There were many different kinds of energy in this world, but under normal circumstances, these free-floating energies were in a dormant state and couldn't be sensed by mortals or magical life forms that didn't match their attributes. Only when these energies were stimuted and gave off energy fluctuations could they be sensed by lower-level life forms.

  For example, System could currently sense three types of energy floating in the air. One was the white energy used by [Mental Transmission] and [Perception], another was the frost energy that powered his [Frost Breath], and the third was the nature energy or life energy that he could sense after receiving the golden acorn's inheritance.

  As for the [Digital Code] talent that he'd already possessed when he'd first woken up in this world, System didn't yet fully understand how it worked.

  Even after more than half a year, he still felt like he was in a digital sea whenever he sensed it, and he always had to withdraw from the digital sea because of the intense mental pain it caused him.

  [Digital Code] seemed to be different from his other talents. Any type of energy could activate it. Even the health that he obtained from digesting food could activate the many skills that were derived from [Digital Code].

  Unlike [Digital Code], the pgue and curse spells from the evil god Rafael worked the same as System's other abilities. The first step in casting these spells was being able to feel and absorb the right type of dormant energy.

  As for the effects of the pgue and curse spells, on one hand, it depended on an individual's training and understanding of the spells, while on the other hand, it depended on the specific sacrifices made to Rafael.

  For example, the ratman fanatic that System had instigated to commit suicide hadn't mastered any of her powers even though she'd offered Rafael many sacrifices. She would have been much stronger if she'd devoted her time to practicing her spells.

  System quietly read the book "Thirteen Curse Spells" that the ratman wizard had owned.

  The book had a total of fifteen pages. Two pages recorded some tips for practicing curses as well as some precautions to take. Each of the other thirteen pages went into detail on a different curse.

  He found many tips about using curses in this book.

  It was easier to feel the energy of curses and pgues in rotting corpses and dirty, smelly environments. Casting curses was very dangerous, and practice should be done in moderation to avoid hurting yourself. If the target of a curse was too strong, the curse would backfire.

  As for the curses themselves, they seemed much less useful to System than the tips.

  [Sluggish], [Unable to Concentrate], [Sleepy], [Manic], [Depressed]...

  The thirteen curse spells were all extremely basic; their effects weren't very strong, and they had a time limit, which meant the curse would disappear after a period of time.

  However, although System couldn't understand the principles behind how these curses worked and there was no trace of the [Severance Curse] in the curses listed in the book, he still found a way to remove the curse.

  This method of solving the curse didn't require communication with Rafael. Instead, it needed the assistance of a ratman wizard skilled in the art of curses.

  As long as the ratman wizard was strong enough, it could eradicate the [Severance Curse]. Of course, a wizard without sufficient strength could also remove the [Severance Curse] by sacrificing itself.

  However, after a little thought, System knew that he was unlikely to find a strong ratman wizard who was willing to help him. He might even end up getting killed or captured if he tried.

  Capturing a weaker ratman wizard and asking it to sacrifice itself to remove the curse was even more impossible. Being killed was death, and sacrifice was also death. If he asked the wizard to sacrifice itself, the wizard would undoubtedly sacrifice itself to curse System a second time.

  In a way, it would be better for System to take the risk of communicating with the evil god and making a sacrifice than to try to find a ratman wizard to remove the curse.

  However, System, who was cautious by nature, gave up on the idea of communicating with the evil god after a bit of thought. It was simply too dangerous.

  He'd felt very uncomfortable when he'd first lost the ability to mate, but after a while, he'd gotten used to it.

  Now System was more concerned about the lifespan loss caused by the [Severance Curse].

  Losing one more day of life every three days may not seem like much, but if things went on like this, the amount of life lost would definitely not be a small number, especially after he advanced to become a magical life form. His lifespan would never stop being reduced by the curse.

  Unfortunately, even after learning the ratman nguage, System still hadn't found a way to transfer the curse with [Mental Transmission].

  ...

  After he put down the wizard's book, System slowly rexed.

  Although his efforts to learn the ratman nguage hadn't gained him any substantial benefits, at least he now knew that there was a possibility of lifting the [Severance Curse].

  What he had to do now was further improve his life level by advancing into a magical life form.

  After nearly a month of strengthening, his [Morph] talent had increased to level 11 and entered a higher tier.

  System still hadn't gained his imagined [Slime-Body Transformation] ability, but his [Tentacle-Leg Conversion], [Morphological Camoufge], and [Limb Reattachment] abilities had all improved, while using [Morph] had become easier and more natural.

  System felt that [Slime-Body Transformation] would only appear if he activated it with his [Insect Ability Activation Technique].

  However, he'd tried to activate it several times, but had always failed to find the key point. It would be difficult to develop the ability without another year or so of experimentation.

  He finally decided that instead of wasting that year, it would be better to undergo his third pupation, break the level lock, and become a magical life form.

  The level of his [Pupation] talent had risen to 16 when he'd obtained the golden acorn's inheritance.

  Due to his frequent consumption of slime, which had a significant effect on improving [Pupation], as well as his occasional enhancement of the talent, [Pupation] was now roughly halfway to level 17.

  As long as System wanted to, he could consume his stored experience to raise [Pupation] to level 17 within a dozen days and meet the conditions for his third pupation.

  However, the third pupation was undoubtedly going to be a very long process.

  Although his body would undergo a much greater transformation with [Pupation] than it would with [Molting and Growth], pupating would also take much longer than molting, which only sted two or three days at most.

  System felt that his third pupation would st at least half a year, which was too long. He was worried about many things that would happen during that time.

  Queen Linda might break out of her pupa in three or four months. Once she began ying eggs again, he would need to make timely adjustments and enhancements to the new ant subjects birthed by the queen. Excavator's expansion of the underground nest also required his constant guidance.

  Even if the queen and his ant subjects were excluded, there were still two things he was concerned about.

  First, would the druid from the forest come looking for him again? It would be a disaster if the druid showed up during his pupation.

  Second, System had many questions and concerns about the ratman warrior in leather armor that had come to the nest to investigate.

  After System learned more of the ratman nguage, he'd gone back and watched the video recordings of the ratman warrior's interrogation again. He'd noticed that there were many contradictions in the ratman's words. The ratman warrior had no doubt deceived him to some degree.

  Also, in the video footage from when the ratman warrior had been captured, there was one phrase that System heard him say many times—"the source of the pgue."

  It seemed that the ratman warrior's reason for investigating this area had been to find the source of a pgue. Many rats and ratmen in the vicinity had disappeared inexplicably, so the ratman gathering pce had sent over a ratman warrior to find out why.