I thought about following her, but there was something far more concerning that had been weighing on the corridor of my mind since I had woken up. Up until now, I had been putting it off as I gained an understanding of where I was, but I knew I would have to deal with it sooner or later. So with a thought, I opened the systems screen. The familiarity displayed flashed in front of me, covering my vision with pop-ups.

Looking at the display, my mind couldn't help but wander. It almost made sense back in the cave when I was constantly clashing with otherworldly monsters, but now when contrasted with my current surroundings, it almost felt like a fetter keeping me just out of reach of normalcy. It was a depressing thought, but I had a feeling that this wasn't a world where the weak could tread lightly. Having calmed my nerves, I read through the prompts. Word by word, my expression twisted from one of exasperation to excitement.

Apparently, I had managed to complete the “King Slayer” quest when I touched the ant lord, resulting in the “soul mutation” doubling in progress. I still didn't know exactly what that phrase even meant. Was it implying that I somehow was incomplete? I was never the most aware, but I think I would have noticed if I was missing 94 percent of “me.” In the first place, what would even happen if I got to 100 percent? Could I accidentally end up going over it? Ahhh, couldn't that crappy goddess have given me a hint or something? Suddenly, I realized that the goddess still hadn't answered my message. I didn't know how gods worked (why would I?), but I didn't think she could be that busy when her home was a dimension of nothingness. None of these were questions that I could easily answer at the moment, so I ended up pushing them aside and continuing to read the rest of the messages. But it didn't take me long until I was more surprised than I had been a moment ago.

{New information:

[A Tier Modification Successful]

{Gained new active skill: “Monarch’s Reach” [Grade B]}

{Active skill Description: Allows the User to manifest tendrils which can steal any energy compatible with the system that they come in contact with.}

{Gained new passive skill: “Lesser Recovery” [Grade B]}

{Passive skill Description: Allows the User to regenerate from minor wounds; this effect persists as long as the system is operational.}

Two new skills, and both of them were at B rank. The first of which was fairly self-explanatory. “Lesser recovery” It didn't take a genius to figure out that it probably had something to do with recovering from injury. This was all but confirmed when my mind flashed back to when I was cut by that piece of glass. Though I wasn't about to start hurting myself to fully test it out, I felt I had a fairly good idea of its use. The second skill was the one that left me more than a little perplexed. Its name was the first point of confusion. What in the world did “Monarch’s Reach” mean? Its description was a little more helpful, but it left me feeling more concerned than anything. I feared that the only way to see what it did would be to test it out myself.

Aghast, I looked around the shop. I could hear the faint sounds of Mariam walking in the other room, combined with the slight ding of metal hitting against itself, telling me she was still deep in her work. My eyes then filtered to the windows of the shop, battered by a hail of continuous rainfall, and the beginnings of an idea formed in my mind.

Heh, if I had to test it out, might as well test it now, right? I knew it wasn't the best idea given the circumstances, but hey, I put my life on the line more than once for this; I was going to see what it was, gosh dang it! Besides, who was ever given a superpower and didn't use it right away?

Convincing myself of my own correctness, I grabbed a seat in a position that, if Mariam were to walk out the door, would conceal me from view for a moment. I then sat down facing away from the shop's entrance and mentally prepared myself.

Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on activating the skill in the same way I had my “hide” skill.

A tense moment passed, only broken by the clanging in the other room, as it seemed like nothing happened. But just as I was about to lean back in disappointment, I noticed an icon in the system's skill menu light up. Quickly looking around, I was a little confused, as I had expected, by the skill's description, that it would be fairly apparent when it took effect. Ehh, what kind of useless skill is this? It doesn't seem to do anything useful. I pondered for a moment and thought that maybe, like the hide skill, it wasn't visible to me. I would probably only be able to see its effects in combat.

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I guess that makes sense…

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I noticed that my clothes had a series of strange wrinkles running along them. As I focused on them, I realized that they weren't wrinkles at all; instead, there was something wriggling against my skin. It was a faint sensation, so faint that I hadn't noticed it at first, but it was definitely there.

In reaction to my thoughts, I felt them move towards the sleeve of my dress, pushing out into the open, giving me my first look at what they were.

WHAT THE HELL!

My hands quickly covered my lips, preventing my internal scream from getting any further. What manifested from my body were the same thin tendrils that the small red ant had pierced my body with. Almost everything was identical, from the translucent exterior to the way they danced in the air in front of me like they were independent of each other while still somehow being all connected. The only difference was in the color; compared to the milky white of the ants, the ones in front of me were a smoky black, giving them the unsettling effect of somehow looking even more evil. See, this, my mind screamed internally.

Hey! Hey! Hey! This wasn't what I signed up for! Well, I don't know exactly what I was expecting in the first place, but definitely not this. I almost wanted to retract them immediately, but I barely managed to push the urge down. I had already come this far; I might as well see it through till the end. With a mix of trepidation and curiosity, I tried guiding the tendrils around in front of me, watching as they followed my intentions perfectly. It was a hard-to-describe feeling, as if I suddenly had a new pair of arms; their control was like a second nature I always had.

Pushing one step further, I directed one of the tendrils towards a loose plastic cup lying on the ground a little more than a meter in front of me. The tendril extended towards the object, wrapping around it like a string. However, as soon as I tried to lift it off the ground, I ran into some difficulty; it did move slightly into the air, but I could tell the tentacle was straining under the weight. With a thought, I directed a few more tendrils coming from my right hand to help the first. With their combined force, they were fairly able to manipulate the object freely. The downside was that lifting the cup used more than half of the tendrils coming from my body, adding another difference between me and the ant.

I made a mental note of their physical abilities before dropping the cup into a trash can.

It looks like for now, this was as far as I was going to get here. After realizing that they were the same tendrils that the ant had used against me, I had a suspicion of what the description meant by “absorption,” but frankly, it wasn't something I was looking forward to testing anytime soon. The real issue was with the implications that me having the same ability as the ant carried. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I recalled how the ant crawled towards me like it was possessed while its life was coming to an end. Did it want to give me this?

I shook my head. That couldn't be right; it probably had more to do with the unknown workings of the systems than the will of a dead ant. Interrupting my thought process, I heard the clatter of footsteps faintly echo into the room. Contrary to my expectations, they didn't come from in front of me where Mariam was cooking but rather behind me outside the shop. Luckily, the tendrils had already sunken back into the depth of my dress. I listened to the steps get closer; as they did, it was clear that there wasn't just one pair of feet getting closer to the shop. At first, I doubted they were brave enough to brave the storm outside to come to this shop, but as the seconds passed, it became increasingly clear that was exactly their intention. Relaxing, I lazily bent my head over my shoulder. I wasn't that concerned. I didn't even know where I was; how could anyone possibly have a grudge against me? Before I finished turning around, I heard the telltale rattle of a locked door handle being turned, putting me even further at ease. Ah, looks like whoever it is will just have to come back another day. I tilted my head to get a better look at the door.

Crash*

Just as I did, my face immediately fell. The first thing I saw was a brawny foot slamming into the frame of the door, sending it rocketing open. The impact caused a nearby picture frame to fall to the ground, shattering into pieces. With the way now open, three men stepped into the store, ignoring the welcome mat. They walked a few steps into the shop, tracking a trail of dirty water in with them. I examined the group, who looked like the type of punks who spend their days looking for trouble.

The leader of the men looked to be in his mid-twenties with blond hair and an average physique. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a spiky flame pattern running across its sleeves. His pants were a pair of beaten jeans. The two men following behind him looked to be around his same age. One of them was also wearing the same jacket, while the second, who was a bit shorter than the others, was wearing a tank top with a band wrapped around his arm, sporting the same flame symbol.

The leader met my eyes, a slightly confused expression on his face before he opened his mouth and let out a booming shout into the shop.

[Punk Leader] “OI, Dylan, get your ass out here now!”

Following his lead, the other two joined in.

[Punk Lackey] “You didn't think you could just get away with not paying for your share of the mana stones?”

[Short Punk Lackey] “Yeah… you'd better… get down here before we break this place!”

The last man's speech was hard to understand on account that he kept shivering.

After listening to what the three said, my inner thoughts escaped my lips.

[Iris] “Huh??”

{Current Time until apocalypse: 297hrs, 11m, 16s} . . .