Chapter 202: New Skill

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I manipulated Uroboros entire being with my hands and turned him into a red jewel-shaped mass of energies. Like I used to do with Sepa, I shook him around until he started begging me to stop. But the moment I stopped, he immediately switched back to his cocky attitude again.

“I’m going to kill you, damn brat! I’m going to kill all of you! HISSSSSS!” He was a very angry snake.

“Master Anna, do you want me to teach this insolent snake a lesson?” Asked Fang Shuan, who had just woken up from his sleep. I had already shown him to my brother because there was no way I would be hiding him. He was a bit reluctant about him, but because of his great mannerisms and the respect he treats us with, he was quickly accepted as my “bodyguard” by my brother.

“Who are you calling an insolent snake, you damned action figure!” Roared Uroboros. “Do you want me to eat you whole?! Come at me, all of you! I’ll beat you all, eat you, and regain my former strength, kuhahaha!”

Uroboros was completely delusional about his current situation, but it seemed like he was pretending to be fine. Deep down, through our connection, I could feel he was slowly beginning to despair more and more. And there was nothing getting him out of this situation, either. He’ll be stuck with me as my eternal pet.

“It’s fine, Fang Shuan.” I shrugged. “Uroboros, I order you as your master to behave and answer all my questions.” With a single command, Uroboros suddenly fell paralyzed.

“W-What did you do to me- Ugh!” He groaned in pain, and with eyes wide open, full of disbelief, he nodded and spoke words he didn’t want to speak at all. “Yes, master.”

“Good.” I smiled, caressing his smooth, scaled head. “Tell me everything you know regarding the Realm Beyond, your origins, the other Archdemons, and what they’re planning. Now.”

“Yes… Master…”

He explained a few things; there were many gaps inside of his memories, though—way too many. However, I learned a few very valuable things as he spoke while stuttering, as if trying to delay everything so he could disappear from his summoning time running off.

A few of the things he told me about were already within my knowledge as the reader of the novel. However, he did say that the Archdemons were planning some sort of temporary alliance after seeing how Leviathan was folded back then.

Uroboros didn’t agree to that, though, and went solo, thinking he was enough to deal with us, but failed miserably. Apparently, the Archdemons want to abuse the Second Awakening to create a tremendous cataclysm that might consume half our planet, instantly terraforming it into a Demonic World.

And this, naturally, never happened in the original story.

“A meteor of sorts… S-Some sort of giant… projectile… They will summon it… Using the Second Awakening’s… “Mythic Materialization Authority” that Constellations use to materialize the embodiments of their myths in the form of tombs…”

“Kind of like with Asgard’s Floating Continent.” I nodded.

“H-How do you know of that?!” Uroboros gasped.

“I don’t need to answer that question, my cute little pet.” I smiled, caressing his big snake head. I had to admit that this psychotic snake was very adorable-looking. I’ve always had a soft spot for reptile pets. "So, where are they dropping the bomb?”

“The north pole… Your country and the others nearby will be the most affected…” He muttered. “I… don’t know more than that; I used to know, but the details are out of my head now. Somehow…”

“I see, alright.” I nodded. “I never imagined the Archdemons would all ally temporarily just to deal with us. Well, after your death, I bet they’re even more wary.”

“Without a doubt…” Sepa sighed. “Ugh, this is getting even more complicated, Anna.”

“No, actually… If I just manage to make the timing right, we could kill like a hundred birds with one stone.” I laughed with utmost malice.

“W-Wait, what?” Sepa muttered.

[“I swear, this girl always takes advantage of the most ludicrous of situations!”]

“What is she planning?” Uroboros wondered, afraid of my genius mind.

“Master Anna is very smart; I am sure something is dreadful for your kin, demon.” Fang Shuan smiled.

“Ugh…” Uroboros groaned.

Once his time was off, he disappeared into a cloud of red smoke, and I couldn’t summon him again in five hours. I will probably keep extracting information from him later. The Assimilation Rate also went up a bit after all that talk; he’s reluctantly becoming more attached to me, hehehe.

“Anyways, now that we’re done with this, I should probably copy Fang Shuan’s Skill.” I said.

“Copy?” Fang Shuan wondered.

“I can copy the Skills of people with whom I met certain conditions.” I explained to him. If he was my soul-bound holy undead, I don’t think I needed to keep secrets from him.

“I see! Please take any of my Skills then, Master Anna.” He bowed to me. “I am still not completely used to this whole System thing; my world never had such powers as Skills or other things! But I would recommend some martial arts skill.”

[Please choose a Skill you want to copy from Fang Shuan.]

[Martial Soul Legion (S)] [Golden Dragon Martial Arts (S)] [Golden Emperor’s Ki Aura (A)] [Divine Martial Gold Golem Body (A)] [Body Shapeshifting (A)]

“Hmmm. I do have some more Martial Arts Scrolls though. And I want to train them so their Tiers increase.” I wondered. “I want to take something unique that could give me an advantage over others.”

“Maybe the Gold Golem Body or the Body Shapeshifting Skills could be of some use.” Said Sepa. “Can you learn such Skills inside your Skill Shop?”

“No, the Skill Shop has basic Skills of categories that I unlock each time I rank up.” I answered. “I got some good skills out of them already.”

The Divine Martial Gold Golem Body and the Body Shapeshifting Skills do indeed sound very appealing, despite only being A Rank. I wonder if my body will just turn into golden metal or something? And shapeshifting could be very useful in many, many ways. From easily faking being someone else, to even enhancing my own attack power by taking the form of beasts.

But then there’s the S-Rank Skills, Martial Soul Legion… Sounds overpowered; it emerged from Fang Shuan’s soul being made of multiple Martial Souls. I can already guess it could help my soul become even stronger. And then Golden Dragon Martial Arts is like the perfected form of the Golden Dragon Martial Arts techniques I’ve been learning with the Gacha scrolls.

It’s a tough decision, but I am ultimately torn between Shapeshifting and Martial Soul Legion. What would be better? The ability to change forms and trick people even more, or strengthen my soul even more, with the possibility of creating Martial Soul Phantoms or something?

Ugh, okay, I will just take the one that’s right instead of the one I just want.

[You have copied the [Body Shapeshifting (A)] Skill from Fang Shuan!]

[The [Body Shapeshifting (A): Lv1] Skill has been learned without problems. And its powers have been integrated into your body.]

Once I learned this Skill, I felt a strange rush of power coursing through my entire body. It felt as if my very cells were slightly changing; everything changed a bit. I felt… somewhat elastic? Yet, at the same time, it is as fine as always. Is this what Shapeshifting is? Maybe my cells become stretchy or something.

Wait, no, it can’t possibly be that simple.

“I got the Body Shapeshifting Skill for obvious reasons; it’ll help me so much if I can just trick a few idiots into pretending to be another person.” I said. “I can tell it will be useful even much later. Probably until the very end.”

“You’ll have to evolve that Skill, so it becomes much stronger, though.” Said Sepa. “I doubt an A Rank Skill will suffice.”

“Well, Thousand Blades is only A Rank and it’s already the source of most of my damage.” I laughed. “Let’s see…”

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[Body Shapeshifting (A): Lv1]

[Skill EXP]: [0/5.000]

A Unique Skill inherited from a being capable of changing their form through the usage of Internal Energy, Ki, and Magical Power, Mana.

Allows for the ability to transform your physical appearance using Ki and Mana. Both energies are used constantly while in a transformed state. And whenever they run out, the transformation is dispelled, and you return to your original form.

Shapeshifting has certain limitations; at this stage, you are not capable of changing your internal organ’s structure and forms, even less functions, nor can you copy abilities, powers, or unique energies from those you shapeshift into. However, other things, such as voice, can be copied while shapeshifting.

Level Bonus (1): Increases Shapeshifting Form Accuracy by +30%. Decreases Shapeshifting Ki and Mana Consumption by -10%.

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“Oooh! It seems pretty alright for now? At least in appearance and voice alone, it works as I wanted it to!” I celebrated. “Fang Shuan, is your Body Shapeshifting the same Skill?”

“To an extent, yes, but I don’t have your restrictions, it seems…” He said. “Ah, but I’ve never been good at body shaping techniques. So I will need to train for a while. Are you proficient, master Anna?”

“I… I don’t think I am, no.” I said. “Let’s see, how about we try to copy one another’s appearances?”

“Alright.” Fang Shuan nodded.

We both tried to shapeshift. Fang Shuan tried to reduce his size and take my shape until he resembled a doll made of gold. He was unable to change the color of his golden body yet. However, he did an amazingly good job at creating a perfect replica of myself made of gold!

“You did a good job!” I said, as I found myself much taller. “Ah, I think mine is worse, actually.”

I became some sort of monster thing at the end. I tried to look like the handsome, long-haired Chinese Murim man that Fang Shuan was, but ended up doing so miserably. My skin couldn’t copy his color completely, so there were pieces of gold around my body, making me look like some Dalmatian.

However, in terms of arms, legs, and face, it was okay. but my chest remained similar to my original form, so it looks weird and off! I kept shapeshifting around, but that only worsened it. I had to focus a lot—more than I imagined.

“Uuggghh… This is definitely going to take a bit of a while to master.”

I kept practicing for the next hour, gaining enough Skill Experience for the Skill to reach Level 2, that was quite quick! With a Level Up, the Level Bonuses increased, making it a bit easier to change now.

[The [Body Shapeshifting (A): Lv1] Skill has Leveled Up!]

[Level Bonus (2): Increases Shapeshifting Form Accuracy by +40%. Decreases Shapeshifting Ki and Mana Consumption by -20%.]

Yeah, yeah, we’re getting there, one step at a time. In the future, I can already see myself tricking constellations by pretending to be them. Well, it is my plan, but we’ll see if it can actually work once I reach that stage. For now, I need to focus on the present and the near future while slowly planning for the far future.

Knock, knock!

“Anna, are you awake? It’s already eleven in the morning; want to have breakfast?” My brother’s voice echoed outside of the room.

“A-Ah, yeah! Coming!” I said, quickly hurrying outside after washing my face with some cold water. Fang Shuan decided to continue practicing shapeshifting inside the bedroom. My pets were all eating already with Baihe and my brother.

“I’m here! Ah, a lot happened yesterday, huh?” I said, sitting down and eating some cereal with milk.

“Yeah, why didn’t you tell me you were going to a dungeon? I could have come to help you.” My brother seemed slightly angry about that. “Why can’t you rely on your brother a bit?”

“I rely! But I mean, I am fairly strong myself, Jack. Don’t be so cocky.” I told him. “And, well, you got your girlfriend to take care of, right? Henrietta is a very needy girl, I’ve heard, from a certain little bird named Kevin.”

“A-Ah, well… Yeah, she’s certainly—ahem! I mean, that shouldn’t matter. It’s not like I’ll dedicate less time to you because I have Henrietta.” My brother complained.

“Okay, okay, I get it. You want to spend some time with your sister now? But you’re too proud to just admit it.” I smiled. Baihe giggled a bit at that, while my brother felt slightly embarrassed.

“Well, yeah, maybe.” He sighed, crossing his arms. He was such a tsundere out of nowhere. “But if you don’t want to... I guess that’s fine too.”

“Aw, come on. It’s not like that. What do you want to do today, then?” I asked him.

“Hmmm… Activity that siblings can do. I suppose we could always raid another dungeon.” He smiled. “There’s a few portals that haven’t been cleared outside.”

“Ah, okay, I guess.”

Seriously, is that all he can come up with? I hope he hasn’t brought Henrietta inside the dungeons for their dates! Or I’m going to seriously bonk this idiot.

[The Cosmic Historical Figure {King of Rock ’n’ Roll} says that your amazing musical performance yesterday has brought him great inspiration in the creation of new and fantastic songs.]

[He has sponsored the Skill: [Singing and Dancing (C): Lv1] Skill!]

[He says he’s looking forward to your next performance!]

[Several other Constellations agree with the {King of Rock ’n’ Roll} and say that they have become your fervent fans.]

[They have sponsored 10.000 Plot Points, and eagerly wait for your next concert while wagging glowing sticks.]

Huh?

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