Paradigm Parasite

There are three dead bodies lined up in front of me.

All of them have had their heads eaten off. Next to them are the belongings stripped from the corpses.

They are the spoils of war.

The contents are

One kukri (a small knife) plus a scabbard. 2 clubs. Three rags. An iron breastplate. A bit of dried meat from a troll's belongings.

The goblin's belongings are a bag and a bottle each in a pouch on his waist.

The bag contained a large amount of what looked like pachinko balls.

According to my memory, this is the currency of the subhumans.

There are three kinds of materials that look like gold, silver, and copper. The value is probably as high as it looks.

The bottle contained a black powder-like substance. I opened the lid and smelled it, which seemed to be gunpowder.

I checked it out while taking a bite of dried meat.

I can use the kukri and the club, so I'll take them. But I can't hold two of them, so I discard one.

I can wear the breastplate without any problem.

I'll take the pouch with its contents. As for the rags...I folded one and put it in the pouch.

I'll put everything on me so that I can move quickly just in case.

Now all that's left to do is to dispose the bodies.

I've already decided what I'm going to do.

In around an hour, I devoured a goblin's torso.

Not only did I eat the meat, but I even ate the bones. During the process of eating, a tooth broke again, but it grew back from the wound.

After all, it seems that the wounds heal after eating.

Perhaps the poison that caused the death was decomposed as well.

At any rate, let's think about my body as I understand it now.

My mind...or rather, my emotions have become diluted.

I have memories and feel pain. However, they are very weak.

In fact, even though I was kicked and broke bones here and there a while ago, all I could think about inwardly was, "Oh, my bones are broken, that's not good."

And my sense of ethics is also wrong.

If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be able to eat a corpse in my right mind, and more importantly, there is no way I would kill a goblin or troll without hesitation, even if I didn't have the skills to do so. If I were alive, I would have been stunned for sure.

...This is something I can't control at the moment, and if I'm going to live here, it's rather convenient.

I'm not sure about the body.

Considering that there is no heartbeat or pulse, yet there is a body temperature, it must mean that I myself am exerting some effect and forcing it to live.

I pull out the kukri with my right hand and hold the blade in the palm of my left hand and pull.

Blood flows, but the wound begins to slowly regenerate. Before it heals, I stick my right fingers into the wound and widen it.

The flesh is exposed.

"..."

I look at the wound and see what looks like black blood vessels mixed in with the flesh, entangled in the flesh and the bone I can see at the back.

Is this a part of myself?

I pull one out.

Its surface is completely black and its appearance reminds me of a plant root.

Let's call it a root from now on.

Concentrate my attention on the root to try it out. Does it move?

It moved. Slightly, but I could move it with my will.

It seems that this black root is extending from my brain to my whole body and controlling my body.

I pulled it out. I decided to try one more thing.

I looked at my hand and saw that the wound was closed, but the root I had plucked was still growing out of my palm.

It looks like it's growing hairs.

I let go of my plucking fingers and pick up the goblin head I left behind.

I tried to skin the head with a kukri, but it was too much trouble, so I bit it off. The skull was clubbed, cracked and chewed up.

I poked a root into the exposed brain.

I knew it.

Like Rothfeldt earlier, I can see the goblin's memory.

Knowledge, skill, experience. Pulling out roots in a light touch.

This is useful.

Now I can understand the goblin...or rather subhuman language.

"Ah... ah, konnakandika?"

I can't pronounce it right.

Are the vocal cords shaped differently?

Oh well, it's a good thing I understand the language.

Let's try something else next time.

Using the same method as before, I exposed the troll's brain.

This time, it ate directly without piercing the root. I thought this would be impossible, but I was able to suck out its memory this way as well.

In conclusion, the food eaten is digested and converted into energy by the roots of the whole body, not the stomach.

It seems that it uses this energy to heal wounds and other problems.

The speed of digestion is also quite fast. Otherwise, I would have a belly like a pregnant woman by now.

If the brain is taken in, it can absorb memories and knowledge.

I don't quite understand the logic behind this, but I'll just chalk it up to that.

It is also quite convenient.

I am almost invulnerable unless my body in the brain is crushed.

However, seeing that my broken bones did not heal immediately, it seems that if I receive excessive damage, I will run out of gas and will not be able to recover, so I should not be overconfident.

Next, magic.

Again, Rothfeldt's main focus is on close combat. However, the first thing I noticed was the idea of taking away their vision, and the way I fought was more like a bandit or assassin....

In other words, although it was usable, it could not be incorporated into combat.

Moreover, he could only use the basic four attributes of earth, water, wind, and fire, and only at the beginner's level.

Let's try it out.

I build a magic circle in my head.

I hold up my right hand. A red magic circle appears on the palm of my right hand.

I activate it.

It is a fire attribute elementary magic "Fire I."

A vigorous flame appeared, but it disappeared in a few seconds. It seems that there is no need to worry about the source of fire now.

It takes about 20 seconds. It cannot be used in battle.

Magic is classified into beginner, intermediate, advanced, and special levels.

It is further divided into I-III in the classification.

Let's take Fire I as an example.

Fire I...Normal magic

Fire II...Fire II is activated by incorporating an additional formula into Fire I. The power or range can be extended.

It is called "Fire II with extended range" or "Fire II with extended power."

Fire III...Fire III is activated by adding an additional formula to Fire II. Both power and range are extended.

There are also other types of basic structures that can be rearranged to produce unusual effects, but Rothfeldt had never seen them and did not know much about them.

It is useful outside of combat, such as for starting fires and producing water, but as a means of attack it is inadequate.

Rothfeldt's own output is also not very high, which adds to its inadequacy.

It seems that the power of magic depends on the amount of magic power of the person himself. The first-rate magician can burn down a house with fire I, it is said.

If so, it's hard to determine whether or not the power is extended or not.

So, what is clear now is this.

I've become a creature of the most extraordinary nature.

It's like a monstrous creature from a B-movie.

Now that I have a grasp of my current situation, I'm going to think about my future plans.

My immediate goal earlier had been to get food, but I had managed to do that, so there was no need to force myself to go to the mountains.

However, I learned something interesting from the memory of the goblin I had just killed.

The geography of the mountain range that is the territory of the subhumans.

It seems that the area is not completely covered, but it should be fine for goblins, trolls, and orcs.

Since I had nowhere else to go, I decided to go to the goblins' habitat first and get some money and weapons to fund my activities for the time being. It is not good that I have no human currency with me.

At the very least, I would like to have something to start with.

I don't intend to live like a wildling forever, so at least I want to actively aim to get money.

And one more thing. I want to leave the Oratorium territory via the mountains and move to another territory without being noticed by the territory's inhabitants.

If I take the roads within the territory, there is a possibility that I will be noticed even if I go through at night.

In this respect, it does not matter if the subhumans see me in the worst case, and if it comes to it, I just have to give up stealing and go through.

It's a definite sign that I am heading for the mountains.

I take one look at the remaining corpses.

First of all, I need to get some rest.

I'm going to be busy from now on, so let's eat as much as I can.