I needed something to carry all this lot. Leaving these precious monster cores scattered about was hardly an option. And if I’d had something useful on hand when I first stumbled upon that Noctis Bloom, I wouldn’t have dropped it like a clumsy fool. Rare as it was, a find that valuable ought to be cherished, not abandoned because some lumbering beast decided to interrupt. Tch. Annoying.

Hah. There wasn’t much about that looked sturdy enough to hold anything, or so I thought. But no, that wasn’t entirely true. There was something—my claws might not be made for holding onto things, and given my small frame, it was futile to even try. But there was a solution, alright.

I glanced at the battlefield below, surveying the mess of carnage. Monster corpses strewn about like a banquet for scavengers. One of them ought to do nicely. Their skin was tough enough—granted, it wouldn’t be refined, but it’d be serviceable. A bit rough, perhaps, but it’d function as a container, no doubt.

My eyes narrowed in on a suitable carcass—well, “intact” was a stretch. It was more of a pile of flesh and fur that hadn’t been completely pulverised. Close enough.

With a quick flick of my wings, I launched myself downward, letting Flight guide me as I angled my descent to conserve a bit of energy. The air thinned as I sped up, adjusting my wingtips to reduce drag and generate just enough lift to glide smoothly.

Touchdown wasn’t exactly graceful. My claws bit into the hide, but when I tried to take off again, I dropped like a stone and landed with an ungainly thud. Still needed practice with that.

Well, never mind that. I seized the carcass and gave it a good yank. The skin was thick and leathery, reminiscent of crocodile hide but a touch more pliable. Just what I needed.

Another flight later, I had the body dragged to a safer spot. I got to work right away, inspecting the hide for any weak points—particularly along the folds where the skin had started to separate from the muscle near the belly. My claws may not have been ideal for gripping, but they were certainly sharp enough to slice through the tough tissue. I applied pressure, sliding the tip along a natural seam near its torso, peeling back layers in long, deliberate motions. The skin’s elasticity made things easier, the friction doing most of the work as I severed the connective fibers.

A few more well-placed cuts and I had a decent-sized sheet of hide—thick and sturdy enough to fashion into a rough satchel. It wasn’t elegant; lacking proper tools, there’d be no reinforcement or fancy stitching, but functionally? It would serve. I folded the hide over, lashing the edges together with sinew remnants and tying crude knots to secure it. Simple, but effective.

Satisfied, I tested the makeshift sack, giving it a good tug to ensure it could handle the weight of the cores. It held. For now, this would do.

I turned back to where the cores were hidden beneath a nearby tree and stuffed the precious orbs into their new leather home. They clinked softly as they settled inside. It would’ve been ideal to find some sturdy vines so I could sling the thing over my shoulder, but there wasn’t a single one fit for the task. Ah well, clutching it in my hands would have to suffice for now.

Old me would’ve gagged at the sight of this bloody excuse for a satchel, but right now? It was like putting coins in my dessert. Hardly elegant, but it would do the job. Plus, it was roomy enough to stash other valuables—herbs, alchemical ingredients, what have you. Some recipes were basic enough that even without proper tools, I should manage.

I cast one last glance in the direction where those elves had vanished. As much as I wanted to chase after them earlier, I knew better. Charging in headfirst while bone-tired was just asking for trouble. I’d be more likely to trip over my own feet than actually catch them.

Hah.

I shook it off, turned away, and spread my wings. With my makeshift satchel clutched in my claws, I took off. Retracing my path was easy enough—Behemoth had carved a wide, ugly swath through the forest. I kept close to the treetops, orienting myself with the crevice above the cavern and following the claw marks I’d left on the trees. Soon enough, I was on the right track.

Air Sense helped me skirt around any monsters lurking nearby, though the exhaustion was starting to creep in. My head felt sluggish, like it was trying to lull me to sleep mid-flight. I shook it off. I was almost there.

As I swooped down to the little nook beneath the tree, I sensed a breath signature inside.

Huh?

The issue wasn’t that there was a breath signature, but that I recognized it. I didn’t waste a second and poked my head in, all bristled and indignant.

It was that blasted Badger again! What was it doing here? Didn’t it know this was my hideout now? I saved its life, for crying out loud! The least it could do was show some gratitude and clear off.

It froze when it saw my scowling face appear in the entrance. Alright, fine—maybe it was its home to begin with, but that didn’t change the fact that I deserved a bit of compensation. I was practically doing it a favor by moving in.

Wait a minute.

Only now did I notice the dead rat-like creature clutched in its sharp little claws. About the same size as the Badger itself. Even though it was rooted to the spot, it slowly pushed the offering towards me.

An offering?

Without a second thought, I slithered inside and snatched it up, swallowing the thing in one gulp.

[Morphogen source assimilated.]

No other notifications popped up—less than one Morphogen's worth. But, well, that wasn’t the point. It didn’t seem like the Badger had any ill intentions. Quite the opposite, really.

The Badger visibly relaxed as I settled down. Maybe it was just instinct, some gut-level understanding that I wasn’t about to chase it out or eat it. Either way, it seemed to grasp the situation: I was in charge here. Or maybe it was just smart enough to read the room—intelligence was a stat, after all, and this little Badger seemed to have a bit of it.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Well… that was something. I watched as it shuffled over to a corner of the nook while I took my place in the back. Odd arrangement, sharing a hideout with a Badger. But to be fair, I didn’t actually want to eat it. It was small and kind of cute, in a scruffy, half-starved sort of way. Hmph! Reckless on its part, though. Any other monster would’ve gobbled it up in a heartbeat. If I had the energy, or even the inclination, I might’ve given it a good scolding for being so careless.

But I had other matters to attend to.

First things first.

Mutations. Ugh. Time to see what I was working with. I summoned my stat screen.

Name: Jade

Level: 5

Species: Voracious Manaweaver (Draconis) (III)

Abilities: Mana Devourer

Attributes:

* Strength: 25

* Durability: 42

* Intelligence: 50

* Will: 37

* Mana Points: 40/52

* Stamina Points: 52/52

Species Skills:

* Echo Claw Swipe: Level 1 (III)

* Tail Whip: Level 5 (I) (+)

* Roar: Level 5 (I) (+)

* Scale Harden: Level 5 (I) (+)

* Shadow Blur: Level 1 (II)

* Spectral Crunch: Level 1 (III)

* Rapid Recovery Dash: Level 1 (II)

* Flight: Level 5 (I) (+)

* Deep Breathing: Level 5 (I) (+)

* Breath of Shadows: Level 1 (II)

* Climb: Level 5 (I) (+)

* Crush Claw: Level 5 (I) (+)

* Flamethrower: Level 4 (I)

* Mana Manipulation: Level 4 (I)

Exclusive Skills:

* Transformation: Level 1 (I)

* Lightning Affinity: Level 1 (I)

Mutations:

* Eyes - Focusing Lenses, Peripheral Optimization (III): +0

* Claws - Claw Flexibility, Razor-Edge Claws (III): +0

* Scales - Colour Adaptation, Shock-Absorbent Scales (III): +0

* Wings - Hollow Bones (II): +0

* Legs - Joint Flexibility (II): +0

* Fire Gland - Mana Reservoir, Mana Conservation (III): +0

* Macro-Trophic Sac - Stamina Surge Reservoir (II): +0

* Mana Conduit Vasculature - Micro-Mana Control (II): +0

Resources:

* Skill Points: 1

* Morphogens: 76

Almost at 80, eh? Just four short. Would've had enough for both the Mana Conduit Vasculature and the Macro-Trophic Sac. But no matter—now I can push the sac up another advancement and boost the vasculature to +4. Should do the trick.

I yawned, glancing at the screen. Damn, I was knackered. Stuffed myself silly, and this little nook was proper snug. Even had a badger keeping watch, or so it seemed. Not quite, but it was cozy enough down here.

I focused back on the screen, and soon the window popped up.

Would you like to use 12 Morphogen to upgrade Mana Conduit Vasculature and Macro-Trophic Sac?

Oh, joy. Another round of agony. Just part of the routine at this point. Right, let's get this bloody thing over with, then!

****

For some reason, the badger didn't even flinch while I cursed every deity I could name and mutated my guts out. We both knew the score—mutating wasn’t exactly a picnic. He just shifted and kept watch, eyes darting anxiously outside the nook as I writhed in pain.

Nice of him, really.

But finally, it was done. Breath coming in ragged gasps, I stared at the screen. Ha! About time! Felt like I'd spent an eternity torturing myself. But I'd made it. And damn, the new options looked absolutely mouth-watering.

• Nutrient Overclocking: Excess nutrients stored passively during feeding. Temporarily boosts physical stats (strength, durability, speed) by overloading the system with stored nutrients. Cooldown period enforced to prevent post-activation exhaustion.

• Anabolic Reserves: Enhances muscle and tissue regeneration over time. Stores excess nutrients for passive emergency healing during injury, focusing on sustained recovery.

• Super-Stamina Reserves: Increases Stamina Surge Reservoir capacity by 100%, allowing extended stamina boosts during combat. Reduces downtime and accelerates stamina regeneration during rest periods.

• Mana Feedback Loop: Stores nutrients passively during feeding, converting nutrient energy into mana. Restores mana when below 25% of capacity, and increases stamina regeneration when stamina falls below 25%. Efficiently balances mana and stamina needs.

• Toxicity Neutralizer: Advanced filtering mechanism converts harmful substances into usable mana. Grants poison immunity from ingested or inhaled toxins, enabling safe digestion and mana conversion from toxic entities.

Rare organs! A whole different breed, indeed. Each option, absolute units in their own right.

Nutrient Overclocking. A proper powerhouse. The idea of dialing up physical stats on demand, like cranking the volume to eleven, was bloody brilliant. Of course, there’d be a cooldown—you couldn’t ride the high forever without a crash. But the raw, destructive burst of strength in that moment? Oh, that was tempting. Last time, I’d had something similar, but this time, I’d be stockpiling the nutrients needed to fuel it. A solid upgrade all around.

Anabolic Reserves. The slow-and-steady approach, eh? Emergency healing, muscle and tissue repair quietly ticking away in the background, biding its time for when this unpredictable dungeon inevitably decided to chew me up. Could come in handy, that—especially after my latest escapade. Suppose I found myself without a tasty wolf to snack on. Could very well save me from an untimely, and rather unpleasant, demise. Granted, I’d been a bit daft last round, but it wasn’t all on me—those damned Elves were crafty as anything.

Right, three more to go.

Super-Stamina Reserves? An upgrade on top of an already decent foundation. For anyone perpetually on the move, always flying, fighting, or fleeing, that’d be an absolute godsend. One could build themselves into an unstoppable force—never pausing, never tiring. Though, truth be told, I was already starting to feel the weight of fatigue pulling at my eyelids. I stifled a yawn. Still, would I end up burning myself out like a candle lit at both ends?

Focus, now.

Mana Feedback Loop. This one was the odd one out, but I could tell right away—there was serious potential here. Balance, eh? Between two critical forces. None of the other options had touched on mana till now, but this one did. A steady stream of nutrients converting to mana and stamina, keeping the reserves topped up. Efficient, reliable—perfect for feeding two key resources my abilities thrived on. It was universal, a benefit that would always come in handy.

And finally, Toxicity Neutralizer. Now that had some intrigue. Immunity to ingested poisons? Converting deadly toxins into mana? Talk about versatility. Up till now, I’d been steering clear of anything that looked too noxious, though I’d already developed some natural resistance—after all, I’d eaten just about everything without much trouble. But if this choice kept cropping up, it meant there was a poison out there that would get the better of me. Even the stuff those delvers might be packing.

It wasn’t just about eating, though—anything toxic I inhaled would be consumed and turned into mana. The possibilities were endless. Being an alchemy enthusiast, I knew my way around a few noxious recipes, thanks to Lotte. So it wasn’t hard to picture—setting off a cloud of toxins, damaging everything around me while I stood there, immune, regenerating mana as I breathed it in. The idea alone was enough to blow one’s mind.

I let out a deep sigh as I glanced over the screen. Each choice had its own pull, each potent in its own way. There wasn’t a wrong answer here, but picking one would set the course for my path ahead.

And I could only choose one.