To be precise, although my ability to not die when damaged was impressive, as previously discovered thanks to Benait's severing of my body. I also knew that, despite my limbs being capable of moving on their own, they couldn’t quite do much by themselves in certain circumstances.

  For example, a leg by itself was rather useless.

  So, I knew that if I could choose, it was best to sacrifice limbs rather than core parts of my body that linked everything together. My waist and chest, for example, were primordial if I wanted to be able to still move around and quickly recuperate by feasting. Otherwise, I would be stuck in place waiting for my natural regeneration to kick in, which would be a much longer process.

  Thus, in my infinite wisdom, and slight panic in the moment, I made sure to turn my body to ensure that the flames would strike harder on my right arm and leg instead of my important bits.

  That had been a good decision, as otherwise, instead of said limbs being melted down, I would more closely resemble a puddle at the moment.

  But it didn’t matter much at the moment. I was buried under tons of dirt and debris, and while I was actively trying to get out of here, with half my limbs missing, it would take a while for me to be able to… Earthworm my way back to the surface, I suppose.

  Also, it wasn’t as bad, but my lower jaw had come undone as well. I can still sense it, so it wasn’t destroyed, but I couldn’t be bothered to go and find it right now.

  Anyway… Nara, let’s check those innate abilities that I have. I can tell that my body was reinforced a fair bit by evolution. It was hard to think so since I had gotten beaten first thing afterwards, but I could tell that I was noticeably stronger than before.

  As stated before, you acquired four new innate abilities:

  Torturer - Complementary ability of ‘Tormentor’, this ability allows you to use the negative emotion you have accumulated, as well as the souls you have captured through your murders

  In essence, the name is a dead giveaway. You use the negative emotions you have collected to torture the souls you hold captive, twisting and changing them into obedient spirits for you to use

  It requires experimentation. Each type of negative emotion will have different effects on the trapped souls, and the particular soul also matters

  The more the victim was marked by the event, and the more important the killing was to you, the more it impacts the quality of the soul you capture

  I see… That sounds pretty good! Good thing I kept accumulating negative emotions.

  I tried to access the abilities, and I felt my consciousness drift, finding myself in a completely different room.

  It was pretty obvious that it was all in my head, though, as not only were my limbs intact, but I was also in my human form. I was just like I remembered. The prettiest, most beautiful woman in existence.

  Instinctively, I flexed my arms.

  Goodness gracious, it feels good to have my muscles back! Even if it's just some sort of consciousness hijink, I quite like it.

  The room itself also deserved attention, though. It was old, it was rusty, and there was a single machine in here. Just by looking at it, I got an instinctive feel of how to use it.

  To put it simply, it was a big furnace.

  The souls go in it, and the negative emotions serve as fuel for the ‘flames’.

  By the way, there were five souls in particular… They were especially marked by their deaths, and you seemed to think strongly about the event yourself, to the point that the innate ability worked by itself, whilst you were still evolving

  They were trying to escape, and as such, the ability reacted and consumed large portions of the negative emotions you had consumed to torture them. You should be able to call and command them without a problem. They might fear you and act erratically, but they have been properly tortured, they won’t be able to betray you

  Though I would still recommend putting them in the furnace every once in a while, it can further empower them and will ensure that they can’t weasel their way out. It would be a shame, I doubt souls of such quality will come into your possession often

  Five…?

  …How much negative emotions were consumed, like, in percentages?

  80 per cent, they were tortured without any strong focus on any type of emotion

  Alright then.

  I focused whilst still in the furnace room, and soon, five corpse-looking spirits popped out in front of me, and system windows popped out above their heads, displaying their names.

  Five young girls.

  Poppy, with blonde hair arranged into round ringlets, and blue eyes.

  Annie, with long brown hair, orange eyes and a visibly athletic build.

  Gigi, with blue hair tied into pigtails and red eyes, was a fair bit shorter than the other, and as the blue of her hair and skin implied, she was of demonkind.

  Nessa, with messy dark hair that unfortunately covered her pretty hazel eyes.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Lastly, there was Elowen, a short redhead with green eyes and a generally tomboyish look.

  I looked at them for lengthy seconds. I hadn’t expected them to be here.

  With a wave of my hand, they disappeared, and I exited the furnace room, returning to my true body.

  What else is there?

  Tortured Soul Release - This ability is primordial, as it allows you to manifest the souls you tortured as twisted, cursed spectres. They inherited traits from you, taking the form of beings between Vengeful Spirit and Living Curse

  For now, they are bound as mostly simple spectres capable of inflicting torment, but as things progress, they shall gain new abilities

  I assume that the negative emotions they caused will go directly to me?

  That is correct

  Essentially, ‘Torturer’ and ‘Tortured Soul Release’ went hand in hand. Neither would be useful without the other, so it sort of felt like a scam that they would be considered different innate abilities, but I suppose the situation was the same as with ‘Tormentor’.

  It seemed like things were designed so that there was a chance that new stuff I acquired wasn’t always immediately useful and would just be set up for the future. I assume that I increased my nature as a Vengeful spirit enough to gain both through a single evolution.

  Embodiment Of Negativity - As you discovered, this ability allows you to make direct use of negative emotions for yourself, charging an action with a certain type of emotion to inflict it upon others

  I guess that it would work with just a punch, but thanks to my intellect, I was able to figure out on the fly that this ability could be used in accordance with the music box, making anyone who could hear it be affected by the desired negative emotion.

  It had worked… Relatively well, it was just a shame that I had to do the test run against someone so powerful. Otherwise, I would have definitely been able to tear those two apart.

  By the way, now that I am no longer fighting and I understand the basics of the ability, are you allowed to answer some questions?

  I am

  Nice, would it work even better if the action I performed naturally created the emotion I was trying to inject into my target?

  Absolutely, it would increase the efficiency greatly

  Now I understand why you hinted that I should get the music box, and why you insisted that I should find myself a good scream when scaring people. You were just helping me prepare for this particular ability, weren’t you?

  Yes, I am sorry that I can’t be more direct, but my limitations force me to be a bit tricky to get certain things across…

  No need to apologise, it worked out in the end. It would have been even better if a damned dragon bitch hadn’t been waiting for me to wake up, though! Seriously, what were the damned odds of this happening? Do the dragon gods have beef with me? I barely curse at them compared to the rest of the gods. What’s the point of impenetrable scales if you’re so sensitive?

  Whilst this is all happening, I keep trying to dig upward, and I run into something solid.

  Oh, the container of negative energy is still intact? What is it made of? Should I just consume the steel right now and let the negative energy go out?

  As I mused, Nara went on to the last innate ability I had earned.

  Cursed Metal - Your body is now innately capable of cursing beings and objects. However, for it to be effective, you need to create your own unique curses first. Casting curses also requires negative energy

  Negative energy? Not emotions?

  Indeed, on top of four new innate abilities, ‘Tormentor’ has acquired the ability to absorb negative energy, allowing you to stock it within yourself alongside the emotions and souls

  Also, evolution has unlocked for you the capability to acquire new forms

  And what is a form, exactly?

  Think of it as a transformation ability that can completely change your entire being, from empowering existing abilities, to reducing some, or even acquiring new or losing ones, whilst in certain forms

  Unfortunately, you do not meet the qualifications for any new form at the moment, but I am allowed to tell you that you have begun fulfilling the qualifications for two of them already

  Alas, I am not allowed to guide you in such an endeavour. Some are easier to acquire than others. I can only advise you to keep going as you usually do. Once you gain your first form, you should also gain a greater understanding of how to unlock more

  Other forms, huh? That’s probably why I didn’t change at all physically. Rather than changing form as I evolve, I can get the right to switch between several different states? That sounds better than the evolution I had heard about.

  So rather than simply consuming the steel of the container, I went ahead and focused, pulling the object close to me, absorbing the dire amounts of negative energy contained within as I allowed my body to feast upon the steel.

  Although of seemingly high quality, the snack wasn’t able to help me recover much at all. I was just too damaged. I need lots of steel or flesh to have a chance at quickly regenerating.

  There is neither around at the moment, so I’ll have to be patient and slowly crawl upward through the dirt, and hopefully, I’ll manage to extract myself out of this mess sooner rather than later…

  ___

  “I might genuinely start crying”

  Jorice, no longer covered in dirt and grime, looked over Lintown, the city he had been entrusted with leading to prosperity by his father just a little while ago.

  The utter collapse of the tunnels dug by the monster, coupled with the destructive dragon flames spewed by Gallilah, had caused many areas of the city to collapse… Habitations, shops, and streets had been ravaged.

  Foundations were gone, and everyone needed to work together to get things back in order, but fixing sunken ground was easier said than done.

  “If only I could get my hands on a damned earth mage! Why do they have to be so rare?! They’re the most useful!”

  “They aren’t rarer than the rest. They are just given offers that they can’t refuse very early on”

  Jorice turned to the monsterfolk as he heard her speak, glaring.

  “I’ll remind you that you are strongly to blame for this mess”

  “I’ll remind you that there was a monster that would have ripped out your guts and strangled you with them! I saved your life while you were frozen stiff like a little girl, be more grateful… Can I have more of that dried beef? It is quite good”

  “This… I… Damnit! Yes, you can have more beef, it’s literally the town’s main product, we have loads of the stuff!”

  The city lord sighed and sat down, watching the ruined city from his own residence.

  “Did you hear from Leton?”

  “Not yet, but you probably won’t hear from him for a while. When I get back, I’ll be taking a break”

  “What… That doesn’t mean anything”

  “What I mean is: This adventure tired me out, and as payment, I am going to have Leton put me in one of those wedding dresses”

  “Ah… Poor guy”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said nothing”