Assimilate All Talents

Lazuli partially disagreed. "Have you seen that artificial sun? It clearly simulates day and night cycles and likely gives plants what they need to grow. But it’s possible they added something to the water to help crops grow faster."

"We should get one of the translators here soon."

As they were talking, a female human soldier approached them with something to report.

"Sir Rex, I can’t find Holan. I don’t know where he went."

"What do you mean? Weren’t both of you posted at the entrance? Did you leave your post?"

She shook her head instantly. "No sir! We were both there, but suddenly he disappeared. It’s like he just vanished."

Rex found this extremely suspicious. He had been constantly using his detection skills, which covered the entire building, and only now did he realize someone had disappeared.

"Go back to your post for now. I’ll investigate."

The soldier nodded and returned to her post. When she arrived at the museum entrance, she took her position at the center, keeping a vigilant watch over her surroundings. She suddenly felt something wet on her head. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked at the red liquid on the tip of her finger.

’Blood? No, it smells sweet.’

Initially thinking it was blood, she was taken aback by its incredibly sweet aroma, making it impossible for it to be blood. She wondered what it would taste like but knew better than to put unknown substances in her mouth. Yet, as the smell continued to tempt her senses, she finally gave in and tasted it.

"Mhm! Cherries!"

She didn’t know where the cherry tasting liquid came from but hoped more would fall on her head.

’I wonder where Holan went though…’

The soldier remained blissfully unaware that Holan had never left. He was currently being suspended above her as a large monstrous creature’s unsteady claws slowly ripped him open, carefully removing his heart as if it were the most precious thing in the world, before tossing the rest of his body down the entrance stairs of the museum. The female soldier remained completely oblivious as the body rolled down the stairs right in front of her.

…

"Goddammit! Just when it was about to die, you came here and delivered it a full course meal!"

Torben slammed the table, sending tools flying in a fit of rage. But who could blame him? The creature that had killed all his people, and was on the verge of death itself, had been given a new lease on life thanks to random strangers looting his people’s city.

Sol knew now wasn’t the time for a blame game. "Focus, Torben. We’re both screwed if we don’t do something now. It’s weakened, right? How long do you think it will take to recover?"

Torben paused, considering the question. "It should’ve feasted by now. Have you noticed anything different? Felt inexplicably happier?"

"No. If anything, I feel worse knowing what’s actually happening."

"Then we should still have time. It’s been completely starved to the point where it’s down to the level of a law technique user."

"A-Ranker." Sol corrected, using the current, more popular term.

Torben would’ve rolled his eyes if he had any. Semantics were the least of his worries. "A-Ranker, whatever. My point is, even if it’s eaten, it won’t recover its strength quickly. If we’re lucky, it might have learned from last time and will ration out its food instead of killing everyone at once. That could slow its recovery, giving us a chance, but we need to act fast."

The large puppet reached for a spatial bag and pulled out an assortment of tools.

"When I realized what was happening, I tried many things with varying degrees of success, but nothing I made could withstand the might of a god’s creation. With it weakened, these tools should be more effective. First, put this on."

He handed Sol an earring that fit snugly behind his ear. Once it was on, Sol heard a voice through the earpiece.

<Can you hear me?>

Sol nodded.

Torben turned off the one he was holding and handed him a few more. "These are personal audio linkers, or PALs for short. They can connect with multiple other PALs to create a PAL Network, and their range can reach the edges of the Orna Mountains. We’ll use them to stay in touch. They’re easy to use."

Sol took them, amazed by the device. Communication gems could only cover the distance of a city and connect to one other gem cut from the same sonorous crystal. The larger version, communication crystals, had a wider range but could still only connect to one other crystal. Once again, he was shown the brilliance of Azrem Dwarf technology.

"Truly amazing. What’s this?" Sol asked, pointing to a metallic headband and face mask. Using [Analysis] showed no results.

"Those were the most effective in resisting its hallucinogenic effects. The headband clears your mind, sight, and hearing, while the mask protects you from smell, touch, and taste."

"Taste? Is that really necessary?"

"Yes. None of your senses are safe when dealing with this monster." Torben replied seriously. He then produced 100 more of each item and passed them to Sol, who stored them in his spatial ring. "Back then, these somewhat worked when the monster was on the other side of the city. Now that it’s weaker, I hope you can resist its effects when it comes for you."

When Sol put on the metal headband, the blue lines running through it began to softly glow, and he felt a cool sensation around his head. His surroundings became noticeably darker, and the workshop around him lost its color and vibrancy. Then he turned to the capsule containing the blue liquid and was shocked to find a body floating inside, a naked dwarf with dark red hair and a long beard, floating inanimately.

Seeing his reaction, Torben knew it had worked and commented, "That’s my body, or at least a clone body regrown from my original cells. I grew it to one day regain a body."

"How did it survive all these years?"

"Oh, it didn’t. The bodies would age and die, so I kept test cells frozen and regrow them. I think it’s been recycled around 250 times. But without the hope of one day being able to breathe, eat, or even shit, I might’ve gone insane."

"Souls, smithing, runes, alchemy… whatever this is, you’re truly incredible. I can’t help but wonder what talents you have."

Sol deeply respected this dwarf, the last of his kind, who had remained mostly sane after so much isolation and despair. But Torben’s next words surprised him.

"Talents? What talents? It’s all hard work."

"No, not that kind of talent. I mean, you know, the ones in your status page."

Silence overtook the room as they stared at each other, sensing something was clearly off.

After a brief pause, Sol asked, "Have you… not seen your own status page?"

"No?"

Since they were short on time, Sol quickly explained how to access the status page while putting on the mask. But after trying, Torben got no results.

"Nope, nothing."

"Still nothing? Let me try with [Analysis]."

Using the skill, Sol got results, but they didn’t make any sense.

[Name: Torben

Race: ???

Unique

Durability: 1643/3000

Str: 95

Vit: ERROR_UNDEFINED

Agi: 50

Int: 150

Wis: 200

Skills:

[Soul Container] Lv 9, [Compartmentalized Tool Mechanism] Lv 4, [Ethereal Rune Smithing] Lv 7, [Advanced Alchemy] Lv 4, [Metal Shaping] Lv 9, [Living Factory] Lv 4, [Quick Repair] Lv 8, etc.]

[Error detected. Would you like to submit a ticket?]

"What?"