RinoZ
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Chapter 715 - Live Evil pt 2
🕑 Added 2021-02-13 02:01:36 +0000 UTCSorry, meant to publish this yesterday. Didn't quite hit my goals this week, but I went close. Hopefully next week is a little better.
Back into lockdown for five days here in Victoria. Hope everyone out there is staying safe!
My body was… strange. Certainly far from ideal for my purposes. I still possess the normal senses he would expect, sight, smell, sound, touch and taste, perhaps even better than I'd experienced as a human, but the configuration of his physical form… not so much. As far as I can tell, I'm a legless, fleshy blob with two deceptively powerful arms that emerged either side of my fanged mouth.
My body also appears to be covered in a black, thickened tar like substance that is quite difficult for my claws to penetrate. So a slug with arms and a mouth covered in a defensive coating. Unpleasant, but I can deal with it.
I constantly shift my body and swing my limbs as I turn my attention to my surroundings. Conditioning myself and my reflexes to this new reality will be key to my survival. I can feel a vague sense of dysmorphia rising at having my consciousness supplanted into this rather horrific form, but I squash it ruthlessly. Anything that will impede my ability to survive in this new reality cannot be tolerated. Any instinct that works against this goal must be expunged.
I could feel the familiar mindset roll over me like a cloud. It was always like this when I was on a job. I had to be cold, calculated, make the right move at the right time and with the perfect execution. When the game was life and death, there was no other way to play. Even here and now, in this new body and in this new world, I can the thrill bubbling beneath my surface thoughts. If I could only find something to fight, something to hunt. That would scratch my itch!
The environment was hot. Overwhelmingly hot. The rock around me radiates heat to an absurd degree and not far away I can see open pools of lava that flowed into places unknown whilst lighting up the area. Everything else I see is blasted, black rock. Except something moved.
A flicker of motion captures my attention and I react instantly, using my two powerful limbs do drag my fleshy body into cover where I could gain a better vantage point. Like a panther, I prowl, a flabby, meat sack of a panther, but a predator no less. Around the jagged, burning stones I pull my body until I find what it was that he had seen. One of my own kind, a disgusting blob of dark flesh dragged itself forward with its arms. What is was doing, he didn't know. From what I can tell, it had only recently been born, much as I was, emerging from the rock. In fact, yes, I can see it, a patch of ground not far from where my fellow larvae was now, loose stone and the indentation in the ground indicating where it had liberated itself from the heated stone.
I now had a choice. Should I attempt to befriend this creature and forge an alliance? Strength did exist in numbers, this was something I knew well. Two might survive where one would fail. Then there was the other choice…
Odin only knew one way.
After reaching the creature's blind spot, I flung myself from the rock soundlessly and sailed through the air, my claws and fangs at the ready. Strength in numbers was the policy of the sheep. I have always been a predator! Let others cower and huddle together in fear, that has never been my path. Besides, my information is incomplete. If I reveal myself to the creature and it attacks me, I will have thrown away the advantage of surprise for nothing, putting me into an essentially even battle for no gain. Better than I silence the thing now than take any risks. Besides, I believe there will be much that I can learn from this creature…
My claws strike with deadly precision, my steady aim not having changed though my body has greatly diverged from what I knew. With the angle of my body, my mouth falls in the perfect position and I sink my teeth into the tough hide of the beast and it screeches with pain.
This style of fighting lacks the grace and elegance of my usual performance, but I have to admit, there is a certain visceralsatisfaction in it, being this up close and personal.
Latched onto it's back, the creature thrashes and tries to dislodge me but I hold on with my teeth as I rake at it with my claws over and over again. The wounds piling up and my foes struggles growing weaker over time.
[Demon Claw has reached level 4.]
Interesting… Once again the strange voice speaks to me of this game elements. As I continue to attack my prey, I notice that I appear to be doing more damage than before, even if the difference is only slight. So these skills could help him improve at actions in this world? Fascinating…
After a little more struggle, my victim finally collapses and I release my grip, only to find the voice speaking into my mind once more.
[You have defeated Level 1 Initial Demon Larva.]
[You have gained XP.]
I'd been right. This world would reward me, much as a game would, if I defeat enemies. If I have a level, that meant I could level up. If I can accrue experience by fighting, improving my skills and gaining levels, then that is what I will do. I need to amass power, and quickly. Which lead me to my other path of enquiry. It's sitting right there in my status: Biomass.
Biomass meant food, it meant matter, and I didn't see anything else to eat around here except this thing. Jaws open wide, I rip into the meat without delay, unwilling to waste any time and uncaring what it might taste like. For the record, it tasted disgusting, but the voice spoke once again, which sharpened his mind immediately.
[You have consumed a new source of Biomass: Initial Demon Larva you are awarded one Biomass.]
[Basic profile of the Initial Demon Larva unlocked.]
Yet more information. Perfect.
Comments
Jeremy Evans
Or Vibrant and her equally odd protoge, flippant!
Storm
visceralsatisfaction (visceral satisfaction)
Storm
Better than I silence the thing (better that I)
Storm
I still possess the normal senses he would expect. (1st and 3rd person, needs to choose one.) thanx for the chapter
Aclys
While there's been quite a volume of side stories and I too long for continuation of the antiest ant. I will say this assassain guy's adventures in hell interest me a LOT. Something charming about a high-level functioning monster of a human being getting reborn in dungeon-hell and taking it to a fish being tossed into a new lake in contrast to Antony's understandable difficulties to adjust in mindset and so on.
RinoZ
Think I'll post some extra chapters this week so we get back to the main plot faster.
S10NN4CH
Im liking the side stories. It gives more of that world building that i love in these kind of fantasies. I mean i love Anthony as much as the next guy, but the story trends to hard focus on progression of the plot rather than expansion of the world when he has the reigns, and i love the world that RinoZ has built here, and would love to experience more of it whenever possible.
Miroslav Danko
Please, no more sidestories. One or two chapters is okay but so many is getting annoying. Even you taking a short break before continuing with main storyline sounds better
RinoZ
I wrote this chapter in several chunks and just made mistakes. Thought I fixed them all but apparently not
Aertheron
This is not filler.... It's original side content...
Aertheron
Weird going from "I" to "He" several times, must be deliberate as Rinoz is not known for these types of mistakes. Also you @Rinoz missed a few words in a few sentences. I really hope he won't be an enemy to Anthony and the colony.
Gonvas
Looking forward for the rest of Oden's SS 😉
Greyg
Yes believe new recruits are placed prior to waves as a grow or die method of selection though don’t believe it’s spelled out anywhere
0xFFF1
In general, yes. But the dungeon cherry picks the more deranged souls. Surely someone like him *could* exist.
ZaA
The Naruto Infinite Filleryomi all over again. "Anthony is still asleep.." for 2 irl weeks, dog? Space the filler out lol. Could have ended the filler after the shadow one almost perfectly with a " The Eldest is waking!" At the end of that
Greyg
Don’t care for the filler don’t mind it either even the demon story i like the grow phase and have reread anthonys rise a few times now so reading the growth of a demon is good would still prefer a few of the other ants to get the attention though especially vibrant and her next evolution just saying I want an ant focused story shit if odin ends up as a demonic ant by chance I’ll be happy but overall would prefer ant focus more
Ulbert
And yet.... I’ve still enjoyed this side story. Eh.
hhhhhuie
Love it. Such a determined grub
InfernalDrake
I think that’s the thing with all reincarnations. Their all absolute extremists in one shape or another.
ZaA
This dude is so unbelievable in almost every way lol. Both assassins and spies are not even close to this.
Swinter
This character doesn't gell with me at all xD. He seems like the version of an assassin you'd find in a cartoon. Comically over the top in every way.
RinoZ
timeline wise, Anthony is asleep, so these chapters fill in the gap, so to speak, but these little side arcs are intended as a reward, so people can vote on and have parts the story fleshed out that they otherwise wouldn't get to see. If it hadn't been voted for, I wouldn't have done anything on the torpor police, if it hadn't been voted for, there would be no sugar crusade in the colony, and you wouldn't see this character or learn anything about the demons from this perspective. Whilst it does take time away from the main arc, I feel like in the long run this mini-arcs add a splash of color that is worth the investment.
Melancholyforus
uh i really hope these interludes were you stalling for back up chapters
Anthony Romanov
I think it has more to do with form that individual will find it easier to adapt. Can you imagine Anthony as shadow centipede?
the_Famus_Temmie
im assuming this is pre-wave?
RinoZ
plain old errors that I didn't pick up. Will fix
Prismarinium
This kind of makes me wonder if the more insane a person is the easier it is for Gandalf to put them in a deeper strata. Like we know for sure Anthony isn't sane in his devotion to the colony but this guy seems way more out of touch than he is. I also like the contrast between Anthony and Odin, family vs individual, being satisfied with their past life despite it all vs being isekai'd from an ice-cream truck. Thanks for the chapter!
Oranckers
The transitions from first-person internal monologue, to third person narration were rather jarring.
kalada William-jumbo
Wow ... what a slugfest
Cole Honeck
Very edge lord
