Mash walked through the hoard of items, momentarily forgetting about everything as Priscilla drew his attention to something interesting. It was an egg. One that was as big as his hand with an interesting pattern over the top of it. The mirage effect made it hard to understand what exactly he was looking at. It almost looked like the strange egg was cracked but it didn’t feel delicate. He couldn’t help but ask about the strange sight.

“What is it?”

Despite speaking aloud, he wanted a response from both Priscilla and Sarah. Priscilla had drawn his attention to the egg, so he assumed that she must have felt something from it. On the other hand, he hoped that Sarah would be willing to share what she knew. He would probably buy the egg regardless of what they said though. His desire to eat the egg was growing, if for nothing else than the chance at a new form.

Sarah kind of just phased into being across from Mash. She wasn’t actually there. His domain let him see the illusion for what it was. Despite this being the first time, she used a skill just to speak to someone, he waited patiently for her answer. The strange egg was far more interesting to him than her excessive caution. Her illusion was able to speak, and she explained what the egg was. Well, she shared what she knew about the egg.

“It was a d-d-d-dungeon reward. I-I-I don’t know. The a-a-adventure I got it off d-d-died. L-luckily, he m-made it out of the d-d-dungeon. F-f-for me, I m-mean.”

She definitely had more trouble when she talked to him, but she managed to get everything across. He was able to get the general meaning of her message. Was he getting used to her panicked words? Sadly, his understanding didn’t mean that she had more to share. She knew nothing about the item other than where it was from. There was an obvious contradiction in her story. She knew that the item was a dungeon reward, but claimed she got it off an adventurer outside of the dungeon. That didn’t make any sense, she shouldn’t know that it was a dungeon reward in that case. Deciding not to point it out, he listened to Priscilla’s input.

[It’s a beast egg. Even its egg holds mana and a large amount of it. You should gain something by consuming it.]

Mash was getting excited, Prsiclla’s words evoking his childish desire for something new. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling and he asked for a price. She shivered in response to his sudden smile, but he just kept at it.

“How much?”

Sarah froze, and the others also turned to see what he had found. They saw the egg on the table and could guess what his plan was. Jill was about to say something but was cut off as Sarah named a price. It seemed like she didn’t want to let Jill get involved with the sale. Jill had managed to get huge discounts on all the items that had been purchased thus far, and Sarah had grown tired of it.

“U-u-m 2500 g-gold.”

She said the number without stuttering, it was probably something she had practiced. He didn’t hesitate to open his storage space, and quickly grabbed the bag of gold coins from his storage space. He had enough gold to pay her for the egg. Thankfully his brother had forced him to take more gold with him. He seemed to believe that Mash would cause a problem and gave him enough gold to appease even a noble. That meant that Mash was currently in possession of 4000 gold coins. It was more than enough to pay for the mysterious egg. He tossed the bag over to the real Sarah. She was startled, surprised that he could find her so easily.

Without hesitation, he reached for the egg. The mirage had solidified into reality once they had paid for the item, and he bet the same thing would happen now. The egg was large enough that he had to use his whole hand to pick it up. As soon as he got his fingers around the egg, it became solid. It felt like coarse stone beneath his fingers. The cracks along the egg's surface were definitely a part of the egg’s design. Mash felt the mana and it was thick, and it smelled oddly sweet. He found himself salivating, and he had to swallow a few times to get back in control. As promised, he gave the others a small heads up. Well, he had Priscilla send a message to the others and gave Luke some extra details. Mash didn’t think he would need a healer, but it was better to be careful.

“Thank you.”

Sarah was watching him. She was curious to see what he was going to do with the egg. He felt her gaze on him and decided to thank her. There was no reason to be rude. After all, she had been the one to sell him such a nice gift. Her curiosity turned to horror, as Mash lifted the egg to his mouth. He took a bite, altering his teeth so that they would be strong enough to bite the egg. The egg was large, and he altered his face shape to fit the entire thing in his mouth. Mash slammed his mouth shut. It was difficult to do. The egg was harder than he expected it to be. He managed it though.

Sarah doubled over and vomited; the noise was too much for her. He wasn’t surprised and almost joined her. First, there had been a breaking noise as his teeth broke past the outer shell. It was followed by a soft squishing noise as he pierced what was within. The sound was not of biting into an egg, but into an animal. The sound of meat tearing was quickly accompanied by bones crunching. All of the noise echoed within his head, but he knew that some of the others could hear it too. That first bite had been disturbingly loud. Jill was close enough to hear and she joined Sarah in her disgust. She didn’t vomit but she raised her hands to cover her ears, and she blinked away. Red and Luke were spared some of the sounds, but it still wasn’t a pleasant sight.

Blood and slime drooped from his overfull mouth. He continued to chew, but it was hard. The sweet smell had been a complete lie. This was by far one of the most disgusting things he had ever eaten. It wasn’t the taste that bothered him. He couldn’t even really focus on the taste, as the awful textures danced across his tongue. It was a mix of slimy egg and meat, with small pieces of bone and shell. He really shouldn’t have popped the whole thing in his mouth, and he almost puked as something hard brushed against his throat. Priscilla grew wood over his mouth, forcing him to swallow the food.

[Don’t waste something so valuable.]

Her words felt hollow initially. The texture made him want to spit, but the wood was in the way. It forced him to rechew what was in his mouth. The second time around was even worse than the first. He felt it though, the sudden boost in his stats that was even greater than the pack leader. Whatever this creature was, it was strong. He bore with the texture and just started swallowing as much as he could. Even if it wasn’t properly chewed. Even if bits of egg and bone scratched his throat, he didn’t stop. Not until his mouth was empty. Once he succeeded, he started forming a lot of water. On top of letting the water fall on him, he held his mouth open to wash out the memory. He needed to forget about that awful texture.

He wanted to check his status, to try his new form. Instead of doing any of that, he sat down and took a few deep breaths. The experience wouldn’t leave his mouth. The water only helped deal with the leftovers, but it did nothing for the memory. The egg had been way more developed than he expected. He should’ve checked it first. There were people out there that raised powerful beasts to fight alongside them. No, that was never the plan. Mash already had Priscilla and didn’t really want to deal with more. Plus, gaining forms and stats were more valuable and provided a much more definite return. Even if the experience itself would haunt him, he was able to distract himself quite easily. He focused inward and figured out what exactly he had gained from the monster.

Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Chimeric Vagabond

Level: 108

Health: 3300 / 3300

Energy: 4400/ 4400

Fortitude: 330

Endurance: 210

Strength: 275

Agility: 275

Intelligence: 230

Wisdom: 110 → 120

Charisma: 100 → 110

Golden Body (Passive): Having stolen the techniques of another world, your body evolves beyond its old limitations. However, even this transformation is incomplete. Seek out the next Step and truly make this power your own.

Trial of the True Body: 22 → 25 / 100

Mash took a physical step back upon seeing the gains. He had eaten an egg, an unborn monster, and had gained 20 stats. Just what creature was it? Even his Trial of the True Body had progressed to 25. That was crazy. The improvements were unbelievable, and he couldn’t help but try out the form. It took a second to figure out what he was trying to do, but Priscilla helped a lot. She had noticed that Mash had gained a new affinity and was able to guide his transformation with that in mind. The improvements had already justified the cost, but he could tell that there was more.

He started the transformation, still not sure what the creature actually was. Fur grew all over his body, but it wasn’t dense like the wolves. It was smooth, silky, and long. If not for his clothing, he was sure that it would be swaying in the wind. His hair had turned to the fur and was doing exactly that. Even without a mirror, he could see himself in his domain, but he wasn’t able to understand things like color. So, he pulled out one of his mirrors to check what changes were happening to his face.

A few things surprised him immediately. His features had narrowed noticeably. It was like his whole head had been pulled as tight as possible. His cheeks sunk in a little, and his nose stuck out a little more. His eyes had changed slightly. Instead of the black that usually surrounded his pupils, it had become yellow. Well, he would consider it closer to gold than yellow, but it was enough for him to kind of identify the monster. It was probably a fox or wolf of some kind. He was leaning toward a fox as his body had become significantly slenderer. The stranger aspect was that he didn’t feel very different physically. His body had changed a lot, but he didn’t feel any faster or stronger.

[It only affected your magic.]

Mash nodded. He had assumed as much and tried to manipulate the energy in his body. He didn’t want to use any serious magic, so he simply tried moving the raw mana in the environment. He found that it came easier, almost as if the mana was responding to his mere thoughts. If that was the case, the form improved his control a lot. There was still something else to test. The new affinity. Priscilla always seemed to notice when his affinities improved or changed, though he didn’t know how exactly. It probably had something to do with the fact that she had mixed with his core. Mash asked her what the affinity was, he was eager to play with it.

[What is the affinity?]

[Heat and cold.]

She had chosen those words in particular. Mash assumed that it meant that it wasn’t simple fire and ice, and something more complex. He felt Priscilla send her affirmation, and he wondered what the difference was. That was something she wasn’t certain about, so he figured it was time to test it. Also, he should ask the others, as they were still in the process of watching him. Well, almost everyone was just watching him. Jill had teleported over and was touching his arms. He had been ignoring her thus far, but she looked like she wanted to say something.

“Can we shave you? This stuff feels better than silk.”

Mash's response was an empty stare. He did not care at all for the value of his fur. For that matter, he never considered what his forms could provide in a monetary sense. He wasn’t planning on changing that anytime soon either. He had a scathing retort in mind but didn’t get the chance to say it. Luke called out that the stew was finished, and Mash let his transformation slip away. He could test his new affinity after getting the disgusting feeling out of his mouth.