His mental map carried him to the next two destinations while his nose brought him to the last, with Foast finally confident he’d locked onto the smell of whatever monstrosity had been wreaking havoc on the expeditions sent to slay it while he surveyed the fourth site, finding it the same as the other three.

Signs of attacks of all sorts, both magics and weapons that made it clear the group that had found it last had descended on one another, one more point to dark magic controlling them like every other location he’d seen but he couldn’t dwell on it. Having its scent was as good as being able to see the beast itself and with his nose telling him the next direction to follow, he didn’t wait, his shape changing to something far sleeker as he forced his flesh to warp under his power, shrinking down while limbs stretched out before sprouting feathers where there’d been none before, a form focused on speed and dexterity to make it through those dense woods as he beat his new wings and felt them propel him through the air, the end of his mission feeling almost in sight.

----------------------------------------

Here.

Having changed again as he passed through the last two sites, he took to the lands once the dense woods had cleared, forest slowly turned to swamp and muddying his senses yet still he knew he’d found the thing, the area thick with the smell of it despite so much else that was catching his nose from both the rot and blood filling the place, the latter undoubtedly connected to the monster hiding within it and acting as another point to help narrow down his prey while his flesh shifted as he moved in.

Pulling from the beasts he held, he took into account the armour wrapping his body as he changed, his bits of exposed flesh losing their fur while his focus on speed changed to navigating the new environment, creating limbs better suited for traversing both shallow water and the muck below, not wanting to disturb anything to draw attention to himself in the hopes of sneaking in as he slowly narrowed down the final area, still losing whatever bit of surprise he had in the end.

Whether it understood he was a person or merely thought a stray beast had wandered into its nest, it didn’t matter. That demon, like all others, held some degree of soul magic and as the holder of a soul himself, it was enough to give away his presence no matter what precautions he’d taken, leaving him to briefly evaluate the monster in the seconds before it struck.

Semi-aquatic then. Makes sense considering the location.

He could see gill-like structures along its neck as well as a small fin sticking out of its back but the location of its other attacks and the rest of its form made it clear the beast was more suited to land, with a sleek shape and powerful limbs giving the impression that the quadruped was more aligned to running than treading water and showed some of that power as it lunged, claws extended to tear into him and while Foast felt them crack as he turned, letting his armour take the brute of the damage and bringing a smile to his lips.

More than worth the purchase.

A blow so much weaker than Abel’s hadn’t even registered, his attacker was the one left in pain as it screamed and jumped back, growing cautious as it appraised him, trying to determine whether it was a threat or if his defenses were simply better than it had expected, with it not getting the chance to make the judgement.

Seeing it pause, Foast didn’t bother to linger in his curiosity. His very reason for being there was before him and well aware of his presence, there was no longer a need for subtlety. As things were, its size was only a bit larger than his own but his power changed that.

From the demon’s perspective, new flesh came from nowhere as it saw its hunter triple in volume but it was enough for it to know there was far more than met the eye as it was torn between its instincts and its need to survive. Everything it was demanded it kill the creature that had crossed into its domain, to fight and struggle for what power victory would bring it yet all would be for naught if it died, driving the course of its plans.

It didn’t know enough then but it could change that, needing only some distance to escape and observe before the creature’s flesh would fill its stomach and with that goal it summoned more of its kin to act as distractions, dozens of new demons of all shapes and sizes jumping up from the water to scare off its attacker, Foast not even blinking at the sudden change in numbers.

Ah, not dark magic then. Light.

All of them were illusions and easily ignored for that fact. While his eyes may have told him they were real, he wasn’t so inexperienced as to fall for such a thing when the rest of his senses made it clear how false they were.

Making no sounds and giving off no smells, the demon that conjured them had been skilled enough to apply his illusions to the water too, making it appear to splash and ripple with their arrival yet couldn’t move the air in a way that would imply true forms passing through it.

To his senses, it couldn’t be more plain but for an army hunting it, how things kept ending became obvious for that fact, with a swarm of demons suddenly appearing among them being the exact sort of thing that would cause chaos, needing only a single person to react with a poorly planned attack to cause a chain reaction.

The details of how it had led each group to attacking each other weren’t instantly clear but in the end, the exact details didn’t matter. Foast had now seen what it had to offer and found it lacking, a beast that only had tricks to work off of instead of true power and he could see the panic in its eyes as he ignored its illusions, making way directly to it without a moment's hesitation.

It tried to run but it failed, the shifter on it instantly, crushing down with his greater weight and attempts to fight back were just as fruitless. Its front claws had grown back already under its light magic but still still not enough as it swiped at him desperately, fingers breaking along with claws now when it went against the barrier covering him, left defenseless as the shifter looked down at its prey and opened his jaws, biting through its neck and swallowing, feeling as it died with notifications ringing out in his head. 

ACQUIRED SKILL HIGH LIGHT MAGIC LEVEL 9

LIGHT MAGIC LEVEL 6 HAS MERGED INTO HIGH LIFE MAGIC

ACQUIRED SKILL LOW SOUL MAGIC LEVEL 9

LOW SOUL MAGIC LEVEL 9 HAS MERGED INTO TRUE SHIFTING

…

They continued on, the demon’s skills merging into his own, granting him occasional levels along the way but he could barely hear them over the sound of his own pounding heart, his pulse only rising after the kill as a single thought went through his head.

Poison.

Given how high his resistance was thanks to the natures of so many creatures he’d made his own, anything being able to get through like that was slim but he had no other immediate answer as to what could be causing the changing feelings in him, his heart rate only growing while his blood felt like fire in his veins and he did the only thing he could, trying to purify it with the magics he had with little in the way of results.

He felt himself fading, not knowing whether or not the thing he’d just eaten had killed him but not having any other options to deal with it, the last thing he did was make sure he grew gills to use as he slipped into the water at his feet, the whole world going black as he did.