"..."

I stared blankly at the information before my very eyes. More accurately, I was staring at the ceiling.

The information was in my mind, so I naturally couldn't see it.

After receiving a shock of over a minute, I finally snapped out of it and screamed in shock, "W-What is this?! My status?! How! Also, why is it so detailed?!"

While I was panicking, I heard a knock on the door.

Knock* Knock* Knock*

"Is everything alright, sir? I heard shouting." - Borug's familiar voice sounded from across the door.

I immediately snapped back to reality and replied, "Oh, Borug, can you bring me some water, please?"

"Oh, certainly, sir." - He replied and walked away.

I sighed in relief, "Fortunately, he didn't hear my exact words." - I thought to myself.

It would be hard to explain if he heard my exact words.

I then looked at the floating screen in front of my eyes.

"Now then, calm down, Mog. Father always said that panicking is a cause for a disaster. Now, focus. I'll check first if I can bring it up and close it at will. Close status."

With that thought, the status screen disappeared from my mind. Seeing this, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, I can dismiss it. If I had to live the rest of my life with that thing in front of my eyes, I would be truly miserable. Now, Open status."

And with that, the status re-appeared in front of my eyes.

I smiled in glee, "Yes! I can control it! Now then, why can I see my status? Isn't this restricted to analysis stones, special talents, and augury? I'll check that first..."

I immediately skipped all the other parts and started reading my talents.

[Watched by Veona(Obscured)]
[Regular Talent Seed: Advanced Warrior Talent (0/29)]
[Regular Talent Seed: Intermediate Rogue Talent (0/17)]
[Unique talent seed: Effort lvl (1/99)]
[Unique talent seed: Lord Of Adaptation lvl (1/99)]

After observing it for a few minutes, I reached a few conclusions.

"Alright, there is a lot to take in. First, let's begin with what I know. Watched by Veona is still there, but it says it is obscured for some reason. Next, I can see that my warrior and rogue talents still exist, but they are (0/29) and (0/17) respectively. I have no clue what that means, but I guess that it isn't something good. Lastly, I have two unique skills instead of one. The first has a normal-sounding name, and the other sounds pompous. I guess that one of them is my original talent, and the other got added by the potion. I bet from the revealed letter that my original talent is Effort, which means that Lord Of Adaptation is the problem."

After that, I frowned and thought to myself as I looked at it, "If only I could get some details on it, I could..."

Suddenly, as if reading my thoughts, information popped into my mind.

[Unique talent seed: Lord Of Adaptation
lvl: 1/99
Type: Assimilation/ Alteration/ Chaos
Grade: Chaos
Description: A talent seed formed from the remnant power and will of primal chaos lord Aiuc'thougrith, Lord Of Adaptation. At his peak, he was a well-known master of devouring and adapting, a monster with countless faces and identities, devourer of gods and universes alike. Due to his fear of losing his existence, he has submitted to you. As you develop this seed, the core of his profound eldritch powers will become yours to command.
Effects: Full Self Status Reading, Self Obscuration, Chaos affinity, Eldritch Affinity, All language affinity, Assimilate, Devour, Predatory Instincts, Transformation.]

As I read it, my expression turned uglier and uglier.

"... Shit." - I said out loud.

Even an idiot can tell that this talent is something ominous. Anything with the word Eldritch is related to the dark gods. Just the Devour and predatory instincts sent a chill down my spine. Surprisingly, the thing that sent me the greatest chill was the word Assimilate. It was as if my entire being hated and feared that word. 

With a mixture of hate and fear in my eyes, I stared at that word for one whole minute, as if staring at a great enemy. I then took a deep breath and willed.

"I want to see its details."

I wasn't sure if it would work, but it did.

[Lord Of Adaptation: Assimilation
Description: Lord of Adaptation's hallmark ability. The ability to absorb and assimilate the qualities of those that he devours.
Effects: Assimilate talent seed, Assimilate bloodline(Locked), Assimilate race(Locked), Assimilate soul(Locked)]

As I looked at this piece of information, I couldn't help but feel a chill.

"... Ha... Haha..." - I laughed dryly.

I didn't need to read anymore. I understood what happened as I recalled more details of my strange nightmare.

 

 

 

 

After I drank the mistress's potion and lost consciousness, I woke up in my old and dilapidated house on my hay bed. It was the dead of night, and it was cold. The only source of heat was the fireplace at the center of my home, bringing with it the only source of light and warmth.

"Hah? Is this a dream?" - I wondered and looked around.

As I looked around, suddenly, through my door and window's cracks, some sort of shadow tentacles crept in.

"W-What is that?!" - I slowly retreated in horror to the fireplace.

Meanwhile, more and more tentacles entered my house, blocking the exits. They also started crawling up the walls and ceiling. They only avoided the light of the fire.

I started shaking as my breathing quickened, fear gripping my heart. I felt like a sheep in a pack of wolves.

I patted my waist and shakily pulled out my knife.

"W-What do I do? Father, what should I do? Mistress? Erno? Veona? P-Please, someone..." - I prayed for help, but none answered.

Once the tentacles finished covering every inch of the walls and ceiling, I saw countless terrifying circular mouths filled with jagged teeth emerge from the tentacles. They suddenly spoke in a madness-inducing voice without order or reason. However, somehow, I understood what it said.

"Hahaha! After eons of slumber, I have awoken once more! I managed to trick those two weak and ignorant backwater babies into thinking that I am a measly drained god's spark and use that cheap knock-off potion for some nourishment. Now, my resurrection is nigh! First, I shall take over this little vessel. Now... Assimilate!"

As its words fell, the tentacles charged at me.

"S-Stay BACK!" - I screamed.

As if hearing my voice, the fireplace started to shine brightly, evaporating the tentacles. However, as more and more tentacles approached, the light dimmed more and more. Finally, after a few rounds, the fire became very dim, barely supplying me with some light.

"N-No!" - I screamed in desperation as the light source almost got extinguished.

In pure desperation, I started to wave my dagger at the tentacles, but it got stuck in tentacles so I had to let go.

Now, the tentacles were inches away from me and paused. It then started to talk about things I have no idea about.

"Ah, this vessel has a unique talent, I see. And it is unawakened, too! What a perfect vessel. Now, assimilate!"

As its words fell, the tentacles rushed at me, and the light was snuffed out. Pain. I felt so much pain. The tentacles were gnawing at me, eating me alive. As I was feeling the pain and desperately struggled, I suddenly heard the voice of the mistress whispering in my ear.

"Hang in there Mog. It will all be over soon, and you will be reborn."

Hearing her words, my resistance lessened.

"That's right. It will be all over soon... I should just give up and be reborn..." - As my thoughts fell, I felt the pain lessen and the rate I was being eaten get quicker.

As the last vestiges of myself were about to be consumed, I suddenly remembered my father's old saying.

"You are what you eat."

It was kind of silly. In my last moments, I remembered that very saying. The meaning behind that saying is that it is important to eat good food. However, ironically, it could be used in this situation, too.

Why was the darkness eating me? Why did it want to assimilate me? I understood the answer. It wants to become me. It wanted to strip away my body, my identity, my soul, and my everything. The mere thought of it drove made MAD!

"You want to eat me?! NOT IF I EAT YOU FIRST YOU BASTARD!!!" - I screamed in my mind as I opened my mouth and bit down as hard as I can.

Crunch* Sizzle*

"Ahhh!!!" - The darkness screamed in pain, and the light of the fireplace was relit.

My mouth tore through the darkness as easily as biting through a liquid. The taste... It felt so... So...

"It tastes so good!" - My eyes shined. It tasted like the potion I drank! Perhaps even better!

Having my confidence bolstered, I opened my mouth wide and started gulping down the darkness. Each gulp tasted so delicious.

"A willpower-based chaos-grade talent?! NOOO!!! Must run! This is not a suitable vessel, it is a trap!" - The darkness screamed in a panic.

I felt the darkness leaving my body, trying to get away through the door and window.

"You're not getting away, I want to eat more of you!" - I thought and willed my door and window to vanish as I ate. Since it is my dream, I am the master of it, and I won't let this delicacy escape.

Soon, I already ate a third of the darkness.

As I ate it, the remaining darkness kept banging at the walls, but to no avail. Perhaps it realized that its doom was approaching, so it stopped struggling and instead pleaded with me.

"No! Mercy, your excellency! I beg for mercy, please!" - It pleaded.

As his words fell, I stopped eating it. I then started thinking.

"Eat it, or not eat it? Hm... It was saying stuff about Assimilating me, right? Then, what about if..."

"Alright, I won't eat you if you assimilate into me." - I said to it. Tit for tat. Since it so wanted to assimilate me, then I will assimilate IT.

However, it seemed like the darkness didn't like my suggestion.

"You want I, lord Aiuc'thougrith, great lord of adaptation, a primal chaos lord, and a direct descendent of the origin of chaos itself, to be lowered to the mere status of a talent seed?! Who are you trying to fool!"

"I don't give a shit who you are! And what the heck is a talent seed? Fuck this! Since you don't want to assimilate into me, then I will eat you!"

As soon as I decided that, without saying a word, I opened my mouth again and started inhaling the tasty darkness.

"Ok, ok! I yield! You win! I will turn into a talent seed! Just don't eat me!" - The darkness cried in a panic.

I stopped inhaling and coldly said, "I'm waiting."

My patience has already grown thin. If I see it try and pull something, I will eat it. I coldly stared at the darkness as it started gathering and condensing into a ball shape the size of a pigeon egg. Then, the said ball flew right into my chest and was absorbed. I felt no discomfort. Also, the injuries on my body started to heal.

"Hey, Grith guy, be obedient and don't cause trouble, or I will eat you!" - I shouted to myself.

"Yes, master..." - A middle-aged dispirited scholarly voice sounded in my mind.

Then, the room returned to its original state as the fire sizzled.

"Yawn* I'm pooped. I'll get some sleep now." - I said as I went to the hay bed and lay down on it.

"Good night, me."

And then I went to sleep.

 

 

 

 

"So I subdued it? It's my fault that he became my talent?!"