Chapter 107: Ghoulish

Chapter 107: Ghoulish

At the sight of the battle-ready ghoul, I immediately triggered [Tranquil Flow], and a serene warmth washed over my mind and emotions. The ghoul leaped forward, its claws and fangs hungering for flesh. Moving with a calm and fluid grace, my body effortlessly evaded its attack. It lunged again, its hostility a mere force to be diverted, and my body seamlessly glided out of harm's way.

'The attacks are like currents... And I'm just following the flow.'

Its lack of success seemed to fuel its hungered desire even further, and somehow, it stepped up its savage assault to another level. Curling its hands together as if trying to disembowel me, it pierced forward. Having entrusted myself fully to the state of mind, my body opened up, and its piercing strike sailed through the gap in my torso. The creature leaped backward, a new hesitancy on its face.

'Shit, I didn't mean to do that!'

I started to panic a little; I hadn't expected to lose myself in the state that much; it conformed with my gelatinous and fluidic form so much that the action had felt perfectly natural to me.

'Shit. Wait, what if I use this and go all jelly while in disguise? There's no way I could explain that away. Shit. Have I made a mistake by picking this skill up?'

Abruptly, the state ended; my little neurotic episode was too opposing for it to remain active. The ghoul's claws struck against [Arcane Armor] again before I realized what had happened. Then, its fangs sank down, and I heard the familiar sound of the barrier shattering. In a panicked response, I erupted with all my tendrils at once, all of them aimed at the ghoul in an attempt to push it away from me. The abrupt change in form was completely unexpected, and the six tendrils slammed it against the wall so hard that settled dust was disturbed.

Realizing my mistake, I immediately began working on killing the ghoul, triggering [Acid Slime] and rapidly melting away at it. I was horrified at its strength; it took nearly all six tendrils to restrain it. It screamed endlessly until it died, and I could hear the banging in the distance getting louder and what sounded like hinges being broken.

I briefly glanced over its profile, confirming it was undead and seeing traits related to blood-feeding and unholy strength. What startled me was that I could see a clear link from human to ghoul among my profiles. I'd look into it in more detail later; I had what sounded like a horde coming for me.

I worked to quickly form a half [Ice Dome] spell and cast it at the other doorway, hoping it would give me a little more time before the other enemies arrived. Since I wasn't flying, I swapped out [Enchanted Wings] for [Inferno Sac], and it would be my emergency backup if things got too out of hand since past experience told me the undead didn't like fire.

'It always comes back to fire; no wonder Dewi likes it so much.'

I tried to calm myself down and reactivate [Tranquil Flow], but I was not in the right frame of mind, and it rebuffed me. I'd have to get in more practice later and see if I could somehow keep with the flow without it morphing my body if I was in disguise. I'd hate to lose such a powerful skill by limiting its availability to only slime time. Maybe another [Sub-Core] order?

I could hear bashing against the ice, so I began casting [Ice Patch] to freeze the entire floor. Then, I lifted myself up to the ceiling with some adhesive tendrils. Transforming my core to match the stonework, I hoped to remain undetected as I withdrew slime and started to spread out, claiming the entire ceiling as my domain. I maneuvered the formed [Flame Sac] into a corner, hoping to keep it safe and secure as my emergency backup plan.

'Well, if they attack and rupture the organ, that works too.' I chuckled to myself.

I tried to use [Life Sight] to try to get a prediction on their numbers, but either they were out of range, or the undead were excluded. [Thermal Vision] wasn't a help either; "as cold as a corpse" came to mind. With [Mana Conception], I could see tiny black dots, probably some form of death-related mana that fueled these creatures.

"More metal samples for my future silver slime," I said with a grin.

However, I still hadn't found any real valuables, and my inner treasure hunter was feeling rather disappointed as I walked from room to room. Eventually, I stumbled across a locked reinforced door and hoped I'd finally get something. The door was described as mana-treated wood, and the reinforcing was mana-enriched iron. I saved a decent quantity of both in my storage before devouring the rest.

Beyond the door looked like a small study, although the bookshelves contained nothing but rotting or crumbling tomes. On the desk, however, was a book that somehow seemed to survive the test of time. I immediately approached it and melted the tiny lock that kept it securely closed.

I immediately started skimming through the book, and almost unsurprisingly, it sounded mostly like the ravings of a mad lunatic.

Why have the Gods forsaken us humans?

Why are the dwarves and elves favored over us?

Why can we not evolve?

There must be a solution; I refuse to accept that we are forced to be shackled to this mortal fleshbag. I've seen a simple wolf evolve into a hybrid between wolf and man, so surely there is another path for us? I will find it!

The author seemed to blame the Gods a lot and seemed exceedingly bitter. He tried all sorts of things, even performing operations on test subjects, replacing their organs, limbs, and even brains with those of monsters. It mentioned him dabbling in necromancy, monster taming, and even failing at demon summoning.

Through my advancements in the necromantic arts, I have found a new type of monster that transforms what it feeds on into an entirely new race! I feel like this is the answer I've been searching for!

The only variable to overcome is that they are automatically enslaved after transitioning, and they become seemingly mindless, hungry beasts. But I think the solution is actually rather simple; I just need to kill the creature before the enslavement is complete. Yes, finally, I will transcend!

That was the last entry, and I closed the book with a frown.

"Man, this is some creepy shit," I muttered, shaking my head.

"Tell me about it." A soft yet high-pitched voice replied.