I expanded my cloud-coat, and drifted aimlessly through the air. Ascending and descending was a relatively simple task: just increase the cloud’s size to rise, or decrease it to fall. Moving in a particular direction, however, was mostly up to nature. Only mostly, though. The winds blew at different intensities at different heights, and adjusting my cloud’s size to catch a particular breeze allowed me to choose my direction. I’m sure the process would be a lot easier with a wind aligned to detect the wind currents or create them, but it’s manageable as-is.

After catching a particularly strong breeze in the direction I was headed, I shifted my efforts towards mana crystallization, and made an interesting discovery into the limits of my specialization. When I tried to crystallize mana with my own alignment, it worked as normal. However, attempting to crystallize mana or cast any spell with the Caprae Nimbos’s stormcloud mana was impossible.

If I had to guess, it’s a limit of this particular form, rather than something my specialization isn’t capable of. The vast majority of monsters are physically incapable of casting spells, relying on their physiology to manipulate mana into a useful form. I’m able to circumvent this through my personal alignment, but when using the stormcloud mana of the Caprae Nimbos, and likely the mana of most other monsters, I won’t be able to cast spells.

It’s not all bad news, though. If it were an immutable limit to my specialization, then I wouldn’t have been able to cast spells in Rhannu’s form. It’s more likely that I just can’t do it in forms incapable of casting spells. Filii Spatium Polypus should be able to cast spells with their own mana, though I will need to test how it interacts with my own space alignment, as well as if I can cast spells before the rank they gain enough natural intelligence to.

---

I was able to make six mana crystals with my space mana in the six hours before arriving at the swamp. There were still a few hours of daylight left, so I should be able to hunt for a few hours before nightfall. After which, I’ll head into my subspace for some shut-eye. Or wait, are these creatures nocturnal? They’re toad monsters, so probably. Tomorrow morning, then.

I continued floating along, searching for any Oleum Rubeta to hunt. As the quest notice stated, there was almost no plant life left here. Only the ashen remains of what once were trees were scattered throughout the land, and all that remained was dust, mud, and oil.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another adventuring party in the distance. It seems as though I’m not the only one who found this quest. Of course, I’m going to avoid them. I can’t go around competing with fully fledged adventuring parties by myself, and I certainly don’t want to be confused for an actual monster. Flying a bit further away, I noticed a patch of murky water was a lot darker than the rest of it, with the occasional air bubble rising up through it.

A single Oleum Rubeta emerged from under the pooled oil. It rose from its oil, spreading its webbed hands out over the oil to float atop it. Its skin was black and tar-like, constantly leaking out the oil that plagued these lands.

It looked left, then right, then up and at me. It seemed to be considering if I was prey or not, but ultimately decided I wasn’t worth the effort. Big mistake.

I opened my mouth, and released the static charge I’d built up over several hours of travel. A thunderous crack signaled its release, and the bolt itself instantly struck into the ground… Several hundred feet away from its intended target.

The Oleum Rubeta croaked, and dug back into its oily burrow. A golden opportunity, wasted. My coat turned white again, signaling all its charge had been used up. It will take at least a few minutes to build up again, so I might as well go looking for another target.

Or maybe not. Another air bubble blew up through the oil, signifying that this Oleum Rubeta was still inside the puddle, rather than burrowing inside the earth itself. Perhaps it plans to remain there? It’s a dumb tactic, but I suppose it’s a dumb monster as well. Regardless, this gives me a chance. I don’t think oil is conductive, but it’s at least flammable.

I waited several minutes while shaking my cloud-fur to build up charge. When it showed grey again, I flew closer to the oil spill so as not to miss with the next bolt. I floated a few feet above the oil, and was about to release another bolt, when suddenly the toad’s tongue burst through the surface, and stuck to me. It tried to pull me into the oil pool, and I barely resisted by expanding my cloud-fur. It was just barely too strong to overpower. Fortunately, I had one other trick at my disposal.

Rather than shooting my lightning out my mouth, I released it through my body, right into the toad’s tongue. It arced along the tongue’s surface, and impacted the oil.

The last thing I noticed was the oil bursting into flames with an all-consuming flash, engulfing me in its explosion.

---

Of all the stupid ways to die…

In hindsight, I may have greatly underestimated how flammable the oil was, as well as just how much oil was within its burrow. Even if it hadn’t caught me with its tongue, I would have blown myself up.

Looking in the Caprae Nimbos terrarium, the surviving goat was screeching at the sight of its sibling’s charred and splattered corpse. From its perspective, they must have been floating along doing nothing, when suddenly its sibling just erupted into flames. Poor little guy.

Surprisingly, the terrarium did not shrink after its death. I suppose as long as there are still inhabitants, the terrarium itself won’t shatter, and the space will remain.

I guess that will solve my space problem, once I can hunt enough monsters that aren’t worth keeping around. I just need to make sure there’s always a few spare creatures in every terrarium, which I’ve been doing anyway.

I took the remaining Caprae Nimbos’s form and returned to the outside world. The space I had died in was now a charred, smoking crater. Only ashen remains of the Oleum Rubeta remained, right over there. And there. And there. It wasn’t a pretty sight, I can tell you that much.

I phased out the mana sampler device, and gripped it in my mouth to hold it, pressed it against one of the larger Oleum Rubeta remains. To break the mana crystal seal, I absorbed the mana that comprised it. The mana crystal skin was incredibly thin, so much so that it basically didn’t even register to me whether or not I even regained any mana from it.

After about five seconds, it was done filling its labyrinth stone, and I phased the device back into my subspace. I then chomped down on the monster. Delightfully crispy, but a bit overcooked on the outside. The inside was still completely raw, but almost none of it was remotely palatable. No wonder people usually just let processors handle monster mana, rather than eating them to gain their mana for free. They all taste terrible. At least not without proper cooking, but who has time for that?

Rather than attempt to eat any more, I spared some mana to phase it into my unused terrarium. Then I went around the crater and did the same to everything else that looked like it had once been meat.

As soon as I finished gathering the last bits of toad, a voice shouted from somewhere above the crater. “Over here!”

“Yes Captain Obvious, the smoking crater is where the explosion took place.”

It seems like I drew some attention to myself with that stunt. Oops.

“I wonder what kind of idiot did this? They could have sold the monster corpse if they hadn’t.”

“Hey!” I protested.

“Did I just hear a goat?” One of them asked.

They simultaneously peered into the crater, and met my eyes. Three of them were human, one a girl carrying a staff, one an older woman with a bow, and one a short teenager with a dagger. The fourth was an orc, wearing heavy plate armor and a greatshield.

“No, It’s a sheep. What’s it doing here? Is it dangerous?” The dagger-wielder asked.

“No, I’m human. Also, this is a goat.” I baaed, obviously unintelligible to them.

“Should we kill it? Let’s kill it!” The orc screamed, and jumped down into the crater.