CHAPTER 152: CHAPTER 152: MY FRIEND

Chapter 152 – My friend

Asael looked oddly at Kaden, but he didn’t comment much. If it was just about collecting some arms from these undead, then it wasn’t an issue. But just as he was about to leave, Kaden’s voice came from behind,

"If you can obtain the arms of different humanoid beings, that would be nice."

Kaden added the request with a smile.

Asael’s lips twitched, but he said nothing and prepared to head out again—only to be stopped by Kaden’s voice once more.

"Oh! And yes... are there any undead ants here?"

He asked with the same calm smile.

"If I were you, my friend, I would personally ask if there’s any creature in the entire world that didn’t already exist here as an undead."

Asael paused, locking those twin shadow-pool eyes directly onto Kaden.

Kaden stared back for a moment, then replied flatly,

"Can’t you just say that there are undead ants? Why be dramatic?"

Asael’s lips twitched harder.

"I will not bother answering that. You truly have no tact, friend."

He sank into the shadows beneath him and vanished from sight.

"Hey! Bring me an undead ant’s body too!!"

Kaden shouted after him, just to make sure. But almost immediately,

"DON’T FUCKING SHOUT, DUMBASS!!"

Asael’s voice roared back, somehow louder.

Kaden’s lips twitched.

’And I’m the dumbass? My damn foot...’

...

Before long, Asael returned, carrying multiple corpses of different humanoid beings—and one of an ant. He dropped them unceremoniously to the ground.

"Here." Dropping directly the corpses and not only arms. But Kaden didn’t mind.

He then stepped back, watching Kaden closely. He was curious what use Kaden could possibly have for these undead remains. He assumed it had something to do with reattaching the severed arm, but how?

That question was soon answered.

Kaden crouched down in front of the pile. Unlike the typical bone-only undead, these ones still had flesh, organs, and even blood—black blood, thick and clotted—beneath lifeless grey skin.

There was a human body, an elf, a dwarf, an ant, and something that resembled a human but with gills on both sides of its neck.

Kaden’s attention locked on that one immediately. Aside from the gills, it looked exactly like a normal human—or at least, that’s all he could see at first glance.

"What race is this? Some beast with an eerily human appearance?"

He asked without looking away.

Asael shrugged.

"Wrong guy to ask, my friend. I’ve only come across this kind of being in this dungeon. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they didn’t seem like the type to answer questions when they were ’alive’..."

He smiled sweetly.

"Don’t you think?"

Kaden stared at him blankly.

"In short...you don’t know."

"Well, we can also say it like that... though it’s a little bland."

Asael nodded, smile never fading.

Kaden ignored his lunatic and focused on his real goal.

By now, it was obvious that he intended to use his Synthesis trait to reinforce his severed arm. But as he stared at the corpses, another thought began to take root.

Why not... enhance his entire body?

It was risky. He didn’t know what might happen to him in the process, he could die or even obtain some unknowns mutations.

His thoughts paused on that.

’If I die while experimenting... technically, that’s not my fault, right?’

[It depends. But I advise you not to try your luck.]

Death’s voice echoed in his mind.

’With my luck these days, I’d be a fool to risk it.’

Still, the idea refused to leave.

’The goal... is to use these undead bodies to make myself more attuned to this environment and closer to death itself.’

’Ever since waking up here, I’ve felt something wrong in the air. I need to adapt fast before it crushes me.’

Decision made, Kaden moved.

First, he took his severed arm and carefully removed the threads left by the Necroweaver. Anything woven by a beast with "necro" in its name had to hold strong death affinity. He set the threads aside.

Then he approached the undead ant.

In his past life, Kaden had once aspired to be a comparative physiologist and studying how the bodies of different animals worked.

He’d always been fascinated by it, and sometimes he’d watch long biology videos online.

Ants had caught his interest for a very specific reason, they could stitch leaves together using silk from their larvae.

Exactly what he needed now.

He went straight to the larvae, extracting every strand of silk stored there before discarding the body entirely.

Then, taking the Necroweaver threads, he initiated Synthesis with the intent clear in his mind:

’Make the result suitable for fusion with my body while keeping the most important traits of each intact.’

A blinding cocoon of light enveloped both materials.

From the side, Asael watched with open curiosity.

When the light faded, new threads emerged. They were faintly glowing, semi-transparent strands of black and bone-white, as thin as veins and pulsing slowly like something alive.

Kaden wasted no time. He moved to the humanoid corpses and repeated the process. From the dwarf, he took dexterity and hand strength, discarding their short stature. From the gilled human, he stripped away both the gills and whatever unnatural traits it carried. And for the elf, he discarded his elven ears.

When it was over, a lifeless grey-skinned corpse lay on the ground, stripped to what he needed.

Kaden exhaled slowly, then turned toward Asael.

The man was staring at him like a child watching a new favorite show.

"You are so interesting, my friend."

Kaden ignored the comment.

"I don’t know what will happen to me if I go through with this. I’ll be vulnerable..."

He locked eyes with Asael.

"...Can I trust you?"

Silence. For the first time, Asael’s expression shifted to something more serious.

It might have sounded like a simple question, but both of them knew...this was a moment that could forge something real between them.

Trust.

Something essential, if they wanted to survive and escape this place together.

Asael felt something stir inside of him. A long-lost feeling of warmth. Slowly, he raised a hand to his white necklace, fingers lingering there, before he smiled faintly.

"Well, I don’t know what you’re about to do, but..."

He turned and sat in front of the cave entrance.

"...no undead will touch you as long as I’m here, my friend."

Then his voice shifted back to cocky confidence.

"And it so happens...I’m good at slaughtering undead."

Kaden smiled faintly.

"I don’t doubt that last part."

Then without waiting any longer,

"Synthesis."

Instantly, a blinding white light burst through the cave as Kaden fused both the newly crafted threads and the undead body... directly into himself.

—End of Chapter 152—