Just as Yami Tsukishiro was about to take out a monster embryo to test the effects of the Body Enhancement Meme, a thought crossed his mind.
"Ella, come here."
"Okay, Master."
The petite monster girl walked up to him, her eyes darting… and strangely, she kept glancing at his legs.
"What's wrong?"
Yami raised an eyebrow, sensing she wanted to say something.
Ella looked like a timid little rabbit head down, fingers fidgeting together before she spoke in a soft, hesitant voice.
"Master… can I… sit on your lap?"
"…"
That… was not what he was expecting.
Without answering, Yami simply reached over, lifted her effortlessly, and set her down on his lap, one arm loosely circling her waist.
"Well…!"
Ella's initial panic slowly melted into a look of pure happiness.
There was no denying it, she was an absurdly cute, well-behaved girl.
Then Yami activated the fusion, choosing to apply the Body Enhancement Meme to her.
[Ding! Consume 100 magic stones to fuse D-rank Meme "Body Enhancement" into Monster Girl "Ella"?]
"Yes."
A soft glow invisible to her sank into the space between her brows.
"Master, I… think I've gained a new ability."
The feedback was instant.
"What does it feel like?" Yami asked.
Ella flexed her slender arms, mimicking a bodybuilder's pose.
"I feel like my strength and speed have both increased!"
"Body Enhancement… sounds like it does exactly what the name says, boosts physical capabilities."
For now, he didn't continue upgrading her. Instead, he took out a standard monster embryo.
He selected the zombie prototype… and added the Body Enhancement Meme.
[Ding! Hatching this altered embryo will consume 100 magic stones!]
No surprise there it matched the cost of an embryo fused with the "Armor" Meme.
It seemed safe to assume the magic stone cost was determined by the Meme's rank.
For D-rank Memes, the cost was a flat 100 stones.
"Incubate."
As the magic stones were consumed, a new monster took shape in the great hall beneath the throne.
[Ding! Original embryo hatched successfully — you have obtained the "Fighting Zombie" template!]
[Monster]: Fighting Zombie
[Rank]: Level 1
[Title]: Ordinary
[Race]: Undead
[Memes]:
Level F: Infection (Lv.1)
Level D: Body Enhancement (Lv.1)
Compared to the frail, shriveled frames of regular zombies, this one was bulked up every limb packed with corded muscle. The difference was like night and day, a stick figure versus a heavyweight fighter.
Next, Yami tried adding the Body Enhancement Meme to skeletons and mummies.
No luck.
[Ding! This Meme has poor compatibility with the chosen prototype!]
"Adaptability… so that's a thing?" Yami muttered, genuinely surprised.
He'd assumed any Meme could be fused with anything. But thinking about it… a skeleton given "Armor" could at least form bone plating.
A skeleton with "Body Enhancement"? No flesh, no muscles...what exactly was it supposed to enhance?
Not worth forcing.
He returned to the zombie prototype this time fusing both Armor and Body Enhancement.
[Ding! Hatching this embryo will consume 1,000 magic stones!]
"...Huh?!"
Yami actually blurted out.
"Master?"
Ella, startled by his reaction, looked up at him with concern.
"It's fine. Don't worry," he said, patting her head reassuringly, though even he needed a moment to calm down.
The jump in cost was ridiculous, adding just one more D-rank Meme had multiplied the price by ten.
"The more abilities you stack onto a single embryo, the harder it is to complete the fusion… so the consumption skyrockets,"
Yami reasoned. "Combining multiple high-level abilities into one body is a massive leap in quality."
"Incubate."
If the result was worth it, a thousand stones wasn't much.
[Ding! Original embryo hatched successfully — you have obtained the "Armed Violent" template!]
The new creation emerged beside the Fighting Zombie, and the difference was staggering.
The Armed Violent stood nearly four meters tall twice the height of its counterpart, its sheer bulk reminiscent of a heavy-armored zombie merged with a combat brute.
It was wrapped head-to-toe in pitch-black bone plating, the massive frame radiating both raw aggression and an unsettling steadiness.
[Monster]: Armed Violent
[Rank]: Level 2
[Title]: Ordinary
[Race]: Undead
[Memes]:
Level F: Infection (Lv.2)
Level D: Armor (Lv.2), Body Enhancement (Lv.2)
"Second level?"
Hatching straight into a second-tier monster that was leagues better than the first-tier Fighting Zombies.
Yeah… a thousand magic stones suddenly felt like a bargain.
Even at a glance, the gap in power and presence was obvious.
"Very good."
Without hesitation, Yami created nine more Fighting Zombies and two more Armed Violents.
He also boosted Ella's Body Enhancement all the way to Level 4, only stopping once he'd left himself with a final reserve of 5,000 magic stones.
A quick check showed Kocho Shinobu and the others were already resting, so there was nothing that required Ella's attention here for now.
"Ella, want to head out with me?"
"The Master's world? Yes!"
Like an eager little rabbit, Ella straightened up instantly.
"Then let's go."
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