I stumbled into my home and collapsed, legs splaying outward.

[All right. Maybe I should take a break.]

[Can you even stand up?]

No. No, I can't. I've been hunting for almost two weeks straight, and I haven't seen any more of those boars. I have, however, been snacking on just about anything that moves.

[How are the reserves filling?]

[Filling? They're not going to be full until you eat a planet or something, but in terms of energy? We've got more than ever.]

[Great. Just pour it into whatever you think is best, I don't have the energy to think right now.]

[...Well, there is something you might be interested in.]

[What is it?]

[I finished analyzing that boar you ate a while back, and I think I can synthesize the ability it used and apply it to you.]

It's taken some time, but I'm finally figuring out Joule's technical manner of talking.

[Are you sure? I thought that I could only use the void.]

[So did I, but it turns out that you absorb a substance called 'mana' whenever you use a void ability, and we've been stockpiling quite a bit of it.]

[Isn't void the most powerful?]

[No. Noah's void is the most powerful. At our level, we'll have to learn some other types of elements to get really strong.]

I'm slowly realizing just how overpowered Noah is compared to me, and my mandibles droop slightly.

[Cheer up! I don't think even Noah can use magic, so you've got that over him.]

I'm temporarily stunned.

[What do you mean he can't use magic? What was all that stuff he was doing with the trees?]

[That's just Noah's intrinsic abilities, and they're a billion times more powerful than with what he did to the trees. I can't really quantify his rank, but I can guarantee that Noah can't use magic. He absorbs and compresses mana at an absurd rate, yes, but it's squeezed to the point that he can't use it.]

[...So technically speaking, if I were to battle Noah with magic, I'd win?]

She laughs for way too long.

[Of course not. He could squish the whole planet to a pebble, why would he be scared of losing any fight?]

Eh. I'll take what I can get.

[What's the ability called, and how do I use it?]

[I was thinking of calling it Frost Bite. To use it, just focus on cooling your mandibles down.]

[Okay...]

I spread my mandibles apart and will them to get colder.

As I see frost spreading over my mandibles, I gain a dim sensation of a ball of energy, quite dissimilar from the cold void, floating inside me.

[Is this mana?]

[Yup! I even converted a tiny amount of your overall Void into a mana containment! It should be plenty stable for as long as you need it.]

The frost disappears as I contemplate the new information.

[This could be really helpful!]

[It really will be! What I don't get is this 'system' stuff. It turns out there's a system designed to do basically the same thing I do, but for every monster and human on the planet. Don't worry - I do a far better job than it does. I just don't know why it doesn't apply to you.]

[Hmmm... maybe because I didn't start out as a monster?]

[No, that shouldn't be the case. Animals converting into monsters happen all the time when they come into contact with too much mana, so you should be covered.]

[...Maybe you talk louder than it does?]

[That's a pretty good guess, actually. Unfortunately, we won't know for sure until either the universe tells us, or Noah shows up and we can ask him.]

[What does he even do in his spare time?]

[I have no idea.]