Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City - Chapter 43



42. Let’s Give It a Try

“Here..?”

“Is this your first time outside the northeast?”

“Not exactly… but I don’t come here often.”

Well, there’s no reason for an explorer from a large clan to come to such a remote alley. This place is a bustling market that crosses the southeast and southwest.

As I mentioned before, it’s a very obscure place with hardly any people around, but since I suggested going to the emotion shop I frequent, there was no other choice.

That aside, why is this person so restless? Like someone who’s stepped outside for the first time. Do they have some kind of social anxiety skill?

“Here it is.”

“Sateria Emotion Shop… It has a very… um… mysterious feel to it. I didn’t expect to find an emotion shop in a place like this.”

“Please go in first.”

“By myself? More importantly, is it even open for business? It’s five in the morning.”

“It’s open. If the owner is sleeping, just give them a gentle shake to wake them up.”

“Um… alright.”

I nodded. Anyway, Ravi doesn’t have any customers, so business hours are whenever a customer shows up. They say they sleep when there are no customers, so doesn’t that mean they sleep more than 20 hours a day?

Even if they have a customer, it’s probably only for an hour a day, but they must stay awake for meals and study time.

“Ow-owner? I’m coming in.”

When there was no response to the knock, Delvaheim looked at me. I gestured for her to just open the door and go in, and she nodded, opening the door and stepping inside.

—Creak

Silence…

—Crash!

After waiting for about three minutes after sending Delvaheim in first, she suddenly flung the door open and ran out, looking shocked.

“It’s an emergency! The owner has lost consciousness!”

“Oh dear, again.”

Since Raya is famous, I thought it would be fun to send her in alone to see the reaction, but did they faint? When I opened the door and stepped inside, there were papers scattered all over the floor, and Ravi was lying unconscious on the bed.

“Ravi, Ravi? Wake up. Are you okay?”

“Ugh, ugh… Yuen… Is that you…?”

“Yes. It’s me.”

Ravi slowly removed the blanket covering her stomach, held her throbbing head, and lightly stepped down from the high bed. She rubbed her eyes with her tiny hands and mumbled something.

“Ugh… I had a strange dream…”

“What kind of dream?”

“A dream where a very famous explorer came to the appraisal shop…?”

“Laya Delvaheim?”

“How, how did you know…?!”

“Over there.”

“Eek!”

From noble mtl dot com

When I pointed my finger at Laya behind me, Ravi clung to my back as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

“The, the Ice Lotus of Kalraks…!”

“Ice Lotus?”

“Ahem. Master. You don’t have to call me by such an embarrassing nickname. Just call me Delvaheim.”

Was Laya’s nickname Ice Lotus? It seemed to fit, yet not. Perhaps it was because of her public image. Or maybe it was because of her skill, the one that could turn living things into ice.

“How, how could such an esteemed person come to this humble place…?”

“That’s not true. This place is quite… charming.”

“Well, I brought her here. This is Ravi Sateria, the owner of this shop. And Delvaheim, well, you probably already know her.”

Only then did Ravi, with sparkling eyes, stare intently at Delvaheim as if she were something fascinating. Of course, she was still hiding behind my back, but what could I do.

After roughly finishing their introductions, a subtle atmosphere settled in.

First, I need to get the skill appraised. And since Ravi has probably prepared various things for research, I should check those out too.

“Ravi, I acquired another skill.”

“What?! Really?! Shall we check it right away?”

“It seems to be called Bleeding Berserk. Let’s take a look.”

“Did you go to another appraisal center?!”

“No. Delvaheim said it’s a skill he’s seen before.”

“Oh, I see… Phew, alright. Lie down on the bed! So you know where it’s engraved?”

According to Delvaheim, the circuit is on the left side of my chest. So this time, should I lie down facing up?

I took off my top and lay down on the bed. There’s a strange smell of formula inside the appraisal room, what could it be?

“Hyuuk…”

“What’s wrong, Ravi?”

“Th-that… First, let me cover your face a bit…”

Ravi suddenly took off the wide-brimmed witch hat she was wearing and pressed it down over my face.

‘Is this where the formula smell is coming from?’

“The left… chest, you said! Got it!”

I can’t see anything because of the hat covering my face, but I can feel something tiny moving busily on my chest.

“This is… right! I’ve seen it in books before! It’s my first time seeing it in real life! So this is what it looks like in reality…! This is like this, and…”

It seems the circuit has been revealed, and Ravi is chattering busily beside me. Judging by the sound of breathing, it seems like Raya is also roughly sitting somewhere nearby.

“But who names the skills? Some have names, and some don’t.”

When I asked what I was curious about, Ravi answered.

“Hmm! It’s random! Most powerful skills tend to have names. If the effect is simple or common, the effect itself can become the name of the skill. Skills that famous people had tend to have names too!”

“Is that so? What about Bleeding Berserk?”

“You could say it’s the latter! That famous… famous… huh! Come to think of it…?”

Ravi suddenly closed his mouth as if he had realized something.

Wondering what was going on, I removed the hat covering my face, and saw Ravi staring intently at Delvaheim. Delvaheim nodded as if he had no choice and said,

“That’s right. My father… Sir Hamyent Delvaheim, was the most famous user of Bleeding Berserk in his lifetime.”

“…What. Is that so.”

“Yes.”

Was the story about liking Bleeding Berserk because of such a backstory? It doesn’t matter if it was a skill imprinted by my father.

Now it’s embedded in my chest, and I can use this skill well. Isn’t it a skill that fits me perfectly?

Ravi brought a book and sat next to my bed, chattering about the effects and precautions of Bleeding Berserk…

Most of it was information I already knew, but I listened to the end without interrupting. He seemed happy.

“I see. Ravi, you’re smart.”

“Hehe, I’m glad I could help!”

“Is there anything else about my skills that I should try?”

“Oh! There’s so much! Why did you come so late!”

Ravi smiled bashfully and looked through the papers on the desk one by one, then handed me a sheet.

“There are so many.”

“There are so many things I want to try!”

“What is that?”

“Ah, this.”

As I was looking at the paper with Ravi, Delvaheim, who was next to us, asked out of curiosity.

“I have a newly discovered skill. I’m experimenting to see how far this skill can go.”

“A newly discovered skill? That’s quite a remarkable thing. And it seems to be effective too.”

“Yes, except for the fact that it unintentionally activates other people’s curse skills.”

“Ugh…”

Ravi, who was next to me, looked at me with wide eyes, wondering what had happened. I gently held her cheek and turned her head back to the paper as if nothing had happened.

“Shall we start with this?”

“What is it?”

“If this experiment succeeds, Yuen can become incredibly strong!”

“Oh, let’s do it. Tell me more.”

Ravi held the paper with great anticipation, jumping up and down with a smile. Is this really such a joyful thing?

“Remember what Yuen said last time? When he first used the skill, his right arm turned into a steak!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“That means, not only the muscles but the entire skeletal structure disappeared, doesn’t it!”

“The entire skeletal structure… Indeed, that’s true.”

It was such a shocking memory that my brain instinctively erased it, but thinking about it now, it’s true. All the muscles and bones starting from the elbow joint disappeared, and suddenly a steak was dangling.

I cried a lot, thinking I would have to live with one arm for the rest of my life. If the lady hadn’t dragged me out and fed me, I might have collapsed from malnutrition while crying.

“So?”

“By eliminating the right forearm, it means that the original organ can be deleted through the skill!”

“Hmm, I see. So that means…”

“That’s right..! If you can eliminate an existing organ through a skill, it means you can also create an organ that didn’t originally exist!”

“Huh, really? What’s the benefit of doing that?”

Ravi pondered for a moment and then gave various examples.

“First of all, you see? Hmm.. yes. You could eat a fish and create gills? Or eat a bird and create wings!”

“Wings.. that’s really amazing.”

“Right! Let’s try it quickly! First.. let’s start with elimination! It’s easier with a part you’ve done before, right? Think about it! Right forearm.. disappear! Just like that!”

“Hmm. Alright, I understand.”

Ravi looked at me with an extremely excited expression. Delvaheim, who was next to him, seemed to grasp the context and inferred the skill I possessed, watching me with interest.

Since I became able to use the skill properly, I focused its effect on specific parts with my will. When I first tried it, I thought I had gained some kind of powerful attack skill, so I kept concentrating on my right hand.

As a result, my entire right forearm turned into a steak because of the skill.

Let’s think carefully again. There’s no need to change anything else. Just.. remove all the organs below the right elbow. I know I can reverse it afterward.

I’ve already done it before.

Alright, let’s go.

“Sss.. hoo….”

I concentrated and focused on my right forearm, and soon the skill activated.

“No, huh.. this is.”

“Incredible, amazing.”

“It’s done! Success! It’s perfect!”

As my forearm disappeared, the white shirt sleeve fluttered. When I pulled up the sleeve to examine the cross-section, it looked as if it had healed over time, gathering at a point like a scar.

“This feels really strange.”

“But I’m happy! Now that we know it’s possible to remove an existing organ, the next step is to create an organ that didn’t exist before!”

“Creating an organ that didn’t exist before…”

That’s something that needs to be thought about more deeply. Of course, the idea of creating an organ that didn’t exist before is incredibly fascinating. Growing wings and flying in the sky? That’s truly amazing.

Creating gills to breathe underwater is also quite an incredible story. But the problem isn’t that simple.

“Can I use the wings that were created like that?”

“Um… I’m not sure about that…”

Living beings have nerves connected all over their bodies. The brain sends commands, and for the organ to perform the action, there must be nerves that transmit the commands.

Let’s say, somehow, I managed to eat a huge wing. Even if it somehow worked out and grew on my body.

What about the bones? Humans have shoulder blades, but they aren’t the same as the skeletons connected to real wings. To use the wings, it’s not just about eating one wing; strong muscles to connect the wings to my body are also necessary.

Additionally, a new type of bone that didn’t exist before might need to be created to connect my skeleton to the wing bones.

And even the cartilage that allows these bones to move flexibly.

“It seems like a difficult task.”

“Um… I might have thought about it too simply…”

Raya, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, clapped her hands together and opened her mouth, saying she had a good idea.

“I have a good idea.”

“A good idea? What is it?”

“What Aven said earlier is absolutely correct. Suddenly growing wings from a human’s back is a difficult task.”

“Ugh…”

“I’m not blaming the master.”

“So, what should we do?”

Delvaheim turned around and suddenly stuck out his butt.

‘What the heck is this?’

“Delvaheim. Are you activating a skill again?”

“Q-quiet! What I want to talk about is… the tail. There are traces of a tail attached to the human skeleton.”

“Aha! A tail!”

“That’s right. While skills that sprout wings are extremely rare, skills that sprout tails have been reported numerous times. The ‘Beastification’ skill is one such example.”

“Beastification…”

“It’s as if a tail has grown on a species of humanity that didn’t have one. But they handled their tails without any issues. Although it’s something you can’t find in humans now, it was quite a familiar organ.”

“That makes sense.”

Delvaheim placed his hands on his hips and nodded as if to ask if that was helpful. He seemed very proud.

“Alright. A tail, huh. I’m not sure if it will be useful in combat, but it’s worth a try.”

“Exactly! And you know, a tail can be useful in combat too!”

Ravi said, shaking his butt.

“Like this! Swinging a thick and heavy tail at the opponent, how about that?!”

“Hmm, is there a creature with such a powerful tail?”

“I can’t say it’s powerful, but for such actions, a reptile’s tail would be more suitable than a mammal’s. How about a Lizardman?”

“Ah.”

Those guys existed. Now that I think about it, it makes sense. Isn’t it like having a tail attached to a human? If this experiment succeeds… I can become even stronger than this.

“Alright. Let’s give it a try.”