You have integrated Bloodsoaked Left Fang of the Unlucky Albino Python Baron Lvl 14! Blood-soaked Left Fang of the Unlucky Albino Python Baron provides +3 Attack and +5 Oppression.
Oppression: A Stat built on cruelty and fear. Those at a lower Level than the holder will be weakened in the vicinity. Especially effective on those of a species the holder has killed before.
Haaah… yes, I get it. When snake mommies whisper folk tales to their little eggs, I am the boogie monster that scares the youths straight… or scares them sinuous? I felt somewhat depressed as I integrated the new body part. Sure, I obtained a new Stat, one which would probably keep crayfish cretins from bothering me while I excavated bricks, but why did it seem this reincarnation wasn’t one of leisure…
..but instead of bloodthirst and malevolence…?
“More like… bougie monster!” I twisted around and struck a disco pose, pointing up with my new fang, which I positioned as a new left arm. My jello wiggled, bringing me a small amount of pleasure. But sticking it up in the air only caused the limb to catch the sun. I squinted with my shitty little snake eyes.
Even snake eyesight was good enough to pick out the bloodstains…
I shook myself before more negativity could corrupt my good mood. I had one other target though, before I departed. I returned to the Python Baron’s corpse and dug around until, covered in its intestines, I found what I was looking for and hefted it to catch the light.
A small jewel glittered in my tentacles.
Isolated Essence of Emerald Venom Mana: Mixed with Blessed Oils, the Mana has been crystalized into an isolated form. It seems possible to extract the Mana from within with the associated Skill. All potency will drain from the item within the next 3 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.
Please Note: Although the Emerald Essence reacts with your Hybrid Core with an Azure Aspect, your body does not yet have enough Mana to support two colored aspects at once. Incorporation requires the user to have reached 200 Mana.
So many rules… I clicked my digging claws in annoyance, but then stuffed the isolated Essence into the folds of my flesh for safekeeping, until I could hide it back at the stump.
If I had four days until the energy drained out of it (since I didn’t allow Nightshade to chew on this one) I had the possibility of reaching the goal of 200 Mana. Then I looked at my updated Status Screen.
Name: Tallum Frost (Awakened)
Species: Experimental Chimera Core
Level: 15
Health: 73/116
Anima: 101
Kami Allegiance: (III) To and Fro the River Wanders [Seep Blessed Oils 20/150]
Mana: 16/136
Integrated Body Parts(10/10):
[Hybrid Monster Core with an Azure Aspect- Mana +15, Wisdom +2]
[Fat Stomach of the Sleepy Swirlback Turtle- Strength +2, Recovery +5, and Constitution +1]
[Holy Paw Set of the PIous Squirrel- Mana +10, Wisdom +2, Faith +2]
[Four Legs of the Sleepy Swirlback Turtle- Strength +4, Defense +2, and Agility+1]
[Focused Eyes of the Unlucky Albino Python Baron- +7 Perception]
[Reliable Tail of the Unlucky Albino Python Baron- Constitution +3, Poise +4, and Agility +4]
[Blood-soaked Left Fang of the Unlucky Albino Python Baron- Attack +3 and Oppression +5]
[Heavy Heart of the Sleepy Swirlback Turtle- Recovery +3 and Constitution +3]
[Mysterious Sac of the Bog Monster- +4 Recovery and +4 Wisdom]
[Digging Claws of the Buff Crayfish Mucker- Defense +1 and Strength +2]
Stats: (Temp) Perception: 7 (Temp) Poise: 4 (Temp) Recovery: 12
(Temp) Attack: 3 (Temp) Agility: 5 (Temp) Constitution: 7
(Temp) Strength: 8 (Temp) Defense: 3 Wisdom: 10
(Temp) Faith: 2 (Temp) Oppression: 5
Skills: (Species) Absorb Anima Lvl 34, (Species) Integrate Body Part Lvl 26, (Species) Interstitial Body Structure Lvl 12, (Species) Contemplate Flesh Lvl 6, (Species) Lesser Array Knowledge Lvl 1
(Earned) Mana Sensitivity Lvl 17, (Earned) Detection Lvl 13, (Earned) Body Manipulation Lvl 20, (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom Lvl 25 (+3), (Earned) Mutinous Grit Lvl 5, (Earned) Field Butchery Lvl 4
(Temp) Mana Feed Lvl 17, (Temp) Dig Lvl 11, (Temp) Inferior Adrenaline Rush Lvl 8, (Temp) Weak Secretions Lvl 1
(Language) Bestial Comprehension Lvl 4
My Status had definitely begun to round out. And on top of the natural advantages of being a Chimera Core, my highest Stat now became Recovery. My Health recovered at a fair clip, even without activating Mana Feed.
As expected, survival is the ultimate source of relaxation. I nodded in satisfaction. Then I noticed the height of the midmorning sun. All of my chill attitude vanished. I needed to get back to job site as soon as possible or the investors (the kami) would have my ass.
The march back to the beach went quickly, but right before I arrived, I felt a ping from my Mana Core. A group of spiderlings intercepted me, waving their forelegs excitedly. Normally, I would love this display of positivity from my employ- ahem, ahem, my close associates. However, with the looming deadline for the Kami’s temple-
Behind the first group of hex spiderlings came a second, encumbered group. They hauled along a massive (see Chimera Core-sized) hunk of coal. I squinted at it with my vague, energy vision from snake eyes.
Portions of this coal hunk burned, visible even through the screen of swaying reeds.
Your Skill (Earned) Mana Sensitivity has grown to Level 18.
Your Skill (Earned) Detection has grown to Level 14.
If the excitement of the spiderlings gave me pause, the double Skill increase stopped me dead. Oh? Could my dutiful leadership style have inspired the spiderlings? They gathered a precious fantasy material?
Through their telepathic communication, they started giving me a technical explanation, but I instead focused on the object. What they conveyed made me slightly less enthused, but definitely curious. The spiderlings had created this by filtering water through their web home. It looked like a black, irregular lump, studded with gleaming sapphires, opals, and rubies. And these gemstones were the portion producing such a sizable Mana reaction.
When I looked, relying on the System-
???: An unknown substance that gives off an irregular mana signature. Inert.
My mood soured. I spread out a tentacle and picked up the speckled coal. My tentacle trembled as it brought it to me; the thing was heavy. I scratched at the material with my squirrel fingers, trying to pick out the little gemstones. But the grey/black coal substance was… essentially a rock.
8 Strength and 3 Attack was not yet enough to just crush a rock in my fiendish tentacle.
Next I tried to use my bloody- no, respectable fang to chip away at the rock portion and pry out the gems. But the gemstone just cracked. The Mana signature vanished almost immediately.
I am a land developer, not a miner… Hum, I wonder if the crayfish have any pickax shaped body parts…?
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
But I didn’t time for this distraction. I returned the ugly unknown substance to the group, nearly squishing several unfortunate spiderlings who had to bear most of the weight, and shook my head. “No, this won’t work. Keep at it and find a way to filter out this rock stuff too.”
To my surprise, the spiderlings protested; they had actually added the coal intermediary on purpose. It was the only way to prevent the filtered gems from dissolving.
Keh? What’s this? The entire problem has been created by you?! Haaah, what do I expect? They are just spiderlings. So this is why those poor, unfortunate CEOs in my past life often complained about their foolish underlings… truly, no one understands what us movers and shakers need to put up with…
“Don’t worry about the dissolving for now. This stuff is bad.” I tapped my fang again against the coal. Then, having imparted wisdom upon my underlings, I turned to proceed to the beach. A thought struck me. I turned back to the spiderlings. “Actually, how many of you are there now? I need help creating mud bricks. Put this… experiment on hold for now and join me.”
FINALLY, after a day of exasperations, triumphs, and disappointments, I arrived at the mud beach. It was almost noon. A few Crayfish Muckers perked up at my presence. As they clicked their claws at me, I raised my new fang and daydreamed about eliminating another batch of foolish crayfish.
But they pivoted on their stubby legs and fled.
Oppression, eh? Definitely saves me time…
…uwah, but what is this disappointment I feel? My cursed left-fang sings for a stormy sea of blood…
Okay, definitely I need to practice some mental discipline. I make these jokes for myself, but like the weird crayfish slurs, they just start to stick after a while…
Digging felt mentally safe, so I got to work. Find mud deposits. Excavate mud with my wide and flat claws. Shape mud with hands squirrel hands. Move shaped bricks to the drying racks. Repeat, ad nauseam.
Your Skill (Temp) Dig has grown to Level 13.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 21.
The sun moved slowly across the sky, but I ignored it. My spiderling reinforcements arrived right around brick eight. I paused in my Sisyphean labors to consider their possible input. In the end, I gave them the job of creating additional brick drying platforms; I just couldn’t see how these tiny spiderlings, who so struggled to carry that useless coal, would be able to manage these bricks that were even a little heavier.
So, back to work…
Your Skill (Temp) Dig has grown to Level 14.
Your Skill (Temp) Dig has grown to Level 15.
Your Skill (Earned) Mutinous Grit has grown to Level 6.
With my body distracted, my mind shifted to singing antics.
When I walk to the beach… all the crayfish flee.
I’m with the spiderling crew, all eyes on me.
We like anima.
We love stealing bones.
We came to build a home,
Everybody its on
Bricks, bricks, bricks, bri-bri-bricks— bricks, bricks, bricks, bri-bri-bricks—
EVERYBODY~!
Your Skill (Temp) Dig has grown to Level 16.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 22.
Hum? How strange. I haven’t yet received a Skill related to my impressive musical prowess.
Oh, perhaps I need to sing out loud?
My musings ground to a halt when I hefted out a shaped brick, ready to dry in the sun, and noted that from my original five drying platforms, the operation had expanded to almost twenty drying platforms. I blinked my snake eyes. My vision was a little bit fuzzier than I was used to, but when I looked for the little spark of their mini mana cores…
Weren’t there over two hundred little spiderlings scurrying along the beach?
With these numbers… okay, maybe give brick creation a try. There is no way I can fill up all these drying racks.
I gave my new order and returned to the first two bricks I had created today. Maybe these little buggers could create bricks, but moving bricks would be time-consuming for their small bodies. So I hefted two bricks and stomped my way back to the mud clearing.
Looking at the half-finished low wall of the temple I was supposed to be making, my machine twisted. Even inert, it couldn’t help but notice the lack of necessary inputs to accomplish my goal. I averted my eyes and raised the new bricks into place. No, down that road lies brain aneurysms and then an afterlife as a poltergeist haunting this beach. Stay relaxed. If logic won’t solve a problem, effort will!
Damn, optimism gives me such a headache…
Still, I couldn’t waste time; the sun wouldn’t wait for me to wiggle some tension out of my limbs. But when I hurried back to the beach, I found a surprise waiting for me there. I raised my articulate squirrel paws and rubbed my eyes.
A spiderling with a small bark chip in its forelegs stood to the side and gestured imperiously. My minions had propped up a piece of driftwood a little taller than me into the approximation of a crane with a woven cord of spider silk. Fifty or so spiderlings gripped the other end of the ‘rope’ and hauled up a hunk chunk of mud out of the ground. The spiderlings marched sideways and swung the haul onto a new, lower platform they had created. Once there, a new crew of spiderlings scaled the sides and began cutting away excess mud, rapidly creating… a brick.
When the shape was complete, the crane laborers hauled it up and pivoted it even further, lowering it onto a nearby drying stand… one which was suddenly full of bricks?!?
Are we… I trembled. Actually going to finish in time? Truly, companionship is the ultimate tool of leisure, by our powers combined-
Wait a second. I observed their process for another few seconds. The spiderlings untangled the bricks from their silk and began to gather up another hunk of mud. Gradually, my good cheer calmed down and settled into resignation. If they’ve streamlined this process… doesn’t that mean that the only role left is hauling the bricks…?
On the one hand, I can finally get rid of these crayfish knockers… But ah, being reduced to a beast of burden is a bit…
Weren’t… tools the holy domain of humanity…?
Muttering to myself, I checked the sun, checked my attitude, and then got back to work. My Digging Claws became a transportation platform as I stacked up four dried bricks and staggered back through the reeds. With the added weight, I needed to mobilize some extra tentacles to stay balanced, and I was very close to the limit of my strength, but I could successfully manage four.
The only little snag occurred when I stepped into a particularly muddy stretch of ground with my turtle leg and the limb sank almost half of its entire length. However, my optimism overcomes all adversity!
Heh, you believe this can slow me down?
I retracted the turtle legs within my jelly body, so that flesh pressed against the ground. Once again, being a Chimera Core naturally produced leisure. The wider weight base meant I could easily ooze back to the building site with no more problems. I used the four bricks to begin the next layer of the building and then hurried back to the beach.
And then I did it again.
And again.
Your Skill (Earned) Mutinous Grit has grown to Level 7.
And then a dozen more times, just for good measure. Because my mind settled into its stubborn streak; in the face of adversity, I wouldn’t flinch.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 23.
In fact, I repeated my actions so much that I began to resent the spiderlings, who had expanded their brick excavation option to include three ‘cranes’ and almost two hundred workers. Cavernous holes dotted the beach where all of the quality mud had already been pulled up out of the ground. I observed their tireless activity with a faint hint of dread in my stomach.
Perhaps… I made a mistake when I dismissed the idea that the hex spiderlings would one day destroy the surrounding ecosystem too quickly.
Ah well, lucky I’m not an environmental advocate! No, in this life, I am the force of exploitation and change~
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Level 25(+4).
Uwah… what’s up with this weirdly political timing, System? Don’t make me feel sinister like this…
As the sun sank lower in the sky, the bricks wouldn’t dry as quickly. Which meant I had to haul half-dried bricks, manifesting more tentacles of Anima to hold the bricks in the correct shape. As the temple grew, I began leaving the slit-like opening in the wall to create a window. My first few layers made the opening uneven, but I was inspired when I dropped a half-dried brick and saw how easily it would deform.
So I sculpted the deformity to a purpose.
See? Look at how much I’ve grown! Even from this shitty luck, I am extracting lessons!
…
Seriously? This isn’t good enough for a growth in Wisdom?
As it turned out, I had sculpted away too much; The brick deformed and was useless. But I realized I could chop a few of the unfinished bricks in half, to even out the edges of the window.
At dusk, the building seemed only three-fourths done. A growing sense of unease filled me, drawing out a sympathetic rumble from the machine lurking in the back of my mind. There were so many reasons, including the negative impression the Kami already possessed of me, that made me need to successfully complete this mission. Without more Quests from the Kami, reaching the goal of 200 Mana seemed impossible.
So I resolved myself to spend the night hauling half-melty bricks up on top, to try and finish. For a while, I panted, watching as the dusky shadows of the reeds stretched out across the mud.
Also… we haven’t even considered what happens to the undried bricks if it rains tonight… I made a face.
I turned to head back to the spiderlings and froze; a three-headed duck stood next to me, considering the hollow skeleton of the building. It looked at me. I looked back. After a beat of shocked silence, I raised a horn foreleg and pointed, recognizing the central head. “Ah, it’s you. I had no idea…”
My words trailed off. Would it be rude in this world if I commented on its three heads? How had it not suffocated if two of its heads were completely encased in mud? I suppose all heads must be connected to the same cardiovascular System, but why have three heads in the first place if you didn’t need them all to breathe?
The central duck head opened its mouth. Instead of a quack, it spoke with a commanding tone that I found vaguely familiar.
“Worry not on the roof. Simply raise our walls high. We shall handle the rest.”
A clap of thunder sent me tumbling backward. Ten of my Health vanished. By the time I had staggered back to my feet, all that remained was a smoking bit of mud. The duck had vanished.
“That voice…” I trembled. “...the Kami?
“Really? Perhaps behind the duck?”