I decided to smash the eggs before I took a massive rest. Storing the gems, I went to the swamp room.

Egg cluster: Proto-Monster. G-0

Inert Tadcells that cannot harm or do anything to defend themselves. Already, killing intent is being detected as they grow.

Observe has reached level 4!

My new level didn’t reveal anything so I threw fiery pebbles into them and they caught like the yolk inside was particularly flammable.

X2 Egg Clusters destroyed! 6 EXP gained!

No gems or notifications but there was an odd slurping noise as the water around my ankles began to rapidly drain through a hole that appeared in the centre of the floor. It took me a while to see it was my Portal. The black and red hole drained the water and began sucking away the slime piles.

I felt utter relief wash over me as a Zone barrier appeared in the tunnel, creating a safe zone in the ex-boss room.

It still smelled like a swamp but at least it was dry.

The portal rumbled and burped.

I wanted to sit down but the ground was still soaking wet and covered in brown gunk. I took out my first gem, the red one, and crushed it.

Well done! You have gained the active skill: Acid Touch. Skill levelled to 2 due to common rarity.

Acid Touch Lv 2: Active Spell. Energy: Create a weak minor acid from your hands. Can be cast or sustained. Cost 1 ENE for cast and 1 ENE every 5 seconds for sustain. Cooldown 10 seconds.

I could see the connection. Acid from the acid-spitting monster. I felt the spell settle with little pain. I was beginning to see that the greater the spell, the more pain I felt as the information settled into my brain.

I cast it and a hazy green liquid coated my fingers and palm. I tried flicking it or waving my hand but the acid clung. So it was a pure contact spell. Despite the limited range, if something grabbed me again... I had an option to make that thing regret it.

The acid didn’t last long so I made a note to watch my timing with it or use the sustain on it.

I turned a little too eagerly to the Indigo gem. A new colour.

Indigo gem: G-2

Creates a passive or active ability to navigate, conceal or reveal, track, and harvest among other types of possibilities.

I knew once I got up to the upper tiers of ranks, I might be able to even find a gem tracker kind of ability but I lowered my expectations and hoped for the best as I crushed it.

Well done! You learned the active skill: Primitive Tracker!

Primitive Tracker Lv 1 Mental: Infuse an object smaller than your palm with energy and be able to detect that item on the map within 10 meters. A very faint visual cue will be seen as you look at the item. Cost 10 ENE.

I winced as the pain hit me.

It was an odd skill I saw. A hefty cost and a sad range but I knew these things were... fast to change. If nothing else it would be a good way to track future allies and if I buried them into an enemy who liked to hide...

I’d be a step ahead.

I wonder if Greed had a tracking ability or just knew how to find things? I rolled my shoulders and turned to my last gem. My rare white gem.

“Can white gems become black?” I had to ask.

No. White gems are easily dyed to other colours but black is the absolute mix of all. White can become any other gem but black cannot easily replicate other gems powers. White would be to shore up gaps in power while black would be to manipulate your circumstance to gain a benefit.

I didn’t quite get it but I knew once I had a black gem, I’d be able to toy around with its limits. I already knew what I wanted so I crushed the gem and the prompt appeared.

Choose a colour.

“Violet.”

The white light was rapidly changed to the colour I requested then vanished.

Well done! You have learned the body change active skill: Frog Skin!

What?

Frog Skin Lv 1. Physical. Active: Turn your skin into a similar build as a frog allowing you to inhale oxygen through your skin, even underwater! Cost 15 ENE. No sustain cost. No revert cost.

I wasn’t sure I wanted this exactly. I was hoping for frog leg jump or at worse, a tongue lashing ability.

This just made me breathe underwater and I had no idea what I look like! I hesitated then activated the skill.

I had the oddest sensation of bubbling air along my skin. It was slow, taking its time to stretch out from my body and then down my limbs. My exposed arms turned a mix of green and yellow like I was heavily bruised. I few places became a bit bumpy as I watched. My hands flexed then extra webbing appeared between my hands. I could feel the same thing happening to my toes.

I gingerly touched my face where a slight blur came over my eyes, like a dirty contact lense. I came away with a thin line of mucus between my face and hand.

“Ew...” I groaned.

Then I inhaled and nearly reached cloud nine as my head went light with the pure amount of air I sucked in. My skin had all inhaled at once and I was overwhelmed.

System would like to offer some console. The changes me be controlled or adaptive if levelled up. A human skin appearance with the same ability or with more drastic options like potential toxins you could leak. Please do not feel discouraged on base level 1 version.

I read this slowly as my heart pounded at the sudden rich oxygen I was handing it. I turned the skill off and the changes that took close to three minutes to complete just vanished in a second.

Thank goodness for small favours at least.

Frogskin has reached level 2! Increased natural affinity with form. Less negative effects!

“I barely used the skill!” I said in surprise.

Inhaling dangerous amount of oxygen might have contributed to level.

Ah. Well, that was my gems. Acidy... tracker... frog skin combo.

So that meant I could now evolve Pure Rock with a better mindset and no risks to making a stupid mistake. Thinking it over, the light path seemed okay but I had ways to light an area up and the advanced form of light movement or becoming light wasn’t synching with what I had currently.

If nothing else, I could grab many skills with the path of light. The sanitary power to clean and remove dirt had already proved itself and I was actually enjoying the non-combat aspects of the skill.

I picked the path and the window changed.

The cleansing of evil begins with one willing to take on the work. Pure Rock is evolving!

I felt my head ripple with pain and lightheadedness.

It seemed it was just as bad when skills evolved as when I gained them. I had to avoid evolving powerful skills during battle or I’d be too stunned to defend myself.

Pure Rock has evolved into Purity Stone

Purity stone Lv 1. Active spell: Created a stone that causes a meter radius of soft light that cleanses all dirt within the space. Able to remove basic filth and slowly purify water to be drinkable. Slowly reduces fatigue of people within range. Cost 5 ENE.

With my just over three-thirds of my energy recharged, I created one of the new stones. This one was smooth and round.

It was god damn glowing giant pebble. I placed one at my feet and felt... a little warm.

Fatigue being reduced. Fatigue is the combination of physical and mental strain and stress gained over time. While HP and ENE may be full, the human psyche may still wear down causing physical debuffs and strain on the mind. Take care of yourself or System will be upset.

I watched as the brown sludge was neatly removed from existence and within a minute, a perfect circle of clean stone was around me. I grinned.

I’d never had to clean anything again. Blue gems were now the best type ever. I tossed a few rocks in the corner and when making sure I didn’t dip too low on energy, created a path back to the tunnel with them.

It was subtle but soon the fragrance of cotton and clean sheets filled the basement. I was testing the time limit and as I just sat there letting my wounds recover, I used the systems clock of real-time to gauge the stones. About ten minutes in, my first stone crumbled. A shame but I bet if they levelled up or even better... evolved again, the stones would be even better! I was idle, I began to test some of my skills.

Acid touch had a neat unlisted effect. It didn’t actually become caustic until I wanted it to so I could hold things without worrying about eating it away. I left Frog skin alone for now as the cost and time was a bit bothersome.

The Purity Stone could now be coated in a Flamebrand which had a very odd result.

Combo skill created! Campfire Stone!

Campfire Stone. Combo active: Create a Purity stone that gives of warm heat and increased light radius with a duration of one hour. Cannot be moved once placed. Cooldown: 20 minutes. Cost 7 ENE

I tried that beauty out right away and the increased light was about like a normal flame, sort of ebbing and retracting at odd times. I guessed it now had about 5 metres of light but the last meter was constantly shifting. The cleansing effect remained the same as did the fatigue ability.

I sighed as heat dried my damp clothes.

Corrections, all skills were just the best.

I knew I had to go soon. I was glad to have a clean nice safe zone but I had to get back to the real world to move on. I held the non-mangled part of my poor steel pipe. More like a baton at this point or a club. I thankfully had a one-handed blunt skill so I wasn’t out of my depth. I looked back at the boiler where heated mist once pored and saw the tiny round metal door lying nearby.

“Observe,” I said and the window prompt came up.

Heavy torn hatch door: Shield/Material. G-1

A torn door with a tiny shatter window. Could have some defensive ability.

I looked for a pipe or some long spear item but the basement walls had long been torn up to expand it for Greed’s swamp. I could barely see metal pieces bigger than my own trusty club now.

Well, I’d keep my eyes open. I stood and stretched. The light of my Purity Stone actually making me feel really refreshed. I hadn’t noticed how tightly compact I had become or how I was on edge for the last few hours.

I felt like a new man.

Especially when I saw my dirty clothes had been reduced from the blood splattered with Ichor to merely filthy. Even Purity Stones had limits it seemed.

“For now...” I mused excitedly.

I opened my status and decided to wonder where to place my stats.

Spiritual was a little unneeded at this point as I had no spirit abilities. Being in Karakura was going to need the stat sooner or later but I had to avoid falling into the trap that all I saw in the show are the only threats around.

Right now, if I didn’t kill the Infection, It didn’t matter one way or the other.

I lifted the door and it was damn heavy. I grunted and put a point into physical. I wanted to see what one physical stat did for me. The shield became lighter in a way a shopping back became lighter once you took the milk out. Not much but noticeable. I shrugged, put another one in physical and one into energy.

Playing to my strengths seemed wiser than not.

I saw I had a waiting notification from my first stat point gain.

Due to reaching 10 in physical you have gained a passive ability. Please choose of the two paths you like to gain naturally.

Path of the immovable or the path of the untouchable.

“Uh...” I trailed off. The box shifted.

System’s elegance is wasted. Do you wish to be harder to harm or harder to catch?

I nodded slowly.

Did I want to be the speedster like 70% of Bleach or the tank like the 30%?

Hm...

It would be harder to be both but I could work on that. I decided to tank it for now. I had a flipping shield. A fast shield was just not as good as a solid shield in most cases.

Path of the immovable chosen!

Health modifier changes from x3 to x5. You now have 55 HP instead of 33.

Skin of the troll lv 1. Passive: Physical attacks on you suffer reduced damage. Your mass is increased to be 5% heavier.

I flexed and didn’t feel too different in any bad way.

However, I did feel like I just had a spa and ten healthy smoothies. I felt damn healthy! I hefted my shield and club, banging them together with a grin.

It was time to go on a crusade against a boss.

---

The roof access was before me. The way up was deathly silent. I had a feeling that there were no more foes to be found on the lower floors. Everything had gathered beyond the door.

The rooftop doorway was not a simple metal thing. It was like someone mixed up the props in a play and put a heavy black wooden door with silver metal bands instead of a modern door. The thing gave off a chilly aura. I had used acid touch to remove a section of stair railing that was similar to my old steel pipe.

I took about five minutes of sustain casting to melt cleanly through but I now had a backup weapon just in case. Acid Touch was quick to level due to that. It had a stronger acid but that was about it. I gathered myself and pushed the door open.

The roof was enormous.

An open arena of sorts with flimsy chain fences to keep people from falling off, some just had small barriers. The sky above was pure black except for the red moon.

I felt unseen things in that Darkness. Things I ignored for my sanity. They were gathered to watch, like an audience to an amusing game.

My foes to be was on the far side, appropriately enough.

If I had to sum of the hospital in one form. I guessed it would look like the being before me.

A long ragged cloak shifted along the ground as the monster stared at the moon. It turned slowly and the long plague doctor’s mask had glowing pale blue flames in the sockets. The front of the clock showed a black ribcage that leaked a pus-like black substance that stank even from this distance. It drifted slowly and looking at it made me just not want to care.

It was easy to ignore but the creature it radiated slothiness to a tangible aura.

I Observed it while it was content to lazily watch me.

Sloth Plague-Giver Doctor: Boss. G-3

The infected apathy of the hospital given form. It is content to watch the world fall to pieces and do nothing to further itself. It is an affront to the System. Please remove it.

I ignited my shield and stood in the abyss like a burning beacon. It moved forward, floating like it really couldn’t care.

I had no idea if could fly or just float but I was going to avoid letting this piece of work touch me where I could.

“You’re making Director Mori look bad, poor guy doesn’t deserve to be linked with this,” I announced and the thing twitched. A reaction or just didn’t like sound?

I readied myself.

“Any words before we begin?” I asked. The thing actually seemed to think about it.

“Smoking is not permitted on grounds. Not that I care,” it admitted and was suddenly a black and blue blur as it raced towards me, sloth aura now clashing with the rising killing intent to kill me. I Retraced as the Doctor brought down an odd black staff with a single skeletal snake that was lazily clinging to the metal in a spiral. The ground cracked slightly and black sludge spread from the contact.

“What happened to ‘Do No Harm’?” I asked dryly, hiding the fact that my heart was hammering.

“Too much effort. Killing is easier.”

Well, it was consistent at least.

---