'Why did you let them live, Master!' (Ember)
'Hahaha ... I can explain it.' (Usagi)
Then, I told her. I was once a human in a different world. Like her, I couldn't remember my name. Also, I was alone in an unknown forest once I arrived. I didn't let her know of my time as a Horned Rabbit, since that would be too awkward.
After that, I met a young human girl named Mary. She was smart and knew a lot of things. Her parents were very gentle and liked to help others.
'I lived as her using the ability I just used on you ... ' (Usagi)
She should be still alive and sleeping comfortably right now.
Next, I became an Elite Goblin and was killed by her pack. I didn't mention the part about me not killing her when I could nor she did.
She was silent the entire time, but I could feel her emotions fluctuating. There was anger when she heard I was a human, curiosity when I told her about Mary and sadness when I revealed that I was that goblin.
Finally, I clarified that I didn't actually hate humans so I left two people alive because of my own selfishness. Even then, she didn't say a word.
If I described her emotion right now, it would be "denial".
We spent time that way until she suddenly fell asleep. Although I could also "sleep", I decided to stay by her side until morning.
. . .
Eventually, Ember woke up. The first words she said were unexpected.
Growl! 'Let's go hunting, Master.' (Ember)
She was hungry ... very hungry.
Aside from that, her emotions weren't unstable anymore, but she looked lifeless somehow.
I don't know if she accepted my explanation or just decided to forget about it. Either way, if she is not angry with me, that's enough for me.
'Yeah, let's go!' (Usagi)
We started running and eventually found our first prey.
It was an Iron Horned Boar. I was already salivating.
≪Iron Horned Boar Lv. 29 (Beast, 2 years old)≫
'Ember, use Fireball!' (Usagi)
'Yes.' (Ember)
Her unmotivated response ticked me off a bit, but as I was the one who "betrayed" her yesterday, I couldn't complain.
Even then, the fireball she threw towards the boar failed to hit its target.
Sigh. 'I will do it then.' (Usagi)
Sigh. 'Then do it yourself. You will die if you don't eat, you know.' (Usagi)
I wondered if I could do something to make her happy and lively again.
' ... It isn't Master's fault.' (Ember)
'I know I did something that bothered you. You don't need to lie.' (Usagi)
' ... ' (Ember)
The Iron Horned Boar became both angry and scared at Ember's attack. Even if the size of the fireball was the same, it's power has definitely increased.
After all, her level has risen a lot.
The boar hesitated between rushing over here or escaping ... Seems he chose the first option.
Seeing that Ember wasn't moving, he might have thought that she was weak and that gave him courage.
'You know ... if you die here, I won't ... but I still don't want you to die.' (Usagi)
I knew that this boar wouldn't be able to kill her easily even if she stood still.
She also knows that.
' ... Master gave me strength.' (Ember)
'That's right. You can also rely on me. I won't ever leave you alone unless you wish so.' (Usagi)
' ... I see ... I will trust in Master once more.' (Ember)
'I can't assure you that I won't save other humans like I just did.' (Usagi)
' ... I know ... As long as Master is by my side, I will be all right.' (Ember)
Once our conversation ended, Ember cast another fireball to the ever closing boar. She didn't miss this time.
<'Ember' has leveled up! (Lv. 47 -> Lv. 49)>
<'Fire Magic' has leveled up! (Lv. 1 -> Lv. 2)>
. . .
After eating some roast boar meat, we decided to take a break from practicing magic and do something more fun.
The wolf pack didn't even thank us for saving them last time, so we just ignored them.
We ran alongside the creek, used sturdy tree branches to jumped from side to side, and shared some stories from my past life with her.
'Yeah, there is a thing we call cellphones. You can use them to talk to anyone you want in the whole world. Though ... Ember can't use them as you don't have hands ... ' (Usagi)
'Humph. Master is rude.' (Ember)
Even if she couldn't understand most of what I told her, she still seemed more cheerful than before.
We spent more time that way and returned to the pack once the sun started to set.
. . .
I thought that we would end up sleeping till sunrise peacefully. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
'Huh? What is this?' (Usagi)
Ember's body was surrounded by small white light spheres and my Danger Sense skill told me that they weren't good news.
I went out of her body and looked around. The other wolves were fine, it was only us ... it was only Ember the one affected.
I hurriedly returned to her. We had no time to lose!
'Ember! Ember, wake up!' (Usagi)
' Zzzzzz ... ' (Ember)
Seeing as she wouldn't even move a finger, I took a more drastic measure.
There is no other way. Assimilation!
Once I took control of her body, I tried to run away from the spheres of light, but I was too late ...
The light eventually enveloped us and became darkness.
. . .
It smells like dirt. Cave walls surrounded us while the ground under our feet was a bit muddy ...
I could see mostly to Ember's Darkvision, as the only light came from some bugs on the ceiling.
'You there Ember?' (Ember [Usagi])
Even thinking like I always do didn't seem to wake up Ember, so I took the opportunity to synchronize with her. This way, I can deal with any situation more easily.
'If the other "me" just wants to sleep, I will let her sleep.' (Ember?)
So this is a dungeon, huh? I have heard about them before. They are supposed to spawn monsters and try to eliminate intruders.
Why do they do that? Because there tend to be some treasures in here. It is to protect them. The name of this one is pretty strange though.
This passage was narrow and I could only advance or move backward. As both sides were exactly the same, I decided to advance.
After walking for a few minutes, I found an opened up space illuminated with torches. Also, there were a few creatures in the center.
≪Kobold Lv. 56 (Monster, 5 years old)≫
≪Kobold Lv. 47 (Monster, 4 years old)≫
≪Kobold Lv. 64 (Monster, 5 years old)≫
They were as tall as a 10-year-old boy and their appearance was like that of dogs. The biggest difference is that they stood on two feet.
Growl! (Kobolds)
Wolf Language didn't appear to work on them. No matter how many different types of sounds they made, I could only grasp their intentions.
'Heh. They don't seem to recognize the difference between our strength.' (Ember?)
I charged towards them, ripped the arm of the closest one, and went back a few steps with it still in my mouth.
Their expressions changed to that of fear and I felt very satisfied.
'Is this the joy of being a predator? It feels pretty damn good.' (Ember?)
I chewed on the kobold's arm, but it didn't have a satisfying flavor.
'Even if the other "me" likes these things, it still tastes bad.' (Ember?)
After I finished eating, I easily killed the kobolds without using magic.
Dungeons are known for being large. If I exhausted myself in just one battle, I would regret it later. Once they were dead, they became particles of light and flew somewhere.
'Weird, I haven't seen such a phenomenon before ... Is it related to this place?' (Ember?)
Putting that aside, I didn't bother checking the level-up messages as they were becoming repetitive and proceeded forward.
. . .
I continued advancing and found a few more kobolds. It didn't feel as exciting as my first battle with them. As if I had grown tired of playing with the same toy.
Then, I noticed different monsters in the next "room". They were goblins. Same as before, only three appeared.
Smile! 'Great, found something new to play with!' (Ember?)
They weren't truly my opponents though and I just felt disappointed. Sigh.
'Excellent, time to play a different game.' (Ember?)
I deactivated Assimilation and Ember woke up soon after.
'Good morning, sleepyhead.' (Usagi)
Yawn. 'Huh? ... good morning, Master ... ' (Ember)
She stretched her body while I told her about my plan.
'Ember, I already told you about my power, right?' (Usagi)
'What power, Master?' (Ember)
So I haven't.
'Well, like you get stronger by killing monsters, I get stronger from absorbing their souls.' (Usagi)
'I see ... I don't understand. By the way, Master. What is this place?' (Ember)
She said she had memories of her eating limbs of kobolds and goblins, but no more than that.
I explained to her what a dungeon was from what I knew and instructed her to go to the next room-like part of the cave.
'I will demonstrate my power to you. Now, wait here. Don't move.' (Usagi)
Nod. 'Okay.' (Ember)
I flew out of her and approached her one of the kobolds nearby. Possession!
'Yes!' (Usagi)
I instantly consumed his soul and acquired a few skills like Kobold Language. Others I already had just leveled up.
My skills' strength filled this body and I took care of my two "allies" by my side. I had no weapons, so I used the biting and clawing techniques that I learned from being a wolf.
Then, I walked to where Ember was.
"Awesome, right?" (Usagi)
"Master?" (Ember)
Since Wolf Language's level was low, I couldn't use many complicated words to communicate. Also, my intonation was rough.
"Let's go that way." (Usagi)
I used my small hand ... paw and guided Ember forward. She didn't really believe I was controlling this kobold, so she remained wary of me.
I proved her suspicions wrong soon enough.
. . .
I became greedy after seeing that new monsters like slimes and rabbits with swords instead of horns constantly appeared, so I told Ember to leave them to me.
'Wow ... so many skills ... ' (Usagi)
Constantly leaving one body, possessing another, and eating their souls. The "empty vessels" became particles of light and disappeared without a trace.
This was truly a feast. This method was the fastest I could use to become stronger. Whenever I ate their souls, I wouldn't gain levels though.
If I were to describe my actions, it would be like a blue sphere of light going inside a monster which then stood idle and lastly disappeared after I left.
They were always in groups of three as if decided by someone, so the other two would rub their eyes and think they were dreaming, or become so shocked they would just stand still with their eyes wide open.
Most skills I got simply became experience points to my other skills though.
<'Increased Physical Resistance', 'Increased Movement Speed' and 'Increased Dexterity' have synergizing effects!>
Good thing, my skill list had become too big already. By the way, I obtained Increased Physical Resistance from a slime.
Originally, it was an inherent skill called Physical Damage Immunity, but, as always, I received an inferior version of it.
Being a slime was the weirdest experience I have ever had. Trying to move was harder than just jumping around as it was very much like jelly.
<'Increased Blunt Power', 'Increased Slashing Power' and 'Increased Piercing Power' have synergizing effects!>
I got Increased Slashing Power from a Sword Rabbit and Increased Blunt Power from a Big Nosed Boar that looked similar to a hippopotamus.
Nod. 'Not bad. The last time I gained so many skills was when I ate that elite goblin.' (Usagi)
Almost all of them possessed the Darkvision skill as if they had become accustomed to this environment.
Eating so many of them caused Night Vision to level up and then this happened ...
Water slimes, fire lizards, and earth boars also emerged.
The Water Slimes were a stronger version of the common slimes and were capable of using water magic.
There Fire Lizards I found here weren't as strong as the one I met outside.
Earth Boars can make the ground under their opponents like mud and throw gravel at them.
Compared to the weaker monster, I took more time to devour their souls.
'Yes! Magic! I have been waiting for this!' (Usagi)
Even in my excitement, a sudden question surged in my mind.
'But why? ... All these guys' memories are from living in this place.' (Usagi)
It wasn't just one or two of them. They didn't know that there was an entire world outside of this cave. As if they were born and raised here ...
Also, does something bound them to this place? This cave isn't precisely a three-star hotel. It did have at most a few piles of straw for them to sleep on.
Moreover, they rarely eat something or even drink water.
'This is pretty suspicious ... ' (Usagi)
We continued walking and I let Ember kill any monster I had already consumed before because I wouldn't gain much from eating them again anyway. Also, I could gain levels that way.
Eventually, a giant iron door was revealed in front of us.
'I can almost see the words "Boss Room" engraved in it ... ' (Usagi)
Nevertheless, we will take a rest before going in. Simple monsters like kobolds and goblins were child's play to kill with our current power, but those who could use magic weren't so easy.