***Core***
Last night’s impromptu camping was a great distraction, and it seemed like food was the right way to go. Kohaku was positively beaming, I could tell, even with her mask on.
This morning was a great one so far, Kohaku woke up and headed out to the woods again and I sent her a feeling of contentment just to see her ear twitch again.
Too adorable. I don’t think that’ll get old any time soon.
I hadn’t thought much on it, but I was indeed getting attached to her, and I think that’s for the best. It wouldn’t do me any good for my plan if I didn’t care for each worker I got, after all.
I spent more time reading through my status page today, learning some interesting facts about certain abilities and testing them out. Apparently I could absorb people’s armor directly off them, which I supposed would grant an opening for my fox-kin to subdue them.
Several hours passed easily as I continued to read through and test my skills, until eventually Kohaku returned to my camp.
Clutching an injured shoulder.
Whoever did this will drown in their own blood.
And that’s when a very toothy face peaked through my influence border. Its grin widened at the sight of me and soon, I was staring at a hell hound scout of the Tide.
The Tide was in, and I was a tasty snack on their way to the kingdom.
I’m now realizing that this is incredibly cruel on the empire’s side of things, putting an inexperienced barrier between itself and the monsters. Even more reason to separate from them, If I survive that long.
Kohaku was clutching her dagger, having now tied a torniquet around her arm, but she was still staggering slightly.
The monster audibly laughed before turning towards the fox-kin with a hungry glare.
I panicked and searched for something, anything that could help before this beast ate my fox-kin.
That’s when I realized something. [absorb] doesn’t specify non-living materials.
I shrunk the absorb radius down to the size of a basketball and aimed for the front right leg.
With a surprisingly short amount of resistance, its entire right paw was stored within me.
Then the monster screamed, and screamed, and screamed until I felt sure I was going to shatter. Kohaku was clutching her ears, blood dripping from them and pooling on the ground, dagger dropped from the pain.
I aimed another [absorb] at its skull-like head and thankfully the neck disappeared first. The creature now was bleeding out on my soil, death aura wafting through the air, and I suddenly had a thought.
What if the smell brings others?
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I readjusted my [absorb] to cover the whole body, and let it go to work. At this size, the hell hound thing gave me the opportunity to witness the process of absorption. The black fur disintegrated first, exposing skin that rapidly peeled away in flakey chunks before being taken in its entirety. From the wounds I’d inflicted, blood and brain matter evaporated into my storage space, half a tongue flopped lazily out of the neck as it slowly absorbed as well.
Muscles unraveled like elastic bands as strips of them disappeared, the three remaining legs were now down to bones at this point, and soon the organs spilled out with a disturbing squelch. The digestive tract writhed on the ground as intestines struggled against the sudden shift, and the lungs deflated little by little until at last the bones were all that remained to be taken.
All in all, the process of absorbing a living being was noticeably slower, even the paw took around a second or two to be removed.
The monster now gone, I looked at Kohaku again. She was bruised beneath her knee fur, and her shoulder still injured and bleeding, and now blood occasionally dripped from her drooping ears.
I searched my storage space for any potions I hadn’t consumed, and thankfully there was a vial of healing inside a camping pack. I checked the other packs too, but no such luck.
One is better than none.
I brought it forth in front of the wounded fox-kin, sending a feeling of worry. She cautiously took the vial before downing it all in a gulp.
She let go of her shoulder, the wound closing itself, the blood from her ears stopped falling, and the bruises on her knees faded slightly. She let out a tired sniffle, but first grabbing a smashed pear from the ground and ate what she could, before laying down in het cot to rest.
When she finally fell asleep, I opened a notification, expanding it into a blue box.
[Grishknar, Lvl: 106 Hellhound Defeated]
[level up 2-4] [Str: 2-4 Con: 3 – 5 Int: 3 – 5 Wis: 3 – 5 Agi: 1 - 2 Dex : 1 - 2] [2 Attribute Points Acquired] [Additional summon available] [Mana Capacity: 20 - 40] [HP: 2 – 3] [Radius Expansion: 5m-10m]
Well, I certainly wasn't expecting a name. maybe it's a leader or rare variant of some kind?
While the levels were appreciated, what I really enjoyed was the addition of 5 whole meters of radius. I could now see that much farther, which admittedly wasn’t too much still, but it’d allow me to see a threat coming from slightly earlier.
I put the two attribute points I’d earned into agility and dexterity just in case those had some use later.
As I finished up my stats, it dawned on me what I’d just done. I had fought and won against one of the Tide beasts.
Though considering what the strange wizard lady told me, there’s a few million on the way.
I started thinking about how I would protect myself and my fox-kin at the same time, when I realized could sink my 5 meter campsite down into the grass, and cover it with dirt and stone.
I set to work immediately by absorbing the ground at an even rate until my lantern and Kohaku’s bed were just over 2 meters down into the ground, and proceeded to construct thick, sturdy pillars to hold up a dome of rock and soil. Once everything was covered and only illuminated by my candles, I dug a small ramp out, put in a makeshift door and made a chimney over the firepit.
I silently thanked whatever god the fox-kin believed in for them being short enough to make this work.
----------------------------------------
***???***
His ear twitched.
A second, which was really an eternity, passed before He realized that Gods don’t normally have twitches.
Shifting His many tails, He pondered the occurrence for another second, before deciding to ignore it.
He would later come to both regret and praise Himself for this decision.