Casting a glance at the window and realizing that this conversation had dragged on too long, I stood up and began undressing.
– ???
Miach cast a questioning glance at me, which quickly turned to understanding.
— An update? – Getting up and walking over to me.
I nodded to him and turned my back.
I did not have to wait long, and I felt a drop of Miach's blood.
— Wait just a little more… There, done.
Turning to face him, he was already shoving this sheet in my face.
— A good result, Kopii. Of course, it's a little worse than the first, but no big deal; after all, you've only been an adventurer for eight months.
Lowering my gaze from Miach's face to the sheet:
Strength: C 678
Endurance: A 801
Dexterity: C 612
Agility: B 720
Magic Power: I 0
«Magic»
[ ]
«Skills»
[Copying]: «You can be whoever you want, but not yourself».
It was a good difference from the previous results, but for Kane, it was not enough. For monsters like him, and with abilities like his, they were all born with one thought in this world: to be at the top of everything. And the thirst was a tool that helped monsters not forget their purpose.
Kane kept pondering his growth. He did not like the growth, he did not like it very much. Kopii had managed to level up in three months, and only thanks to him. Without him, he would have reached only half the way in five months. So it was too little. He had expected to raise at least two stats to S-rank. But his maximum was only endurance, and that was A-rank.
Simply put, it had angered him a little. But it did not show on his face.
— Yes, Lord Miach, very good growth… Very. – Unconsciously, he began squeezing the sheet harder.
He said the last phrase somehow more indifferently than Miach expected. But he did not comment on it, because from Miach's side, it looked as if he was saddened by his growth, and as if he did not even hide it behind a cheerful expression. It was very visible to the god's eyes.
The one who had managed to level up in three months, thereby setting a new record, had now reached only half of his former path in five months. Miach was sure that this was the reason Kopii was so bewildered. He had already opened his mouth to support Kopii, to encourage him, but Kopii preempted him.
— I have to go; I wanted to go to the dungeon today as well.
— Alright, Kopii. Be careful… And, by the way, come at least for dinner; we are one familia, after all.
— I'll try.
Casting one last glance at Miach before leaving.
— Bye, Naaza.
She just waved her hand.
Leaving the Blue Pharmacy, I headed to the Tower of Babel. All my plans had changed one hundred and eighty degrees, all thanks to Miach, or rather, to the results of my stats. They were too deplorable.
It did not take me long to reach the Tower of Babel.
First, fourth, eighth, thirteenth. I descended until I reached the thirteenth floor. Even if I wanted to level up, and the thirst only responded to this, wanting more and more, my reason was with me, so I logically understood that going further was very dangerous; I had not yet screwed the Sword Princess.
He fully assessed his capabilities: what he could do and what he could not. And according to his assessment, he could reach the fifteenth floor and survive there. But there was one small exception — this was only during the day. At night, the dungeon became more dangerous. And his chances of survival on such low floors equaled twenty percent.
And the other exception was his equipment. Or rather, its absence: no normal armor, no sword, and most importantly — no healing potions. He was not strong enough to take no damage. And the fact that he did not feel pain did not play in his favor. After all, in the heat of battle, he could get a minor wound and bleed out and simply die without even noticing. As they say, return to his mother's embrace, in the literal sense of the word.
But that did not mean he would retreat so easily. Even if he did not intend to go lower, he did not intend to leave either. To quickly raise his stats, one must push beyond one's limits, and the thirteenth floor would help him. He decided to stay here for the night and force his body beyond its limits.
Kane forgot about everything; he had only one goal — to become stronger.
«To hell with prostitutes, to hell with tasty food, to hell with everything not connected to leveling!»
If he was weak, everything could always be taken from him at any moment, and no one would stop them. Everyone stronger than him could take all his fun at any second and use him however they wanted.
«Just like that Amazon.»
This thought only heated Kane's anger even more. However much he pretended and called Kopii a weak-willed weakling. That Amazon had left her impressions on him, and those impressions were not for the better. If he had the strength, he would have made her suffer.
He began rushing around the thirteenth floor like a madman. He did not forget about the magic stones either — money was always needed. After all, money was also power and strength, just not as impressive as one's own abilities.
The strength he had earned through intense labor would always be with him. There was nothing that could take it away. And money could come and go. But individual strength could not.
That is how he spent the whole week. Every day, he descended into the dungeon and pushed his body to the limit. And it almost became his death, not because of the dungeon, but because of such a schedule.
He completely forgot about basic needs, about food and drink. And when he noticed that his body had grown too thin and bags had appeared under his eyes, and his skin had become so pale that he could pass for a corpse, and his lips had lost their former color, then he remembered that he had not eaten for three days, nor drunk during those days.
So Kane had to change his schedule. He began to devote more time to food and sleep. And over time, his body more or less returned to normal. But this was not enough. So he gave himself a full day off.
And he faced a new problem. That his body simply could not rest properly. Full rest could only happen when he slept, and that was all. Because when he took control of Kopii's body, his body began working at one hundred percent, and especially his muscles — they were always tense. In other words, his body could not rest properly while he was conscious, when he took control of the body.
This was the main drawback, but even so, he found a solution to this problem. It was all quite simple.
He woke up, seized power over the body without problems, choked himself again until he lost consciousness, woke up — and all over again. This was the only way he could let the body rest. The only one that more or less suited him.
After all, there was a second way — and it was simpler. Just not to seize power over the body, and that was it. But to give Kopii time to come to his senses? After all, when Kane took control of the body, he never heard his voice. So there was a very high chance that when he seized power over the body, the other simply switched off.
In other words, he slept. The less he was conscious, the better. Kane understood: if Kopii wanted to take everything back into his own hands, he could not stop him.
So Kane had a new goal, and it was to erase Kopii's very existence. So that his body belonged only to him and no one else. But he could not figure out how to do it.
«And is it even possible?» — Kane asked himself. Because if he could destroy Kopii's consciousness, then wouldn't he himself disappear? He had appeared thanks to the skill and Kopii's consciousness. And if he tried to destroy him, it would turn out that they were one whole.
That was what Kane feared. The fear that, because of a mistake, he could lose everything.