[Offerings Required]
[Queen Ant ] = (Core) + (Mandibles)
[Lord of the Snakes ] = (Core) + (Poison Gland)
[Fish Monarch ] = (Core) + (Scales)
[Albino Bat ] = (Core)+ (Wing Membrane)
[Two-Headed Bear ] = (Core) + (Rendered Fat)
[Restriction ]:
Each offering must be taken whole from a single individual.
Fragments taken from multiple creatures will invalidate the rite.
[Ritual Note ]:
Individually, these remnants carry only minor power.
When brewed together, their essences intertwine—
creating a potion capable of amplifying the consumer's abilities manyfold.
"Offerings?"
He didn't fully understand what the word meant, but the first ones were already before him. The others would have to wait.
As for the restriction, its meaning was clear enough. He could not mix and match. One creature. One set. One potion.
When he reached the final line, his doubts faded.
The effort would be worth it. The parchment promised strength—not once, not twice, but many times over.
He knew what the word many meant. His thoughts drifted back to the ants. He had counted them once, stopped at three and called the rest many.
Many meant a lot.
He would grow a lot.
That was enough for him.
He rolled the parchment and, with his other hand, reached into the air as if grasping for the stars—then clenched his fist.
He was drunk on happiness. For a moment, he even imagined himself drinking the potion.
Reality settled in, cooling him.
He remained where he stood and, from the bottom of his chest, willed the parchment to disappear.
A black void opened once more.
Confused, he muttered,
"Um… here?"
Uncertain, he let the swirling cavity draw the scroll in.
When it vanished, he brushed one hand lightly over the other—a small, finishing gesture, as if wiping away the last trace of a task completed.
Then he turned his head towards the ant queen.
First, he approached the head and, using its knife, applied pressure on the left mandible. It was stubbornly hard. He continued slashing until it disconnected from the mouth. Then—the right one followed.
Wiping a fake bead of sweat from his brow, he looked at his hands. There lay the mandibles, one of the first ingredients he had gathered.
Not wanting to carry them everywhere, he repeated the same action as before. He willed the mandibles to disappear—and once more, the black void appeared. Without wasting another second, he dropped them into the groove.
His gaze shifted to the body of the ant queen—massive, still terrifying even in this state.
Right hand on the handle, left hand steadying as well—and—stab.
He cut open the abdomen, searching for the core.
To be honest, he didn't know exactly what a core was, but he was certain it would be unusual compared to anything he'd find inside her—and he was right.
Flesh, blood, and organs spilled everywhere, and then—a stone. Not quite a stone, more like a crystal. He raised it up. Even coated in blood, it caught the light, shining.
He liked shiny things. They were… nice.
He shook his head. "I need to get serious"
He touched the crystal, turned it over, and applied gentle force—but not too much. His instinct warned him it would shatter if he tried too hard. Using his left hand, he brushed away the blood, then willed it to disappear.
He stayed still, unsure of what to do next.
Certainly, he had collected the ingredients from the first creature—but what about the rest? How would he find them?
Then—*GROWL*
What was that noise? He scanned left and right, prepared for an attack.
*Growl*
It was close. Anxiety crept in, tightening his chest. But then—he looked down.
It wasn't coming from the shadows. It was coming from him.
He was starved. Since awakening, he hadn't had a moment to eat, too busy surviving. He could fix it now.
He started searching for a dead ant, and his gaze fell on the suicidal one.
He darted forward and—*Chomp*
It felt wrong.
He continued chewing for a moment, then spat it out.
"Gross"
What now?
A window popped up.
[Level]: 4
[Species]: Hollowkin
[Hollowkin] – This race is a subsidiary species of the Cursed Doll family. As their body is primarily made of mana, their diet consists of ingesting mana or mana-infused objects, such as mana ore or monster cores.
[Warning]: ...
He carefully read the information again: level, species, diet based on mana?
Well, now he knew why chewing that poor ant felt so wrong.
He didn't know what mana ore was, or where to find it—but he knew about cores. He couldn't eat the ant queen's core, but surely her subordinates would have one.
The suicidal ant was closest. He cut open its abdomen—but no crystal. He let out a small *tsk* sound and pushed the body away with his foot, disappointed.
He saw the veteran next and went toward him. Surely enough—he had one.
He applied pressure, and blue particles seeped into his being.
His hunger eased, but memories surged: being tended as a larva, cleaned and fed by other ants. Then images of himself mature, hunting prey. Losing his head. The memories twisted together, a constant whisper repeating:
"Must serve the queen"
He tried to dispel it. Tried to banish the phrase from his mind—but he couldn't.
The window popped up again. This time, a warning:
[Warning]: Consuming monster cores can corrupt the creature, as the cores contain memories, feelings, and thoughts of the deceased monster.
Corrupt.
The word tasted bad in his mind. But it was too late. The deed had already been done.
He thought about the mana ore, hoping another window would pop up—and luck was on his side. It did.
[Mana Ore] – A mineral formed when mana particles become trapped and undergo a slow crystallization process. The type of mana determines the ore's nature—it can be fire, water, wind, and more.
Pondering the system's words, he willed the information to appear once more, this time with more specificity.
[Water Mana Ore] – Occasionally found at the bottom of deep bodies of water.
He needed to find a Water Mana Ore—It was its best chance.
As for the corruption problem, he had no idea how to fix it, so he left it for another day—though he promised himself he'd be more careful and read every piece of information from now on. Especially the warnings.
With a growl echoing from his stomach, he set off to find his food.