Nightshade buzzed about, a bloodthirsty whirlwind of injured heads as he cleaned up the remnant squirrel mobs.

Meanwhile… I felt contemplative. The allure of the unused Skill filled me with wild speculations about what I could obtain. My eye was sharp as it fixed on the cooling corpse in front of me. I pulled my interstitial flesh away, the parts that hadn’t been torn and ripped by the fighting, to reveal my jolly jelly interior.

No jolliness today. Only certainty. Now… give me that damnably high Strength… or perhaps even a Constitution or Mana buff…

I had obtained the Contemplate Flesh Species Skill when I evolved into an Experimental Chimera Core. The downside of the Skill was that I could not integrate any body parts of the target; the entire body needed to be engulfed in order for the Skill to activate. But in exchange, the upside was much higher— I could earn bonuses from the absorbed creature, including Stats and Skills.

Blessings… I suppose they might be possible. Well, this is a leisurely life! Even if the benefit is small, let’s not get too stuck on the details. I did my best not to look at the broken pieces of the serrated foreleg as I continued to ooze out until I covered the entire body of my target.

Sniff. Rest in peace, my loyal steed of violence.

Right before I activated the Skill, I took a look at the description one more time. And I froze, noticing a small inclusion at the bottom. The chance of success of the Skill… depended on the amount of Mana used. Currently, my Mana was in the single digits, after I had used the Blessing to neutralize the Champions Mana.

That was almost bad. The System would have been very mean about that mistake… Let’s rest first.

Shivering, I removed myself from the Champion’s corpse. It felt almost morbid to exist with it inside of me. Would it rot? Could I act as a preservative?

Anyway, the self-refrigeration experiments could wait. With the prospect of both Contemplation and Integration off the table, I instead looked at the other benefit I had earned from this battle: the Mundane Blessing Enhancement. Opening up my Kami screen and focusing on it provided very little additional information; it was a consumable benefit that would empower a Blessing. It would slightly increase the Mana Efficiency of the Blessing and often result in the Blessing going through a small evolution.

Of course, the rarer Enhancements would have more powerful effects, but this was all I had at the moment.

“I can’t waste the Enhancement on this shit Blessing,” I whistled and shook my head. Then I flinched and glanced around, as though I would find my Kami and its three different voices lurking around, glowering at me for blaspheming. Luckily, my only company was the gory remnants of dead squirrels.

…Perhaps the most alarming truth is how this charnel clearing seems peaceful. The adaptability of monsters is scary.

Because of the approaching meeting with the Kami in four days, I would hopefully be able to meet and acquire a second Blessing. Ideally, one with more offensive capabilities. Using the Enhancement on that was a much more attractive option.

Wait. I froze. I pivoted and looked at the sun, which had moved across the sky and dipped toward the horizon. We took so long to travel to this forest and now we need some time to rest and recover. Even if we leave after-

…I didn’t lay out any more bricks to dry before I left in the morning… The image of the half-finished temple, the one described in my special, Notable, Quest, floated through my mind. I began to twitch. A-ah. But i-its fine, right? I’m so low-key and chill. Even if I’m forced to work these digging claws to the bone over the last three days… it won’t be too bad…

…right…?

I stared at the sky, forcing myself to think of nothing.

Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Level 5.

Must remember. Leisurely life… breathe… just repeat the mantra until you believe it…

Leisurely life… leisurely life… leisurely lif-

Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Level 6.

“Brother! Oh, considering the distribution of spoils? I appreciate your generosity, but I truly meant it when I said you may have all of this corpse; your actions claimed it.” Nightshade bounded over, dragging something behind him. He hefted the strange object up. “Besides, look what I have managed to create! Truly, the Skill System in this world is wondrous.”

I looked, grateful for the distraction, but immediately wished I didn’t.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Nightshade had taken a central fleshy pillar, perhaps a shaven squirrel tail, and clumsily sewn six squirrel heads up and down its length. They all twisted around and looked at me, their eyes wide, their smiles empty, most missing chunks of their skull where Nightshade had killed them. The heads in total were small, but having so many of them along the length made the limb about double as thick as the snake-head arm he had on the other side.

I’ve never sewn in my life and even I can tell those are going to fall off if you flail around too vigorously. I thought as I considered the nightmare fuel my companion offered to me. But his eyes were so bright, his intentions so pure…

I nodded my head, feeling like a parent complimenting their slightly unnerving child. “You are a maestro of heads, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Hehehe.” Nightshade actually blushed.

My stomach flip-flopped and I wanted to bury my head in the ground. Ah… I’ve strayed from the path of righteousness… it probably began… hum, well, when I ate and repurposed a corpse to gain power.

I suppose after that, all this was inevitable…

But despite my thoughts, I actually felt quite good. I asked Nightshade to watch me for a bit and he excitedly began to rave about the benefits of camping out under the stars. With safety… well, handled was a strong word, but whatever— once I told him of my intentions, I turned my attention inward and focused on the Mana Array that made up my body. With my increased, Mana Sensitivity, I could look more closely at the detail.

The mysteries of the larger shape gradually revealed themself to me-

Your Skill (Earned) Mana Sensitivity has grown to Level 14.

Your Skill (Species) Basic Array Knowledge has grown to Level 7.

Your Skill (Species) Basic Array Knowledge has grown to Level 8.

Ack, this headache always is a punch in the jello. I sat up from the ground where I collapsed, still woozy from trying to cram too much information into my mind at once. I felt a healthy respect both for Raccain, who created us, and that religious group that had obviously overpowered him to destroy his experiments.

Which is why the lack of humans in the wetlands is so important. If they got a single look at Nightshade’s head tower-

Shaking myself, I took stock of the environment. It was proper dusk now, the sky colored like a fresh bruise. Nightshade had dragged over several reeds and made himself a bed. In addition, he had started a fire.

He had found a sharpened stick and was roasting squirrel leg over the fire. He waved the half-cooked flesh at me. “I know I do not need to eat, but there’s just a nostalgic feeling when you roast the remains of your enemies under the stars, you know?”

We definitely don’t have the same previous life experiences…

Next to Nightshade, six spiderlings sat in a line. Whereas the larger Chimera Core had a leg, the spiderlings were roasting what could only be skewered squirrel fingers. They also waved forelegs.

My eyes were glazed as I turned away and turned to forced meditation to maintain my presence of mind. Leisurely life… leisurely life…

At the very least, my brief unconsciousness had given me enough time to recover all my Mana. It was a small problem that my Interstitial Body Structure had grown back, but I could easily tear it away with my tentacles, allowing me to ooze back across the Bloodthirsty Fae Squirrel Champion.

Mid-oozing, I received a notification that made me twitch.

Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Level 7.

I covered the corpse and activated the Skill.

Body of Bloodthirsty Fae Squirrel Champion Lvl 16 detected! Entire body present; would you like to Contemplate Flesh?

You have begun your Contemplation.

Your Skill (Species) Contemplate Flesh has grown to Level 2.

Whoops, I didn’t consider the fact that this might take some time…

You examine the body. Due to the significant contribution you made to slaying this foe, the effect of the Skill receives a slight boost.

Your Skill (Species) Contemplate Flesh has grown to Level 3.

You enrich your mind with Mana. Due to 108 Mana being expended during Contemplation, the effect of the Skill receives a minor boost.

Your Skill (Species) Contemplate Flesh has grown to Level 4.

108 Mana is only enough for a minor boost? I wonder how much the muscle squirrel had. Within the confines of my ooze, I felt the body beginning to disintegrate. Over the next ten minutes, bits and pieces of its flesh vanished every second, like my jelly took invisible bites out of the gathered muscle. Soon, the entire body had vanished.

You have contemplated the flesh! You have gained minor insights into flesh! Based on the target, Health +10.

Due to your minor insights into the target, you have gained access to one of the target's Stats! Due to extreme compatibility with your Experimental Chimera Core body, that Stat has lost the (Temp) designation! You will now receive (1) free Stat per Level of your Species, which you can distribute between all non-(Temp) Stats.

Ufufufu… My eye glittered. So finally, I have found the Path forward to becoming overpowered. Once a week I can activate this Skill and steadily accumulate Stats that will improve with Level… well, it remains to be seen if I will also improve the number of free Stats I receive, but so long as I continue to Level, my leisurely ascendance-

Your contemplations of the Bloodthirsty Fae Squirrel Champion’s Underdeveloped Brain demonstrate an extreme understanding of its physiology.

I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw that notification. Underdeveloped brain…?

Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 14.

Gack! You traitorous Skill!

You have gained access to one of the Stats of the Bloodthirsty Fae Squirrel Champion’s Stats. You have gained access to Wisdom (Non-Temp). Due to your extreme understanding, your Contemplations have given you access to the whole of the Wisdom possessed by the corpse.

You have gained +1 Wisdom.

Wisdom: Slightly increases the speed at which you respond to strange stimuli. Increases resistance to mental attacks. Increases the recovery speed of Mana. Increased Wisdom allows the user to Earn more unusual variations of Skills. Other functionality locked behind the Second Growth Threshold.