I had successfully tamed the Black Ooze. After spending some time experimenting and preparing, I was ready to set out again.
"Saiga, what happened to Yagasa?" The cursed sword at my waist spoke up as I continued to move.
Currently, I was dressed in my school uniform without wearing the black enchanted coat named Yagasa, which had dropped alongside the sword.
I looked down at the small black sphere in my hand. "It's inside this little guy."
The cursed blade was puzzled. "What's that small, dull black orb?"
"That's the Black Ooze," I said.
"Wait, you can make it that small?" the sword asked, astonished.
Originally, the Black Ooze had been about the size of a treasure chest. Now, it was small enough to fit in my palm.
"I did some investigating. The Black Ooze has three main abilities: Storage, Digestion, and Mimicry."
1. Storage: It can store objects without any limitations on size or volume.
2. Digestion: It can digest anything it stores.
3. Mimicry: It can take on the appearance of anything it digests.
"I made it eat a part of itself to shrink down as much as possible," I explained.
"That certainly makes it easier to carry around," the sword mused. "And Yagasa?"
"I had it eat the coat."
"An enchanted item? You fed it an enchanted item?" The blade sounded confused.
"Yeah. Black Ooze, mimic."
The Black Ooze in my hand shifted, black liquid covering my body and transforming into Yagasa, the familiar black coat.
"I see," the sword said thoughtfully. "So you made it mimic the coat. But why go through all that trouble?"
"I fed it the enchanted coat so that it could regenerate," I explained. "If the coat gets torn during battle, the Black Ooze can restore it immediately."
During my recent fights, the coat had taken a lot of damage. It made sense to let the Black Ooze mimic the coat, creating what I now called the "Black Ooze Coat." If the coat got damaged, it would regenerate almost instantly.
"Interesting," said the sword. "With this regeneration feature, perhaps you should also let it consume other items, like the Lucky Gun."
"Tempting, but I won't do it with either the gun or you," I said firmly.
"And why not?" The sword seemed curious.
"If the Black Ooze consumes an enchanted item, it loses the item's special abilities," I explained.
Black Ooze's ability was purely mimicry—only imitating the appearance of things. It could change into the form of the coat but couldn't retain the coat's enchantments.
"If it ate the Lucky Gun, its guaranteed-hit ability would vanish, and your poisons would lose their potency," I pointed out.
"I understand," said the sword. "However, wasn't Yagasa enchanted to enhance your defenses?"
"It was," I nodded. "But I found another way to solve that problem."
"And what might that be?" the sword asked.
"I'll explain later. We've got company."
I pulled out the Lucky Gun from the Black Ooze Coat's storage. If an item wasn't digested, its enchantments were retained.
I activated my Echolocation skill to determine the enemy's location and type.
"Cockatrice," I said.
"A beast you've fought before," the sword noted. "You killed it using Void plus my poison."
I watched from behind cover as the cockatrice moved, lining up my shot with the Lucky Gun.
"Saiga, at this distance, the cockatrice will hear the gunshot and notice you," the sword warned.
"It won't be an issue."
I focused and activated another evolved form of the Void skill.
Boom!
The gunshot was loud, echoing around us.
"Saiga, even if the shot is invisible with Void, that loud noise will alert the—"
Bang!
Splat!
"What?! The cockatrice didn't even react—its head just exploded!" The sword was stunned.
I approached the fallen cockatrice. The bullet had blown its head clean off. With a surprise shot aimed at a vital point, even a cockatrice could be taken down in one hit.
"How?" The sword still seemed baffled. "Why didn't the beast hear the shot?"
"I used Silence."
■ Silence: Constant Activation. Consumes 300 MP. 10 MP per second.
The sword's voice sounded impressed. "Silence—a skill that negates all sounds you make. I see! That way, you can take a surprise shot without your target hearing it."
"Exactly," I confirmed. "Plus, the Lucky Gun has the guaranteed-hit enchantment. From a distance, without alerting the enemy, I can snipe them."
"Impressive thinking, Saiga! With that, you're nearly invincible, aren't you?" The sword laughed.
With Echolocation to pinpoint the enemy, combined with Silent + Guaranteed Sniping from behind cover, I could easily assassinate without needing to approach.
"Black Ooze, retrieve the body."
I extended my right arm, and black ooze spread from the coat's sleeve.
It enveloped the cockatrice corpse and pulled it back into the Black Ooze Coat.
"It seems that anything stored inside the Black Ooze doesn't decay," I said.
"I see… This way, you can retrieve the carcass anytime for sustenance and recovery," the sword noted.
"Alright. Moving on."
Using Echolocation, I confirmed the location of the next target. I kept myself hidden and scanned the area.
"It's the Sonic Bat," the sword observed. "Are you going to use the same Silent + Guaranteed Sniping method?"
"Yes, but first, I need more bullets."
"More bullets?"
I opened my left hand, and part of the Black Ooze Coat transformed, forming a single bullet in my palm.
"You turned part of the Black Ooze into ammunition. So, as long as the Black Ooze remains intact, you can create infinite bullets," the sword remarked.