The breeding of the hex spiderlings was truly efficient. About fifty hex spiderlings marched out to heed my call for assistance. They wove giant spidersilk threads and attached them to the edge of the pilfered shell. With twenty little bodies dragging on each line, they heaved on the shell and helped me pull it the rest of the way back toward the stump home.

The stump will probably need to be discarded… with Green and Indigo’s evolution, we were already quite cramped… At least the piss-poor roof can be officially shelved. Ah, we will need to construct some other sort of shelter…

Hum? I haven’t gone to look at that empty field to the South, where the weird duck was. Such stable ground in this wetlands… wouldn’t that make a great place for a new home?

Another thought occurred to me; my eyes sparkled as I opened my Status screen to look at my Skills. But a new option near the top caught my attention. What is this? Quests? Wow, this is really an RPG world. Why do I now have quests…? What NPC have I been talking to that I should receive these?

Hopefully, they don’t come from the unreliable Kami…

After waffling for a bit, I clicked on the Quest button.

Welcome to the Quest Screen!

Monster Quests have been unlocked for passing the first Growth Threshold. Quests are generated based on your previous achievements and current species. Completing Quests will award you additional Achievements toward your next Evolution!

Completing Quests will unlock new Quests in the chain, leading to additional Achievements and other rewards!

Current Quests:

Mundane: Integrate ten body parts 10/10

Interesting: Obtain five (Earned) Skills 5/5

Notable: Reach a maximum Mana of 100 before Level 25

Epic: ???

Wondrous: Reach Level 25 in Advanced Array Knowledge and Perfect your Core Formation

Divine: Become a half-step Kami

Question marks appeared above my head. Before I could address those, additional notifications flowed out.

You have completed a Mundane Quest! Integrate 10 body parts.

A Mundane Achievement: +5 Health.

You have unlocked a new Mundane Quest: Mundane (x2) Integrate fifteen body parts 15/15

You have completed a Mundane Quest! Integrate 15 body parts.

A Mundane Achievement +15 Health and +10 Mana

You have unlocked a new Mundane Quest: Mundane (x3) Integrate twenty-five body parts 21/25

You have completed an Interesting Quest! Obtain five (Earned) Skills 5/5

An Interesting Achievement: +5 Health and +15 Mana

You have unlocked a new Interesting Quest: Interesting (x2) Obtain a Second Blessing 0/1

Due to my industrious actions so far, I opened the menu and finished three quests. I felt quite pleased-- my investments in this life were already paying dividends. The new Interesting Quest was somewhat of a bummer because it involved seeking out the Kami that had given me this weird first Blessing. But I did get excited because the rewards for finishing these quests put me at 78 total Mana.

Due to the fact I now gained Mana when I Leveled up, I would definitely finish the Notable Quest before 25.

Those last three quests though… It’s nice to see the breadth of the scale, but why is the Epic one the only quest left a mystery? As for the Wondrous and the Divine… I currently have Basic Array Knowledge and it wants me to reach Advanced Array Knowledge? That’s probably several Skill evolutions… Ah, I haven’t gained more than 27 Levels in a single Skill this entire time…

Becoming a Kami, even a half-step, seems unrealistic, System.

I shook my head and glanced back at the tortoise shell. The Quests were a nice bonus, but I wouldn’t worry about them too much. The spiderlings were hard at work. I calmed my heart and moved past the Quest Screen: they were goals to keep in mind, but probably not necessarily the only ways to earn Achievements. As such, I went back to my previous task of investigating my new Skills.

(Earned) Foolish Grit: A Skill given to those so stubborn it becomes unhealthy. Will give the user a slight resistance to damage and fatigue while engaging in less-than-advisable activities.

Seriously? Okay, I’m a bit stubborn. And yes, I can admit I have a bad habit of doubling down in stressful situations. But hasn’t it noticed how leisurely I’ve become, as a monster?

Let’s set aside how I spent twelve hours bleeding a tortoise dry last night, followed by a few hours of agonizing pain…

Haaah. Striking a balance between life investment and leisure is not simple…

(Species) Interstitial Body Structure: A special evolution Skill of Chimera Cores. While they possess the ability to integrate foreign body parts, these body parts previously were isolated and susceptible to damage. The new, self-generated body structure not only protects the vulnerable organs, but also connects the various tissues. Synergistic bonuses between [Redacted] become available.

Redacted? Are we perusing military documents? I made a mental note of the weirdness but moved on to other Skills.

(Species) Contemplate Flesh: An unusual Skill of the Experimental Chimera Core. Due to their unique internal structure, user can contemplate the flesh of a defeated monster. User must engulf the victim completely within their body; no body parts of the fallen may be integrated prior to Skill activation. Based on the power of the defeated being, some bonuses will be obtained. In rare cases, Stats will lose the (Temp) designation. In extremely rare cases, user will gain (Species) Skills from the target. Chance of success increases with utilized Mana. After usage, success or failure, a week will be required until the next use.

(Species) Basic Array Knowledge: An unusual Skill of the Experimental Chimera Core. As the user has become self-aware of the internal composition of their unstable body, user can alter their structure to help stabilize the process. In addition, user learns basic knowledge about arrays that can be created with Mana. Available arrays increase with Skill Level. Currently known arrays: None.

(Language) Bestial Comprehension: An evolved monster develops the intelligence to understand both themselves and their surroundings. As such, communication between monsters becomes possible.

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I should try this Contemplate Flesh soon, to start the cooldown now… but from the description, the effect would be better the more powerful the target is. And powerful monsters… I’ll want to Integrate Body Parts to improve myself.

More decision trees…

Wait seriously, I learned this Basic Array Knowledge, but it comes with NO arrays for me to make?!

Language Skills… a bit boring…

I led my hex-spiderlings back to the stump home, lost in my thoughts. A veritable wrecking ball of tails bounced over to me and wrecked that peace. Yet Green’s usual calamitous entrance wasn’t half as shocking as the fact that-

-she spoke to me.

“Kah! Littlest brother- oh my, did you finally evolve? Hehe, you certainly took your time, didn’t you- oho? Looks like you remain reliable as always, did you bring this for me? I accept your gracious gift.

…eh?

Green smashed into me, sending me flying sideways. My turtle legs kicked and flailed, just barely managed to stop my momentum before I rolled into the fly swamp. As I straightened, I finally understood what was happening; Green had arrived, already in possession of Bestial Comprehension. Now we could engage in conversation, which was a good thing.

But the gracious gift she was eyeing-

“Green-”

Before I could stop her, Green hacked through the last vestige of flesh connecting the tail to the shell I had dragged back and absorbed it.

The long tail ended with a slightly widened flat chunk the same pattern as the shell. Green admired the swirling color as she hopped back and forth. “Quite the treat! Quite the treat. Yes, littlest brother, I accept this. Ah— now your tongue has been freed, let’s unveil the sagas of our prior lives!”

“S-sagas…?” I swayed, quite saddened to have lost the very valuable tail from my foe. Plus, I couldn’t quite understand what Green said. Wait a second, how could Green be so coherent?

She straightened to her full jelly height and flourished her tails. “My true name is Sagacity Loutuvynn Skyrage. As my adopted family in this world, you may call me Sage.”

Green, or Sage, bounced back and landed right next to me. She reached out and patted my body. “Developing quite a bit of muscle aren’t you? Hahaha, I figured you would just be a giant flesh bag after evolution, like those organs you love to Integrate! Yes, dearest, our sagas! The remnants of our marvelous first lives!

“At first I thought I was the only one… but Nightshade waited on the other side of evolution, surprisingly verbose. Wait until you listen to him though, he is an unsurpassed boor. Yet we both realized we had one trait in common; this isn’t our first life! We have reincarnated as these strange Chimera Core creatures. When he drags himself back here-”

“Sage.” A chiding voice cut into the babble of excited conversation. Indigo pushed his way through the reeds surrounding our stump (although perhaps I should call him Nightshade?). “Even though we are powerful, we should remain discrete. Do not shout.”

“Pah, what need does a Skyrage have to quiet her brilliance?” Sage snorted.

Wait, we are all reincarnated? One detail stood out from the nonsense Sage spewed. I…

My status as the former human… my ultimate advantage…

Nightshade moved closer. He had replaced one of the wounded snakeheads on his right side with an uninjured head, as well as earning an ominous-looking, mandibled praying mantis head for a left arm. “Greetings brother, I am called Nightshade. I observed your battle against the turtle; you have grown much since we first were birthed. I am now reassured; today, we shall share our stories. Then we will truly be a sworn trio of siblings, united in the face of adversity. Should we be branded heretics, we will burn down the entire world to protect one another.”

…et tu, Indigo? Nightshade?! And I admire the sentiment; believe me, nothing is more important to me than protecting the two of you. I even earned the Skill Foolish Grit, to fight against all comers. But this…

Are you sure there isn’t some mistake? Everyone is reincarnated?

I’m not special?

“Nightshade, why must you always be so gloomy?” Sage waved a hand and hopped closer. “Don’t mind him. Anyway, I’ll start! As you can probably guess from the unmistakable moniker of Skyrage, I was previously the Crown Princess and Heir Apparent of the Skyfire Dynasty. I lounged in our cloud palaces and sipped from purified solar flares from a young age. If not for those scaly, frost-breath bastards… keh. My kin were betrayed and our fires extinguished. The culture of beautification and progress… stalled out through treachery! For that reason…”

Sage actually moved with care, winding her new turtle-tail around us two fellow Chimera Cores and drawing the group closer together. “I agree completely with Nightshade’s proposition, even if his phraseology is morose. We must be united. We must be bloodbound, fire-forged, oath-synergized. We must be legion in the face of the world. Here… well, the magic is different, and Titles appear to be nonexistent. Yet who can rival the dominance of a resplendent nine-tailed skyfire queen?”

…let’s take a minor translation break… Green- Sage was the princess of some sort of race of super nine-tailed foxes? Who drank solar flares… and were betrayed by ice dragons… what a ridiculous fantasy setting…

Maybe that also explains why she is so obsessed with tails… her previous race was all about accumulating more…

Which leaves… Nightshade…

“Ah wait,” I interrupted, trying to control the conversation. “You two… before… but without the brains-”

“Yes indeed. Brother, your soul must have been tempered by unending torments during your past life, to have maintained your lucidity while in such a base form.” Nightshade sighed. “Without the animal brains, to act as a focus, we both felt this world was but a vague dream.”

…or my soul is really just so weak it was perfectly suited to a pitiful monster… Although certainly, reader comments can be-

Haah… Wait, do souls exist?

“As for my former life,” Nightshade transitioned smoothly. His snake heads hissed. “I… heh. I am bitter. Overwhelmingly bitter. My last life… also ended in betrayal. Perhaps a betrayal I deserved. For in that life… they called me Maou. For a time, the entire world lay at my feet.”

A demon king?!

“Maou? Such a mundane title has never entered my ear.” Sage said.

Nightshade let out a low laugh. “Truly, one such as the Maou… perhaps we didn’t obtain much traction in your world, Sage, populated by such powerful beings as the Skyrages. Yet… it appears our little brother is more familiar with them. I was the Lord of the Demons. I stood alone against those who sought to annihilate my people, peerless in magic.”

“You fought against a hero?” I didn’t like how squeaky my voice sounded.

“Indeed, you are familiar with the role I fulfilled. Several generations of these so-called ‘heroes’ warred against me… mine was a life of constant strife. I ascended to the position because I could not bear to witness my demonic countrymen being constantly suppressed by the humans and their ilk. Motivated by jealousy, they would slaughter my people before they could even grow.

“And once I had reached the heights of my power, the invasions began. Four heroes I repelled, waiting in my castle at the edge of the demon lands for their incursions and slaughtering their champions. For all my flaws, my Mana was without limit; the fineness of my control over the energy was peerless. Even when a human Archmage came to face me, she could only cower behind the shield of her brutish hero when I unleashed the Burning Cataclysm Hell from this cursed left hand…”

On cue, Nightshade fell silent and stared at his left hand: a snakehead, which stared back at him.

S-so chuuni… well, this is a fantasy world, so I suppose it might just genuinely be what his Skill was called…

“But you too were betrayed?” Sage prodded.

Nightshade nodded all of his heads. “The heroes couldn’t rival me. But while my Mana was strong, my body was weak. I aged during my decades of dominance. And when I became sickly, it was my High Vizier who poisoned me to try and steal my throne. All of the sacrifices I had made for my people had been forgotten. Instead… the power I accumulated remained. It is why in this life… ah, little brother, I admire you and the strange System of Kamis in this world… but I will not follow it. Here, I will seek only strength of body.”

No, wait, I actually didn’t intend to become involved with Kami’s at all-

Your Skill (Earned) Foolish Grit has grown to Level 4.

What is with this bleak Level up timing?!?

“Well, more details will become clear as we spend more time together.” Nightshade finished his shocking story with very mundane words. Both turned to me. “And you little brother, what is your story? In the past life… what sort of dramatic life did you lead to earn such a powerful soul?”

I spoke in a daze, my mind too busy trying to rationalize what I just learned to actually consider what to say. “Ah. I am Tallum Frost. As for my life… it did not end in betrayal, but loss. I died filled with regret…“