NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 4: Sight
[You have devoured a frozen beast.]
[+3 HP]
[+2 Skill Points]
[+1 Mana]
[You have devoured a frozen plant.]
[+3 HP]
[+2 Skill Points]
[+1 Mana]
[….]
It took him one whole minute to devour like 5-6 frozen animals and plants… rest were too big for his current form. Apparently, he had to cover their whole body with his own to devour them.
‘There’s no plus sign in tier 1 of Ashborn, and still I don’t see any option to spend skill points to unlock tier 2… System, can’t you tell me the amount needed beforehand? I don’t like things being in dark.’
[The soul shard is a defective piece, you cannot unlock tier 2.]
‘… No way to open tier 2 then?’
[The only way is to find other shards or cores and devour them.]
‘Oh, interesting, so basically devour that man’s species?’
[Negative. There are two ways one can get an active core or shard: on birth like countless magical beasts or by Awakening. The man you devoured had awakened the Ashborn shard.]
‘I see, I see. Wait, so do they have control over what abilities they get?’
[Negative, having control over the abilities one gains is extremely rare.]
That meant that they’d randomly get abilities from the imprinted tiers. Kai could now see just how incredible his innate ability was, and how the system could make it easy for him to handle things.
‘Alright now I have 13 minutes… well, I should have 50+ mana now, so I can use the skill again… oh hey, system, is there a cool down to skills after their usage?’
[No. But it physically and mentally drains you to repeatedly use the same skill in succession.]
‘Gotcha.’
The ash devil ‘swam’ ahead then suddenly stopped and wanted to face palm himself.
‘Open the flare monkey skill tree.’
[Soul Core: Flare Monkey]
[Rank: Brown Star]
[Current Skill Points: 18]
[Acquired Skills:]
- Tier 1: Torch Tail, Heat Sense, Devouring Mark Movement
- Tier 2: Explosion Immunity, Fire Claw
- Tier 3: None
- Tier 4: None
[Locked Skills:]
- Tier 1: Tail Whip, Thermal Vision, +
- Tier 2: Blazing Shield, Fire Ball, +
- Tier 3: ??? (Conditions not met.)
- Tier 4: ??? (Conditions not met.)
Only tail whip, thermal vision were glowing green, indicating that he could unlock them. They required 5 skill points each. Kind of weird as higher ranked shards took less amount… maybe it was because of it being a core? That made sense.
Next, Kai asked for the amount needed to unlock the blazing shield and fireball.
[25 skill points each.]
‘Hmm, okay, I am close. Let’s devour more fuckers and then unlock one depending on the situation.’
The ash devil then moved around the wooden door, not touching it, but looking at some opening. His current form was of ash… so he should be able to get out of this room even if there was a small opening.
The ash devil looked up and concentrated.
‘There seems to be a tiny hole in the ceiling… Imagine this place as water and fly?’
The ash monster wiggled, a bit excited from the prospect of flying… who didn’t imagine themselves flying?
He imagined the place filled with water while looking up and used his imaginary feets again…
The experience was lackluster. He could see the destination getting closer, but there was no sense of ‘flying through the air’.
‘Eh… at least I am going up… but it’s too damn slow.’
The ash devil gradually floated up, but fell midway as his imagination went haywire. He tried again and again, and finally in the third try, having wasted 3 total minutes, he finally got to the tiny hole and easily entered through it.
He couldn’t see anything in the space he entered. So after reading the description of the thermal vision and confirming from the system that he could use it in his current form, Kai bought the skill.
[Thermal Vision]
[-2 Mana]
[Time Remaining: 00:29:58]
Through the thermal vision, the narrow space appeared in shades of red and blue. The walls were cold, casting dark blue outlines, while faint warmth radiated from tiny cracks and a few scattered insects struck on a web, glowing orange.
A spider, glowing a dim yellow, sat motionless on the ceiling. Its many eyes fixated on Kai, each blinking slowly as if confused, its body slightly trembling, unsure whether to see him as a threat or something to ignore.
The ash devil knew what to do. It immediately latched onto the spider, which struggled to break free—and easily succeeded. Its body of ash scattered, but Kai felt no pain as the ash quickly reformed. The spider scurried away, not willing to confront such a strange creature.
‘…’
Kai realized another limitation of his current form: he could only devour immobile creatures. With this in mind, the ash devil turned to the web, its body wiggling with anticipation at the sight of trapped prey.
[You have devoured a trapped insect.]
[+1 HP]
[You have devoured a trapped insect.]
[+1 HP]
[+1 Mana]
‘Each devour at least guarantees an increase in health, great. I got mana every second kill and skill point every third; I guess it’s because these fuckers are not nutritious enough.’
The ash devil moved happily along the ceiling, scaring away cowardly spiders and stealing their meals. Every skill point mattered. However, he soon noticed that the more he consumed the same type of insect, the less frequently he gained skill points. First, he got one every three bugs, then every four, then five.
'So, gaining skill points slows down if I keep devouring the same species? Looks like I'll need to explore the Celestial Expanse and hunt different creatures. Not a bad deal—I enjoy traveling and steady progress.'
He looked at the time left for his Ash Devil form.
[Time Remaining: 00:10:28]
‘I need to quickly get out of this small space, eating this much is enough.’
He moved a little further when he felt the ceiling vibrating from loud music. The closer he got to the room, the more intense the vibrations became, and he could soon hear the clearly bad lyrics:
“One, two, three, make yourself free.
Four, five, six, lift those weights and fix.
Seven, eight, nine, feel the burn and shine.
Ten, eleven, twelve, push your limits, excel.”
It was clear someone was working out in the room.
The ash devil finally spotted another opening—it was the training room. Though he had no intention of entering, his curiosity got the better of him. He entered a part of his body through, just enough to get a glimpse. Fortunately, his thermal vision adjusted quickly, so he didn't need to turn it off.
Inside, dark-colored mats covered the floor, and various workout machines were scattered about. But what caught his eye was the person working out.
An incredibly sexy elf...
Doing squats.