Bring on the Leisure! (Chapter 2) (Patreon)

Ehhh...

ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/98777693

Seeing the constructed environment, and considering the likely creation mythology of an unnatural Chimera Core, I could basically deduce the situation. Just to be sure, I oozed toward what I could now see was the head of a rotten rat corpse.

It was almost sickening to see my lavender body flowing across its skull. I had to make an extremely skinny tentacle and wiggle it through its ear like some brain-devouring alien. I felt a flash of amusement at the image, followed by a jello tremble of fear; why did these evil actions bring me joy?! But among the many notifications, I picked out the one that I wanted. I selected yes.

You have integrated the slightly damaged cochlea of the Chubby Rat Lvl 1! Your Stat (Temp) Sight has transformed into (Temp) Perception! Slightly Damaged Cochlea of the Chubby Rat provides Perception +1.

The cochlea, for whatever reason, only required a single Anima to integrate into my body. Which was lucky, because I didn’t want to give up my last two Anima, in case I needed to throw another Chimera Core against the cage walls to kill it. And in exchange for that single point of Anima, I began to hear.

A gruff voice spoke. “-touched the Mana cage. And now… it integrated an eyeball. What a weirdo.”

A whiny voice said. “Should we eliminate it?”

Even as I felt a chill realizing they spoke about me, a cool and commanding voice silenced the other two. “What does it matter? Unusual outcomes are at least a sign that our experiments are a success.”

The whiny voice replied. “Still, to see so much necrotic energy wasted like this…”

“Irrelevant. Upon failure, we can just extract the wasted essence. Anyway, I need to meet with the Dark Overseer. Proceed to the next portion of the experiment. Do not slacken your vigilance for even a second.”

I felt a large rumbling in the ground as one of the looming shadows departed. My body, which I believed was the size of a hacky sack, felt truly small in comparison to a human. Meanwhile, four new passages opened out of the massive chamber.

Very quickly, another change became obvious. That restless green Chimera Core that had kept causing those beams to shoot down continued its ping-ponging movements, but no longer were its advances stopped; the watchers had ceased limiting our movements. I watched as it realized this fact and made a beeline for the nearest fellow ooze. This curious Chimera Core appeared to have absorbed at least half of a rat’s ribcage and had several bones just floating in its middle and also possessed a rat’s tail. The color of its ooze was green.

Ribs and tail… oh, other body parts probably give different Stats…

The green Chimera Core had apparently discovered the same hardening method because it prodded the target Chimera Core in a non-threatening manner. However, the other did not possess the same friendly disposition. It produced several tentacles and waved them threateningly. One of the tentacles ended in a partially decomposed rat paw, which slashed the air.

Taking the hint, the other Chimera Core moved on to the next, which possessed an indigo color. Once more it began to feel up its fellows with a toughened tentacle. Here was where the situation turned extremely strange. First, the new target didn’t seem to mind at all. Second, when it was touched by the Curious Chimera Core, it poked back, also with a hardened, non-threatening tentacle. But thirdly, and most importantly-

At almost the same time, the two patted down their oozy bodies until their tentacles arrived at, almost simultaneously-

Unbelievable, I quivered in disbelief. Both idiots took a rat tail.

And when they gripped each others' rat tails, they both very clearly seemed pleased. The two oozes, green and indigo, danced around in a small circle with tail-wagging glee (were they golden retrievers?). Then they proceeded together toward the next closest Chimera Core— which was me.

Ahem, considering this development… I quivered. I produced a long hardened tentacle that stretched out from my bottom. It’s a bit rude to deceive… but who doesn’t twist themselves into pretzels in social situations so people like them?

Let’s not overthink it. Didn’t that get me killed in my last life?

The two approached, patted me down, and then reached for my tail. They found the fake appendage and both squeezed it. I felt the pressure and a very strange thought came to me; when was the last time I had been touched? Even in my past life. The hugs at the funeral didn’t count; I had been too numb to feel anything. Before that, it had been a while since I had hung out with friends, and at least a year since I had been on any sort of date that wasn’t characterized by awkward silence.

I felt nervous for a lot of reasons as they squeezed again and considered me; so nervous I couldn’t even crack a joke. A beat of silence passed. My feelings twisted, my leisurely mindset quickly vanishing. Weirdly, I felt panicked and exposed. Almost instinctively, I reached for the machine-

They jiggled their bodies in triumph at finding another tailed being. Even through touch, I could feel their revelry rubbing off on me, encouraging me. The anxiety fell away, massaged into submission by their pure joy.

I joined them, losing myself in the simple pleasure of my body. Truly and completely, for the first time in I didn’t know how long, I relaxed.

Honestly, being jello has its perks. As expected, I am a born natural at being leisurely! Let’s try and keep it light from now on, shall we?

“What the fuck?”

“I’m not sure…”

The watching humans didn’t seem to appreciate our newfound friendship. Instead, they began conjuring beams of what was probably Mana. Not directly at our positions, but nearby to two other Chimera Cores. With those beams, they herded two together into one of the opened passages.

A resolve formed in my heart, watching the actions of the humans. Not wanting to be separated from these two companions, foolish as they seemed to be, I used my two possible tentacles to grab their rat tails and began to lead them toward another one of the openings. The two followed along, surprisingly docile.

Despite the warm afterglow of this sudden companionship, I felt a part of me twitching in exasperation. Do you think we are out for a parade? Hah, well, their innocence can be considered quite cute-

My eyeball pivoted around to examine my companions, reevaluating the moniker of ‘cute’. This guy…

Floating in the indigo ooze was a completely intact rat head. Its jaw mechanically opened and closed, suspended within its ooze body. The rat eyes were glassy and sightless. I shivered. At the very least, I could use them as a distraction if there is danger waiting down these tunnels… but what is this? Could I have been infected by their foolishness? Why does the rotten rat head seem more cute the longer I watch it…

Ah, this is how one loses one’s humanity.

I didn’t think too deeply about my preferences at the moment; after all, I had resolved to live a free life filled with leisure. Now that I had found friends, I could see a way forward. This path would lead me far away from my dark room, hunched over a computer. Being tickled a bit by rat corpse heads… well, no, shit, this was quite the disturbing problem…

“Three going down the tunnel is a bit…” The whiny voice said.

The gruff shadow rippled as he shrugged. “Does it matter? Racain will be pleased if more survive to the next stage.”

So we were ignored as we departed into the next area. I wondered what threats we would soon face. My companions produced tentacles and poked each other and me, endlessly curious about our bodies. I had apparently chosen handsy companions. I tried not to think about how much time had passed since the last time I had been touched, as a human.

We soon reached the next chamber and inside lay a bleeding rat. More than bleeding, all four of its legs had been severed.

My instincts perked up.

The instincts of Green and Indigo agreed.

Indeed. For Eternal Glory!

We all shivered. Because the hunger had returned. I was worried whether we would be able to work together, but we didn’t arouse the hunger in each other as this thing did in us. We moved as one to devour it.

…which wasn’t difficult in the least. Perhaps the other two didn’t realize, but this rat had clearly been left here purposefully. The humans wanted us to grow for whatever experiments they had planned.

Truly, an ominous situation to be in, but the pleasure of eating was overwhelming.

My instincts reprimanded me: Stop being such a downer. Drain its fading life and revel!

Ah, when I decided to keep it light and leisurely, I’m not sure this was my intention… Ah well. When in a rome-cage~

My body oozed over one of the bleeding legs and began to happily drain energy from the rat, per my instincts.

You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +1.

You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +1.

Your Skill Absorb Anima has grown to Level 2.

You have assisted in slaying a Lvl 4 Lazy Rat!

You have Leveled Up! Health +2, Anima +1.

You have successfully Absorbed Anima! Anima +1.

I busily devoured the blood of the helpless rodent while my companions did the same. When its struggles ceased, we all could sense the shift; suddenly, sucking down its blood provided no nourishment. Our Anima ceased increasing. Disappointed, we shifted around the corpse… and then those two’s strange fetishes appeared. While the green Chimera Core went to the back of the dead, the indigo went to the front.

They might move thoughtlessly, but I was a sophisticated isekai connoisseur. Efficiency and planning were the name of the game. First, I consulted my Status Screen.

Name: Tallum Frost (Awakened)

Species: Chimera Core

Level: 3

Health: 8/14

Anima: 6

Integrated Body Parts: [Left Eye of the Chubby Rat- Perception+2][Slightly Damaged Cochlea of the Chubby Rat- Perception +1]

Stats: (Temp) Perception: 3

Skills: (Species) Absorb Anima Lvl 2, (Species) Integrate Body Part Lvl 1

I had six Anima entering the meeting ground of the Chimera Cores and then spent four to get the eye and the cochlea. After drinking the blood of this rat and Leveling up, I had gained four more to arrive back at six. I created six tentacles and undulated them provocatively, watching my lavender body jiggle. Truly, too amusing.

Ahem, ahem. This was also my opportunity to experiment with the nature of Anima.

To be safe, I created a semi-permanent ‘tail’ tentacle, so my companions wouldn’t turn on me. I couldn’t spend that last Anima, no matter what. Then I oozed through the body, checking out different body parts I could integrate. The obvious choice was a rat paw, but those had all been removed. Rat skin might provide some protection… but I felt dubious that it would be worth much. Instead, I poked around in the chest cavity for internal organs.

Would you like to integrate the weak heart of Lazy Rat Lvl 4?

It’s heart is weak?! Well, it would be quite strange if a lazy animal developed a strong heart… Still, I decided to pull the heart into my body. It might gain nothing, but it might also provide some sort of (Temp) Stat. I didn’t love the tag of Temp, but at the very least, it would boost my current capabilities.

Integration requires 5 Anima. Continue?

That stopped me dead. I didn’t expect this universe’s System to play hardball so quickly! Lunging right at my bottom line. With only my six current Anima, five would mean all i would have left is my tentacle tail. And the moniker of weak…

I set the heart aside. I didn’t appreciate the tactics of this used-heart salesman and I wasn’t in a rush.  My oozing and jiggling continued until I found a lung.

Would you like to integrate the right lung of Lazy Rat Lvl 4?

Integration requires 2 Anima. Continue?

Much more reasonable. I’m sure this won’t be lemon-y at all! Down the hatch.

You have integrated the left lung of the Lazy Rat Lvl 4! You have unlocked Stat (Temp) Recovery. Left Lung of the Lazy Rat provides Recovery +2.

Name: Tallum Frost (Awakened)

Species: Chimera Core

Level: 3

Health: 8/14

Anima: 4

Integrated Body Parts: [Left Eye of the Chubby Rat- Perception+2][Slightly Damaged Cochlea of the Chubby Rat- Perception +1][Left Lung of the Lazy Rat- Recovery +2]

Stats: (Temp) Perception: 3  (Temp) Recovery: 2

Skills: (Species) Absorb Anima Lvl 2, (Species) Integrate Body Part Lvl 1

When I focused my mind on the Stats, new notifications popped up in front of me.

Perception: Awareness of your surroundings. Boosts all abilities related to Perception.

Recovery: Amount of Health recovered over an hour span. [Some of Stat’s utility is locked, due to user lacking the requisite Stats or Skills]

The first definition made me cease looking out of my eye briefly and focus on my energy sonar. As indicated by the Perception definition, the capability to see was much more fine than it had been previously I just hadn’t really been paying attention. Plus, the sphere of my awareness had grown to almost double its original wobbly shape. The Mana of the cage still interfered, but it was noticeable growth.

Recovery was a very reassuring addition to my Status screen. At least now I wouldn’t collapse from simple battle attrition. Somehow I didn’t think the experiments would continue to be this harmless.

At the same time, I don’t know… does this sort of body tire? Humming to myself, I turned around and froze. My two companions had oozed back up to my side, both quivering with pleasure. The green ooze now possessed a second tail and had also taken another ribcage into its green jelly. But the ribs had now been separated and poked out of its body as spikes, like a hedgehog. The indigo Chimera Core had taken the other head, so now it had two orbiting in the center of its ooze body, teeth chattering at me.

Ah… y-yes. I don’t mind this a-at a-a-all. My body trembled. Isn’t this f-fun? Being surrounded by such f-f-free spirited individuals…