The battle was over, and the snow on the island had been tainted with the blood of the beasts that were killed there. More than a dozen dead bodies of the water salamandars were on the island, in addition to the dead body of a wyvern. Due to the intense fight, most of the snow had melted away, exposing the bodies of other creatures that were earlier buried in them. Now the island was covered with more than 20 dead bodies of the creatures from the lake.
However, disposing of the bodies wasn't a priority at the moment; everyone was thoroughly exhausted, except for Finn, who had no stamina constraints. They all sat on the ground, catching their breath, and started to wonder where Butterbell had gone.
In the next moment, Butterbell reappeared from behind the house, carrying the lifeless body of the Puppeteer Rat he had recently killed.
Curiosity filled the air as Butterbell closed in, everyone wondering about the object he held in his hand. As he drew nearer, the mystery unraveled, and both Moonlight and Creambell instantly recognized the creature. "A Puppeteer Rat!" Moonlight exclaimed, her surprise evident.
Finn wondered what a Puppeteer Rat was, and to find out, he used appraisal on the dead rat. In an instant, all the details about the rat were populated on the transparent screen. It wrote,
"Puppeteer Rat
Threat Level – H
Description – They are very shy creature, which prefers to live in murky water or in the depths of other water bodies. On their own, Puppeteer Rats may not pose an immediate threat. Yet, their distinct ability lies in the power to control any inanimate object, harnessing its physical attributes. This formidable skill, however, comes at a price – the rats become vulnerable as they cannot utilize their own bodies while using this power. Hence, they seek out secure hideaways whenever they activate this ability.
Length X Width X Height – 1 feet X 0.3 feet X 0.3 feet
Weight – 1 Kg "
"So, this is why the wyvern wasn't dying, because it was dead all along," Creambell remarked.
"Yes, even I didn't think that a puppeteer rat would drive away a horde of water salamanders," Butterbell added with a smirk, positioning himself a few feet from Moonlight.
"They weren't afraid of the rat. They were afraid of that wyvern," Creambell said as he gestured toward the lifeless wyvern's body.
"Right, but it's very rare for a puppeteer rat to stumble upon the carcass of such a unique creature. Heck, I don't even know what kind of wyvern that is," Butterbell admitted, examining the deceased wyvern.
Finn interjected with newfound knowledge. "I do."
Everyone turned to look at Finn, their expressions a mix of surprise and curiosity. "Are these wyverns native to this place?" Moonlight inquired.
"I haven't seen this creature before today, but I have the ability to gather basic details about various creatures. When I used this ability on the wyvern, I learned that it's called a 'Wyvern of Depth,' a highly rare breed that resides in the depths of water. Its threat level is A," Finn explained.
Upon hearing the threat level, Moonlight exclaimed, "A!" with widened eyes.
"Yes," Finn confirmed.
"I don't think I've ever encountered a threat level A creature before," Moonlight marveled. "I'm glad you were here," she added, expressing her gratitude.
Finn chuckled modestly, ruffling his stardust hair. "Hehehe... It was nothing. I've become accustomed to facing monsters since I started living here."
Butterbell couldn't resist interjecting, clearing his throat. "Forgive my impudence, Your Highness, but I must set the record straight. While our ghost here did engage the wyvern, it was me who put an end to it once I identified the true culprit and dealt with it," Butterbell said.
"Yes, Butterbell, and for that, I feel truly fortunate to have you as my bodyguard," Moonlight expressed with a warm smile. "Now, let's go celebrate your bravery with Creambell's cooking."
Moonlight rose from the ground, and Creambell promptly followed her. As their queen made her way towards the main door, sporting a contented smile, Creambell trailed behind.
Meanwhile, Butterbell glanced at the lifeless puppeteer rat in his hand, recognizing its purpose had come to an end. He threw the rat's body on the ground and followed behind Creambell. However, before leaving, Finn chimed in, "I'll catch up in a bit."
Butterbell halted in his tracks upon hearing Finn's words, but he refrained from turning around to face him. Instead, he simply retorted, "I don't care, ghost," and continued on his way.
As the pixies reentered the house to resume their food preparation, Finn surveyed the lifeless bodies of various creatures scattered throughout the vicinity. "This is bound to draw more creatures if I don't clean it up soon," he mused aloud to himself. He then called Manual, and asked, "Can I devour the creatures outside the house?"
"No, you cannot," replied Manual.
"Ok," murmured Finn in disappointment. Then he asked, "How else can I use my devour ability?"
Manual replied, "Devour can only be activated if the entire body of a creature lies on the house's surface."
Suddenly, a thought sparked in Finn's mind. "When you say 'any surface,' does that include the roof of the house?" he asked, his voice brimming with curiosity, and his eyes widened with excitement.
"Yes," replied Manual.
As soon as Finn got the confirmation, he teleported himself to a corner of the house's hall. He fetched the rope lying there and teleported himself back outside before any pixie could notice him.
He spent a moment securing the wyvern's body with the rope he had at hand, ensuring it was tightly bound from all sides. Then, gripping the rope firmly, he activated his teleportation ability, whisking himself and the wyvern's entire body onto the roof of the house. He named this technique "Teleportation Cascading," a unique method of using his House Teleportation skill.
Initially, when Finn killed a creature, he would manually drag their body inside the house before using his devour ability. However, over time, he stumbled upon a more efficient way to transport external objects indoors. The technique was surprisingly straightforward: he would merely conceal the external object under an item from within the house, making them appear as one. Then, when he activated his teleportation on the house's object, the external object would come along for the ride. This clever maneuver was precisely what he used to teleport the massive wyvern's body onto the roof of the house.
With the wyvern's body now resting on the roof of the house, Finn activated his devour ability to consume the creature. Much to his astonishment, there were no new abilities gained, nor any noticeable changes to his stats. Filled with disbelief, he called Manual and inquired, "Why didn't I acquire anything new after devouring the wyvern?"
"Wyvern was killed outside the house's area, that's why you didn't gain anything. Only creatures that are killed inside the house's area will contribute to your growth," answered Manual.
That was something new for Finn. Even after devouring a hundred creatures, Finn didn't know that particular condition.
Disappointed, he began teleporting every monster's body around the house and devoured them, even though he knew he wasn't going to gain any ability or stat from them.
Having nearly cleared the entire exterior of the house, Finn scanned the surroundings once more to ensure he hadn't overlooked anything. To his surprise, he had neglected the body of the puppeteer rat that Butterbell had killed. Despite the rat's small size, Finn needed to secure a rope around it for teleportation purposes.
Once he teleported himself and the body of the rat near the main door, he put it on the floor and used devour skill on it. The rat sunk deep into the floor of the house and completely disappeared in a few seconds. However, that rat with a threat level of H bestowed upon him a crucial skill—one he didn't know he wanted but undeniably needed. The transparent screen appeared just right before him, and displayed, "New skill gained: Dead Control
To find out more about the skill, Finn called Manual and asked, "Tell me about Dead Control."
"This skill grants you the ability to manipulate any inanimate object, including the corpse of any creature. However, once you activate this skill, you relinquish control of your physical body. The range over which you can control the object depends on your Mana Points (MP). For every 10 mana points, you can exert control up to 1 kilometer away from your main body. With your current 2000 mana points, you can control objects up to a distance of 200 kilometers.
However, should your MP drop below 2000 and your controlled object remains 200 kilometers away from your main body, you will instantly lose connection with the object and return to your main body. Additionally, when utilizing Dead Control, it consumes 1 MP per second.," explained Manual.