Okay, this is creepier the more I observe it. The thing, the item, is covered with my skin, veins are all over its surface and in a few places, I can see my bones poking out. The entire thing is covered in circuits, as well as the inside of the item.

It's oval, similarly shaped to the original Peacemaker, and its size is the same as well. When I look closer, I notice that it's moving slightly, breathing.

Damn, should I burn it? I ask myself again.

I totally should burn it.

What the heck is it, even?

Unable to hold back my curiosity, I observe it for a while, yet I can't even come close to finding out what it is.

Okay, it's staying here. There's no way I'm touching it. I'll come back to check on it a few hours later, and who knows, it might become less creepy or start devouring the third floor.

I glance at it one more time and shudder before leaving it as it is. When I get to the hideout, everyone is inside. The water is nearly gone and I notice that some faces are a bit cleaner than before. A waste of water someone might say, but it's not like I blame them. But there is something I do blame them for.

“You drank the water,” I say to Tess and she just nods.

“That’s…dumb,” I can't help but say. I'm sure they realize it as well.

“Nat, not everyone got an upgrade like you, I think you're underestimating how thirsty everyone was,” she pauses, “Lily used her skill to try to get rid of anything that could be harmful and we boiled it a bit.”

Well, I know it's most likely safe, but the system is kind of a joker sometimes so I wouldn't be surprised. Even though I don't think there was any problem with water up until now. Whatever, I guess, we will see.

“How is Lily?” I ask.

“She did get to sleep after we gave her most of the meat from the sparrow that Hadwin brought back and she also got some water. Not too quickly and not too much, but it did help a lot. Also, what happened to your hand?”

“Not sure yet, I'll let you know in a few hours,” I answer mysteriously. I still have to find out what kind of abomination lies on the floor of that house.

Did I screw up something? Is it a reward? Is it the effect of a strong item trying to keep itself alive? Or is it... it can´t be, right?

“Haaa, Lily will be angry,” Tess sighs and I can't help but agree. But that's a future problem for future Nathaniel, screw that guy!

So, I grab a bit of food and some water and get to the corner of the room to nibble on it slowly. Obviously, Biscuit immediately smells the opportunity and comes closer, just sitting on his bum and staring at me, trying to look cute.

I swear he knows! He knows that I don't need that much food anymore, so he uses every opportunity to beg for some food from me.

(I require sustenance.) He says, and I shudder.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have taught him to say that. It sounded like an idea back then and Hadwin's face was fun to look at, but now, in the dark room we are in, and sounding in my head a bit after my hand turned into some fleshy abomination.

Plus he also uses eight human mana arms that grow from his back to keep him standing like some sort of giant spider while his short legs hang in the air.

The doggo is smart. He's indirectly telling me that he will cancel his eight human arms if I give him food. He also challenges me to disrupt them so he can learn to counter my skill.

Aren't you a cheeky one? Do you think I'll give up that easily? Take this!

I grab him and pull him closer while I continue to boop his nose. At first, he seems shocked and then tries to get away, but I strengthen my body as the corgi is surprisingly strong, and continue to boop his nose which gets woofs from him.

But I do not stop.

boops.

boops.

boops.

He tries to bite me and I flick his nose and gently pull his whiskers, continuing.

As if feeling the opportunity, Isabella appears and starts poking Biscuit, laughing as the doggo, unable to resist, gives up. The mana arms disappear and he pretends to be dead. I then give him to Isabella, who hugs him and sits next to me while holding the corpse of what used to be a mighty divine beast.

But I can see him sniff every time I take a bite of my food.

“Didn't your sister tell you not to come near me?” I ask a bit curiously. I'm sure the girl remembers my words from before.

“I love her, but Soph is dumb,” Isabella giggles, “She just needs to become friends with you and everything will be solved.” The little kid shrugs her shoulders and continues to pet Biscuit.

“It's not that easy.”

“It's easy,” Isabella snorts, “It's just that you old people are super dumb.”

Well, it's not that surprising a kid would think that.

“She's scared all the time, scared for me, scared of this place, scared of you. So she does all this dumb stuff and you are... well, you're safe if you're a friend. You're friends with Lily, Tess, and even Kim now, I think. So why not make more friends?”

I just shake my head and she giggles again.

“...dumb,” she mumbles under her breath, stands up, and slowly walks towards Sophie, holding the body of the corgi. She wobbles slowly, trying not to hurt him, unwilling to let go of her prey.

To not think about useless stuff, I focus on the translucent mana on my left hand and continue to move my fingers and close them into a fist. The movement is so much better than before and I'm even able to create some super basic mana pathways through it, reducing the effect of my missing hand on my mana flow. It's not perfect, but I'm at the point where missing some part of my body won't cause me much trouble.

Then, as if waiting until I'm the busiest, Kim also comes to me. Why am I so popular lately?

“Nat,” he starts carefully and I look at him. He seems serious, yet his eyes are firm, “Please tell me how to practice,” he says, and I can see that it takes a lot of him to ask that so soon after the last time.

The fifteen-year-old boy is really proud and I also think that asking for help is not something he is used to, judging from what he told me about his family.

At first, I want to send him away by just telling him to practice his skills as he did up until now, but then I notice his trembling hand.

Don't look up to me, it's… unpleasant.

As for his request, I saw him fighting multiple times. He's doing well, his usage of his [Telekinesis] is nice and intricate. It doesn't have as much power as Tess's skill but it's more nimble and he's good at controlling a lot of smaller projectiles.

It's not something I could help him much with and I think he's on a good path. No, the problem is that he doesn't use [Gravity Well] much.

“Okay,” I grab a stone from the ground and throw it towards him while standing up.

The boy grabs it with his skill instead of reaching with his hand, and the stone starts to hover in front of him. Just this little interaction shows me how much all of us got used to using skills. For some of us, it becomes even more natural than using our bodies.

“Make that stone as heavy as possible while keeping it afloat with [Telekinesis],”

“But that's constantly using two skills at once. For a while, it's fine, but…”

I don't say anything and he falls silent,

“I…” he starts, and shakes his head, “Okay. OKAY,” he shouts and immediately leaves, the stone following him.

Now then, I should go out and have a talk, shouldn't I? I inform Tess that I'll be staying outside overnight so she won't worry about me, and I leave.

My steps are heavy and my mind wavers the closer I get to the house where I left what used to be my left hand. As I get nearby, my heartbeat speeds up. I open the door and then close it. The sound of the lock clicking almost sounds deafening.

Then I look at the fleshy item on the ground. It's still the same and still in the same spot.

“Lissandra, I assume?” I say.

Then the surface of the item vibrates, creating vibrations that are transferred into sound and form words, “You assume correctly, shall we talk, little pup?”

Well, if this doesn't complicate things.