‘I should’ve known just how big the gap was. I thought I understood it but I was wrong. Even Onumbas had his status displayed by the guidance field to me but these guys…’ Skullius thought as he watched the four before him get down and harvest important parts of the creature.

‘I wonder. What will kill me first? I thought I could scrape two more levels but… I guess the rush from killing that Eobald guy got to me,’ Skullius sighed in his mind and pulled up the invasive status that showed his Doom Factors.

~~~

[Doomed Factor 1: Disowned

Your master, Undead Lich Somanda has cut off his mana supply to you. Under normal circumstances, you would cease to exist. However, the benevolent VOW has granted you time to decide your own fate. If you cannot do that in the time given, you will meet your end.

Time till DF1: 6 hrs

—

Doomed Factor 2: Existential Crisis

Your distinct perception and absorption of mana throughout the years has caused you to start awakening what should have been lost a long time ago. If you fail to recover and remember this in time you will suffer a crisis of your own existence and descend into madness.

Time till DF2 : 1yr ]

~~~

Only six hours remained until he had to sustain himself with mana and with his new form, Skullius didn’t know how he was going to pull through._.

He didn’t know how exactly he would perish after failing to circumvent the Doom Factor, but it probably wouldn’t be pretty.

Unfortunately, Skullius couldn’t level up as a Discount Human at the moment as even though he had fulfilled the cumulative mana experience requirement, he hadn’t completed the Second Task to achieve the next level.

What was this Second Task that he had to accomplish, one might ask?

~~~

[ Exp : 1000/1000 ]

[ Second Task : Obtain the cores of two Tier 2 monsters ]

~~~

Even though the Task didn’t seem too difficult, Skullius didn’t have the opportunity to finish it as none of his ‘companions’ were willing to waste time helping him level up when he was doomed to die anyway. It was called efficiency.

Which was reasonable.

“Hey! You’re nothing but deadweight and you just stand there while we do all the work? Get over here and make use your miserable life before it ends,” the ever abrasive Denille said with a scowl.

Skullius didn’t even have the will to refuse her as the energy she radiated commanded his weak body to obey.

Was this still a grudge over the fact that he had killed Eobald?

He asked for it and Skullius happily obliged.

Was that wrong?

‘Ah… I wish there was a future where I could strip you naked, strap you up to a tie beam, grab a chainsaw and slowly cut through your belly and retrieve your insides.. Wait, that’s another one isn’t it?’ Skullius thought before he moved forward.

He didn’t received much help from the party of four, having to follow what they were doing and failing miserably at it. It seemed they didn’t particularly care about his help as they knew that Denille was venting out her frustration on him.

None of them would bother to help unless Skullius was about to die anyway. At least two of them.

The Discount Human watched as Reon dug into the flesh and organs of the Weaver and pull a large diamond-like crystal that was the size of his head.

It was light blue in colour, a dense coagulation of mana that formed a bright ball glowing within its centre.

Skullius’ eyes sparkled in wonder and he couldn’t help but subconsciously ask.

“What’s that?”

Reon responded with a generalised answer as if he hadn’t wanted to explain in the first place. Which he didn’t.

“It’s what’s left after any creatures that has formed a core dies. Basically, a dead core.”

As soon as he finished explaining, Reon put the core close to a ring that was on his finger and Skullius watched the large crystal turn into a steam of energy that vanished into the ring.

Skullius was about to ask again but he received a warning gaze from Reon that shut him up.

The ring was a spatial storage. An expanded space where a person could store their stuff. It was bound to the user using mana with the user’s death meaning that it could be owned by another party.

After a short while of scraping off the scales, dislodging the bones and harvesting some organs and fangs from the large creature, it was time to move on.

“Let’s get going. If we stay too long, we might encounter other powerful creatures that have already been drawn here by the scent of blood. Especially the blood of something as rich as this,” Benzard said.

Skullius took one last glance at the Weaver, which had been a victim of several mutations that boosted its health and other stats to a dramatic degree especially after it reached Tier 4.

When all creatures that used the Tier system reached Tier 4, their cores would turn compact, absorbing and realising every separate part of the creature to the fullest extent.

The core would be changed from a myriad of different parts to a singular, powerful component. Of course, not all beasts would receive substantial boosts to their cores, as only those that had done much in the way of gathering knowledge and taking powerful portions of defeated foes in the form of consuming or merging would benefit the most.

Soon the group continued on.

Benzard who lead the way held the two identical Keys together while muttering something in a hushed tone. This was the way to navigate to the hidden labyrinth which was a complicated process that wouldn’t exactly guarantee an easier time finding the place, but it gave the opportunity to do so.

This was one of reasons why it was so difficult to find legacies, especially when using Keys that didn’t belong to the labyrinth.

Fulgardt the Immoral’s legacy was one such without a clear Key that was left for someone to be able to find its location. Benzard and his group knew that were going to be some rough challenges ahead considering the nature of the owner of the labyrinth.

Time flew as the group travelled. They found many powerful creatures the deeper they went into the forest.

The portion of the Forest where Skullius was originally was near the edge, with the two high tier beasts that protected the section of the forest watching over that area.

The deeper one went into the Tremur Forest, the more one would find places where a variety of these beasts spawned along with encountering powerful creatures that preyed on each other.

The layout of the forest usually emphasised chaos in the middle, with relative order around the edges were pairs of high tier beasts chosen by the ‘King’ resided.

Hours ticked by as the cycle of fighting, looting and running continued with the unfortunate Skullius missing his infinite endurance.

The exhaustion he felt wasn’t the real deal. It was merely an imitation where he felt his body getting heavier and hotter, making it impossible to keep moving.

He was also struck by a hunger where he would feel like he had truly reverted back to his Boneman form on account of the feeling of a gaping emptiness in his abdomen that he felt constantly gnawing at him.

As if his atrocious luck had turned upside down, Irlen stopped and requested they take a break and eat as he was starving.

“All this work, keeping your asses safe has me beat. Whose turn is it to cook? I’m beginning to digest myself here,” Irlen said, emphasising with his bulky shield.

The natural choice was usually Reon who was the smartest and most diverse to the extent that even most work outside of combat was usually known to him.

However, to everyone’s surprise…

“I’m not doing it this time. I’ve been doing just as much work as you and Benzard. If there’s anyone who should be candidate to make us a meal, it’s Denille.

The pretty red haired lady was about to burst into a storm of expletives when she suddenly saw the pale figure of Skullius and gripped him by the neck of his robe.

“You, I’m sure you’re hungry too. Get cooking, we have all the meat in the world,” she said.

Skullius wanted to laugh but he knew it wouldn’t end well.

Him?

Cook?

Food?

Since he couldn’t refuse anyway, he decided to make the most out of it. It would also be his first time eating and he didn’t know how that would feel like.

He literally had no knowledge on cooking but since no one refused to give him the chance, he didn’t mind giving it a go after being given a few pointers.

Fire. Meat. Meat over fire. Meat burns. Good stuff.

Skullius checked his Doom Factor, seeing that there was two hours left, with the sun reaching the spot where he had seen it yesterday when he arrived.

Nice.

What could possibly go wrong?