And as it happened with nightmares, they tended to get only worse.

CRACK

‘What the actual f . . . ?!’

That sounded terrible.

Even worse, the cracking noise came from my body and was loud enough to cut through the pounding in my skull.

No pain came, though.

Weird.

It sounded damn close to bone-cracking. Not a pleasant thing to experience, not the worst, either. Still, it was impossible to get used to. Even after going through it four times, it still made me shudder. First, there were the wings settling on my lower back. Then there was my tail, an extension of my spine - admittedly, much worse than when I grew antlers. But by far, the worst was when my ears moved higher on my skull.

CRACK

Ah, that was no bone-cracking.

The ice sheet covering my heart was breaking. As if on cue, with the next pulse, my heart broke free and drowned my world in its mighty beats, making me feel like I stuck my head in a ringing bell.

‘Argg . . . stop!

‘Stop it.’

‘Please.’

“I said STOP!”

The roar surprised not only me but also the shoelace bitch, and especially the asshole. Along with the roar coming from my throat, the air around me shuddered as if we were on a hot street in the summer months and the two of them staggered.

“The fuck . . . !” the bitch cursed, breathless.

“It . . . it worked. It damn right worked. Her body accepted the potion,” our deranged master rejoiced in contrast despite being pale as a sheet, sweat covering his brow. “Who’s the genius here, huh?”

“Well, genius, then tell me how it is possible that array’less Slave just hit me with the might of a double array beast?”

‘What the heck was she yapping about? A double array beast? A might?’ First time I've ever heard those terms. On the other hand, that I was array'less was something I had heard several times. It just meant that I hadn't completed my array, basically a degrading address from those who did.

“Fascinating isn’t it? Anyway . . . I’d say . . . it was the initial outburst.”

“Cut the nonsense and speak Standard.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Standard, or rather Eleaden Standard, was something I for one, found fascinating. It was apparently a universal language spoken across this world, but it was unlike any I knew or heard. If it weren't for the skill - well, the weave Eleaden Standard Language the asshole made me take to better understand his commands I was sure I would still struggle to understand a word they were spouting.

“How do I put this so that someone like you will understand my genius . . . ” the asshole muttered to himself, drunk once more on his own hubris. “It’s the energy in my potions, the kick which starts the whole process, getting out. Of course, it’s more complicated than that. That energy is what’s causing the mutations, but without it it’s not possible to insert the required weave in the subject. Finding the right balance has proven to be a real challenge . . . ”

“Well, I find it rather challenging not to silence you. Permanently,” the shoelace bitch barked back. “Seriously, your nonsense gives me a worse headache than that might pressure from the mutt.”

“But it’s a really fascinating predicament, ma’am. If you would only . . . ”

“Say one more word, you brainless moron, and I swear . . . ”

What she threatened him with, I didn’t get to listen. Not that it would be hard to guess. My attention, though, was snatched away once again by my racing heart. Amidst its thundering beats, it began to suffuse my frame with a curious warmth, a sensation so foreign in this wretched hole that it scared the shit out of me.

Good things rarely came at no cost, like food. Our deranged master fed us well - if you disregard the lack of variation. He did so, however, only for us to endure his evil concoctions.

So, as pleasant as this warmth was, chasing away both the cold and the heat, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t right.

Seriously, the warmth spreading from my heart? Was there a hole in it leaking blood? No, that couldn’t be it. Knowing better than to think I would finally see death, I pushed my brain to work through the thunderous pounding. There was something strangely foreign, yet familiar about the warmth.

Mana!

It was freaking mana, the magical substance I had grown up reading about and found sparsely scattered throughout my body after coming into this world. Honestly, if I were at home lying in bed with a book in my hand, I would be beside myself with joy. But being stuck on the butcher’s table, knowing that my heart had never done this before, that it never leaked mana, a shit ton of it at that, I couldn’t help but freak out.

This wasn’t normal - even by the bizarre standards of this world.

“See that?” the deranged asshole asked, ecstatic.

“Sure, her tits are back to normal.”

“What? No, don’t you get what the receding decay means?”

“Who do you take me for? Of course, I do,” the bitch said with such twisted glee that it sent shivers down my spine. “She is the first to accept a Beast Core. I must say, well done, Dungreen, she’s going to make an excellent pet.”

‘Wait, first? I didn’t ask to be first, you assholes!’ Worse, being her pet? ‘Never!’

“No. No, no, no, she can’t be your pet. T-this needs further research . . . this could change everything, my name could be known across the world as . . . .”

“ . . . the master of freaks.”

The asshole gritted his teeth. “That’s why I am saying this requires further research. I need her to . . . ”

“Then make another one. You already know how. This one’s coming with me.”

“No, why don’t you just get it . . . it’s not even certain she’s accepted the core. All we can say for sure is that her body is not rejecting it.”

The core.

The rotten Beast Core lodged in my belly!

If I could, I’d rip it out.

The same with the tongue of the shoelace bitch, excited to make a pet for her kid. Seriously, a pet? What did that even mean? Although it might be better than ending up under the knife of that deranged butcher - again.

Either way, death would be more merciful.