I've figured a few things out.

After confirming the Stone Stalker was dead I used the modified Giant Armored Rats "Aztec War Club" like tail to hack the monsters body apart; after that fight there's no way I'm letting it go to waste. It took some time to divide and Consume it; long enough for the rats to stop burning.

I moved down the hall a few turns to get enough distance away, just in case something else comes to eat the charred remains.

That's when an unfortunate lesson came up: sevier damage persists between forms.

When I turned back to my Mimic form I had large chunks of flesh missing where it's venom got me, not mentioning all the bruises and cuts. When I shifted to the Iron Spider form that damage carried over, leaving me missing two legs and a section of carapace.

I decided to hide in the ceiling-wall corner a bit while I heal, which will give me plenty of time to think. That's when I had a second realization, this one regarding Mana Flesh: timing is important.

It seems there is a small but noticeable time frame when Infused Offense interacts with itself after activation. If two attacks happen at the same time, they both get the damage bonus. But if one happens 2-3 seconds after the first, it doesn't activate. Same for Infused Defense: if an Injury happens 2-3 seconds after another one is reduced it doesn't affect the second. That may not sound like much, but three seconds could be the difference between being alive and being dead.

This all means Mana Flesh is powerful, but not perpetual.

The third realization: Infused Offense doesn't work with pure magical attacks. If there is no physical effort, it's not added in.

That also brings up a question: leveling up the Class. I would have thought fighting this thing would have given me a level, but it didn't. I'm clueless as to what requirements exist for raising it; do I just need to fight a certain number of enemies or do I have to kill them for it to count? Does my stats affect my ability to level? Does my Monster level affect it? Do my skills? I'm flying blind in my understanding of how this system works.

The Stone Stalker brought a few new things to the table when I was deciding what to do with it. After it was dead I realized it didn't have any chameleon-like ability; it just has stone like scales. And I incorrectly thought despite its "puffed up" size it doesn't have much mass, assuming this is why it could get so flat on a surface. This all led me to believe the only thing Absorbing it would give me is possibly a better movement speed.

It seemed weird a monster would have a Skill called "Secret Identity", but being a Mimic I can imagine being able to hide my health points could be useful, so I chose to Devour the creature and see what all it has to offer.

Consume and Devour

You have consumed a [Stone Stalker]. Please select one of the following:

Skills:

* Advantageous Attack: You deal extra damage when you catch an opponent prone, incapacitated, or surprised.

* Secret Identity: You are able to control what information others see with Identify.

Racial Trait:

* Fog of War: You can exhale a small amount of black fog, obstructing all view in the area.

* Venomous: You possess Corrosive Venom that erodes flesh instantly.

* Adaptable Scales [Stone]: Your scales evolve to match your surroundings

* Flat: The structure of your body can flatten to ⅙ of what would naturally be possible.

* Heat Vision: You can visualize the heat of objects in your environment.

*

Language: NA

Class: NA

That led to another realization: I shouldn't assume everything a monster can do is natural. "Flat" HAS to be a magical effect for that ratio and I'd have gotten more mass from Absorbing it than I thought. Though if Flat is a magical effect, would I have gotten it? What magical element would that even be attributed to if not?

And I also now know there are different types of Venomous, explaining why it did instant damage instead of damage over time.

But that Secret Identity Skill? It's so much better than I expected! It sounds simple, and the creature just used it to hide its Health Points, but it can do so much more! It not only allows me to control exactly what Stats and abilities are visible as each creature, I can also *fake* what it does show! This means I can look like a weaker monster! And best of all: it should work on the Identify Spell! Yes, even a magical spell won't root me out!

So now if I'm ever seen by a person, they'll just think it's a little ol' bug! Or a chest. I assume that last one at least; I don't have any material objects I can turn into since I'm too big for the things I've found.

At the thought, I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen any. Isn't that a staple of Dungeons: chests full of gold? Maybe I missed them when I was following behind that group of people? Well, if that's the case hopefully I'll start seeing them now that I've lost their trail. I'm certainly finding more Monsters now, though I'm still angry I'm missing out on stat points because of the level skip.

Speaking of stats, I've got three points to use! I'll throw one in Constitution to bring it to ten and get +1 to my health. Next since it's the lowest one I'll put two into Dexterity and bring it up to six. Heck, if i had a higher dex I might've been able to dodge that bite earlier. Still don't see a point for Charisma: what am I gonna do, charm a monster?

Well, I guess I should do something else I was putting off: decide what to do with the "Severed Kobold Corpse" in my Gut. It's weird thinking about, especially since it's referred to as a corpse in the menu. Nothing else has been referred to that way, and it's probably subconsciously influenced by how I see it, because I'm fairly certain Kobolds are intelligent creatures.

I could absorb it; there would be clear damage where it was cut apart, especially around the joints at the torso, and several large patches of skin around its waist. I'd also have to substitute most of its internal organs from how damaged they are. There's enough to use, but it's sure going to look bad.

'Considering I'm weak for my level and I don't get their physical stats I'd just be a big slow target if I took its form. But in contrast, it's an opportunity to see what an inte- er, something different- might be able to provide.'

Opening the Gluttonous Gut menu I opt to Devour the Kobold, the Consume and Devour Menu opening immediately after.

Consume and Devour

You have consumed a [Kobold]. Please select one of the following:

Active Skills:

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* Advantageous Attack[6]: You deal extra damage when you catch an opponent prone, incapacitated, or surprised.

* Stealth[12]: Your existence blends into the background, obscuring your form, or the truth behind it, from observation.

* Perception[10]: you are better able to recognize what you are searching for

Passive Skills:

* Chef[4]

* Arcana [8]

* Sleight of Hand[12]

* Deception[1]

* Disguise [1]

* Insight[1]

* Investigation[8]

* Stealth [12]

Racial Trait:

* Darkvision: You can see up to 60 feet in the dark as if it was well lit and an additional 60 feet as if in dim light. Vision is limited to the form of objects.

* Pack Tactics: you are more likely to critically injure a foe while an ally is within five feet of your target.

*

Language:

* Draconic

* Thieves Cant

Class:

* Rogue[8]: The world is yours to explore and discover its secrets! You are skilled at getting in and out of places undetected.

* – L1 Class Traits:

* – Advantageous Attack: …

* – Stealth: …

* – Perception: ...

* – Thieves Cant: you know a special language known only to other Rogues.

* – Simple Weapons: you gain knowledge to better utilize simple weapons in a fight.

* – Expert: You are more capable in select acts than your prior experience would suggest. You gain additional knowledge in two Passive Skills of your choice, plus the following: Slight of Hand, Deception, Disguise, Insight, Investigation.

L2 Class Features:

* Reactivate Movement: your physical abilities allow you to respond quicker to your environment. You can physically move twice as fast.

* + Additional Features for higher Class levels.

That is a LOT more than I was expecting. I thought my Menu was long, but it's nothing compared to this!

'Separate "Active" and "Passive" skills? That's new. And Stealth is in both? Thats odd. Ah ha- finally, a language Skill! And a Rogue class? That… actually is where most of the Kobolds skills came from? Why didn't I get all that with my Mana Skin class?! Well, "brute forcing" into it might be why.

'I've already got its active skills, so I guess if I take the Class I'll just get passive skills at first level? Might be useful, but likely will benefit from the class more in the future, especially since it seems to fit my existing ambush tactics.'

'Well, let's do it.' I think, choosing the Rogue class and activating my selection. As the window closes my vision is encompassed with a golden glow similar to the red tint along with the sounds of celebration as a new window opens.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have been blessed by x!@#$%, God of [ERROR] and gifted the skills necessary for the class: Rogue!

May [ERROR] as you progress through the Dungeons of the world!

'Well, that's concerning.' I think as I dismiss the apparently broken message, only for it to be replaced by another one.

NOTICE: Existing skills match Class Skills. The following Active Skills will be adjusted:

Stealth +1 [5]

Advantageous Attack +2 [2]

NOTICE: Passive Skill [Stealth] level will be adjusted to match Active Skill [Stealth]. Passive skill [Disguise] level will be adjusted to match Active Skill [Disguise].

With this window an odd sensation begins to flow into my mind; knowledge of how to better blend into my surroundings, how to move without being seen, how to better use terrain as a cover-– all things I knew a little about, but now it's like someone filled in all the gaps and then some.

But there's more: how to Disguise myself to look like other people with makeup, how to use things to discourage people from trying to better discern who you are. Then comes knowledge of how to take advantage of others' mistakes and distractions, either to attack them or to keep them from seeing what I'm doing. Then more, and more. Some seem obvious, some I'd never considered before. All of it, not surprising, comes from a Humanoid point of view.

All the benefits of "Passive skills" seem to just be knowledge. While I may not have a weapon, knowing "simple weapons" also tells me how to help defend against them. The "Thieves Cant" as a language is deceptive; it's basically a way to have a conversation hidden within a conversation– which is totally useless if I can't speak any actual language!

After giving the info dump a moment to complete, I open the Menu and find my Skills are now listed in two categories: Active and Passive, with a (+2) by the passive. Selecting this brings up a list of my current skills, plus new ones I can take.

Passive Skills:

Deception [1]

Disguise [4]

Insight [1]

Investigation [1]

Slight of Hand [1]

Stealth [5]

—

Primary Skills

* Acrobatics

* Animal Handling

* Arcana

* Athletics

* Intimidation

* Medicine

* Nature

* Performance

* Persuasion

* Religion

* Survival

Secondary Skills: (+)

Taking a peek, secondary skills include things like the Kobolds Chef skill, carpentry, and other mundane but specific work skills. I'm guessing it's divided between "What Dungeon delvers can use" as primary and everything else Secondary.

As much as I want to take "History" from the secondary list to tell me about this world, I think there's two others that are more important: Arcana, since some forms require magic, and Survival- for obvious reasons.

Arcana tells me a bit of the basics on how magic works here: Mana exists in everything in the world at low levels, and some creatures can use that low level to make minor changes to their body but otherwise cannot produce any effects from it. Only creatures in a Dungeon can actively tap into Mana, which requires a Monster Core. This bit of info focuses on how Monster Cores can allow an untrained individual to utilize Mana to cast Spells after a "spell control" is added to it.

The passive Skill also tells me that people can gain access to Mana by receiving a Class through prayer and dedication to a God at an Alter in a Dungeon Santuary. It's interesting reading this, considering I got the class without a God, and how it gave that broken automated message with it. I can't help but wonder if those gods are actually responsible for giving out the Classes.

The Skill further informs me how to identify magical effects of items, which I hope will come in handy in the future.

The Survival info is largely a bust as it focuses on basic survival for a Humanoid in normal situations. With the exception of recognizing what mushrooms are edible there's not much I'll be able to use.

All in all, getting a bit of knowledge and the +1 to my Advantageous Attack skill should help me better survive whatever I come across. I think I need to focus on raising my stats though, hopefully I can catch up on those skipped levels I missed out on.