“Who am I?”

I scratched my chin. This question was worth pondering over.

Inside the body of an imp, there was a soul of a human.

A human who came to this bloody world against his wishes. Betrayed by the person he thought he could trust, he was left to die in the hands of a grotesque monster.

Ironically, he became the very thing for which he was brought to this world.

What does that make me?

A monster? Then what about the memories of Alex Ford? Human? The imp’s body tells a different story, though.

Finding an answer to Logier’s question was harder than expected.

“A special imp, I suppose.” I shrugged my shoulders. Then, I asked the question bugging me since a moment ago. “By the way, who is this Keeper you talked about?”

“The protector of this place. He is the God who watches over our world.” Logier said as his tone took a deeper hint. He sounded both afraid and awed. “How can you undo the punishments from a god?”

A god? How interesting. Do they really exist in the first place?

By Logier’s definition, Keeper sounded like the hidden boss of this dungeon. No wonder he was strong enough to curse an orc chieftain into a weak mess. This dungeon was getting scarier with each passing day.

No. It was always this scary. It's just that I haven’t discovered it until now. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

“I couldn’t undo it, though. I only managed to suppress it for a while.” I answered his query. “But don’t worry. Once the duration runs out, I’ll suppress it again.” I reassured him.

It’ll be a win-win situation for both of us.

I can earn proficiency points, and he gets to be relieved from the pain. Who knows, Cleanse might gain one more level.

“I understand,” Logier replied stiffly.

A few quiet moments passed by comfortably which was then interrupted by an overly motivated orc.

“Little imp, from now on, you are my friend. No matter what happens, I, Logier of the Sengu tribe, shall stand together with you.”

He was pretty serious about the declaration. His face showed it all.

Not knowing what to do, I simply sat in silence. What am I supposed to do in this situation? I tried to recall a similar scenario ever happening in books and mangas that I used to read. Maybe they could provide me with some insight on how to face this situation. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, nothing came to mind.

I remained quiet, but not by choice, of course.

XXX

To avoid the awkwardness, I went to find the body of the Stalker. Its corpse was a great source of nutrition. I might be able to learn the ability that made it hide its presence in the dark. Although I had the perk from Shade Spawn talent, Stalker’s ability seemed superior.

What I really wanted, though, was the ability to poke bone pikes out of my palm. It was Stalker’s deadliest weapon that nearly took Logier’s life. I hoped [Beastal Diet] could grant me the skills by accumulating enough genetic data. That’d be cool.

I found the corpse of Stalker thrown carelessly to a corner. It was lying at a weird angle with its head buried between its legs. There was a fist-shaped cavity on its chest where the ribs had sunken inwards.

Sheesh! That Logier can really hold a grudge.

I gave the pitiful goblin a silent prayer before getting ready to make it my happy meal. I felt no remorse about eating something that resembled a human. At this point, things like morals will only hinder me in the path I had chosen for myself.

A few seconds later, I made a startling discovery when I touched the corpse. This goblin was actually wearing clothes made from a kind of material with a silky texture. The goblins I met until now were either naked, blatantly flashing their unmentionables, or had something like a dirty rag wrapped around their waist. Of course, the latter did very little to hide their privates.

Never had I ever seen one fully dressed. There seemed to be a fully functional society of these disgusting monsters.

As we all know, every society has hierarchies. The upper echelons enjoy the luxury while the lower ones live in poverty. All the goblins I met until now were from lower dregs, and since it wore clothes, let’s say that Stalker was one of those ‘rich bastards.’

Now it begs the question, what was someone who should be enjoying the riches and labor of the lower dregs doing in a place like this? Is it because of Logier? Did it come out specifically to hunt Logier?

So many questions! I’d have to ask Logier about it later.

The garment was actually a bodysuit with a cloak. Roughly, it looked similar to a diving suit. I decided to keep it. Wasting no time, I quickly donned the suit. The size was perfect, and it hugged my body like a glove. The cloak also had a hood.

I was pretty satisfied with this unexpected loot.

A queer feeling enveloped me all of a sudden. It was as if a weight had lifted from my shoulders. Not figuratively, but literally. I felt light and agile.

As I stared dumbfounded at my hands, the [System]’s notification arrived.

Equipped [Stealth Suit model 1].

Rating: Rare

Speed +1

Evasion +2%

Synergy with [Shade Spawn] detected.

Bonus Evasion +5%

Bonus presence concilment +5%

This came out of nowhere and slapped me across my face. I didn’t know wearing a random body suit snatc—err extracted from a dead goblin will have such an exaggerated effect.

I never thought I’d see an “equipment effect” in action from something taken from a random goblin. I’ve only heard of this term from one of the instructors in the barracks of the Asiavel kingdom.

When you equip a fitting item that creates synergy with your skills, it generates additional stat bonuses. In my case here, that extra 5% evasion and 5% presence concealment were the result of this equipment effect.

With speed boosted by one whole point and evasion as high as 7%, no wonder I felt light like a feather.

Excited, I began jumping sideways to have a proper measure of of the improved stats. It was the safest way to get used to the increased speed without crashing into a wall.

After that, I threw punches and kicks in the air. My hands moved so fast that they became a blur like those guys in the martial arts movies I watched.

In the back of my mind, there was a nagging feeling that I had forgotten something. Unfortunately, I was too excited to care about that at the moment.

XXX

Logier groaned as he performed some complex training routines. He wanted to test the limits of the ‘cure’ provided by his new friend, a little imp, whom he met unintentionally.

“The pain is still there, but now it's endurable.” He assessed himself after finishing the circle. Satisfied with the result, he stopped the high-intensity exercise and relaxed on the ground.

He missed his tribe's men. He missed his loyal aides, and he missed Ue. Its been a few days since he had last seen her. He hoped she is managing the affairs of their tribe well in his stead.

According to the law of their tribe, if the chieftain is absent then their spouse or child should take their spot and be the next leader. But, Ue was neither his wife nor his child, therefore, many were reluctant to have her as their chief.

“She got a big brain. She’ll be fine.” Logier assured himself. He closed his eyes in hopes to get some shut eyes. The past few days were stressful, and he hadn’t had a good sleep in days.

But…

Compulsory Task No. 147

Prevent the goblins from climbing the stairs to the second floor.

Rewards: Restoration of your skills and titles; +100 Merit