[Pgue Mucus] (21/30): A Special Talent formed by [Digital Code], [Insect Adaptability], [Corrosive Mucus], and pgue germs. Provides the ability to eject pgue-filled, mobile, and corrosive living mucus from special gnds in the throat.

  ...

  This marked the first time that System had gained an ability above level 20.

  The changes to the mucus gnds in his throat sted for nearly ten minutes before they completely finished.

  After gaining this new ability, System's combat power increased from 6.3 to 71. Although he hadn't become a magical life form, he now had a higher combat power than he'd previously had while in his [Frost Form], which had given him the strength of a magical life form.

  Just as System had expected, the skill had entered a new tier after reaching level 21, and the skill's new traits had gotten stranger and more powerful.

  Because high-level skills and talents required far more experience to level up than low-level skills, System hadn't yet used [Ability Enhancement] to raise any of his abilities to level 21.

  When it came to knowledge regarding power levels, everything he knew came from listening to the Voice of the World and communicating with a single magical life form, the ice spirit Nellis. Because of the limited information he had access to, System was mostly working from his own inferences.

  His guess what that abilities between levels 1 and 10 were generally mortal abilities, levels 11 through 20 represented magical powers, and levels 21 through 30 represented extraordinary powers.

  Of course, being able to use extraordinary power didn't mean that a life form had reached the extraordinary level, only that a level of power that reached the extraordinary level could be used. A magical life form that could simply use an ability of a higher level was still inferior to true extraordinary life forms when it came to both ability strength and the total number of extraordinary abilities it possessed.

  It was simir to weak spiders and scorpions that possessed deadly venom. Although their venom was powerful enough to harm an elephant, they could also be easily trampled to death by that elephant.

  System specuted that Shava's ability was a kind of extraordinary ability, and it was likely to rank even higher than extraordinary. However, his [Perception] couldn't examine her ability very clearly.

  Also, because Shava always had strange reactions when he used [Perception] on her, System hadn't investigated her ability recently.

  ...

  After closing the light screen formed by the [Tools Menu], System carefully sensed his new ability.

  The color of his [Pgue Mucus] was bck and purple, and it emitted an even stronger stench than [Corrosive Mucus].

  He found that the gnds in his throat had become more powerful, and he could easily bst out [Pgue Mucus] up to dozens of meters away. If he used all of his strength, it could even reach hundreds of meters away.

  However, compared to his gnds' improved spraying ability, the enhancement to the vitality and mobility of his mucus was even greater. It seemed that after combining with the pathogens, System's [Corrosive Mucus] possessed greater vitality and was stronger than a simple slime.

  System could use [Mental Transmission] to control the mucus from within ten meters as easily as if he were controlling his own tentacles, and the mucus wouldn't lose its vitality for a long time when they were separated. He estimated that his mucus could still be controlled without any problems even after being idle for an hour.

  The mucus was also agile and full of strength now. System could easily make it jump into the air, and he estimated that a ball of mucus the size of a baby's fist could jump nearly two meters high. If the amount of mucus increased, it could jump even higher and farther.

  In addition to that, System could also change his mucus into various shapes. He even formed it into tentacles and used them to grab the bottles on the table.

  The corrosiveness of the mucus seemed to have greatly increased. System noticed that his [Pgue Mucus] could even corrode the gss bottles, leaving traces of melting on their surface.

  As he continued making his mucus change shape, he realized that he could change it into various forms at will. He could even control his mucus to create flowers simir to frost flowers.

  However, the more complex the shape, the more difficult it was for him to control the mucus.

  After a few attempts, he finally made the mucus inside his throat transform into the shape of a sharp arrow. He took aim at a wooden board on the table and spit with the greatest force he could muster.

  Bang!

  After the mucus-arrow's impact, the table was left with a deep, diamond-shaped indentation, just like the mark left by a sharp dagger. Soon after, the location where the arrow had nded was corroded by the [Pgue Mucus].

  'It's indeed a non-Newtonian fluid. If the speed gets fast enough, it may even be able to pierce steel.'

  System controlled the mucus that was corroding the table, making it bounce back into his mouth for recycling.

  When he saw that his mucus could change its shape according to his will, System suddenly remembered several small experiments that he'd seen people perform with non-Newtonian fluids in his previous life.

  If chewing gum was formed into a cone, it could be used to chisel open a coconut.

  People could run quickly over a swimming pool that was filled with oobleck without sinking, achieving the effect of walking on water.

  It seemed that his mucus was also a non-Newtonian fluid. Non-Newtonian fluids had a significant characteristic. The greater the force they were subjected to, the stronger the adhesion between the liquids would grow, and the harder they would become. When the adhesion was strong enough, they would become even harder than stone and steel.

  System, who could manipute his mucus at will, undoubtedly wanted to bring the properties of a non-Newtonian fluid to the extreme, giving him the sharpest arrow. Unfortunately, the highest speed at which he could currently spit mucus was still too slow, and its effect was far from what he wanted.

  ...

  System, who was sighing over the unique traits of his [Pgue Mucus], had no idea that the reason his skill could reach level 21 wasn't because of the shape-changing properties of the mucus, but because of the pgue bacteria that had mutually bonded with it.

  Otherwise, relying solely on the transformation ability of the mucus, its level would only reach 20 at most.

  There was a world of difference between level 20 and level 21. System naturally didn't understand the horror of a pgue that had reached the extraordinary level.

  He was caught up in fanciful thoughts about the [Morph] ability that he had pns to acquire from Meatball. After activating [Morph] in the future, he imagined his body transforming into all sorts of shapes just like the mucus.

  ...

  After moving all of the useful items back to the nest from the ratman wizard's cave, System still had no idea how to remove the curse. However, the inexplicable improvement in his strength made him feel a lot better.

  System, who hadn't rested for several days, finally y down for the first time on his comfortable new cotton mattress to sleep.

  He slept very deeply. Normally, unless he passed out somehow, he would only enter a half-awake and half-asleep dormant state. This time, however, he really fell asleep.

  Because he was already asleep, he didn't notice when the bck leather-bound book beside him suddenly fshed with a dark purple light.

  At the same time, System realized that he'd appeared in a dark space in his dream. His [System's Eye] seemed to be restricted somehow, and he couldn't see anything around him.

  It felt like he was floating in water, and no amount of swimming allowed him to reach the edges of the space.

  Eventually, System realized that he had to be dreaming, at which point he decided to go with the flow in this space.

  His vision suddenly changed, and hazy shadows appeared in front of him. In the gaps between the shadows, System could see a giant red eye. The red eye looked very unusual, and it seemed to be conveying a special message to him.

  System automatically knew who the being he was seeing in his dream was—the God of Pgues and Curses, Rafael.

  There was no voice, but as the red eye gazed at System, he gradually received a lot of information. He now understood how the ratman wizard had learned that vicious curse.

  Everything was because of the power that had been bestowed upon the wizard by the being in front of System right now.