Nervously, she asked him, uncertain about what he was about to reveal. "What... What truth?"
"I... I was not born into this world, I was reincarnated. Not as a human, but as a shapeshifting slime." He noticed the confusion on her face but pressed on, knowing he had to be honest. No matter what, his love for her wouldn't change, even if she despised him with every fiber of her being.
He proceeded to share the entire story, including details about his original self. He watched as her face contorted through a myriad of expressions. He knew it was a lot to ask for her to just stay still and listen. He was certain she would defy his request and follow her heart anyway, but he was shocked when she didn't.
He finished his story and explained to her that he needed to merge Brent's body to preserve his memories. He acknowledged that this might seem grotesque and wicked, but Brent's body was deteriorating, and he wasn't sure if his memories was being affected. He didn't force her to stay, but he wanted her to know that he would still consider her his sister even if she didn't see him as her brother. Her face showed a slight expression, but he couldn't figure out what it meant. Transforming back into his slime form, he saw her standing still through his tremor sense, just observing him. He then approached Brent's body and enveloped it in his flesh, focusing on assimilating him as quickly as possible, causing his tremor sense to shorten, limiting his range to only half a foot around him.
Hours passed as he assimilated the body. At one point, he felt a brief touch of a hand, but wasn't sure if it was Jen or someone else. Once the assimilation finished, he found himself immersed in the struggles and hardships that had defined Brent's entire existence. With a determined pledge, he vowed to utilize Brent's memories to the fullest of his capabilities.
Reverting back to his human form, he rose to his feet and surveyed the room with a careful gaze. His attention was immediately drawn to a bloodstained axe mark etched into the floor and the now dried blood, a grim reminder of where his severed hand had once lain. A sense of worry crept over him as he pondered the whereabouts of his missing hand. However, before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, his heart sank as the realization struck him—Jen was nowhere to be found, neither in the living room nor anywhere within the cottage.
'So, this is how it is, huh? It stings, but not as much as I expected'. He recognized that enduring loneliness in the past had given him some resilience. Yet, deep down, he couldn't shake off the feeling of betrayal. He understood that he had fused with Rex and that the memories he possessed were not originally his own, but he couldn't help but feel like the original Rex. He likened it to memorizing an incredibly detailed autobiography, but he knew it might not be perceived the same way by her. To her, he might simply appear as a monster who had stolen her brother's identity.
Not dwelling on it any longer, he opened his menu and saw that he got 20 XP, 9 biomass, and 1 stat point. However, he was surprised to find that his sexual encounter with Lex had earned him 40 XP. This pushed his XP bar past the limit, leveling him up and granting him an ability point. He couldn't help but wonder why he gained so much XP from just having sex. Then he remembered that she wasn't an ordinary woman - she had effortlessly killed Brent with her bare hands. Searching through Brent's memories, he discovered that she was likely a C-grade.
'So, C grades give 40 XP.' He wondered what higher ranks would give, but he was relieved that he didn't have to kill others to earn a significant amount of experience. With that in mind, he focused on his menu, eagerly anticipating the opportunity to gain something new.
Name: Leon Helva Johnson (Former)
Rex Burningham (Currently)
Race: Flesh Slime
Human (Currently)
Experience: 0/150
Level: 2
Biomass: 27.9
Mana: 20
Life Affinity: Gain the affinity for life magic, can influence the abilities the user unlocks.
Stats:
Author's Note: One stat point is equivalent to a stat point in an adult human's attribute. For example, a human child with a one stat on their physical attribute would be as strong as an adult human.
* Gain stats by absorbing flesh from other organisms.
Physical: 2.1
(Strength + Vitality + Endurance + Toughness)
Mental: 2
(Intelligence + Perception + Willpower)
Mobility: 2
(Agility + Dexterity + Flexibility)
Abilities:
~Shapeshifting: Shapeshifting is the power to physically transform into different forms, including the ability to grow extra limbs and organs. However, this ability demands a deep understanding of the physiology of the desired form or organ. It's crucial to note that the user must possess sufficient mass to transform into a specific form or organ.
~Tremor Sense: A passive ability that allows an individual to form an accurate mental image of the ground and anything in contact with it by detecting and interpreting vibrations.
~Flesh Absorption: With the power of Flesh Absorption, individuals can absorb flesh to increase their mass. The amount of mass they gain depends on the freshness of the flesh, where fresher flesh provides more mass compared to decayed flesh. Moreover, absorbing flesh grants them knowledge of its physiological makeup and a chance to acquire its abilities. However, the probability of gaining abilities decreases with repeated absorption of the same species. Additionally, the amount of stat points gained from absorbing the same species repeatedly decreases with each absorption. Furthermore, the amount of biomass gained from consuming the same species drops significantly after the first specimen.
~Biomass Condensation: The ability to densify parts or the entire body.
Water Breathing: The ability to breath underwater.
Available skills:
1 Skill point available.
Touch of Life: With physical contact, you can impose your will on the body of another living being. The Touch of Life skill allows you to manipulate the bodies of other living beings by simply touching them.
Affected by the mental attribute.
Mana cost: 10% of mana pool; 5% of biomass can be used as a substitute.
Healing touch: With a simple touch, wounds and ailments of living beings can be healed. This skill is particularly useful in emergency situations where immediate medical attention is required.
Mana cost: …
Life drain: The Life Drain skill enables individuals to absorb the life force of other living beings and heal wounds on one's body through physical contact. This ability can be used to weaken enemies.
Mana cost: …
*Gain new abilities by leveling up. Gain experience by absorbing biomass, the amount of experience gained increases with the size of the biomass assimilated during a single session. In addition, experience can be gained by copulating with other organisms, gaining more experience the stronger the partner is. However, experience cannot be gained from copulation for the next 48 hours, receiving less experience from the same partner each time you copulate.
*The user can delete certain abilities by consenting to multiple prompts that appear on the screen. However, abilities marked with the symbol "~" are unable to be removed.
He was offered three new skills, but only found two of them actually helpful. One of these skills was called Life Drain, which allowed him to weaken his opponents while simultaneously regaining his own health. Although it seemed like a valuable skill, he didn't think it was worth investing a skill point in to since he already had a method to both attack and heal himself. Nevertheless, he had concerns about losing his biomass, especially after experiencing some loss when his hand got severed. He wasn't certain about the consequences of reaching zero, but he had a feeling it wouldn't turn out well. Instead of opting for Life Drain, he decided to use his skill point to unlock the Touch of Life skill and allocated one stat point to his mental attribute, which would amplify the effectiveness of the skill. Despite the unclear description of the ability, he recognized its potential and believed it would serve him better in the long term.
Eager to try out his newfound power, he scanned the room for something to test it on. His eyes locked onto a solitary ant making its way towards the pile of bags and began moving in its direction. However, his progress came to an abrupt halt as he heard approaching footsteps outside the door. The footsteps stopped right in front of the entrance, and it swung open slowly, revealing Jen and Rebecca. Their faces showed clear unease, but what caught his attention even more was their unexpected cargo. Jen clutched a basket full of succulent meats and cooked potatoes, while Rebecca held two bottles that looked like wine.
They approached him, with Rebecca being more cautious. He assumed that Jen handled his explanation well and started walking towards her. But suddenly, a familiar sensation of being weighed down enveloped him, affecting his entire body except his head.
Traumatized from his previous experience, he made a disturbed face and said, "What is this?!"
Jen furrowed her brow, studying his expression with confusion. However, she swiftly grasped the situation - he was completely immobile, frozen in a statue-like state. She turned to Rebecca with a questioning face.
"I can't just blindly trust this situation, Jen. I need to make sure what you said is true."
She knew what she meant, but she had already decided to believe the Rex standing before her, even if it wasn't true. "Just... don't hurt him..."
Rebecca didn't want to, but she couldn't let him leave without understanding his intentions. Moreover, she had no clue how a guy like him would act when forced to unveil his true nature.
She gave a nod to her, and together they put the food on a table nearby. After that, she moved closer to him, with Jen following right behind her.
He mulled over Rebecca's request, considering how to demonstrate his reincarnation from another planet. All of a sudden, an idea hit him: what if he could employ his Touch of Life skill to share his memories with her?
She demanded him to change back to his original form before reincarnating. The question made Jen tense up, which he noticed, but he wasn't sure what to make of it.
He reluctantly agreed and transformed back into his old form. The transformation caused his top to sag and his pants to slip down to his ankles, revealing his unkempt bush. Standing at 5'9, he couldn't help but notice how Rebecca towered over him. He gulped and said, "Before you embarrass me any further, let me just show you my memories and get this over with. I'm not exactly thrilled with losing control of my body."
Jen was confused by his statement. "You can do that? then why didn't you..."
He realized that explaining his ability to gain new skills would be difficult since they were not familiar with games. "It's complicated, you would have to understand what an RPG game is." He then asked Rebecca to come closer. "I'm going to have to touch you for this to work, okay?"
Jen had doubts about the situation, knowing it could be a trap. But if he could show his memories, it would undoubtedly prove his claim. She decided to take a leap of faith, making her anxious.
He hoped his skill would work smoothly without any misunderstandings, not wanting to accidentally escalate the situation to violence. Meanwhile, Rebecca had her own worries. The idea of possibly hurting someone she genuinely liked made her feel heartbroken.
He jokingly suggested that she could make it up to him by giving him a big kiss. To his surprise, she leaned in and planted a deep kiss on him, catching him off guard. Jen clenched her fists but didn't utter a word.
After a moment of processing the unexpected turn of events, he noticed Rebecca gesturing for him to begin his skill. He followed her lead and willed his chosen memories to flash in her mind, feeling his mana draining.
She felt a scratching sensation on the edges of her consciousness, but after a while, she questioned if his skill worked. She opened her eyes and saw the struggling expression on his face.
'Shit! Her mind is a steel wall, I can't break through,' he thought, sensing her unwillingness to open up. With their lips still locked, he managed to utter, "Drop your guard down. Your mind is too strong for me to get through."
She hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she let him through. As he stepped inside, his consciousness merged with hers, flooding her mind with fragments of his memories. Her gaze lost focus, and her body twitched involuntarily.
Jen's concerns intensified as time went by, but they were swiftly relieved when she witnessed his body stir and Rebecca retracting from him.
She panted, her eyes still blurry from the long kiss they had exchanged. Gradually, her focus returned as she fixed her gaze on him, realizing what he said was true. "I'm sorry for doubting you." She shyly cleaned her lips, "But for some reason, the memories towards the end were all completely white. I could tell when you chose not to show certain memories, but these ones were different. They... felt unnatural, almost ethereal."
"Ahh, I knew it. Hobo man really values his privacy." Jen and Rebecca looked puzzled, but he dismissively waved them off.
Rebecca gestured for him and Jen to take a seat by the table. They sat down and once they were settled, she leaned in and started sharing what she had seen in his memories. He caught snippets of their hushed voices and then offered the "memory sharing" to his sister, who hesitantly declined. They talked for an hour, and by the end, both of them seemed satisfied, wearing a more relaxed expression as they looked at him.
He transformed back to Rex, not wanting to make Jen feel more distant from him, and said, "Am I off the hook now?"
"No, not yet," Jen said, making a serious expression. "I want to know how you feel about me, Rex. I... I need to know."
Caught off guard by the direct question, he quickly composed himself and said, "Jen, I love you completely. You're one of the most important people I've ever had in all my lives. You're my sister, and that will never change, even if you despise me. And if you want, I can remove the others and just keep these," he gestured to his face. "I'm serious."
Jen's pent-up emotions finally reached their breaking point, causing her to collapse in a flood of tears. She rose from her chair and stumbled towards him, clumsily embracing his left side.
"I... I love you too..." She said, wetting his left shoulder with her tears. "I don't care who or what you are, but as long as you love me, I will always be by your side, with all my heart."
A tear rolled down his cheek as he fully embraced Jen, touched by her heartfelt acceptance. Rebecca watched, taking in the display of love, feeling a mix of jealousy and relief. She was relieved that they both saw each other as family again, but couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, longing for the same affection.
Afterwards, they used the food to throw a big feast in Brent's memory. The duo shared mostly funny stories about him, recalling even the smallest details with vivid clarity, creating a cheerful and uplifting atmosphere for the night, despite the somber purpose of their feast.
Brent