The New Body
The transition was violent, a sudden slam of consciousness into unfamiliar flesh. The first thing Thomas felt was not comfort or power, but cold, hunger, and an overwhelming, dull stupidity.
Ugh. This is... an Orc.
He was on all fours, clad only in rough leather, the air around him thick with the smell of mud, pine needles, and stale monster breath. His hands were now thick, green fists, and his vision was slightly blurred, prioritizing movement detection over detail.
His mind, however, was immediately crystal clear. The System was operating at full capacity.
[Status Update: Host consciousness successfully transferred to Temporary Vessel (Lesser Orc). Duration of Stay: 1000 Days.]
[Power Core Update: Restriction lowered to 99.99%. Limited skills unlocked for accelerated acquisition.]
Finally, a drop of power, Thomas thought with grim satisfaction.
The Two-Year Mission
With full access to Analyze and Assess and Magic Sense, Thomas set his two-fold plan into motion.
He spent the next thousand days completely isolated in a self-made cave, dedicating every single moment to analysis.
He used the Magic Sense to locate and consume any magicule-rich materials—rare plants, high-purity water sources, and low-level monster cores.
He used the Orc body's Omnivore skill to rapidly break down and absorb the energy.
This consumption had a singular purpose: to feed his nascent Great Sage skill.
The core of his mission was the Great Sage evolution. By feeding it a constant stream of new, raw magicule data from the source world, Thomas was forcing the System to process and evolve the skill's logic and processing power.
Day 1 - 200: Basic magicule flow analysis. Mastering the concept of 'Skill Creation' and 'Skill Acquisition.' He realized that by having access to the Ultimate Skill potential, he was merely reverse-engineering its prerequisites.
Day 201 - 500: Deep dive into the structure of elemental magicules (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind) found in the forest. Used his limited, self-generated magicules to perform basic water blade and earth wall spells—failing ninety-nine times for every success, purely to feed the data back to Great Sage.
Day 501 - 900: The turning point. The constant flow of data caused the Great Sage to start adapting, moving beyond mere calculation into true foresight and complex optimization.
[Evolution Alert: Great Sage is beginning the process of acquiring 'Foresight' and 'Parallel Thinking.' Efficiency reaching 85%.]
Day 901 - 1000: Thomas finally located a patch of the rare Eternal Rest Herb—a key ingredient in high-grade healing potions.
He analyzed its structure, its interaction with magicules, and finally, consumed a large portion, allowing Great Sage to fully comprehend its chemical and magical properties.
As the thousandth day concluded, the System chimed one last, triumphant alert.
[Evolution Complete: Great Sage has fully adapted to the complexities of the Host's existence and the data acquired from the native Reality.]
[Ultimate Skill Unlocked: Raphael, Lord of Wisdom (Limited)!]
Thomas, standing tall in his Orc body, felt a mental clarity beyond anything he had ever experienced. His mind was now an instantaneous, perfect parallel processor. He had done it.
[Time Remaining: 5 Seconds. Initiating return to Earth-Prime.]
The Orc body collapsed, and Thomas's consciousness was pulled back across the Omniverse, leaving behind an extremely confused, now-conscious Lesser Orc wondering why it smelled faintly of rare herbs and advanced mathematics.