.


    ''I''ll let that dry for now.''


    Next up were the chunks of meat. If I had one thing to name about mana, it was warmth.


    The knives I used morphed into formless mana lines and circled around two chunks of meat. I started filling the previously knives mana lines with more mana until they were huge and plump before cutting them off from my soul. Even after cutting off the connection, I still felt full control over the two mana spheres.


    I gave the command for the spheres to start spinning at extreme speeds around the meat. Using the velocity, I tried to heat up some food.


    ''Since all is well and done, I''ll take a nap now...''


    Indeed, I was mentally exhausted after working around with mana, and so, I closed my eyes.


    .......


    ...


    "?!"


    All the hair on my body stirred. I woke up as my instincts were screaming danger. I looked around me and saw small black gooey piles slightly hopping around the room.


    I was able to move my body now, but I didn''t. I had to conceal my movements in cautious of the large black goo pile stuck in the tunnel, trying to enter.


    ''Slimes now?!''


    I looked at the large smile and the way smaller slimes in unison.


    ''A mother and the children..''


    Inside the mother, I saw the bones of the wolf I threw away. Knowing that, I cursed at myself for being such a fool and baiting the slimes in.


    The mother spit it''s goo at my whirling mana in hopes of the half-cooked meat falling down for it''s children. It didn''t stop the spin, but slowed it down enough to drop the chunk down.


    I quickly jumped out of my position and grabbed the meat, even if I had enough mana to catch it, I didn''t care. It was time to show superiority in this room.


    "You bitch, stay away from my meal." I said.


    The mother slime spit goo at me, but I was able to block it by using the pond''s water as a shield. It turns out that slimes are not compatible with water, so the goo just bounced off. Knowing this, I circled water around the baby slimes and raised them into the air.


    "See this?" I said to the mother. It only aggravated the large slime and it started shooting more goo at me, but each shot was blocked with my precisive water manipulation.


    As a counter-attack, I formed two large mana knives and shot them at the mother, but as it turns out, slimes are extremely resistant to magic attacks. It did absolutely no damage to the mother slime, so I used my sixth sense to see what was going on with the slimes. The slime''s outer shell was simply a void to any attacks that have mana in them. Inside of the shell was a huge mana reserve, but I couldn''t access it with the shell completely blocking me off.


    The mother slime continued it''s goo spitting, so I started crushing it''s baby slimes while thinking of a strategy.


    ''I don''t have enough water to block off the big slime, but the smaller ones are easy to crush, even if direct attacks don''t work... Hm? Direct attacks?'' I wondered.


    The mother slime got even more flustered seeing it''s children crushed and started rapidly spitting more goo without losing it''s colossal size.


    I started charging at the big slime, dodging the flying shots, although mostly were blocked by the water. As soon as I got in reach, I put my hand straight and stabbed the slime right in the center. Once I was through the shell, I activated my soul stealing ability.


    ''The inner parts of the slime are weak and this one specializes in magic resistance, which means that physical attacks are bound to be more succesful.''


    The slime started eating my hand; skin and flesh melting off with ease. I built a small tolerance to pain in my right hand, but I had to finish it quick.


    Using my own mana and the mother slime''s mana alike, I started to lessen the density of the mana and instead expanded on it. The slime''s insides were beginning to fill up with mana and air, causing the slime to also expand. My right arm was further devoured as I kept expanding the mana.


    And soon enough...


    *BOOM*


    The mother slime exploded and hundreds of pieces of it flew all around the place. I placed my meat on my left hand behind my back to cover, but the other one that was still being heated was not spared.


    After it was done splattering everywhere, I quickly activated my soul steal skill and cut or crushed the scattered pieces that were trying to get back together. After I absorbed the soul, the goo stopped moving.


    I covered my melted right hand with water and started healing. Inserting mana into my blood flow increased the speed of the recovery.


    I looked at the rest of the baby slimes that were still alive. I clenched my right hand and all of the slimes were crushed except for one. Earlier, when I was scouring with my sixth sense, I located another slime with the capabilities to grow into the mother slime I defeated. If I were to let it raise, I could harvest a lot more than now.


    I put the baby slime caged inside the water aside for now and moved onto more important matters. The meat on my left hand started off with a spin again as I poured mana around it.


    I had to quickly tame the slime before it''s soul escaped my grasp.


    The spirit of the mother slime was actually quite powerful, more so than the wolf or the ogre. It was a true creature of mana. But all that didn''t matter when faced against the experienced me. If I would of encountered the slimes before the wolf, I would be dead in an instant. But, coming this far with all the knowledge I obtained, defeating a measly slime is easy!


    But it was not the case with the mother slime.


    An hour later, sweating vastly and still unable to quench the mother''s anger. I felt it''s rage and sorrow as I tried to understand it''s soul storm.


    Three hours later, I was suffering. My nose was bleeding and I couldn''t regenerate any mana while focusing on the slime''s spirit. I had to conquer it with my willpower instead of mana.


    Four hours later, I finally tamed the slime, but I was on the brink of losing consciousness. I was bleeding through my eyes and coughing up blood. My heart had an irregular beat to it and I was exhausted out of my mind.


    There wasn''t anything to fret though. I gained a powerful force as soon as I conquered the slime''s spirit. It was huge and profound in absorbing mana. Even with all of my other spirits combined, it couldn''t match the power of the slime!


    My recovery was swift and soon enough I would walk again.

 5 - Weakness

    Just lying there with lifeless eyes, holding a small piece of the meat chunk I heated. I took a small bite out of it and before I could take another one, I vomited.


    Whether it was the rawness, the bad taste or the stress from trying to tame the slime; It all added up to my current state.


    I was weak. I was feeling weak.


    Just an hour ago I was on the brink of death, but I somehow managed to come out alive. The way I managed my captured spirits'' mana to stabilize the taming, the safe room that didn''t have any threats at that time and my willpower to dominate the mother slime''s soul; I didn''t want to consider any of those as a factor to my survival. I just treated my victory as luck.


    The fear of death lingered over me as I anxiously sat on the cold floor with hands around my knees. I didn''t have the will to move.


    I looked around to see the mess.


    Remnants of the dead slimes all around the ground and the walls. The darker colored sludge from the mother slime even corroded holes into the floor.


    Half-eaten bones of the wolf and the fur with holes in it due to the slime''s acids. Raw meat lying around, rotting.


    I started to question myself.


    ''Why am I here?''


    ''Why do I have to suffer?''


    I looked at my naked-self. I looked quite ordinary when compared to a teenage boy, if not a little bit fat on the stomach.


    I touched my face. It was still plump and full of tiny pimples on both cheek sides.


    I couldn''t help but consider myself ugly.


    ''Why me?! I''m just a piece of shit and I get to be in this piece of shit place?!''


    Anger started to pile up inside me. The cruelty and danger I have experienced so far made my insides boil in rage.


    ''Is that how it is? You want to give me a challenge? Fuck you! I''ll challenge you myself!'' I yelled in my own thoughts.


    I clenched my fist and hit the ground.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The spirits inside felt my emotions and screamed for action. Their beastly instincts started biting at me.


    I took a deep breath and let it out.


    ''Unfair. That''s how it''s always been.''


    My sanity was beginning to calm down.


    I raised my legs and jumped up like an agile ninja who just fell on his back. I barely managed to stand up steadily, but when I did, confidence started coming back to me.


    I looked around the room to observe the chaos caused by the previous battle that took place in here.


    ''Better clean this up- But first!''


    I started walking to the artificial forest to pick up apples for eating and then headed back to the pond room to cleanse it of it''s filth. While in the forest, I urinated and released my feces since I consumed not a while ago.


    It took me only 20 minutes to clean the place up. I dumped the slime remnants into the forest along with the disgusting rotting meat. I couldn''t do anything about the holes that were melted into the ground.


    Using what''s left of the wolf bones I made bone nails the size of my middle finger, carefully carving them out with small mana knives. I could utilize them when faced against opponents with magic resistance. Although, they were only available for one time usage, since the acids made the bones weak enough to shatter when shot against stone, even when reinforced with mana.


    Once I tidied everything up and fed my pet slime in the water cage some apples, I started training myself. A few stretches got me in the mood.


    I didn''t workout much previously so I was being skeptical at first about this whole ''training'', but I reminded myself that there were no shortcuts to strength.


    Starting out with basic squats, I managed to do 15 before my legs gave up.


    4 for push-ups.


    23 sit-ups.


    I was already feeling worn out. This weak body of mine, I disliked, but it was my own fault for slacking off and playing computer games all day.


    Suddenly, I had an idea.


    I started pumping my physical body with mana and my aching muscles started recovering at an extreme speed. Another idea popped up.


    I started doing squats again, but this time I continously supplied myself with mana. In the end, I was able to handle 374 squats before reaching the limits of my stamina. I took quite a long break and ate some apples before moving on.


    After hours of torturing my body, I managed to exactly exert 2000 of each: Squats, push-ups and sit-ups.


    I lied there on the ground, sweating intensely, cleaning the pond water of it''s impurities and drinking. I drank half of the water there was left in that little soily hole.


    I passed out a few minutes after due to overexercising.


    The first thing I did after waking up was healing myself. I was experiencing lots of muscle pain, but I endured it. Physical pain compared to the pain my soul felt was like comparing an ant to an elephant.


    After I was done leviating the muscle ache, I jumped up ninja style like earlier, but the jump was explosive and quick. My footing stabilized immediately and I looked down to observe the changes to my body. My muscles were actually in an extremely well condition before I lost consciousness, I just didn''t pay notice to it due to my rough schedule. I was satisfied to see that the hard work paid off.


    But I was also radiating with happiness and dancing like an idiot.


    ''I''m so ripped!''


    My figure was comparable to a super sportsman; the very low fat percentage also made my body extremely aesthetic.


    After I was done jumping around, I set my sights on another training.


    Soul training.

 6 - Evolve

    I sat down, crossed my legs and started meditating. I felt my concentration towards mana and the surroundings increase as my mind reached a tranquil state. Previously, I couldn''t even stand the thought of meditation and quiet, but it was different all together when I started grasping the knowledge and feel of mana around me.


    And at the center of mana was the soul. The hub of energy was the collected mana''s conductor and storage. The more I delved deeper into the mysteries of this supernatural force, the more I began to understand it''s functions, limits and power.


    My mana storage, my soul, was enormous enough to handle large quantities of this transcendetal energy. Even with the generation strength of the spirits I have gathered, it took a couple of hours to fully reach the maximum that I could handle.


    After waking up this morning, I felt like I needed to overcome this obstacle called limit. I wanted to ascend before progressing further into the dark tunnels and beyond. To become strong enough to defeat my enemies without breaking a finger. This ambition of mine increased my willpower to succeed, and so I reassured myself that it is possible to become more than I am now.


    The vigor I accumulated yesterday didn''t interfere with my collection of mana. The tamed spirits inside me kept absorbing energies in the cave room and transferred from their embodiment of the soul into mine, all while I was ferociously training. Currently, with the help of yesterday''s capped out mana, I started to integrate it into my soul, all the while absorbing even more mana from through the spirits.


    I realised that the energy, called mana, and the spectral matter, called soul, were not so different at all, yet they were dimension apart. They were not the same, but they were able to become the same. Using this knowledge that I gained from prowling with my sixth sense, I was able to advance further.


    As I further meditated, my body started to respond to the changes occurring. At that moment, I realised another thing which was actually quite logical and needed no pondering to begin with.


    Souls are the co-existing force in all organisms, being one with the physical body. Organisms cannot live as one without the other, lacking in a soul or a body. It could be said that the fundamentality of life revolved around those principles, atleast where I was located at. Considering all that, it would be natural that the physical embodiment of myself changed according to my inner self.


    I felt as my body restructured itself evenly, just like I was distributing my mana evenly and combining it with my soul.


    As I kept constantly absorbing more energy and integrating it, the soul started to expand in size aswell. I already took mental notes of it before meditating and came up with a solution. I wrapped the expanding soul until it was the same size as before, increasing it in density. I wasn''t able to manipulate my soul directly; only through the connection with the fusing mana, that needed more time to develop into the spectral matter, was I able to control the structure itself.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    At the moment of my mystical forces merging, my soul was very vulnerable and weak. However, everything so far has been predicted and calculated. If there was one thing my intellect excelled at, it was the ability to learn.


    As the weakness permeated in my soul, I took advantage of it and signalled the spirits inside of me to locate my central point. I wasn''t able to do everything by myself so tasking the tamed ones inside of me lifted off a great burden. Once the spirits found my central point, which was my stomach, I ordered them to start circling it keenly, like providing cover for their children against harms from outside the ring. The reason that I commanded them to encircle the centre was so that I could accurately create a hole in my soul. If somehow I managed to screw it up by mislocating it, the results would be catastrophic.


    Using the external mana that surrounded my meditating body, I started to drill into the centre elegantly and slowly, but firmly. A spiral pattern became visible as I further deepened the hole. It felt a bit painful and uncomfortable, but there was no other choice if I wanted to progress in this hellish cave. I didn''t have time to wait like some kind of a patient monk trying to reach enlightenment. My survival was the only enlightenment that mattered right now.


    I stopped drilling into my soul after I reached an invisible obstacle. I wasn''t able to get it''s appearance into my head, but it was letting itself be known through waves of small spasming. I released the external energy in my hold and put my soul form on top priority again.


    After several hours of cultivation with half my mana reserves drained, I felt like I had come to a stop. The integrated mana started to push out of my soul as it was so tightly packed that even I had trouble making it any more denser, but after coming this far, I was not gonna give up. The process didn''t feel complete.


    Unlike before, when I had to use my wits to progress; it was a battle of willpower this time. I was mentally exhausted, dropping it all and taking a long nap was seducing, but I hated the thought of me being lazy. I didn''t work a day before coming to this cave, so I saw it as an opportunity to change myself. I wasn''t going to abandon everything I fought for just for a nap, only to wake up and regret everything. Those thoughts infuriated me, and through my own rage I found strength. Strength to evolve further as an individual I desire to become.


    All the mana that started leaking out suddenly came to a halt. I was not letting my progress diminish any further, and with the rest of the mana I possessed, I pressed everything together. It was the same as placing a wooden plank on a rock wall, hoping that it would combine. I didn''t saw it that way though. What I saw was an opportunity right infront of me, and with my willpower, I dominated it.


    Instantly, all of the mana compacted into the soul explosively. The feeling of it felt enormous, like I had swallowed a rhino in one gulp.


    It wasn''t only in the mental plane that it could be felt; a light ripple erupted from my body and clashed against the stone walls of the cave room. As the light dispersed, it''s smallest particles danced elegantly around the room before dissipating.


    My mind was released from immense amount of pressure and I fell on my back.


    I stared at my hands, which looked somewhat different from before. I didn''t have the need to wash over myself with the sixth sense, as I could feel that I had..


    ''..Ascended.''

 7 - New Strength

    My internal struggle ended with my victory accompanied with exhaustion, both physically and mentally. For a detailed understanding of the changes that occurred, I used my sixth sense.


    As my external vision expanded, and with tremendous speed due to the ascension, I witnessed my whole body, which was in an almost unrecognizable state. I was even doubting my own sixth sense so I opened my eyes and looked down. The view was unbelievable; I transformed into a work of art! My muscles stretched across evenly, my skin was as smooth as ice. I looked like I was shaped in the image of a perfect organism. It was all that was needed to get my heart pumped up and ready for action without even checking my developed soul.


    I jumped up with ease and stretched my limbs wide. Surprisingly, there wasn''t any crackling noise. Usually, when I woke up and stretched, my arms or legs cracked quite a few times. I jogged a fewrings around the room, jumped up and down, did a bit of ghost boxing. I had much more freedom in moving than I did before and my stamina didn''t run out, even without the use of mana.


    I was already feeling excited, but the moment I used my sixth sense again, it was chaotic. Ignoring the physical presence, I was overwhelming with power. Even though I haven''t absorbed mana yet, my soul form had vast amounts of spectral energy in it. The external mana around me was much easier to grasp aswell; More quantity, more reach and more control.


    Although it was all impressive, I tossed it aside for now to concentrate on my mana absorption using the hole Icarved in the centre of my soul. Even when I was cultivating, I was precise with my drilling and didn''t risk damaging any other important parts, but as I thought... When I thought about absorbing mana, something started to respond to my will. It was a faint feeling, but it was more noticeable than before. I was able to determine the approximate form of that ''something'': it looked liketubes and acted like ones, taking in the mana in the cave room through the hole. I placed my bets on them being threads that act as circuits for the mana in the soul, a vein to be more precise.


    Energy started filling me at a fast pace, tremendously fast when compared to the absorption rate of the spirits banded together. The power rush got to my head and I was feeling ecstatic; never have I ever felt this strong before. I used my sixth sense in its maximum potential and scouted my surroundings. The mana sources that looked like blurry dots from before had significant forms to them. I was able to see the size and the build of the carrier as far as kilometers away. More and more sources popped up on my radar, but the farther they were, the blurrier they got.


    The tunnel that lead to the forest and forward after that had no mana sources, except for one. It was small and it was located in the forest, even though I supposedly had killed every significant organism with a soul in there. It was just too small for me to take any action, moreover, I was itching for some action to test my new powers.


    I saw some larger signals that were getting closer further ahead the tunnel that led forward. As they got closer, I could read their forms: humanoid. Immediately thoughts of humans popped up in my mind and I was getting anxious. I slowly jogged towards the dark tunnel in hopes of uncovering the truth. When I passed the forest tunnel, it got even darker and I wasn''t able even able to see my legs. I slowed down my pace and started crouching instead of running. I wasn''t quite ready to be the confident man that I wanted to be.


    The ground got more unstable as I walked forward in caution. The floor got rockier, pebbles started sticking to my feet and finally the air pressure changed as I reached the end of the tunnel and entered a larger area. While it was as dark as ever, when I got close to the humanoid looking mana sources, I was puzzled. There were 8 different sources with the exact same amountof mana and then there was one behind them with a way larger amount. I determined that to be the elite of the group.


    Suddenly, the elite raised it''s hand and a surge of mana exited out of there. My eyes were blinded the next moment and I closed them right before utilizing my sixth sense for vision instead. A light source appeared out of the elite''s hand and illuminated the whole place. We were in a cavern that was approximately the size of a football field. I didn''t have time to react before the ball of light flew into the centre of the cavern, but I wasn''t going to dilly-dally around. My eyes quickly adapted and I jumped behind a pillar to take cover. Using my wide-area sixth sense I saw the light was actually a ball of fire and the moment it hit something in the centre, it exploded.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ''H-Holy...''I thought. It was the first time I had seen mana being used that way.


    I peeked from behind the stone pillar to get a better view of what I was dealing with, but what I saw shocked me more than the fireball. Skeletons walking around with rusted swords and behind the skeletons, a slightly larger bone construct that was covered in tattered cloth. Now that I was this close to them, I felt an unpleasant mana coming from them. It was making me uncomfortable like a foul reek that struck the nostrils of my soul.


    ''I''ve always thought that commanding an army of undead was badass, but this is just...''


    I didn''t have the words for it. It was not something that was morally wrong, it was the mana that was disgusting. It felt broken and weak, like a spoiled child that broke his toy on purpose and demanded a new one.


    In the center of the cavern, there was an octangular foundation with half-walls on three sides, all built from an unfamiliar dark green stone. Between the half-walls and in the middle of the foundation there was a crackling pitfire that materialized from the elite skeleton''s fireball. I definitely did not expect craftsmanship from this cavern, so it intrigued me what connection did these skeletons have with the place.


    6 of the 8 skeletons surrounded the foundation while the rest began scouting the area with their boney hands clutched tightly around their swords and slowly walking. The elite walked around the firepit before coming to a stop and crouching, the next moment it took out a stone tablet that was stored in one of the walls. It stood up and started inspecting it carefully before putting it back in. Afterwards, it took out another tablet, put it back in and then pulled out another. The cycle continued as I quietly observed from around the pillar. There were some inscriptions carved into each of the tablets, all with different structures. I wanted to take a closer look, but I was unable to without the help of my sixth sense. I got greedy and focused my might trying to look at one of the tablets, and sure enough the elite skeleton took notice of it and quickly turned its head.


    ''Shit!''


    I quickly retracted both my head and my sixth sense from peeking. Even though I knew that my new sense essentially requires mana to be in the distance where I''m viewing and that the more I focus the more concentration of mana would appear, I still did it like a fool. I expanded my sixth sense to wide-area and saw the two skeletons scuttling towards my direction.I cursed at myself for attracting danger like an idiot, but it was kind of exciting since itwas going to be the first battle since my ascension.


    ''Although the skeleton warriors don''t seem much of a threat with their low mana source, the elite one has sorcery on its side which I need to watch out for.'' I thought as I went over my battle strategy. I predicted that I wouldn''t be immune to fire even after obtaining so much power, being cautious was always a good idea.


    The assaulting 2 skeletons came from both sides of the pillar, but they were far enough for me to shoot them with something. I picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground and utilized every part of my instincts before jumping out from behind the pillar and shooting at one of the skeletons with a force of my mana behind it. Not only did I enhance the rock with mana, I also enhanced my own arm for the extra attack power. The thrown rock flew accurately towards the skeleton and shattered its head into pieces. The rest of the skeletal fell apart and the sword fell onto the ground with a clang.


    I swiftly hopped back behind the pillar and searched for another rock the same size, but I was unable to find anything, only small pebbles that couldn''t hurt a beetle. I abandoned the throwing strategy and quickly turned around into a guarding position with both my arms infront of my face. It actually wasn''t foolish for me to do that against a sword, since its purpose was to intimidate and trick the opponent, although the opponent was reanimated bones. The other skeleton quickly reached my standpoint and swung its sword at me from high up. With my enhanced physical abilities, I was able to dodge the attack in a split second. I did a spin to gain momentum before charging my elbow towards the skeleton''s head.


    ''Strength of the ogre!''


    The head shattered and the skeletal fell apart just like its fallen comrade did. I didn''t feel even the slightest pain when using my elbow to attack, since my hand was still modified by the effects of the mana.


    I was feeling accomplished. My strength was superhuman, being able to easily shatter bones and not having any drawbacks to it. But my victory was short-lived as I turned my head around towards the elite skeleton while a reflection of light started to envelop on my right cheek.


    A fireball flew towards me.

 8 - Bones with Mana

    ''Slime shell!''


    I raised my hands crossed and took the hit. The fireball exploded right infront of my face, but with the slime spirit''s feature I was able to avoid most of the damage. The remaining dissipating fire flowed around me and I saw the disgusting mana of the skeleton''s that was in the fire disappear aswell. I had an idea at that moment: Although I didn''t know how to produce flames, controlling them should be easy enough.


    I inserted my mana into the remaining fire around me and cancelled its dispersing. I directed the small flame the size of a fist above my palm. It didn''t burn, but it felt warm. If I managed to get the hang of how to produce it myself, I would be saved from a lot of trouble.


    The elite skeleton expressed surprise, but he didn''t quit being hostile. This time, he directed his bone index finger my direction and 3 skeletal warriors responded by charging at me. The flame in my palm was continously draining my mana as I kept it alive, but it didn''t feel significant since I absorbed 20x more mana than it consumed.


    I increased the fireball''s size in my palm and when it got as big as a huge boulder I raised my hand so it wouldn''t get too close to me.


    The skeletons kept running at me with their rusty swords, prepared to stab me right in the guts. I couldn''t help but smile in this situation.


    ''Out of the way.''


    I raised my left hand towards the skeletons to form three high-pressured air bombs by using dense mana to compress the air in the cavern. I shot the bombs forward to each of the skeleton and their ribcages cracked open, destroying their central point that kept their bones together. The remaining 3 skeletons infront of the elite one raised their weapons to try and defend themselves from me.


    Meanwhile, the flame in my right palm grew large enough to hit the cavern ceiling.


    "You can have this back!" I yelled, swung my right arm and threw the fireball towards the direction of the skeletons. The fire was 10x larger than the one that the elite attacked me with.


    *BOOM*


    The fireball exploded as soon as it hit the skeletons. The fire spread throughout the foundation, but the elite one had already taken many steps back to avoid getting hit. It simply watched as its minions were engulfed in flames and turned to cinder, one by one. I didn''t wait for him to make a move and formed three new air bombs to shoot through the inferno. I checked his position one more time with my sixth sense, but it seems like I was a bit late in taking action as the skeleton in tattered clothes had a tablet in his arms and channeled his mana into it.


    As the flames died down, I had sight of him and the form he had was starting to change shape. The bones grew larger and denser, also becoming sharp around the corners and edges. The tattered cloth around him stretched apart as he grew bigger.


    In just a moment, he became a large spikey bone construct. Half the length away from the ceiling, he towered over any creature I''ve ever seen. The bones took up a darker tone aswell, which personally sold me on the fear factor. Although the skeleton turned into a terrifying giant, his mana amount remained the same.


    The large claws curled into a fist and he stomped towards me. I shot my air bombs at him, but all it did was slow him down a bit and make a few cracks in his durable bone armor. He continued charging and I had no choice but to run. My developed capabilities allowed me to make haste, getting away from the reach of the giant skeleton on the right moment.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I ran until I reached the wall. Turning around, I saw the skeleton''s skull which didn''t look like one of a human. It had sharp edges and the overall structure of it made him look like a demon.


    He swung his fist, which was the size of my torso, at me. Although it was intimidating, the fist was too slow to hit me on time as I dodged it by hopping to the right and running away.


    *THUD*


    I looked back and saw the cracks in the wall and the wall''s rock chunks falling of the skeleton''s knuckles.


    ''Oh, damn.'' I thought. If I would of been hit with that, I would of turned into a bloody paste. I also noticed that the mana inside the construct diminished by a quarter after that attack. I guessed that it took a lot of mana to control that thing.


    I was able to run quite the distance before coming to a stop. There were a few pillars between us now, but it was no problem for him since he kept destroying them without much effort. I concentrated on him with my sixth sense and saw that his mana kept continously decreasing with every move he made. Thanks to that deficiency, I was able to come up with a plan.


    The skeleton reached the final pillar and knocked it down. I stood there without moving. It was scary now that he was pretty close to me, but I was confident in my abilities. As I prepared myself, the skeleton raised its arm and clenched his hand into a fist. I still didn''t move and now that my preparations were complete, neither could the skeleton. I formed extremely dense mana arms to hold his body in place. Mana kept diminishing and his movements had less force behind them as he struggled to attack me.


    Soon enough, the mana completely vanished from the skeleton and it lost all its functioning. It didn''t revert back into its normal form though, even though I thought it would. I still kept it up with my mana hands since I had one little business I wanted to attend to.


    The last remnants of the mana that died out located at the skull. I inserted mana into my arm, making it as hard as steel and incredibly strong, accompanied with lots of warmth. Placing my hand ontop of the skull, I could feel its tough build, but that durability wouldn''t be able to hold against my enhanced strength.


    I began tightly squeezing the skull with my wolf spirit''s skill activated. The reason for this is that I wanted to obtain the elite skeleton''s soul. I was able to utilize the abilities of the souls I had consumed, so the necromancy abilities of the skeleton would be a great add to my arsenal.


    The skull began cracking before collapsing between my fingers. The soul of the skeleton began entering me as I had predicted and I sat down tobegin taming it.


    I managed to tame the soul within a few hours. Although it took so long, I wasn''t having a battle with it like I did with the mother slime; I was purifying it from its ugly nature that didn''t suit me at all.


    After I was done I collected all the bones of the skeletal warriors that I defeated and placed them near the foundation. While I was collecting, I saw the ripped dirty cloth that the elite skeleton wore lying on the ground where the transformation took place.


    ''Finally, now I don''t have to see my dick flapping around the place'' I thought as I picked it up and tied it around my waist. It felt glorious obtaining my first piece of armor.


    Back to the matter at hand; I started putting back the shattered pieces of the skulls that I broke. Using my mana to heal them back together, it took me another hour of careful concentration and puzzling. When I was done, I attached all the bones back together with my mana, which kept them binded aswell. Finally, I had completed a skeletal.


    I approached its lifeless bones and started channeling small strings of mana into it, but the strings were also attached to me. When I consumed the skeleton''s soul, I gained knowledge of the necromancy ability and how to use it. When the strings were attached correctly I initiated the command for reanimation through the mana strings.


    I witnessed as it started to use the mana I put into it to start movement. It only made small amounts of motions: fingers twitching, head tilting and shoulder spinning. It still needed time to adjust since the skill I obtained was many times inferior to the elite''s. Even with the shortcomings, I had finally created something that I''ve always wanted.

 9 - Base of Operations

    "Hahahahahaha!" My wicked laugh echoed throughout the cavern, "My immortal army of undead has come to manifestation!"


    Although I managed to indeed put together 8 skeletons after a few hours, it sure was anticlimactic. Their movements were sloppy: constantly falling when stumbling over a rock, unable to properly wield swords and some wouldn''t even move due to mana string traffic jam. What quite exactly was the jam? Well, it was when orders got mixed up between the strings that connected myself to them.


    The skeletons could still function on their own without the strings if they are given orders beforehand, but sustaining a link allowed me to constantly keep them supplied with mana so they would last long. Essentially, what keeps the skeletons moving is energy ,and with every movement made, big or small, it is transferred to the bones. I could easily keep up my skeletons that numbered 8 without losing mana at all. Once again my mana absorption rate is higher than the consumption. If I were to match my consumption rate to my absorption I would be able to maintain about 40 skeletons.


    I already set tasks for the first capable skeletons who have adapted to my mana. Their job was to dig out the cavern with their bone claws enhanced with dense magic so that they wouldn''t break easily. I was in a rush to make a base of operations for all my minions, not only that, a proper living space as well. I couldn''t keep myself confined in a small room near a pond, even if it was a place that I had experience with.


    While the skeletons were clearing out the erupted stone spikes and other rubble, I was investigating the suspicious foundation and it''s half-walls. There were as many handles as there could be fit into the walls, although some were missing and had a long tight hole instead. I tugged on one of the handles and pulled out a tablet. It had strange incriptions on it, almost like a pattern with circles and lines, which I wasn''t able to comprehend at all. I could have tried inserting mana into the tablet like the elite skeleton did, but I wasn''t going to put curiosity over my safety for now. What if I turned into a giant flesh monster? I shivered at the thought as I carefully placed it back. It would be better to come back to those when I have enough knowledge about them or knew how to decrypt the runes.


    I had some free time while the skeletons were digging and the rest were adjusting my mana, so I scouted out the cavern with my own eyes. As expected, nothing much of interest except for one detail... A large hole in the far corner. I examined its properties and theorized that the hole came to be through corrosion. Scarcely, some ooze would slide down from the hole''s walls. No doubt it was the mother slime''s doing seeing as the size was quite perfect for her. I thought of it no longer and decided to seal the hole with lots of stone pillars all mashed together in the corner, all done using my large thick mana hands. Carrying around that much heavy weight actually managed to drain me beyond my mana absorption rate.


    ''I guess the skeletons were chased away by the slimes.'' I thought. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    After I was done scouting and ''fixing'' I turned to the big skeletal construct. I relocated it to a more flattened area that was just cleared by the skeletons tasked with cleaning. Looking at the large, spikey chunk of bones, I witnessed its appearance once again. Now that I was able to take a closer look at it, it seemed more terrifying, not to mention its size was actually huge. I was mesmerized by the elite''s former body, but snapped out of it soon once a working skeleton passed me. I shook my head and thought of an use for the colossus.


    ''Definitely battle. Maybe working as well? It''s size is comparable to a mecha, should be quite good.'' I thought and got to work on fixing it.


    The head was most compatible with my mana strings, so I quickly got myself into repairing it. It wasn''t hard to fix it since its skull was quite durable when I broke it, only large chunks of it remained. The hard part was melding it back together; it wasn''t like the skeleton''s build was skinny, it was thick like thousands of bones stacked together. I took my time healing the skull, meanwhile the working skeletons managed to clear out half of the cavern before I was done.


    Once I was done, I placed the scary-looking skull ontop of its fitting body. A perfect match thanks to my experienced repairing skill.


    ''I doubt there is a single person who can match my skull repairment expertise!'' I thought arrogantly. After a few seconds I stopped praising myself and got back to work.


    Pouring my mana into the colossus, I felt its need for high amounts of energy. Now I understood clearly why it drained so much mana from the elite one''s soul, what a needy body. After I was done feeding it full of energy, I began matching the strings. I had to use a lot more strings when compared to the amount I linked with the smaller skeletons. Overall it took me an hour or two to get the colossus moving, since most of the process of necromancy was alike to the smaller skeleton''s one, just a bit more weight added.


    I witnessed its great form rise up from the ground, the aura it gave off would intimidate any mortal. I wasn''t affected by its frightening features anymore, because I actually controlled it. The mysterious might be scary at first, but once it is revealed it loses its magic.


    The working skeletons were done cleaning and so I summoned all of my minions around me. As they surrounded me, I looked at all of them one by one. The feeling of pride swelled up in me as I stared at my strong army consisting of 8 skeletons and one colossal skeleton. Not only was I proud of my army, I was also looking at a beautiful scenery of a large clean stone room cleared out by the skeletons I tasked. Realising that I might have got too excited, I calmed myself down with long breaths.


    Now that my base was ready for reconstruction, I commanded my troops to enlarge the tunnel that first lead me here. The reason for that is transportation and mana. I realised after a while that the density of the mana is much higher in larger areas than in smaller. As for transportation, I needed my colossus to fit through so that heavier objects could be carried in here. Those two reasons were good for my base, even if it costs me concealment.


    I began cultivating my soul ontop of the foundation after my minions got to work. The other tunnel, which the hostile skeletons crawled out from, was no danger at the moment. It had little to almost no mana sources towards that direction, but I still set a skeleton armed with a rusty sword on that side to protect me.


    After some amount of time passed, I fell deep into my soul refining, unaware of my surroundings.

 10 - Slime Nest

    My multitasking became much more developed; while I was cultivating myself, I was able to slightly move around the external mana near my skin. It calmly vibrated as I took control of it and directed it near my central burrow. Doing that allowed me to take in more mana than I was naturally able to.


    I continued my constant soul densifying procedure until I felt a disturbance in information that a mana string transferred into me. Putting my cultivation on a hold, I got out of my meditation and swiftly got in a defensive position. I looked around with my sixth sense to spot any anomalies and found 7 mana sources, excluding mine and my guardian skeleton''s, in the same cavern. My glance immediately pointed towards the direction of those sources.


    Anger swelled in me as I stared at the back of my skeleton and the 7 slimes infront of him. My guardian stood strong even when faced against so many opponents, only equipped with a rusty sword. Although, such certainty was to be expected when all he had in that skull was my order. Even with the strong standing that my guardian posed, I wanted to burst into laughter. Those slimes could melt his bones in an instant.


    ''Shitty slimes, how were they able to get this close?'' I thought. They were almost near the foundation with only the skeleton standing between them.


    I swept the cavern with my sixth sense and discovered a new hole melted through the ceiling.


    ''What?! I already checked the upper floor for any dangerous mana sources, but I only found small bits.''


    My base was in danger if the slimes were able to preach through the walls so easily with their tremendous acidic prowess. I had some ideas which I could put in to use to eradicate my pest problem, but I had to take care of the intruders first. My hand started trembling at the thought of trying to destroy the slimes with my hand, just like I did with the mother slime. Air bullets were out of the question since the pressured air was surrounded by mana, which the slime''s shell would be able to deflect. The bone nails that I stored were too small to make much of an impact.


    All I had at my disposal was the skeleton that had a stalemate with the slimes at the moment. Ofcourse, I could use the colossal skeleton, but if my guardian cannot defend me from mere slimes, what kind of a shitty creator am I?


    I sent out a command to my skeleton to dodge any incoming attacks for now. I calculated that he was agile enough with my vast amounts of mana pouring into him.


    The slimes observed for a little longer before one of them started bouncing slightly on one spot. It looked like it was preparing to spit out a huge amount of goo chunk towards the guardian. Unexpectedly, it pulled back its whole body before lunging forward at a fast speed. I immediately ordered the skeleton to take the hit and reinforce its frontal bones with.


    The slime crashed right into the skeleton and rammed him into the half-wall of the foundation I was standing on. My miscalculations caused the skeleton''s rear bones to crack, some even shatter.


    I hastily increased my mana stream on the strings so that the bones would start healing. I didn''t have enough time to recover my guardian and get him back up before all of the slimes started making a move. Behind the attacking slime from before, the others split into two groups and started hopping to the sides. Three slimes on my left, three slimes on my right. Meanwhile, the attacking slime prepared for another jump.


    I calmly examined the situation. With the rusty sword I would be able to infiltrate the slimes shells, but I had only one of it. With the skeleton''s sharp arms I would be able to infiltrate the slimes shells, but the slimes would crush him all at once.


    I was out of options; it was time to take things into my own hands. Although a bit risky, I figured it would be time to test out a new element.


    Jumping off the foundation and landing far from it, I ''breathed'' in as much mana as I was able to. Not knowing whether it would work or not, I slammed both my hands onto the ground and started guiding mana into it, similar to the method I used to control my skeletons with mana strings. Roots of energy delved further and deeper away from me as I kept unleashing whatever force I was able to.


    I felt as the earth became more and more submissive to my will. Stone, mud, metal - All of these were becoming more sensitive to my reach.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The slime infront of the recovering skeleton began bouncing on the spot, ready to break the defense of the guardian. I wasn''t ready to lose my first skeletal warrior in combat yet, so I took action. Expanding with my sixth sense, I determined the location of the attacking slime and pinpointed it down to its exact position.


    Suddenly, the ground become more unstable under the slime. It started wobbling before instantly flying up to the ceiling and smashing between the stone roof and the rock underneath it. Its lifeforce, the ooze, stained itself on the ceiling while the rock, that erupted from the ground, fell down.


    Slimes that had split up became enraged at the sight of their companion''s death and started hopping at my direction. I felt my luck increasing with the slimes raging.


    Commanding my skeleton to take action, it swiftly stood up after half-recovering and ran towards the slime squad on my left side. The slimes were cleanly cut in half by a flying rusty sword controlled by an extra mana string and the skeleton''s sharp arms armed with mana in the inner bones. All of it was possible since the slimes had diverted their attention on me.


    The slime squad on my right side I took care of by myself; I raised three rock boulders from the ground and hurled them at the slimes direction. 2 of the 3 got smashed while the last one narrowly managed to avoid the boulders thanks to my bad aiming. My mana was running empty so I couldn''t use the earth to my advantage anymore, but I fret not.


    As the only remaining slime, it stood out as the most dangerous. Up to its expectations, it began bouncing on the spot. Before it could initiate its attack, the skeleton guardian charged at the slime with straight hands. The slime was cut in half by the corroded, but sharp arms.


    As the slime''s form broke apart, I let out a long sigh of relief. I looked at my damaged guardian and smiled, knowing that both of us were able to survive this attack together. Though, Icould of called upon reinforcements, but where is the fun in that?


    Once I was done recollecting myself and absorbing the soul of the slimes, I headed towards the hole that was newly melted. It took me half a minute of walking to arrive at my destination: beneath the hole in the ceiling. I stared at it while it ooze slipped down the corroded walls. Debating whether it was wise to jump up there, I decided to go.


    I figured that testing out my legs would be good, so I leaped upwards. I fell a bit short and grabbed the gooey edge of the hole. Since I wasn''t able to grasp anything solid my hand slided down and I began falling an eight meter fall.


    My instincts howled like a wild animal and I subconsciously packed the ground with mana. I softly fell onto it and kept descending like I was a feather coming down. After my back gently touched the ground, the mana underneath me dissipated. I quickly stood up sighed out of relief again. It was amazing how developed my own body became, to the extent where it protects me without me directly desiring it. I also hit myself on the head as punishment for my stupidity.


    This time, before venturing in like an idiot, I cleared the edge from the ooze with air bullets while also breaking apart somemelted stones. I could of done it more ''peacefully'' without the involvement of air bullets, but that would have taken too much time. Now that the way was clear, I leaped up again and grabbed the cleaned off edge. I pulled myself up and put my feet on the floor which was covered in ooze. Realising that my feet found themselves in a very dangerous place I quickly retracted them, but the ooze did not hurt one bit. After knowing that, I felt relaxed walking around.


    ''Soslime with mana hasmore corrosive acid..'' I thought. It brought up new theories regarding mana.


    ''From what I have gathered, mana boosts something when inserted. Such was the case with the fireball and enchanted bones. The fire grew larger in quantity while the bones hardened.'' I examined.


    Even with the knowledge I''ve gained, I didn''t have a way to produce fire. I needed fire to clean out the upper cavern where all the slime goo was situated. Thinking back on when the elite skeleton used a fireball, it formed so easily from his hands. Convincing myself that I could do it aswell, I tried it out.


    I put my right hand forward and began focusing. I directed mana to center ontop of my palm, doing that allowed me to feel a sensation. The sensationfiguratively asked me what was my desire, specifically, what form did I desire. I felt this just like before, when I was using mana to manipulate earth, water and the wind. I thought of it no longer and demanded the form of fire. Ofcourse, it didn''t just appear so easily; I had to visualize the fire and its essence ontop of my palm. The more I felt the essence of fire, the more my soul responded to it.


    In an instant moment flames bursted out of my hand. I regulated my mana flow and stabilized it so that it would form into a ball. I stared at its beautiful form as it warmed my hand.


    After I was done admiring it, I expanded its reach by shooting it out like a flamethrower. Bit by bit, I added more power to it until the ooze that it touched started vaporizing. I brought in my left hand and manifested a second flame to assist with the nest burning. In a few seconds half of the upper cavern was set ablaze. It all glowed brightly as I finally eradicated my lasting problem, but that was not the case...


    Suddenly, all the slime ooze in the upper cavern started moving at an incredibly fast speed, moving to the center. Even the ooze under my flames were called to the center and all of it gathered together began circling itself in midair.


    ''What is that?!'' I thought as I witnessed the forming of something ominous...

 11 - Soul Integration

    The fires I manifested were extinguished by the tremendous energy floating into the centre; The large sphere of black ooze floating in the middle of the cavern gained more power as it kept absorbing more of its initial components. There was no way I couldn''t have noticed this much mana just lying around. However, when I scanned the place with my sixth sense, I faintly saw a familiar substance that wasn''t quite exactly mana.


    ''Shit... A soul? Did that fucker remain dormant until I arrived?'' I thought, figuring out the nature of the cavern''s abnormal condition.


    Even with the knowledge I obtained, the problem still lied in the massive amounts of mana that thing had. It had 5x more mana than I did and the absorption rate was terrifyingly out of this world, I could even feel it trying to suck mana out of me aswell.


    The ooze was starting to complete itself. I had to do something before it took its form, so I covered my hand in a large blade of mana and applied the wolf spirit''s soul steal ability on it. Wasting no time, I began running right at the giant figure with a sprint. I was very close to cutting it, but it had finished gathering the goo from the cavern and exploded with energy, which threw me into the stone wall.


    "AGHH!"


    I didn''t have time to put up a shield before the slime blew me off, but thanks to my advanced endurance, I was able to devoid most of the damage. I lunged off from the wall quickly and rooted mana into the stone floor, setting up a string system underground.


    Raising my head, I saw the huge slightly solidified slime far infront of me. It was physically twice the size of the colossal skeleton, but its mana size, all packed together, was three times the proportion of its physical form.


    For the first time I entered into this cave system, I felt true fear. My hands were shaking at the thought of it consuming me.


    The slime, utilizing its strength, shot a big goo ball at me. Its speed was like a slow bullet, but it was still fast enough to obliterate a tree trunk. I raised a mana shield infront of me as quickly as I could, but it was demolished as soon as the shot reached it. Luckily, the goo was somewhat slowed down, however, it still covered my frontal body.


    "FUUUUAAAAACK!!" I screamed as the goo burnt me. My slime shell was powerful after absorbing the 7 slimes that attacked earlier, but it was no match against the slime boss'' attack. The acidic properties were far overwhelming when compared to the mother slime.


    As fast as possible, I wiped the burning goo off of me with the mana erupting out of me. It splattered to the ground, but the sensation of pain still lasted. My skin had burning marks on it when I looked and the cloth around my waist melted off from the front.


    Without water, I didn''t stand a chance against the monster. Even if I did have water, would it be able to defend me against the might of the slime boss?


    There wasn''t any time to think, I had to escape!


    I looked at the hole not too far from my position. The best way to make a run for it is with distraction.


    I formed a fireball the size of myself and threw it towards the slime. After throwing it, I ran as fast as possible to my escape route only to be stopped in my tracks. A thick line of goo vertically passed infront of me and hit the wall, like a sword being swung right before me. The sludge began melting the wall it hit and the ground it traversed. I directed my glance at the slime who didn''t even have any signs of a fireball being taken straight on.


    My situation was worse than I anticipated; the slime didn''t have any intentions of letting me just go after attacking its cavern. My only option now was to fight or die.


    I turned around and faced it, my glance being sharp when compared to before. I was not going to be at the mercy of the slime, my life was on the line.


    I began analyzing the situation. If I used everything I had in my arsenal, I would last for 10 minutes maximum. The colossal skeleton is too big to fit through the hole. The smaller skeletons are a joke when using them against the slime boss, even if they somehow got up here. My only good tactic would be to use the underground mana system I initiated earlier. My control of earth improved a lot after the battle with the 7 slimes.


    I reached out my sixth sense so it would cover the entire cavern. Since using my sixth sense required focus I wasn''t able to move around much, but I already had my defenses covered.


    Another slow bullet of goo came at me. I stomped once on the ground with my right leg and a boulder popped out of the ground in the same trajectory as the attack. The goo shattered the stone in half, but it was also stopped in its tracks. With a defensive formation like this, I was able to block the flying attacks for as long as my mana lasted.


    I stomped the ground again and three boulders, the same size as the goo bullet, came out of the ground. The insides of the boulders were filled with my mana so I shot them at the slime as soon as they were in a good position. My mana output was increased twofold so that the stone chunks I threw would be fast enough to pierce, but it mattered not. As soon as the boulders hit the slime''s shell, they shattered.


    The shell was too hard to crack, so I had to think of another elaborate way to attack. My best chances were to use the same tactic that I used against the mother slime, but the boss slime was too large for an expansion of air. There was also the risk of closing in the distance between us. If I somehow managed to penetrate the shell, then I would be able to release all my energy to destroy its insides.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Thinking back on it, the situation seemed to be the same when I battled against the mother slime. It kept spitting goo at me and I used water to block the attacks, just like I userocksat the moment. I had a good feeling about this and decided to advance forward, hoping that it would all end just like before.


    I willed my command into the ground and inserted half of my entire mana storage to pull out a giant boulder from the ground. The cavern shook a bit before a huge rock ascended from the ground.


    Veins started appearing on my forehead as I pushed my limits. Using up so much mana in an instant took a lot of concentration and soul strength, but in the end I managed to pull up the giant rock from the ground and hurl it towards the boss slime as a distraction. There was also some hope that the boulder would damage the slime, even if only a little bit.


    After the chunk of rock was thrown, I enchanted my whole body with mana. The power rushing through my muscles felt unreal in terms of strength. My speed was enhanced several times aswell, seeing as how I was able to sprint really quickly to the side from behind the boulder. Clearly such a thing has never happened to me before, but I wasn''t in the mood to gawk over how much potential this could mean for my future.


    I left my mana roots behind as I strided deeper into the enemy''s territory. It was good that the slime was all packed up in a nice round form, otherwise I would have problems dealing with its acidic ooze if it was all over the floor. Speaking of acids, I wondered why the slime didn''t corrode through the ground onto the lower floor of the cavern. It could be the results of the hard shell that the slime exercised.


    My sixth sense was still in focus when I ran towards the slime; I saw the boulder almost hit the slime, until it was cut in half by a round cleave coming from all of the slime''s sides. The ring of deadly ooze horizontally flew towards me aswell, but I dodged at the last second by bending my spine back. I would of almost snapped in half if it wasn''t for the mana supporting me.


    I quickly pulled myself back up with the strength of my legs and continued advancing. Even if the distraction was long gone, I had diminished some of the slime''s energy with the boulder. Its vitality was strong as ever despite my best efforts, but I was certain that with my strategy and my willpower, I could defeat it.


    The huge embodiment of black goo stood before me when I reached it.


    ''Strength of the ogre!''


    I applied a buff onto my right hand, boosting my physical prowess. The slime wasn''t able to shoot out an attack that fast since it just launched one and my speed allowed me to reach it much faster than expected.


    My fist slammed onto the slime''s shell, but it wasn''t able to penetrate it. Instead, ripples traversed across its body and its whole body wobbled as a proof of my enhancements. Although I wasn''t able to get through the shell, it was not that big of a deal since the attack was just a test of power.


    For my true reason of charging head on was to hit the slime with my leg. My right foot, which was internally applied with almost all the mana I had, went in for a sidekick. I figured that the energy expansion plan wouldn''t work out due to the slime''s much more enduring ooze, so I realised that chipping away parts of itself would allow me to decrease its size and resistance all together.


    My kick almost reached the shell, until the slime suddenly opened up. I could do nothing but watch as the monster''s mouth formed from the gap between its two slimy ends opening up. It was hard to take in the information and I subconsciously wanted to deny it, since if it was true, it would mean my loss.


    ''I failed...?'' I thought as I did a whole turn due to the force the kick had behind it. I was all out of energy and I could only watch as the slime ate me whole.


    It hurt.


    The burning sensation.


    The acidic ooze melting through my skin.


    I was right at the centre of the slime where its mana source was the strongest, which meant stronger acid.


    If I could scream, I would of. The moment I opened my mouth the ooze flowed in and melted my flesh tissue and bone.


    I couldn''t cry either with my eyes melting off.


    Struggling wasn''t an option.


    I wasn''t able to do anything, my destruction was nearing me. For the first time, I felt death approach me.


    I gave up, there wasn''t anything else I could do, but the spirits residing in my soul called out. They didn''t want their host to die.


    ''What? We can''t win against this monster. Damn, if I wasn''t such an arrogant idiot, I would of went about my business and moved somewhere else instead of this shitty cavern. Fuck. Death by a slime, presumably the weakest monster class, such an embarrasment.'' I thought to myself. It felt like time had stopped in the face of complete annihilation.


    ''Am I really this weak? Even after obtaining the means of empowering myself, I still couldn''t use it to its full extent. Surely, I''m not as weak as I seem to be, after all, how am I still conscious in this sea of torment. Perhaps its due to the fruition of my soul cultivation.''


    After reminiscing about the time when I upgraded myself, I got an idea. If souls can integrate with mana, can''t souls integrate with eachother aswell?


    Being near death, there wasn''t much of a choice but to try it out. With all that was left of me, I reached out to the soul of the slime. I expressed my intense will to survive and it responded to me.


    Suddenly, an explosion of my soul erupted from inside the slime. The integration sequence had begun.


    Spirits that I kept inside of me leaped out aswell and danced around inside the slime. The upper cavern became a place dedicated to the will of all our souls, battling for supremacy. Who fared the stronger power out of all of us, whose consciousness was stronger and who was the one with the strongest willpower to rule over all the others.


    I still felt weak, anxious and uncertain. I couldn''t quite comprehend what was happening. Getting into all these crazy situations showed me what kind of a lie of an existence I lived in. However, it also showed me the power that I was able to offer. The power that I, as a human, am able to bring out.


    The moment I realised how much potential I have, I determined myself stronger than others.


    ''What the fuck have I survived for this long if not for the future?!''


    Another burst of power erupted out of me. My consciousness exceeded every spirit within my area of influence, including the slime boss''. I screamed with all my willpower and demanded victory, I demanded that all other vow their obedience under my soul. The simple animals, monster or not, couldn''t fight back and slowly surrendered.


    All while I was fighting the spirits with my consciousness, my soul was integrating with them. Taking them in, one by one, I was able to feel the increase of dominance both spiritually and mindfully.


    Not knowing how much time had passed, I finally awoke to my true self. My body was almost completely liquefied, but my heart and brain were still intact. My limbs were gone and I wasn''t able to see anything with my eyes melted off, but I could feel everything around me.


    I was still inside the large slime, but I had integrated with its soul. The slime itself was now a part of me. At the moment, it was the only thing keeping my human embodiment alive.

 12 - Consumption

    Unable to feel anything with my five senses, I had to rely on my sixth sense to get around the cavern. My body was depending on the slime fluids to keep it alive, but I also inserted mana into it to boost vitality. Cells were slowly, but surely regenerating following the pattern of my soul form. My soul evolved several times after the battle with the spirits and took priority, which means that my soul form was much more prone to the human embodiment.


    The giant black ball of ooze turned into a much more compact humanoid form. I wanted to be able to move around freely, since consumption was needed if I wanted to keep the slime fluid alive. When I integrated with all the spirits, I gained the knowledge and instincts of their entire being. Although most animals needed to eat, the slime was particulary in need of consuming. The more it ate, the bigger and stronger it would grow.


    The best part of a slime is its ability to eat anything. It can dissolve rocks, grass, metal, flesh and all sorts of matter, doing so the slime cultivates itself and advances both physically and spiritually. Now that I have gotten my hands on its abilities, I am able to increase my strength just by eating whatever I can find, which was also good since I would of had a problem if my human body went on without eating.


    Not only did I obtain the slime''s prowess, the other spirits that fought in the ring of supremacy were all overtaken by me aswell. After I integrated with them, I realised that only two of the spirits were in their full form: The boss slime and the wolf. Every other spirit was absorbed thanks to the wolf''s soul steal ability, which seemed to be able to only take in the souls partially. Even with that being the case, when I integrated with the incomplete spirits, I gained more power when compared to just keeping them inside my soul.


    With my remaining torso and head surrounded by humanoid-formed ooze, I attempted to exit the upper cavern. Using my sixth sense, which had advanced several times aswell, I could manifest the surroundings accurately in my mind and started walking towards the hole in the ground that connected the two floors of the cavern. I was still inexperienced in the usage of the slime fluids, so I stumbled with every step I moved forward. It took me a few minutes before I was capable of walking even a few metres. The density of the ooze I packed together into a humanoid form also made me unbalanced, even if I had obtained knowledge on how to manipulate the slime.


    After about 20 minutes I was able to crawl into the hole that led to the lower cavern. I simply flowed down with my torso and my head inside the ooze like a smooth, slow waterfall.


    My sixth sense view of the lower floor of the cavern became much more clear as I entered it. The skeleton that I had placed to guard me was still standing there strong, but it was disconnected from my soul. All of the other skeletons were out of reach aswell, since the mana strings were cut off during the battle with the slime. The mana of the digging skeletals had run out since they were constantly working while I was gone. When I managed to get to the dark-green foundation, I reattached mana strings onto my minions.


    Since I evolved several levels from before, my mana control was immensely more keen. If I focused enough, I would even be able to pull off amazing feats with a skeleton just like a master would control his marionette.


    I commanded the skeletons to continue their tasks which I gave them before, but I set my guarding skeleton to assist with the digging since it was too weak to protect me with a rusty sword and fragile bones. I even far outranked the colossal skeleton at my disposal in terms of durability, which was its forte.


    I slovenly walked towards the artificial forest between the cavern and the pond room. Feeling good about the reconstruction, I witnessed how much my skeletons had progressed: the tunnel was carved out with a 10 meter distance between the walls and an 8 meter distance between the floor and the ceiling. Luckily, the tunnels were long so the skeletons didn''t carve out any holes into other rooms within the cave system.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    I walked really long since I was still getting used to my slimy legs, but I finally reached the forest. The skeletons were digging only a few metres away towards the pond room. There was also some stone rubble scattered around the tunnel floor, but I quickly ate them up with my legs. I felt my vitality increasing everytime I dissolved a rock chunk, even if only a little bit.


    I was on the edge of the tunnel where the drop to the artifical forest ground was a few meters of height. I could of just absorbed the large amounts of stone that was carved out and thrown into the cavern where the foundation was if I wanted to increase my power, but I had a definitive reason to come to this forest. There was a mana source half the size of the boss slime in here.


    I already knew what it was, another slime. It made me angry thinking how much of a nemesis the slimes have been, but I was relieved knowing that thanks to those slimes, I am far more powerful than I ever was. A small measly slime wasn''t going to be a burden to me anymore.


    Before leaping into action, I took a good look around the forest with my sixth sense. I was able to slightly see the physical world with my new sense, but it was enough for me to get around. The fake sky had a bright sun illuminating the green leaves of the trees underneath. The grass over the muddy soil was much longer than it should be, but some spots were missing grass completely. Instead, a trail, that looked like something was dragged off, went somewhere further away from the tunnel entrance.


    I reassured myself that it would be fine this time around and jumped down. I lessened the impact by expanding my slime legs in an instant since my heavy weight would of meant harm to my human body if I just crashed into the ground from so high up. Once I safely landed I quickly retracted my ooze expansion and packed it all together nicely, just like before. As long as I had slime connected to me I was able to move it freely just like I''d move a limb.


    After I formed the ooze back into humanoid legs I began following the soily trail. While on the way to find the end of the trail, I thought of the possibilities that might have turned up the situation of the slime in the forest. Once I analyzed the cave system broadly with my sixth sense, everything became clear.


    The baby slime that I had captured and held in the water cage had escaped with my mana connections cut off. It sought to consume, but the pond room didn''t have much in it, so it went towards the artificial forest where the ''food'' stock was in high amounts. In addition to that, the leftover ooze of the dead slimes was dropped in there aswell. Since there was no sight of the leftover ooze, my theory proved to be correct so far. Its size is the most mysterious though, how could it have evolved so much within a few days? The answer to that is the bush, which had leaves full of glowing mana dust on them, I encountered before when coming to this forest the first time. My theory was proved correct again with the absence of the mana bush.


    With every step I took I saw the trail getting wider. In a few minutes I reached the end of the trail, which had already expanded many meters in diameter. The place I stopped at was also the place where the battle with the ogre took place, as seen with the wrecked trees around.


    The slime that I had come to kill was calmly resting where the ogre''s corpse once was. It seemed like it had just ate and was taking a rest. I was able to tell its condition easily since I was basically a slime myself.


    I closed the distance between us by just sliding on the ground with my slime legs. I took a good look at the new slime who just matured, but it was still underdeveloped when compared to the boss slime.


    ''You have fulfilled your purpose, just like I wanted you to.''


    It was by my will that the slime had survived the slaughter in the pond room, but now was the time to repay the kindness that I reached out to him.


    I put forward my shoulders, which were slightly done regenerating, and my upper arms, which were still in the phase of regenerating the bones. Ooze still surrounded the healing parts and acted as substitute arms, so I used them to make contact with the sleeping slime. Once my black slimy arms touched its shell, a short fight broke out again.


    Instead of physically battling the slime, I directly started integrating with its soul. Since my soul was several times more powerful than the enemy''s, I was able to quickly absorb all its life into myself. It woke up swiftly, but it didn''t matter; I had more control over it than it did itself. The battle was over quickly as I ate up its soul and its ooze like a vacuum.


    Once again, my power had increased. Directly integrating with the soul instead of absorbing it allowed me to take in its full form. It was a far more useful way to gain strength as an alternative to the wolf''s soul steal.


    Since I was attuned to its physical properties, eating the slime boosted my vitality by a half. My regeneration ability also became much more developed in terms of speed.


    ''Just a little bit longer...''

 13 - Preparations

    My skeletons had finished digging the tunnels wider, from the cavern to the pond room. The distance between the two areas was approximately 200 meters.


    I had waited a long time for my body to regenerate. While I was waiting, I ate the dividing ground that seperated the cavern''s first and second floor. Eating so much stone allowed me to cultivate and breakthrough to the next stage of my densified soul. All the mana that I got from eating the ground equaled to be slightly below the boss slime''s entire mana reserve.


    After I was done cultivating and completely regenerating my human body, I opened my eyes for the first time. I was almost going to break down and cry, but I held back; after having suffered so much I realised that one life is only a temporary force within the cave. My sight was extremely enhanced after my rebirth and I was able to see clearly through the darkness. Not only did my sight improve, all of my other senses had advanced aswell. It was good that the body is always in synchronization with the soul, allowing me to recreate myself in the perfect form.


    Almost my entire body had actually transformed from slime into flesh and bones, which means that the volume of my cells were extremely dense. By now, I already had supernatural strength when compared to an ordinary human or an ogre for that matter.


    At the moment, I was sitting on the foundation surrounded by half-walls, cultivating myself till I made a breakthrough again. Each time I integrated mana into my soul, it became harder to advance further without having the need to take a break due to mana running out. Even with the drawback, the breaks didn''t take more than a few minutes thanks to my tremendous absorption rate that had advanced many hundred times when compared prior to the boss slime''s battle. I made leaps since I''ve integrated directly with the enemies I face.


    I was stacking last of my mana reserves into myself before reaching the cap. As always, cultivating the soul meant that the cap needed to be surpassed by constantly compressing mana into the soul form.


    After several hours I was able to breakthrough and ascend to the next level, quickly stabilizing my mana flow afterwards. The essential thing to know about soul cultivation is that the mana will permanently become the same substance as the soul after the breakthrough, otherwise it would just gradually return to its original state. Once a breakthrough is made, the host will feel a disturbance of balance due to the sudden lack of mana.


    I finished with my stabilization and stood up, my location still being the dark-green foundation. The reason I worked so much on training myself was because of unseen threats. If I was weak and went up against stronger forces I would surely be annihilated, but if I was strong enough to ensure just a tiny bit of an escape chance, then that would be just fine for me. Fear of death still lingered around my anxious heart.


    Touching my hair out of curiosity, I felt a soft sensation. It didn''t surprise me, since my body has gone through numerous changes, but it made me happy.


    I stretched out my body and felt a little bit sore from the rear; sitting on the hard flooring for hours wasn''t pleasant. My bottom was exposed aswell, so I had to take care of that problem again.


    ''Damn slimes...'' I cursed in my heart.


    My current goal was to obtain a pair of durable pants. Even if I was strong enough, my underwear could be damaged in a fight against some creature. I still had dignity within myself even after the rebirth.


    Scouring the cave for any good materials, I found something for a temporary armament. The artificial forest had some pliable branches, so I cut them off from their trunks with my hand coated in sharp mana. Instead of ripping the branches off, the cutting allowed for a more versatile usage of the sticks. For the next part, I tore off patches of leaves from the trees and connected their petioles to the bendable sticks, which were ring shaped and tied around my waist. Once I put everything together, I used mana to reinforce the bondage of my leaf skirt, creating a tightened fortress.Stolen story; please report.


    It felt a lot better after having covered my crotch again, relieving some stress. But, the search for pants wasn''t over.


    I knew that there wasn''t anything else that I could find within the rooms I''ve explored, so it was time to cross into another room within the cave system.


    Choosing to take the route that was available in the cavern where I cultivated, I proceeded there with caution. If there was a chance of a dormant soul going rampant again then it wouldn''t be the best time, since I haven''t obtained any real armor or weapon yet to defend myself. Having a strong weapon at hand would certainly be useful against tough enemies.


    I walked the stone corridor filled with distant darkness for quite a long time. My sixth sense was sharply observing any anomalities in the environment, eventually finding nothing abnormal, until I was met with something strange.


    Reaching the end of the tunnel, I glanced at a large metal door with light-brown shade covering it. It had a small orb in the centre of the two sides and a sculpture of a humanoid creature carved intothe orb''ssurrounding, towering almost 7 meters tall. The room itself was just as plain as any other cave room, filled with stone spikes on the ceiling height and gravel traversing across the ground.


    I observed the door for a few minutes. It had the same feel to it as the large red door I first witnessed, with the most notable difference between the two being the sculptures and the orbs.


    Surely, this ominous gate had more to it than the mysterious aura surrounding it. I came closer and placed my hand upon it and tried to push. As I placed my hand, the small orb started glowing in a yellow color.


    Soothing sound ripples instantly roamed the air as the door pried open. The light that came through the tightgap blinded me as it got more brighter, due to the unlocking. Air blew like a tornado inside the cave and the freshness of it invaded my nostrils.


    I gave it a minute before my eyes were ready to explore what vastness I had uncovered. My lids slowly untightened and I fell on my knees.


    Seeing it with my own eyes, the world was just beautiful. The savanna''s grass flowed gracefully while the trees were tilting right and left, all thanks to the wind''s temporary appearance. But the most notable feature, that assisted the landscape''s elegance, was the sun. It couldn''t even be compared to the artifical forest''s ball of light. The rays it shot at my skin felt warming and the light was bright enough to illuminate the cave''s insides quite far.


    I clutched the tall grass growing from the seemingly brown-looking landscape that I kept admiring. After a few minutes, I took my first steps into the wilderness outside and freed myself from the cave''s atmosphere.


    All the agony I went through felt like it just faded away the farther I walked from the cave, but the good feeling didn''t last long as I reminded myself the reason why I came here: pants.


    There was a reason I wasn''t so thrilled with the discovery of a possible freedom; events, that lead up to this moment, taught me that caution is a weapon to be utilized when faced against the unknown.


    To get a more clear vision of the surroundings in terms of the supernatural element, I used my sixth sense to its maximum potential. My mental vision expanded the more I employed my observation skill. At one point, the limit of my power came closer the more I put it to use, causing me to gradually lose the speed of the sight traversing farther. Not only did I lose momentum the more I forced myself, my mind also got weaker.


    By the time I reached what I was looking for, I was completely exhausted and fell on my rear. A terrible headache took place once I stopped using the sixth sense.


    "AAAGHH!!" I screamed in pain. I was in no condition to start exploring any time soon, so I retreated back into the caverns. The large door closed behind me once I got further from it when I walked back into the tunnel from which I came out of.


    <hr>


    Half an hour of rest proved to be rejuvenating for the mind. The excruciating pain had dissipated over time while I was tryingto keep myself from thinking too much.


    This time, when going into the wilderness, I decided to bring along my minions that were awaiting for commands. I noticed that the mana, that I put into them, had dispersed even if they had no activities. Small details like these, even with their small contribution, helped a lot. My ability to manage mana around improved each time I made a discovery concerning the supernatural force.


    I wondered if it would of been possible for me to unlock these experiences back on my home planet. There was no possible way I was still on Earth under these conditions.


    Before going out, I had made several spears out of stone and equipped them onto my minions. It was difficult at first to craft them out of huge blocks with sharp mana blades, but after a couple of tries I managed to make them decent enough to be qualified as weapons.


    Once I was all prepared, I moved forwards with my skeletons behind me towards the cavern''s exit.

 14 - Goblins

    Once again, I was able to see the beautiful savanna again. I had missed it, being inside the dim cave was really depressive.


    Deciding on where to go, I took the path on the right. When I used my sixth sense, I scouted out something interesting: a bundle of small lifeforms.


    It took about half an hour to get somewhere close to the destination. I was still far away from the location of the organisms I sensed.


    There were many boulders around the place and I hid myself behind one of them while peeking from behind it. The place I observed was a cave, a hole within a mass of rock that erupted out of th ground, and there were 2 small humanoids infront of it, guarding the entrance.


    ''As I thought...''


    Those two small creatures who seemed to be about a meter tall had beige skin, pointy ears and slightly deformed faces. They could be recognized as goblins from certain stories.


    I was mostly certain they were goblins after I used my sixth sense to its maximum potential, after all, ogres existed here too. No surprise if the next thing I saw would be dragons or elves. Though, it would certainly be nice to witness the mythical elven beauty.


    The goblins were wearing some torn clothes just enough to cover their groins. Sloppily crafted stone tip spears of height a little above their own. Their long noses were constantly sniffing out smells, seemingly searching for any creatures, either dangerous or for hunting as food. I was too far for them to pick up on me. I wasn''t even sure if I had any smell on me. After all, was I a slime or a human?


    I thought if it was better to kill the goblins or leave them alive. Sort of having an overlord complex, I decided to try capture the goblins and submit them into being minions. It wasn''t that simple though, the plan required capturing and I was no professional at it. Using the skeletons? No, they would be too slow and the goblins would probably be able to alert their kin. Perhaps wait for night and get them from behind... No, I am not that patient.


    An idea struck me. I could just go straight ahead in. The lifeforms there had relatively little mana, with only one deep down the cave having relatively more, but that one wasn''t even close to the mana amount I had. Even my colossal skeleton had slightly bit more mana than it, since I had threads in him that supplied him with movement and reinforcement. However, there was the danger of being caught in a trap. Perhaps they even had tools or some other power that could completely counter me. Although it seemed to be unlikely. Even so, I had a plan to disassemble one of my skeletons and recreate his bones to serve me as armor.


    I called upon a skeleton near me and began disassembling him and restructuring his bones to fit me. Using my slimy properties, I attached the bones to my skin. I reinforced the armor with plenty of mana for protection, even adding a thin invisible layer of slime shell to nullify attacks. Just as the boss slime was completely unfazed by my attacks due to his hard shell. After I was done, the armor looked like an exo-skeleton on me. I liked the way my hands looked, sort of like claws of death. Pretty badass.


    It was time to move. I sent out one skeleton ahead. The plan was to have them come out of their cave.


    As soon as the skeleton reached their line of sight, the goblins went into a defensive position, pointing their spears towards the lone skeleton, meanwhile speaking some gibberish language. Their faces were showing signs of hostilities.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The skeleton raised his arm towards them, closing all boney fingers except the middle one. A little joke I pulled, but their unchanging stance indicated that they did not understand what it meant. I was expecting something, but logically thinking, goblins would have no idea what human gestures meant.


    I commanded the skeleton to approach closer. After a few steps, the goblins charged and stabbed their spears. One of the goblins'' stone tip spear went right through a rib, and other one''s hit a bone, but it slided right away. Now that the goblins were in proximity, the skeleton grabbed their hands. The goblins started panicking, beating and attempting to escape the clutches of the boney hands, to no avail. The bone structure was reinforced with magic.


    Once the little ugly creatures realised there was no escaping, they started screeching and nagging towards the cave while struggling. It didn''t take long for many other of their kin to swarm out of there.


    I commanded my skeleton to run back to my location with the two goblins. As he did, the goblin swarm started chasing him. They were quite light on their feet and almost caught up to my tasked soldier, but it did not matter once they reached the boulder field where me and my little army was hiding.


    As my skleton ran past the boulder where I was behind, the goblins foolishly wandered in as well. As they did, they took notice of me and the other skeletons. I quickly jumped on the boulder I was on and jumped again, to get behind the goblin swarm. I placed my hands on the ground and channeled mana into the ground, erupting tall stone wall around the place, trapping the goblins in the field of boulders. I commanded the skeletons to quickly each capture atleast 2, one for each hand. The goblins were swift to fight back or evade, but once my colossal structure came out of hiding, the morale of the goblins suddenly fell infront of this terrible and huge creature. I stood on the wall as I watched them pathetically attempt to climb the wall, since they decided to run instead of fight.


    It took a few minutes to scramble them all up. I figured it would be better to have them in a cage rather than struggle in the hands of the skeleton and uselessly waste my mana, even though the consumption rate didn''t match the rate of regeneration. Perhaps I would need a hand later, so I lowered the stone walls that I erupted earlier and instead, raised a tall amount of stone from the ground, creating a hole to throw the goblins into. The twelve goblins there had enough room to not climb on eachother for breath, but ofcourse they would want to escape the hole. I placed a few stone planks on top of the hole, instead of just closing it off completely, so they could have some air and sunlight coming through.


    "Stay there and don''t try anything funny." I said while pointing a finger at them, even though they probably couldn''t understand me. I set the colossal construct and two skeletons to guard them, commanding others to come with me.


    It was time to take a look inside the cave.


    "Wait here." I told my skeletons at the cave entrance. I created a small flame on top of my palm and ventured inside.


    There was a horrible, disgusting smell the further I went in. The tunnel started going more downwards, meaning the goblins home was deep down in the cave. The cave walls had holes in them, some of them had some burning wood in them for lighting. I was wondering if the goblins see in the darkness or not. It didn''t matter to me if there was light or not, my vision was incredibly enhanced to even see in complete darkness. Whether I could see in the darkness or not was also not so important if I was scouting, since my sixth sense was able to scout mana sources.


    As I walked deeper, a horrid screech echoed throughout the cave.


    I shivered. It was truly a disgusting sound that vibrated through my ears. The screech continued aswell for a good while. I managed to reach the chamber where the sound came out of, all while trying to lock the sound out of my mind. It was the home of the goblins. Materials like grass and wood or sticks were around the place, the walls had holes with burning wood in them, there were bones of unknown creatures decorating the place, stone tools and another goblin of different structure than the rest. I couldn''t focus on any of them, since my sight was only one thing.


    It was the source of the screams, and it was also a disgusting sight. I witnessed a larger goblin, with green skin, swole belly and hanging tits sitting in a large hole in the wall that was made comfortable with soft grass.


    "What the fuck...?"


    It was giving birth. Two heads were already hanging out of its genitals and as another loud scream tore out of its mouth, the little goblin spawns were pushed out of the womb. As the goblin matriarch laid out its children, it took notice of me.

 15 - Costly Technique

    I felt so sick in the mind, having to see this disgusting looking creature give birth to its disgusting children. Horrid smell invaded my nostrils. My view of goblins changed at that moment, when before I thought they were just small terrible creatures, now they were purely disgusting as well. Never having seen even human birth, this traumatised me.


    The matriarch commanded a goblin by its side to attack me, so it started running towards me with nothing but hands as its weapons. As the attacker reached my vicinity, I grabbed it and threw the goblin behind me. Slamming my feet on the ground, stone erupted out of the ground and began surrounding the goblin like a snake strangling its victims, although I just trapped it, since my plan was to have all of them alive.


    The problem was, how do I deal with the goblin mother that just gave birth. It stood up from its nesting place, standing about two meters and a half tall. It was one and a half meter longer than the other goblins.


    The matriarch started coming towards me, thinking its size would best me, while my eyes witnessed horror. The umbilical cord wasn''t cut off and the matriarch was dragging its infant goblins on the floor while coming towards me, bleeding the ground itself red with other fluids mixed in. I couldn''t take it anymore.


    My mind didn''t even want to think about capturing that thing. I completely shut off mercy.


    "Fuck this!" I yelled and reached out my palm towards the matriarch. Intense heat started gathering and I shot out fire like a flamethrower. The intense flames were thick and burning bright. I didn''t hold back one bit.


    "BURN!"


    I put out my other palm and initiated burning with it aswell. The matriarch screamed while being flamed alive.


    I had no damn care for anything except making the creature burn into dust. I was feeling the heat aswell, but I continued burning the living fuck out of it. I almost exhausted my entire mana supply.


    I let out a breath as I looked at the cave room that was melting. There was no sign of the matriarch. Everything was torched, with lava oozing down from the walls.


    Now that I let out my emotions in the form of a furnace, I released the serpent formed stone around the goblin and grabbed it, walking away.


    Once I reached outside, I looked at the sky and let out a sigh, "Goblin caves, never again."


    I handed the goblin to a skeleton at the cave entrance and commanded them to follow me. We walked towards the place where the other goblins were held captive. It seemed like they had given up on futile struggling and are now sitting the dormantly, but that couldn''t be said the same for the new goblin addition. It was screaming loudly and biting the bones of the skeleton holding it. For a moment, it saw its kin and started telling them something, which riled up the entire hole. They were now more passionate than ever about struggling, even if they realise its useless. I speculated that the new goblin might have told the others that I had incinerated its... mother.


    Now that they were aware of me murdering their matriarch, it was tougher to get them to submit to me. There was no hurry though, since they didn''t have anywhere to escape to.


    I used my sixth sense in a wide radius to scan for any other creatures near here, but the results were miniscule. Few results came back with small mana amounts. Looks like the goblins did a good job of marking their area, only for me to claim it for myself.


    Indeed, the thought of building a new base of operations outside crossed my mind before. Now that the chance arrived, I got excited.


    Looking at the sky, there were no clouds to be seen and the sun was bright as ever. Where did the goblins get their water supply from? I stroked my chin while looking at what to do with all this infront of me. Bunch of goblins in a hole and a group of skeletons. I would have asked the goblins, if only they could speak. Well, there was the thought of integrating with one of them, but after experiencing the horror in the cave, it was still a disgusting thought. It was quite the dilemma, since it was useful to integrate with souls, but my ego was holding me back. I decided to think about it later.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I went into a lotus position and started cultivating. My mana supply was reduced a lot after using most of it on burning the matriarch, so before I would start any work on building a base, I thought I''d recover some of my mana, perhaps even advance to the next level.


    The energy in the savanna was dry, like the mana I sucked in had an aptitude for fire. When focusing on meditation, my mana regeneration was many times higher when compared to just doing something else. The hole in the stomach of my soul became slightly larger the last time I was meditating. It would be hard to suck in more mana from the surroundings with a smaller hole, but there was also the speed rate of suction, which made up for a smaller hole. Mine were matched evenly with eachother, I had thought.


    I decided to name the hole in my soul stomach, Soul Fountain, and the soul tubes from which mana flows through, Spirit Veins. I picked those name out from novels I had read.


    As more mana started gathering around me, the soul fountain was able to take in less and less, due to my soul filling up with mana. Energy started accumulating around me, almost even being able to be seen physically. It had no color, yet distorted the air around me. The goblin that was being held by the skeleton felt a pressure around me and looked towards me with awe.


    It wasn''t enough. I was hungry for more energy. I wanted to reach the next level, so I began sucking in more and more energy, pushing my soul fountain to its limits, forcing it to expand larger and open up more. Not only did the fountain feel pressure, my entire soul was getting mana from the outside. I was directly forcing mana to integrate with my soul externally. It felt like being crushed by intense pressure. The surrounding air swirled around me. I began sweating as a result of the hot mana absorption.


    Around me, grass tore off and stuck to onto my body. I was like a black hole. Even the skeletons started to feel being pulled slightly. The bone armor that I had built started to crack under the pressure, like breaking plastic forks in half.


    I gritted my teeth and tried a new tactic. I let out all the accumulated energy for a split second to allow the mass of mana to group up into a single surrounding area and with all my willpower took all of it in at once, placing a great deal of pressure on my soul and forcing it to integrate, like being mashed together with a hydraulic press.


    The technique came at a cost. My physical body suffered pain and bones either cracked or moulded in abnormal shapes. It was out of proportion of my soul. I repeated this process few more times, enduring the pain it brought, until I finally ascended. As I did, a shockwave spurted out of my body, repulsive force pushing away anything in the vicinity a few metres.


    I opened my deformed eyes with a profound shine in them. I felt the changes very quickly, noticing how fast my body began regenerating to its original form after almost being plummeted to a mushy sludge. Struggling to look around, I saw that my skeleton still held strongly onto its task of holding onto the special goblin. I thought of giving the skeleton a reward for that, but for now, I closed my eyes and let myself return to my indigenous form.


    After proximately half an hour, I was back to my healthy-self. The goblins had quieted down for the moment and the special goblin looked at me with esteem. I smiled at it.


    Since I was twice, perhaps even more, powerful than before, I went away from the location of the others. Decided on starting with simple physical tests, I began running. Even running at a slow pace was quite fast, with breeze running through my hair. Turning it up a notch, I sprinted with 80% of my maximum speed. I was running at least 40 kilometers per hour.


    It was amazing. Every step I took, every muscle I moved, every little movement. I felt everything. I had full authority over my body and was able to act out however I wanted. The ground beneath my feet flew as I pushed away.


    At one point I stopped, looked back and scanned with my sixth sense, focusing specifically on the area where the others were situated. I saw even tiniest of details the goblins life essence were putting out. It was like I was near them. The mana threads attached to me were stretched very far, but they had no chance of breaking.


    I looked up next and thought how far I could jump. I squatted down and with full might I pushed upwards like a spring.


    "Ah... Ahahaha!" I let out an amazed laugh. The view was glorious, with my improved eyesight. The freedom I felt at that moment was the best I had felt since coming to this strange world.


    I began ascending down and panicked a bit, noticing the ground was pretty far away. I commanded mana to form an energy pillow under me for softer landing. I still landed quite hard due to the velocity, but due to almost perfectly utilizing my movements, there was no pain at all.


    "This... This is great!" I felt invincible. Compared to the old world where the limits were too great, it felt like I was limitless here.


    "Alright, time to test out the real thing." I said while looking at the savanna plains. I reached my hand out towards the empty target and shot out a concentrated air bullet.


    Like a grenade exploding, the ground blew up with mud and rock flew everywhere. ''Holy shit...'' I thought.


    I held myself back from testing anymore, excitement ran through every inch of my body. I was afraid over overdoing it, so I ran back to my skeletons and goblins.