Once I coiled the hydra using my tentacles, I pulled it out of the temple. The hydra was probably a monster that couldn't breathe underwater, so my goal was to drown it. In my new form, I could probably do that; I was bigger and much stronger than before. I didn't know exactly how big I was when I was in Kraken form, but as soon as the Hydra was pulled out, I was probably three times bigger than it.

As I pulled the Hydra further and further away from the temple, it kept struggling to get free of my tentacles. Its 8 heads were biting my tentacles in a desperate attempt to get free, but this only made my grip even tighter. Seeing that its actions weren't resulting in anything, the Hydra started to despair. One of the Hydra's heads started to glow with a strong yellow light.

(The lightning attacks?)

I thought as I looked at the head of the Hydra in question. Just as I imagined, the Hydra's body began to emanate electricity. Since we were in the water, this was a very effective attack.

(Ugh)

The pain coursing through every part of my body was numbing my senses. The more I squeezed the Hydra using my tentacles, the more it increased the power of its electrical attack. This cycle lasted for a few minutes until I felt that the Hydra's attack had begun to weaken. In a short time, the Hydra's body was motionless in my tentacles, while the Hydra's attack had already ceased completely.

Seeing that the Hydra was already dead, I threw it back inside the temple while slowly returning to my human form. As I fell from the ceiling, I managed to locate the girls and Glasy near the Hydra's body. As soon as I fell on top of the Hydra, the girls' attention turned to me.

"Makoto, are you okay?"

Saemi asked as she approached me once I got down from the Hydra's body.

"We saw the yellow lights coming from the ceiling, so we thought something had happened to you"

Said Fujiwara with a soft smile on her face. Instead of being worried like Saemi, Fujiwara looked relieved. Sighing, I answered their questions.

"She threw a shock attack on me when we were outside, but I'm fine"

I said as I looked at them. I was getting anxious with the way the fight was going, so I didn't think straight that taking her into the water could also be risky for me since she has electrical attacks. Putting those thoughts out of my mind, I pointed my hand at the Hydra while activating my ability.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Devour it"

As soon as I said this, a huge area of the ground around the Hydra turned completely black. After which, dozens of mist-like black hands jumped up from the ground and started to cling to the Hydra's body as if this was their only chance to get a piece of meat. Unlike the other times, the hands seemed more fierce and competitive.

There were even some of them that were beating each other so that the others couldn't touch the Hydra's body. This made me wonder if these hands were part of something or some being. While I was thinking about this, a voice echoed in my head.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (FIRE MANIPULATION)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (WATER MANIPULATION)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (NATURE MANIPULATION)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (WIND MANIPULATION)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (EARTH MANIPULATION)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (ELECTRICITY MANIPULATION)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (LIGHT MANIPULATION)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (DARKNESS MANIPULATION)

YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE MIMICRY (HYDRA)

Hearing these words, I couldn't help but open my mouth in disbelief. This was by far the biggest harvest of skills I have had since I arrived here. But contrary to my expectations, the voice again spoke in my head.

WARNING, THE USER HAS REACHED THE CONDITIONS FOR THE FORMATION OF A NEW SKILL, USING MERGE TO UNIFY THE SKILLS [FIRE MANIPULATION] [WATER MANIPULATION] [NATURE MANIPULATION] [WIND MANIPULATION] [EARTH MANIPULATION] [ELECTRICITY MANIPULATION] [LIGHT MANIPULATION] [DARKNESS MANIPULATION] [SHADOW MANIPULATION] [FLAME] ... CONGRATULATIONS, SUCCESS, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (ELEMENTAL MANIPULATION)

"What happened, Makoto?"

Echoed a voice from my side as I still found it hard to believe what I had just heard. As soon as I turned to the voice, I saw Aoi-sensei looking at me with a worried expression on his face.

"It's just that... I think I got an extremely strong ability just now"

I said as I looked down at my hand.

"Anyway, with that, now we can go to the 5th floor"

I said while looking at the girls. Hearing my words, they all nodded their heads. While this was happening, Aurora-sama's voice echoed in my head. Moreover, she seemed to be more excited than usual.

"Congratulations, Makoto. You were the first to finish the Babel tutorial"

Said Aurora-sama, sounding excited.

"What do you mean by tutorial?"

I asked, confused. Hearing my words, Aurora-sama was unresponsive for a few seconds before her voice echoed in my head again. She was probably thinking about what to say.

"Basically, from 1 to 4, you are all in what we gods call the Babel tutorial. Once you make it to the 5th floor, you will all go to the world where Babel is implanted"

Said Aurora-sama, looking happy.

"And since you were the first, I will be able to throw this in Aterna's face. Fufufu"

Said Aurora-sama. Hearing her words, I could only sigh at this whole situation.

(After all I've been through, this was just the tutorial?)

I thought as I let out another sigh.