Chapter 30

The first day was brutal. The sun was bearing down on us with such intense heat that even I was feeling a bit light headed.

"How does fey body biology work again?"

"It imitates a real physical bodies."

"Can I get rid of the unpleasant reactions with your [producer]?"

"Hmm... I've never thought about it. I think it might be possible when combined with [conglomerate]."

"Will I be able to gain |enhanced resistances| trait with that?"

"But you're not resisting anything. With a fey body, we're fairly resistant to most things. We don't really need that trait."

"Awwh, it would be great to have it though. Would it make me immune to things?"

"There's no such thing as immunity unless you become nothing."

"What, it's a fair system?"

"What are you talking about?" She cocked her head, eyebrows slightly scrunched. It was such a rare sight to see her confused. I wondered if it had to with the way I phrased it.

"Nothing!"

During daytime, the ground was too hot and distracting for me to stand on. Moreover, I wasn't the type who could multi-task well. Thus, I had to wait until after sunset to test this new idea.

"Let's test it out. I'm super ready!" I exclaimed excitedly. The long wait was finally over. I hoped it was worth getting hyped over.

"Sure," she held out her hand.

With our traits |progenitor| and |bond| linked, she permitted me to use her ability [producer] in conjunction with [conglomerate]. Carefully, I combed the ability for any new functions that I had missed before.

What to do? I want something to raise my heat resistance. Where is it? Why does this fantasy world suck so bad?

As it turned out, I couldn't find anything that could raise my resistances to anything. I had my hopes up for nothing.

"Nothing. Smoothie, are there any other ways to gain resistance?"

"Mm... Yes. Endurance with a strong will."

"Look, there's no way I would dip myself in lava for that."

"Who said anything about dipping in lava? Are you okay? Did the heat get you?" Her free hand reached for my forehead.

I swapped away her hand, "I'm perfectly fine!"

"Mother, like I said, there's no need to worry about it. You'll naturally gain resistance over time, probably as you level up more."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Let's continue our journey. Once we cross the desert, we should reach the beast country within a day. We have plenty of time to discuss what we should do afterward."

"Fine."

Tonight was another cloudless night. My passive gaze met the starry sky filled with countless stars shimmering against the dark background. A brilliant large moon was quietly sliding behind a tiny moon while an unassuming white comet drifted across.  

I wonder which world I came from? Probably none of the above.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Did you know? That comet comes around once every six hundred years?"

"I had no idea. Did [soothsayer] tell you that?"

"Yes. Interestingly, those birds said comets are omens of change."

"That's absurd, probably just superstition. Comets are only good for decorating the night sky," I retorted.

"Mother, can you decorate the night sky with more comets?"

"It's no good to tease your elders! That's asking too much. Who do you think I am, a god? Give me a break!"

"Ehehe, if you become a demon, maybe you can do that too."

"What's the benefit of becoming a demon?"

"You level up and become strong faster."

"And if I don't?"

"You can try to become a spirit. It's the slowest path to greater power."

"Why would anyone pick that? Without power, you're just a sitting target."

"Secret!"

"Whatever." I wasn't going to play with her little games.

To strengthen myself, I scavenged around for things I could absorb and integrate. I was pretty sure in the desert, there were bound to be poisonous critters just waiting to offer themselves to me.

After searching for a bit, I found a few lizards and odd insects crawling within shallow burrows. They were quite weak with levels below ten.  

Thanks for the meal.

Smoothie looked at me with distaste as I used [absorption] on the trapped preys.

I'm such a clean eater, not a corpse to be found.

"Do they evolve too?" I asked.

"Yes. You don't have to worry. They don't live in colonies."

Oops, I should have asked before I took their lives.

"I'll be careful next time."

Unfortunately, I didn't gain anything new from them. It seemed that poison wasn't common around here. In my previous world, I remembered being told that certain deserts were filled of mind boggling dangers. Because of that, I had never set foot in a single desert before.

"Alright, I'm done here. Let's go!"

Every once a while, we would stop so that I could look for new things I could add to my repertoire through |integrator| trait. Although I did like this trait, it wasn't as great as I expected. I wished it allowed me to integrate new abilities from the things I absorbed. But, I knew well enough that such a trait or even ability was just too insanely powerful. The system would never give them to me.

On the third day of our journey crossing the desert, we had to take a detour. I didn't get to see it up close but it was a fifth evolution of a centipede like monster that was twice as large as Po-Katorshi that Haelley and I had taken down. With a humongous head, and armored body, it was like a wingless dragon lying in the desert partially buried under rocky debris.

[Level 92 Arthro;

Species: Jak-Faroosh;

Physical: 499/499;

<Health: 499/499>;

Spiritual: 306/306;

<Mana: 306/306>;

Traits: Conqueror, Rapid Regeneration, Enhanced Physical, Enhanced Resistances;

Abilities: Paralysis, Ground Breaker, Toxic Breath, Parallel Sacrifice;

Description: A dominating arthro.]

Arthro, many of their species name started with "jak". It was just a pattern I saw for certain arthropods. I was surprised I even remembered what they were called.

Now, not only did we have to take a detour but both of us increased our altitude from near ground level to hundreds of meters above ground. The reason was that other high level creatures had burrowed here as well. And, if we weren't careful, one of them might suddenly leap out and gobble us whole. At least, that was what Smoothie told me. Personally, I figured it was better not to see them because I only had so much curiosity. I wasn't interested in being eaten. Nope.

"I'm thinking of giving myself a stomach so I could eat things." I mumbled while flying.

"Mother, don't tell me you feel hunger."

"Uh... No. I just feel like I'm missing something in life without food. You know, other living beings all eat, like, nom nom nom. I want to eat tasty things too."

"Don't scare me like that! I thought your |gourmet| trait had reached its limit."

"I don't think so? What was the limit anyway? I've been storing quite a bit in there, mostly just things my bodies couldn't normally store."

"Then, that's fine."

"So, I can create a stomach for myself?"

"It's best not to do that until |gourmet| is gone," she suggested, "there's nothing good to eat here. Plus, Mother, it's not fair only you get to eat!"

"Oh, so that's what this is all about. Jealous!? Super jealous? Did you know, strawberry smoothies are super tasty? If you don't watch your back, maybe I'll gobble you up first!"

"Ahaha, I dare you!" She laughed and quickly dashed ahead of me.

"You said it!"

I chased after Smoothie, her wings fluttering dazzlingly under the sun.

"Ahh...! No biting!"

The two of us frolicked above the vast desert for about an hour before we resumed our journey north. Playing around with a cute fairy? This definitely beat solo adventure any day.

On a side note, I managed to find a scorpion, an actual barb tailed scorpion with venom. Honestly, I didn't even think these critters existed in this world but goddess of luck was on my side! It was a just tiny thingy hiding under a rock minding its own business until it met me. Yes, in this world, strawberries preyed on scorpions.

I wish I could fry it. I'm sure it'd be super crunchy and tasty. Oh, oh! If I dip it in nectar, sweet and crunchy! Hah... Too bad I have no appetite.

It's struggle only lasted a second before its life was forfeit.

Ehehe, task complete! One toxin acquired.

It turned out to be a type of neurotoxin after I checked [conglomerate], such a reliable ability. This venom was sure to be useful later on. If I could find a region with ample poisonous mushrooms and plants, my arsenal would grow exponentially.

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