Several skills arrayed before me, each with their own ridiculous price tag.

I could already feel the dent forming in my wallet as I looked, so I focused on the cheapest ones first.

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[Paralysis Venom]: A potent poison that causes paralysis.

Effect: Imbues the user's attacks with a toxin that renders its victim's immobile for 10 minutes. Subsequent level increments increase the effectiveness of this toxin while prolonging its duration.

Limit: [Paralysis Venom] will not affect those with a [Paralysis Resistance] of the same level or above.

Price: [400XP]

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It was interesting but I'd already seen it before, so I wasn't that excited.

Next to it was another skill I was more curious about.

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[Infernal Miasma]: A oppressive smog of deadly poison.

Effect: Once active it will harm any living creature within a 10 meters radius of the user's vicinity.

Limit: [Infernal Miasma] will not be as effective on those with a [Poison Resistance] above LV8.

Price: [1500XP]

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Now, this one was scary.

10 metres was quite a distance and a [Poison Resistance] at LV8 was difficult to achieve, so that wasn't much of a hindrance. If I were to move somewhere densely populated while using this skill, like say, the Nymph's forest, I wondered just how many of the tree spirits would survive.

It was too scary! Without something like [Detox] they'd all be damned.

But it didn't end there.

Below [Infernal Miasma] were several skills that made me suck in my breath.

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[Bloodlust]: A skill that forces the user into a state of uncontrollable anger and, or excitement.

Effect: Allows the user to utilise the full extent of their abilities without pain or exhaustion for 2 minutes. Subsequent level increments will increase the skill's duration.

Limit: Once activated, this skill cannot be used for another 60 minutes.

Price: [1000XP]

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Hmm...

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[Dark Wave]: An outpouring of dark magic that creates a protective barrier around the user.

Effect: Once active, everything within a 20 meter radius of the user will be devoured.

Limit: Activating this skill for more than a minute will consume 50% of the user's mana.

Price: [2500XP]

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Another scary one had appeared!

I couldn't possibly eat everything within 20 metres, and when they were devoured, where did they go? This one made me more confused than anything.

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[Mind's Eye]: Allows the user to perceive things and actions beyond normal sensory contact.

Effect: It grants the user enhanced precognition and foresight, to better understand the weaknesses of others.

Limit: Before this skill, everything unknown will be revealed, but it will also cause strain from an overload of information.

Price: [2000XP]

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Sigh...this one was interesting, but I was sure using it would give me a headache.

But the scariest skill of all was this one.

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[Legacy]: Grants the user the ability to transfer skills to a member of the [Pit].

Effect: The Captains chosen by their Commander can be granted any skill from the [Rebirth System].

Limit: If any given skill is rescinded for any reason, that captain would no longer be eligible to use [Legacy] skills from thereon after.

Price: [5000XP]

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It was a way around the exclusivity of the [Rebirth System], by extending its effect to those that I chose.

My first thought was Typhon and Ophelia. If they could have access to some of my skills, just how much more powerful would they become?

Yet, I didn't know how to feel about this.

Would I have to possess the skills before I could give it away? Or did that not matter?

I was shocked that Sensei would allow such a thing considering how little he thought of my nestlings.

Maybe a few of the brilliant ones had gained his approval after all. So to say I was pleased was an understatement.

And then there was another curious skill.

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[Captain's Mark] Grants the user the ability to track any member of the [Pit].

Effect: It allows the Commander to see the stats of the Captains and other specific entities under their command, even when not in range.

Limit: None.

Price: [500XP]

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With this one, I completely understood why Sensei put it here. I already had a hard time keeping track of my few nestlings, so it would be extremely beneficial now that there were over [5000] pit members.

But I couldn't shake off the feeling that this was a measure he'd placed to prevent me from exploiting the nestling's movements around the [Labyrinth's Atlas] more than I already had.

The sly fox!

Lastly, there was the skill I was looking forward to the most.

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[Glossary of Aeon]: A collection of every language on Aeon.

Effect: Imbues the user with an understanding of spoken languages, of every species, both common and ancient, alongside written texts.

Limit: The user can only retain 20 languages at a time.

Price: [3000XP]

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To be able to understand any language, read any symbol or text – this was too amazing!

The only drawback was the price of this skill.

And to think Sensei called me stingy.

I still had a lot to consider before making a choice from all of these dangerous skills available, but at present I was interested in [Dark Wave] and [Mind's Eye].

Currently my total XP was [6715] after another kill alert, yet they weren't enough for any of these overpriced items and skills.

However, this was the least of my concerns.

As I weighed my options, a ravenous growl emerged from my stomach which made Sensei burst into laughter.

"Stop laughing!" I grumbled.

Levelling up several times in the span of four minutes left me extremely hungry. I vaguely remembered eating something in Sylrin's cave, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

Peering through the crack at the creatures lurking outside, I quickly struck out to pull one in. The creature was nimble and small, but I was able to kill it swiftly before swallowing it in a single gulp.

But when the system dinged, it came with a strange message.

〚Specimen is corrupted. Biomass can't be utilised.〛

Hmm.

Yes it tasted a little gross, but it wasn't completely charred like the spider, so I didn't understand why I got such a message.

I snagged another of the creatures to eat to see if it would be different, but nothing changed.

I was wondering what was wrong with these creatures when my eyes were drawn to the dark rods I discarded prior.

The shadow creature was certainly interesting. Its offshoots were yet to disappear even after some time had passed and I wasn't satisfied until I learned how to create several of my own.

But what was its secret?

When I moved closer to the rods, I detected a faint trembling like they were itching to implant themselves in my flesh once more and I regarded them with caution. However before long, one of the rods cracked, its fragments disintegrated to nothing before my eyes.

Curious.

Strangely, they reminded me of the creatures on the alcove that continued to move even with heinous injuries. It was only when they were broken down with nothing to draw on, that they were completely destroyed, which made me even more curious about the shadow creature.

I wondered what would happen if I broke the rods, so I generated a small darkness blade. However, as soon as it got close, the rods began to grow even longer while my dark blade shrank in size, like it was being drained!

Eventually both rods were broken in half, and I watched them disintegrate to nothing.

That foul shadow monster! What kind of darkness skill was this?

To create something solid out of nothing and to travel across distances through its shadow. Compared to it, I was a total noob!

How could I be content with being this basic?

I quickly made up my mind.

What I needed now was to strengthen my offensive skills, so I quickly purchased [Dark Wave] and [Mind's Eye], spending a total of [4500] XP in one go. It was painful, but worth it if my combat power increased even by a little.

As for the shadow creature, it was far too fascinating to let go.

I thought its actions were too strange – It was clearly powerful, yet it didn't reveal its true strength until I killed nearly all the other creatures, and chose to attack with a weapon first.

The same thing happened with me and Sylrin. I was certain it was behind the first wave of creature attacks.

But, however persistent those creatures were – they were still weak.

Why send them when it could deal with us much more efficiently?

If not that we were distracted by the elves, Sylrin and I wouldn't have been pushed to such a disadvantage either.

It felt like the shadow creature had purposely worn us down before it could make its appearance.

Perhaps, its original intention was to capture us? And then turn into those undying creatures.

Hmm...what an interesting monster.

Would it be strange for me to want to meet it again?

«What ominous things are you considering?» Sensei asked.

"Ahh, nothing much."

I simply wanted its head, and maybe that scythe too. It looked cool.

And then, a crazy thought struck me.

Only through studying it, would I be able to learn its abilities – perhaps it was worth encountering it again!

I snagged another winged creature from outside, eating my fill until my hunger completely vanished.

The few creatures left behind soon began to notice their numbers dwindling and they sped away from my hiding place in fear.

I saw this as my queue to move and took off after them, confident the creatures would lead me back to the shadow.