Chapter 6: Birth of Del
I awaken in a world of ash, blackened ground and charcoal, with a certain concerned rainbow-chicken worriedly pecking my cheek. She's quite cute when she's like this, isn't she?
Despite falling unconscious, my body seems fine, only a bit less energy than before, but… I've lost biomass. Looks like the Cores enabled catabolism to restore my body faster. I'll have to be very careful using magic in the future, since the new "Mana" Core will run away with any energy I give it, but it should be fine if I restrain it to a couple times what normal humans can provide.
Noticing that I'm awake, she swaggers down to my leg, pecking at a wound from the firestorm, as if she wants to eat i-...
Okay, she just got significantly less cute, turns out she was just concerned that her source of snacks wasn't well.
"You know what? Fine. I never liked that leg anyway, and it's about time I do a full reconstruction."
I unceremoniously sever the leg she was poking at with the Werewolf's claws, then revert the rest of me to a blob of chimeric cells, oozing over to where we stored the caravan's valuables. In the distance, an ecstatic cockatrice savors her snack before falling asleep. And snoring. Honestly, that birdbrain...
Now, a new body… From the memories of the Carlton boy, he's considered rather handsome, and given his age, it seems he's given a lot of leeway. I'll probably want a body around his age, but I can't have anyone recognizing me and letting his family know. I sift through the memories of his guards, and find a knight who was also considered handsome, and had a more suitable musculature for enhancement. Taking him as the base, modifying to fit age, merging facial features, enhancing musculature and organs…
I begin to slowly take shape out of the blob, legs standing tall as a torso and arms come into being, and then finally a head. Wanting to fit in for the moment, I grow mid-length black hair and perform the final adjustments, giving myself the amber eyes characteristic of night vision. Till now, I haven't been focused on enhancing the human body, but seeing as I intend to hold this form for a while…
'Cores, begin optimization of human form. Priorities: Subdermal Armor, Direwolf's sense of smell, upgrade Night Vision to Thermal Vision, enhance hearing, and then general improvements as available'
< Acknowledged. Completion Time: Unknown, relegating to background tasks. >
With that done, I should slowly grow stronger in my human form, but that won't be enough. As I come across strong traits in monsters, I need to assimilate them, integrate them, evolve to survive in this world.
That said, my new body alone should be stronger than any biological human, and even some monsters. It seems that some humans recognize Chimeras, so I'll need to create a body strong enough to deal with my enemies and not reveal what I really am. This, this is the first step to stand amongst humans.
From the archives, I was the fourth Chimera created, with the first being designated Alpha. That would make me 'Delta', but let's shorten that to 'Del' instead.
A name, huh… I really am becoming more human.
I, Del, stand on the small hill where we stored the valuables, sifting through the luggage until I come across the Carlton boy's clothing. It's a bit flashy, but still dignified, so I don it without hesitation. Although the boy's personality isn't the best, his memories come from the peak of society here, so I begin to integrate them despite the risk. Etiquette, noble customs and behavior, politics, intrigue, debauchery, all of them flood into my mind. With this, I'll be able to carry myself naturally in human society, exuding a sense of nobility. At least, that's what the Carlton boy's memories would indicate.
Of course, his memories didn't come alone. His urges are stronger than the bandit or the nun, and one in particular I can only suppress to that of a normal human. At age 15. As a male.
Ugh! To think humans have reproduction on their minds constantly… Although this explains several of the female knight's memories. Seems she was holding out the last few days until he recognized her as a concubine, so that explains his bad mood. Normally he'd only beat a "commoner" like myself to a pulp instead of chopping off my legs. How considerate.
I sink into his memories for a moment, enjoying several of the nights he spent before pulling myself away from the delusion. I see. She loved him. He used her. Even for something lauded as so important, humans exploit each other. But the terrifying part is that I understand why he did so. Is that part of being human? Is that… what I'm going to become?
Lost in thought, I didn't notice the little bird creeping up on my, flitting around before landing on my shoulder.
"Chiia?! Wait, you can fly now?"
"Kuuu~~~~!"
She stood there proudly, a little smaller than a hawk, strutting around despite the limited space and showing off plumage that was brighter than ever. It seems my chimeric cells really helped her this time around.
"Well, it seems you've grown up more and gotten stronger, huh?"
"Ku~!"
"Perfect. We'll need to move some of these trunks and bags, and I can't carry them all. Don't worry, I'll put together a harness so you can carry it all."
"Kweh Kweh."
"... Would you do it for a Chimera snack?"
"Kweh…"
"How about two Chimera snacks…?"
"... Ku~~"
Well, that turned out better than expected… But why are the Cores warning me about copyright infringement from thousands of years ago… And why do I have a sudden urge to solve mysteries in a retro van? Eh, go figure, probably an archive malfunction.
The two of us finally set off with our… generously donated gains, traveling to the nearest town in Derrin Carlton's memories. It's run by the Dark Elves, so hopefully they're a more open, accepting society.
Our journey is surprisingly peaceful, so I delve into our appropriated gains. Most interesting are the spellbooks and meditation guides that Derrin traveled with-- it appears he was headed to the Royal Capital to study magic, so it's a veritable treasure trove to someone in my situation. I flip through the books at a speed that could only be considered unreasonable, but my Cores record each and every detail, even down to the mana fluctuations in spellbooks. Recording their contents takes until nightfall, but seeing as neither Chiia nor I feel fatigued, we continued into the night.
There were a few weapons we managed to salvage, so I equip Derrin's shortsword, one of the knight's greatswords despite the terrible proportionality, and several daggers for throwing. Curiously, none of the guards carried a bow; I guess they were counting on Derrin for long-range attacks.
Sinking into analysis of the meditation guides that Derrin followed, they appear to be methods of inscribing new spells onto the Mana Core's surface. It only details through the apprentice, journeyman, and hints at the mage level, but each rank advancement seems to add a new layer to the Core. The method to create each new layer is more complex than the last, but I set my AI Core to analyze it all the same-- if I can understand the process behind it, there's always the chance to improve it, optimize it beyond other's expectations.
Meditation guides seem to be fiercely protected by families and organizations, each holding their unique methods of ascending in power. Apparently, some guides bestow their users with unusual powers beyond their apparent rank, inspired by various monster Cores with special abilities.
According to the guides, my Mana Core is at the level of a rank I apprentice mage, with each level consisting of three ranks before ascending to the next level. Luckily, this is the time it's easiest to reform the foundation of the Core, so if I want to make improvements, I should start planning them now.
As far as the spellbooks, there seems to be quite a few spells our intrepid genius neglected to learn, so I sort through the simple ones to find something useful. One in particular catches my eye, a spell in the class of space magic: [Gravity Field]. It's a relatively simple inscription, and with the aid of the AI Core, I should be able to follow the meditation guide perfectly.
"Chiia, do you mind if we take a break for a bit? There's something I need to try without distractions, and I bet we're both pretty hungry, too"
"Ku~~"
With that affirmative, we head off the road into the nearby forest, taking shelter under an old oak tree. Chiia seems to have found some prey, so she enthusiastically bounds away, while I sit down and attempt the meditation technique.
'Alright Cores, following the Carlton Technique, begin engraving [Gravity Field] on the third layer of the Mana Core'
< Acknowledged. Following recorded procedure. >
There's a sudden shift of energy, and I feel the Mana Core siphoning away they ambient mana. Slowly but surely, the runes representing [Gravity Field] begin to appear in a small section of the Core, being carved with the utmost precision. About halfway through, the Mana Core runs out of its own reserves, and begins to drain my body's energy. It's not as bad as the firestorm I created, but there's no way I'd be able to do this in combat. After a few more minutes, the inscription is completed, and I collapse from exhaustion.
Come to think of it, the guide said to partially inscribe the runes one at a time, finishing an inscription over the courses of weeks or even months.
Ah well, I'm a Chimera, so it's okay. Probably.
At some point, Chiia returned with her harvests, and drops a strange deer-like animal before me, as she eats one herself. Ignoring the extra pair of horns and a few other minor details, it's probably fine to eat, so I begin to assimilate it as I always have. Come to think of it, I'll have to learn to eat like a human at some point… Well, I have Derrin's memories on dining etiquette, so it should be fine.
With the assimilation complete, I can feel the depleted energy flood through my limbs, replacing the weakness from inscribing the new spell. I was eager to try it out, but Chiia and I both pick up the sounds of a distant battle several kilometers into the forest, humans against monsters. We look at each other and nod; at the very least, we'll see something interesting, and so we sneak off into the forest.
Character Status:
Name: Del
Status: Human Form (Del)
Classes: Immortal Chimera I, Apprentice Mage I
Cores: Central, AI, Sensory, Archive, Mana, Synthesis (dormant), Nanofab (dormant)
Titles: [Remnant of an Era] [The Soulless]
Money & Notable Items:
600 Gold, 4 Silvers, 6 Coppers
Trunk of intact armor and weapons
Trunk of magic and meditation books
Trunk of noble's clothing and accessories
Weapons & Equipment:
Noble's Robes
Ceremonial Shortsword
Knight's Greatsword
Steel Daggers (5)
Spell Schools:
Fire: [Fireball] [Torrential Flame]
Space: [Gravity Field]
Ward: [Barrier: Sound] [Ward: Curse] [Ward: Shield]
Racial Abilities:
Chimeric: [Acquire] [Assimilate] [Morph] [Modify] [Regenerate]
Cores: [Overclock] [Combat Assist]
Racial Traits:
Beast: [Claws] [Fangs]
Eyes: [Nightvision]
Available Forms: Bandit, Young Nun, Direwolf, Mountain Bear, Werewolf, Del
Companions: Chiia
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone