Tch! I look back to see the corpses are gone. Did they turn to dust?

  -We put them in your bank. They’re not worth adding to your Pot,- one of the girls says quietly.

  -That’s handy! Well done!- I nod, praising them before turning back to the fight.

  I’ve just missed what the captain said, but he’s standing back, sword raised to point at the heavens in a two-hand grip while a thick fog of Resentment swirls around him. The girls can teleport to their blades because they’re part of them. The spirits are not part of me so much as extensions I’m linked to through payment and channeling of Resentment, and I know I can transfer to them, but can I collect through them? I don’t have time to figure it out right now, so I transfer to Little Corpse, store the Resentment, then transfer to the girls.

  How much did I get? I check my Logs and all that drama was for a measly 100 Resentment? Although to be fair my Ghost Flame cost the same, and that burned something to ash. I think. I remember being annoyed.

  -Ah!- I slam my fist onto my open palm when I remember I torched the annoying clerk I’d saved from Widow’s Sigh. -Tch! What a waste of resources!- I look up to see how the fight is going and the captain is looking at me with his jaw dropped while Little Corpse is politely standing off to the side. -What?-

  -He was charging an attack and you stole his Resentment. It took a lot for him to channel it, but you’ve managed to point out how useless this fight is,- Little Corpse informs me, shrugging with a light smile.

  -From gathering Resentment? I store lots of Resentment! Why didn’t he just accept I wasn’t going to worship his lord?- I snap in disbelief. I said I wasn’t going to work for his lord and he pushed it into a pointless fight, but now he agrees the fight is pointless, so we’re good now? -Wait. Does that mean we’re good now?-

  “You can collect Resentment?” the captain asks as if I told him I shit money. I technically can, but it’s more of a visual gag since I don’t have an actual fucntioning rectum.

  -*I am a bank bug. I can, and do, collect many things. I can do business with your faction. I can trade your master Resentment if he has anything of value to me,*- I point out. He’s already tried to kill me, but his attempt was so laughable that maybe he’s out here on his own for a reason.

  “My master will gladly accept you as a treasure, and give you the honor of gifting him your stores,” the zombie says, putting away his weapon like I’m going to agree to this dogshit.

  -I am not accepting your master as my master. I said I will do business with your faction. If you keep pushing he can have my resentment, but not in the way you are imagining,- I narrow my eyes at him, hoping he’s not dumb enough to keep pushing the issue. If he was that stupid they’d just kill him rather than letting him embarrass them, right?

  “An insect?! And you think you have a right to decide what my master can and cannot do? Hmph!” He draws his blade again. “See if I don’t put you in your place, bug!”

  -Okay, he really is this stupid. I don’t want him in my Pot either,- I tell Little Corpse while waving for him to take out the garbage and hoping he understands the shooing gesture.

  -I’m still learning, so this might take a while,- Little Corpse says.

  -The farmer turned corpse turned scholar and undead cultivator says in a self-deprecating manner,- I drone, not falling for his humble bullshit.

  He laughs, throwing his head back before taking a few light swings with his sickle, and I yawn. So far nothing has actually happened outside of the two girls killing the adds, so I wonder if I should take a nap or have a snack, ‘cause I’m not going to be paying attention when the money shot happens.

  -Don’t discuss gambling around women,- Little Corpse admonishes me, dealing critical damage to my inappropriate-meter which demands a retaliatory response.

  -Quickly Gachapon your mythic lootbox to unleash premium currency all over his cash shop tickets!- I shout, hand crossing my chest before I fling it off to my side in a dramatic flourish, and then clench my fist in front of my face, not invested enough to close my eyes. -You have a point zero one chance!-

  I turn to see how Little Corpse responds, but he’s trying on the armor from the captain he killed during my nonsense. Called it.

  -Is that stuff special?- I ask wondering if things have visual cues to show that they’re special other than just colors as mist, shines, or auras.

  -You can’t eat it,- Little Corpse glares flatly while the girls help him adjust the armor to fit his bulkier form. I actually hadn’t thought about eating it until he said anything, and I get to watch his expression drop when he slumps and sighs when he realizes that I’m now considering it. -Of course you didn’t, and of course you are...-

  -I’m not contributing anything out here, and I’ve got some insights I need to sleep on, so unless there’s anything you need from me...?- I stretch and look around, wondering what all of the jaw dropped indignant glares are for.

  -*You’re supposed to be meeting Widow’s Sigh!*- one of the girls strangles out, the other nodding fervently while Little Corpse just frowns in disapproval.

  -Do you know how far away he is? Or where he is? Or how long it’ll take to get there?- I ask, pulling out my badge and holding it out. -*I wanna learn how to Forge with Resentment. You want me to learn how to Forge with Resentment. I sleep. You walk. We’re all being productive.*-

  -You know we’re gonna have to carry you, right?- Little Corpse points out, but I don’t get his reasoning.

  -I can drop my anchor, and you guys run around and call me when we get there,- I shrug, throwing up my hands.

  -But what if we need you to siphon more Resentment?- one girls says after they wall exchange looks.

  -Or there’s another Bone Snare...-

  -You can’t just use me as bait!- I sputter indignantly.

  I can already see them yeeting my unconscious body at a threat. What if I managed to condense myself into an even smaller form and something swallowed me whole? Then I’d be some weird pill that dissolved them instead of the other way around as I absorbed and siphoned their life from inside.

  What if it was comfy?

  -Go sleep in the Soak,- Little Corpse says before turning his back, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to start sprinting, and he won’t even look back.

  -I’m gonna wake up swaddled,- I reassure myself shifting until I’m a childsized basic version of myself.

  It actually does take a lot of focus to just take a deep breath and tuck it in. Gotta make sure all the pieces are in the right places before you settle into the shape. Stabbers versus sickles, wings... Ah. Not allowed to change the count, and I still need to be sheared. Scales? Looks like I’m just caked in glitter. Smaller scales mean I’m doing well, yes? I know they get visible, chunky even, when I’m not doing so hot. Are these an indicator of my essence reserves? There’s a lot of black... Figured there’d be more silver...

  -*From what I understand your scale size and color is an indicator of your ability to manipulate Essence, not a ranking of your essence, per se. And that’s not “black”, your flesh is similar to a weak void, absorbing bits of everything that comes across it.”

  I groom and focus on the spaces below the fluff. So my skin looks like my inner void, starry style, because it is? Weird. If I’m always eating then why do I get hungry all the time?

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  -You’re not,- Little Corpse scoffs as one of the girls picks me up. -It’s just passive cycling. Everyone does it, you just have a way to see how well you can by looking at you. Probably a way for your owner to tell how healthy you are,- Little Corpse says as he jogs along, one of the girls carrying me like a stuffed animal.

  Probably for before I could talk. Pretty sure I made a lot of fucking noise as a bug. They don’t normally have vocal chords, do they? Pretty sure I just kinda assumed I could talk and tried.

  How weird must that have been for the hunans? I’m supposed to just make silk and I start screaming? Probably just thought I was blowing air out of my air holes. Shiz. Didn’t Shimmering Steel think I was just making random noises? All that time I was trying to talk and she thought I was just mimicing noises.

  -Incoming!-

  I don’t know when I nodded off, but I wake up to some little lord charging at us on the back of an articulated horse skeleton. First it’s terrifying, and then I want one. The little lord charges past, and it takes me way~ too long to realize that the ringing in my ears isn’t in my ears. Little Corpse has his sickle up, and the dude charging off is holding a pole. I guess it’s a spear, and then I notice the rather elaborate spear topped axe head that finally hits the ground.

  I still want a Bone Snare.

  -How many Bone Snares do I have to encounter to make one? Or do I just have to eat a few bones?- I ask Little Corpse who sucks his teeth and glares at me.

  I’m wondering what his problem is until I notice the little lord is barreling down on us again. He really wheeled around to try again? Tch! Dumbass. Watch Little Corpse put him down.

  -Can we have his horse?- I ask, Little Corpse glaring back at me. -What does it take to sustain it?-

  -*You can’t have pets because we’d be the ones taking care of them,*- the girl holding me chastises me bouncing me lightly as Little Corpses braces for impact.

  -Stop talking!- Little Corpse snaps.

  While I debate whether or not I should make noise and claim to be a distraction the Little Lord is back in range, but it looks like he plans on trampling us this time. Little Corpse shoots sideways, sliding across the ground, feet kicking up dust like he just landed, and I’m confused how that’s a movement technique when it looks like he’s trying to stop himself.

  He snaps out with the chain, somehow wrapping it around just one side of the horse’s reins, steering it away from me and the girls before he leaps onto the back of the horse, his sickle at the little lord’s throat. Just a farmer indeed. The fact that he manages to squat behind the dude, steer the horse back our way, and not slice the guy’s neck is a testament to how far from being simple he truly is.

  -Very impressive, but I thought we weren’t keeping the horse,- I point out. This trick riding thing is a weird flex considering we’re probably just going to kill the dude and his horse anyway.

  “We can find out what he’s doing here and where he got the mount,” Little Corpse says outloud, smoothly putting away his weapons and jumping down form the back of the horse.

  “You can talk?” the little lord says, looking around at Little Corpse in surprise.

  -You’re not about to pretend you thought we were a regular corpse patrol when these two are breathing, and he’s a meaty boy,- I roll my eyes, startling when Little Corpse takes offense at me pointing out he’s not a skeleton.

  -You called me bloated! I’m large, but there’s no extra fat!- Little Corpse snaps, pounding his fist against his breastplate.

  -You’re very pretty,- I nod. He’s a large muscle man instead of a lean slice of meat, but I guess he’s still quite lean.

  -That’s not what I meant,- he groans, the girls glaring at me.

  -What’d I do?-

  “I thought you girls got trapped here and the Corpse Soldier was taking you to the Corpse army,” the little lord says, dismounting and looking over at Little Corpse. “I didn’t know that he was your Ghost Soldier. Tch!” He shakes his head, his empty hand on his hip before he nods to himself. “I can escort you to one of the exits from this Realm if you’re lost.”

  “Our master is here to do business, but is there a way to spot these exits?” one of the girls asks, ignoring my glare.

  First impressions matter, and they’re telling this asshole I make them call me master? Tch! And there are ways to just walk into the Graveyards? That’s handy for people who can’t Void Walk.

  “Oh, well, look for areas where lights come out of the ground, but be careful! There are many ways in and out of this Realm, but not all of them lead back to the realm of hunans,” he stammers, reaching out to make sure we don’t just wander off without his unhelpful warning.

  -Be nice,- one of the girls hisses to chastise me, giving me a quick squeeze.

  “If you aren’t against it...” he scratches at his head, looking away and blushing, suddenly allergic to eye contact. “We could maybe meet outside of the mortal realm...?”

  “We --,” the girls exchange a look and I wave a leg to cut this off immediately.

  -*You are not playing with your food, and even if you do want to pretend to be real girls, you’re already dead!- I snap, unamused. -I’m not going to be blamed for some corpse baby army!*-

  “Tch! Is that your master talking?” the little lord goes from bashful to annoyed, and I wonder if he cared about the girls at all. He hadn’t said which girl he was interested in, after all. “Is there a way to ignore him?”

  -Break your legs and ignore your ass getting torn apart,- I grumble. I’m not trying to hurt their feelings, but they’re ghosts with meat suits.

  “This is Rainbow During the Full Eclipse,” my bearer says, hefting me up lightly. “They’ve contracted us and loosely control him,” she says, nodding towards Little Corpse.

  “What? Someone’s lost pet accidentally found your Contract?” he laughs lightly, eyes shining as he reaches out and just fucking scoops me out of whichever girls arms. “That’s incredible!”

  I want him dead but I can’t move. Did he just rage lock me? I’m so pissed! Who the hells said he could touch me? Why’d they let him pick me up? I don’t want his entitled ass in my Pot! I already got enough out of that ungrateful shopkeeper!

  Speaking of. I’ve been very unproductive with my naps. I should meditate more on the lives of the people who’ve contributed to my Library and not just on the tomes they’ve contributed.

  -He might have some valuable insights. We could learn why he’s coming to this place if he knows many ways out,- Little Corpse points out, arms crossed as he frowns. Is he really telling me to soul suck someone, ‘cause no one’s making a move to kill him.

  “What is that?” the playboy starts fidgeting, shuffling me around. “My hands are stinging...”

  I sit in smug silence as he juggles me around. People keep picking me up. You wanna pick me up? How’s your essence manipulation, bish?

  “How good is your Essence manipulation?” Little Corpse asks, the playboy’s head snapping up as if he forgot Little Corpse was there. Or did he think he was a mindless meatshield after he handed him his ass?

  “Tch! My Qi manipulation is impressive, but my Essence manipulation is only so so,” the stranger chuckles before finally handing me back to one of the girls. Doesn’t even say anything, just dumps me on her. “What is...?” he looks down at his hands as the Essence I’ve shed twists into miasma, and starts mutating his skin. “What is this?!”

  “That’s what happens when our master is displeased, and you upset them by grabbing them like that,” Little Corpse says and I sigh loudly.

  Everyone’s on the “master” bandwagon all of a sudden. Is this revenge? For what? What’d I do?

  “It poisoned me?!” the stranger shrieks while staring at his blistering hands. He screams but I can still hear the bones popping as his hands start twisting.

  -You poisoned you!- I snap, thrashing although the girl holding me doesn’t seem to have any problem keeping her grip. -Who said you could hold me? Did I say you could touch me? Tch! Ignore me? Didn’t I tell you? Ignore your screams!- I huff and buck but I can’t break free of the girl’s grip, so I just hang from her arms like a sad puppy. -Aren’t we supposed to be meeting someone? Leave him! See if he can ride with no hands!-

  -I’m sure part of the test was to see if you could survive the Graveyards long enough to reach the meeting place, but I wonder if they underestimated your ability to spread destruction,- Little Corpse murmurs, casually mounting up on the horse with the girls joining him. Oh, so I can’t have a pet but we can totally rob this guy anyway? -Not yours,- Little Corpse says while holding up a weird plaque. -Mine!-

  “You stole my Ghost Summoning plaque!” the stranger asks, chasing after us but quickly falling behind as Little Corpse rides off.

  -The fack is a “Ghost Summoning plaque”?- I ask, but my brain offers up not my memories of summoning talismans written out on script papers.

  -Another thing people make physical items for that you somehow work around by having a high void cultivation ability,- Little Corpse sighs as we race along. -Most people in the Vengeful Ghost Flame sect can’t even pull spirits or ghosts from their Ghost Pots without cultivating an ability to make a Qi cultivation techinique to be able to develope the ability to summon them.-

  -I feel like you’re trying to shame me for being capable,- I grumble trying to groom myself.

  Of all the things to try to shame me for when he knows I have no shame! I’m capable? Why should I feel shame? I’ve gotten over feeling shame for my existence. This is my life and I’m not going to be shamed when others should feel shame for their weakness!

  Tch! I wanted a snack and a nap, and here I am with neither.

  -You’re getting hungry,- Little Corpse stops, dismounting and helping the girls down. -Let’s take a break. Back into the void. We’ll try this again when you wake up.-