I shook my head. “I don’t think you should be consuming anything. We don’t know anything about that creature. He was dangerous, and now you just absorbed all his power? You don’t know how that will affect you.”
Killa looked at me with wide, shimmering eyes. “But it felt so good. This is the closest I’ve felt to tasting anything—ever. Besides, that alone just gave me forty stat points. Consuming magic gives me stat points. What if you created your magic and I consumed that? Would I get stats for that too?”
“I’m not sure.“ I said as I rubbed my face.
She smiled. “It would be nice to feel more. I’m a slime. I don’t feel things like you. But I’m used to it. However this—this was amazing. I’ve never felt anything like it. I want more. I want to feel more. I want to taste more.”
I bit my lip. “Killa, we need to talk about this. I don’t think it’s safe to consume magic. We don’t know anything about it.”
She crossed her arms. “Then let’s find out. You can make your magic and I’ll consume it. This is the perfect time to learn about it.“
It’s stat points for her. She’ll catch up quicker. Then all we have to do is work to get Shadara caught up.
I took a deep breath. “Okay. But if something feels off, you tell me, alright?”
Killa jumped up and clapped her hands as she squealed. “Yay! I knew you’d understand. This is going to be so much fun.”
Shadara walked over to the corner. She pulled out her sleeping bag from a pack and curled up with her legs pulled to her chest. Her tail wrapped around her body. “Well, try to keep it down. I’m going to try and get some sleep.”
I smirked. “We’ll try.”
I took a deep breath and started to create my shadow magic. I slowly poured mana into my hands as I shaped it. As I did, I could feel my mana draining away.
I held up a ball the size of her. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for her to try. “Here, this should be a safe start.“
Killa grinned. “Thanks!”
She reached out and grabbed my hand. Her hand was instantly wrapped in a black tentacle that slithered around the shadow orb I created. I could feel when she started sucking at my magic. It was gone in less than a second.
Killa’s body rippled. “Oh that’s nice. But now, I think I feel hungry. Can I have some more?”
I arched an eyebrow. “I thought as a slime, you don’t get hungry like normal.”
She waffled her hand. “Sort of. But this doesn’t feel like I need to eat anything. It’s just now I want this feeling more. It’s like there’s a piece of me missing when I’m not consuming magic. Besides, that only earned me one stat point.”
I nodded. “That does sound like hunger. I’ll give you more. Let me know when you feel satisfied, okay?”
Pouring all my mana from my battery I created another orb. Killa didn’t wait until I gave her permission. She went straight to devouring my magic. There was one critical problem. Killa could consume my mana faster than I could regenerate it.
Reaching for more mana regeneration, I fed some energy to my hair to double its length. It still wasn’t enough. I let it grow until it hit just past my butt. Again, it wasn’t enough. Somehow it felt like she was consuming it faster.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Seeing the leveling up of my magic powers was nice but it was still not keeping up with Killa’s hunger. Looking for just a little more push, I put the ten points I had from fighting the large cats in the first room into my arcane stat.
My battery was rapidly draining. Killa’s face was that of pure bliss as her body melted from the waist down. A moan constantly left her lips as well. I only had been channeling for a minute.
We suggest you either stop, or increase your mana regeneration further.
I increased the length of my hair until it touched my ankles. But it seemed like I was losing mana faster despite how much more I was pushing through my body.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Orange, I need to upgrade my hair.
Mana-weave Hair level 2 augment available.
Cost: 111,600 shards.
Purchase?
I confirmed the purchase. Immediately, a surge of energy flowed into my head. I closed my eyes as I felt the transformation begin.
My scalp tingled as the sensation quickly spread down the length of my hair. It felt as if thousands of tiny needles were weaving threads of pure mana into each strand.
As the process continued, my hair grew even longer, cascading down past my ankles. Each strand thickened and became more lustrous, with a silky, almost metallic sheen. The color deepened to a deeper, darker black.
I could feel the difference immediately. My mana regeneration rate grew as the flow of mana coursed through my body with a sudden surge.
Opening my eyes, I saw my reflection in one of the crystals. My black hair now almost seemed to absorb light. It framed my face like a waterfall of my shadow magic. I ran my fingers through it, feeling the palpable mana in it, yet at the same time, an astounding lightness to it.
“Rina, your hair… it’s beautiful,” Shadara whispered, her eyes wide.
Killa, still in a state of blissful consumption, managed to nod in agreement. “More… I need more,” she murmured.
I did what I could to comply. I pushed even more mana through. She’s still hungry? This should help her better.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
The drain on my mana slowed down, but still wasn’t enough. It was like I was trying to fill an ocean with a fire hose. I need more mana regeneration.
Mana-weave Hair level 3 augment available.
Cost 206,460 shards.
Purchase?
Without hesitation, I confirmed the purchase once more. Another surge of energy, even more intense than the last, coursed through my body. The familiar itch on my scalp returned as the transformation re-surged.
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This time, the feeling was more profound. The tiny needles weaving mana into my hair felt sharper, deeper. Despite the thickening, the strands remained silky and light, as if they were floating in the air.
My hair extended even longer, flowing around my feet like a dark pool. Somehow, the color deepened further, transforming into an even more absolute black, almost seeming to devour light. Each strand felt alive with power, almost floating with the raw energy flowing through it.
I could feel the difference instantly. My mana regeneration rate nearly doubled, the flow of energy through my body becoming a torrent rather than a stream. The increased capacity was exhilarating.
Opening my eyes, I looked at my reflection in the crystals once again. My hair, now an even more intense black, framed my face like a cascade of pure shadow. It absorbed the surrounding light, creating an almost halo-like effect of darkness. Running my fingers through it, I nearly lost concentration when my hair felt more like mana than hair.
“Rina, what are you doing?” Shadara shot to her feet.
Killa’s body was almost completely melted into a puddle on the ground. A thin black tentacle waved lazily around my shadow orb as she continued to consume. Her face was still blissful and her eyes closed as she moaned softly.
I pushed even more mana. My newly upgraded hair made it easier to catch up with her demands. The feedback was immediate and powerful.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Despite the rapid leveling, I still needed more mana regeneration to satisfy Killa’s voracious appetite. My eyes flickered to the next available upgrade. She’s got to be getting close. Just one more should do it. How much can she eat?
Mana-weave Hair level 4 augment available.
Cost: 385,620 shards.
Purchase?
I confirmed the purchase one last time. An explosive blast exploded in my head. Then the sensation shifted. Mana was being folded into my hair and felt like something was pounding it in. The difference was night and day. What was once a torrent had become a raging tsunami.
Opening my eyes, I looked at my reflection in the crystals once again. My hair extended even longer, leaving me standing in a sea of impossibly long strands of equally impossibly black hair. Calling it black would be a disservice. Light was unable to get close, and it looked more like a hole in the universe. Even still, I could feel each strand vibrating with immense power.
With a flick of my wrist, my hair danced in the air as if I were submerged in water.
Shadara grabbed me. “Rina, stop!”
Killa’s body had quadrupled in size and she was ballooning further outward as her body lost all definition.
I was running on automatic and had to put the new flood of mana somewhere.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Shadow Power: Manifestation leveled up.
Finally, I surpassed her rate of consumption and slowly regained mana just before I ran out. In the brief moment, I understood how much Killa was consuming. She was eating double what my lycan form consumed per second.
But Killa wasn’t stopping. I don’t think she can anymore. There was also a strange feeling. I could feel Killa pulling mana straight from me. It hit me. Her class is a Limitless Devourer. I shouldn’t have started. I have to stop. This was a mistake.
Shadara pulled me away from Killa and instantly the devouring of my mana stopped. Just as quickly, I stopped channeling my mana and almost felt bloated with all the mana pouring into me. My battery wasn’t charging as fast as I was recuperating my mana.
However, my primary concern was Killa. Something was wrong. Her body kept growing, and she was filling the room. Shadara and I pressed our backs against the wall as we were pushed towards it.
“What did you do to yourself and her?” Shadara shouted.
What did I just do? I couldn’t help but look at my status sheet.
Name:
Rina Lone
Augments:
Predator Android:
Level:
59
Cellular reconstruction
Upgradable
Agility:
635
Cerebral prediction matrix
Weaponized
Arcane:
490
Synthetic eyes: lvl. 2
Power:
223
HUD
Quickness:
885
Mana battery (shadow) integration
Resilience:
370
Synthetic skin (face) lvl. 1
Toughness:
370
Additional stinger arm X2
Unassigned Points:
0
Arm blade X2, retractable
Shards:
261,741
Synthetic tendons lvl. 3
Synthetic muscle lvl. 3
Shadow Powers:
Synthetic bones lvl. 1
Manifestation lvl. 19
Epidermal plating lvl. 2
Shaping lvl. 6
Nanobot blood replacement
Distance lvl. 4
Nano-weave hair lvl. 4
Anchoring lvl. 1
Voice projector
Infusion lvl. 5
Plated dragon teeth
Solidify lvl. 2
Synthetic tongue
Shadow Lycan Form Spell
Leg scythe X2, retractable
Talons
Mana-weave Hair level 4:
The host’s hair reaches its pinnacle of enhancement with the most potent mana-infused filaments. The hair can now extend and retract instantaneously, acting as an extension of the host’s will. It can absorb and store vast amounts of ambient mana, providing an almost inexhaustible flow of energy through the body. The host’s hair gains high resistance to magic-based attacks, even absorbing them outright if they are weaker.
Stat bonus: +160 arcane.
Shadow Magic Power—Manifestation Level 19:
This power allows the caster to create a physical representation of their magic. This base magic has no physical properties beyond being visible. Other shadow powers may alter its properties. It requires the caster’s concentration to maintain its presence. Increased levels will allow the caster to manifest larger amounts of mana in the future.
Level 19: A maximum of 65,536 cubic feet can be manifested at one time.
Unwittingly, I let my mind run the calculations and found that I was regenerating mana faster than I could ever spend it, even with my lycan form. And that’s even including if I cut my hair down so that it reached the back of my knees instead of the uncontrollable pool I had.
I have unlimited mana.
“My little glutton will never learn, will she?” A deep, melodic, waterlogged voice cooed, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“What now?” Shadara looked up as she spun around.
The crystal walls turned black into shadows, but this felt different from when the racoon did it. This felt stronger. Also, the walls weren’t just covered in shadow. It was like we weren’t in the room anymore.
Tentacles writhed around the edges of the darkness as a large, crystal blue orb appeared above Killa.
“Aquantula.” The one word escaped Killa’s bulbous bloated blob.
Shadara turned her head to me as I did the same to her. “Killa knows her? Is that a good thing?”
A cackling chuckle sounded from Aquantula. “Oh no, mortals. Those so close to my precious Killa have nothing to fear—yet.”
The sound of her voice made my skin crawl. The immense eye in the center of the room pulsated with powerful magic.
“But you, my precious Killa, don’t you ever learn? You can’t keep eating and eating forever, my dear. You swore you were beyond your baser instincts.”
Killa’s body rippled. “I want to feel more, mistress. I couldn’t help myself.”
Shadara grabbed my arm and looked at me with a worried expression.
The orb grew brighter. “And you, mortal, are a fool for offering your power to my dear Killa. Although, your ignorance is to be expected. Killa doesn’t like to share some things. This was incredibly stupid of you. You should’ve stopped much sooner. Never feed a slime. They never know when to stop.”
I hung my head. “You’re right. I should have. But, I thought…”
“No, no, no,” Aquantula interrupted. “It’s no matter now. My Killa has gone too far, and now she will have to be punished.”
Killa’s body rippled again. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Aquantula’s voice dropped as the air shook around us. “You didn’t learn from the last time, the time before that, or the time before that. I told you each time you failed, the repercussions would be more severe. You agreed to this. You asked for this!”
“No!” I shouted. “This is my fault. I enabled her. This is my fault.”
Aquantula’s gaze fell on me. “You want to share her punishment?” I nodded. “So be it, little doll.”