The forest felt alive around him, a tapestry of smells and sounds.
But Nyxa paused mid-step.
He remembered the troll's scream as it died.
The weight of its massive body hitting the riverbank.
He turned, silent as death.
> The troll. I left it there.
---
He retraced his path through the forest, guided by memory and thermal traces only he could see.
It didn't take long.
The troll's corpse was slumped by the water, half-bloated already.
Its blood had run in black rivulets across the stones.
Nyxa crouched low.
Mandibles flexing.
> System. Target corpse. Initiate Copy.
There was a resistance—a sense of something dense and powerful trying to repel him.
He pushed harder with his will.
The world shivered slightly.
A green SYSTEM window appeared with a crack of glassy sound.
---
[SUCCESS]
Copied Racial Skill: Troll Regeneration [Racial]
Copied Form Template: Troll (Giant subtype)
---
He felt it immediately.
Something slotted into his soul like a missing puzzle piece.
Flesh itched, bones creaked.
For a moment he felt huge, heavy, bestial.
He grinned.
> System. List new Racial Skills.
---
[RACIAL SKILLS – UPDATED]
Void Adaptation (Passive)
Void Regeneration (Passive)
Devour Essence (Active)
Voidstep (Active)
Hive Mind Echo (Passive)
Monstrous Form (Toggle)
Troll Regeneration (Passive): Drastically increases healing speed. Recover lost limbs in minutes.
---
> Regeneration. Excellent.
He tested it.
His form shifted, bones popping wetly.
His carapace cracked and reshaped.
Grayish troll skin replaced void-black hide.
Tusks jutted.
Muscle layered on muscle.
But the eyes stayed black—bottomless void.
He laughed, a bubbling, guttural sound.
---
He turned back to his Voidborn shape, bones reordering themselves with a muffled series of cracks.
He rose slowly and glanced around.
The world felt different now.
> System. Sensory Diagnostics.
---
[SENSORY ANALYSIS:]
Visual Acuity: 400% human baseline
Auditory Range: Extended low and high frequencies
Olfactory Sensitivity: Active chemical mapping
Tactile Feedback: Hyper-detailed
Thermal Vision: Enabled (Hunter's Darkvision integrated)
Combat Awareness: Heightened (Troll Instincts added)
---
He inhaled.
He could smell everything: damp earth, blood rot, the musk of distant deer.
He heard the wings of insects beating a hundred meters away.
> All senses sharpened.
He clicked his mandibles.
> Better and better.
He looked down at the troll's ruined face.
> Thank you for the gift.
> Now I'm even harder to kill.
---
He turned away from the river, senses wide open, utterly silent.
> Next... humans.
> Their classes. Their language. Their forms.
He would take it all.