"I thought you were a smart one, but it turns out you're all muscle, no brain! Can't you tell that I'm different from that other puppet of yours?!"
The Komodoensis started to ridicule him, making him even more apprehensive than he already was.
The huge reptile then looked at Io in disdain, prompting flapping protests and anger in the necromancer's shadow. After all, it had almost died earlier, so its resentment was more than justified.
After a few seconds of silence and seeing that Derrick hadn't budged from his defensive stance, the beast sighed before finally relenting.
"As the strongest being of this region, my soul retained its memories. My name is Drako and as your summon, I'm obviously not able to harm you, you imbecile!"
After the brief explanation, Derrick stopped being uneasy and realized it was correct, although while also noting that his new companion had no respect for him at all despite his clear victory, making him scoff and hit back.
"You talk big for someone that just got butchered like a pig…"
Drako's mood instantly soured, his only answer being an annoyed grunt.
[Warning!]
[The skill
And just like that, Io vanished from his resting place.
"Kekeke how unfortunate… The little bird was taken out before me."
Derrick had to admit that he had completely forgotten about this particular limit, meaning his only hope now was that this final kill would push him over the edge, and so he went to work.
"I don't think you'll like what I'm about to do next."
Since time was of the essence, he readily walked to the corpse and began his salvage preparations, his excitement through the roof.
"I don't mind. Even if you're a bit stupid, I still respect your strength. You better not turn me into trash, though!"
Drako was not disgusted and was, in fact, curious as to how he would proceed. He had resided in this cave since birth and had only seen humans twice. During these encounters, he hadn't been impressed at all, their instincts either cowardly or foolish. Their only redeeming quality, as far as he was concerned, had been their taste…
Seeing the expectant look, Derrick didn't want to disappoint and decided to proceed at lightning speeds.
The first thing he took care of was skinning the corpse. His technique was polished, and his movements, swift and precise. It was, for lack of better terms, a masterclass.
Transforming into a butcher, he then started cutting the muscles into ready-to-eat portions. The cadaver, however, was huge, making him quickly realize that transportation was a nonstarter. He wasn't going to let it rot, though, so he'd have to eat a lot in the coming days.
Next were the tendons, which were gorgeous pieces for craftsmen such as himself. Their elasticity, their toughness, and their durability made them essentials for a lot of crafts, meaning nothing would be left behind.
The bones, strong and long, were of the highest quality as well. This really was like a treasure trove that kept on giving.
I finally might be able to build a few things on my bucket list!
When he saw the happiness on Derrick's face, Drako was speechless.
"What a scary human…"
By now, Derrick was numb to this process, as he had been doing it regularly throughout his journey. His thirst for power, supercharged by his frequent nightmares and emotions, also fundamentally changed him.
Enemies were opportunities, and opportunities were the currency of progress. This had been his mantra in this forsaken place, and it had served him well so far.
After completely stripping everything useful, he sat cross-legged and took a piece of raw meat from the freshly cut pile.
He had to get rid of the poison circulating in his body, and the fastest way to do so was to get stronger.
"Do you want some? Actually, just eat it… I know it's you, but you can't fall behind right from the start."
Derrick felt awkward about forcing Drako to eat himself, but he needed him to progress, especially with the amount of 'food' in front of them. This was too good a chance to pass up.
Hearing his ludicrous demand, the shadow could only harrumph and curse before reluctantly agreeing.
Derrick wasn't a complete monster though, instead throwing him a smaller piece since he understood that it wasn't an easy situation. He then took one himself and closed his eyes.
This tastes way better than I thought it would… Oh?!
A burst of energy suddenly surged in his body, its strength taking him by surprise since he had eaten a testing portion, a quantity he had devised through his numerous hunts.
However, it took him all his concentration to remain conscious, as pearls of sweat began to fall from his forehead.
One, two, three… Breathe… One, two, three… Breathe…
[Hosts' body is refining energy! Stats are being recalculated…]
[Poison has been nullified! Continuing refinement…]
How long do I have to hold on?! This is ridiculous!
[Energy has been refined! Would you like to see your stats?]
Hours. Hours that felt like an eternity to be exact. He couldn't believe he had held on for so long.
Once his brooding was over, he opened his eyes and observed the changes to his body, which were fairly substantial. It was time to see by how much.
"Yes."
[Derrick Tarlin, 16 years old (Body) & 37 years old (Mind) — Human]
[Class : Necromancer]
[Strength : 10.2]
[Agility : 8.5]
[Endurance : 10.8]
[Vitality : 7.2]
[Magic Power : 15.5]
[Traits : Enhanced Body, Enhanced Vision, Death's Valet, Gluttony]
[Skills : Superior Appraisal, Contract (2/3), Summoning (1/2), Master Craftsman, Submission]
[Your skill
[New skill! By releasing your aura,
[Your skill
He was shocked by his gains. From his testing portion alone, every category had received an extra 0.5 points.
But that wasn't all. A new skill and two upgrades? That was the cherry on top!
Carried by his enthusiasm, he immediately re-summoned Io before feeding him a piece.
After waiting for a bit, he used
[Io (King Nightmare Bat)]
[Strength : 9.7]
[Agility : 8.2]
[Endurance : 9.9]
[Vitality : 4.2]
[Magic Power : 3.8]
[Trait : Advanced Echolocation]
[Skills : Sonic Wave]
[The trait
[New skill!
He was quite pleased with the result. Io had steadily grown with him during their fights, and this was the culmination of all their efforts, especially since he had only been able to use him as bait at first. With the evolution of his trait and his new skill, the necromancer was now confident he'd be part of all his offensive plans going forward.
[Drako (Viper Varanus Komodoensis)]
[Strength : 20.2]
[Agility : 17.4]
[Endurance : 15.3]
[Vitality : 14.2]
[Magic Power : 14.1]
[Trait : Cold Blood, Vibration Sensor, Poisonous Tongue]
[Skills : Charge]
[New skill!
Holy shit...
These numbers were sky-high, and this new skill was basically a cheat code! He marveled at the plans he could envision, the faints he could use, the enemies he could crush...
Let's not get carried away too much... I still have a lot of work to do.
After calming down, he immediately went back to work since he needed to craft his new equipment while also preparing his next several 'meals'.
And then... Freedom.
That word tickled his brain, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of adrenaline course through his veins.
Months... These hellish months were finally about to end.