The next day found us surrounding the table. The monster, Hermit, was atop the table, sending weak signals of hunger through our connection.
"Well? Are you going to eat it?" Temur asked, looking at me intently.
Litha nodded along with him.
I summoned my Grimoire just to be sure. Last night, we had talked well into the night, and naturally, it touched on the monster, which after reading my newly updated Grimoire, I wasn't so sure I trusted it.
It read → [Unholy Bond: The Hermit. It is a parasitic undead monster that lives off its host. Consuming it will lead it to try to take the host's body]
I scowled. "Why did I have to put it in my mouth? Can't it just… attach to my body?" My stomach rolled with that thought and I looked away in disgust.
"Oh, stop whinging. That's why you haven't eaten anything this morning. Be quick and if anything happens, we'll be here to assist," Litha said.
I looked at how they had prepared for the 'assist'; Temur held a sword, and Litha had already gathered mana in her hand. I finally sighed and nodded, there's a lot to do today, so I should quit wasting time.
My grandmother taught me the secret to using bitter medicine and that is not to think about it and try not to smell it. So I picked up Hermit, threw my head back, mouth wide open, and swallowed.
The monster touched the back of my throat as it went in, and I nearly threw up, I shuddered as the monster went down my throat.
But another problem hit immediately as I stiffened. No time to waste thinking about disgust!
Hermit was trying to take over my body!
The monster, slow while outside, swam like a dolphin inside me. I felt it as It flowed upward in some unknown way, reaching my brain fast and that was when the pain began.
It hit like an hammer to the gut.
Hermit activated the pain nerves in my brain so it could more easily consume me. My body locked up as if something was melting me from the inside.
'No!' I screamed mentally but there was almost little I could do, we both began to struggle for the control of my body, my limbs moved in different ways and my body trembled.
I thought of everything I could do and it suddenly hit me!
The connection with my monster is a two way thing!
I pulled on our weak connection, and without hesitantion I poured the pain down the connection, and now the two of us were feeling it.
I could feel it's mental scream.
As I fought my mental battle, Litha and Temur watched the physical one. Half of my body, the right side, had turned into a mass of knotted brown flesh. Even half my head and right eye glowed red.
Inside, I felt it taking over. Since I knew its direction where Hermit is, I used my 'mind hand' to take hold of it, choking it, to wrestling it, and trying my best to throw it out of my body. But the monster was stubborn, spreading its tentacles further inside me.
Finally, I summoned the unholy magic in my blood and sent it surging upward. It burned Hermit, and it cried out in greater pain.
Hermit gave up after taking control of half my body. Still in my mind, I forced a negotiation.
Hermit is a monster that likes to eat, so I promised to give it food in exchange for its surrender. It agreed, then dissolved into my blood.
What a shitty thing.
I opened my eyes. One was red, the other green. I stood and stretched; my body was back to normal.
"How do you feel?" Litha asked.
I shook my head. "I feel… more powerful. Physically. And I can see better too, I'm also full of energy. It looks like when I first Awakened."
"And I'm hungry. Very hungry."
"Let me get you something to eat," Temur said.
"Wait." I lifted my left hand, and two monster cores fell from my ring. I picked them up and put them close to my mouth, immediately, half of my face changed to that of Hermit, and I swallowed the cores. Energies flooded me, and Hermit settled down.
[Monster core devoured!]
[Normal Monster core devoured...can't be used in evolution of the devour monster! Only Unique monster core!]
I blinked and stared at the Grimoire that was updating in my mind. What? I could evolve Hermit? But what's a unique monster core?
Before I could even think more on it, my stomach grumbled loudly.
'I'll deal with it later'
Litha and Temur stared at me as my stomach grumbled again. I smiled sheepishly. "Now, I am the one that is hungry."
Temur snorted out a laugh. "Somehow, that makes perfect sense."
☆☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆☆
It was afternoon, and we found ourselves in the middle of Novice Town. It was bustling with people, tourists, and Climbers, but most here were new Climbers hoping to take the floor test of 102 before moving to 101, where the real test of ascending the Tower began.
The first place Litha took me was the merchant's guild. It was an open market where you can sell and buy things, and she sold some monster cores, telling me to watch her as she bargained, because there's no fixed market there.
"See here," she told me, pointing out which buyers I should approach or avoid. "Demons are best if you want to sell monster cores but they're very good at bargaining, so you better have your wits about you.
"Dwarves are good weapon sellers. They won't try to swindle you. Do you see human sellers? If you want to deal with slightly illegal goods, no questions asked. The Mothari are good for repairs..."
She continued teaching me how to sell and buy because, in the Tower, it's a necessity. She showed me around the market, not minding the crowd. With Temur acting like a natural bulldozer, we moved almost freely.
I enjoyed my time as best I could. I sold all my monster cores except for two Iron-rank ones for Hermit to eat later. Then I bought clothes, healing potions, anti-venom, a magical object that provides water, long-lasting food, because according to Litha, anything could happen so it's best to have all this in your spatial ring, and more clothes.
Then it was Temur's turn. He led me to his favorite weapon seller, an old, grumpy female Dwarf who eyed me up and down before asking me to show my right hand. She inspected it, shook her head, and said, "Why do you want a weapon? You have one right here."
She refused to elaborate even when Temur pressed her, but eventually sold him some daggers and a sword.
"Old cryptic bat," Litha muttered as we left the place behind. "They always talk like that. Just like Temur's Grimoire. Fortunately, I don't have such problems. Alright then! To the registration center!"