In the here and now...

I stared into the void, and to an outside observer, it would look like I was staring into the back left corner of the room, directly at the closet of the -former- assassin leader. But in contrast to foreign observers, Mary only looked at me neutrally, long since accustomed to the fact that I occasionally heard "the voice of the world", as she titled it. Because that was exactly the system messages that I constantly received for the inhabitants of this world.

The voice of the world was something extraordinary, and only kings, heroes, and exceptionally gifted or strong personalities had access to it, according to legends, and "heard" this voice. No one spoke about it, and if the myths and stories were to be believed, this so-called voice was perceived differently by everyone.

For myself, perhaps through my reincarnation, it showed itself in a system that looked very similar to my former world. Characters like on a monitor, some kind of game, or programming.

Mary still didn't know much about me, but I had enlightened her about some things, so that she knew why I acted the way I did, and why I stared into the air as I do now. I continued to refrain from my reincarnation itself, or knowledge that did not contribute to the matter at hand. My past was nobody's business, and I had spun a short but unremarkable story about my origin, in which I had slept for a very long time, and only recently awakened again in this world and in which I had become a stranger.

And so my companion obediently and all by himself rummaged and sorted through the possessions of the dead assassin branch leader, while I devoted myself to my "voice of the world."

*Mastery of poisons increased!

*Shadow Walk increased!

*Shadow Control increased!

*Shadow Manifestation increased!

*Lightning Step attained...

*Shocking Touch attained...

*Conductor gained...

*Conductor greatly enhanced by internal abilities!

*Lightning Creation gained by combination of internal abilities...

*Mana Veins fully developed and completely integrated!

*True Sight gained...

*True Sight fully integrated into the peripheral system!

Undoubtedly, this so-called "voice of the world" simply reminded me one-to-one of the commercials of VR and AR games, in which people could immerse themselves and experience strange worlds full of magic and medievalism, while leveling up and reinforcing and customizing their character as they saw fit.

My eyes wandered over the enhanced abilities I had gained by consuming and devouring all the assassins left in the Hideout, and all the new traits I had suddenly gained by combining old abilities.

My greatest growth had clearly been in the area of magic and gaining my own mana, when I had killed the first novice assassins in the forest who had been sent out in search of the missing young woman.

Of three young men, not the least less bad and brutal than the mayor's son, I had killed two painlessly and without hesitation, then devoured them before the eyes of the bound and gagged third boy. I did not even have to resort to torture, so eagerly had the remaining one told everything he knew when I had subtly advised him to do so if he did not want to be feasted alive. With the fresh and vivid images of his eaten buddies before his eyes, he had tremblingly told me all the information about the inner structure, at least as much as he knew and had been allowed to know within the organization itself so far.

And so I had also waited for the other fully trained assassins, killed them, devoured them, and of course nibbled on them beforehand. I was no longer human, and had certainly had no qualms about torturing these wretched worms to get information.

But to have to watch as I first feasted on their fingers from the hand, and then the hand and the whole arm? Or just bit into the leg and tore out large pieces of skin, flesh, bones and tendons, only to chew and swallow them with relish?

And so I didn't have to resort to conventional torture methods at all. Especially when I think about it, I was quite happy about it, because I had so no real knowledge of torture...

The surprise had overtaken me after devouring the second professional assassin, when I had suddenly felt a painful thrust in my entire body, curled up on the floor, when my entire interior boiled, glowed and hurt so much, as if strands of lava flowed through my veins.

And lo and behold, after a few minutes of unspeakable pain, the messages had reached me that I now possessed mana veins, and something like shadow mana along with skills had devoured and digested within me. And so, for the first time, besides my own supernatural abilities, I had possessed something like magic. Shadow magic, to be exact.

I could now, even if it was a bit awkward at first, control and manifest shadows, force them into the physical world and do things with them. Or jump from one shadow to the next without them having to be connected. Making weapons or armor out of them, strengthening my claws with them, or even combining my own abilities like poisons and more.

And the most interesting thing was when I started to test my transformation ability on my little Mary. I had made it clear to her beforehand that I had never done this before, and explained my idea to her. And she agreed without batting an eye.

When I changed and adapted her body and inner structure, partially implanted my own achievements in very being, she had writhed in pain and the tears had flowed in streams. But had she even made a single sound? No. She had clenched her teeth so hard that even blood was dripping from the corners of her mouth when I had finished the procedure.

And so she had trained with her new skills. Her eyes had shone wetly when I had told her what I had given her, what her body had become. And she had hugged me! Just like that, without warning, without saying anything before or after.

Hugged, briefly trembled, but continued quietly and silently without saying a sound. And then? Then she had started training! Days, weeks, and then months, while I also experimented further and explored the environment piece by piece and expanded the camp.

Mary, with her reinforced bones, unassuming but iron-hard skin, mana veins and shadow abilities, along with combat skills and resistances, exerted herself again and again, often collapsing on the spot in the courtyard of our home, and waking up the next morning in her own bed after I had carried her there.

And in between all that, while we ate our meals together, she told me everything she knew about this world, and what she thought I might have missed in the last hundreds of years. She didn't know much, but what she told me broadened my horizon immensely.

Mana, and with it magic, was so rare that only one in a hundred thousand inhabitants of this world was born with magical abilities. These could range from puny to legendary, and every little bit of magic was highly revered and immediately harnessed and used by kings and rulers.

And Mary? Had now simply been turned without much of a hurdle from a normal little girl, she didn't even know exactly how old she was, into a magic-slinging death machine. By me.

Without being very surprised, from this point on she had only worshipped her master even more and done everything that I didn't even ask for. She trained harder than most adults, took care of cleanliness and order, and assumed a kind of personal maid position at my side.

She had learned to cook, even if I took my meals fresh and just recently killed if possible, prepared herbal teas with different effects, and learned to use and process my toxins produced by me and secreted by my body. She cleaned, cleaned up, and was always immediately in the jump, as soon as I ordered something.

And so the months had gone by, and we had finally gone to the city after a long time of observation and preparation.

I, from shadow to shadow, and she dressed as an assassin with the stolen clothes of the young novices, adapted to her body. Of course, for the first time, I could have changed my form to that of a human man and thus entered the small town unnoticed, but I wanted to hold this back for a quieter time, when an eradication of the local assassin order was not imminent.

So we gathered information, observed, and waited. Until today, and struck.

And when I looked at the room here, then also very successful! A wicked chuckle came over my lips at the last inner thought, and Mary looked up briefly from the pile of jewelry and partly magical items that lay spread out in front of her in various sorted piles.

An understanding flitted across her face, and her eyes shone briefly. She turned back to her previous task and returned to her part.

A few hours later, we were sitting together in a large, expensively furnished hall at a long wooden table. I was sitting in the biggest chair with a much too large backrest, probably imitating a throne, and Mary was sitting at my side. We had food in front of us, which she had cooked and thrown together for us in the kitchen of the order.

Even though I did not feel *HUNGER*, since I had devoured dozens of bodies only a few hours ago, I still enjoyed the various flavors that Mary had gathered for me and had prepared successfully again this time.

The spoils and everything valuable, from books, expensive jewelry, magical items, weapons, armor, and much more, were well stowed in two spatial artifacts.

An amulet, masterfully crafted after a black crow feather, dangled around my neck, and within it almost all the valuable and useful items we had found and gathered.

Meanwhile, an inconspicuous and almost black ring glittered on Mary's ring finger, exactly the same ring that the assassin leader had once worn, and in it some weapons, armor and useful items that my young blood slave could put to good use in battles and missions. And of course some coins and jewelry.

Due to the shadow manipulation of the assassins, we had had no problems finding even the best secret stashes and safes, and had completely emptied the entire hideout.

"...And then, after leaving a few friendly surprises for the next visitors, we will lock up this place for the time being and go home. I need to look at all the books. And also, the bastard's young mirror companion had interesting lightning abilities, which I'll pass on to you. We should look into those as well." I just finished my explanation, as we had been talking in a purely businesslike way during the meal about our yield and mission, and I had Mary referee what she had to improve about herself in order not to repeat something like with the guildmaster of the assassins in the fight again.

She just nodded and returned a simple neutral, "Yes, master," while sticking her fork in her mouth and chewing on a piece of steak. Looking at her like this, you would not recognize her in any way as the small, scrawny and almost starving girl that I had made my companion a few months ago. She sat upright, devouring the expensive food without emotion, rosy cheeks, bright and healthy hair, and a look on her face that shone with hardness and determination. The complete opposite of the young girl of that time.

When we were done with our meal, I walked through the hall and the kitchen, boredly touching any objects that were left, stowing away any furniture, kitchen utensils, and anything that wasn't nailed down.

The hideout was swept clean, not a single object was left behind, and only some modified traps at the entrance with special poisonous surprises we left behind, and closed the cellar vault in the back room of the house on the surface, which served as a facade for the entrance to the shelter.

My spatial necklace weighed heavily around my neck, since this amulet offered many times more storage space than the small inconspicuous ring on Mary's finger, but at the same time only reduced the weight of the objects and items stored in it by just under 80%, and did not completely lift it like the ring did. I knew all this from my new skill, True sight, which I had acquired by assimilating the new and old skills, and could tell me about objects and their properties with a glance if I wished. Or even the strength of other creatures compared to my own.

With a final click, the heavy, magically reinforced latch inside clicked into place and we marched away, me disappearing into the shadows with a single step, and Mary with the black hood pulled deep into her face.

On the way out of the small town, finally back towards my, no our, home, I looked at my overview again as I swam through the shadows.

Devourer - Progenitor of evolution

Age: 13 months

Height: 307 cm

Mastered genes:

Living wood, fairy, lava worm, mole, bat, wolf, goat, treant, boar, rabbit, human, magical hummingbird, shadow mana, lightning mana

Acquired skills:

Shapeshifting(S), Transform(S), Sword Fighting(A), Dagger Fighting(S), Night Vision(S), Mana Sight(A), Poisons(SSS), Reading(A), Human Tongue(A), Shadow Walk(A), Shadow Control(A), Shadow Manifestation(A), Lightning Step(B), Shocking Touch(B), Conductor(S), Lightning Creation(A), Mana Veins(SSS), True Sight(S)

Resistances:

Physical(S), Magical(S), Fire(S), Lava(S), Water(C), Ice(D), Earth(B), Illusion(A), Blood(A), Poisons(S), Lightning(A), Shadow(S)