He fell forward, his breathing pattern in ruins, as he crashed to the ground. All the mana that Priscilla had been building flooded in, almost like it was being drawn into him. His body shook from the pain, as it felt like his whole body was made vulnerable. Even the smallest amount of mana that was touching him felt like it was somehow burning him. Melting through his skin and bones like they weren’t even there. Mash noticed the sleeves on his shirt were torn in some places and fayed in others. He saw similar things across his whole outfit and worry settled in. He had been doing real damage to himself. He needed to stop and heal and made sure that Priscilla knew.

[Stop!]

The message was pointless though. It was too late the damage was done, the mana in his body was flooding into his core now that the barrier was broken. The pain was muddling his mind, and he knew that he needed to do something to regain his focus. He considered if he had any items that could help, but knew that was not the place to look. With his most recent items, many of his useful items had become irrelevant. His healing necklace was completely worthless, and a touch of nothingness was probably better than his earing for resisting mental intrusions. His items were only useful for the utility they offered as his storage item and translation item did.

Instead, he focused inwards turning to his status to try and find something. Even as he saw his status, he felt the numbers changing. This was the first time that had ever happened.

Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Chimeric Vagabond

Level: 102

Health: 2109 / 3000

Energy: 4095/ 4070

Fortitude: 300

Endurance: 186

Strength: 250

Agility: 252

Intelligence: 221

Wisdom: 110

Charisma: 100

Free Stats: 20

Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Chimeric Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Chimeric Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, A Touch of Nothingness, Golden Body

Inhuman Hibernation: You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique, your inhuman body morphing it to fit your corrupted nature. Hibernating will increase the rate at which your body recovers, healing most wounds.

Current Rate: +200% recovery

Chimeric Reconstruction: Consume what you kill for more than just stats. Steal their flesh to repair your own. Their blood becomes yours. Your enemies are nothing more than your medicine.

Mash was confused. His health was decreasing, but his energy was increasing at the same time. He was somewhat transfixed by the changing numbers; his energy was going beyond its maximum. While that might be a good sign, he needed to stop his hp from dropping. He considered trying to get to Luke but didn’t think he could get himself to walk. The pain in his abdomen was grating and every movement he made was making it worse. Honestly, he didn’t think he could pick himself up off the ground.

He settled on focusing on new skills trying to find something that could help him. He needed to repair what he lost which really left him with two options. His inhuman hibernation or chimeric reconstruction was probably his only solution. He couldn’t imagine himself meditating for his inhuman hibernation. That left one skill, and he spoke an apology as he reached around his neck.

“Sorry!”

The word came out through a grunt of pain, and he grabbed one of Priscilla’s bodies from around his neck. He squeezed his hand into a fist, the body's head getting crushed between his fingers.

[Take more if you need it.]

Priscilla was offering herself up, but Mash didn’t know even know if his skill would work here. It was a test and one that might just end up ruining him. He was already regretting trying this without having someone else around. His judgment had just been wrong. He had thought that with his upgrade and skills he could handle anything and fix any damage that he did to himself.

However, it wasn’t the time for regret. He needed to figure this out, and he used his skill on the body in his hand. Mash watched as the body seemed to dissolve into him. Its flesh mixed with his own, but it went even further than that. Everything that was once Priscilla was slowly absorbed into his body. He felt a few things happen at that moment, one of which included the pain diminishing. It wasn’t gone, but he was able to regain control of his body.

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Mash’s body felt like it was a mess, and he didn’t know if the repairs would be permanent or not. He needed to make sure and immediately started using his inhuman hibernation. If he waited and the pain returned, he would need to consume another of Priscilla’s bodies. He didn’t want to do that. Already he could feel some of her abilities diminish. She felt weak too, and he checked in with her while starting the meditation.

[Are you ok?]

[I am fine but will need to rest for now. Your skill claims to take only flesh, but I feel like I have lost more.]

Mash nodded. She had done more the enough to earn some rest. On the other hand, he needed to heal and see what kind of damage he did to himself. Healing was an interesting experience as he was able to watch his clothing repair itself. The cuts and tears among it seemed to vanish completely. When he finished his clothes looked pristine like he hadn’t almost done some irreversible damage to himself. Mash took a slow breath, his relief washing through him as he did so.

Then he checked his status again, needing to make sure that he hadn’t ruined anything. Two things surprised him. He had expected there to be changes considering what he had done, but he didn’t think they would be positive.

Adaptable Monster Core → Reconstructed Adaptable Monster Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body, fusion with a monster has given you access to its potential. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy. Your monstrous body is better able to handle the changes to your core. You have progressed your core further, by forcing it to adapt. Now, you may only further your core by repeating the process.

Current Bonus: +75 → 80% efficiency

Golden Body (Passive): Having stolen the techniques of another world, your body evolves beyond its old limitations. However, even this transformation is incomplete. Seek out the next Step and truly make this power your own.

Trial of the True Body: 8 / 100

Mash wasn’t sure if he liked the changes. Not because they weren’t good, but because of what had happened. The skill had changed outside of an advancement, something that had only happened once before. The change itself, also stated that he would need to do this kind of cultivation if he wanted to progress. The pain he had felt could only be described as excruciating. Now it had become the only method he had to improve his core. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go through that again, and he couldn’t keep using Priscilla’s bodies for something like that. It would make him feel like he was farming Priscilla, and that just felt wrong.

The other change was to his golden body. He was closer to his true body now. He wondered if that was a by-product of absorbing Priscilla, or if that was because of the cultivation itself. He hoped it was the previous, as it made it sound like he could improve his body by absorbing enough monsters. However, he was somewhat concerned about that skill. It had healed him, but what it had done was unnatural. Priscilla’s entire body was somehow turned into something that could heal him. Her scales, organs, and eyes included. The skill left nothing.

An image flashed in his mind. A creature of life and flesh with nothing else to it. No shape or purpose. A life that was created to be nothing. It felt like something inside of him fell at the thought. It was that dreaded feeling of disgust and regret. It pooled inside of him, and he let it fall further, and just let it keep going until he was able to stop thinking about it entirely.

He considered trying to sleep, but he wasn’t tired. His healing had washed away the fatigue too. A glance out the window told him that it was almost the morning anyway. Idly, he wondered just how long he had been writhing in pain. It had to have been hours considering the time. Mash headed out of his room. The tower was elaborate, and the stone in the halls was unblemished. It was like the tower itself pushed dirt away.

Mash walked across the hall and knocked on the door across from his. Luke was in this room, and Mash wanted to get him to check his condition. He got an idea of his body from the status, but he wanted to know if he had done something to his soul. Priscilla had said that she felt like she had lost more than just her body. He wanted to see if his skill had affected her soul as well. He thought that only beastmen could have skills related to the soul directly, but he wasn’t human anymore either. He might’ve been able to get a skill like that because he had lost his humanity.

The doors here were made of some thick wood, and he heard it creak a little before it swung open. Luke was obviously not used to his new strength and the door had suffered a little for it. His friend looked oddly awake. As if the sudden interruption hadn’t at all ruined his sleep. Mash had known that Luke was sleeping with his domain, and he was surprised to see him look so awake.

“Hey, sorry for waking you, but can you check my soul.”

Luke’s face changed as he processed Mash’s question. He only looked awake; it was clear that he was still shaking off the morning drowsiness. Although, Mash’s question seemed to do the job. Luke’s body glowed briefly, and his eyes gaze grew more firm. He had healed himself of his fatigue. All four of them had shared the details of their skills with one another, and Mash wasn’t sure how Luke was healing himself. He had probably been experimenting with his skills as well.

“Why? What happened?”

Luke’s voice carried his concern, and Mash felt the tinge of fear in his domain. It was comforting to feel his friend’s concern. It was something Mash had needed, and he hadn’t even realized it. He didn’t let Luke wallow in it though, and he started explaining what he had done. He didn’t bother hiding anything from Luke. That wouldn’t be fair to a friend whom he had asked to heal him. It would be like lying to his sister.

“Are you an idiot? Why would you try something so obviously stupid? And alone!”

Luke wasn’t trying to keep his calm, and he yelled as he grabbed Mash’s hand. Mash was able to feel as Luke’s sense flowed through him. Mash could feel Red, and Jill woke up. They had both sprung into battle position when Luke yelled. Jill’s needle had materialized in her hand, and even Red’s new weapons floated around her. Although they seemed to do that constantly. Even before Luke finished yelling, Jill had teleported out of her room and appeared beside the two of them. She looked panicked. Mash was smart enough to look away as she would be in her sleepwear. It wasn’t like she was wearing anything indecent; it just wasn’t done.

He already felt bad about seeing them with his domain, though it wasn’t something he could turn off. Everything around him would always be somewhat visible to him. Although he could adjust his focus somewhat.

“What happened? Were we betrayed?”

Mash shook his head no and was somewhat shocked by the question. He knew that their track record with meeting people wasn’t great, but to think that Jill would just assume that they had been betrayed was kind of sad. Luke spoke, and Mash saw him turning his gaze in the same way he had.

“No. Mash just did something stupid.”

“Again? Do we need to run?”

There was a strange acceptance in her tone that he could tell was genuine. That felt unfair to him, but then he considered it again.

“Am I really that bad?”