[Faithless Mimicry]

The only other ability I have other than [Faithless Absorption]. It’s an ability I’m only beginning to understand. With the attacks I face in the city I’ve had Demons to test out my theories on.

At first I thought it relied on fear because I mirrored whatever did the most damage, whatever I was most afraid of. But I know better now. In both cases where I took the form of a predator, I had a sliver of their Essence and even some piece of them within me.

With the tusked Demon, I’d bitten into its boil, drank its blood and fluids, and absorbed its Essence. Not a moment later I regenerated and killed a Lizardfolk Demon with claws and fangs like those of the tusked Demon.

And when I got ambushed, the [Inurri] stung and pumped its venom into my shoulder, a shoulder I later transformed into a copy of the very stinger that pierced it.

Through trial and error during my battles within the city, I’ve proven that all I need to make [Faithless Mimicry] work is a piece of the Demon I want to mimic.

The [Adar] still lives, even after the brutality it’s been through. Its two long horns impale one [Bichu], but the other is free and undamaged. This one takes advantage of the awkward position its kinsman and prey are in.

My feet spring me across the desert sands and Essence floods my entire body, enhancing every inch of me. But my incomplete limb is the one I give the most attention to.

Pulling on the oily, sick sensation of the [Swak’s] flesh, I transform my stumped arm into a version of its limb. This transformation is one I’ve been undergoing since I paused to eat it.

Another thing I’ve learned about [Faithless Mimicry]—the more attention and thought I give to the transformation, the likelier I am to achieve an accurate copy. Sometimes even better than the original.

As I sprint across the desert to the battle, my stumped left arm begins to stretch and break. The skin on it loses its dark tone, turning pale and sickly. Pores widen to the point I could fit a finger in it and spread across the arm in dozens. These pores immediately begin leaking out oils and acid. Finally, a small hand forms at the end of the arm. Far smaller than my usual arm, but it’s clawed, filled with holes leaking out oil and acid.

I’ve got a weapon.

Such a transformation has a cost on Essence. The drain on the Crystal is hard to miss and I’d weep at the expense if it weren’t for its use.

Got to spend Essence to make Essence.

Ahead of me are the three tussling Demons, although one is dead as a doornail, impaled through its head and dragged around as the [Adar] struggles to free its horns from its flesh and confront the last [Bichu].

But there’s no hope for that—it will die at the [Bichu’s] pincers before it can set itself free and retaliate.

Up close these Demons stand several feet taller than I do and are as long and wide as a vehicle. It’s intimidating sprinting up to the [Bichu], but it’s far too busy gnawing at the trapped [Adar] to notice me slip underneath its dead kinsman.

Underneath the dead Demon’s belly is hard, calloused armor. The allure of a beating [Soul Crystal] tells me there’s some life left within it, Essence waiting within.

With the [Adar] struggling and dragging the corpse around with its horn it’s difficult trying not to get trampled, but with my [Swak] left arm I have little to worry about.

I thrust the clawed arm out at the dead Demon’s belly, and the claws manage a dent. Fortunately, acid leaks out of it and starts eating at the little dents in the armor.

The tussling Demons screech. The [Adar] seems to detect my presence and in a fit of self-preservation and spite tosses itself onto its back, taking away my prize and revealing my presence to the strong [Bichu].

The large eyes sitting on either side of its head find me and I know I have to make this quick. Without pausing to think about it, I flood my left arm with Essence, building up acid and oil and directing the majority to a single pore in the middle of my palm.

I take aim and spurt a geyser of acid into its eyes right as it starts snapping its pincers in my direction. A quick jump saves me from its grapple, but I may as well have launched myself into its second strike as it stabs me through the chest with its stinger.

Fuck!

I put my left arm to work immediately, smearing acid all over the stinger even as the [Bichu] thrashes about in pain from the acid in its eyes, waving me in the air with it until it slings me off its stinger and into a pile of sand.

Choking on my own blood, my eyes widen at the gaping hole in my chest. Without any lungs breathing is impossible, but even worse is the sight of the [Adar] finally setting itself free, pulling its horns out of the dead [Bichu].

My gaping wound pulls and drags on my Essence, begging me to sacrifice all the power I’ve stored up to recover the flesh I’ve lost.

I refuse.

Still choking and gurgling on my own thick blood, I pull myself up and section off Essence from the injury.

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If Demons can survive without their heads, then...

The [Adar], although free, has trouble getting back on its feet, and the [Bichu] still reels from the acid I sprayed in its eyes.

I can still do this.

Not wasting my time trying to carve out a prize with two Demons still lingering around, I dash straight at the tipped [Adar]. Crash landing on its filthy stomach, I finish the job. My left arm rips into its rather soft underbelly, pulling out chunks of chitinous armor and filling its insides with acid.

The [Adar] has little choice but to give into the sweet savor of death. I move on from its stomach once I know it’s dead, the allure of a [Soul Crystal] coming from its head. Ripping it off isn’t easy—the [Bichu] begins to recover from my acid but its stinger hangs weakly off a single sinew of flesh, useless.

However, its pincers still work. It starts at me as the [Adar’s] tough neck begins to loosen. Its speed isn’t at all what I expect from something its size, and it smacks me aside before I can tear off the [Adar’s] head.

My body tumbles through the sand, my entire left side broken from the attack. Whatever ribs I had left shatter and poke at my skin and insides in odd directions. My left shoulder is broken again, coupled with my missing lungs, and I’m already half dead.

This is not how I saw this going.

Groaning in silent pain and agony, I have little strength to lift myself up. In the end, I have to sacrifice some precious Essence to help ease the pain and push back some of my broken bones before I can pull myself up.

The [Bichu] continues hissing, snapping its pincers at me but not pursuing. Instead, it turns around and faces the [Adar’s] slowly melting corpse. The acid I pumped into its body is doing an amazing job of liquefying everything in its path.

All that remains of it is its head, some parts of its torso, and its sides. The [Bichu] goes for the head, snapping it off with ease—something it can attribute to me loosening the head.

Anger fuels me as yet again my reward is stolen. Fuming, I set sights on the still corpse of the first [Bichu]. It lies on its back, the [Soul Crystal] thrumming and humming within its guarded stomach.

Without a second thought, I make another desperate sprint for it. Everything hurts but I’m still alive, and I can still survive this hell for years to come!

The [Bichu] flinches at my approach and nearly drops the decapitated head in its pincers as it struggles between continuing the consumption of the head and Crystal or reacting to me.

It chooses the Crystal. As would I.

I launch myself atop the [Bichu] corpse and immediately start punching at the center. It takes one… two… three… four Essence-fueled attacks to break through the surface and burst my arm into the fleshy insides of the dead [Bichu]. My fists and knuckles ache, nearly broken instead of the creature’s body.

But I fall flat on my stomach and reach deep into the [Bichu’s] body, pushing and melting its flesh until my hand clasps the hot [Soul Crystal] at the center. I’d sigh a breath of relief if I had lungs.

Bursting it out of the [Bichu], I grin at its bright, hot, crimson glow. It’s a lot stronger than the one that powers me.

[Crimson Soul Crystal]- Lvl.6(5esq)

[Absorb] [Destroy]

I have to stop myself from immediately absorbing the Crystal and remind myself of Gerim’s rule, No absorbing until we get back.

Gritting my teeth, I stand and turn, tucking it into my pocket just in time to find the [Bichu] doing exactly the opposite.

A bright crimson glow envelopes its entire head. As the bright light continues to grow I squint, watching as its stinger regenerates and a second sprouts out of its behind.

Fucking… two?

It starts to grow, fattening in the heavy cloud of Essence it’s absorbing. The crimson begins to darken, taking on a deep, fleshy color. Blood Orange.

Fuck. I need to—

The Beast screeches before I can complete the thought. Now almost twice the size and length it was before, it bounds toward me, all six legs carrying it across the desert at speeds I can’t surpass even with the head start.

Even with Essence pumping through my calves, it’s difficult to escape. The [Bichu’s] new stinger has a brand-new feature too, spurting out venom at me from behind, aiming to douse me in the fluid and halt my escape.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck!

Switching to a zigzag pattern is the best I can do, but I know it’ll catch up and make a second meal of me. Before it does though, I catch sight of a blurry object in the distance, another Demon by the looks of it. Tall and lanky with four arms.

It crouches atop the dune it sits on and leaps, taking a great bound from the distance, whistling through the air until it plummets down behind me. A cloud of sand bursts out as it lands, sending out sharp, crystallized projectiles that cut into me and my desert cloak.

The hissing and screeching of the [Bichu] is silenced for a moment. I bring my run to a halt and turn to look.

There’s a steaming crater in the desert. Marveling at it for a moment, I startle when the angry screeching and hissing of the [Bichu] returns. Pounding and roaring continue as the [Bichu] rages within, struggling with whatever descended upon it. I catch myself leaning over the crater for a closer look before returning to my senses.

Whatever’s eating it probably wants to eat me too.

Ignoring the noises of the [Bichu] being devoured, I resume my escape and start to panic. I’m beyond damaged with a heavily broken left side and a gaping hole in my chest.

How am I more injured than when I came? I hate this place.

I’m starting to see why Demons abide by Calridian’s rules—the open world is far too ruthless. It’s lawless, with no protection and no intelligence other than dog eat dog. To survive in a place like this, you’d need a safe haven.

But what will Calridian do when he hears I’ve failed? Returned with only one Crystal rather than the four he demanded.

Cursing my luck, I continue to run toward the hub of power that is his city. Essence floods my ears as I move, keeping my senses sharp for whatever ma—I strafe to the side, narrowly avoiding the projectile whistling past. A long, brown, javelin-like object embeds itself in the sands ahead and I curse my luck.

Of course… why did I think this was over?

I turn and fuel my left arm, readying it with acid. But it seems unnecessary.

The approaching four-armed figure raises two arms in a universal sign of surrender and peace.

“Not any closer!” I scream out telepathically, and the figure halts its approach.

It folds its arms and the peaceful psychic energy turns vile and hateful, “How rude of you, little one. I just saved your life, didn’t I? This is why I hate Gerim’s rules, unappreciative fools all around.”

At the mention of Gerim, I realize who this is and relax. “Hargoil. I didn’t know—”

He grunts, walks toward me, and instantly smacks me over the head. “Useless. Facing three giant Demons at your weak level… it’s no surprise you ended up like this. Blind and hostile.”

Before I can comment on that, Hargoil hands me a gleaming Blood Orange [Soul Crystal].

“W-what? Why are you—”

“Because we’re all going to meet Calridian when we get back. If you get a chance to speak, comment on how I’ve saved your life today and I’ll consider showing you new ways to get stronger.”

He stalks off without elaborating any further, leaving me gaping at the hot Blood Orange Crystal.

[Blood Orange Soul Crystal]- Lvl.1(13esq)

[Absorb] [Destroy]

“This counts as two, right?”