It was late into the evening when they finished at the guild, and Mash wanted to head straight for the colosseum, but knew that there were still a few things he wanted to do first. He wanted to try splitting his control with Priscilla again, having gained a little insight when he got a glimpse into himself. For now, he made his way back to Arthur’s house, having a small conversation with the others.

“What happened when you got the item?”

Jill did not forget about his promise from earlier and reminded him of the topic. Needing to ask them anyway, Mash didn’t mind letting them know.

“I don’t know how to describe it exactly, but I was freed. From everything, the classes, the marks, the contract, and even Priscilla. I can’t even begin to describe how incredible that truly was. I just know that I want to experience it again, and I want you guys to as well.”

Hesitating about bringing up the next part, he paused thinking about how to best word his request.

“How?”

Surprisingly, Luke spoke, sounding oddly desperate. Meeting his eyes, mash waited for Luke to continue. Despite his mask, Luke seemed to get the gesture.

“You guys didn’t experience it, but Leah’s charm skill was horrible. And even with last night’s discussion, I can barely even tell what my class is doing to me, but the thought of being controlled is terrifying. I will do what it takes to get free.”

Despite shivering as Luke spoke of Leah, by the time he finished speaking, resolve was painted on his face. Jill nodded along, though Red looked a little more nervous. Though Red managed to sound calm as she questioned him.

“What did you have in mind?”

“We need to keep leveling. I don’t mind the training and we can continue that, but I’m going to sign up at the Colosseum tomorrow. After the tournament, I want to start doing the nearby dungeons, not to clear them but to fight monsters.”

Mash didn’t let any anxiety bleed into his voice, this was something he would do even if they didn’t agree. There was a risk to doing things this way, not to mention that he would have even less time to rest. He expected some push back, but they all agreed. Even Red who seemed hesitant earlier, agreed with his plan.

“If we’re waiting until after the tournament to enter a dungeon, that will still give us two weeks to train.”

Red explained her reasoning after Jill prompted her. With the group’s agreement, he was glad that he didn’t need to go about it alone. The guild wouldn’t have let him enter a dungeon by himself, so he would’ve needed to sneak in. Though from his past two experiences he figured that would be easy, the guild didn’t seem to watch the entrances very carefully. Instead of a firm rule it felt more like advice, something that was meant to keep them safe. The discussion had continued, talking about what else they could do to gain levels, and Red decided that she would check the guild’s mission board later. There might be a few missions for killing nearby monsters.

Once back to the house, Mash broke off and headed to the training area. The others went to eat dinner, but he wanted to get started with Priscilla. He was hungry, that feeling never changed though, and he grew used to feeling its pull. Nobody was in the training ground, and he made his way to the center, while telling Priscilla of his plan.

“We are too separated still. I noticed that, when I attuned to the item. Your mana is less a part of me than these items are.”

“Yes, that is obvious. I do not possess your energy and am struggling to match it when not in control of your body.”

Somewhat expecting her words, he didn’t say much more. Instead giving her permission to access his mind.

“I got that, just check my thoughts and learn what I want to try.”

After reading through his thoughts, he could feel her contemplating the suggestion. In the end, she sent him uncertainty, but since he had accomplished something similar before, it should be possible again.

Sitting against the ground, he crossed his legs like he did when he first succeeded. Back when he really tried meditating for the first time, when he pushed his mana out of his body and drew in the ambient mana. He would do the same again but try and pull Priscilla herself into his mana core. For her part, she needed to empty her mana, that way she could better acclimate to his energy. As he started the meditations, he investigated Priscilla’s thoughts to see what risks she had thought of.

That was the real reason, he let her look into his mind. He wanted to be aware of what risks she could think of, but it seemed like she thought it was mostly harmless. If they succeeded it would fundamentally change them both, but failure should only mean that their situation wouldn’t change. It was an all or nothing situation. The only real risk was that she didn’t know what changes they would experience if they succeeded. They ended up discussing the implications of the transformation for a while, his brother having even come down to check on him. Mash waved him off, needing to maintain his focus on the task before him.

He pushed against his energy, much like he had done before. Ejecting it from his body to open the pathway for Priscilla. His mana core was larger now, and it was taking longer to start the process. Opposite to his speed, Priscilla only took a few moments to eject her mana, and he could feel her empty vessel beside his core. She couldn’t do anything else at this point, the rest of the process falling on his shoulders. He tugged on her vessel, much like how he would interact with pure mana. Similar to how he had resisted other’s mana, he was doing the opposite now, making it easier for Priscilla’s vessel to enter his core.

Pain shot through his chest, and he only managed to maintain control of himself because of the new earrings. Their effects noticeably changing the amount of pain, or at least his perception of it. There was more though, and images, memories, and feelings flashed through his mind, pounding against the inside of his head. The connection with Priscilla was growing stronger, and he knew that he was receiving those things from her. The earrings were helping deal with them as well, he could feel them consuming the errant thoughts and feelings along with his energy. It stopped him from getting overwhelmed, limiting what actually passed into his mind.

That was only a part of the problem though. There was an inexplicable pain the bloomed within him. Even his items paltry attempts to contain it seemed pointless. It felt like he was replacing his guts, and he didn’t know if he could maintain his consciousness without the item. Although, he was able to continue now, and pushed forward, despite Priscilla’s warnings.

“Stop, and try again in the future, you are too weak to complete the process.”

It was weird to hear Priscilla sound concerned, her voice usually sounded apathetic in the messages. Her words didn’t stop him, if anything, they did the opposite. Weakness was the biggest chain that bound him, that stopped him from becoming free. Normally, he might have taken her advice, but not now, not for this. He wouldn’t let his weakness stop him and pushed forward. Then it came, a feeling of wholeness, of filling his core and letting it become something more. He could feel his core changing, and Priscilla seemed to be experiencing a change of her own. The pain passed slowly, but it did vanish, and he opened his eyes to the world, feeling like a new person.

He stared at another pair of eyes; Luna’s face was inches from his own. He fell backwards, wincing as his hands touched the ground. Checking them, he saw cuts along his palms. He must have been clenching his fists unconsciously, hard enough to tear his skin at that. He was covered in sweat too and felt moisture running down from his eyes. Moving his hands to wipe his eyes, he wondered about how he must look to Luna. Thankfully, his friends weren’t here, only Luna and Arthur were watching him carefully. As he brought his hands down from his face, he saw blood. Tears of blood? What had happened to him?

“What were you thinking! What did you even do?”

Luna broke free of her stupor and rushed to help him. He felt her healing magics run through him but didn’t have a response for her. She looked tired, and it seemed like she had been crying. While Arthur didn’t look like he had been crying, his brows were creased from worry, or maybe that was anger. Waiting for Mash’s response, his brother seemed to be containing himself.

“I, uh, tried to get the thing with Priscilla working.”

Mash didn’t have much more to say, still unsure of what he had actually done. He sent Priscilla a message and received a response quickly. She mainly told him of the changes to her own body, of her greater affinity to wood mana now. There were more changes but that was the first thing she noticed. Similarly, she informed him that he had an affinity to lightning mana now and might get the ability to use the magic soon. If he had the wyvern scale, he would’ve been able to do it already, and with significantly more control and power.

Needing to check on his own condition, he started using his mana territory to examine his own changes.

“Check your status and let me know what happened.”

The voice of reason, Arthur gave him an instruction that should have been unnecessary. He was about to do just that but stopped as he noticed Luna’s stare. She was looking at him unblinkingly, and only responded when she met his eyes.

“Your eyes are different.”

There was a little awe in her voice, though he heard no fear. He would check on that later, for now his status, and focused his thoughts inward.

Name: Mash Class: Scale Wood Devourer

Level: 40

Health: 1000 / 1000

Energy: 1139 / 1710

Fortitude: 100

Endurance: 71

Strength: 71

Agility: 72

Intelligence: 100

Wisdom: 66

Charisma: 32

Free Stats: 0

Skills: Persist, Mana-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Mana Territory, Unnatural Energy → Unnatural Monster Core, Inhumanity, Wooden Body, Carnivorous Tree

Unnatural Energy → Unnatural Monster Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body, fusion with a monster has given you access to its potential. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy. Your inhuman body is better able to handle the changes to your core.

Current Bonus: +35% efficiency

Inhumanity (Passive): Giving up your humanity has improved your body, improving your physical control, natural defenses, animalistic intuition, and mana control.

The changes were more subtle than he would’ve liked but understood that they were benefits. The efficiency of his energy improved, and the line about gaining access to Priscilla’s potential interested him. It probably meant to allude to his new lightning affinity but sounded like that wasn’t all it did. Even his inhumanity skill changed, but that might have been from earlier since it related to improved mana control which could’ve happened when Priscilla took control of his body. He should check his status more often but hadn’t bothered since there hadn’t been any level ups recently.

He wanted to run some tests, and even check his eyes, but was stuck explaining what had happened to his siblings. It was clear that they had stayed awake all night out of concern, and he owed them an explanation. After sharing what had transpired, he ended up receiving lectures from both of them, but it was clear that they were just talking out of concern. He told them that there was no real danger, Priscilla having told him as much. That didn’t seem to matter, and he was chastised harshly.

It was hard to focus on their lecture, as he was having another conversation with Priscilla at the same time. She was excited, explaining to him about the changes that she could notice. This was a more complete connection than the one she formed earlier. They gave each other more now, more even than the simple mana affinities. Each of their minds were strengthened, and she was now producing energy instead of mana as well. Furthermore, his energy was denser now, meaning that he could use it more quickly. With only a little training he should be able to make wooden creations as fast as she had before. That excited him, but he was even more curious to see what she could manage now.