[Analyzing defeated entity...]
[Slag Wyrm data plete]
[Echonization available]
[Form available for copying]
Northern glanced at the system notification, then at the massive corpse growing cold before him.
"Oh, we’re definitely keeping this one."
[Do you wish to copy the form: Slag Wyrm (Devilish Behemoth)?]
"Yes. And while you’re at it..."
His gaze swept across the frozen serpents scattered throughout the level. Through the lingering snow, movement stirred deeper in the canyon—more monsters, drawn by the Slag Wyrm’s death scream.
"Let’s see how many more fragments we can collect before moving on. Oh, and we also need to move the bodies to Soul Forge... can’t afford to waste resources..."
[Echoes will be summoned to do the job]
"Right, summon strong ones... I don’t want them dying mid-operation. Oh, that’s right, can echoes die?"
[Only when you do]
His head tilted. "Why does your voice sound so exasperated all of a sudden..."
Northern shook his head and closed his eyes.
[You’re using Wind Manipulation]
Wind whipped around him, spiraling through the canyon passages. He extended his senses through the currents, mapping every hollow, every tunnel, every cave in the third layer where the remaining Slag Serpents nested.
His eyes snapped open. Cold blue light blazed.
"Found you."
[Eclipse Step has been activated]
Northern vanished into the shadows, his methodical hunt through the canyon’s depths begun. Behind him, the blizzard followed like a loyal hound, freezing everything in its wake.
The real farming began.
***
[FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER]
Northern emerged from the deepest level of the canyon, his clothes pristine despite the carnage he’d left behind. The entire section had been transformed—what was once a network of warm, habitable tunnels now resembled the inside of a glacier. Ice coated every surface. Frozen serpent corpses lined the walls like grotesque decorations.
[Final Tally - Slag Serpents Hunt]
[Hazardous Maelstroms defeated: 121]
[Calamitous Maelstroms defeated: 20]
[Catastrophic Maelstroms defeated: 5]
[Total talent fragments gained: 855]
He rolled his shoulders, working out the tension. "Not a bad haul. Though I was hoping for at least a thousand."
[Additional monsters detected in adjacent canyon sections]
"Later. First, let’s see what our new toy can do."
He approached the Slag Wyrm’s corpse and placed his hand on its chilled scales.
[Initiating Form Copy...]
[Analyzing: Physical Structure]
[Analyzing: Ability Framework]
[Analyzing: Essence Signature]
[Analyzing: Soul Pattern]
[Copy plete]
[Form Acquired: Slag Wyrm (Devilish Behemoth)]
[Essence Manifestation: Terraforming - Stored]
[Magma Heart - Stored]
[Heat Manipulation - Stored]
[Regeneration Factor - Stored]
[Infinite Iteration Activated]
[Creating Variants...]
[Variant 1: Frost Wyrm - Cold-based mutation]
[Variant 2: Storm Wyrm - Lightning-based mutation]
[Would you like to create an Echo of Slag Wyrm?]
"Go ahead. It doesn’t inhibit my copied form, does it? Aoi, what really is the difference between Copying Form and my Echoes?"
[Sigh]
[FORM (Transformation)]
YOU bee the thing - plete shapeshifting
You use your own mind and will while in that form
You gain their physical body, abilities, instincts, and bat knowledge
Only one form active at a time (unless using Advanced Fusion)
Direct control - it’s still YOU, just in a different body
[ECHO (Summoning)]
Creates a separate entity - A loyal copy of the defeated enemy
The Echo is autonomous and fights alongside you
It’s a distinct being with its own presence on the battlefield
You can have multiple Echoes active (up to 1,000 at Level 1)
Indirect control - they’re allies, not you
[Perhaps I should explain a practical example]
[You copy the Slag Wyrm form. You can transform into the Slag Wyrm and use its abilities only in the state of transformation. You can also use your core abilities in the state of transformation. You think and fight with the Slag Wyrm’s instincts, but your consciousness is maintained]
[As an Echo, however, you can summon the Slag Wyrm to fight for you while in human form or any other form. You can be a Frost Wyrm and summon a Frost Wyrm and a Storm Wyrm to fight alongside you. THE REAL BOON IS THAT YOU CAN DO BOTH SIMULTANEOUSLY]
Understanding clicked. Northern walked to an open area of the canyon, nodding.
"And the same variants are created for both echonization and form copying..."
[Yes. For Echonization, the base form is dismissed, and only Variants are maintained. However, when you copy form, the base form and the variants are maintained.]
"I see. I understand better now."
He stopped and drew a breath.
"All right then. Let’s see what it’s like to be a hundred-meter serpent."
[Activating Form: Slag Wyrm]
His body changed.
It wasn’t painful—more like his entire existence was being... rewritten. Bones lengthened, multiplied, restructured. Muscle mass exploded outward. His skin hardened into overlapping scales. His perspective shifted as he grew and grew and grew.
Within seconds, Northern had bee the monster he’d just slain.
A massive serpentine body coiled through the canyon, vestigial limbs scraping against ice-covered stone. The cobra-like hood expanded. Molten eyes gazed down at the frozen wasteland he’d created.
And then he felt it—the raw power thrumming through this form. The heat generation, the thermal sense, the instinctive knowledge of how to move this massive body, how to terraform stone into lava, how to concentrate essence into explosive attacks.
Northern’s—no, the Slag Wyrm’s—mouth opened. A sound emerged that was part roar, part screech, part volcanic eruption.
The canyon shook.
"Now this," Northern’s voice rumbled from the monster’s throat, deeper and more resonant, "is interesting."
He coiled his new body, testing its weight, its power, its capabilities. With a thought, he heated the stone beneath him until it liquefied. Another thought and he absorbed that heat, feeling it fuel his essence.
"Aoi, note this form for garrison deployment. A few dozen of these in the Soul Forge would make excellent defenders."
[Noted]
Northern—still in Slag Wyrm form—turned his massive head toward the lower levels of the canyon.
Through the ice and stone, he sensed more monsters. An Abysmal Destroyer waiting in the next layer—the fourth—and an Abysmal Behemoth in the fifth.
His massive form coiled, gathering power. Then he launched himself downward, deeper into the canyon, his body smashing through ice and stone with contemptuous ease, heading toward the lower levels where the real challenge waited.
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