She gave me a single goal.
Up until now, I'd only been focused on putting out the fires that landed on me, but from here on out, I'd also need to gather information on the "Demon Lord."
I'd taken it on casually, but a promise is a promise.
I'm a man who keeps his word.
She also left me with new abilities.
The Unique Skill "Morpher," and the Extra Skill "Heat Manipulation."
Oh right, and I also consumed the Fire Giant didn't I?
He wasn't my enemy, but he was a dangerous one.
So that guy was A-rank or above.
Yeah, there's no way I could've beaten the Black Snake or the Black Wolf.
I'll need to take it slow and study my abilities.
But before that!
I have one all-important thing to check!
That's right — human transformation!!!
I stepped into the newly prepared private tent that was set up just for me.
"Don't anyone come in!" I called out, and shut the door.
Fufufu, fuhaha, fuhahahaha!
I correctly employed the three-stage conjugation of laughter, "Hen…shin!"
No sound effect came out, but Mimicry: Human was executed!
This was the first time I'd been so excited about the results of Mimicry.
However, ………Huh?
Oh my, oh my…
The black mist that usually appears didn't come out.
What the hell is going on!? I thought, but my viewpoint had gotten slightly higher.
More than that — hands and feet had sprouted.
And my color had changed from pale blue to skin tone.
Hm, hm hm hm?
I wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but something felt off from what I'd intended.
There was no mirror, which was frustrating.
But, you know…
I didn't really want to admit it, but I recognized this state.
From long ago — yes, about thirty years ago, to be exact…
The age where I was deciding whether or not to start elementary school. That was what this felt like.
Wait just a moment.
I was too shaken to notice at first, but there was an even bigger difference.
It wasn't there.
The form of my newborn son — my second generation — was missing!
W-What does that mean?!
I panicked.
I checked in a flurry.
And I learned the shocking truth…
N-Nothing.
Completely, utterly nothing.
Smooth and bare with nothing there.
When I really thought about it, it made sense. When I'd Mimicked into a monster, I never raised that question.
Even though there was no need to excrete, there was no excretory organ to speak of…
So naturally… even though there was no need for reproduction, would there be reproductive organs?
The answer was… my current state, I suppose…
A deep sense of loss and an "ah, I see!" feeling of understanding washed over me.
No way! I hurriedly checked my head. Fluffy, soft to the touch.
I let out a sigh of relief.
Good thing I didn't look like some suspicious alien-like humanoid!
Come to think of it, the Black Wolf had been fluffy too.
Without fur, who knows what kind of creature… just imagining it gives me the creeps.
Let's stop there. That road is dangerous.
So then — not very cool of me, but I may have panicked a little?
At any rate, let's accept the reality about my son.
It's a shame I can't see my full body…
That's when I had a nice idea — what if I used "Clone Body"?
As expected of me.
I wasn't sure if it would work in this state, but I gave it a try.
Black mist surged from my body and coalesced in front of me, taking on a humanoid shape.
It was done in an instant.
This… is insane.
"Insane" here in more ways than one.
First — the appearance.
A lovely, silver-haired beautiful girl? Beautiful boy? Since there were no gender traits, it was essentially androgynous…
If anything, the facial features leaned more toward girl.
It must have come from Shizu, since I couldn't find a single trace of my own genetics.
Well, yeah. That's probably to be expected.
A cute child, standing there completely naked. Well, there wasn't anything to hide anyway…
That wasn't the issue — it felt ethically problematic.
But what an incredibly cute face. Gotta give it to Shizu here — well done!
I'd been a decent-looking guy myself, but I certainly wasn't a beautiful boy. Even straining my memory correction to the max, that was a stretch.
I should just be honestly grateful here.
I wrapped myself in fur and handed some to the clone too.
I'll need to prepare proper clothes next time.
Now, the real reason this is insane.
That would be the ability.
I said "clone," but with my superior cognitive processing, it was fully linked to me.
In other words, both of them were me.
There was no difference between the original and the clone.
Well, with the Fire Giant, the clone's abilities were clearly inferior.
But this clone of mine didn't feel inferior. Okay, maybe slightly…
But there was a difference.
The Magicules capacity. It only held as much as the Magicules I'd initially used to create it.
But it was possible to supply it with more Magicules.
My Magicules capacity was pretty substantial. Depending on how I used it, it could be a serious fighting force.
The thing was, I'd split the Fire Giant into about ten clones, but my clone was so high-performance that only one seemed possible.
Of course, from an opponent's perspective, this would be a borderline cheat skill.
The last reason.
The lack of dissonance in Mimicry.
I'd noticed it the moment the black mist didn't appear.
Take the Black Wolf, for example.
When Mimicking into the Black Wolf, I'd used black mist to form the disguise. That was inferior to the abilities of my Slime body.
It wasn't obvious because the lack of limbs on a Slime body restricted physical movement, but the cellular ability was abnormally high.
Each and every cell was simultaneously muscle, brain, and nerve.
Can you picture it? You look with your eyes, nerves transmit information, it reaches your brain.
None of that process was necessary.
Even without the Great Sage's perception boost of 1000 times, my reaction speed exceeded that of a normal human.
But with a black mist body, there was a slight time lag before information reached the brain — the original body.
That slight degradation in the clone was probably caused by this.
So then — Mimicry: Human without using black mist?
Exactly! It achieved the same reaction speed as the Slime body. No dissonance whatsoever.
And with hands and feet, my movement capability improved! …Even as a kid.
Still, I could move more freely than as a Slime.
Plus, since I wasn't using black mist, there was no consumption of Magicules.
How incredibly convenient!
From now on, I'll make this form my main mode of operation! That's what I thought.
On a whim, I gave a command to the clone.
It moved as smoothly as if I were moving myself.
The clone began to grow!!!
A slender, lithe build. Silver hair flowing gracefully. A beautiful, almost medieval appearance.
Perfect!
From there, I shifted it into female form, then male form.
Muscular, then overweight. Young adult, then elderly.
I confirmed that it was possible to Mimic into various states.
By using black mist to supplement the missing parts, the same way as when Mimicking into monsters, I could even Mimic an adult.
This might be useful for boosting strength.
Reaction speed would drop, but when it came to raw power, bigger was an advantage.
Well, speed is the most important factor in combat though, isn't it?
After that, I ran all sorts of experiments, testing out my new body's capabilities.
And just like that, I obtained a human body for myself in this world!
Next up, I plan to write about the abilities.
I'd actually intended to combine this with today's episode into a single chapter.
Putting it all together might have been better, but oh well.