Chapter 41: I’m Human Too
*Kirk!*
A zombie blood ant shrilled weakly, raising its head towards Eris.
It had only been fifteen minutes since the ants left to congratulate their king. By now, most of them had already returned to their duties.
A part of these ants separated from the group and came to inform Eris of the king’s orders.
Back when the ants visited Ethan, they had informed him of all the affairs that had happened in his absence.
Upon hearing that a human had been captured, Ethan was, quite frankly, delighted. With an intelligent monster like Eris by his side, he was abundant in information regarding monsters.
However, he had no idea about some of the most important questions.
How long had it been since he became a zombie?
What happened to the world?
And most importantly, He wanted to know more about the humans’ path.
While Eris had told him quite a few things about the humans, her abilities were restricted in this aspect.
After all, she was a monster and not human herself.
Now that a human had been caught, Ethan had obtained a precious chance at gaining new and most likely crucial information.
"But I cannot reveal myself..." he mumbled, counting the number of problems he’d incur if he were to reveal himself simply.
Ethan was once a human who held animosity against zombies himself. Although decades had passed, who is to know they don’t harbor the same hostility as back then?
If he were to reveal himself, there was a chance that negotiation might fall instantly.
Thus, he had ordered the ants to convey his thoughts directly to Eris.
"My lord says... The human... Blindfold... Meeting..." The blood ant struggled to form words. Its zombification had certainly affected some parts of its body.
But Eris understood its meaning perfectly.
"I’ll do so at once." Eris humbly accepted his command, immediately turning around.
Jake’s condition had indeed worsened.
His previous vigor and relentlessness were nowhere to be seen. Slumping on the ground helplessly, he was hardly able to overcome the feeling of humiliation.
"You’re in good luck, human," Eris called out, attracting Jake’s muddled attention.
"My lord wishes to see you." She spoke gently, waving her right hand towards him as she commanded the two ants behind her silently.
The ants understood her orders and quickly approached Jake.
Hearing Eris’s words, his face lit up with hope as he pulled his mind together.
’Finally...!’ He thought, preparing himself for a battle of life and death.
Since the beginning, he had been counting every minute passed as a great loss, nearly wincing several times.
’Huh?’ Suddenly, he felt a cold sensation on his back. Twisting his neck, he caught two dark silhouettes from the corner of his eyes.
It was the two zombie blood ants, clasping onto the last bit of his ragged clothes—their crystal-covered mandibles slightly rubbing against his back.
With a swift motion, the ants easily ripped it off. Before he could react, they moved their mandibles and front legs just like human fingers, precisely wrapping the fabric around his eyes.
"Wait, what’s happening?"
"It’s his wish. My lord has agreed to meet you, but he doesn’t want you to see him yet." Eris replied gracefully, moving towards the entrance of the hall.
The ants, too, picked Jake up and closely followed behind her.
Gulping hard, Jake couldn’t help but be anxious...
Countless thoughts were rampaging his mind, but as prideful as he was, he couldn’t even imagine such thoughts becoming reality.
Thus, other than gritting his teeth, Jake didn’t really have much of a choice.
On the seventh floor, Ethan was patiently waiting for the ’human’ to arrive. Meanwhile, he occasionally glanced at the two blood ants that were permanently stationed at the entrance of this floor.
These ants were handpicked by Ethan himself.
"If I were to use my authority, would I be able to awaken their talents?" He thought to himself, recalling the details of his authority.
While escaping the blood ravine, the system had notified him about these two ants. Having been moved just by his small praise, they had instilled hidden talents amongst themselves—yet to be awakened.
"It would be great to have stronger subordinates... I should start with their evolution once I deal with that human."
*Ding!*
---
———————————————————
[#/System Notification/#]
———————————————————
[Reward Calculation Complete.]
Multiple milestones have been recognized.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
■ Breakthrough Reward
E-Rank → E+ Rank
Rewards:
└ All Attributes: +10
└ Maximum Attribute Limit
100 → 150
└ Level +5
└ Unallocated Attribute Points +10
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
■ Achievement Reward
Achievement:
"The First Footstep"
Rewards:
└ +5,000 EXP
└ +10 Unallocated Attribute Points
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
■ Path Creation Reward
A completely new path has been acknowledged.
Rewards:
└ Unique Title Acquired
■ Path Progenitor
Rank:
Unranked
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[Title Effect]
The creator stands above their own path.
While equipped, all statistics, skills, traits, authorities, and future abilities receive enhancement according to the host’s overall strength.
Current Effect:
└ All Attributes +5
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■ Path Mutation Reward
The biological material gathered during evolution has resonated with the host’s class.
Mutation Complete.
Biological Matter → Miasma
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Miasma, the Energy of Death,
has permanently settled within the host’s heart.
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[New Stat Unlocked.]
■ Miasma
Fetching information...
[...]
---
A new system window materialized before his eyes. Reading through it, Ethan’s mood was further lifted.
Clenching his fists, he could indeed feel the increase in his strength.
"This is going great so far. Now all that is left to obtain is some useful information." He cheered inwardly.
Before long, silhouettes emerged near the entrance, catching Ethan’s gaze.
It was Eris, staring with deep admiration toward him. Behind her, a pair of blood ants were carrying a blindfolded human.
His upper body was naked, with several wounds exposed to the air, blood continuously dripping out.
But what amused Ethan the most was his temperament. The ants had mentioned his rude nature, but from what he could see, he seemed rather docile.
’Is it because of his injury, or is it something else?’ he began thinking about the different possibilities.
In a sense, Ethan needed to figure out his true nature. Only this way would he truly be able to establish a deal with the human.
"Humans have always been clever and adaptive. Given different situations, they mold their will, nature, and even behaviors to grasp a bigger share of profit. It’s a completely different world, where people proudly claim to have lied and backstabbed others as long as they hit it big without getting caught."
But it was only because of these traits that finding anything more about Jake had become utterly impossible.
"I guess I’ll have to figure it out while conversing with him." Squinting his eyes, he switched his vision towards Eris.
Upon reaching a certain distance, she halted. Placing her hand on her heart, she smiled and knelt before the throne in reverence.
"This humble servant greets my lord. Congratulations on your success." She spoke with much affection and grace.
Her eyes had softened, filled with awe towards a sovereign who now looked greater than ever.
Ethan slightly nodded his head. Deep inside, he was satisfied with her managerial abilities and her loyalty towards him.
But hearing her voice, Jake had become unusually alert. Realizing that he was in the presence of her king, his body unconsciously became stiff as he tried to act natural.
"Great work, Eris. I’m satisfied with your judgement and work." Ethan praised gently, waving for her to get up.
Hearing his praise, Eris couldn’t help but feel her heart beating faster. She covered her cheeks as her face reddened almost instantly.
Without even realizing she had already submitted to his praise. But she didn’t wish to show him this unsightly side of her; thus, she quickly suppressed her emotions and nodded before getting up.
At this moment, a familiar sound rang in Ethan’s mind.
A dim cerulean light flickered before his eyes, stretching into a rectangular translucent screen.
*Ding!*
---
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[#/System Notification/#]
———————————————————
[Energy Pathways Awakened.]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The host’s newly awakened energy pathways have resonated with the Miasma residing within the heart.
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[Unique Energy Path Established.]
■ Miasma Path
Unlike ordinary energy pathways...
The Miasma Path circulates miasma throughout the host’s body, allowing it to nourish flesh, reinforce the body, and become the foundation for future abilities.
As the host’s understanding of Miasma deepens...
...new methods of utilizing it shall naturally be born.
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[Heart Mutation Detected.]
The host’s heart has begun changing under the continuous influence of Miasma.
Current State:
└ ■ Initial Transformation
Further changes will occur as the Miasma Path matures.
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[Energy Perception Unlocked.]
With the awakening of the host’s energy pathways...
...the host has gained the ability to perceive surrounding energies.
The precision of this perception depends entirely upon the host’s understanding of each energy.
Unknown energies may only be sensed vaguely.
Mastered energies may be distinguished with far greater clarity.
---
"Now," he called out, aiming his words towards the human.
"Don’t try your act any further; it’s getting embarrassing for me to even ignore it anymore." He laughed beneath his breath, trying not to make it obvious.
In that instance, Jake felt like dying. If he could, he’d bury himself alive at least a hundred feet deep inside the earth.
But the slightest part of his mind had been intrigued by his voice. It felt way too natural!
"I have no intention of harming you. In fact, I’ll even heal your injuries and let you go unharmed as long as you truthfully answer some of my doubts."
"And why would you do that?" Jake asked almost instantly, his voice filled with doubts about his statement.
In Eris’s eyes, his behavior and attitude were way too rude. If possible, she wished to execute him for such crimes.
But Ethan, on the other hand, revealed an eerie wide grin. He was waiting for him to ask that!
Ethan leaned back against the throne.
"Relax... I’m human too."