As I started to slowly reopen my eyes, I felt a faint light sting them, but still being in a pitiful state, I couldn't tell where it was coming from.
Then my vision began to improve and return to a more stable state. As I tried to breathe, I realized I was struggling to do so.
"What's happening?"
My throat was burning and my eyes stung, as if someone had thrown a handful of burning sand in my face. And most of all… my heart was pounding like crazy, as if it wanted to tear out of my chest and run away.
"Damn… what is this…"
A feeling of nausea spread through my entire body, while it was literally burning from the inside at an incredible rate. But contrary to what I thought, I didn't feel any injuries, and my life didn't seem to be in danger… well, not for now, apparently.
I ended up placing my hands on the hard ground of the labyrinth before getting up, despite the pain, because I shouldn't forget where I was!
What happened? Was I in some kind of memory? I looked in the direction of the arm that was in the wall, but to my great surprise, it had completely disappeared!
"What!?"
I approached the wall to analyze it from every angle and see if there were any traces of another creature that might have passed by and stolen it, but nothing at all. It was as if this arm had never existed!
Yet my memories are still there… well, not all of them. Strangely, the end of the scene remains lost in my mind. I can't at all remember the face of the one who seemed to see me!
But how is it possible to be seen in a memory from the past? Or… was it some kind of time travel, like in Back to the Future?
In any case, the situation is clearly dangerous! If some kind of administrator has their eyes on me, then I'm clearly in a bad spot in this damn labyrinth. My life is hanging by a thread!
Damn, yet another extremely powerful being added to my list of superior creatures… like I didn't already have enough!
Oh, wait, that's right! Senpai!? He should be back by now!
"Senpai! Are you back!?"
No sound for now.
And I think this is the first time I find his silence more terrifying than his dumb robotic analyses.
[ Connection... ]
"Thank god, you're here! I missed you! I was seriously in trouble, I couldn't hear you at all."
[ An error was detected when you ingested the unknown drop of blood. My mind was completely disconnected from you. ]
Wait, what? The system really had trouble with a simple drop of blood!? Damn, what creature did this blood come from!?
"How is it possible that you couldn't stay connected?"
[ Several likely hypotheses can be considered. Rank 3 systems do not have the same strength as rank 2 or rank 1 systems. It is therefore possible that I am unable to defeat such a creature. ]
OK! That makes more sense now, even if I'm still a bit lost. Anyway, there are several points to clarify, like what MA energy is and where Sariel went to find her Core!
But I think if I talk about my memory of the administrators to Senpai, he could turn against me… After all, he already turned against his creators. So me, just a simple user…
In any case, I need to analyze that blood, because I refuse to have something unknown inside my body that crashes the system in ten seconds!
"Senpai, can you analyze the drop of blood?"
[ Unable to perform analysis. It no longer exists. ]
Huh? What do you mean it no longer exists!?
"You mean it never existed or that my body completely consumed it?"
[ I will run an analysis of your body to determine existing changes. ]
Damn, this is getting complicated! More and more information is coming without me truly understanding it all, and it's seriously starting to piss me off!
[ Analysis complete ]
"Perfect, explain it to me!"
[ It would appear that you tasted the blood of an extremely powerful creature. ]
...
Is he dumb? Of course it's powerful, otherwise it wouldn't have defeated you in an instant!
[ Your body is currently trying to manage the blood to prevent an internal explosion. Also, it should be noted that the arm was absorbed into your body. ]
[ That would explain the disconnection. ]
Nani!? Wait, wait! I might explode? How can you just say that like it's normal?
And why did that arm just casually enter my body!?
I jumped back. No way, I'm not up for another dimensional flashback like: "Hey, I'm the chick who coded the world, got a minute?"
[ I will try to regulate the potential errors and attempt to draw benefits from them. ]
Benefits?
Oh, now you've got my attention, Senpai…
It's true that I've been here for a while and my abilities are far inferior to those of the other creatures in the labyrinth.
The only reason I'm not dead yet is clearly because I became a significantly potential creature early… and because I have human intelligence.
If the system can give me even one skill, that wouldn't be bad!
[ The system has extracted 25% of the blood and managed to place it in a regulation zone delaying a potential implosion by 168h. ]
Wait, what? That's amazing news! It allows me to survive longer, and if the system keeps extracting the blood little by little, then my life will be less and less in danger.
Well… I should still be worried, since I have no idea how time works in this labyrinth, or how long I've been here.
[ Skill has reached the required level. Skill acquired: [Draconic Language LV 1] ]
Draconic Language? Wait, that would mean this blood is related to a dragon?
But… wait a second… When I drank that blood, I was sent into a sort of memory where there was a massive dragon?
Don't tell me that was his blood…
If so, then I'm clearly screwed. I might have just pissed off two administrators.
Well, according to the system, they're dead… but that means absolutely nothing.
"Senpai, what is this skill?"
[ The skill [Draconic Language]
Allows basic understanding of the Dragons' language, normally impossible, since dragons generally possess no language skills. ]
So I can communicate with dragons, huh… Even if this skill seems overpowered at my current level, it won't be of any use to me. I'd die before using it.
Let's keep it in the back of our mind, just in case I ever face, say… Araba.
[ The system detects that the unnamed individual Proto-Oni is about to undergo a species evolution. ]
"An evolution? Oh damn, already a second one? Well, the last one was a while ago, to be fair!"
[ Three possible evolution choices. ]
[ Option 1: Crimson Oni – Infernal Model ]
[ Option 2: Lupacian Oni – Visceral Deviations ]
[ Option 3: Chimeric Oni – Unknown Branch ]
"WHAT?!"
I don't even know if it's my mouth or my brain that just screamed.
"What are these insane evolution names!?"
I can't make a mistake. Last time, it went well, but now…
First, let's move to a more discreet area, because right now…
To avoid repeating the same mistake, I started walking in all directions looking for a kind of hidden cave or something small enough to be hard to access.
Eventually, I found one a bit further away that wasn't occupied, but the smell inside was abominable beyond words.
What happened in there? Better not to know. But anyway, I had no other choice: if I wanted to become strong, it had to be now, and quickly!
Alright, let's read all these evolution choices one by one.
The first: [Crimson Oni – Infernal Model]
Crimson, huh… Sounds strange. As far as I know, it means "red," right? And Infernal Model… maybe it's related to fire?
After all, Oni supposedly have an affinity with fire, from what I understand. That could greatly improve my fire mastery.
Next, the second: [Lupacian Oni – Visceral Deviations]
Lupacian? What's that? I have no idea. Honestly, I have no clue. But "visceral" definitely implies something hateful? I think… like when they say "a visceral hatred"?
That reeks of a crazy desire to fight…
Then the third: [Chimeric Oni – Unknown Branch]
Unknown branch? That's really strange. Even the system has no idea what it is! Could it be an exclusive branch I reached through my hard efforts?
Though, "chimeric" does make me curious… Me, who doesn't care about being normal, this could be perfect!
I choose.
[ Evolution selected: Chimeric Oni – Unknown Branch ]
"Let's see what it's like to be a chimera!"
[ Launching evolution... ]
"Well, good night, Senpai!"
And I ended up falling to the ground and falling asleep.