Vortena
Page 30
“Yeah, same here…”
The remaining two stared with a mixture of amazement and morbid curiosity as a veritable storm of gnashing, ripping and slurping swept up every last corpse that Fizzy had brought. Only trace amounts of blood were left on the floor by the time the ex-mimic had finished.
[Proficiency level increased. Biomass is now Level 10. All Attributes +1.]
[Your hunger has been sated. Automatic HP and MP recovery will return to normal.]
“Boxxy?” Fizzy called out.
The small humanoid figure stopped licking the floor, stood and turned to face her. It looked like a slightly malnourished child around eight or nine years old. Although it had appeared to be shorter than Fizzy when it had erupted from the black goop, it had rapidly grown to about one hundred and thirty centimetres in height. Its skin was a wrinkled mass of grey flesh that seemed to undulate all on its own, with gangly, fragile-looking arms and legs. The feet had three short toes in front and a fourth poking out of the heel, almost like a bird’s, while the hands had only three fingers each. Then again, the number of digits was probably irrelevant considering that a shapeshifter could have as many of those as it wanted.
The head was perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the creature. It was a bit longer and wider towards the top when compared to a human’s, with a pointy chin that made it look like an upside-down pear. The gaunt cheeks combined with the shape of the jaw gave the lower half of its face a distinctly triangular shape – assuming that it could even really be called a face. There was no nose, mouth, ears, nor any other discernible features other than those circular yellow eyes, but even those seemed as though they’d been glued atop a perfectly smooth mask.
“What is it, Fizzy?”
A voice with no apparent source emanated from the creature, so quiet that it was almost a whisper.
“You, uh, missed a spot.”
The golem pointed to the severed boar leg that had been ejected from the corpse pile during the feeding frenzy, which landed several metres from the carnage. Boxxy looked at it and its eyes lit up. Its featureless face split open vertically, almost like a book, revealing an enormous maw lined with countless needle-like teeth. A long red tongue shot out and wrapped itself around the last morsel like a whip, dragging the last of the meat pile into the seemingly-bottomless pit of Boxxy’s stomach.
Some loud chewing and an audible swallow later, the monster let out a satisfied burp at the filling, if not precisely satisfying, meal.
“So, boss,” Kora said awkwardly, “I take it you’re a dopplegangster now?”
“Doppelganger,” it corrected her.
[Rank up complete.]
[Congratulations! Your species has become Doppelganger (Juvenile).]
[All Attributes +10.]
[Level up!]
[Congratulations, you are now a Level 1 Doppelganger! All Attributes +2.]
[The Doppelganger Job is now your Main Job.]
[The maximum Level of your Shapeshift Skill has increased to 15.]
[The maximum Level of your Biomass Skill has increased to 15.]
The series of notifications had been the first thing that Boxxy had perceived upon waking up, but it had put off dealing with them due to the overpowering hunger. The former mimic and current doppelganger had never, ever felt such ravenous starvation before. It would have liked to express its gratitude towards Fizzy for preparing its massive breakfast ahead of time, but it wasn’t sure how to go about it. She took pride in her appearance, so perhaps offering her a spit-shine was the way to go?
“You know, I honestly thought you’d gone for one of the slimes,” the fiend admitted. “It certainly looked like it with all that gunk stuck to you.”
“Idiot,” Boxxy reprimanded her. “I already told you that that would ruin my plans.”
Number one priority on the monster’s to-do list was to integrate itself into enlightened society, which it wouldn’t be able to do unless it could mask its appearance. It was questionable whether a queen slime’s gelatinous body could be molded to appear like skin, and the possibility of losing its Mend Flesh was too big a risk to take. It had gone with the safest route and picked the option that looked to specialise in sculpting its own flesh. Granted, it had been an educated guess and something of a shot in the dark, but in the end, everything had worked out splendidly.
Unfortunately, while Boxxy had indubitably become exactly what it had wanted to, it was already feeling nostalgic for its old body for a number of immediately apparent reasons.
“How come you’re so tiny, though?” Kora asked, pointing out the most glaring problem.
“Because this body is still young,” Boxxy replied calmly. “I have to grow into it.”
“So, uh… what exactly did you do with all that damn meat? There must’ve been, like, ten tons of it!”
A gross exaggeration on the fiend’s part, but her curiosity was nevertheless perfectly valid.
“It’s all right here,” the shapeshifter replied, patting its chest.
“You packed all of that away inside that tiny body?”
“Yes.”
“How?!”
“Because I’m a doppelganger.”
“… Don’t take this the wrong way, boss, but your anatomy is making less sense by the day.”
Yet, as ridiculous as it seemed at first, in the grand scheme of things Boxxy’s answer was perfectly sensible.
[Doppelganger (Species)]
Extremely versatile and nearly extinct, doppelgangers are a breed of shapeshifting monsters that prefer humanoid shapes. Their flesh is incredibly dense when compared to that of most other creatures, allowing them to gain body mass several times heavier than their slender frames would suggest. This concentrated muscle and tissue can be expanded to adopt a shape much larger than the original, allowing them to easily pass as any member of another human-sized species. Their weak point is the spine, which holds their brain tissue, and, while flexible, remains the only part of them that cannot be shapeshifted.
Doppelgangers cannot breed amongst themselves and reproduce by hijacking the pregnancy of a female mammal, usually of an enlightened species. This is typically accomplished by masquerading as the female’s mate and infecting the unborn foetus with its parasitic larva. By the time the infant is born, it will have bonded with the larva to such a degree as to make removal impossible without killing the host. The child is unaware of the parasite’s presence, which will gradually replace the host’s body with its own over the next four to six years until nothing of the original is left.
Doppelgangers come in two main variants – Juvenile and Adult. Their natural strength, agility and shapeshifting prowess increase significantly as their bodies mature, though the flexible nature of their flesh makes them susceptible to unexpected mutation. Doppelgangers also possess above-average psychic potential, with all fully-fledged adults having access to some form of telekinesis.
That was the short essay Boxxy would have seen had it bothered to inspect its newly acquired species’ Status screen. It didn’t need to, though. The necessary knowledge of its new body had been bestowed upon it during the Rank Up process. Unlike Fizzy, who had become a monster due to a curse augmented by a Hero Skill, the shapeshifter had literally been reborn as a doppelganger. Its body already felt utterly its own, with none of the bizarre difficulties that the golem had faced. Valeria may have had a similar experience to the Paladin’s, though, considering that her transition from banshee to lich had been accomplished through similar means.
Speaking of…
“Hmm? Where’s Nasty?”
“She tried to betray you, so we broke her stupid egg and killed her,” Kora reported. “Or did we ‘re-kill’ her? Un-undead her? Yeah, we un-undeaded her.”
“I see. That’s too bad.”
“What, really?!” Fizzy was aghast. “You actually feel sorry for that contemptible whore?!”
“No. I just wanted to keep the shiny egg.”
“Oh.”
�
��Anything left of it?” Boxxy asked hopefully.
“No. The fragments were consecrated and burned to ash. Snack wanted to be extra careful, and I agreed, so we made sure to annihilate it as thoroughly as possible.”
“Arms, is this true?”
“Yeah, it is. Bubble-butt’s the one that told us to smash it in the first place.”
“I see. Can’t be helped then. Oh, that’s right!”
Boxxy had just realised: it had eaten Xera during its earlier feeding frenzy. While decaying flesh could still provide it with nutrients, it tasted horrible, so it had almost unthinkingly added a tasty Snack to its meal. Just to spice things up a bit, just as the fiend had guessed earlier. She hadn’t been as much as help as Boxxy would have liked, but it had still been better than nothing. Regardless, that was over now, so it proceeded to re-summon the succubus, who greeted the creature enthusiastically the moment she appeared.
“Congratulations on your Rank Up, Master,” she said, her smile wide and blissful.
Her beloved master was alive and healthy and she had gotten to enjoy servicing it in her capacity as a Snack. Therefore, she really had no complaints about the situation. Well, except one.
“Excuse me, Master, but are you well?”
“I am. Why?”
“Because you’re curled up on the floor…”
“Yeah,” Fizzy chimed in. “You remind me of my old, worthless self when you do that.”
“… I miss being a chest,” Boxxy admitted.
This was the real problem with its new species. The former mimic felt vulnerable and exposed now that its faux-wood shell was gone. Just because this was its own body didn’t automatically mean that it felt entirely comfortable in it. While it was now a completely different species, the four months and 50 Levels of its Mimic Job were still influencing its behaviour a good deal. Its desire to eat tasty things and hoard shinies hadn’t changed in the slightest, nor had the instincts telling it to hide patiently in the corner and wait for lunch to come to it.
In short, on every level except the physical, Boxxy still felt like a sentient treasure chest.
“But… you’re this master shapeshifter or something now, right?” Fizzy inquired.
“Yes.”
“So… can’t you like, I don’t know, become a chest if you wanted to?”
“… Ah!”
Of course, why hadn’t it thought of that sooner! It grew a thick slab of flesh from its back, which wrapped itself around the misshapen-headed child. It rapidly expanded, becoming an arch-lidded rectangle, and within seconds the Mimic’s original chesty visage had returned to its former glory. It hurriedly grew a new MLG, placing in the exact same spot the old had been, then opened its lid to reveal numerous dagger-like teeth and a long, fleshy tongue, ready to devour unwitting adventurers on the spot. Boxxy even sprouted the same set of eight spider legs and single cat-like eye at its front that it had grown accustomed to.
“Much better!”
The relief in its voice, which had reverted to its previous monstrous timbre, was unmistakable. If there was one thing in the world that Boxxy T. Morningwood could be said to love, it was being a large chest.
“A shame,” muttered Xera. “I thought Master’s childish form was adorable. Then again, being devoured by a grey-skinned child doesn’t have quite the same visceral impact as being ripped limb from limb by its massive teeth. Ah, but if only that part was eaten then maybe-”
Fizzy stared, wide-eyed, as the succubus kept mumbling about how much she was looking forward to being devoured in new, exciting ways.
“She really is fucked in the head, isn’t she?” she whispered to Kora.
It wasn’t as though the past week hadn’t left her well aware of the succubus’s perversions, but she’d had no idea just how deep the rotten rabbit hole went. It had gone way beyond a simple hobby at this point.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” the fiend answered. “I mean, I’d tell you to watch out so you don’t become a hopeless pervert like her, but it’s probably too late for that.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Fizzy.”
“Yes, Boxxy, what is it?”
The golem’s misgivings were forgotten instantly when she realised that Boxxy had come up next to her.
“You’re not shiny. Why is that?”
“Oh, right. About that…”
Her previously spotless steel frame was covered in dried blood and bile from all the monsters she had been killing, and her clothes hadn’t fared much better. The splatter was particularly gruesome on her shield-bearing side since she may have used Armoured Charge a bit too much. And how could she have known that deer would squirt so much blood at once? Then again, smashing their heads against the ground like rotten tomatoes had probably been unnecessary.
“I’ve been so busy hunting that I didn’t have the chance to wash off all the blood in between kills,” Fizzy explained sheepishly. “Next thing I knew I was completely covered in crusty stuff, but I didn’t have anything on hand to clean it off.”
“Shall I clean you as payback for the meal?”
“You can do that?! I mean, yes, please!”
The Mimic – or rather, the doppelganger pretending to be a mimic – opened its maw and coiled its tongue around the golem. She didn’t even have time to gasp before she was dragged into its mouth, despite her disproportionately heavy weight. The ease with which it manhandled the gnome-sized lump of steel spoke volumes to the capability of its new extra-dense muscles. Boxxy proceeded to roll Fizzy around inside its mouth for roughly thirty seconds, then opened its maw and placed her gently back on the ground.
The golem’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at her drool-covered palms, barely able to process what she had just experienced. Boxxy had caressed every nook and cranny of her body with dozens of tiny tongue-tentacles, scrubbing places and gaps that even she hadn’t been aware of. It had slobbered all over her fingers, inside her mouth, around her entirely decorative genitals and even between her butt cheeks. Not a single spot of her body had been left untouched.
And yet, she didn’t feel disgusted, violated or even appalled by the borderline-obscene act.
“Ohhh! I’m practically sparkling!”
She felt ecstatic.
“I look better than I did the day I was born! You even managed to scrub most of the blood out of my outfit! Thanks a bunch, Boxxy! I really needed that!”
“You’re welcome,” the monster replied in good humor.
Though rewarding Fizzy for her service had been the shapeshifter’s primary motivation, it had also wanted to see just how brightly it could make her steel frame shine. The results were still a bit lackluster, but her spotless skin was still reflective enough to be shiny in its own right. Besides, the dried filth on her body had turned out to be surprisingly tasty, so it had enjoyed the act quite a bit more than it had expected to.
“I rest my case.”
Kora couldn’t help but mumble to herself in exasperation. How was it that she, a literal demon rapist, was somehow the least sexually deviant of Boxxy’s minions?
“So, what now, Master?” Xera asked, once she had recovered from her fantasies.
“Now, we head north,” Boxxy answered. “We still have to complete Operation: TASTYCOCK.”
[General Information]
Boxxy T. Morningwood
Doppelganger (Juvenile), 5 months old
Level 1.00 Doppelganger
Level 50.00 Mimic (MAX)
Level 25.00 Warlock (MAX)
Level 12.88 Artificer
2401/2401 HP (+8.4/sec)
1715/1715 MP (+2.6/sec)
[Attributes]
STR 266, DEX 305, AGI 284, END 427, INT 343, WIS 267, LCK 142, MNT 211, CHR 121, PER 114
[Mimic Skills]
Assassination – Lvl 9.64
Storage – Lvl 9.41
Cadaver Absorption – Lvl 7.55
Biomass – Lvl 10.08
Natural Armor –
Lvl 10.00 (MAX)
Metal Mimicry – Lvl 8.23
Mend Flesh – Lvl 7.64
Adaptive Defense – Lvl 3.31
[Absorbed Skills]
Acid Spray – Lvl 9.45
[Warlock Skills]
Summon Familiar – Lvl 9.72
Power Overwhelming – Lvl 8.46
Demonology – Lvl 6.38
Crystallise Magic – Lvl 7.28
[Artificer Skills]
Clockwork Expertise – Lvl 4.04
Explosives Handling – Lvl 2.10
[Hero Skills]
Chaotic Disposition – Lvl 1.00 (MAX)
Agent of Chaos – Lvl 1.00 (MAX)
Essence Concealment – Lvl 1.00 (MAX)
[Other Skills]
Shapeshift – Lvl 10.18
Stealth – Lvl 10.00 (MAX)
Lockpick – Lvl 1.25
Sword Mastery – Lvl 7.53
Projectile Mastery – Lvl 7.21
Dagger Mastery – Lvl 10.00 (MAX)
Ruin Mastery – Lvl 9.42
Domination Mastery – Lvl 6.88
Shield Mastery – Lvl 6.51
Interlude
A Neighborly Chat
The Aether. A plane of reality that existed alongside the mortal world, although not exactly parallel to it. ‘Perpendicular’ would probably be closest if it were necessary to use a geometric relation. The Aether was the home of the gods and goddesses which presided over the physical realm of Terrania. However, rather than a single space housing every divine being in existence, it was actually closer to a collection of small worlds. Each deity had their own Divine Area, their own pocket of reality over which they had absolute authority. It would be more accurate to describe the Aether as a ‘divine neighbourhood’ rather than ‘the realm of the gods.’
It was one such Divine Area that belonged to the God of Chaos. The seemingly-infinite white space was currently occupied by two large objects of note. A large red sofa upon which the god himself was seated, and a gigantic wooden frame which floated in mid-air before the comfortably-cushioned couch. The frame relayed images and audio of one Boxxy T. Morningwood as the God of Chaos watched avidly, a box of popcorn in hand.