Chapter 196 - Another Day, Another Deal
"Never seen anything like this, looks nothing like a hive, can Master explain how it works?"
"It's a complicated thing, devour it and you'll know"
Not needing to be told twice the parasite, taking the form of a human now, devoured the triangular hive in one whole gulp
Within ten minutes only it digested most if it, understanding the basic structure and use of the half creature half inanimate object
"If your done eat up these boxes too"
"All of them?"
"Yes, I've no other use for these things, none that I would like to try anyway"
There was that dead tree that could perhaps make use of them but he didn't want to give it this particular parasitic ability, there was no knowing what the rotting wood would do once it got its branches on it
"Alright"
Quickly before he changed his mind the parasite ate one box after the other, speeding through all thirty of them without any visual change in its belly
Knowing that the more it ate the better it could decipher a creature's body structure YuJu gave it the time it needed, which surprisingly stretched from the few hours he expected to an entirety of two days, during which the human form of the parasite changed into the disturbing blob it would become upon transitioning between phases
After the knowledge consumption phase finally ended the parasite had transformed into a pyramid itself, one with a single hole in it
Crouching down YuJu brought his face closer to take a peek into its insides
"Poo!"
Out came a crawling four legged....well, whatever it was it had had four legs and a mouth? Trying to spook him with its appearance
"What's this?"
"A spawn from the new skill I have acquired, instead of getting a new form I have ranked up my Skin Walk skill altogether, Puppet Shrine is its unique rank up"
"Does that mean you lost your precious skill?"
That's anything but good news, without the Skin Walk all his plans would go to waste, it was one of the reasons he even chose to recruit this creature into his fold, that and its immense capability of evolution
"Yes, but no, since Puppet Shrine allows me to costume make the parasitic creature I want to spawn as long as I have the prerequisites of its knowledge and genes, so using Skin Walk would be of no issue"
"Hmm"
That was a very interesting skill, so interesting he had to scroll through the parasite's skills to check for himself
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Multi-Mutation: As a BioBeast you are more prone to mutations than normal
Blessed Feast: Food yields more chances of affecting the devourer
Apex Inheritance: Predators only acquire the strongest traits
DeadLeech: Remain in a state of death inside an unsuspecting creature, dormant until full revival [If Host dies, parasite dies]
Unbridled Blood: Consume. Spread. Overtake (Intermediate-Low)
Puppet Shrine: A Nest you become, from which any parasite can be spawned
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"Another uninformative description, you racking up on those type of skills now huh"
"? Master is there any skill of mine that isn't understood?"
"Yes, the only other skill that doesn't come from your classes, Unbridled Blood"
"Ohh, thats just a skill almost exclusive to the race my parent cohabitated before the world merged into this infinite land, they were a bunch of metalloid creatures whose blood proved to be extremely aggressive and consuming, in fact even when the race died out due to all the wars they waged after coming here their remains terrorized any other race they attacked for it continued to attack any organism on its own"
"I see, so you've gained this skill due to the way your branch race functions"
"Yes, we Faceless Devourers can gain skills and abilities of other races if we nest long enough in their society, and my parent nested a lifetime with them, long enough so that it was passed down to me and my sibling when we were born"
That was a nice way of putting it when in reality their 'nesting' was more like eating a hefty portion of the race over prolonged periods at the same time they pretended to be one of them and learned everything needed to truly become a member of the race
"Hold up"
YuJu griped the insect and held it up with narrowed eyes
"You have a sibling? Is it on earth as well?"
"Oh, I forgot to mention it, but Master must excuse me as I had not seen it for three years after our parent's demise, we just went our separate ways when the shackles holding us to it were freed"
YuJu didn't sense any lies from the tiny thing so he let it down
The weird parasite it took form of crawled back into the nest to transform to a Scitoc and accompany him, YuJu however had other plans
"Is that metalloid race of yours big?"
"Yes, twice as large as humans, they can go up to four times the size even"
"Then stay in your current form, il take you somewhere to try my hand at a new trick"
Knowing better than to ask it entered the nest which he picked and exited the mansion with stealth covering the both of them
The path taken was neither down nor up the floors, instead, it was toward one of the walls he once guided Elis to by the hand, unlike that time however he only required a few seconds to be granted entrance into the dark tunnels, as it was already unlocked
Making way through the darkness he came out onto the eighth floor, hurriedly heading toward Belinda's residence as soon as he stepped onto Genus Insania's turf
Once he was there he undid the stealth, which made the door open soon after which he was guided toward the large bloody bath
He opened the secret passage into Belinda's abode, and without taking his clothes marched inside
"Here so early after a harsh battle? Would you be in need of undoing some stress~"
Soon as she saw him, arriving alone, Belinda came down to greet very enthusiastically, as if the fallout from last time did not occur
"Let me drop this thing at your redroom before we have a chat"
She looked at the punctured pyramid he held, feeling it to be familiar for some reason, as she couldn't recall at the moment she merely nodded and allowed him to store it in that place before the two were back in her little cave
"So, what would you like to chat about, coming all alone here, are you unafraid of me taking liberty"
While wrapping herself around him she asked seductively, without that woman near she felt some action could go down between the two of them
Unexpectedly he grabbed her chin, drawing it nearer to his face, and answered with a devilish grin
"Try me"
Their face was too close all of a sudden, her lips an inch from his, had her seduction finally worked? Thinking so her chest rose in volume, tail vibrated creating bells as she decided to draw closer and seal the deal
'Wait'
Snapping out of her daze she looked into his eyes, seeing them playful, taunting, anything but lustful
'He is just playing with me isn't he'
Would he allow her to really have her way? She didn't think so, perhaps this was a test, or just a little prank, anyway it didn't seem as it would end well if she really took liberty with his body
Thinking so she backed away from his grasp, unwrapping herself and slithering to the side
"I have not forgotten your warning, I wouldn't do anything uncouth without your permission, unless you'd like mt to~"
Saying so she laid on her back, all exposed in an inviting manner, if he really wanted to do something then he could, she wouldn't risk taking the initiative
"Wel I see you've learned your lesson"
'I guessed correctly, it was all a test'
"I am not here to have fun however, I am here to strike a deal"
"A deal? Of what kind"
Hearing an exchange might occur she perked up, standing to ready herself for negotiation
"Your little Biomass, I'm taking it"
"? FOr how long"
"What I mean by taking, is fully consuming it"
"I see… what's in it for me?"
It was clear this day would come, it would either be in the manner of extracting it piece by piece or experimenting on the entire thing, either way he would need to pay her back for exhausting it
"The price is up to you to place"
"Then make me your follower"
In response, his eyes narrowed in warning
"Joking~ Don't glare at me so hard please, I just might have a heart attack"
She giggled, offering a more serious preposition
"I want to evolve"
"Alright"
"?"
"We have ourselves a deal then?"
"...Yes"
He didn't haggle, or even comment on her driving a had bargain, merely accepting at once, was it really so easy for him to evolve others? Or was it a trick of sorts…
"Then let's go"
With her doubts still lingering he had her follow back into the red room