"Well? Did you get stronger again?"

"Huh? Oh, forgot that you were here, Fuo. Yup, I got some new tricks up my sleeve."

​​

"I'm starting to regret tagging along with you...well, not that staying in the Rustlands was an option," She sighed irritably.

Yeah, maybe I'll cool it a bit with the teasing, it's fun but I don't want to annoy her too much...a moderate amount is good enough. Anyway, I was pretty giddy over these new abilities, they should definitely give me an edge...and more importantly, it was also helping me stay distracted from this whole situation...

If I leave my thoughts unoccupied, I find myself overthinking this whole situation, which led to thinking about negative and unpleasant possibilities...I need to stay constantly active, especially mentally, or I'll lose my mind. Because even now, my imposter is living my life, pretending to be me...

No, stop, I can't let myself think about it, it won't change anything. Yeah, worrying about it won't make even the slightest difference. I need to focus on getting stronger as fast as possible, so that I can guarantee that I can kill Shiro by the time I return.

"Hey, your bone...how did you...?"

"My Healing Factor improved. Heh, I guess you could say that...I boned him," I replied with a laugh.

She stared at me with an unimpressed look before rolling her eyes...hmph, whatever, that was comedy gold, she has no sense of humor.

"...you're an idiot," She sighed, as she picked up my sword-shaped bone and tapped on it, "Woah, this feels really dense...are all your bones like this?"

"Nah, I used my Healing Factor to increase the density."

"If your entire skeleton was like that, it'd be pretty hard to stab through you, huh?"

"..."

"What...why are you staring at me like th-?"

"Fuo, you're a genius! Yes, that's brilliant...I can increase the density of my entire skeleton...oh, and I can form a shell of hardened bone around my heart too...probably can't do that with my neck since I won't be able to move it if I do that, but I can also harden my skull..."

"Wait, are your heart and neck your weak points then?"

...oh, crap, I forgot that I had only told Persia and the other three about that weakness. Well, some others might have also figured it out since during the first Brawl of Glory, I got teleported out by the safety barrier when Misen almost stabbed my heart.

"Yeah, I guess. I never claimed to be immortal or invulnerable. Plus calling it a weakness is kind of a stretch, I mean, who wouldn't die if they got stabbed through the heart or decapitated? Well, for now, I'll put up the protective shell around my heart, harden my skeleton and then, let's head back out. We'll rest up and then continue on using the Stealth barrier to the savanna, where we'll hunt down the next target, the Were King."

"What? Can't we rest right now? I'm so tired...," She groaned, wiping off a bead of sweat from her forehead.

"I thought you said you wouldn't slow me down?" I replied with a raised eyebrow, "Well, whatever, I guess I can rest now if you really can't move."

"You're such a...! Grr, fine, let's go."

Heh, she's so easy.

"Come on now, don't sulk, think of this as endurance training."

"Whatever, asshole."

We then headed back out the way we came in, moving a lot faster this time around since I didn't have to keep stopping to use Earth Magic. When we finally made it back outside, Fuo collapsed onto the ground, struggling to catch her breath and sweating profusely.

"Here, have some cold water. I can't use Ice Magic, but I can make my water fairly cold. You can make ice cubes if it's not cold enough," I said, filling a cup with my Water Magic and handed it to her.

She swiped it from me with a huff, before chugging it down thirstily, letting out a tired sigh of relief.

"It's unfair...you can make more water than I can. Ugh, so tired...I think...I'll go to sleep...," She panted, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn.

"Cool, we'll rest for about five hours, so get some sleep. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go try out my new powers."

I especially wanted to try the spider webs, maybe I can swing around like Spider-Man! I don't think I'll use the frog tongue, I don't want to get dirt on my tongue. And wow, my vision was absolutely incredible right now...I could see so clearly that it was almost scary, it's like my eyesight before had been 480p and my eyesight now was 4K. Oh, I can also test out how powerful the frog venom is.

Hehe...this is exciting, I felt like a kid who was about to play with his cool brand new toys. I headed over to a cave as Fuo rested inside the first opening I created, fast asleep. Good, this cave has a fairly high ceiling, I can try out the web-slinging here...

.

.

.

.

.

Huh, this is harder than I thought it'd be, this web is more sticky than elastic, and it's really difficult to break, it's great for restraining an opponent since it's really hard to get off, but sadly, it's not flexible enough to swing properly with, a regular rope would be more effective. And now that I think about it, since I can fly and move at beyond superhuman speeds, I don't really need a web-slinging ability...oh, well, moving on.

My new eyesight combined with the night vision from the Goblin King made for pretty easy navigation, it's seriously insane how good these eyes are. And the venom is strong enough to melt about an inch of rock with a single burst, if I fired out a continuous stream I could probably melt a deep hole into the ground. And that's exactly what I did, because why not, right? I guess it's more like acid than venom.

My physical strength has gotten a significant boost too, I can do some decent damage with my bare fists even in my normal state now. Yeah, this was definitely worth the trouble, I hope that the other kings I go after give me equally useful powers. Alright, then, I think I'll go get some rest now too. I need to recover my Mana anyway...

...

...

About four hours later, we continued moving. We used a Stealth barrier and soon made it out of the rocky area. From there, we headed northwest towards the savanna. We kept moving till midnight, after which Fuo was worn out again and couldn't see in the dark. Hah, people with normal eyesight are so last year.

"How have you barely even broken a sweat?" She inquired in a fatigued tone, while yawning.

"Well, I guess I do have an above-average level of stamina," I replied with a shrug.

"That's putting it lightly. You know, it's been close to two weeks since Shiro showed up, and I still haven't quite wrapped my head around this...my memory and reality not matching up is still really disconcerting."

"Yeah, I bet. Well, not to worry, everyone's memories will be restored to normal after I kill Shiro. My one advantage is that he has no idea where I am right now, but I know for almost certain that he'll remain in the Rustlands, he won't be dumb enough to blindly search for me, he does have my intellect, after all."

"I feel like you weren't always this boastful..."

"Well, yeah, back when I was weaker, I didn't show off or anything because it'd be super embarrassing if I got defeated after boasting. But now...I'm totally unstoppable."

"Wow, that's some humility," She remarked sarcastically, "Though I suppose your self-confidence is far from unfounded. I feel pretty frightened during our sparring sessions, even I wouldn't be crazy enough to fight you for real."

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on, back up a sec...you're actually aware that you're crazy?"

"...I hate you."

...

...

The next morning, we woke up around 7 AM and after having some breakfast, canned food to be specific, we made our way to the savanna. There were some Adventurers and merchants roaming around here, since this area had some pretty valuable resources, like meat and wild herbs.

I spotted Einn too...he'd moved here since, like most of the other former Goldway residents, he wasn't happy about the fact that we'd let former members of The Valaque Empire become citizens in the Rustlands. Anyway, as we made our way through the savanna, we soon deactivated the Stealth barrier once no one else was in sight. As Lazarus directed us, I realized that I didn't know much about the Were King, only his location and the monsters he ruled over...

Hey, Lazarus, tell me about the Were King, is he any good? How does he compare to the Goblin and Giant Kings?

"The Were King, Kanine....well, he's among the weaker kings, probably stronger than Bolg, the Goblin King, but far below Titan, the Giant King. He only rules over two monster types, Werewolves and Werehyenas. Both those monster types are very similar to each other, the only differences are that the former are stronger and can use their howls as a weapon, while the latter are more agile and faster. Since you didn't need to use Vampire God Mode against Titan, you will definitely not need it against Kanine. Even Karma Mode may be enough."

Hunting down these kings should be easier than I thought. Even if there's one that's as strong as or stronger than you were, it wouldn't matter so long as they don't have the same regenerative capabilities.

"True, the healing prowess of Vampires is a major factor in their overall might. Titan was strong enough to match most Vampires in terms of raw power, but since he cannot heal himself, he would likely lose against most of the stronger Vampires."

Getting back to the matter of the Were King...from what you've told me, at best, I'll probably get a minor speed and strength boost, and a howling ability, right?

"Based on the results of consuming the life forces of the previous two kings that you hunted down...yes, that's a fair assessment. Oh, don't forget about the ability to summon Werehyenas and Werewolves."

Yeah...I don't think I want those powers that much, they sound pretty minor. After all, I still have the Reptile King to hunt down, and you said that he's pretty powerful, right?

"Yes, he is...very powerful."

In that case...

"Hey, Fuo, you can fight the next king, if you win, I'll transfer his life force into you. What do you say?"

"Huh? Wait, what? D-do you really mean that?" She stuttered, her eyes lighting up.

That reaction...it was actually kinda cute, especially since it was so drastically different from her usual tone...

"Come on, you may be fun to mess with, but even I wouldn't be that cruel. So, do you want it or not?"

"Yes! I'll do it, I'll fight him and win, and then...I-I'll get stronger," She declared, saying the last part more to herself than to me, an excited look on her face.

She sure is obsessed with power, huh?

"We're close now, Kuro. What do you see around you?" Inquired Lazarus.

Nothing much, there's a herd of antelope over there...ooh, there's a cheetah-...huh, it ran away as soon as I made eye contact...did it's instincts tell it that I'm higher on the food chain? Cool! Oh, it's going after the antelope now...look at the way it's crouching and sneaking towards them all silent and stealthy, it's getting ready to pounce...

"Ahem."

Oh, right...sorry, got distracted. Uh, let's see...there's a river right in front of me, there's definitely some crocodiles and alligators in there...looks like they won't be approaching me though.

"What's the distance between yourself and the river?"

About...twenty meters now, I'd say.

"The Were King's location...is about a hundred meters below the river."

Underground, huh? What's with these kings and hiding in places that could collapse in on them? Well, whatever, I'll use my acid venom to drill a hole straight down.

"What are you doing?" Inquired Fuo, as I entered Vampire Mode and flew up...the moment I did, all the wild animals in sight either hid or fled.

"Just making a hole. Stay clear if you don't want your skin to melt off," I warned, before blasting out a stream of venom down at the ground from my mouth, at a slight angle.

The ground rapidly melted and sunk in, as my venom burrowed down deeper and deeper with every passing second. Producing this venom cost stamina instead of Mana, so I had to keep a close eye on my physical condition to ensure that I wasn't burning through too much stamina.

Still, at the rate that my venom is melting through, I should reach the hundred meter mark soon. Right on cue, I suddenly felt no resistance against my jet stream of venom, which could only mean that I had made it through to an underground space. Perfect, since I fired my venom at a slight angle, we can just slide down the hole.

"Ladies first."

"Um...the sides of this hole are coating with that venom, won't it melt my skin?" She asked skeptically.

"Yeah, good point...," I replied, before firing a blast of water into the hole, "There, problem solved. If you get any acid burns, I'll heal you, so don't worry."

"Fine, I'm going in," She sighed, reluctantly putting her legs in and sitting at the edge of the hole, staring down into the darkness hesitantly as she activated her Light Crystal.

"Come on, we don't have all day," I remarked, giving her back a push with my foot.

"Wha-...n-no, wait, you dick...!!!"

I guess I could stay up here and wait for her, but...if she takes a while, then I'll be bored waiting...and besides, I'm curious to see how she does with my own eyes. And so, I slid down the hole after her...hey, this is really fun, I've never actually been on a slide before, I wasn't exactly the type of kid who hung out at playgrounds, after all.

I reached the bottom in no time, the end of the hole leading into the ceiling of an underground space. That was fun, I wanna go again-...suddenly, I froze, as I took in the unexpected sight that was right in front of my face...

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