Shapeshifter

Chapter 12: Unlimited Skills

Xen felt relief seeing the human open their eyes. While in the heat of battle, he'd forgotten that in his wolf form, his Holy Smite skill originated from his mouth. Thankfully, since his magic stat was pathetically low as a wolf and the skill was only F-grade, all it did was knock out the human and briefly blind the wolves that had surrounded him.

Seizing the opportunity, he had dashed past the stunned wolves and ran deeper into the dungeon. He smashed any monsters he came across out of the way with his 25 strength, and few could catch up to him on the 1st floor of the dungeon due to his 33 agility.

Remembering the dungeon layout from when he had been a monster, Xen skillfully navigated the labyrinth of dark tunnels until he found a quiet area to set down the peacefully sleeping human bundled in charred clothes. A dumb wolf had come snarling out of the darkness, but Xen had ruthlessly ripped its head off with [Predatory Strike (E)].

Xen had been devouring the wolf for biomass when he heard the human awakening. Dismissing his half-eaten meal, he walked over to the human and demanded they teach him magic as promised.

"Thank you for saving me," the human winced as he bowed his head toward Xen and seemed to shudder. "B-but I can't teach you magic."

"You lied then?" Xen snarled.

Why had he trusted the words of a human? They were no different from monsters; no, they were far worse—Johnathan's memories had proved this phenomenon of how the surface dwellers were adept at deceit. At least monsters showed their intentions to eat you from the start instead of lying and killing you from behind, as Johnathan had done to Joe.

"Humans always lie," Xen arched his back as a primal growl brewed in his throat, "No matter, I will learn magic from your memories." His slime appendages snaked out of his throat and loosely hung between his teeth.

"I never agreed to teach you magic!" the human yelled as he shuffled backward against the wall. "You only asked if I was a mage, and I said yes! It was you who decided I would teach you before kidnapping me."

Xen tilted his head as he recalled the prior events. To his surprise, the human was telling the truth—he had been the one to decide this human would teach him magic. Letting out a disappointed grunt as he realized he had left behind all those corpses to save a worthless human. "Then you have no use to me," Xen said, stepping forward and clamping his mouth around the terrified human's head.

The human reached up and weakly grabbed his fur as if trying to pry apart his powerful jaw, which could easily crack skulls. A small whimper escaped the human, followed by a plea, "Monster, please wait. My name is Gerald."

"Why would I care about your name, human?" Xen asked as he tasted the blood and sweat of the human's head in his mouth. His slime tendrils curled around Geralds's ears and down his head, causing the human to tremble. I wonder what skill I will get from devouring him. Ooo, maybe I should switch to my human or elf form first in case we share similar skills and they merge into a stronger one.

"Monster, what is your name?" Gerald asked, his voice muffled from within Xen's jaws. "For a being so powerful and intelligent as yourself, you must possess a profound name."

Xen paused his devouring. How did this human have such keen insight?

"My name is Xen," he said with a hint of pride. Xen had given himself the name while still being a lowly level 1 slime. The human was right; it was a name befitting his superiority over the senseless dungeon mobs birthed from mana and sent to their deaths against the invaders. No other monster had a name. They were just called by their species, like Black Fur Wolf or Slime—forgettable walking sacks of biomass for him to devour.

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"An excellent name, so Xen, can we discuss this? Man to man... errr, I mean man to wolf? I promise I am not as tasty as you think." Gerald was wheezing out every word, and Xen could hear the human's pounding heartbeat.

Xen found it curious. This was the first time his food didn't fight until the bitter end, and instead wanted to 'talk it out.' A tactic he had tried with Sarah but had found himself decapitated as a result. Interested to see how this Gerald person planned to win his favor, Xen slowly unclamped his jaw and trotted backward.

"Thanks," Gerald said weakly, running his hands through his brown hair to remove the wet slime and drool mixture that had matted it.

"Human Gerald, speak," Xen softly growled, "If you can't teach me magic, what value do you have for me?"

"I can't teach you magic because it's not something that can be taught, well, not without some S-grade teaching skill, I suppose. But a salaryman like me wouldn't be sitting here in a beginner dungeon begging for his life if I had an S-grade skill; I would be enjoying the celebrity life and hanging out with other famous—sorry, I talk a lot when I get nervous."

Intrigued by Gerald's ranting, Xen brought up his status screen.

Wolf: Level: 4 (F)

+5 Strength, +3 Vitality, +7 Agility, +2 Resistance, +1 Magic per level

Free Skill Slots:

1. [Devour (S)]
2. [Multilingual (B)]
3. [Appraisal (C)]
4. [Mana Vision (D)]
5. [Shapeshift (E)]
6. [Holy Smite (F)]
7. EMPTY

I have an S-grade skill, Devour, which lets me consume others, steal their skills and memories, and absorb their biomass. Xen tilted his head in confusion. If I have an S-grade skill, why am I not famous or living this 'celebrity life.' Should I ask Gerald? No. Revealing that I have an S-grade skill might be a bad idea. They seem rare somehow.

Xen dismissed the system screen in his mind and turned to Gerald. "How can humans get an S-grade skill?"

Gerald seemed surprised by his question. "Luck is the only factor, really. As with almost everything in life," he grumbled toward the end.

"Luck?" Xen was even more confused.

"Yeah, luck with what class you get and your skillset." Gerald looked down at his trembling, bloodstained hands with a hint of despair. "When the system arrived twenty years ago, awakening a dormant energy that had been everpresent in the world, everyone was given a class all at once. I thought I was special when the system chose me—we all did. My dreams of escaping mediocrity came crashing down when I found out the skills and class I had been granted weren't all that amazing."

Gerald paused for breath as his dying body failed to keep up with his ranting.

"What are your skills?" Xen asked.

"Pretty standard stuff for a basic [Mage]," Gerald sighed as he ticked them off his fingers, "[Basic Mana Sight (F)], [Mana Shield (E)], [Fireball (E)] and [Magic Missile (D)]. The only skill I got that was out of the norm was [Buff of the Berserker (C)], which was the only reason a guild like the Iron Legion would let me in, saving me from the fate of having to organize raids through the online forums."

Gerald was raising a lot of questions for Xen. Even if he couldn't teach him magic, knowledge of the world beyond the dungeon was also helpful. It wouldn't be for a while, but eventually, he would have to leave this beginner dungeon as he would out-level the place.

"But can you believe it," Gerald began chuckling, "Out of my five abilities, I didn't get the most important one for a mage: [Mana Regeneration]. Without it, I am useless in any extended dungeon dives."

Xen didn't understand. "Why don't you learn the skill?"

Gerald looked at him bizarrely, "How? You are stuck with the five skills you awaken with for the most part. Sometimes, skill gems are found in high-ranking dungeons that can upgrade a person's existing skills, and occasionally, people go through second awakenings. But that's it. For the vast majority, you are stuck with the five skills the oh-so-benevolent system deemed you worthy of, and the only way to get stronger is through leveling up."

Xen managed to hide his surprise as he realized the power of his S-grade skill [Devour].

I alone can get unlimited skills?

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