In the pitch-black darkness, Xen tried to drag Alex deeper into the dungeon with little success. His skeletal body weighed far less than the heavily armored human, and he struggled to get a good grip with his bony fingers.
"This isn't working," Xen grumbled, letting the body fall to the stone floor of the crypt with a clunk. He could simply devour the body here next to the staircase, but then what would he do with the armor?
Looking down at his skeletal hands, he sighed. Other than for magic power, this Undead body only had downsides.
Bringing up his status screen, he mulled over his different forms.
Necrovore Slime: Level 12 (D)
< [Devour (S)] - [Appraisal (C)] - [Mystic Perception (C)] - [Shapeshift (E)] - [Soul Leech (D)] >
< [Undeath Resonance] >
Human: Level 4 (F)
< [Multilingual (B)] - [Buff of the Berserker (C)] - [Corruption Missile (B)] - [Quiet Steps (D)] >
Elf: Level 1 (F)
< [Multilingual (B)] - [Holy Smite (F)] >
Wolf: Level 8 (E)
< [Pack Call (E)] - [Predatory Strike (E)] - [Blood Scent (F)] >
Undead Mage: Level 10 (D)
< [Immunity to Poison (A)] - [Mystic Perception (C)] - [Corruption Missile (B)] >
"My human and elf forms are lagging behind the others, which isn't good."
As a Shapeshifter, his main strength lay in the fact that he could switch forms. But that advantage became a moot point if all of his other forms were grossly under-leveled and therefore useless against strong foes.
"If I had been in my level one elf form, I would have been run down and gutted within seconds by Alex," Xen muttered. This had to be fixed. "I think I can leave my elf form at a low level for now because I have the Undead Mage form for situations where magic power is necessary. What I don't have right now is a high-level humanoid form that can make use of weapons and armor."
Xen looked down at Alex's corpse, which was already decked out in armor. If there was a perfect opportunity to take over a human body, this was it.
Bending down, he thrust his fingers into the dead Alex's eyes. They offered a brief moment of resistance before popping under the pressure and wetting his fingers. First, he would devour Alex's brain to get his knowledge and skills.
[Devour in progress…]
[Devour Complete]
You absorbed 14% of the human's memories.
You acquired the following skills:
[Crescent Rage (B)]
"That's it? Only one skill?" Xen said, half disappointed as a few of Alex's memories joined the mental soup swirling in his mind. However, he could hardly complain, having gained the incredibly powerful Crescent Rage skill. Since the [Crescent Rage] skill had belonged to a [Human], it was locked to his human form. Of course, he could always add it to his repertoire of Free Skills to use it in any form if he wished.
He would sort out his free skills later.
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Xen suddenly paused. "Oh, that light stick thing is called a torch. Good to know." He glanced through the rest of the memories but didn't find anything that was useful. Mentally locking them away, Xen activated his [Shapeshift (E)] skill. It was time to become a human.
[Do you wish to take on the Human form?]
"Yes."
[Shapeshifting in process]
Xen felt his skeletal body melt, and his consciousness spread into Alex's corpse. The process took a few minutes. Eventually, he opened his newly reformed eyes to a system prompt.
[Shapeshift complete]
Groaning in pain, he sat up. The armor was far heavier than the level 16 Spellblade had made it look, but he could tell it was of good quality from the aura of mana coming from it. This had to be artifact armor, and now it was his.
[Use biomass to repair the body?]
"Yes," Xen wheezed. The lingering corruption from his corruption missile spell was taking a toll on this body even after Alex had died. Thankfully, he could use biomass to replace the rotting flesh.
[Biomass consumed]
The pain subsided, and with the help of the sword, he was able to stand up.
"Phew, I need to get a few more levels before I can move around freely in this armor," Xen said, grunting as he reached down and picked up the shield, too. Now, he looked like a true warrior.
Walking over to the dead priest, he repeated the earlier process of plunging his fingers into their eyes to get easy access to the brain. Once again, tendrils of slime dug inside to feast.
[Devour in progress…]
[Devour Complete]
You absorbed 11% of the human's memories.
You acquired the following skills:
[Orbs of Light (E)]
You and the target shared similar skills:
[Holy Smite (F)] has been upgraded to [Radiant Smite (E)]
"System, tell me about the Radiant Smite and the other new skills," Xen said. System messages hung in the air before him, which he read while he devoured the rest of the priest's body for biomass.
[Radiant Smite (E)]
Conjure a bolt of divine lightning that scales with your magic stat and the skill's grade. Deals moderate holy damage with a higher chance to stun undead enemies. Upon a successful hit, it leaves behind a searing mark that weakens the target's resistances to further holy damage for a short duration.
[Orbs of Light (E)]
Conjure three balls of light that you can independently control. Their brightness and range depend on your magic stat.
[Quiet Steps (D)]
Expend stamina and mana to move with silent steps.
[Crescent Rage (B)]
Infuse a weapon with destructive mana. When you swing your weapon in a wide arc, you will unleash a crescent-shaped wave of condensed mana that flies forward, slicing through the air and anything in its path. The crescent wave deals substantial physical and mana-infused damage, particularly effective against structures and armored enemies.
Xen wasn't that interested in the first three skills compared to the fourth, Crescent Rage. It was a B-grade skill, meaning its strength was equal to [Corruption Missile (B)], which was currently the most potent skill in his arsenal and the one he had used to execute Alex.
"I'm glad I asked for the description," Xen mused. "Because Alex was so many levels above me, the skill seemed extremely lethal, which I had found odd considering how large of an area it affected and how often he cast it. I mean, Corruption Missile takes a lot out of me, yet he was casting this skill like it was free. It seems the reason for that is that this skill's primary purpose is to destroy terrain and armor rather than outright killing. It was just because he was so above me in levels, and I was unarmored, that it was able to cut me in half."
[Biomass consumed]
"Ah, I've finished my meal," Xen muttered as he looked down at the bloodstained and tattered priest's robe. It hadn't held up well during their life-and-death scuffle. Deciding it wasn't worth dealing with, he searched for his magic-resistant robe that he had initially used as bait. Eventually, he found it half-buried under a rock that he managed to shift to the side.
Putting it over his armor, the black cloak did a good job of hiding the exposed patches of flesh through the armor caused by the barrage of corruption missiles he had unleashed to kill Alex. Feeling good, he went and retrieved the bow the fat archer had been using and slung it over his shoulder.
Feeling ready for action, he headed deeper into the crypt to find a safe place to begin the evolution of his Undead Mage form. After walking for a while through the darkness, he saw a tunnel. After checking around the entrance, he cautiously went deeper into the crypt.
It sounded like the soft clacking of armor, but weirdly, he couldn't hear any footsteps.
Maybe another warrior, but with the Quiet Steps skill? Xen thought as he activated the skill himself and reached the bottom of the tunnel. Hugging the wall, he peeked through the doorway.
There, in the center of a large chamber, was a floating set of armor. Xen had never seen such a thing before, and searching his mixed-up memories from so many people and monsters didn't provide him with any information.
"Appraisal," Xen whispered, and mana flooded his eyes. The skill was incredibly mana-intensive, and his human form didn't have a high magic stat.
[Living Armor (??)]
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