Sage, duels are not at all leisurely, I shook my head as my foe approached. But to my surprise, I think there was still some lingering effects from my own blessed oils. Tranquility spread through me as I examined my opponent.
Or, perhaps more likely, I couldn’t help but feel a strange thrill at the prospect of a fight… and the tasty Anima it represented. The possibility of the Chimera Core’s instincts affecting my humanity barely bothered me anymore. Because those drooling instincts served the purpose of finding a more relaxed existence, this second time around.
Okay, enjoying the Absorb Anima is one thing, but no, eyes rolling back into my head euphoria like with the Tortoise. That’s how I die again.
Mid-thought, I hopped sideways and avoided, further proving my worrisome power of prophecy, a spat globule of acid. The reeds behind me sizzled and crumpled on contact. Note to self, don’t get hit by those projectiles. The Python Baron reared back and spat another at me.
Hum, I wonder whether I can gain any sort of resistance Skill from repeated-
Wait, who am I, Nightshade?!? Why am I struck by such self-destructive thoughts now? Perhaps Sage is right; his idiocy is infectious.
“So gallant!” Sage cheered from the side, earning a warning hiss from the Albino Python Baron.
I hopped sideways again to avoid the projectile and then began to march forward. However, grimaced at the thought of contact; without my serrated foreleg, I had managed to defeat the weaker snakes well enough, but this one was the same Level as me. Unless I found a way to break through its albino scales and suck away its life, I had very few offensive options.
When it became obvious that spitting acid wouldn’t just work on me, the snake tucked its head within its coils. Then its body exploded outward. Its tail swept across the ground, splashing muddy water at me. For a split second, I froze, but the boost in Poise and Agility was enough that I crouched down and then hopped up, executing a gymnast-esque handspring across the swinging tail.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 20.
Unfortunately, my grace stopped just short of being able to stick the landing.
Or rather, I got TOO stuck in the landing… I thought as I shifted out of my mud faceplant. However, I did recover quickly enough to hop back up and unleash a sharp peck with my Beak of the Bluebird Chirper. My beak left a small mark on the scales but my heart sank-
Your Skill (Earned) Detection has grown to Level 12.
I looked up. The Albino Python Baron’s head accelerated toward me, its jaws opening wide. I didn’t think it was close to swallowing me whole, but with the bulges I’ve seen in snake’s stomachs in my past life-
Your Skill (Temp) Inferior Adrenaline Rush has grown to Level 7.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 21.
I kicked up off the muddy ground and separated my limbs. My heavy tortoise legs smashed down on the lower jaw, keeping it from closing on me, while my dainty little squirrel fingers caught the top jaw. A thick fang scratched down my side and shaved off 7 Health, but largely I felt a surge of pride at how well I handled this development.
We blasted forward, me barely holding back the jaws from snapping shut.
And then the Python’s momentum stopped and mine kept going. I tumbled through the air for several seconds and then crashed to the ground hard. 21 Health vanished in an instant as my interstitial flesh tore and my sensitive organs were compacted by my weight.
I staggered to my feet. Somehow, I found the only damn spot in this marsh without mud… haahh…
Reeds surrounded me entirely, but a loud hissing revealed the direction of my opponent. I gathered my wits and spotted several snake corpses lying nearby. My eye flashed with human intelligence. Hmph, my own body might not be sufficient, but humans have been thriving in the face of physically superior specimens for thousands of years! Let me show you that Maou’s and Monster Princesses aren’t the only ones with advantages.
My squirrel fingers moved quickly. In only three seconds, I pried open the dead snake's mouth, pecked away some pesky flesh with my beak, and dug out the fang that I wanted. Soon, I had extracted a makeshift weapon.
Your Skill (Earned) Apprentice Butchery has grown to Level 10.
Okay, time for round two! I walked confidently through the reeds toward the source of the hissing, which had grown even louder-
“You impudent whelp! For having the gall to dare spit at a Skyfire Fox Princess-” When I returned to the clearing, all of Sage’s tails were bristling. She noticed me and instantly flushed, visible even through her own Interstitial flesh. Her tails pressed flat to the ground. “Ahem, brother Tallum. It seems your movements were too fast for me to follow earlier; your precise strikes ripped open its scales after you gracefully vaulted away.”
I turned and pivoted to look at my opponent. Three major gashes now wept blood across its body. One across the top of its head, another nearby on its side, and one down toward its tail, which I suppose was at least close to where I had pecked it earlier. I clutched my small fang tightly against my chest.
Okay, one point to monster princesses over humans, I suppose…
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 24.
Haaah…
I did not let my injured pride get in the way of my business. While the wounded Albino Baron eyed us both, I moved forward with my weapon. The snake’s pupils narrowed and fixed on me. With sinuous grace, the snake folded back on itself to hide its blood wounds. When I continued to approach, it spat out another bolt of acid.
I hopped to the right. When the first attack didn’t work, it tried a second, which I also avoided.
My mouse fingers curled around the snake fang. Really, let’s not drag this out. My construction supervisor is going to have my ass if this keeps up…
Also, as construction supervisor, I need to tan the hide of my foreman, who keeps wandering away to drink the blood of his enemies.
Just as I prepared to activate Inferior Adrenaline Rush and dash the last bit forward, the Albino Baron launched itself forward. Quite conveniently, my body interpreted my shock as the start signal.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Your Skill (Temp) Inferior Adrenaline Rush has grown to Level 8.
…but my traitorous legs couldn’t keep up with the changing situation, so their first move was to hop slightly forward. A half-open snake maw smashed into my torso area and sent me stumbling. The snake, too, blinked and recoiled slightly in stunned shock.
In the end, it was my newly earned (pilfered) snake tail stabilizing my balance that gave me an edge. Adrenaline still pounded through my veins, sharpening my perception and actions. So while the Python refocused, I drove the snake fang down through its skull. As it reared back, tentacles slithered out through gaps in my flesh and clamped down on the bleeding wounds.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +24.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +35.
My instincts practically unraveled at the rush of quality Anima.
Don’t try to get me to relax at a time like this! Leisure has to be balanced with living!
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 25.
Even as the heady rush hit my nervous system and my instincts began to loosen, I resisted the urge. I kept my mind focused, so when the python began to thrash and raise its head back, I loosened my grip on the fang.
I plopped down amongst its coiled body, my turtle legs slipping on its scales. But even as I fell sideways, I landed face-first in one of the wounds that Sage had inflicted.
Tsk, tsk… well, although definitely not a duel, I’d rather this situation than now scrabbling to find a way to injure the snake while it squeezes me to death.
Ah, could the solution to duels… be to cheat? I pondered such philosophical truths as I used my little beak and mouse paws to rip open the gash in its snakeskin even wider.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +32.
Your Skill (Species) Absorb Anima has grown to Level 34.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +30.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +24.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +35.
As expected, the snake released the threat and began to clench around me. However, my skillful little mouse hands had already begun to peel back the scales and rip out long cords of muscle. The monster’s whole body rumbled with a deep and desperate hiss. Blood seeped out, filling me with nutrition and satisfaction.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +24.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +35.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has triggered! Restoring 15 Health and 7 Mana over the next 30 seconds.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has grown to Level 16.
I felt the familiar hum in my body that indicated I had passed the limit threshold of holding Anima in my form, but I resisted the urge to allow it to be expended to heal me. Because abruptly, the Python head loomed above me and looked at me with exhausted and crazed eyes. My bloody body was stuck as it coiled around me.
With me locked in place, it opened its mouth.
Uhoh.
Your Skill (Earned) Detection has grown to Level 13.
Not helping, System,
It vomited acid directly on top of me, probably four or five of those globules in a row.
I have to admit I panicked for a second. My mouse paws flailed around, but they couldn’t find purchase. My turtle legs kicked, but I didn’t have leverage. Yet as the green, sparkling liquid fell toward me, a little bit of the fear passed.
I had survived for two weeks as a monster and the other advantage of humanity was adaption. Sob. I might be losing my human aesthetics… but at least I’ve gathered some instincts for situations like this.
My Mana was full, so my first counterattack was to release my dubious blessing. Seep Blessed Oil covered me with a film of the strange and refreshing liquid, mixing with the blood covering me. The acid hit the blessed oils first and the two liquids boiled and frothed. After another fear-filled moment, the oils purified the nearby acid. Several smaller green gems condensed, when moved together to form a deep emerald gem the size of a blueberry.
Errr, a greenberry.
Due to unique actions, your Seep Blessed Oils has earned +12 Proficiency!
However, not all of the acid was absorbed this way. More splashed against my body, eating away 26 Health in a second and beginning to burn through my Interstitial Flesh. But although the damage reached me-
Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Level 11.
-my tentacles continued to drink the snake’s life energy.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +23.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +29.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has triggered! Restoring 16 Health and 8 Mana over the next 30 seconds.
Your Skill (Temp) Mana Feed has grown to Level 17.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +21.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +24.
I looked up and the snake looked down. Even with the tooth of its kin driven through its snout, or perhaps because of that wound, its eyes didn’t waver at all. I could feel a tremble running through its body and it managed to spit out two more acid globules, likely draining its Mana dry. I gritted my teeth and tried to to shift my body around to let the interstitial flesh take the worst of it, but unfortunately-
Warning, you have lost 13 Health!
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +25.
Warning! Your Beak of the Cheerful Bluebird Chirper has been severely damaged! Access to (Temp) Poise (+1), (Temp) Agility (+1), (Temp) Perception (+1) and Attack (+1) lost. Integrated body part has been destroyed.
Better my beak as a Chimera Core than my entire face as a human, I winced as more acid sloshed across my torso.
Warning, you have lost 22 Health!
Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Level 12.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +29.
You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +19.
Your Skill (Species) Absorb Anima has grown to Level 34.
The pulse of its lifeblood weakened. I watched the python die and I didn’t flinch. The head, so filled with bitterness the moment before, swayed and collapsed. Suddenly, its blood was just blood. And its body-
Was dead weight, which collapsed on top of me.
You have Leveled Up! Health +5, Mana +3, Free Stat +1.
Free Stat has been assigned (only option) to Wisdom!
Despite the indignity of the situation, I stayed there at the bottom for a while, reflecting as the python’s blood dribbled across me. I’ve come a long way. I can routinely engage in a life-and-death struggle with a monster. And I…
I feel no pity for it, simply understanding. If I did not kill it, it would kill me. When it died, it did not resent me. Or my advantages. It just wished… that now was not the moment it would die. Both of us wanted the resources offered by the corpse of the other, experience and the like. It is right, as the victor, that I now benefit.
The gods of this world… those who set up the rules, in the face of suffering, they feel only apathy, huh…?
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 25.
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 25(+1).
I had nothing to say for a moment, in the face of the System’s emphatic and sincere agreement with my conclusion. Also, a new wrinkle had emerged; Monster’s Wisdom had reached a growth threshold, accumulating +1s instead of real Levels. Great for the bonuses I would receive upon my next evolution, but did this mean I wasn’t getting any present benefits from Levels?
Honestly, considering the dubious reliability of the System, I wasn’t sure of the answer.
Setting that aside… Absorb Anima has not had this issue… Ah, could it be because of the categories…? Species Skills aren’t limited, but Earned are… Which means that Earned Skills are much more relevant for earning Achievements…
I guess that makes sense. Species Skills you are essentially born with. Less of an achievement to grow them, and because they are inherent, less of a limit on their potential.
And Temp Skills develop the same way but with the additional weakness of being vulnerable. If the body part goes, so does the Skill. So too, probably vanishes the achievement, if it isn’t present at the point of evolution. Definitely, being reborn as a Chimera Core was quite the boon.
Imagine if I was forced to skulk around as a crayfish…
A shiver wracked my body at the prospect. Anyway, I had some discomfort to fix before I could ponder more. I flexed my tiny mouse hands and began to pull myself up out of the heavy coils of the python.
If I build, others will covet the benefits I create. In the end, if I want to protect my lifestyle and companions, I need power, don’t I…?
Your Skill (Earned) Mutinous Grit has grown to Level 6.
Hum? This Skill took an opportunity to grow as well? Strange. But we can reflect later! As the winner, the benefits are mine to claim. And I need to claim them-
…so I can get back to work… haaah, being a land developer comes with such responsibilities…