I had successfully defeated the Death Scorpions and cleared the Monster House. With all the scorpion carcasses piled up around me, I directed Black Ooze to absorb them.
To me, the corpses of monsters were valuable—acting like precious healing potions in this bizarre world.
Alright, let's eat.
I glanced at the pile of dead scorpions. Eating monsters wasn't too bad when it came to taste, but the problem was how it looked. And, of course, the lack of proper cooking. Up until now, I'd had to eat everything raw, thanks to my No Poison skill preventing any stomach issues. But still, being Japanese, eating raw meat wasn't exactly appealing to me.
It would have been nice to have at least some cooking equipment… maybe even a fire. But, of course, I didn't have anything of the sort. No point in dwelling on what wasn't there.
I approached one of the scorpions and shot its massive arm off. Picking up the dismembered limb, I examined the shell.
The outer shell was tough. Way too tough to bite through. I pinched the inner flesh between my fingers and tore it away.
"Looks a lot like shrimp," I muttered.
The fibrous flesh had a shrimp-like texture, and when I put it into my mouth, it confirmed my assumption. It tasted bland, very much like unseasoned seafood.
The texture was great—like lobster—but it really needed some seasoning.
Once I was done eating, I opened up my status screen.
Skills:
Void Level 2Slot +1Poison BreathToxic Strike
"Hey, check this out," the cursed sword suddenly called out. "Your Void skill leveled up."
"Yeah… Now I can equip three Void effects at once," I said.
Previously, I could only combine No Poison with one other Void effect, which meant I had to constantly swap them out. Each time I did that, it drained some MP. It was a real hassle.
Now, with three slots, I could equip skills like Invisibility and Silent Step at the same time for true stealth.
"But after all those monsters, I only managed to get Void to level 2?" I sighed.
It seemed that leveling up would be a long grind.
"It can't be helped," the sword commented. "The more powerful the skill, the more experience is required to level it up."
I supposed that made sense. Just like in certain games where dragon-type Pokémon are stronger but harder to level up. Some things come with a price.
"And it looks like Toxic Strike is a skill I got from the Death Scorpion," I observed.
"Indeed. It's an attack skill, similar to a special move, that delivers a powerful strike laced with corrosive venom," the sword explained.
"An attack skill, huh?"
I approached one of the dungeon walls, holding the cursed sword in my hand, and activated Toxic Strike. I barely had time to see my arm move as it lashed out at inhuman speed.
Thud!
The blade of the sword buried itself deep into the wall.
"Even the toughest of enemies won't be able to withstand a direct hit from that," the sword declared, sounding oddly proud of itself.
I nodded in agreement. Combining the sword's natural venom with Toxic Strike made for a deadly move.
"A pretty handy combo," I said. "Guess keeping you around wasn't such a bad idea after all."
"Ha! You see, having a talking, cursed blade isn't so bad! Your lucky gun and special bullets alone wouldn't have enough firepower to do this."
True. Up until now, the sword was little more than a talking nuisance. But if this new combo proved useful, I could tolerate it sticking around.
"Alright. I've eaten, gathered up the bodies… time to find the exit," I said, preparing to leave.
"Hold on a moment, Saiga," the sword said. "Perhaps a little more exploration wouldn't hurt. You might find something interesting."
"Something interesting?" I said, a little skeptical.
Activating Echolocation, I scanned the area and frowned.
"…Great," I muttered.
"See? Isn't that fascinating?" the sword said with glee. "It's the corpse of an adventurer who lost to the monsters."
The cursed sword seemed far too amused, like it was enjoying this. A twisted sense of humor for sure.
A human corpse was leaning against the wall, completely skeletal now, having long since decayed. As I looked closer, I realized that more skeletons were scattered around. Many must have fallen victim to the trap and ended up being eaten by the scorpions.
For a moment, a thought crossed my mind—a dark possibility. If eating monsters and absorbing their souls made me stronger, then… what if I ate a human?
No. I shook my head.
"What's this?" the sword asked, sounding almost disappointed. "Not even considering eating a person to level up?"
"Don't be stupid. It's useless without the soul," I said.
"Heh… that's correct. You remembered."
Eating a corpse wouldn't give me any power. The soul had to be intact within a fresh body for it to matter.
All of these were just bones now, the souls long gone. Eating them would serve no purpose, and I had no intention of consuming humans anyway.
I decided to leave the corpses alone… until I noticed something.
"Wait, what's that?" I asked.
One of the skeletons had something in its hand—a rusty knife.
"Careful, that's a natural curse item," the sword warned.
"A natural curse item?" I asked, puzzled.
"Sometimes, the strong emotions of a person can infuse an object they held in life, turning it into a curse item after death."
I understood. A natural curse, made from residual resentment. It made me wonder how artificial cursed items were made… not that I particularly cared.
Being a cursed item meant it probably had some dangerous side effects. But with my No Poison skill, I could handle it.
Cursed items were powerful, after all. No harm in picking it up.
"Sorry, buddy, but I'm taking this," I said, grabbing the knife.
"Interesting," the sword mused. "It seems this knife contains a skill that its previous owner had—Advanced Dissection."
"Advanced Dissection?"
"It allows the user to dismantle non-living things and harvest useful materials."
That sounded useful.
Might as well try it out. I approached one of the Death Scorpions and stabbed the knife into its carcass.
Boom!
The scorpion's body split neatly into parts—its flesh separated from its exoskeleton.
"Nice. This makes things a lot easier," I said, nodding in satisfaction.
Extracting the meat from the hard shell had been a pain. But this skill would make it easy.
Wait… could this work on mimics too?
"Let's find out," I said, taking out the mimic's corpse that I had stored in Black Ooze.
I stabbed the knife into the mimic's lid.
Boom!
The mimic split apart, revealing… something strange. It looked like the soft inner meat of a scallop.
"So that's what a mimic really looks like, huh?" I said.
"The mimic's true form is hidden inside the hard exterior of the box," the sword explained.
Made sense. Earlier, I couldn't eat it because of the hard shell. But now, thanks to Advanced Dissection, it was accessible.
"Damn. I should've kept the Metal Buffalo for dissection too," I muttered, realizing my mistake.
Oh well, there would be other opportunities. The next time one appeared, I'd kill it and dissect it. For now, I dug into the mimic's flesh. It tasted exactly like scallop, and I couldn't help but think it would've been great grilled with some butter and soy sauce.
Opening my status screen, I checked for any changes.
Skills:
Void Level 2Slot +1Poison BreathToxic StrikeComplete Preservation
"Hmm… looks like I picked up a new skill—Complete Preservation."
"It's a skill that allows you to preserve a defeated creature in a near-perfect state, semi-permanently."
"In a perfect state… So it keeps them fresh, basically?"
"More than that. It preserves the soul within the body for a longer time."
I was stunned. "That means… from now on, whenever I eat something I've killed, I can still gain its skills—even if I eat it later."
This was a huge help. Humans could only eat so much in one sitting, and without the soul, there was no skill gain.
Before, there had been times when the soul had already slipped away by the time I wanted to eat. But with this skill, I'd be able to eat when I wanted and still get the benefits. It was a quietly powerful skill to have.
"There are more bodies in this room," the sword noted.
"Alright… let's see what they've got before we move on," I said.
With Echolocation, I confirmed the path to the exit was secure. Now, it was time to do a little looting.
I would check every corpse in this room before moving on—who knew what other treasures these poor souls had left behind.