Chapter 69: Feather (1)
Wendy sprinted through the wasteland trying to get as far away as she could. Scorge was normally a very polite and nice demon, but he still posses a demon´s heart that is filled with wrath. She desperately ran with everything she got, but she couldn´t outrun him as she saw a looming shadow above her.
"You´ve got quicker Wendy, but you have neglected your training for quite a while now. Only thinking about hunting and trill made you weak. Yes, you got strong by killing strong monsters, but discipline and training are also parts to become stronger." *grin* "But I am not here to teach you a lesson... oh wait, I am here to teach you a lesson, but a different one. Shishishsishi~" laughing the devil flapped his wings shooting razor-sharp feathers at the wendigo. The eyes on her back widened as platings grew all over her back, but it was too late as the black feathers sliced right through her body, slicing large chunks of vines of her body. The dropped parts shoot out in the air trying to slow down Scorge, but he effortlessly dodged them.
Wendy suddenly stumbled as another four feathers struck her back. Her vision blurred and her head hurt. The demon landed in front of her with his wings folded around him like a coat. He cracked his neck and punched the wendigo right in the face, sending her flying backward.
"Your resistance to mental poisoning is still as weak as ever, Wendy." Said Scorge, walking closer towards the downed wendigo. Leaning over her body he placed a hand on her skull. Wendy stared at Scorge terrified while begging for mercy, "I am sorry, I am sorry! Please don´t do that! I will do anything, but please don´t let me live through that again!"
Scorge grinned at her terrified expression, and without mercy he wispered, "Sweet dreams, little girl~"
...
Raas who was still sitting at the bay was wondering how that feather should protect him. His curiosity won over his caucuses as he looked around to see if there was a monster somewhere.
Not seeing anything around him he inspected the feather. He picked up the feather with his tail and held it in front of his face. It looked like an ordinary raven feather, but slightly bigger and pitch black. It was pleasant to touch and quite soft. Raas even licked it, and to his surprise, it tasted quite good. Looking around to see if someone saw him he sighed in relief. He starred at the feather intently and decided to take a small nibble. Not having any teeth except for his two fangs, it was hard to rip a piece off. 'Why is damn feather so hard to eat!' thought Raas as he struggled, but then accidentally swallowed the feather whole.
'Oops... what now...' his mind slowly realized what he did and he panicked. Trying to gag the feather back up, he put his tail in his mouth, but it didn´t work.
*Ding*
[Host has consumed a compatible energy source! Compatibility 82%, Integration chance 78%, skill gain 61%, mutation chance 53%, species change 32%, death 13%]
[Integration will happen in 10 seconds if not expelling the energy source!]
Reading the message he panicked even more and shoved his tail even deeper into his mouth. The possibility of death was at 13% and he didn´t want to risk it, and he didn´t want to face the consequence of eating the feather. Wendy was terrified out of her mind and he wasn´t excited about the idea of him getting the same treatment.
"Why are you trying to make the Ouroboros circle? I didn´t know you are a believer..." said Scorge who was back in his scarecrow form and dragging a sobbing wendigo behind him. "I don´t think you have to shove your tail that deep into your mouth. Just the tip is enough if you want to worship Ouroboros..."
'They have Ouroboros here too?' thought Raas before realizing in what predicament he got himself into. He froze up and stuttered, "Eh no, I am not a believer. I- I was just trying to, eh... trying to take out the fea-"
*Ding*
[Inituating integration of 1 [Demon lord Zular´s feather]...]
[Counting energy source...]
[Counting energy source...]
[Counting energy source...]
[Energy level exceeds hosts tier level by more than 3 tiers...!]
[Inegration time: 15 minutes 11 seconds!]
Pulling his tail out of his mouth he starred at the notification in horror.
"Oh, where is the feather that I gave you?"
"Eh, do you need it back? It didn´t look important..."
"Hmmm, well, it wasn´t mine, I just borrowed it. I can give you one of mine if you want to have one, but I am not sure why you want one..."
"Ah, hahaha, so it was a gift... I kind of thought it was yours..."
"Shishishis, ah, I fused it with my wings so it took the color, it was originally golden. The feather gave me some nice bonuses, but nothing too powerful, but it should scare of weak corrupted monsters and shield you from attacks. So, where is it?"
"Ahahaha, funny story... I kind of ate it...hahahaha...and now I am kind of integrating it into me or something..." said Raas while laughing nervously.
"..."
"..."
"You ate it...?"
"Yes..."
"and now you are integrating it...?"
"yes..."
"Hmmm, interesting! Tell me how long it takes and the chances!"
"???" Raas was confused by Scorge reaction, he thought he would be angry and punish him or outright kill him, but instead, he was excited and his eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Come on tell me! To think that you who has two bloodlines and a primordial gem integrating demon lord Zular´s energy!!! AHHH that never happened before, you are going to be a true monster when you reach tier 6! No, even tier 5 you will be devastating! SHISHISHISHISHIS! The chaos you will cause will be so entertaining to watch! I can´t wait! So, tell me! How are the chances?!"
"... 82% compatibility, 78% Integration. 61% for skill gain, 53% for mutation chance, 32% for a species change, and 13% for death."
"MAGNIFICENT! I would never have thought that a demonic phoenix's feather has such high compatibility with your bloodlines!"
"I know that I got two bloodlines, one being sol´s, but I never found out what my initial one is?"
"Ah, your other bloodline is one is-" before Scorge could finish the sentence he stumbled and clutched his head in pain. It took him a few seconds to compose himself again, "Ahem, it is still too early for you to find out. Let´s just say you are being VERY loved."
Raas looked at Scorge doubting, but let it go, he can´t force Scorge and it was clear that even then Scorge couldn´t tell Raas.
"Nevermind that, how long till you finish integration?" asked Scorge trying to change the topic.
"13 minutes and 58 seconds."
"OHHHH! quicker than I thought, let´s wait till you finish and hope you don´t die! We will continue our journey afterward."
"Ah yes..." the thought of having a 13% chance of death still lingered over him. 'I really should stop eating random stuff, or I am really dying someday... first overeating, causing the dungeon to attack me and now this...'
"..."
An awkward silence loomed over them, well not silence since Wendy was still weeping. Raas glanced at her and he felt quite bad for her, but he couldn´t say anything. He wasn´t her friend, no, he even despite her a bit for forcing him in a life and death battle and experience being liquified from the inside. She did it for a good cause, namely making him stronger, but still, it was just a too barbaric way. Maybe a small part of humanity still remained in him, and he want to keep it like that. He doesn't want to turn into an emotionless genocidal monster, but he still needs the strength to live a peaceful adventurous life. The strong ruled over the weak and no one is going to stop that, except even stronger beings.
Scorge just stood perfectly still like a scarecrow that he is, while Raas had his inner turmoil sorted out. "Scorge, why did you decided to be a floor guardian in a dungeon?" asked Raas.
The scarecrow, as if coming to life, spun his head towards Raas and replied happily "Shishishishi, it´s because the dungeon was, no, still is my friend. She once was an Acutra, like you." Ending with a cheeky grin, he quite enjoyed the surprised expression of the young snake. Raas with both of his lifetimes combined didn´t even come near of that of Scorge´s.
Raas looked at Scorge surprised but realized that he must have long found it out since they first met.
Scorge held his hand out and said, "I gave you a similar soul shield, like Elizabeth´s. But mine has a little bonus to it, so don´t be too surprised!" He giggled like a mischievous child and said, "Back to how I ended in the Woodland dungeon. The Acutra was called, Julia Horn, and she was a lesser Sprout. A truly sad second chance, but her mind was that of a genius. She overcame her difficulties with tricks and traps, but she made too much trouble and was discovered by a human mage. It was when Acutras were still very unknown and VERY rare beings. The mage basically studied her like a lab rat, but Julia that son- daughter of a sprout managed to kill him and then continued to massacre two whole towns. She used the knowledge she had gathered from the mage to use the bodies to summon a demon. Drenched in revenge and wrath she was just too appealing, and I was bored out of my mind to not finally go out of hell to visit the mortal realm once again."
Turning silent Raas tilted his head, "Anyway, she wished for me to kill humans, very "original", I did my "job", but I found out how amusing and interesting humans are and decided to roam the realm with Julia. During the long trip, we became friends. To be honest it is more like a love-hate relationship... haaah~ it could be a love-love relationship, but she is just too stubborn to accept her feelings..."
Noticing him sighing he fake coughed and continued, "Ahem, she reached tier 5 after many years, but coming near the end of her life she wanted to have eternal life, so I proposed her a deal. "Kill every being in the forest and I shall grant you an immortal body, unaging and eternally youthful.". Of course, she agreed, so I turned her into a dungeon core. Shishishishishi~ I decided to observe her and found it quite interesting. She build up quite a dungeon and it lured in interesting humans and monsters. So I decided to stay out of fun. The end. Wait... when I think about it, it could it be that I turned her into a dungeon core is the reason why she shows me the cold shoulder?"
"Ehhh, probably... At least I would be angry when someone turned me into a crystal ball that is stuck underground for eternity or till someone destroyed me..."
"Hmmm... it seems I made quite a mistake...I will solve it later."
"..."
"Soooo... You can turn people into dungeon cores?" asked Raas not wanting to end the awkward conversation at that.
"Yes, an easy task if you provide enough souls, that is! Humans still request demons to turn them into them. Most new ones just get destroyed the second they are found out, at least on this continent. The five dungeons that exist on this continent are heavily regulated, that is also why they are only 30 to 50 floors deep. I meet some that are over 100 floors large. It isn´t really a great life, but at least it is a life. "
"Hoh, interesting... I can´t wait to finally go out of this dungeon and explore this world!"
"But you are already out of the dungeon," said Scorge with a smile.
"You know that isn´t what I meant..." said Raas plainly.
"Shishishishi! Yes yes, I know. And I can´t wait to see what chaos you will bring!"
Raas rolled his eyes and looked at the timer.
[Inegration time: 10 minutes 33 seconds!]
As the time slowly ticked down Scorge continued to tell Raas about the world and his long life.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Man_of_culture
Man_of_culture Eyyy a slightly longer chapter (>2000 words) and a bit of conversation and backstory to dungeons. Hope you liked it!
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