By understanding the remnants of the soul of your crotch, you have found common ground and unlocked this ability.
Shit! I knew I shouldn't have played all those monster-girl games! I don't want it!
This was going to be like puberty all over again. Why the hell is this an ability and not a skill? This was learned, right? Did Perverted Guy just have his abnormal tastes from birth or something?
I thought of cutting it off and immediately winced. There's no way. This may not be my original body, but no man would do that. It's basically as important as life itself. I could always swap it out later, I supposed. Damnit!
"Fairy, I know you won't come out unless I have a skill or ability question, but I sure as hell have one!"
The fairy crawled out from the side of my view laughing so hard she couldn't stand. She just rolled toward me, clutching her stomach with green tears streaming from her face while she laughed unapologetically.
"Damnit, Fairy, the hell is this shit?"
She just paused for a second and stood up, trying to make a straight face, then fell back down in another fit of laughter before disappearing.
"Great, really helpful there."
This was pointless. I stared at Bob for a minute, and my crotch gradually returned to normal.
Ah, good old Bob. He was quickly becoming my only friend in this world.
The fairy reappeared, wiping tears from her eyes.
"I think it's a sure bet that Perverted Guy probably had some satyr ancestry, as this is one of their traits. Hell, they practically get hard as a greeting, and you don't even want to know about the handshake. But, you know, satyrs do have some powerful legs, though usually they are goat-like. Perverted Guy's legs are great! Human in shape, and he seems to have gotten all the positive traits with only one negative right between them. I knew this earlier when I helped you with Blend, but I kept quiet about it... and it was totally worth it!" The fairy started cackling again and disappeared in a puff of green, screaming souls.
I felt like the victim of a bad practical joke. Damn you, Fairy, and damn you again, Dipshit!
I took several deep breaths. I am still in control. I am still me. I just have to not think about sex or being controlled or controlling others and I will be fine. I wondered if this world had a therapist. I think I need one.
I focused and covered goblin one's nethers with her loincloth.
All right! Lets see what Soul Steal is all about.
I focused on the skill, activating it. My hands burst into green flames as the world lost all color except dark green. I heard a loud screaming right behind me.
"Oh, God, make it stop! This hurts! I'm on fire! Fire! Oh, God!"
I turned around with a start.
It was Bob. I walked up to him as he wailed incoherently and saw a screaming soul flaming in front of his emaciated face. I reached out and took it. The green light in the room stopped, yet I could still see.
Ability Discovered: Night Sight
That was fairly obvious. I waved the notification away. Now that I knew the fairy controlled them, they were meaningless. She could basically write whatever she wanted, true or not.
I didn't think I could take bound souls.
"Fairy, why was I able to take Bob's soul?" I asked.
The fairy appeared with a mischievous grin. "Bob was bound by Dipshit, and when you killed Dipshit, you freed him from his binding, so he's been aware of everything for a while now. He's basically just been burning there in agony since then."
Oh, wow. Poor Bob. At least it's over now though. My soul gauge was now at one.
I looked behind me at the goblins. Goblin two's soul was hovering over his head and nervously looking around. Goblin one's soul was in two pieces. One smaller piece was hovering over her body, while the bigger piece was over her head also just looking around.
I walked over, almost slipping on something. I looked down. Oh, yeah, Dipshit's brains. I saw several fragments of souls there, and I stooped and scooped them all up before reaching out and taking the goblins’ souls.
My soul gauge now read 4.
I walked down the passage to the parts pile.
It looked like these had already been picked clean, probably by Dipshit.
I took the remaining fragments of soul from Dipshit's remains.
Quest completed: Get souls!
Rewards: The book’s continued approval and the unlocking of tutorial number two.
I mentally opened my inventory. I clicked on the Souls tab.
I saw four entrees.
Soul of a crazed warlock: Wholeness 31%
Soul of a bitter goblin: Wholeness 100%
Soul of a lusty goblin: Wholeness 100%
Soul of a novice necromancer: Wholeness 77%
The fairy walked up beside the displayed souls, now in black and white. She was wearing a beanie propeller hat like something from a ‘50s comic or one of those old projector educational videos I had seen in elementary school.
The fairy looked depressed and kicked the non-existent dirt around. I heard a deep warm voice — something like Captain Kangaroo. God, I'm old.
The disembodied voice said, "What's wrong, little Timmy?."
The fairy stopped and looked towards me as if I were a camera and said, "Well, gee willikers, mister. I went through all the trouble to get all these souls, but now I don't know what to do with 'em."
The voice responded while an old, upbeat musical score played. "Well, Timmy, souls are a personal thing. As you get older, you may find your soul gauge growing in number and size, but the important thing isn't how large it is — it's all in how you use it."
The fairy looked up. "But how do I use it, mister?"
“Go ahead and open your inventory, you see your souls there?"
"I sure do, mister. What's all this wholeness business about?" Little Timmy said, pointing at the souls.
"Well, that, little Timmy, is the percentage of the soul you were able to retrieve. You see, different souls may be exhausted by use from, say, your friendly neighborhood necromancer turning them into a lamp, or by not being able to find all those pesky little soul-fragments — for instance, if you had splattered their brains everywhere and used their skin to fill in the gaps on yourself,” the voice said kindly.
"Boy, did I! Now what do I do?" Timmy asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, Timmy. Just right-click on that pesky necromancer soul, and we'll see our current options.” the voice said reassuringly.
I followed along and mentally right-clicked on Dipshit's soul.
I saw three options.
Disassemble: this option breaks apart the soul, allowing you to pick and choose what to take.
Absorb: This option takes in all of a soul, adding its memories and skills to yourself. Warning! May lose sense of self.
Talk: Allows you to talk to a soul.
Absorb was grayed out.
Talk was grayed out.
I gladly clicked on Disassemble. Screw that guy!
The soul split apart into several different categories.
Skills: Noteworthy skills learned over a lifetime.
Magic: Magic learned over a lifetime.
Memories: Their memories.
Personality: Their outlook and reactions.
"Now go ahead and click on Skills, Timmy, and let's see what we can learn.” the voice instructed confidently.
I clicked on Skills.
You have learned Tailor level 3.
You have learned Cooking level 1.
You have learned Grave-Robbing level 2.
You have learned Ancient Languages Translation level 2.
Wow, tailor, huh? I guess that's useful.
"Now click on magic! I bet there are all kinds of useful things there."
I clicked on magic.
Soul Steal Add-On: Multiple copies of a single spell will be added to the total level based upon experience.
You have learned Convert to Mana: Souls or soul fragments in your inventory can be
directly converted to mana.
You have learned Channel Soul: This allows you to summon a soul from another plane of existence directly into a soul prison. Power of soul and dimension of transfer are random, unless calling upon a specific plane. Note: Soul Infusion allows you to bypass the use of a soul prison.
You have learned Bind Soul: This allows you to erase all memories of a soul, anchoring it to this plane and binding it to your will. Requires long chant time. The stronger the soul the longer the chant time and higher the mana consumption.
Combine Souls: This allows you to combine souls or soul fragments into one soul. Note: This function is already covered by Soul Infusion and will instead add to the total level of Soul Infusion based upon experience.
Due to the nature of your core, all soul spells are added to skills, as they cost you no mana.
Soul Steal Level 2!
Soul Infusion Level 2!
I waved away the notifications.
I had zero desire to gain Dipshit's memories or personality, as those might effect my sense of identity.
"Oh, wow! Mister, I've learned so much from just that one soul!" Little Timmy said.
"Great job, Little Timmy. From here on out, you should try out all the different options and combinations."
A box displayed: Tutorial 2 now complete.
The fairy disappeared again, her pinwheeled avatar giving the thumbs up as she faded in a puff of green souls.
I looked vacantly at my Souls screen. Well, okay then. I had no words for that.
Soul of a crazed warlock: Wholeness 31%
Soul of a bitter goblin: Wholeness 100%
Soul of a lusty goblin: Wholeness 100%
Soul of a novice necromancer: Wholeness 77%
I decided I wanted to speak to Bob.
I right-clicked on Soul of a crazed warlock and clicked Talk. Bob appeared screaming but gradually stopped.
"Oh, I'm not on fire now. Hello there, boss!" the flaming soul-puff said with a smile, appearing much like the fairy did, in a 2D form.
"Hello there, Bob!" I said with some enthusiasm.
The soul frowned. "I know not this Bob. I mainly remember being on fire. But since I don't remember my name anymore, I will accept that name with gratitude! I saw what you did to the one you have been calling Dipshit. He deserved it! Because of that, I shall call you Boss!"
"Bob!"
"Boss!"
"Bob!"
"Boss!"
"Bob! You may not realize it, but you have been my only real friend here! Do you have any requests?" I asked in earnest. I would do what I could for this poor, abused soul.
"Boss, please take my magic! My skills were probably laughable, but I think I had magic. Other than that, I have a request I dare not ask of one I owe so much. I wanted the necromancer dead, which you did in a spectacular way. However, my other request is much harder to say."
It was strange that he was speaking English. I felt swept away in Bob's gratitude. He really seemed like a good guy. I also wondered how it was possible that Bob knew about splitting souls and taking skills or magic. Could it be that when I use Soul Steal I actually absorb all of the soul? The book of souls must act as a filter, keeping parts for itself and only letting through what it wants. I figured I wasn't actually speaking to the soul, but rather what the book had put together out of its memories.
"What do you need, Bob? If it's something I can do, I will help you however I can." I said.
"Okay, Boss, just don't think too poorly of me. I always dreamed of killing that bastard myself! My request is that after you take my magic you infuse me into a humanoid flesh construct. Then infuse Dispshit into another one and let me kill him a few hundred times. Then, I will be your humble servant until you see fit to consume me. I won't care after that. I spent years just burning on this wall! Oh — and make him female, as well," the soul said that last part in a sinister tone.
Yes, Bob was indeed a little messed up. But so was I. The elder-god part of me seemed to crave some additional suffering. It wanted to see more of human nature — see it at its worst as if to confirm its resolution.
I thought about it a bit. How could I grant Bob's request? Well, I had seen the words “flesh construct” many times now. I considered that making one was basically the same as making another flesh golem. That was not an amount of time I was willing to spend — but maybe if I made tiny flesh constructs this wouldn't take too long.
I decided then that my internal sense of justice just could not forgive the fact that Bob had spent years burning just to provide a source of light. I knew Bob was due his revenge, no matter how twisted his request.
I decided to make two action figure-sized flesh constructs.
I dragged the two goblin bodies over to the flesh pile. I initiated Fleshcrafting. The design mode automatically initiated. The first figure I would make female, roughly four inches. I made it female lacking any sort of muscle tone, mostly skin and bone I gave it a fair head of hair and a good-sized set of breasts. It wasn't exactly pretty, however, as I didn't invest a lot of time.
The second figure I made mostly of muscle. I gave it all the correct parts for a male.
I selected the female figure and dragged Dipshit's soul onto it. The figure's face lit up in absolute terror. It immediately began to chant again.
I felt a very slight pulling on my soul. I was reminded of the rage I had felt before. I picked it up in my hand and snapped its neck with my thumb.
How dare he still try to control me. To him now I was a god.
I used Fleshcrafting again, removed the vocal cords and fixed the damage. I infused the soul once more. The female figure tried to speak before attempting to flee.
I grabbed it, holding it in place.
I dragged Bob's soul over the male figure, infusing his memories and personality.
Bob's figurine smiled up at me and gave a strangely graceful bow.
I released the female figure.
I dare not say what happened next. I had to fight the urge to vomit. I had to infuse Dipshit's soul and Fleshcraft the female body back together at least half a dozen times before Bob finally gave me a happy smile and thanked me once more in an excited little voice.
I nodded and snapped both their necks.
I then stole both souls. Wow. Bob had done things I would not have even conceived of.
I sat there for a minute, holding the two small lifeless flesh constructs. I realized that, in a way, I had created a new life form. Two things that didn't exist in this world were just created and destroyed by me.
Suddenly I grew suspicious. I wondered just how much of my power was being withheld from me by the book. I wondered if my memories had been altered. I felt a tinge of anger rise in me from the elder-god. It's odd, but it felt familiar. Perhaps it was always a part of me. I wondered if the book was tricking me into feeding it more souls. Maybe it was doing all it could to manipulate me but stopped short of anything direct in fear that the elder god would crush it.
I would have to play along for now, as I was new in this world and knew nothing. I would need to find out more on the book before figuring out how to act, but my instincts were screaming that something wasn't right.
I sat there quietly in the dark. I felt lonely. I knew now that I was vulnerable here. I imagined that without the calming effect I may have freaked out back there, and the goblins may well have killed me.
I put the two figures on the ground. The fairy had informed me that magic does not work as a set structure in this world, meaning that I didn't need to think inside of the box.
I grabbed a partial skull from the nearby parts pile. I activated Fleshcrafting and thought of creating a shell of bone around my core. I felt it take form. I compressed the bone in as close as I could get.
Finally I felt a little less vulnerable. I looked down at myself. The goblins had known that I wasn't human. I wondered briefly why I was so attached to looking human if it meant I was sacrificing some of my survival potential in comba
t situations. I thought about a compromise. It was time to refine myself a bit and smooth out some of the rough edges.
I extracted the goblins; ulnas and radii from both arms. I merged them, converting them into two sharp, curved spikes. I compressed them both down, hardening them. I refined the points to a needle sharpness. I pulled a few of the goblin teeth and coated the tips of the spikes with enamel. They ended up being around a foot long. I inserted them into my forearms on top, matching the curve of my muscle. I attached tendons to allow them to burst forward in a swift motion through the skin of my wrist. I then added tendons to allow me to pull them back in. I felt a little more badass now. At least with this I would never be completely without a weapon.
Now onto my not-human-enough problem.
I focused on my skin tone. I changed it to a more natural flesh tone, though it was still a pale gray. I blunted my eight front teeth, keeping my canines the way they were. You never know when you may have to bite something, and honestly I thought they were awesome. I focused on my eyes. I knew that I didn't want to lose my night sight. I focused on changing them to a more natural dark grey color. I made them look as human as possible without sacrificing any function. I focused on condensing all the bone and muscle in my body in on itself, putting me at around 6'3" and giving me better defense, stronger muscle, and a more normal height.
I pulled the spaghetti-armed goblin corpse closer.
I tested my bone spike on its skull. It shot right through, hitting the stone ground beneath and giving me an unpleasant jarring sensation. Something like biting down on a rock. I pulled my arm back and looked at the spike. It was undamaged. Yes, these would definitely work. I pulled the spike back into my arm and focused on healing the wound where it came out.
A Flesh Golem's Ascension Page 5
