A Salamander, but Mighty

POV: Luchael

At the beginning he was optimistic and thought he would find Aradra quickly, he had given himself no more than two days before being able to track her down, however, that was the third day and he still hadn't found even a single trace of her.

The problem was that others had found her instead. Luchael stood in front of the large wooden questboard, his pink eyes moving between some of the sheets of parchment that had been placed there.

- o – o -

I'm looking for someone to enter the Sleepy Swamp dungeon and retrieve the salmadrer specimen found inside. I need the specimen to be delivered to me alive as I intend to do research on it.

- o – o -

- o – o -

A salmadrer with an unusual attitude is attacking and killing the monsters of Sleepy Swamp. In some cases the monster does not eat the monsters it kills as if it were driven by the simple pleasure of seeing others die.
I'm looking for an adventuring party to kill it and bring me its body.

- o – o -

- o – o -

THE NIGHTMARE TYRANT IS HERE! DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE FACT THAT HE'S A LITTLE SALMADRER! THAT IS JUST THE MASK BEHIND WHICH HE HIDES HIS TRUE NATURE! KILL HIM! I WILL GENEROUSLY REWARD ANYONE WHO BRINGS THEIR HEART TO ME!

- o – o -

The last parchment that the leporan read gave him goosebumps: there were several people who intended to cut off the head of his cute little lizard for no particular reason beyond a prophecy that didn't necessarily indicate she as the Nightmare Tyrant or for a cold sense of academic research.

I have to hurry, I've been looking for her for three days without success and the longer I take the more likely it is that one of these adventurers will find her, he thought, hugging himself and shaking like a leaf, terrified at the thought of being so weak that he wouldn't be able to not even protect a friend who on more than one occasion contributed to his survival.

“Hey, Luchael, what's going on?” A voice that had become familiar to him in those three days asked, Helen's voice. The girl had only let him explore the dungeon alone once as she and her companions had organized themselves to hunt down Aradra, fortunately failing in their attempt.

“N-nothing!” Luchael said, straightening his shoulders and turning to meet the templar's kind gaze, "I was... just thinking about something."

“About our quest for today?” She asked with a smile, “if you keep choosing herb gathering, you will never level up!”

“Yes, I mean, no, I wasn't thinking about that,” he replied in a low murmur, “I was thinking… how important are friends?”

Helen tilted her head towards her left shoulder, “what a strange question…”

“Would you do anything for a friend?”

"Of course!" Helen exclaimed, strutting her stuff and clenching her fists on her hips, which didn't emphasize her feminine form just because she was wearing chainmail, "if I wasn't willing to do anything for a friend, how could I consider myself their friend?"

“Mh… I see,” Luchael nodded a few times, closing his eyes and bowing his head, “thank you.”

“Do you have a friend in need?” Helen asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, “if you want, I can help you.”

"Yes..." the leporan nodded again, he imagined himself stunning the human girl to keep Aradra safe and... the idea of ​​harming a person who up until that moment had been so kind to him nauseated him to the point of almost feeling like he had to vomit, “do you want to help me? Are you sure?"

Helen responded by giving him a thumbs up and a wink.

“Well, then when I tell you to listen to me, please do.”

The human thought the leporan was trying to play some joke on her, but the seriousness on his face quickly changed her mind. “Okay, I will,” she said, matching his seriousness, without actually making any promises.

“Thank you,” Luchael let out a short sigh, “let's go then, the dungeon awaits us,” he murmured, mentally praying to Lyndvrath to help him find his friend.

- - -

POV: Tamara

The strange entity, that stone heart that she was now sure was actually beating, had spoken to her. What was the wisest thing to do? On Earth someone would undoubtedly have told her that it was a demon or that she was delirating, and that it was better not to interact with it...

...But in a world where monsters, gods and magic exist, perhaps it is time not to apply Earthly medical or religious standards.

“I'm T-T-Tamara and… uuuh, I've d-defeated the boss. I'm looking for the tre-tre-treasure..." she stammered in a low voice, she didn't even know if that being would understand her, but she had the feeling that yes, it could.

"A monster? No, there is a human soul in your body,” said the ancient voice, which almost seemed to be struggling with incredible tiredness, “how can you exist? Your condition is not natural.”

“...C-can you understand me?”

“Yes,” replied the voice from that bizarre heart of stone, “you said your name was Tamara. Where do you come from? The place your human soul comes from.”

Tamara swallowed, “I am… I am from Earth, my soul was transported to this universe by Lyndvrath, a goddess…”

“A goddess!” The voice exclaimed, resonating with notes of anger that however quickly died away, tiredness seemed to dominate and weighted like a boulder on that entity's mind, "but this wasn't what she wanted."

Tamara nodded a few times, “that's right, I was saved from annihilation only thanks to a guardian spirit.”

She then began to tell everything that had happened to her up to that point, her first misadventures in reaching Stanbroodge, her struggles to stay alive and the pain of losing her past life, her family, the normal life she once had. The being remained silent to the point that Tamara thought it had fallen asleep, however, she did not stop talking; she had been inside the dungeon for days with only herself to talk to and any interlocutor would have been fine for her to just talk with someone.

“You are in a peculiar condition, little thing,” said the entity, the dungeon core, “your reincarnation is defective. Your soul is merging with that of the monster you are inhabiting, it is a fortune that that guardian spirit placed you in the body of a salmadrer.”

“W-why?” Tamara asked, straightening her shoulders, “the soul of the monster? What does it mean?"

“Your reincarnation is defective,” the dungeon core reiterated, “you were not meant to be reincarnated into this salmadrer, so its soul is still inside. If you had been reincarnated into some more powerful monster, your soul might have been consumed.”

Tamara had no idea what this new information entailed, of course, during the days in the dungeon she had noticed that her monstrous instincts were becoming stronger, but she thought it was due to the situation of mental stress and danger in which she found herself. Even at that moment the salmadrer instinct was screaming at her to move away from something that had such great power that it could destroy her with a single thought, but she was managing to prevent her retreat. She absolutely had to know more.

“You are lucky: with such a weak monster, your souls are merging rather than being in the position where one destroys the other.”

“Am I… Am I turning into a monster??” She asked, her throat feeling dry.

“You're already a monster,” the dungeon core corrected, Tamara noticed that its voice was fading, as if whatever was speaking to her was losing the fight against a deep lethargic need to sleep, “it's only that your soul and that of the salmadrer who lives in this body are not yet a single entity.”

“What will become of me? Is there a way to stop this process?” She pressed on, realizing that the time to speak with that entity was rapidly running out.

“You will become the new you, your soul is slightly stronger, so it will form the basis of the new soul,” it said in a way that seemed rather cryptic to Tamara, “no.” The entity seemed to have finished speaking, perhaps it had even fallen asleep since for almost half a minute it didn't say anything else, "do you hate the deities?"

She was still trying to process the new revelations that had been made to her, doing her best to stifle the seething fury within her that was trying to resurface: every time she raised her head it seemed as if the universe was doing its best to crush her again with all the weight of an almighty boot. Once again the memories of Lyndvrath and Groffward deciding her fate as if she were a toy, as if what she had experienced or what she was had been worth absolutely nothing.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to chase away those dark thoughts by focusing on the few positives her new life had: the simple and shy Luchael, and the lively Velen.

“They can burn in hell as far as I'm concerned,” she replied dryly.

“Good, good,” replied the voice from the dungeon core, “then come closer and lay your hands on me. I will give you a gift."

"A gift?" She asked suspiciously. She approached the giant rocky heart, fighting against her monster instincts, but didn't place her hands as requested, not yet at least.

"Yes. I will give you the ability to push your power beyond the limits that your nature as a salmadrer imposes on you, all I want in exchange is for you not to kneel before them.”

Tamara didn't need to ask who these people were that the dungeon core was talking about.

Now, Tamara still felt at a disadvantage compared to the cosmic forces that had brought her in front of the Sleepy Swamp dungeon core, tossed in the river of events without any handle to hold on to at least try to resist since fighting against the course of events seemed like a lost cause. Did that entity want to help her resisting this pitiless river? Well, the help was accepted.

She was tired of being weak, tired of having to hide, and as much as she tried to silence that little voice that whispered in the recesses of her mind, she couldn't deny that she felt the desire to make those who tried and will try to hurt her bitterly regret it in the future.

Yes, killing them seemed like a good idea too.

Tamara raised her hands and placed them on the stone carved in the shape of a large heart: the surface appeared perfectly smooth, the detail with which it had been carved had something disturbing and to the touch it almost seemed as if the stone was warm.

“Let's proceed,” the voice said.

Something Tamara didn't know how to describe began to move from her palms to her body, climbing like red-hot tentacles of fire from the insides of her arms, up to her head, and down to her legs. She tried to scream, but only managed to open her mouth as that ancient fire was changing her into something else, as if it had found her soul – or souls, given the recent revelation – and forcing them to pass through some sort of wall that was doing everything it could to keep them out.

SYSTEM: Error 403, Forbidden. The user does not have valid permissions.

Tamara felt like she was literally being crushed against that invisible wall, it was only her souls that were experiencing that horrible experience, yet, she felt like her body was getting compressed below crushing pressures. She tried to take her hands off the stone, to no avail.

SYSTEM: E̷̺̠̚r̸͚̹̽͠r̶̟̎̊ṑ̶̹r̸̛̞̘̓ ̶̼̮̀4̴̱͚̆0̸̯͌͊3̶̨̦̓́,̶̩̃ ̸̖̈́̂F̴̡̬̌õ̶͙̱͘r̴̦̔b̷͚͠i̸̮͇̽͂d̷͈̄̓d̷̥̓̒e̵̙̤̋n̸̡͓̕.̷̝̘͂̀ ̷̙͖̈́T̵͙͂̀h̴̹̟͗̌ȩ̴͚̈́̉ ̸̪͛̉u̸͉͉͊̕s̵͎̣̊̊e̶̮̪̿r̶̙̐͘ ̶͍̀d̵͓̏̂o̴̰̮͗̃e̶̦̹̊s̴̱̆ ̸̞͑͝ň̶̢͠o̷̧̡͑̈t̴̢͍̐ ̶̮͌̍h̷̡̍a̷͎̯̐͊v̵̤͑̈́e̴͍̿ ̴̰̂̋v̸̗͊͒a̴̜͐l̸̺̀ͅi̸̯̗̕̚d̴̢͆͜ ̵͚̏p̵̗͌e̶̖̝͗͒r̷͈͝m̵͓͌̑i̸̼̦̒s̷̻͐s̸̨͚͆i̷̳̔͑o̸̤͋n̷̹̯̂s̷̡͊̊.̴͉̪̓̌

Stop! She screamed in her head, I can’t take any longer!

But the dungeon core did not stop, once again Tamara's spirit was crushed against that wall...

And finally, the wall gave way.

SYSTEM: F̷̡̰̀́e̵̖̯̿̅á̶̛͈͙ť̴͓ ̸̱̓̊ͅ[̵͚̓̚Ḋ̸̡ȅ̶͎̹v̸̳̐̀o̷̭̠͝u̴̩̟͌͘r̷̯̾ē̵̟r̸̟̈́]̴̳͎̅̕ ̷͔̉͂h̸͉̖͑́a̸̺̕s̵̰̼͊̌ ̶̣͓̅b̸̧̮͛͠e̶̟͗e̴͎̙̒ń̴̚͜ ̸̰͗a̵̦̿̾ḓ̶̛̈́d̵͎͌ẻ̶̹ͅd̵̟̃ ̶̦̓̀t̷̩̋͠o̶̙͠ ̴̥̟̍y̸̱͂͜o̷͇͚͑u̷̹̿̄r̸̗͊ ̶̹̮̾l̸̳̈́̐i̴͈͐́s̷͈̝͛̕t̵̙̍̆.̴̭́͜

“It is done,” said the entity, “I am tired, so tired…”

Tamara collapsed to her knees unable to say anything. The eyes, wide open, had become golden and vertical pupils like those of a snake or a cat have appeared. Her body trembled like a leaf, as if she had been destroyed both spiritually and physically and then reassembled under the relentless, painful but precise force of a creature beyond any human imagination.

What happened? She asked herself in the voice of her thoughts, still unable to process with her mouth what had just happened to her. More importantly, what is this burning sensation inside my soul? Why doesn't it vanish? It keeps on burning…

“St-sta,” she swallowed a few times, then coughed violently, “sta-status.”

Her character box appeared in front of her. Initially it seemed like everything was normal, until her attention fell on the Feat list.

___

► Devourer

When the user consumes the flesh of a living being, they also consume its spirit. The user triples the EXP score gained from killing said creature in the process.

___

That was... an excellent Feat, one that would have allowed her to reach heights of power that would otherwise have been unattainable, ok, using that Feat would have meant having to continue eating the flesh of the monsters she killed to be used, but that didn't make it a terrible Feat, especially considering how much she had suffered to obtain it.

When Tamara tried to stand up, dizziness made her fall backwards onto the floor of the core room; she groaned and brought her hands to her head, massaging it slowly. “Maybe I moved too fast.”

She then lay there for a minute or two, in which time she noticed how her salmadrer instinct had subsided, as if the danger had almost completely passed and that unconscious part of her had gone back into overwatch mode rather than red alert. This probably meant that the dungeon core had… shut down, this didn't stop her from trying to speak again though as she still had a question for it.

"Are you still there? May I ask if you happen to know how to untie a guardian spirit from its domain?”

Silence.

Tamara slowly got back to her feet, “please, I need to know, please… I promised my friend I would help her.”

“Ask the… Seething Forge… the Seething Forge can… help you…” The entity's voice sounded as if it had only temporarily awakened, perhaps that creature's waking moments were limited and it had only awakened by virtue of Tamara's particular nature?

“The Seething Forge? What is it?? Where can I find it?”

Unfortunately for her, this time she never received any response. Left alone with herself again, she could do nothing but approach the chest and open it to receive her reward, even if nothing of what she could have found inside that chest would have even managed to equalize [Devourer]: inside the chest there was a treasure in Leuns that she had no hope of taking away, a dress that resembled that of some Celtic druid which however did not seem to be the right size or shape for her and a ring, oversized too.

This obviously didn't mean she couldn't try wearing them, and so she did. The dress magically changed shape, adapting to her body as if it had been sewn especially for her, beyond this, Tamara did not feel any particular change in her and after a quick check of her statistics, she was able to confirm that the dress had not given any kind of benefit, not among those that could have appeared in her status box at least.

She rummaged inside the chest again, where she also found some potions that she didn't dare touch - since she had no idea what they contained and therefore she couldn't even drink them on the spot - so she returned to the ring... a brass, anonymous one, without any detail or particularity worthy of note.

“It's mine!” She said, turning the ring over in her hands, “my own… my preciousssss…”

She started to chuckle, it was obvious that this wasn't the One Ring, also because it would have been bizarre to find an object that in theory could have changed the fate of the world in some low level dungeon.

However, [Devourer] didn't seem like the kind of treasure one would find in low-level dungeons either...

…

Anyway, Tamara wore the ring - which, like the dress, adapted to the stubby fingers of her incomplete humanoid form - and waited, in search of some sensory feedback on the qualities of that object, but without perceiving any.

It seems like the chest contained nothing but Leuns and junk, she thought, sighing dejectedly, maybe it's best if I give it a try to see if at least the things I'm wearing will stay or if they'll fall around me once I'm in... full monster mode.

Tamara closed her eyes and interrupted the flow of Mana towards [Humanoid Form]: the humanoid body she had fought so hard to get began to shrink with an anguishing sound of bones breaking and recomposing without her feeling any pain. In less than a few seconds she had returned to her salamander-like form, her clothes and ring gone, as if they had been absorbed into her body. Tamara repeated the experiment in the reverse direction and the equipment she had been wearing reappeared.

Wait a minute… WAIT A MINUTE! Tamara thought, searching the druid dress she was wearing. She gave a little cry of enthusiasm when she realized that there was actually a pocket in which she could put some things, not much, but a handful of Leuns would easily fit in there. She returned to the chest and divided the golden Leuns from all the others, then collected them and put them in the pouch. Luchael will be so happy when I'll show these Leuns to him!

A few minutes later, Tamara walked towards the exit of the core room, she had received a bad news, but once the positives and negatives had been weighed up, that adventure had been decidedly positive.