[Status: Combat Over]
[HP: 92/150]
[Hunger: 100/100 (SATIATED)]
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the sound of my own hinges settling. The room was a mess of splintered arrows, a shattered halberd, and the cooling remains of a party that had been too confident for their own good.
But for me? It was a massacre of riches.
[Massive Victory! Party Wipe Bonus Applied: +50% Experience]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Iron-Bound Mimic -> Lvl 9]
[Devour Complete. Extracting Essence from 'The Iron Vanguard' Party...]
This was the part I loved. My internal void churned like a furnace, breaking down steel, leather, and bone into pure, unadulterated power. The notifications began to scroll so fast I could barely keep up.
[Loot Acquired:]
1. [Guardian's Kite Shield (Uncommon)]: *Absorbed. Permanent Defense +5.*
2. [Swordsman's Steel Blade (Common)]: *Absorbed. Physical Attack Power +3.*
3. [Archer's Wind-Step Boots (Rare)]: *Analysis in progress... Agility Essence extracted.*
4. [Healer's Prayer Beads (Uncommon)]: *Absorbed. Skill Gained: Minor Self-Repair.*
5. [42 Gold Coins, 120 Silver Coins]: *Stored in Inventory.*
[New Skill Unlocked: Minor Self-Repair (Active)]
[Effect: Consume 10 Mana to restore 5 HP per second for 5 seconds. Finally, you can fix your own dents.]
I felt the Wind-Step Boots dissolving inside me. Unlike the iron armor, which felt heavy and solid, these boots felt like a breeze. The essence swirled around my base, tickling the underside of my obsidian wood.
[Warning: High Agility Essence detected. Mutation Possible.]
I ignored the tingling for a moment to check my status. I was a Level 9 Iron-Bound Mimic now. I was tanky, I could shoot coins like a shotgun, and I could heal myself. But I was still a prisoner of this room. I was still a box that had to wait for the world to come to me.
I looked at the door. Beyond it lay the rest of the first floor, and beyond that, the world.
"I've eaten everything in this room," I thought, glancing at the bare stone walls. "The rats, the goblins, the mages, and the heroes. There's nothing left for me here but dust."
[Hunger: 100/100]
[XP: 890/1000 to Level 10]
I needed one more push. One more spark of energy to reach the big double-digits.
I looked at the discarded, broken halberd of the Guardian. It was made of 'Dungeon Steel,' a material infused with the mana of this place. It was too big to swallow whole in my current state, but I wasn't an ordinary chest anymore.
I opened my lid wide—wider than any normal chest should be able to—and used my *Tongue Lash* to wrap around the heavy poleaxe. With a grunt of mental effort, I pulled it into the darkness of my maw.
*Creeeeeak... SNAP.*
My wood strained. My iron bands groaned. But the halberd disappeared.
[Item Consumed: Broken Dungeon-Steel Halberd]
[Experience Gained: 120 XP]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Iron-Bound Mimic -> Lvl 10]
[DANGER: Tier 1 Milestone Reached.]
[The 'Stationary' restriction is being lifted.]
[Preparing Mobility Evolution...]
A violent tremor shook my entire frame. This wasn't like the last evolution. This felt like my very foundations were being uprooted. I felt a strange sensation at my four bottom corners—a pressure, a stretching, a desperate need for *length*.
"Here we go," I thought, bracing my lid. "Time to see if I can do more than just hop."
The stone floor beneath me began to crack as my new form took shape.