Chapter 198: The Devourer
Bochi leaped from Kaito's shoulder. Its soft body bounced twice on the
cobblestone road, then it used a tiny tentacle to poke at Kaito's leg bone.
"Guchi." The meaning was clear: Follow me.
Kaito bent down to pick up the cloak he had just discarded, throwing it back
over his shoulders to cover his skeletal frame. At the academy gate behind them,
the young beastkin security guard had returned to his state of high alert, his
gaze sweeping across the street, letting no suspicious corner escape his view.
A middle-aged man in a messy mage's robe was just trying to sneak into the
academy.
"You! Yes, you! Stop right there!" The beastkin guard shouted, intercepting the
man in a single stride.
"Holy crap! You scared the life out of me!" The man jumped, nearly dropping the
cloth bundle in his hands. He clutched his chest, complaining, "What's your
problem! I'm an instructor inside, just stepped out to pick up a delivery!"
The young beastkin wore a look that screamed, I have seen through all your lies.
"You think you can fool me with such a lame excuse? I've memorized the faces of
almost every teacher in this academy, and I've never seen your face before!"
"I'm a new Alchemy teaching assistant! Started three days ago!"
The beastkin guard kept his wooden club in front of his chest, refusing to
budge. "Unless you have someone come out and verify your identity, stand right
there and don't move!"
"Sigh... damn it..." The assistant looked like he was suffering from chronic
constipation as he began rummaging through his pockets for his ID.
Kaito turned away, ignoring the farce that was about to drag on behind him.
Lloyd, where did you find this new guard? He's actually kind of interesting.
Bochi led the way in front, bouncing along like a blue rubber ball. It took
Kaito on a luxury tour of Evernight Academy.
"Guchi!" Bochi pointed with a tentacle at a building emitting strange-colored
smoke: the Alchemy Lab. Kaito cooperatively let out an exaggerated gasp. "Wow! A
house that smokes all by itself! How magical!"
Bochi was satisfied with Kaito's reaction, hopping along to lead him to a
massive circular building. "Guchi Guchi!" It was the library, housing countless
books.
"Incredible! A place filled with so many flammable materials! The fire safety
measures here must be top-notch!" Kaito continued his insincere performance.
Bochi puffed out its body proudly, though it lacked a chest.
It then led Kaito past an open training ground. A few skeletal students were
practicing throwing—dismembering their own arms, hurling them at targets in the
distance, and then running over to pick them up.
"Guchi!"
"Stunning! Using a part of one's own body as a weapon! Truly an era-defining
combat philosophy!"
Kaito's barrage of praise made Bochi expand by a size; it felt like a very
successful tour guide. Just then, a group of familiar small figures came running
from the direction of the teaching buildings.
"Yay! It's Bochi!" Lily's crisp voice rang out. She trotted over, followed by
the steady-looking Mig and several other children from the Sunflower Home.
"Guchi!" Bochi chirped happily at the sight of familiar faces. Lily ran up and
examined Kaito, who stood behind Bochi. "Bochi, is this your friend?" She tilted
her head, looking at the skeleton wrapped in a cloak, feeling like she had seen
him somewhere before. "Um... Mr. Skeleton..." Lily blinked. "Have we met
somewhere?"
Kaito's hood was pulled low; he remained silent. Lily thought hard. "I remember!
Are you the skeleton student who used to sit in the last row during history
class? The one who never spoke and never answered the teacher's questions!"
Lily felt her deduction was sound. After all, the turnover of skeletal students
was high. Many left for their assigned posts as soon as they reached Tier 2,
graduating quickly.
Seeing Lily staring at Kaito, Bochi felt a surge of inexplicable annoyance. It
jumped in front of Kaito, spreading its squishy body to try and block Lily's
view.
"Guchi! Guchi Guchi!" Don't be rude to my Skeleton!
Seeing Bochi acting so possessive, Mig shook his head helplessly. He stepped
forward, squatted, and patted Bochi's soft body. "Bochi, stop messing around."
Mig said in a very serious tone, "Did you memorize the History of the Empire's
Development assigned by the history teacher?"
Bochi's body froze instantly. Mig continued, "I heard the teacher is going to
give a pop quiz tomorrow. Anyone who can't recite it has to clean the toilets
for a whole week."
At these words, Bochi's body deflated at a visible speed. It turned its head
away, not daring to meet Mig's eyes. The next second, it spun around, wrapped
its tentacles around Kaito's leg, and began pulling with all its might in the
other direction.
"Guchi! Guchi Guchi!" Let's go! We have very important academic research to do!
No time for small talk!
Watching Kaito being dragged away by Bochi, Lily and Mig waved. "Bye, Bochi!
Bye, Mr. Skeleton!"
Kaito was dragged all the way to an empty primary magic training room. "Alright,
alright, I get it." Kaito tugged at his leg bone, which was still wrapped in
Bochi's tentacles. "You didn't study at all, did you?"
Bochi pretended not to hear. It let go of Kaito, hopped to the center of the
room, pointed at itself, and then at the storage pouch on Kaito's cloak.
"Guchi!" Quick! Feed me!
Kaito looked at its righteous indignation, feeling his jawbone ache. "So, your
solution is to have a big meal before the exam?" Kaito sighed. "Fine, I'm
curious about this ability of yours anyway."
Kaito looked at Bochi, his soulfire flickering. Absorb and make it your own...
simple, brutal, and practical. Kaito touched his chin. "From now on, let's call
this ability 'The Devourer'."
"Guchi!" Bochi nodded excitedly; the name sounded powerful!
Kaito's research officially began. He had been curious about Bochi's rapid
advancement. It was just a normal slime, albeit a mutated one with intelligence.
But with Kaito's heavy feeding, it had grown from a near-Tier 1 hatchling to
Tier 2 in just over a month. That speed was terrifying. Now, it had displayed
the ability to swallow magic, which thrilled Kaito even more.
"Come on, try this first." Kaito pulled a piece of low-quality mana crystal from
his pouch—scrap left over from the Arcane Legion's research. Bochi swallowed it
in one gulp. Its body emitted a faint light, and then nothing.
"Guchi." Bochi smacked its lips, as if to say the taste was mediocre, like a
mint candy. It learned no new magic.
"Hmm... it seems pure mana doesn't work." Kaito pulled out the hilt of a broken
knight's sword, which still held a faint trace of battle qi. Bochi swallowed it
again. Its body shuddered, seemingly stimulated by the residual energy.
"Guchi..." A bit spicy. Still, it learned no new skills.
Kaito's soulfire flickered. He finally understood. "So, you can only mimic
'living' magic, like the fireballs released by an instructor? And the energy
contained within these objects is just pure food to you?"
Kaito pulled a dried fire-lizard heart from his pouch. It was a Tier 2 magical
material containing pure fire-elemental mana. "Try this."
Bochi looked at the shriveled heart, hesitated, but opened its mouth and
swallowed it.
BOOM!
A heat wave exploded inside Bochi. Its surface instantly turned bright red, and
white steam began to hiss off its skin.
"Guchi!" Bochi burped, and a small puff of black smoke emerged from the top of
its head.
Kaito carefully sensed Bochi's aura. It was stronger. Its internal mana reserves
had increased by at least ten percent. But it hadn't learned any new
fire-attribute spells.
"So that's how it is." Kaito understood completely. The Devourer ability wasn't
essentially replication; it was digestion. Eating magic allowed it to mimic
similar effects. Eating energy-rich items allowed it to absorb that energy as
fuel for growth. That meant as long as it had enough to eat, its realm could be
raised infinitely!
It was a pity it didn't learn any flashy new skills, but this simple and brutal
way of growing was enough!
Kaito's soulfire burned hot. He began frantically pulling things out of his
storage pouch.
"This—a Tier 1 wind wolf's mana core, eat it!" "Guchi!" "This—moonlight wine
brewed by the elves, it's expired but the mana is still there, drink it!" "Guchi
Guchi!" "And this—a rune-iron block forged by dwarves, carved with a failed
power rune, gnaw on it!" "Guchi-crunch!"
And so, a luxurious feeding show began in the training room. Kaito dumped all
the junk he had hoarded for years—stuff that was tasteless to eat but wasteful
to discard—onto Bochi. And Bochi, like an infinite black hole, refused nothing.
As it ate more, Bochi's aura grew stronger and stronger. Its body radiated a
faint glow, and it seemed to have grown a size larger.
Finally, when Kaito fed Bochi his last lucky goblin gold coin, his storage pouch
held only essentials and gold coins. (Rumor had it that wishing on a full moon
brought luck, but Kaito had tried a dozen times, and it never worked.)
"Hic—"
Bochi burped in satisfaction, collapsing onto the floor, turning into a flat
blue pancake. It looked like it was about to burst, but its black-bean eyes were
full of happiness.
Kaito looked at his empty storage pouch, then at the puddle-like Bochi on the
ground, his jawbone dropping slightly. Raising this guy... seems... a bit
expensive.
But the thought of some blind, powerful enemy spouting nonsense in front of him,
and then Bochi falling from the sky to sit on them like a bug on the side of the
road, made Kaito feel that this investment was well worth it.
☆☆☆
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