[Shapeshifter DRAFT] Chapter 1 - 5 (Looking for feedback) (Patreon)

[Heavy edits have been made, and the new chapters will be released sometime soon, so the text below is no longer an accurate representation]

Hey everyone! Over the last year, behind the scenes, I have started and dropped dozens of projects, with most of them never making it past the first chapter. However, over the Christmas break, I wrote around 7k words for a new story. I showed it to a few author friends and received mixed responses. Some loved the concept, while others didn't. So, I thought it would be a good idea to show my core audience (you guys) the chapters to get feedback from my target audience.

My plan is to start a second series (it might not be this one) sometime in this next year. None of this will affect Tree chapters in any way. Demonic Tree will always be the main thing that takes up the majority of my focus until its completion. But I enjoy flexing my creative muscles and find it easier to write chapters of a second series than all on one.

Anyway, with that out of the way. Below, I have the synopsis and the 7k words I have written. I am looking for feedback. Is the story concept good? Is the MC fun to read about? And if you drop it or dislike the idea, tell me why! Thanks :D

If you dislike reading here on Patreon, you can check it out on RoyalRoad, where I uploaded it under an alt. (Please don't follow it, I don't want it getting on Rising Stars)

Synopsis:

Xen is not your average Joe. In fact, he isn't even Joe. He just looks and acts like the newbie Hunter who died a horrible death in one of the many beginner dungeons that have littered the Earth since the System's arrival decades ago.

But what really lies beneath the human skinsuit once known as Joe is Xen the Mind Slime—a Shapeshifter.

Armed with the appearance and knowledge of the dead Hunter, Xen sets out to acquire new monstrous forms and abilities, all the while blending in with the other Hunters who seek to kill his own kind.

Think solo leveling but from a monster perspective.

= Chapter 1: Devour =

Slimes were supposed to be stupid, but Xen knew he was a smart slime.

While his luminescent green brothers and sisters were murdered for exp by the two-legged creatures known to the dungeon as humans who wore strange clothes, he would strategically roll away deeper into the dungeon. Because that was the smart thing to do. And he was a Mind Slime, a rare variant of a classic dungeon slime that had acquired a level of intelligence, his greatest asset.

That single point in his intelligence stat allowed him to navigate the status screen and understand just how pathetically small his numbers were. Combined with the knowledge he inherited from the dungeon, he knew he was not a match for a single thing within these stone walls.

[Mind Slime: Rare Variant]

[Level 1]

However, as smart as Xen was, he was also starving. Unlike his brothers and sisters, he gained no nourishment from absorbing the luminescent moss growing in between the cracks in the stone walls, nor the blood that stained the floor, or the occasional discarded limb from a monster or man. No, the only thing he craved was knowledge, and the tasty thing called a brain that contained it.

As it turned out, being a level one slime made getting to anyone's brain a real challenge. Through his limited mana sight, he had observed many battles and concluded that without a doubt, he would lose to everything here. He had no legs to run away, arms to hold weapons, or even claws to rip apart flesh and fur. He was nothing but a slightly smarter jelly with a habit for rolling away.

And what had his superior intellect granted him? Nothing but hunger. His body had shrunk to a tenth of what it was in the past. With every roll, he expended energy and shrunk slightly. He tried to eat the moss like his brothers and sisters, but his body seemed incapable of absorbing anything from it, other than the knowledge of what it was.

[Dungeon Moss: Common Grade]

A type of moss that grows throughout dungeons. It’s filled with mana, providing a food source for the dungeon ecosystem’s bottom feeders.

This knowledge, however, did come with one use: expending more energy, he could mimic the Dungeon Moss, turning himself from a slightly purplish jelly to what appeared to be a ball of moss. It was this shapeshifting ability that had allowed him to survive this long in the dungeon despite lacking what the other monsters had at their disposal.

Xen—the name he had given himself—had also absorbed various pebbles and other inanimate objects he had come across, but his shapeshifter ability refused to let him turn into anything that was not alive. Why? Xen was not sure. He may be a smart slime, but many things were still beyond his comprehension, such as why some of the two-legged creatures had so much arrogance to challenge the dungeon alone. Strength in numbers was one of the most basic tactics that he had observed, which had allowed groups of very weak monsters to take down a single strong two-legged person.

Rolling around a corner of the dungeon, Xen once again heard the clashing of blades and shouts of the two-legged people, out of his mana sight range. Usually, he had the intelligence to roll in the opposite direction. But today was different. Rather than roll away, he chose to venture toward the fight. Although the area around battles was dangerous for such a weak slime, battles were also the source of corpses and potentially brains. And he would die from hunger by the end of the day.

So, armed with thinly veiled optimism, Xen rolled forth towards his potential demise. Any stray attack, or if one of the giant creatures engaged in battle, fell over, and hit him, he would perish instantly. Such was the fate for a weak slime.

"Jonathan, you fucking elf, hurry up and heal me," one of the two-legged creatures shouted.

"Sarah, you crazy bitch, can't you see my situation?" another retorted.

"That's a flesh wound," came a dismissive reply. “Heal Joe before yourself. Without him we are fucked.”

Xen had learned that those were the grunts of the two-legged creatures, and with some form of communication, he could not decipher what they were saying or the meaning behind the grunts. But he knew that whenever the grunts were said, it was usually followed by a coordinated attack. The grunts also had varying pitches.

"Basic sword slash," one of them suddenly shouted. This grunt was different from the usual—it carried mana filled intent; it was a skill.

Xen felt the stone floor a mere meter from his jelly body explode as a blade of red energy cleaved through the dungeon floor, showering the area with bits of rubble, followed by a high-pitched scream that Xen knew belonged to the dog-like creatures that were the apex predators on this floor. As a dungeon monster, Xen naturally knew that this was the first floor of the dungeon, and he was not allowed to go to the second or to leave. That was just common sense.

Despite narrowly avoiding death, Xen—the very smart slime—rolled forth in a desperate hope to come across what he sought the most: brains. If he could just taste the succulent meat that was a brain, he knew all his problems would be answered.

Creeping along the cracks in the side of the wall, Xen soon came in mana sight range of the battle and could get a good look. Standing injured before a group of black fur wolves was a slender, silver-haired, two-legged creature with pointy ears. In her hand was some sort of short metal weapon that she was using to fend off the two feral wolves that were snarling and trying to bite off her arm.

It seemed she was the only remaining member of her team able to stand and fight, as there were two people on the floor behind her. One, wearing white robes and holding a staff, was knelt over the second body, with blood dripping down from a savage gash across their face, which had taken out one of their eyes. The hands were trembling as a golden light enveloped the one lying motionless on the ground. "Please, Joe, wake up," the white-robed human begged.

Xen was a smart slime, apparently smarter than this dumb human, as he could tell that the man on the floor was most certainly dead as the dungeon was already trying to absorb the body. Which meant one thing: the dead human was going to be his target. Inching ever closer as the epic battle between pointy eared person and wolves raged on, Xen felt a flurry of emotions which should be impossible for a blob of jelly. Excitement, fear, hunger consumed his mind as he pressed forward.

Xen prayed with all his nonexistence heart that the silver-haired person would continue to fend off the monsters. Because if she lost while he was feasting on the corpse's brain, he too would perish in the jaws of these feral wolves.

Thankfully, the silver-haired woman was preoccupied, and the white-robed man was far too injured and distraught to notice the tiny Mind Slime crawl its way up the clothes of the human and sneak through the dead human's nostril.

[Human Mucus: Common Grade]

A sticky substance found inside the nose.

Ignoring the system prompt as he practically vibrated with excitement. Something upahead was calling to him as if it were the most delicious thing to ever exist.

[Human Brain: Common Grade]

An organ found in the human body responsible for critical thinking and memory storage.

[Use Devour on Human Brain?]

A system prompt Xen had never seen before filled him with joy. If he could lick his lips, he would. Naturally, he agreed to the system prompt without hesitation. This is what he had been yearning for his entire short life.

[Devour in process…]

Xen felt a million things flood his mind. Scenes of blue skies, lazy summer days, and meetings with friends at the pub clashed with feelings of despair, misery, and hunger. Stress over something called taxes, breakups with girlfriends, and other incompressible experiences that were completely different from his own flooded and drained his mind.

You have leveled up: 1 -> 2

You may pick a class… ERROR

User is not assimilated into the system.

User is a Dungeon Monster.

Searching for solutions…

Xen had no idea what was going on as a voice spoke in his head. Everything was a mess.

[Unlocked Shapeshifter Class (Unique)]

Those with the [Shapeshifter] class are able to replicate the appearance and abilities of beings they have devoured. Each form has it’s own level and set of abilities, however the user has a global level and selection of abilities that carry over to any form they take.

[Devour Complete]

You absorbed 50% of the human’s memories.

You have unlocked the [Human] form.

You acquired the following skills:

[Human Language (C)]

You and the target shared similar skills:

[Basic Mana Sight (F)] has been upgraded to [Mana Vision (D)]

Xen wasn't sure how, but he now understood the words. Everything about the system suddenly made sense to him. Was it because of gaining the [Shapeshifter] class? Or was he relying on the memories he had inherited from a now very dead human named Joe?

"Jonathan, are you done with healing Joe yet?" The elf Xen knew as Sarah from Joe's memories cried out as she swept her blade to keep the wolves away.

Xen could see everything happening around him due to his improved skill called [Mana Vision] and was able to understand the intent behind Sarah's words. She needed healing from this Jonathan person who was still kneeling over Joe's body.

Which was a problem. Xen was not Joe, and he doubted Sarah would let him live once she found out a slime had devoured her friend's mind. So, her getting healing in this situation was not ideal. I need more information. More skills and power. Xen thought, and he felt his vision drifting to Jonathan's bleeding head which contained another brain. If he consumed Jonathan's mind without Sarah noticing and eliminated the threat of healing, wouldn't his chance of survival increase?

[Do you wish to take on the Human form?]

Knowing his thoughts, the system offered a suggestion. One that Xen happily accepted.

=Chapter 2: Lifeless=

Upon accepting the system prompt and willing to take on a human form, Xen mentally knew he had two options. He could either consume his biomass to create a human body from scratch to his specifications or overtake a nearby vessel that matched the form he wanted to take.

Naturally, since Xen had almost no biomass to the point where he could sneak down someone's nostril and had a perfectly fine human corpse that he was currently inhabiting, he picked the latter option.

[Shapeshifting in process]

Xen felt his consciousness spread throughout the body. It wasn't instantaneous, almost as if he was a fluid flowing through the body's veins and slowly becoming aware of every muscle fiber and organ within the body.

All the while, Sarah was fighting for her life. She was barely managing to hold the wolves back. One of them lay heavily injured, bleeding out on the dungeon's stone floor, but there were still two mostly uninjured wolves that almost reached her shoulder height, taking turns trying to bite chunks out of her arm.

"Sarah, I…" Jonathan began, tears streaming down his face.

"What, Jonathan?" Sarah shouted, not taking her eyes off the wolves for a single second. "Now is not the time for your mumbling. Spit it out."

"I think Joe is dead," Jonathan croaked out.

[Shapeshift complete]

Joe's eyes shot open as Xen took complete control of the body. Despite the dim lighting, the sudden sensory overload was overwhelming. Until now, Xen had observed the world in a myriad of colors through the flows of mana in the air, almost like seeing everything as a blur, but now he could see everything in such fine detail. Such as the complete shock on Jonathan's face as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Dead?" Sarah screamed out as she wildly raised her sword and struck at one of the wolves, making it snarl in pain as she took out one of its ears. "How could Joe be dead? What have you been doing this entire time? You're a healer, goddamnit! His wounds weren't even that serious."

Jonathan's eyes widened. Sarah's voice clearly broke him out of his astonishment. He reeled around with his mouth open as if excited to tell her about Joe's miraculous recovery, but Xen had no interest in word of his revival getting out. Quickly reaching up, he grabbed the healer's throat, and with all the strength he could muster, he squeezed until he heard an audible snap.

Xen hardly felt anything as Jonathan took his last breath, and he watched the life leave his eyes. In fact, a distinct feeling of euphoria overtook him, accompanied by a system notification.

You have killed an opponent 4 levels above your own. Bonus experience awarded.

Experience split between [Mind Slime] and [Human] form.

[Mind Slime] has leveled up: 2 -> 3.

[Human] has leveled up: 1 -> 2.

The healer's body fell on top of him like a warm blanket. Xen was about to use Devour but refrained when he noticed Sarah getting a fortunate hit on the other wolf, causing it to collapse to the ground with blood spurting from a vein on its neck.

The silver-haired elf had multiple rather grave injuries covering her body; her breathing was ragged, and she looked ready to collapse any moment. Still, even in such a state, Xen believed that Sarah had the potential to defeat the single wolf remaining. Which was a problem. Jonathan had most definitely been alive a second ago, so she would probably wonder why the healer had suddenly passed away.

Should I pretend to be dead? Xen wondered.

"Basic sword slash," Sarah shouted with mana-filled intent, and Xen saw her chipped iron sword wreathed with red energy. She swung it wildly, and the final remaining wolf ate the attack in the face. Like a warm knife through butter, the sword had no problem cleaving through fur and bone, killing the wolf nearly instantly.

As the wolf fell, so did Sarah's sword, which clattered to the stone below. She followed by collapsing to her knees. "I did it," she muttered, "I really did it."

Through his Mana Vision, Xen saw an external force briefly wrap around Sarah's body, which he suspected was a level-up similar to the one he had just experienced. It didn't recover her wounds, but she did seem notably less tired a second later. While groaning, she sluggishly picked up her bloodied sword and got back to her feet.

"Jonathan, Joe, I won. We can escape now," she turned around, and her look of absolute relief turned to one of horror as she gazed upon the pile of bodies. Her hand began trembling. "Guys?" she questioned as she slowly walked over to the two bodies, one of which Xen was inhabiting.

Collapsing beside them, she began shaking Jonathan's shoulders, and as expected, he remained unresponsive. From Xen's fragmented, inherited memories, he knew that the two elves knew each other outside of the dungeon, while Joe had been a last-minute addition to the party.

It wasn't exactly clear to Xen how they were related, but he knew there was some sort of deeper connection between them.

Sarah put her trembling finger under Jonathan's nose. "No, no, no, no, you can't be dead. Why aren't you breathing?" she began panicking and rummaging through Jonathan's belongings and pockets. "A health potion, goddamnit! You must have been carrying a health potion. Where is it?"

Meanwhile, Xen was trying to stay completely still but was struggling under Jonathan's weight. He wasn't inhabiting the corpse as undead but rather as a living being, so Joe still needed to breathe, and his heart was still beating.

The silver-haired elf, whom Xen just wished would leave, began sobbing into Jonathan's clothes. "You idiot, why did you spend our savings on this fancy white robe rather than health potions?" she howled between cries.

An awkward minute or two passed before, eventually, Sarah gathered herself and wiped away her tears on her sleeve. Much to Xen's relief, she seemed about to leave, but then her eyes widened. "Joe, are you alive?"

No, don't look over here. Xen inwardly cursed.

She put two fingers on his neck and another below his nose. Xen tried to hold his breath for as long as he could, but the body he was inhabiting required oxygen, so after a dozen seconds or so, he took a sharp breath.

Knowing his cover was blown, Xen sleepily opened Joe's eyes and pretended he was barely alive. He hadn't expected Sarah to scream and stumble back while pointing at him.

Joe searched his fragmented, inherited memories and couldn't see why she would have such an adverse reaction to him opening his eyes. "Is something the matter?" he asked, surprised at how his voice sounded and how effortlessly human speech rolled off his tongue.

"Your eyes, Joe," Sarah exclaimed, "they're nothing but voids."

=Chapter 3: Conversation=

His eyes were voids? What did that even mean? Xen couldn't help but tilt Joe's head in confusion. "What do you mean my eyes are voids?" he asked the terrified woman.

"They have no pupils or irises," Sarah replied, her voice shaking. "They're just total blackness, like an animal's."

Xen blinked in confusion. Why would his eyes be voids? He should have copied everything the original vessel had. Was it because Joe lost his eyes to an injury or something? Since he had no idea, Xen decided to ask his system, and to his surprise, it responded:

[The eyes are the window to the soul, and the vessel's soul has long departed]

So, I have no eyes because the body I am inhabiting is dead, and the soul is no longer here? Xen concluded and realized he was in deep trouble. It was already hard enough for him to act human with fragmented memories, but now he even outwardly appeared different from Joe.

"Don't be alarmed, Sarah," Xen assured, raising his hands in surrender. "It must be a side effect of Jonathan's healing magic on me."

Sarah stared at him for a long minute, then eventually uttered, with her back pressed against the dungeon wall, "What are you?"

"What do you mean?" Xen replied. "I'm Joe."

"Your mouth isn't moving when you speak, yet words are coming out."

Xen froze; it hadn't felt intuitive for him to speak with a human body, so he had been doing it through his newly acquired Human Language skill, which apparently worked without moving his mouth.

Sarah raised her chipped sword and pointed the blade towards him. "I will ask one last time: what are you?"

"As I told you before, I am Joe," Xen insisted, this time trying to move the body's mouth to imitate human speech. "I was a last-minute addition to your party, remember? So there are not many ways to prove it, but I promise you, I am Joe. All of this is just a result of Jonathan's healing magic. A massive misunderstanding—"

There was an audible tear of muscle, and Xen felt his jaw begin to hang loosely from his face, followed by intense pain unlike anything he had ever experienced. He had made too exaggerated movements with his jaw while trying to imitate human speech and had somehow dislocated or damaged the ligaments.

"See," Xen said through the pain, "complications with healing magic."

Sarah didn't seem convinced as she never lowered her sword. "Okay, Joe, if that is even your real name, tell me what happened to Jonathan. He was alive a minute ago until you woke up."

Xen was hardly able to listen to Sarah as the pain of his ripped-off jaw was too intense, and there was a system message repeating in his head this whole time.

[Use biomass to repair body?]

Without pushing it off anymore, he accepted the prompt.

[Insufficient stored biomass. Converting biomass from the inhabited vessel]

A warm feeling ran up his left leg, followed by the rancid smell of dissolving flesh that tickled his nose. Glancing down in confusion, Xen saw his foot dissolving into his body. Moments later, he felt his jaw clamp back into place as the muscle fibers repaired.

"You monster wearing human skin!" Sarah screamed.

It would appear that the sight of him dissolving his foot to repair his face was the final straw, and his hope of convincing Sarah to trust him was long gone.

"You killed Jonathan, didn't you?" She hollered as she charged forward with her sword raised.

"No, wait," Xen exclaimed, raising his hands to meet the blade.

"Basic sword slash." Sarah used a skill that wreathed her chipped iron sword in that same red energy that had cleaved through the dungeon floor when Xen had been a lowly mind slime. Swinging her sword in an arc, it all happened so fast. Xen saw his raised hands go flying, followed by a shower of warm blood that hit his eyes and tongue, and then the world span as Joe's head tumbled to the floor.

Xen thought this might be the end of his short life, but to his surprise, he was alive.

[Human vessel has sustained fatal damage]

His slime body was still intact inside the rolling head. If she hadn't gone for the neck and had instead rammed her sword into Joe's skull, I would have perished.

Through Mana Vision, he was able to see Sarah panting heavily while standing over the now headless corpse of Joe and the other dead elf that he used to mistake for a human. But now, with Joe's memories, he knew there was a distinct difference between humans and elves despite their deceptively similar appearances.

Sarah spent a long while leaning against the dungeon walls while blood from many wounds trickled down her skin and dyed her clothes a scarlet red.

Even without any combat skills, Xen was convinced he could take her on in a fight right now, but instead, he waited. Clearly, she was convinced he was dead, as she made no move to ram her sword through the decapitated head he was inhabiting, and he had no intention of giving her a reason to try.

"To think we let a monster into our party," she eventually muttered as she stepped away from the wall. To Xen's surprise, she stayed clear of Joe's corpse as if it was tainted. She then began trying to drag Jonathan away, but her injuries and fatigue were too severe, to the point where even standing up by herself was too much.

Eventually giving up in a panting-filled rage, she fished through Jonathan's pockets and retrieved a badge which, from Joe's memories, Xen knew was a metal Hunter's badge. "Uncommon Hunter" and the distinct letter E were written on it, though Xen was unsure what the title or letter meant. However, it seemed well cared for by its polished surface, so it must have been important to Jonathan.

With the last of her strength, Sarah rested Jonathan up against the dungeon wall. She closed his eyelids with a sad expression, and then, while touching foreheads, she said calmly, "You wait right here. I will return with a team to retrieve you before the dungeon consumes you, so don't go anywhere."

Standing back up with a sigh and giving one last disgusted look at poor Joe, she left down the dungeon corridor, leaving behind the wolf corpses and the two men.

As a dungeon monster, Xen knew that it took a week for the dungeon to fully absorb a corpse, and there was no way he would leave this banquet for the dungeon. So, once an hour had passed and he was sure that Sarah was long gone, Xen tried to retake the human vessel that had been Joe.

[Vessel is too heavily damaged, and you have insufficient biomass to repair it. Would you like to Devour the body instead?]

Xen agreed with the system as there were multiple vessels nearby that he could inhabit instead, such as Jonathan the elf or one of the black wolves who were the apex predators of this floor. Furthermore, biomass seemed to be a vital resource for his shape-shifting skill.

[Devour in process…]

Xen felt the bone and skin around him begin to dissolve and enter his body, and with that, he began to expand. Within a minute, his slime body had gone from the size of a fingertip to that of a human skull. Even when he'd been birthed by the dungeon, he hadn't been this large, and for the first time in his life, he didn't feel an intense hunger but rather satisfaction.

Feeling happy with life, Xen rolled across the dungeon floor into Joe's lap and used the devour skill. Tendrils left his body and wrapped around Joe, slowly pulling the dead human into himself. There was a hissing noise followed by crackling as the body was broken down, but thankfully, Xen was in his slime form and, therefore, couldn't smell what he assumed would be a rather pungent stench.

[Devour Complete]

You gained 78 biomass.

Xen felt a little disappointed that he hadn't acquired any more memories or gained any skills or experience after devouring the corpse, but at least he had gained a solid amount of biomass that he could now use to repair injuries or even construct a vessel from scratch in his own image. With that meal complete, he now needed to decide: should he eat Jonathan or the wolves next?

Either way, he needed to be quick. This was the first floor of the dungeon, so Sarah could return within the hour if she was quick.

=Chapter 4: Status=

[Elven Brain: Uncommon Grade]

An organ found in the elven body responsible for critical thinking and memory storage. It also serves as the mana core used to fuel spells.

[Use Devour on Elven Brain?]

Xen had rolled his slime body over to Jonathan's corpse and threaded a tendril of his body to wrap around the brain. Without hesitation, he accepted the system's suggestion. He was never one to turn down a free meal.

[Devour in process…]

Information flooded his mind, much of it trivial, like memories of Jonathan walking through the countryside with his grandparents, but crucial tidbits of information were also present. Jonathan and Sarah knew each other as childhood sweethearts, and both had been born human.

Apparently, all two-legged people entering this beginner dungeon had been originally humans twenty years ago. The system apocalypse's arrival on this planet called Earth had brought many changes along with the monster-filled dungeons, such as awakening dormant bloodlines. A transformation that was often painful as mana flooded and altered their bodies.

Some humans became elves with elongated ears and extended lifespans, while others developed horns, fangs, claws, fur, and other features.

Xen searched the memories for more about Sarah and the strange metal badge. He learned that not only were Sarah and Jonathan childhood sweethearts but there was also a memory of Jonathan entering an office to meet Sarah's father, the leader of a major guild. The memory was fragmented due to turbulent emotions of rejection and regret, so it had been buried deep. Still, Xen learned that the metal badge was valuable for gaining access past guards of this guild.

You have leveled up: 3 -> 4

Xen was pulled from the memory by the system's voice.

[Devour Complete]

You absorbed 30% of the elf's memories.

You have unlocked the [Elf] form.

You acquired the following skills:

[Holy Smite (F)]

You and the target shared similar skills:

[Human Language (C)] has fused with [Elvish Language (C)] to form [Multilingual (B)]

[Do you wish to take on the Elf form?]

Xen noticed a pattern: absorbing a brain with Devour granted memories, a new species form, and skills. It was uncertain if this happened with every species, but he could test it with the wolf corpses in a moment. Naturally, he said yes to taking on the Elf form; he felt his presence spread throughout the Elven body as his slime body slowly dissolved into the corpse.

[Shapeshifting in process]

Even though his body was far too big to fit in the elf's head or stomach, he could shapeshift into the vessel without problems, which was good news because otherwise, he'd have to be careful about how much biomass he took on in the future.

It took far longer this time to take over the elf's body compared to when he had overtaken Joe, but once it was finally done, Jonathan's eyes snapped open, and the elf appeared alive once more. Immediately, Xen felt intense pain around his throat, as if someone was strangling him, likely due to the broken neck.

[Use biomass to repair body?]

Yes, use my biomass to repair all injuries, Alex thought. A moment later, he felt something leaving his slime body. A cooling wave went through Jonathan; the nasty gash that had taken out one of his eyes healed, as did his neck, which snapped back into place and felt better than ever.

[54 Biomass consumed]

Cracking his neck and flexing his fingers, Xen patted down the dust off the holy elf's white robes and stood up. He had to admit the experience of standing up on two legs felt very awkward compared to rolling around, but he was sure he would get used to it soon. Thinking back on the system messages, he had gained 2 new skills, well, not quite; one of them was an upgrade.

Looking left and right down the silent dungeon corridor, Xen confirmed no monsters were sneaking up on him. Closing his eyes, he murmured, "Status." A screen displaying golden letters appeared in his consciousness.

[Name: Xen]

[Level: 4 (F)]

[Race: Mind Slime (Rare Variant)]

[Current Form: Elf Male (Level 1)]

[Biomass: 25]

[Class: Shapeshifter (Unique)]

[Strength: 4 (+4)]

[Vitality: 4 (+2)]

[Agility: 4 (+5)]

[Resistance: 4 (+1)]

[Magic: 4 (+10)]

Mind Slime: Level 4 (F)

+1 Strength, +1 Vitality, +1 Agility, +1 Resistance, +1 Magic per level

< [Devour (S)] - [Appraisal (C)] - [Mana Vision (D)] >

Human: Level 2 (F)

+5 Strength, +2 Vitality, +3 Agility, +2 Resistance, +6 Magic per level

< [Multilingual (B)] >

Elf: Level: 1 (F)

+4 Strength, +2 Vitality, +5 Agility, +1 Resistance, +10 Magic per level

< [Multilingual (B)] - [Holy Smite (F)] >

Free Skill Slots:

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

To say that Xen almost recoiled in shock would be an understatement. He had been able to access this screen while being a level one mind slime, but it had only displayed around three lines of text, the meaning of which he hadn't been able to decipher. Now, the list was so extensive he didn't know where to start. Despite time being critical, he felt understanding his status would provide the most significant advantage, so he quickly scanned the list from the top.

The name section was straightforward. His level was four, matching the recent system notification after devouring Jonathan's brain. Intriguingly, there was an 'F' next to his level, written in the same font as the 'E' on the polished metal badge that had been in Jonathan's possession. Xen recalled the system mentioning bonus experience for defeating someone a few levels higher. Curious, he inquired the system about the meaning of the 'F' rank and was relieved it had the answer.

[Grades: SSS (200+), SS (150), S (100), A (80), B (50), C (25), D (10), E (5), F (0)]

Letters and numbers? How do they correlate? Xen mused and quickly managed to deduce their meanings. Being level four with an 'F' grade indicated that upon reaching level five, he should advance to an 'E' grade. This logic also implied that Sarah and Jonathan were within the level range of five to ten as they had been E grade Hunters.

Next on the list was his race, listed as 'Mind Slime (Rare Variant).' Hovering over this mentally brought up more information:

[Mind Slime: Rare Variant]

A rare variant of a Slime capable of devouring knowledge and shapeshifting into other beings. They often perish soon after birth or starve despite their intelligence.

Xen found the description somewhat demeaning but was more intrigued by another piece of information given to him by the system. As a dungeon mob, he knew monsters could evolve; it was a fact made clear to him from the start: if he defeated enough intruders, he would have the option to evolve within the dungeon and move down to the lower floors. What he didn't know was at what levels these evolutions occurred.

[Evolutions at levels: 10, 50, 100, 150, 200…]

Being only a level four Mind Slime yet already considered a rare variant, Xen was excited about his potential future evolutions. Then, a thought struck him: if he could shapeshift, shouldn't his other forms also be capable of evolving?

=Chapter 5: Spark=

[Evolutions for the different forms are available at the same level milestones. However, the evolution options will be basic but can be improved if Devour has been used on variants of that species]

As it turned out, the system had the answer for Xen. His other forms, such as Human and Elf, could indeed evolve at levels 10, 50, 100, 150, 200. With his human form being his highest level form at level 2, there were still 8 levels for him to go before he would be able to evolve one of his other forms. The system's mention of devouring of a variant was also important to keep in mind, as if he could get a rare variation in one of the earlier evolutions, it would help him further down the line when levels became harder and harder to acquire.

Putting that to the back of his mind, he moved on to the next part of his status screen.

[Current Form: Elf Male (Level 1)]

It simply detailed what his current form was, its level, and since he had taken over the body of Jonathan, he was indeed a level 1 Elven male. Concentrating on this section of his status screen highlighted a lower section:

Elf: Level: 1 (F)

+4 Strength, +2 Vitality, +5 Agility, +1 Resistance, +10 Magic per level

< [Multilingual (B)] - [Holy Smite (F)] >

When Xen had first unlocked his status screen, he had made a note of the fact that he only got +1 in each stat per level, so even if he could level up, he would still be far weaker than anything else on this floor, apart from his fellow slimes. In fact, just to match a level one elf, he would probably have needed to reach level 10 as a Mind Slime, judging by these stats shown.

The ability to shape shift and use the stats from other forms will definitely be my greatest edge over opponents, as the +1 I get in every stat because I'm a Mind Slime wearing a skinsuit will hardly make much of a difference past these very early levels, Xen mused to himself as his eyes drifted down to where his stats were laid out.

[Strength: 4 (+4)]

Sure enough, there was a +4 next to his strength in brackets, which showed the 4 stats he got for being level 4 as a slime were being combined with the 4 stats he got for taking on the Elf form for a total of 8.

“So why do I feel so much weaker than before?” Xen muttered as he flexed his arm. Squinting at his status screen, he soon discovered the answer with some quick arithmetic.

Human: Level 2 (F)

+5 Strength, +2 Vitality, +3 Agility, +2 Resistance, +6 Magic per level

"My human form is level 2 and gives 5 in strength for each level, so when I was inhabiting Joe’s body, I was actually up 10 strength compared to the measly 4 that I have while overtaking Jonathan's Elf body. No wonder I feel weaker; I'm down a whole six stats in strength."

This made Xen realize that he would need to make sure all of his forms had similar levels, as otherwise, one form would overshadow the others, and then he would lose his versatility, which was his greatest asset.

Xen’s eyes drifted over to the black fur wolves that lay dead on the cold stone floor of the dungeon. He had witnessed these killing machines ripping humans' limbs off as if they were made of sticks, but he had also seen humans punch them in the face, killing them instantly. One’s species and race played a significant role in determining the winner, but arguably for everyone, levels were the true king.

With that out of the way and on the topic of leveling up, now came the skills. His new B-grade Multilingual skill had come from fusing two C-grade language skills [Human Language (C)] and [Elvish Language (C)]. “I suppose I should test this one out,” Xen cleared his throat with an awkward cough and then began talking to the wall, quickly finding himself capable of switching between the human and elvish languages without issue, as if he had been born capable of speaking both fluently.

Arguably, other than Devour, which was an S-grade skill that had served him greatly thus far, this new multilingual skill was his greatest asset. He knew from his memories and own experiences that speech was a useful tool for forming coordinated groups and getting out of situations, such as the one he just had with Sarah. If he practiced and got better at convincing those on the surface that he was not a monster, he might be able to infiltrate their ranks and maybe even venture into other dungeons in search of more monstrous forms, but that would have to wait for now. Before he ate the wolves, he just wanted to quickly test his new holy smite skill that he got from devouring Jonathan.

[Holy Smite (F)]

You can conjure and fire a divine spark that scales with the skills grade your level. It has increased damage to evil aligned monsters and has a chance to stun the target.

“This should be rather powerful, since whenever I saw elves in a hunting party with humans, they usually took on the magic-based roles, which makes sense since they get 10 magic per level.” Xen raised his finger at the stone wall of the dungeon's corridor and, by gathering mana from his brain into his mouth, he said clearly, “Holy Smite.”

Golden lightning crackled between his fingers, and at a slight flick, the golden lightning sprung from his finger in what could be considered a glorified spark that lit up the corridor briefly and left a scorched mark on the stone. It was far showier than powerful but considering that a few moments ago he had been nothing but a slime, scarily approaching a battle, and now he was a blonde-haired elf hurling lightning, he was able to overlook the skill's pathetic firepower and marvel in its novelty. At least it had a chance to stun.

"If only I had some more magic power, maybe it would be even more impressive," Xen grumbled, but then had an idea. "Humans are quite similar to Elves, right? Couldn't I consume some biomass to turn into a human, which would then grant me plus 12 magical power, as that form is level 2?"

[You have insufficient biomass to take on the Human form]

"Not enough?" Xen knew he had 25 biomass, which should be enough to make his ears a little pointy, as externally he couldn't see much difference between humans and elves. "They're so similar, how could I not have enough? How much do I need?"

[120 Biomass is required to take on the Elf form]

"For what? Why?" Xen demanded, and the system provided an explanation.

[Humans and elves may appear similar, but they are genetically different in almost every way, which results in the elves having their mana core concentrated in their brains rather than their hearts like humans. They also have far longer lifespans and more prominent facial features.]

Xen had to admit he didn’t really notice the difference between the two-legged species' facial features, as it all kind of looked the same to him, much like these dungeon walls. They all looked similar from a distance, but since he had been hugging the cracks of these walls for most of his life, he knew without a doubt they were all unique.

“Bah, whatever, that steep cost is putting me off the idea,” Xen waved away the system prompts and turned his attention to the wolves. The only other thing in his status screen that he hadn't gone over were the free skill slots, but considering two of them were still empty, he would deal with that once he had finished eating these guys and retreating deeper into the dungeon.

Approaching the largest of the three wolves, which had been the one that stood the longest against Sarah, he couldn't help but feel bad for the poor thing; it was cut into two pieces, with its organs spilling out onto the floor in a puddle of blood. The thing had been brutally sliced in half, though it had deserved it, and he could hardly blame Sarah; this was a dungeon, a place of life and death. There was no mercy here, only the strong prevailed.

Finding an intact piece of its brain turned out to be too much of a task, so instead, his left arm split up into dozens of purple-tinted tendrils, and then Xen used Devour.

[Devour in process…]

It took a good few minutes before everything had been consumed on the system kicked into action.

[Devour Complete]

You gained 84 biomass.

You absorbed 15% of the Black fur wolf’s memories.

You have unlocked the [Wolf] form.

You acquired the following skills:

[Savage Bite (F)]

[Do you wish to take on the Wolf form?]

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And that is the end of the 7k words! Feedback appreciated :)