[Murderous Octopus has defeated a level five Rabid Grey Squirrel! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.]

[You have leveled up!]

As the euphoria of the level increase surged through Logan, he could only stare.

At this point, a spaceship could come down from the sky and transport him to a sentient slime monster world and Logan would take it in stride. His world had devolved into absurdity. Apocalypse? A creepy System? Undead sturgeons?

A talking bonded murderous octopus?

Why not.

And although the System had indicated the XP he’d gained from Ernie’s kill was reduced, it had still been enough to get him to the next level.

Logan concentrated on the asterisk within his stat screen next to the companion description:

[Until you obtain an equal or higher level than your bonded companion, XP distribution will be reduced. To share in XP, both parties must be in the presence of the other.]

Holy shit. That was a game changer. Even though it was reduced and there were conditions, with Ernie being so much higher leveled, he could see a huge advantage here.

As a surge of excitement made his chest feel light, Logan left Ernie to his squirrel munching and wandered out of his reach. It would give him enough room to experiment.

Out of all the skills he’d gained, [Regenerate] excited him the most. It was listed as a rare skill. He’d already lost a toe and a finger. Who knew what else he’d lose in the coming days?

Logan pulled up the skill description.

[This rare skill allows you to regenerate severed limbs. Skill level advances with Grade level.]

The latter part of the description mirrored his [Idiot’s Inspect] skill. When he advanced from Grade F0 to F1, the skill had become more complex, giving him expanded detail. That meant that the power of [Regenerate] was still in its infant stages, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t work.

He’d start with his finger first. During his ordeal underwater, the bandages around his hand had gotten soaked, but he must have been too worried for his life to notice that they’d fallen off entirely. Before he’d gone for his swimming adventure, the wound had been tender and not entirely healed, but a layer of skin had already closed over the end of his missing finger.

Logan was psyching himself up to visualize his finger growing like he did with his [Life Cycle Master] skill when he paused and studied the wound.

It was no longer a cleanly healing wound.

Right in the middle of the stub, what he could only describe as a round nub was sticking out, about the size of a thumbtack. It looked like a tumour.

Was [Regenerate] already at work?

It was the grossest thing he’d seen in his life.

Logan tore off his running shoe and peeled off his wet sock. Contorting his body as if he were doing yoga, he studied his toe injury. Nasty. Just like his finger, he had a stub of flesh growing out of the wound, like a wormy appendage. [Regenerate] was already at work.

It must be automatic, a passive skill. Hell yeah! Logan could see how that could come in handy, especially if the skill grew more powerful. Now he just needed to wait until his limbs regenerated. And hopefully to the point where he wouldn’t have to look away in disgust.

Logan took off his other shoe and then awkwardly sat down, trying not to jar his new toe growth. The shoe hid whatever was at work, but there was no avoiding looking at his hand. He was regretting not raiding Jack’s closet for gloves, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

[Regenerate] was the most valuable skill out of the lot, but from a purely kick ass factor, [Mimicry] had immense potential. If he could mirror his surroundings and blend in, it wasn’t just a way to escape, it was a way to hide before he attacked.

Logan rolled up his white long sleeved dress shirt to the elbows. The skill description had been clear:

[This rare skill allows you to transform your skin, mimicking anything within your environment.]

That meant he should be able to graft an image onto his skin. It was just a matter of how.

Logan concentrated on the sandy ground underneath his feet. He’d wandered far enough away that he was sitting on a combination of beach sand and gravel from the forest. It contained pebbles, and a few strands of dried, yellow grass.

Holding that picture in his mind, he studied his arm. He’d gotten a tan from being outside constantly, but other than that, his arm was the same. He was betting that this skill would be like opening his karma pool or deploying [Life Cycle Master]. It would be all visualization.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Logan closed his eyes and concentrated on the image of the ground.

Dirt, sand, grass and pebbles.

Opening his eyes, he then visualized that same pattern covering his arm, crawling up his skin like a layer of water. The layer began at his wrist, then travelled up his forearm, covering all the way to the edge of his rolled-up shirt.

Ding!

[Mimicry is Level 2!]

That’s what he was talking about! Excited, Logan examined his arm. Aaaaaawesome.

The difference between his arm and the sand was non-existent. His arm may as well be the sand. If he held it directly in front of the sand, you could hardly tell where his arm and the ground began.

But as he watched, the pattern faded, and his arm returned to normal. Damn. That had been barely a minute, and it was only on a fraction of his body. He needed to get a lot better at this.

Logan flexed his hand and then shook his arm, getting ready for another round.

Extending the skill was just a matter of concentration. He repeated the same steps, but this time, pushed.

The camouflage spread like a river.

[Mimicry is Level 3!]

He’d managed to spread the pattern up his whole arm and down the side of his chest. Counting, he kept track of the seconds, watching his skin carefully. The pattern stayed steady for 90 seconds before fading.

Scrunching his nose in concentration, Logan deployed the skill again, this time, not stopping until he’d managed to spread the pattern, pushing, covering his chest, his legs, his feet….

[Mimicry is Level 4!]

But he still needed to hold the skill in place. Gritting his teeth, he held on, like holding onto the edge of a cliff for dear life.

With a pop, as if something had clicked into place, he knew he’d made a breakthrough.

[Mimicry is Level 5!]

Gasping, Logan stared down at every bit of exposed skin he could see, reeling when he saw that same pattern. With a thought, he willed the mirror out of his spatial collar and set it down on the ground so he could see his whole reflection.

From his feet to his legs, to his neck and face. Everything was covered. And if he concentrated, he could adjust the pattern, adding more pebbles, or making his skin resemble sand instead.

Even more intriguing, he knew his spatial storage collar was still around his neck from the weight and the feel of it, but he couldn’t see it in the mirror. It had blended right in, as if the fabric of the collar had managed to pick up the camouflage skill.

He’d managed to hold [Mimicry] for a solid five minutes before the pattern faded away. He suspected that he’d need to continue to level it in order to increase the duration.

There was one serious problem. His clothes. People might not notice his skin if it mimicked his surroundings, but you bet your ass they’d notice a pair of hovering swim trunks.

For the skill to be useful, he’d have to walk around without any clothes. Logan would feel like a creep! What if the skill expired while he was around other people? He’d become known as the creepy apocalypse streaker! Lara would never let him live it down.

The other problem was his hair. He could tell that he’d managed to extend the pattern to his scalp, but that didn’t matter if his hair covered it. Logan wasn’t a vain man by any means; in fact, he already looked like a disaster with missing patches of hair all over his scalp due to the noxious mushroom, but even he put a limit on going bald for the sake of a skill. His ex-girlfriend had never been that complimentary, but she’d had a thing for his hair, commenting that it was his best feature.

Logan hesitated.

But if a head-full of hair was the difference between making the skill effective, could he justify not shaving it?

“You look full of deep thoughts!” Ernie had finished his meal and made shuffling noises as he joined Logan.

Once he caught sight of the mirror, he perked up, his head bobbing. “That's a very useful mirror. You can use it to distract sturgeons but also to admire yourself!” Ernie slimed his way in front of the mirror and preened at his reflection.

Wait a minute. If he was struggling with the skill, why not ask the expert?

“Ernie, I’ve gotten [Mimicry] to work, but the skill only covers my skin. Is there any way to have that extend to my hair? I’m sure my scalp is transforming, but it’s useless if it’s covered.”

Ernie scrutinized Logan’s hair and then finally shook his head. “Hair is foreign to me. Although it’s wavy! And curly! And I much admire it, poor Ernie never had the follicles for such a stylish endeavour.”

Logan’s shoulders slumped. “I might have to bite the bullet and shave my scalp.”

Ernie tsked. “Such a shame.” He then scooted forward and narrowed his eyes in consideration. “I have a solution!”

Logan didn’t like the excited look in Ernie’s eyes. “What is it?”

“I can act as a hat, covering the offender!” Without any prompting, Ernie flung himself onto Logan’s shoulder with a flying leap and grabbed on with his tentacles.

“Hey!”

Slime trailed over his neck and cheek as Ernie climbed on top of his head, settling and forming his body into the shape of a lumpy hat.

Logan stared at his reflection, not knowing whether to laugh or shout.

“….how is this going to help camouflage my hair?”

In a flash, Ernie turned colours, mirroring the bark of the pine tree trunk behind him.

“That’s… that’s actually not too bad.”

Logan couldn’t believe he was even considering this. Forget a slime world, he’d officially gone into do not pass Go, do not collect $200 ludicrous territory. It was absolutely ridiculous.

Still… it was tempting. If he deployed [Mimicry] while leaning against a tree trunk or underwater against a rock face, as long as Ernie perched on his head and they stayed motionless, they could spring an attack together on an unsuspecting monster. Ernie could be a hidden tentacle weapon, allowing them both to share in the XP. That could be a hell of a way to level.

And level up quickly.

Ernie opened his eyes and blinked slowly. The rest of the octopus’ body still looked like a tree trunk, so a blinking bark hat was surreal.

With a flex of his tentacles, he jumped off Logan’s head and back onto the ground.

“Of course,” the octopus said, preening. “I rival all.”

It would never stand up to scrutiny up close, but at a distance, with Ernie’s help, the skill just might work.

That still left the nudity problem.

Logan snorted.

That did it. He’d only utilize [Mimicry] while he was alone with Ernie in monster-infested lands or if he had no other choice. He could live with being known as a streaker if the skill saved his life, but he wasn’t going to use the skill just for the heck of it.

Ernie prodded him with a tentacle. “I am hungry. Hungry for tasty treats!”

Shit. Logan was out of fish, and he didn’t think an octopus would be impressed with beans and tomatoes. “It’s getting dark. I know I said I’d catch you fish, but it might not be safe for me to swim at night.”

Ernie gave him a considering look. “Hmmph, Ernie is not selfish. He knows that although Logan is stylish, he’s also a fleshy human. I shall go. I shall triumph over all!”

Logan released a breath in relief.

Ernie slimed away, heading toward the lake. The octopus had said it would be an equal relationship, but until that point, he hadn’t really believed it.

As Logan watched Ernie sink into the lake, only a ripple on the surface evidence he had been there at all, he began to feel optimistic about the future. With the help of these new skills, he should be able to grind his way to a higher level. Not to mention the XP he’d gained from Ernie’s kills. The more powerful he became, the better. For Lara, for the kids, for Tasha and Jack. But most importantly, for his other goal. A goal that he was cautious even thinking about.

To beat the System.