{Hehe, good girl!} – Natria giggles and exclaims to my acceptance of the deal she presented, despite, or maybe because of the fact I had basically no choice but to agree.

{By the way, your Origin already snuck some of rat bloodline into your output bloodline, but it is completely harmless for now. I will remove it when you are sleeping not to expose you to so much pressure.}

‘Huh? Already? You said something about a few weeks?’

{Oh, that’s how long the body adapts. That’s why I said it is harmless. But the change to Origin itself takes at most a few hours.}

‘Oh… Okay, good to know.’

I start thinking about what she told me up to now, and immediately remember something important.

‘By the way, um, Master, how to use mana? I have seen magic many times, but Laura never taught me how to use it, saying I’m not suited to it.’

{Ha? Oh, what damn idio, uhm… Sorry. But, seriously, she really fucked it up. Not that I blame her, because you are different from others and at first glance you are incapable of using magic effectively, but I hoped she would know more. Well, no matter. You see, normally, every Origin emits excess mana that is not used by spirit or soul. But, the more complex Origin, the more mana it can store, recycle and repurpose so that there is no excess floating out and it doesn’t need foreign mana to sustain itself. In other words, I am almost certain she judged you to be incapable of using magic effectively because she saw you absorbing and emitting very little mana. There are surprisingly many both types of Origins and people with such Origins themselves that are almost incapable of manipulating mana in any way, but have other advantages, for example an ability to burn any mana they try to move. Maybe she even chose you because she thought you have something similar? Dunno. I’m not going to teach you magic now, because we have better things to do right now, but just know that you are entirely capable of using magic, merely you need a different method than most people.}

‘Okay.’ – I agree, though still dissatisfied.

‘Um… also… why was that rat’s Origin… tasty?’ – I ask with slight discomfort.

Although I was not focusing on what I felt then, I remember the delightful taste I felt back then.

I wipe something from my chin and notice with surprise it is my saliva that flowed from my mouth unknowingly.

{Hehe, it’s perfectly normal, if you are wondering. It’s a natural feeling you get when eating food for your Origin. You know, in the past I used to get lost in the taste, and while it’s not something I’m proud of, it just means that your Origin is pleased by the meal. You just need to get used to eating other souls, just like one needs to get used to eating sweets and not get addicted to it.}

‘Oh, okay. The eighth pleasure, then.’ – I conclude, but quickly notice something. – ‘Wait, eating souls? Not Origins?’

{Hm, well, technically you eat only the Origin. But you may have noticed that when you yanked out the Origin, the spirit and soul collapsed and partially got sucked into the Origin. You are still unable to absorb the soul and spirit itself and should get this ability in the future, but if you do it the way you did, a part of soul and spirit comes out together with the Origin, or rather gets absorbed into Origin, while the rest simply dissipates. And when you eat it, if I were to make an analogy to normal food, the Origin is the meal itself, soul makes its taste and spirit makes the spices, I guess? It’s really hard to describe properly, but I’d say the Origin itself is tasteless and gives only the satisfaction of having eaten and the soul and spirit are what gives the taste and makes it a pleasure. That’s why I said eating souls, not Origins. And additionally, considering that soul is essentially built around Origin, there is little difference between the two. On the contrary, eating souls kinda sounds better than eating Origins, don’t you think?}

‘Well, I can’t really deny it.’ – I smile wryly. – ‘So I eat soul and spirit along the Origin. But, just out of curiosity, what about reincarnation, going to god’s side after death and all this stuff some people believe? Because if I were to tell some of them I eat souls, they are ready to burn on stake.’

{They are just stupid.} – Natria spits out angrily. – {I don’t mean to say they are stupid for believing that, but taking this so far is simply mild fanaticism. Everyone can believe what they want and even I don’t have definite answer to your question, despite the fact I was called a goddess by many. If there is some god that governs souls, then he is even above countless gods and goddesses I know, made and killed. There is no proof reincarnation is false, but neither there is that it is true. What I can say for sure from countless experiments and observations is that after death there are many possibilities, but none are confirmed to lead to reincarnation.

{One is for Origin to completely dissipate along with soul and spirit, which leaves completely nothing but some energy remaining. Second is for only Origin to survive and sometimes grow new spirit and soul, albeit very rarely.

{Third is for Origin to remain in stable state with only soul remaining, creating lesser ghosts, that are beings made purely of energy, with no sentience and no will, that usually just float around until they dissipate, though sometimes they can develop new spirit and gain sentience, becoming greater ghosts. They can also merge with some objects or beings, usually resulting in cursed items or cursed creatures with powers connected to that of Origin and soul of the ghost.

{Fourth is to leave Origin with only spirit, resulting in lesser spirits. They are clumps of energy with sentience, and they usually just care freely float around. Their power has no shape, though, so they can hardly use it by themselves. Usually they do almost nothing, but they sometimes develop their own soul, gaining perception and becoming tangible, becoming greater spirits.

{Last is to survive death of the body, leaving Origin, soul and spirit mostly intact, but usually it leads to loss of memories as most are stored in the brain. This can result in creation of way too many things to list them, but they include zombies, revenants and other undead, greater and superior spirits, ghosts, wraiths and many other variations and countless other things.

{But none of these options have anything to do with sending soul, spirit or Origin in any form anywhere for reincarnation, or at least I have never noticed anything of the sort. On the other hand, new babies before being born have their Origin built from usually two fragments received from parents and develop spirit and soul the same way as spirits, ghosts and other things, but with along with their body and with their parents as a base. So, Nea, remember that. While reviving dead, animating corpses, talking with the dead and many other things connected to it are absolutely possible, not even gods have proof that there is something like afterlife, reincarnation or anything close enough to this concept.}

‘Alright, I got it.’ – I manage to say after her lecture.

I’m slightly overwhelmed by everything she told me, but the general idea is simple. No proof of reincarnation or afterlife, and additionally a note that Natria looks at churches and sects with no kind gaze.

‘But, you know, Master, you really know damn much. Within a single day you answered my every question with much more detail than I hoped for.’

{Hehe.} – She giggles as smugness almost leaks out of her voice. – {You wouldn’t be so surprised if you knew how old I am.}

Hm?

‘I assume I am not supposed to ask a lady about her age?’ – I say, trying to avoid a landmine most likely purposely placed here. – ‘But considering some called you a goddess, I wanted to ask what is your definition of a god?’

{Uh, that’s no fun.} – She complains. – {But, well, a god is a being with divine energy. It is one of the things Origin is able to produce. But don’t concern yourself with that, because it will be at least a few years before you get even close to unlocking it, and producing it is completely another matter. For now, I believe we are close to the outflow of the sewage, so take care of that, if you may.}

‘Oh, alright.’

That change of topic felt a bit forceful, but the end is indeed very close.

There are a few tunnels connecting in this place, and I see light leaking out behind the next corner, which most likely is the sunlight shining through the exit to the open.

After I walk a while more, I look around the corner, and what I see baffles me slightly.

There are thick metal bars closing the exit. I believe I would be able to fit between them and go out of the city just fine. That is the normal part. The stranger part is that the sewage falls down just behind it, and I see only the sky, clouds, and a few other islands floating in the air along with small dots being probably ships and Beholders.

{Hm? I believe it falls down the wall to the ground. The sewers should be just below the ground, though, so why is the wall so high?} – Natria asks, most likely not expecting any answer.

As I move closer and see the ground, I notice what the story is about.

The wall is close to the edge of the island, with the slope here being at an angle of at least fifteen degrees and getting only worse closer to the edge.

I walk closer to the bars, and, gripping them tightly, I squeeze between to look out, immediately feeling strong wind ruffling through my hair.

The sight takes my breath away despite the fact I looked over the walls more than once.

It is merely that I looked out on the slum side, which is to the west, and this is most likely to the south in general. And what is visible on the western side is forest, but there, while there is a part of the forest visible on the right, the most of the view is made from sky and clouds with a few other islands visible floating there and there.

When I look down, slightly over the edge, I see a high, stone wall, probably somewhere between ten to fifteen meters in height excluding what is above me, built on almost bare stone slope that goes down quickly and disappears a few hundred meters into the distance. Hugging the wall there is what seems to be a huge tank made of stone, currently mostly empty, probably emptied a few days ago.

On the right the slope slowly extends and flattens, making space for the green, lush and wild forest and reaching far into the horizon.

On the left, meanwhile, The Death Amalgamation, the most dangerous place in the vicinity of capital city Bluesky.

It is said it was created a few tens of years ago when a huge amount of monsters threatened to destroy the capital and a huge mishap in the fight ended up blowing off a huge part of the island. Within a few years magic in the air ended up bringing back the huge amount of stone and debris and keeping it more or less in place.

After a while of jagged stone similar to this in the middle, but stretching out from the walls, there are uncountable rocks with some debris, ground and plants making out a huge mess more or less in the shape of land, but visibly not being in one piece, merely kept in that shape by magic.

And a huge, yellow eyeball with countless writhing tentacles in the color of pale human skin, just now floating from under the edge, looking from my place just to the side of the amalgamation.

I suppressed my scream and almost instinctively pulled the metal bars with all my strength, disappearing behind the wall in a flash.

Calming my racing heart, I sat down on the side of the canal.

{That was what you call the Beholder, hm?} – Natria asked, completely unperturbed with interest of a researcher seeing a new variation of well-known race.

‘That’s right.’ – I say, slightly unnerved. – ‘This one was not one of the smaller, but there are some much bigger.’

{That’s interesting. I thought I knew what monster it is, but it seems to be different from what I remember. This one has a huge amount of thin tentacles and smaller eye with different iris comparing to Ravenous Beholder, I think, though I would need to see more of them. Theoretically it would be great addition to your bloodlines, but it would need to wait until you are strong enough to even get close to this thing.}

‘You’re even saying that so casually!?’

{Well, I am. Different things are normal for me.} – She replies, completely unperturbed and indifferent. – {Though…} – She mutters in a wondering tone. – {It’s a mana... interesting…}

‘Hm? What is it?’

{Don’t mind me. This Beholder is somewhat different from what I know for much more than one reason.}

‘Oh well.’ – I sigh. – “Just know that I have never heard of killing this thing, so if I somehow managed to do so, however unrealistic it sounds, merely the reaction of the authorities would be enough of a pain in the ass to regret that afterwards, I guess.’

I sigh deeply.

‘Putting the Beholder aside, getting out of here is rather unrealistic. Even if I managed to somehow get down, which will be impossible, at least with no preparation, I would be exposed to everything until I entered the forest around ten kilometers away, because the Death Amalgamation, although closer, is flat out of the question.’

{Agreed. In short, get back to the sewers, I guess, and look for a few more monsters. By the way, I would like you to get complete rat bloodline. Or at least most of it. There should also be slimes there, so that would also be very useful if you got some.}

‘Huh? Why?’

{Rat has good sense of smell. I’ll incorporate it your nose. But I’m missing most of it, so I need more of these rats. And slimes… well… it’s kinda hard to explain quickly, but their Origins are extremely useful if you know what to do with them.}

‘Huh? Uh, okay?

{Why is it a question?}

‘Eh, it’s just… how does it work? Cause I don’t imagine myself with rat’s nose and I very much doubt you would give me something like that.’

{Oh, well, I guess it’s one of the questions you won’t get clear answer to. I mean, if I were to explain how it works, you would most likely have your nose grown well before you even understood how it works well enough to be get what I am doing. Just know that I will be incorporating how rat’s nose works into the structure of your nose with no changes on the surface level, so that it will look and feel the same but your sense of smell will improve considerably, okay?}

‘Oh, okay.’

I guess I will do a small detour on my way back, then.