“She said she was made with a quarter of a golden dragon, didn’t she? I wonder if I’ll get stronger if I eat this?”
The moment I said that, the flask containing Peko’s spirit suddenly started shaking and struggling vehemently. Wait, could she understand me in there?
Well, apparently doing things with spirits needs a specialized facility, so I shouldn’t do anything stupid here. So, I put Peko’s flask in storage for the time being.
Now then, what’s my level...ooohh! I’m already at 100! Good job, Peko! You really were level 128. Your exp was delicious! I ended up leveling a bunch already, so what should I do for the rest of this trip?
The way I saw it, there were two basic paths to choose from.
The first was an all-out murder spree. I’d just kill every single human I happened upon from now on. It’d be fine if everyone was like the bandit group just now, but I couldn’t afford to underestimate humans. I was all too aware that there were adventurers with incredible abilities.
The second path was to attempt to disguise myself somehow. Since Peko had exploded into smithereens, I couldn’t pretend to be a tamed monster anymore. I still had an idea, though.
I was a mimic, a monster specialized in pretending to be something else. Now that my level had gone up, I could expect my mimicry level to go up as well.
You could buy skills with points, but they could also be gained—or even strengthened—through use or leveling up.
So I checked my status once again.
There it is.
Sure enough, I had an extra ? in my Mimicry list. That meant there was another form I could change into.
Right now I’m a treasure chest with legs, and this form is called “Treasure Chest remodeled.” Wouldn’t that mean I could gain a human form next? That just seems natural, right?
I wanted to try turning into this new form right away, but I was worried about doing it in the middle of a bloodstained road as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
What should I do?
I looked around and found two nearby places I could use.
The first was the village that the bandits had probably attacked. The other was a forested area. Neither was too far away.
Hmmm, let’s go to the forest first.
The bandits earlier weren’t much of a threat, but why go to a place filled with humans on purpose?
Okay, I still need to store all the Spirit Catcher flasks before I leave.
I gathered all the flasks into one spot, scooped them all up with my tongue, and threw them inside me.
With the cleanup all done, I headed for the forest.
I managed to reach it easily after a short stroll, but I decided to walk in a little deeper. I didn’t want to get found easily.
*Clop, clop, clop, clop.*
This should do it.
I looked all around me. The forest was dense and somewhat dim. There were no signs of humans or monsters nearby. I didn’t have any detection skills though, so I couldn’t be sure. At least, it looked like I was alone.
I should be alone, sooo...let’s get to it.
“Human! Become humaaaaannn! Wooaarrgghhh!” I shouted, channeling my energy as best I could.
Oh, I felt an itch! I’m changing! I think I can do it, okay!
“Raaaaagghh!” I shouted harder.
Then...
*Bwoooop!*
Something stretched.
Hm? Did something change?
I changed my viewpoint to get a better look at myself. Unfortunately, nothing had changed. I was still a treasure chest, and my limbs...wait, what?
Wait, aren’t I...taller?
I moved my point of view to check myself from all sides.
I now had a butt and a belly button.
Uhhhhh...
Basically, I now had a complete woman’s lower half coming out of the bottom of my treasure chest. While my legs used to be connected from the thighs down, now I had the lower half of a human torso. The connection was just above the belly button.
This is...uhhh...
I checked my status window. The new entry stated,
“Treasure Chest remodeled 2.”
Well, I’d gotten closer to being a full human, that much was true, but there was no way I could pass as one. I’d just ended up increasing my creep factor.
Just a little more. I need an upper half. Yeah, if I had that, I’d be able to work something out!
“Drraagghhh! Upper half! Give me an upper haaalf!” I tried putting in even more effort and will into transformation.
Nope, I didn’t have any idea about how this whole mimicry thing worked! I was just doing my best to influence the ability to produce the body I wanted. I felt like my only choice was to push through using my burning desire!
Suddenly, I started having an itchy, uncomfortable feeling.
Is it happening? Did I do it?!
“Hwwaaagghh!” I didn’t know why, but I raised another shout.
*Pa-clack!*
The lid of my treasure chest popped open, and I fell over grandly.
Huh? What happened?
I’d fallen sideways. My vision had been tilted ninety degrees, so that the trees looked horizontal to me.
I should’ve been able to keep my vision steady no matter what, so discovering that it could be dragged along with my body was a new discovery.
Hwup.
I tried to right my vision, only to realize I couldn’t.
Huh?
I moved my hands to touch my body.
Hm? A body?
I moved them up farther.
*Pat, pat!* *Pwomf, pwomf!*
Soft. And I have a neck too. And cheeks. And hair! Ohhh, did I succeed?! I have a whole body now!
Nope, I didn’t.
Uhhh...
To put it simply, I looked like a girl who was about to be eaten by a treasure chest. At least, I...think I did?
So I had a girl’s upper half growing out from inside the treasure chest, and I’d lost my legs in the process. I’d also lost the arms growing from the sides of the chest; they were now attached to my torso.