“Yes!! I finally got the core!” James made a triumphant dance as he brought the core before the gate. As he placed the core before him, he queried The System.

James knew the System loved to hide things from him. However, it is not a liar. James already inspected

“So, with this core, i will be immune to poison?” James expected some kind of roundabout answer or the usual ‘information classified until you install’ but it gave out a clear answer from the beginning.

[yes. Only strong poison will affect you.]

“I see. Heart slot, huh? What’s this negative trait?”

[operating a golem core requires mana and magic. Since it has become your heart, it would require constant maintenance.]

“I understand about that. But what is this about repairable… Why is it a negative trait?” James looked closely. Magic was useful, but he felt he had too much now. He wouldn’t mind trading his heart with this golem core.

[If your golem core were to be damaged, you would need to pay coins to fix it. Similar to damaged armor and weapons]

“And that is a negative trait?”

[We consider that a negative trait compared to a human heart. If a human’s heart were damaged, say, by an arrow—you could simply pour a health potion on it to heal. However, you can’t do that with a golem core. If your golem core were damaged, you would need to pay a shop for repairs, and it couldn’t be done during combat.]

“What the…” James widened his eyes. He never thought about hearts being repaired. With his old understanding, if someone were to be shot in the heart, they would die 3 or five minutes later for sure. However the System just announced to him that as long as he had health potions, he would be healthy again in one or two minutes.

“Wait… I can’t use the Shop when I am in combat?” James vaguely remembered the System mentioning that. “That’s news to me.”

Bringing potions before combat risked them being destroyed. However, saving coins to buy potions or upgrading weapons during the battle was prohibited. James suddenly found himself second-guessing his every choice.

[Shop couldn’t be used during combat. That includes buying potions, upgrading and repairing weapons, and upgrading skills. Such things must be done before or after combat.]

“Shit! That complicates things. How many coins do I have again?”

[you have 310 coins remaining.]

“Well, I have nothing to upgrade… so let’s skip that. Potions are going to get destroyed anyway,” James suddenly found an urge to buy potions, however his potions were destroyed before. He didn’t think the potion would last during combat. If only he had a backliner, he could ask them to hold on to the potions while he fights.

“Let’s change…” James found himself stopping as he held onto the fist-sized blue ball. Changing the heart. He had promised to keep his heart, to keep his feelings. He wanted to evolve so he could survive and thrive. But was abandoning his humanity ever the right choice?”

[Will you change your heart into Golem Core?]

“Will I lose my reasoning or become a mindless machine if I install this heart?”

[No. All human feelings, emotions, and memory are stored inside the brain. Chimera skills do not allow that part to be changed. Your memory, reasoning, and feelings won’t be affected in the slightest.]

“Alright. Let’s change it.” James sighed. He must become better. Only strong people have the luxury to care about morals. Only rich people have the luxury of caring for and making donations to others. If James refused the power before him, he would forever stay weak. That’s like putting a cart before the horse. James had decided that he wanted to change.

[Installing…] Dark motes of light gathered before the core. It consumed the core and swirled on James’ hand before it went directly to his heart. James felt his heart was consumed. Flame burning within his heart.

He groaned as he felt his body was on fire. The burning pain spread from his chest to his hands, to his legs, and to his head. It enveloped all of his very being.

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“ARGHH!!” James screamed. The pain surged and was suddenly gone, as if it never happened.

[Installation complete.]

“That was more painful than I expected.”

[Some kind of biomechanical dizziness might occur. However, the effect would be temporary]

“No need to tell me.” James groaned as he felt his mind swirl.

The System didn’t lie. The vertigo didn’t last long. James took several deep breaths before inspecting the gate that stood tall before him. The gate lit up, the inscription on the edge shone as it floated. the inscription, glazed with golden motes of light turned to english.

[The trial is coming to an end. Go forth, Gladiators.]

Some kind of meaningless encouragement was written on the floating text. James scoffed at it, remembering how his boss used to say such things as’ Be brave’ or ‘Stay positive!’. But when things turned south, he was the first to ditch them.

James pushed the door, this time, the door smoothly opened.

James scanned the surroundings. The colosseum felt like it was an assimilation of the second floor’s colosseum and the third floor’s dome. This arena didn’t have an audience seat. Contrary to what appeared on the outside, the arena was half dome. Bubbling hot lava filled the other half.

James walked as he admired the scenery. Then, his eye caught sight of not just one but two treasure chests in the corner of the room. James was about to approach it. But he stopped himself when the earth trembled as the lava bubbled up menacingly. A fin, much thinner than a shark’s and looked like it was made from bat’s wings with several bony structures, emerged from the pool of lava far away.

Then, a lava komodo, similar to the komodos he had faced before ,but much, much larger appeared. It towered a good ten meters above James. The monster looked at James as if he was a puny cockroach, ready to be stepped on.

James looked at the lizard in a daze. “Well, this is not my first time fighting a gigantic monster. Let’s see how this lizard compares to the wolf.”

As soon as James said that, a wave of Lava spewed from Komodo’s mouth. It covered the entirety of James’ vision. However, James was ready. A dome of ice soon emerged and protected him from the fiery lava spewed by the giant Komodo. James raised his eyebrows when he saw the ice crack. But it already did its duty. The Komodo stopped its lava attack.

“My magic had slowed down, and it was getting more tiresome than usual…” James pondered whether the golem core was worth it. It was not a huge amount by any means. But noticeable.

James bit the wooden arrow from his crossbow bolt. Purple liquid started to seep into the bolt. James had never tested this poison to any monsters and was curious about its effect. Golden glow emanated from his crossbow as he aimed for the lizard. The lizard was huge, James didn’t need any sort of aiming to hit it.

The lizard let out a shrill cry as the golden meteor went straight inside it. The cowardly lizard went right inside the lava at the first sign it was attacked. James shrugged his shoulders at the lizard.

James was this boss’s Natural predator. If it was other survivors, they would need to cover themselves with other magic or tower shields to shield against its wide area attack. However, James had perfect magic against it. Earth Principle works, too, but Ice was definitely the best.

Then, there is the troublesome trait the boss had. Similar to the wolf on the second floor, it fled and sniped from a safe distance once it was harmed. Ordinary arrows and even spells would not have any effect once it was under lava. However, James had his poison ready.

“This was even easier than the wolves…” James started to yawn as the Komodo emerged from a distance and spit out lava. James immediately covered himself with an ice block. Then, as soon as the lava stopped spewing from its mouth, James shot his arrow at it.

Komodo’s scales were more resistant to physical attack than James’s fur. Only his bow skill could penetrate it. However, James had all the time in the world. Like rhythm games, he shot his skills and blocked lava with his magic in concert.

“System… the poison isn’t working!” James complained as he shot the Komodo for the third time. It had been more than fifteen minutes, and the Komodo didn’t show any signs of weakening.

[Information classified.]

“What the hell. I regret switching them now.” James sighed.

However, the poison was working. The komodo was simply too big for the poison to take it out in one round. James felt he had applied tons of poison to it. However, dosage doesn’t matter. The poison will damage the Komodo in a steady manner no matter how many dosages are applied to it. After an hour of shooting the lizard whenever it came out, it emerged once again.

James was already aiming his crossbow at it. But the lizard didn’t show any signs of wanting to spew its lava to him. It merely floated with its belly up. James tilted his head, but before he could ask any question, the System had already answered him.

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to level 27! You have earned 40 coins]

[Name: James

Age: 35

Sex: male

Levels: 27

Coins: 350

Stats:

STR: 100 (up 6)

Dex: 95 (up 4)

Magic: 44 (up 6)

Mana: 600 (up 40)

Skills:

* Novice Axe mastery level 1 (Powerstrike, V-slash)

* Beginner Sword mastery level 6 (hurricane)

* Beginner Bow Mastery level 7 (Quickshot) (up 1)

Magic:

* Mind flay

* Mana sonar

Unique Skill:

* Chimera:

* Goblin stomach (Iron guts) (stomach slot)

* Mana core (Water Spell: ice spear, water manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000)(Extra slot)

* Orc’s left arm (STR+10%) (Arm slot)

* Eyes of Mana (mana sense) (Right eye slot)

* Sahuagin’s webbed hands(+10% dexterity in water) (right arm slot)

* Sahuagin’s webbed feet(+10% dexterity in water) (leg slot)

* Sahuagin’s lungs (Underwater breathing) (lung slot)

* Golem core (Poison resistance) (negative trait: mana-250 Magic -10, Repairable)(Heart slot)

* Orc’s torso (torso slot)

* Orc’s head (Head slot)

* Shadow snake fang (intermediate life leeching)(mouth slot)(new)

* Jumping Spiders spinneret (Thread creation)(Extra slot 2)

* Lightning Wolf’s fur (physical resistance +5%)(skin slot)

Equipment:

* Leather armor set +10 dex

* War axe

* Longsword

* Crossbow

* Leather pouch(damaged)

* Waterspout dagger

* Leather bag(damaged)]

“Hmm? Why can’t I plunder the Komodo’s corpse?” James waited expectantly for the System to tell him what part he could plunder. However, the notifications never came.

[You need to be at least within 10 meters from the corpse for chimera skill to work.]

“This skill is less useful than I thought.” James pondered. After pondering for a while, James had an idea. He made a rope with his spider silk, and then, with a crossbow bolt, he tied one end to the string and shot it toward the corpse.

After the arrow stuck to the corpse, he pulled the string like a fisherman fishing a whale. The corpse glided easily on the lava pool. It soon stopped as it ran aground. James finally realized how huge his catch was. The komodo only looked as small as the wolf because it was prone. However, this creature’s width was more than three alpha wolves long. About two or three school busses long.

The notification James had been waiting for finally appeared.

[Do you wish to modify your body? y/n]

[Available body part:

* Elder Komodo’s fang (mouth slot)

* Elder Komodo’s Scale (Physical resistance +20%) (Fire resistance)(skin slot)

* Elder Komodo’s claws (Hand slot)

* Komodo’s Lava sac (Extra slot)

]

“Wow, it’s scale was better than I thought…” James looked at his haul.

It was a no-brainer to install the scales. Now, his gaze switched to the two chests that stood at the corner of the dome.