Darkness was not merely the absence of light.
It was matter.
Thick, moist, alive — a liquid that swallowed every sound, every breath, every whisper of existence. And within that void, something stirred.
A thought.
Faint, flickering, like a dying flame refusing to vanish.
It could not see.
It could not move.
It didn't even know if it was alive.
And yet, awareness existed — cold and lucid, like a mind waking inside a coffin.
It tried to move… but no limbs answered.
It tried to open its eyes… but there were none.
All it sensed was the slow heartbeat of stone, the distant drip of water, and the stillness of a world indifferent to its awakening.
A single thought formed, sharp and trembling:
"I'm alive. But what am I?"
Then, a sound — not heard, but felt — echoed inside its mind.
A voice that was not human.
Neutral.
Systematic.
[Integrated support system activated.]
[Body analysis: in progress…]
The newborn consciousness froze.
A torrent of information erupted like molten data through its core.
[Form: Black Slime (anomalous)]
[Status: Stable]
[Biological vision: unavailable]
[Initiating 'Magic Perception' mode. Confirming setting]
A flash of clarity coursed through its being. Not light — but awareness. Magical currents, raw flows of energy, the living pulse of the cavern itself — all became visible to its mind's eye. Walls of stone shimmered with residual mana, every current of air painted in spectral hues, and faint life signatures pulsed weakly in the shadows.
The world unfolded not as images, but as patterns.
Code.
Data.
Alive, organized, legible.
[Name: ???]
[Suggested identifier: Akun]
[Abilities: Predator, Regeneration, Adaptation, Magic Perception (active)]
[Status: optimal]
A mental pulse marked the birth of self.
"Akun."
A temporary designation. Functional, unburdened by feeling. The name Lucien Moreau — a vestige of the human he once was — meant nothing now. The man was dead; the logic remained.
He remembered fragments: the smell of wet asphalt, the hum of Parisian traffic, the weight of blood on his hands — warmth dissolving into cold.Humanity, with its morality and fragility, had been shed.Empathy was a liability.Remorse, a flaw.Here, in this new body, only purpose mattered.
He was no longer a man.
He was function incarnate.
The cave floor trembled faintly beneath his viscous mass.
He slid forward, each movement deliberate, silent.
His senses mapped the terrain: the metallic tang of damp rock, the hum of mana veins, faint vibrations of distant life.
No immediate danger — only insects, small beasts, and a stronger pulse of power farther in.
[Operational directive: explore, analyze, identify suitable targets for absorption.]
A simple command.
Predatory.
Efficient.
Akun complied without hesitation.
Minutes — or hours — passed as he glided through the labyrinthine tunnels.
Time lost meaning.
Every pulse of mana painted a clearer map in his mind, guiding him toward a widening passage. The air grew lighter, fresher.An exit.
During that silent crawl, thoughts surfaced and were treated like equations.
"I possess knowledge, but no form. Thought, but no emotion. Reincarnation… then?"
He did not deny it. He simply accepted it.
A faint amusement flickered within him.
"Like in those isekai stories... monsters, magic, systems."
But this was no fiction.
It was a testing ground for logic and dominance.
If the rules of this world matched what he remembered, then every system could be exploited.
And he would exploit them all.
He reached the cave's mouth at last — a gaping wound carved into the mountainside.
Cold wind rushed in, carrying the scents of grass, soil, and distant life.
Through the faint glow filtering in, he perceived the world beyond as a pulse of energies and shifting heat.
[Environmental scan complete. Life signatures detected at 312 meters.]
[Group: 7 individuals. Species: Goblin.]
Goblins.
The name landed easily.Primitive, weak, expendable — yet sentient.They spoke, they served, and most importantly… they could be manipulated.
An elegant idea took root.
"To move among them, I need a face. A form. If my ability allows me to devour and replicate, then one of them will serve as my shell."
Not hunger.Not cruelty.Just necessity.
"Predator requires practice. A goblin will suffice.They are weak. Replaceable. Social. Perfect cover."
He pictured the sequence — clinical and exact:
Approach undetected.
Eliminate a straggler.
Devour completely.
Take form.
Integrate and learn.
A means to an end.Knowledge before conquest.
He slid through the final passage and emerged into open air.
The world was painted in muted tones: twilight bleeding into crimson dusk, the forest whispering beyond the ridge.
To the left, faint smoke rose — a campfire.And nearby, the flicker of weak mana.
[Extended scan engaged…]
[Target isolated. Goblin, male, wounded. Vital signs unstable.]
Perfect.
A lone target.
Akun advanced without sound.
Through perception, he watched the goblin's life like a candle in the wind — shallow breath, an irregular heartbeat, blood trickling from its flank.
The creature muttered weakly, small claws clutching the wound.When Akun's mass moved closer, it looked up, eyes wide with confusion.
"G-glub…?"
That was its last sound.
[Activating ability: Predator]
The world compressed into silence.
A tendril of black fluid shot forward, enveloping the goblin from head to toe.
It screamed once — then the sound was swallowed.
Flesh, bone, mana — all dissolved into the black mass, absorbed cell by cell, memory by memory.
No gore remained.
No echo.
Only assimilation.
[Predator complete. Organic and magical data absorbed.]
[New parameters unlocked.]
[Form: Goblin (base).]
[Acquired abilities: basic speech, biological vision, minor agility, partial host memory]
Akun's form began to ripple, fold, and rearrange.
The viscous sphere condensed, stretched, reshaped.
Arms formed, legs followed. Skin hardened from slime into green flesh.
Within seconds, a goblin stood where a slime had squirmed — taller, darker, sharper.
He flexed his new fingers.
The sensation was crude, alien, serviceable.
He inhaled once, testing vocal cords.
"Functional," he murmured, voice gravelly but steady.
"Limited… yet sufficient."
He took a few tentative steps — awkward, then steady.
Sight returned in dusky tones.
Akun now looked like one of them.
And that was enough.
[Analysis complete.]
[Suggested behavior: observe nearby group. Minimal interaction. Gather social data.]
He nodded — a reflex no one could see.
His steps were silent as he moved toward the faint smoke.
Before long, six figures appeared in his perception — goblins gathered around a crude fire, gnawing on meat, whispering in broken speech.
Pathetic, he thought.
But necessary.
He slowed, adopting a gait of exhaustion. Shoulders slumped, breath uneven, posture submissive.Perfect mimicry of weakness.
The goblins turned as one, startled. Their weapons — little more than sharpened sticks — trembled in their hands.
Akun raised his palm slowly, mimicking a gesture of peace. Then he let himself stumble forward, collapsing near the edge of their circle.
Murmurs. Hesitation.
Then curiosity.
One of them — broader, older — leaned closer.
"You… alone?"
Akun's reply came in broken tones, the language fragment reconstructed from his absorption.
"Cave… monsters. Hurt. Alone."
The elder squinted, then nodded with a grunt.
"Stay. Eat. Night… bad outside."
Akun lowered his gaze, feigning gratitude.
In truth, his mind was already parsing each word, each tone, each tiny movement.
Within their crude exchanges, he detected structure — hierarchy, habit, superstition.All exploitable.
One younger goblin tossed him a scrap of cooked meat.
He took it but did not eat.
Instead, he placed it carefully by the fire — an offering, a gesture of respect.
It worked.
Tension eased.
They accepted him.
[Social link established. Trust level: low but increasing.]
As the fire crackled and the others murmured, Akun lifted his eyes to the moon — pale and cold above the canopy.
"Information. Shelter. Followers.
Every tool begins as a weakness.
Every weakness can be turned into strength."
The wind sighed through the branches.
The goblins returned to their chatter, oblivious to the predator among them.
Akun sat motionless, his dark eyes reflecting the flames — not warmth, but calculation.
Soon, he thought, this small circle of fools would be the foundation.
A village.
A base.
An empire built not on kindness, but on control.
He watched the sparks rise into the darkness.
One by one they vanished into the night sky — just like the lives he would take.
"Power is built upon consumption.And I will consume everything this world offers."
The fire hissed, the night deepened, and the predator smiled within his borrowed flesh.