Chapter 51: It Can't Be Helped
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 51: It Can't Be Helped
"Sssst...!"
After exchanging a few blows with Theodora, who had changed into her training gear, I started to get a feel for it. I began to understand the necessary range of motion to incorporate my tail into combat and how to move so it wouldn't collide with my hands or my own attack paths.
It felt a bit odd for me to say this, considering I was total dead weight just a few days ago, but while Theodora’s combat skills weren't bad, I wasn't sure how well she’d fare in the Labyrinth.
—Whoosh!
Clang!
"Kyaah?!"
"Oops."
When I slammed my tail hard against the sword she’d used to block my forearm, the long two-handed sword was sent flying, skidding across the floor. An attendant waiting nearby rushed over, wiped the blade, and handed it back to Theodora immediately, but it didn't look like she could continue the fight.
Theodora’s two-handed swordsmanship was a style designed for dueling other people. While she could block or dodge most attacks made with two hands, she was defenseless against attacks from a tail, showing a moment of rigidity before she could even react.
"Shall we stop?"
"Whew... You. Are you really Silver Grade? My wrists are killing me."
"They said they'd bump me up to Gold once I hit the 11th Floor."
"I’m fairly confident in my fighting skills too, you know."
Her swordsmanship was solid, built systematically under a good master, but it seemed my current abilities were a poor match for her.
The eyes of the Umbra Valkyrie constantly identified openings in Theodora’s posture and demanded an attack, while the senses of the Direwolf Alpha sharply caught every strike coming my way.
Above all, the presence of a shield that could definitively block attacks provided a massive advantage in combat.
"This thing is a masterpiece."
The Drake Scale Gauntlet was useful for offense, but it was also perfect for blocking. Since my overall body weight had increased, I could swat away a heavy two-handed sword with my hand without much trouble.
"When do you plan on entering the Labyrinth?"
"Like I said yesterday, I have a schedule until tomorrow."
"Take your time. Is it okay if I go to the workshop tomorrow too?"
"Are there no limits to your ability? Like, you can't use it anymore after eating a certain amount?"
Come to think of it, I’d never considered the upper limit of my ability. Since I’d only recently started using it properly, if I calculated everything I’d eaten by weight, it would probably be several hundred kilograms.
"I’m not really sure about that."
"Do as you like. However, I won't be at the workshop tomorrow."
"Then what should I do?"
"I’ll let the workshop know. I’m sorry, but I can't just give you anything and everything. There’s a manager at the workshop, so if you talk to them nicely, they’ll take care of it."
"Sure, it’s not like I’m asking for anything expensive."
By the time I’d finished eating the Drake tail, the sun was already setting. The sun had long since gone down, and Theodora said she had another appointment in the evening.
Regardless, it must be exhausting being called here and there like that.
"Are you taking breaks?"
"Well... just enough so I don't collapse."
"Watch your condition while you work."
"Y-Yeah..."
"Good work today. I’ll head to the workshop early tomorrow morning, so please make sure to put in a good word for me."
"I will."
I gave a casual goodbye and stepped outside, but then I realized this was the northwestern outskirts. It was going to take a while to get to the southwest.
'Let's move fast.'
* * *
After hopping across a few rooftops, I reached the southwest in no time. I wondered if this was okay, but whatever. This was the Labyrinth City way.
—Knock, knock.
"Ravi? Ravi, are you inside?"
It was only about 8:00 PM, but there was no response from Ravi. When I tried to open the door as I usually did, I found it locked. Did Ravi not live here? She’d been sleeping soundly on the bed in the early morning, so what was going on?
Just as I was about to turn back since there was no answer, I heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Ah! I'm here! Don't go!"
"Oh, Ravi."
She was wearing outdoor clothes with a robe over them, as if she’d been somewhere.
"Were you out?"
"Yes! I just had a meal at the restaurant over there."
"I see."
Right, Ravi had to eat too. She couldn't just sit in the appraisal office staring at papers all day.
"Come in, quickly! I have so many experiments I want to try this time!"
"What kind of ideas did you come up with now?"
"Hehe, you'll see!"
The inside of the appraisal office was, as always, very cozy and compact. To put it nicely, it was cozy; to put it bluntly, it was small and cramped. Ravi herself was small, so it wasn't a big deal, but still.
"Yoo Eon, have you made any progress with your skills?"
"Yes. Would you like to take a look?"
"I'd love to! Did you go to the Labyrinth?"
"No. I made a connection with a monster dismantling workshop. I got to eat a few things there."
"Wow, really? What did you eat?"
Ravi’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. With an expression that said she couldn't wait to find out, she tossed her robe onto a chair and sat on the bed.
The Cave Drake tail was long, so I was worried it might clutter the office. As I slowly pulled it out, pointing it downward, Ravi’s face gradually filled with shock.
"Hwah! A D-Dragonian!! You're a Dragonian!!"
"No way. I just ate a bit of a Cave Drake's tail."
"A Cave Drake! I've heard of those! They're monsters that appear on the 25th Floor!"
Ravi scurried behind the curtain and came back with a book, sitting down on the bed.
—Pat, pat.
"Here! Sit next to me! Oh, can you not sit because of the tail?"
"I can just put it away."
I retracted the tail and sat next to Ravi, who was beaming. She flipped through several pages of the book and began explaining the characteristics of the Cave Drake.
Its scales had a unique property where their hardness increased while mana was circulating. Because of this, they had excellent resistance to mana-infused attacks and showed a momentary spike in hardness when struck by magic.
Normally, they were a deep black color, making them hard to see inside dark caves, but after they died, the mana slowly drained out, and they turned a bluish-gray.
Scales that fell off due to old age lost their hardness, so they could be crushed even by a Cave Drake's bite. Because of this, they had a habit of eating the scales that fell off their bodies. Through this, they supplemented their nutrients and gained the caloric energy to produce new scales.
"Hmm, I see."
"Then, Yoo Eon, do you eat your scales when they fall off?"
"I haven't had any fall off yet, so I don't know. Do the new scales only grow if I eat the old ones?"
"Not necessarily. I think they developed that trait because food is scarce inside caves."
It had quite a few defensive traits. It looked like a slightly dim-witted Tyrannosaurus, with short forelimbs and thick, long hind legs, possessing considerable muscle strength to support its heavy body. The power of a Drake's tail swing was said to be strong enough to shatter a rare metal sword.
"You ate something incredibly good!"
"I suppose so. So, Ravi, what kind of experiment are we doing this time?"
"Ah, about that! Just a moment!"
Ravi picked up one of the loose sheets of paper scattered on the table and showed it to me. On the paper was a drawing of the human anatomy, showing a detailed and intricate internal structure that was hard to believe came from a medieval setting.
"Yoo Eon, what exactly is your skill!?"
"What do you mean? Um, it's a skill that lets me use the things I eat with my own body, right?"
"Wait, wait! It's a little different!"
Ravi shook her head vigorously in denial.
"Then what is it?"
"Yoo Eon's skill is a skill that 'stores' the bodies of other creatures that enter your 'stomach' through the skill, and then you can take out those stored organs and use them again! Right?"
"Well, yes."
"And Yoo Eon's skill has a wide range of versatility, even allowing you to create organs that weren't there before!"
"That's true."
"Then here's the question!"
Ravi declared triumphantly, pointing her index finger upward.
"What if Yoo Eon created the 'stomach' he ate somewhere else?!"
"Creating a stomach somewhere else? In what sense?"
"For example, um... Ah! Yoo Eon, give me your hand!"
Ravi reached out both of her hands toward me. When I placed my right hand on top of hers, Ravi’s tiny hands began to move busily.
"If we do this like this...?"
Ravi, who had joined her index finger and thumb to form a circle, showed her fingers to me.
"Ta-da, a circle."
"Yes. It's a circle."
"This is the esophagus! And the stomach is created below it!"
"Oh, I see."
"Then, instead of swallowing through your mouth, you put it directly into the stomach! The organs of other creatures, I mean!"
Ravi made goggles with both hands and held them to her eyes. Creating a stomach elsewhere and putting things directly into it without going through the mouth.
"That's..."
"W-What do you think...?"
Unbelievable.
"That's truly amazing, Ravi."
"Right!"
"If that's possible, it would certainly be convenient. If I eat a large stomach, I might not even need to cut things into small pieces anymore."
"Exactly! That's it! Remember how much trouble you had eating that Ursus bone last time? Right?"
"Yeah, definitely."
I wasn't sure about thick, bulky chunks, but organs that were thin and long like bones could be eaten much more easily this way.
Above all, the biggest advantage was that my esophagus wouldn't get hurt, and I wouldn't have to taste anything disgusting. This was a truly magnificent discovery.
"Shall we try and see if it works for now?"
"I'm pretty sure I can create a stomach on my hand... The question is whether the stomach created that way will function for 'storage'."
My ability definitely felt like it worked when things passed through my mouth into my esophagus, and I felt them disappear once they entered my stomach. I’d eaten quite a few things by now, and I’d felt every single one of them go down my throat.
I wasn't sure how long they had to stay in the stomach, or if there was another condition for storing them through the skill.
Let's just try it. To fix the opening of the stomach into a circular shape, I struck the top of my wrist.
"Gasp, your hand disappeared!!"
"Don't be so surprised by something like this."
Ravi was making a huge fuss beside me. Using the tailbone and skin of a Lizardman, which I no longer had a use for, I created a circular frame like a basketball hoop, and below it, I summoned the Direwolf stomach I’d eaten before.
It looked as if I’d cut off my wrist and attached a Lizardman fly swatter, and it couldn't have looked more hideous. Seeing the stomach writhing, Ravi made a face as if she were about to be sick.
"Oh dear, don't look at something so gruesome. Turn around."
"Ugh... I can watch!"
She bravely opened her eyes wide and inspected my hand, but then she immediately covered her mouth and ran out of the appraisal office.
Not long after, Ravi walked back in with a dejected expression.
"Did you empty it out?"
"I felt a bit better after getting some fresh air..."
For now, I’d returned my hand to normal. I’d managed to get the shape I wanted, so now I just had to actually put something in it.
"Ravi, do you want to try going in here?"
"A-Are you trying to eat me?!"
"It's a joke, so don't be so surprised."
"Hmph."
Is there anything to eat around here?
"Hmm, I guess I really will have to eat Ravi."
"Y-You're joking, right...?"
"Hmm."
"Yoo Eon...?!"
"It can't be helped."
Ravi’s complexion turned pale, contrasting sharply with her red hair. This was why I loved teasing her.
"Shall we head to the Guild for a bit?"
"Ah."
Bonk.
That was the sound of Ravi hitting me in the side.