The Insurrection of the Inept Hero
Chapter 113: Morphing

A week has passed since then. Over that period of time, my arm was slowly recovering after performing Grim Hydra Fist. I found out that when I performed Grim Hydra Fist, I had managed to manipulate some satanic energy out of anger. Though I'm not proud of it, I know that I can manipulate satanic energy even when I'm not in Altima.

However, I don't think it will be that easy to do it again. I only managed to do it out of rage.

Anyway, I was able to feel my arm again, but it wasn't fully healed yet, that is, the black skin I get when I do something beyond my current state. So I just wrapped it around in bandages. The wound on my face was already healed up when I got back.

Vozahlaas… I remember getting such a skill but I just don't remember. My memory was a little fuzzy, so I was unable to trace back when.

Hall claimed that this passive skill apparently makes him immortal. Since I have it, that would technically make me immortal.

Turns out that he was right but it has drawbacks. The first drawback is the skill won't be able to heal wounds caused by you, self-harm. So attempting suicide would result in… well death. The second drawback is that it does not protect your soul and lastly, it does not grant immunity to every attack. If I get my arm cut off, I will be able to feel the pain. However, this can be negated with the skill Pain Negation, which I still lack and I tend to keep it that way.

You may ask why I don't want Pain Negation, and that is because the more pain I receive, the stronger I become. Every hit I receive, my body registers that feeling and next time I get hit, my body builds resistance and also memorizes it so I can block it next time.

Ignoring the drawbacks, I am ageless and my regeneration is infinite. I can still die however and I believed I showed an example. Either they are killed through soul contact, or completely decimated from the face of the planet. So technically, I'm only semi-immortal.

Anyway, I had Celestia bring me to the same place where I had activated Grim Hydra Fist. I found out that I destroyed everything in a 5-mile radius; the mountains, the forest, it all dissolved into dust, leaving an empty wasteland devoid of life. That was the destructive power Grim Hydra Fist possessed.

If I remember, we were in the Auroral Glaciers… right? Well… it looks like along with Hall, I wiped out the entire area.

Even the climate changed… guess that's my fault.

We returned to Maroon after that.

Kainen was sitting in Celestia's office as he had another task for me, but we had to put that on pause due to my current condition. I showed Kainen my hand and that was a big mistake.

Suddenly, he wanted to perform research on it and experiments as well. I told him we can do that after I recover since it was just a human arm but demon-like.

Anyway, lately, I've been meeting with other adventurers. It wasn't my choice, it was Celestia's. I've been helping her a lot and she said she was beginning to feel lazy and that she needed to get back to work, so she basically took all the paperwork away from me and did it herself. While she did that, she suggested I talk with the other adventurers here.

Well, I'm not really a people person, but I know who to talk to, and who not to talk to.

The first person I spoke with was Hijiri. Yeah, that guy with the blindfold. We had a little talk about animals as we were both fond of foxes. I was fond of foxes because they were interesting creatures, and then my interest in them skyrocketed because of Kiyomi. I mean, she's a kitsune, a fox girl.

Anyway, I found him lingering around in the alley behind the guild. He was sitting down, playing with some dogs. It took me a few seconds to realize that those dogs weren't just any normal-looking dogs but demon dogs.

I stared at him as he continued to scratch their chins, then one of them noticed me and began growling.

Hijiri shifted his head towards me and smiled.

"Nero."

"Hijiri."

One of the dogs approached me and I extended my hand towards it. It sniffed my hand a few times before allowing me to pet it.

Demon dogs are hostile to humans, but they are friendly to demons, which was pretty obvious. That was a secret between me and Hijiri. Turns out, Hijiri is a half-demon. I don't know what his other half was since he never told me, and I think he wants to keep that a secret, which I will respect.

This first started when we encountered demon dogs. They were hostile with us but Hijiri just walked up to them like they were nothing. As I said, demon dogs are hostile to humans, so they'll attack them as soon as they see them.

Hijiri said that he's been raising these dogs in Maroon for a pretty long time and they only reside in this alley. He trained them so that they would only eat people with foul scents. Since they didn't attack me, Hijiri found out that I was a demon.

Well actually, when I first told Hijiri I was an artificial demon, he wasn't even shocked because he said, and I quote "I already knew from the beginning."

I don't know how, but he says he just knows, which kind of makes me paranoid, to be honest.

I don't know Hijiri's stats, but he knows mine. He's a complete mystery to me and I don't think I'll be able to dig any deeper unless he allows it.

Eventually, it got dark and we separated. Hijiri doesn't sleep so he just goes out on a night quest. I'm guessing it's something related to his physiology to being a half-demon, or it was just his other half. Either way, he's weird, so I just let him do whatever.

When he left, I went to the inn and checked up on the girls. They were all asleep, so I decided to head out for a bit. I had to test a little something.

I teleported to the beach where I had fought the Leviathans and dove into the ocean. Using Cursed White, I created a space so I didn't get wet.

I had managed to obtain the skill Morph from Hall when I decimated him. This was the effect of a long-forgotten skill called Grave Robber. Along with that I also got Transformation Soul which basically stores the soul of the beasts which I want to morph into.

The first creature I wanted to morph into was a Leviathan. That may sound like I'm pushing it too far but it's not like I'm going to fight a Monarch class again. If I do, it'll be harder to kill because... well it's dark. A Juvenile or a Prince is alright since they are pretty easy to kill.

Now then...

I created a ball of divine energy in my left hand before making it explode, shining light around me. The light had revealed two Leviathans surrounding me. They were both Prince classes.

I just need to kill one of them, but the second one can be a good addition to my Spirit Soul.

Now that I think about it, I should try and summon the Leviathans I have.

"Come out," I said, extending my left arm and four blue orbs flew out of my arm. They then transformed into four Prince class Leviathans.

My Leviathans circled me before paying attention to the other Leviathans. That's when they attacked them.

After they mauled the other two Prince class Leviathans to death, I approached their souls and claimed them, converting one into my Spirit Soul and the other into my Transformation Soul.

The Leviathans I summoned returned into my Spirit Soul and now it was time to test out my Leviathan transformation.

When I morph into a Leviathan, I will gain their physiology so I'll be able to breathe underwater. However, my movements will be labeled since their anatomy is different from a human's, which was pretty obvious.

Alright, time to test it out.

I forced my consciousness into my soul. As I arrived, there was large Leviathan swimming in the sea of satanic energy.

Hmm... sea creatures swim in the black sea, land creatures will wander around on the surface, and flying creatures will probably be flying in the air.

The Transformation Soul has a limit, unlike the Spirit Soul. The size of the Transformation Soul depends on how spacious your own soul is. Luckily, mine is endless.

I can have as many Transformations as I want, but having so much isn't going to make me powerful. It depends on what beast I have slain.

I killed a Leviathan, so I can morph into it.

The Leviathan swam towards me and my consciousness then returned to my original body or my Leviathan body.

I was now a Leviathan. My body was of a spiky whale. I could swim through the water with ease now considering I had a tail to help me. I also had better vision now, considering I have underwater senses now.

After a while of swimming around, I eventually reverted back to my original form and returned to the inn.

It seems my stamina gets consumed when I enter such a state. Well, it would make sense considering how big Leviathans are.

Now then... time to get some shut-eye...

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