We were dashing past foes on the second. Cruising through the sandy dunes without a care in the world.

The cool air sending small pockets of sand upwards and into our faces as we ran. The grains caressing my skin and Cupcake's fur with every step we took and every monster we slew.

It must have been a grisly sight from the point of view of the scorpions though.

A massive, hulking beast covered in mushrooms and crimson vines. Ripping stingers away from skittering bodies and lacerating shells in half with makeshift whips of tangled undergrowth and shards of human bones.

Oh, and Cupcake was scary too, I guess.

The results of my experiments were nothing short of spectacular.

Cupcake was even bigger now than she had been before.

Faster too. Her eyes tracking prey throughout the first floor without pause as the rest of her body struggled to keep up.

I'd made sure to study her and the way the fungal growths mixed with the plant fibers and muscle tissue inside her body before descending to the second floor. The different tissues all worked together to provide redundancies to several organs at the same time. While also enhancing her arms, legs and other parts to be sturdier. More explosive in the power they could exert at a moment's notice.

If I had to describe it, it would be as if her body was hiding the strength and speed of two additional bodies. Each one overlayed and intertwined with the other two in a way that kept up a semblance of harmony in the chaos of it all. Moreover, every blow she was dealt had to contend with all three bodies at once. Layers of hardened bark and spongy mushrooms softening the hits and stemming the blood from the cuts. Until her flesh and all the living tissues attached to the rest of her body knitted themselves back together.

When those lessons were applied to my own body, they allowed me to increase the effectiveness of all my stats in a way that beggared belief. As if I had received a temporary multiplier of 50% or 70%, compared to the previous 10% I had been used to working with.

Granted this was all subjective, but still...

Up until now, I had been rather conservative when it came to the transformations. Limiting myself to surface-level changes that provided clear upgrades to specific parts of my body.

But I now knew that to be a waste.

It wasn't enough to grow claws on my hands and plated bone armor over my skin. I had to make it so that the muscles and bones and nerves were all enhanced at the same time. With fresh additions that human bodies could not work with covering other vulnerabilities.

For example, I grew used to having another pair of eyes, but soon realized that I could accomplish much more with keeping my regular human eyes and growing small sprouting spores at my joints that detected the flow of air and bursts of sudden motion. Likewise, growing armor helped, but solidifying the flesh beneath them by knitting in other kinds of muscles and plants and mushrooms made for a far more effective defense. As they also provided boosts to my size, strength, speed and flexibility.

And that was before I began to test the limits of what [Spawn] could do.

It turns out the skill does not necessarily need to create other forms of life that sustain themselves as any other living creature. I could also use it to make living suits of armor. Plates of bone and muscle that sustained themselves with their own cardiovascular systems and that were joined to my own with their own separate nervous systems.

All while being ultimately disposable.

I felt another bout of shuffling underneath us then.

The dunes shifting and squirming as scorpions rose up in ambush from all directions. There must have been dozens of them there. Coming at us in concert. A small tide of chitin, stingers reared up and ready to strike.

The old Cecil of two months ago would not have been able to keep up with even one of them.

The current me found it all too easy. My nerves thickening in half a heartbeat. Increasing my reaction speed by leaps and bounds as two more limbs sprouted from my back. Human-like arms narrowing into long serpentine whips covered in slim, scalpel-like bones.

I lashed out with them in a wide arc. Transforming my regular arms into similar instruments and waiting until others in the horde ran into my range.

One swipe cleaved a scorpion in half. Dividing perfectly from above. Another sliced off three legs and took a chunk off its torso. Yet another removed the stinger mid-strike.

'Hmn? Wait a second. Could I?'

I leapt towards the fallen organ and tried to [Transform] it into myself.

The magic looked as if it was taking hold, but gave out at the last second. The lingering magic fighting me until [Drain] activated instead.

Then I kept killing scorpions one after the other, until none were left. Using their bodies to fuel me in that same manner and trying to mold their body parts into mine.

No such luck.

However, I did manage to get a better feel, for lack of a better word, in regards to the organ. Then I tried to remake it using my own body.

What came out of it was a sort of, monkey tail, with a hollow fang attached to its tip. No poison though.

I could not make any sense of how to make it. I did understand the principle of course. Some chemicals, like bleach or cleaning fluids, were not okay to drink, as they would mess your insides up. Animals like scorpions or spider or snakes or what have you had glands that made these chemicals. But as to how they might be copied, I had no idea.

I couldn't even locate the gland on the scorpions I killed, let alone replicate it.

'Though that could be a temporary issue. After all, I did just start experimenting.'

I shrugged and resolved to keep fighting my way through the Dungeon. Feeling more and more of my magic ebbing away as I tried different forms and different applications for organs.

All the while, I kept getting this distinct feeling at the back of my neck. This incessant nagging at the corners of my mind that something was missing. That something was different from the times I had used my powers before.

But try as I might, I could not pinpoint the underlying cause.

So, I just kept going. Descending to the third after an hour and basking in the splendor of the plains.

These were vast, open fields. Illuminated by a large crystal in the middle of the ceiling that acted as an artificial sun.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The grasses were tall and colored in different shades of faded gold and faint greens. Acting as camouflage for the predators that lay on their bellies. Hidden with their bodies flat against the muddy soil.

Most of the monsters here were lizards of some kind. Their bodies ranging from half a meter to several dozen meters in length, depending on the species.

The larger ones were slow, however and they could be surprisingly stupid and insensitive as well. So they did not put much of a fight when Drew used her magic to poison them and whip them into a frenzy. Nor did they escape when Ramji used his magic to bring them under his sway.

'Meaning they are strong against physical attacks, but weak against any kind of ranged magic. That wasn't a problem when I had my friends here with me, but it might prove troublesome, now that I'm by myself.'

I focused my magic on my eyes. Making them wider and larger in general. Allowing them to take in more light and see objects in the distance with more accuracy.

That soon backfired when I made myself color-blind on accident, which lead to a round of enthusiastic cursing.

Cupcake came up beside me as I spat out profanities. Her snout twitching as she drew in deep, steadying breaths.

I looked at her and felt so stupid that I wanted to die of shame.

'Of course smell is the right answer Dum Dum. The grasses can't keep the monsters' scent hidden.'

I enlarged my nose instead. Making it so that it grew as large as a toucan's beak.

But I didn't feel any different afterwards. The smells were more or less the same. Only, my nostrils felt cooler whenever I breathed in.

I sad nothing, choosing instead to pat Cupcake on the head. My magic flowed through her again and I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong this time.

"Ah." I realized with a nod of appreciation. "It's the nerves. Or the receptors. Whatever you call them. Yours are much bigger than mine."

Cupcake seemed to take that as a compliment and gave me a loving nibble.

I nodded and began to change myself to fit this new mold, when another curious idea hit me.

"Hey, wait a second. If I can already change all my organs, what would happen if I changed my own brain?"

Cupcake said nothing. Only staring at me with that vacant, yet caring expression.

"I guess I could also change your brain huh? Might make you smarter."

I tried the idea on her first. Just to make sure there wasn't a risk of making myself dumber on accident. I patted her on the head. Ruffling her fur and allowing my magic to pass into her. Willing it to gather around the inside of her head.

"Okay. Do you feel any different?"

I felt my magic take a turn. Gathering around her throat without me guiding it there. As if another, invisible person had come over and yanked on a part of myself.

"I feel much better, friend." Cupcake answered.

I blinked.

She blinked.

And then we both stared into each other's eyes.

"Thank you, friend." She said after a few seconds. "I feel much better now than I did before."

I blinked again.

She blinked again.

"Uh, no problem."

"I don't want to go back to how I was." She continued. "Please let me be aware of my own existence."

'Okay. Maybe this was a bit too much change for such short a time. I should think about this kind of thing more before doing it again.'

"I want to help you. I want to be near you. I want to be your friend."

I felt a pull through our connection and did not doubt her sincerity. The magic, it had done something. Made her smarter, yes. But also changed her outlook.

'Now that I think about it, I never once felt any hint of her wanting to go back to her pack. Is this an effect of my magic? Or is it an aftermath of traumatic brain injury?'

"Friend? Please let me stay by your side. I'm scared. I don't know what I would do without you."

I shook my head. Forcefully snapping myself out of a daze.

"Okay! Okay! Jeez! No need to step on my heart like that!" I answered. Doing my best to push past the bewilderment despite the absurdity of the current situation.

"We'll just, tell uncle Uter you're a rescue of something." I paused again. "Just make sure to avoid talking in fron of him and we should be okay. Also, don't let it show that you're actually a wolf. Or that you were a wolf. Try to act like a dog."

"How do I act like a dog?"

"More tail wagging and cuddling. Less play biting. I don't mind cause my skin is more like iron these days, but I don't thin aunt Cheryl is going to be too fond of you if you take off a few of uncle Uter's fingers."

"I understand friend! I won't bite off human fingers!"

"Good." I finished. "Glad we got that sorted out."

It was as good an outcome as I could hope for, given the current circumstances.

I focused on my new sense of smell once again. Picking up the location of about a dozen paralysis lizards laying on the ground.

'Right then. I guess I'll have to risk being incapacitated, if I want to go deeper.'

Or, at least, that was what I currently thought.

I looked down at my own hands, then at Cupcake's new intelligence. Stemming from her changed brain.

'Still, do I want to risk it? Actually, do I even have to risk it?'

I recalled something I'd seen on nature documentaries. How some animals had a more flexible nervous system than humans. Octopuses, octo... octopi? Whatever. They, for one, had a distinct lack of bones and an oddly shaped brain and they were apparently one of the smartest animals on earth after humans.

I also vaguely recalled reading something online about roaches having two brains, but I wasn't completely sure it was legitimate.

'But hey, trying out a second brain sure beats messing with the one I already have!'

So, I placed my hands over my heart. Sent magic into my spine, up into my head and dragged it down between my lungs. Creating a tight little pocket for the new organ to grow.

And then...

Nothing happened.

Nothing at all.

I didn't feel any different. Nor did I sense any obvious changes.

I sighed at the failed experiment and gazed over to the high grass where the lizards thought they were hidden.

'I guess I could try something like what the beans did. Growing a lung-like organ and firing shards of bone. Or seeds.'

It was worth a shot at least.

I called on my magic again and felt it... slightly less responsive. Then I let out a light gasp. Feeling a little short of breath. Then there was a tightness in my chest. As if an elephant had stepped on me all of the sudden.

I collapsed and felt Cupcake rushing over to where I was.

I felt her claws on me. Nudging me gently as she tried to roll me onto my back.

It was there, as I struggled to breathe, that I recalled what the missing feeling had been.

It was the rage. That all consuming fury that I had possessed when my core first appeared. When I had made the bears and the gorillas in that sleepy Alaskan town.

I felt tingles crawling up my spine. The emotions coming in hard and fast as my vision blurred. Magic flowing out of my core in a ravaging storm that ripped at all within its path. Making my blood boil inside my veins, as the power made its way to my head.

----------------------------------------

I awoke when the boy fell asleep.

Opening my eyes for the first time, to see a bubble of magic. Giving birth to new kinds of life.

'Fake.' was my first thought.

'Weak.' was my second.

'Slow' was my third.

I saw that everything was slow. Too slow. The other meats did not have time to think while they did anything. Their eyes could only follow one idea at a time.

But that was fine.

I was hungry and there was meat in front of me.

That was more than acceptable.

So, I walked forwards. Drawing in the life of the grasslands through my bare feet. Willing my brain to keep growing as I moved. Dedicating more and more magic and more and more flesh to redundancies.

Three lumps of meat jumped at me. Mouths open. Fangs bared.

I calculated where they would land. Grew needles. Pierced their skulls.

I ate them.

I kept moving.

More meat jumped at me.

I ate them.

I kept moving.

Larger meat slithered upwards to strike at me.

I ate them.

I kept moving.

I descended the stairs to the fourth floor.

I found poisonous meat and hard-shelled meat.

I ate them.

I kept moving.

The loud meat tried to stop me. It bit my leg and tried to drag me back. The loud meat was in distress.

I did not kill it. Or eat it.

It would make the boy upset later.

But I did keep moving.

I found the beans on the sixth floor.

I called out to them.

The did not shoot me.

I told them to wrap themselves around me.

They did so.

I touched them and gave them brains.

They too awoke.

I told them I was hungry and that I wanted food.

They followed me and brought me food when I went down to the seventh and the eight and the ninth.

I found another boy there. A girl too.

Not much older than the boy I knew.

They made sounds.

I ignored them.

I kept moving.

One of them grabbed me. The boy.

I took his arm off. The beans shot him. I thought about eating him.

The girl was crying.

The boy I knew might have cried too.

I was hungry, but I fixed them.

I asked the beans to help them leave.

Some beans separated from me and took them.

I kept going down.

There was more meat on the tenth.

Looking like people, but small. With conical skulls and beady eyes.

A meat read my mind. Insulted the family of the boy. Tried to taunt the boy.

I ate the meat.

The other meats threw balls of fire at me.

I dodged them.

I ate them too.

I was feeling halfway full, when I noticed I was tired.

The boy would wake soon.

I told the beans to take me up. To the boy's house.

And I let myself fall asleep.