I stood in place for a few moments, as flabbergasted as the two lizard otherworlders had been. Somehow, had triggered and was now allowing me to graft a Ryzar tail onto the Onisha body.

  This shouldn’t have been possible; I had only ever been able to get to activate on missing parts. But this... this was adding something that had never existed in the first place.

  First, I had to confirm whether it would actually work- maybe it was some sort of error or glitch. I agreed to activate and poured a healing potion over the tail as I continued to hold it to my body.

  Just like any normal grafted part, the tail quickly began to fuse to my skin. I felt a slight burning sensation as tiny, wisp-like tendrils grew from the base of the tail and burrowed into my body, forming several nerve clusters. Soon, it had finished; I now had my very own tail that I could move back and forth at will.

  It was an incredibly bizarre sensation having an extra appendage I was now able to control. All of my other grafts had been strange, sure, but they had still all just been modified versions of body parts I’d always used. This on the other hand, would take significantly longer to get used to.

  I gingerly wiggled the tail and experimented with it for a little bit as I paced back and forth. My gait seemed steadier than before as I walked, most likely due to the tail improving my balance. There didn’t seem to be much of a downside to keeping the tail for now, especially with its ability to transform into a decoy.

  As I stood there, lost in thought, yet another flare illuminated the darkness above me.

  I’d have to investigate this new phenomenon in much greater detail later; several traps were already waiting for me to harvest them.

  With an explosive leap, I soared out of the pit towards the nearest trap that had been triggered. Inside, I found just one Tier 5 otherworlder attempting to cut its way free of its restraints.

  As with the lizard group, I collected data on its stats and special abilities before making a selection. I dropped the friendly act and instead tried to be as imposing as possible, as I really needed to pick up the pace.

  Even now, flares were going off in every direction. I hurriedly cut off one of its tentacles and jammed a Troll Blood Potion down its cloaca before setting off once more.

  Rinsing and repeating, I darted around the chaotic battlefield like a maniac as I desperately tried to get to every trap. Most of the otherworlders in the traps meekly complied with my orders when confronted with my aggressive attitude and intimidating presence.

  Some, however, immediately attacked upon seeing me despite knowing that they were hopelessly outmatched. Regardless, I did not kill them or even retaliate, merely subduing them.

  The only reason they were in there was due to me, anyways. I wouldn’t fault them for trying to defend themselves.

  Unless I absolutely had to, I would never kill any of the otherworlders present, even if I could reap a massive amount of points doing so.

  On their shoulders they carried the hopes and dreams of entire worlds.

  To slay them was akin to slaughtering billlions. Who was I to decide whether the flickering light of their fates should be snuffed out?

  I was no saint by any stretch of the imagination, but I refused to play along with the sick, twisted whims of the deities watching from above. If I eventually won, it would be on my own terms.

  As I continued my farming spree, I paid special attention to any extra organs or body parts that didn’t exist on my body. If what had happened earlier wasn’t a fluke and my suspicions were correct, these could prove useful.

  A few of the traps were already empty by the time I got to them, but it hardly mattered with how many of them were triggering. It seemed like at least half of the otherworlders present had fallen into a trap at one point, while some never learned their lesson and kept falling in.

  In less than an hour, I was able to use my entire supply of Troll Blood Potions and my Inventory now contained quite the variety of unique parts. Towards the end, I even started to only harvest 1 member per trap in order to get as many different races possible.

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  After releasing the last batch of bewildered donors, I took a moment to check on the progress of the D-grade Objective.

  The otherworlders were still locked in a fierce struggle with the shadow slime, now a fraction of its original size.

  The slime had put up a good fight; several half-dissolved corpses could be seen lying nearby in a dark puddle. It appeared to be on its last legs, however, as bits and pieces of it continued to be torn away like a fish surrounded by piranhas.

  Most likely, the only reason it had lasted this long after I’d weakened it was due to all the traps scattered about.

  Time to “secure” the kill.

  Like a massive battering ram, I plowed through the swarm of otherworlders surrounding the slime.

  As they momentarily froze in surprise, I began to scoop them up like a miniature whirlwind and throw them high into the trees.

  Their futile attempts to stop me only left minor scratches as I continued to clear the area.

  Once the slime’s vicinity had been emptied, I pulled out Storm Caller and leapt high into the air.

  Copying the Onisha’s move, a sea of lightning formed around me as Storm Caller continued to charge.

  When about half my mana had been consumed, I began to descend with Storm Caller thrust downwards.

  BOOM!

  The shadow slime instantly evaporated in a dazzling explosion of fire and light.

  Ding!

  Sorry fellas, I’m not nice enough to give up the Objective rewards as well.

  A virtual treasure chest appeared in front of me just as it had last time, and I immediately collected the rewards. I felt the mana organ in my body slightly swell as my mana stat increased to 20.

  Not bad. I could probably manage 4-5 decent strikes with Storm Caller’s ability before I ran out of juice now.

  As the surrounding otherworlders glared daggers at me, I began to make my way out of the area. Yet, none of them attempted to stop me.

  The main reason I’d eliminated the shadow slime in such a flashy manner was for this very reason. The otherworlders, clearly intimidated by my overwhelming strength, didn’t even dare to attack me.

  And it was best that they didn’t; I was in quite the rush.

  It was time to thoroughly investigate .

  -----------------------------------------------------------------

  I quickly found a small, secluded cave and settled down to begin my experiments.

  First, I detached and reattached the Ryzar tail to confirm that it hadn’t been an accident.

  Next, I attempted to attach a gland that secreted a potent painkiller that I’d extracted from one of the Tier 5 races. With the Void Dagger, I created a long incision in the side of my stomach and inserted the squishy, sponge-like organ into an empty cavity.

  After several tense seconds passed, the notification I’d been hoping for appeared.

  Ding!

  Success!

  With this, I’d finally figured out what my E-grade augment had been. Now, organs or limbs that weren’t part of the body’s original makeup could be successfully grafted and utilized.

  A whole new world of possibilities had opened itself up in front of me.

  A thought suddenly struck my head- what if it wasn’t limited to just new body parts, but also included the same body parts.

  I quickly pulled out a Lycoph arm from my inventory and tightly held it just below the Onisha arm.

  Ding!

  With a quick pour of a Greater Potion, the Lycoph arm fused into my body and connected to my nervous system.

  In mere moments, I now had 3 fully functional arms that were able to be independently controlled.

  Still slightly in disbelief, I attached a tentacle that could release a deadly gas onto my back and watched as it too began to move.

  Holy hell, was there no limit to this?

  I began to go on a grafting frenzy, attaching anything and everything I found useful.

  An extra pair of eyes on the back of my head, an organ that purified the air before it entered my lungs, a specialized kidney for neutralizing poisons.

  One after the other, until I became a writhing mass of flesh.

  However, I soon realized the grave consequences of doing so.

  The whispers of my body, once quelled by increasing my intelligence, had now turned into a discordant cacophony of instincts that tore away at my mind.

  Every part I’d attached screamed at me to follow the commands engraved within its genes and threatened to destroy my consciousness.

  Rip. Kill. Run. Hide. Fly. Bite. Snarl. Secrete. Dig. Smash. Chase.

  Barely managing to hold on, I ripped off part after part until the sounds had settled into a dull roar.

  I then collapsed onto the floor with labored breaths, drenched in sweat and covered in blood. I’d nearly completely lost myself again, drowning in the sea of instincts.

  So that was the limit then.... how much my feeble human brain could handle before being overwhelmed.

  This new ability was both.... a gift and a curse.

  I’d have to dance along this fine line of sanity and madness for as long as I remained here it seems.

  A deep sadness filled my chest as I looked up at the starless canopy of Bellona.

  Will I truly be able to return to my old life after all this?

  I hope I can.