Greed God chapter 68

January 23rd 2016 Palace of Debauchery 8:00 PM EDT

Whisper  got back with the list of items after only a few hours. There was more  than a few random items mixed in, as well as an actual wolf. I decided  that I would use a wolf as my base animal. I'd always had kind of a  phobia of werewolves, and I was betting the ability to become one would  be pretty terrifying. That left me with the task of creating a new  animal, a G ranked wolf based beast that would be strong enough to push  me to F rank and give me some interesting powers, along with my new  form.

Still, that left me with one important question.  "Where the actual fuck did you get a Komodo Dragon in Gotham in the  middle of the afternoon Whisper?" My newest baby mama and most loyal  follower had pulled some impressive shit before, but honestly this was  more amazing that bringing me paintings or gold and jewels. Like, did  she buy the thing from a lizard dealer? Did she have an in at the zoo?  Was there some kind of wild animal sanctuary hidden in the city? Because  I would absolutely believe that given the crazy shit that went on here.

She  just grinned smugly. "I can do anything as long as it's for you my  lord." Which I noted wasn't actually an answer for anything at all, but I  decided to let her have her mysteries. She'd done a good job and I  wasn't going to hassle her over that. I still rolled my eyes at her of  course, but I turned away when I did it so she didn't get her feelings  hurt.

She gestured to all the things I'd requested. "The  list of ingredients you requested was complex my lord, but I've managed  to acquire them all." She looked skeptical. "I admit I dont see the uses  for all of them however. Some of these items seem random and useless." I  could see her desire to obey warring with her curiosity. Luckily  obedience won as it always did.

I just laughed, not  bothering to explain. The art of merging was a but weird and symbolic at  times. I was almost positive the results could differ based on my  intentions, but even without that factor, things could cause odd or  unusual effects that had nothing to do with their actual purpose. Like  the descaler I used in Waylons serum. It was for taking water stains off  coffee machines, but the name was enough to create a completely  different effect when mixed with other elements.

It wasn't  hard to see where I was going with the Komodo Dragon. I'd considered a  werewolf theme, but I couldn't bring myself to destroy a canine, even if  I'd only technically be combining it with myself. Dogs were just so  warm and sweet and adorable. People were shitty puppets I would jerk on  my strings, but I would never hurt a puppy. I was an asshole, not a  monster. I briefly appraised the thing, just for a better idea of what  it could do.

[Appraisal  function activated. Treasure detected. Komodo Dragon-H rank. A massive  serpentine beast, the Komodo Dragon is the Apex predator of it's  environment. Skilled ambush predators and devastating fighters the  Komodo Dragon can engage in either up front or stealthy combat. Bites  contain toxic proteins as well as an anticoagulent to slow and prevent  healing. Komodo Dragons also possess a peptide in their blood rendering  them all but immune to bacteria or infection.]

The  beast was absolutely huge too, and incredibly powerful. But there were a  few other factors that could be added to make the Komodo more suited as  it ranked up. The big lizard had been the hardest get, being endangered  and all, the other animals I'd tried to get were much simpler to  acquire. Tardigrades, or water bears, were one of the most durable  beings on the planet, and sea cucumbers were the most powerful  regenerators. Well, at least in the normal animal kingdom. The were also  simple enough to find, and merging them together created something that  could boost the Komodo massively.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Immortal  Sea Slug- H rank. A small and unassuming beast, the immortal sea slug  possesses massive defensive potential and formidable regeneration  abilities. With nothing in the way of offense, this creature is still  capable of surviving even head on explosions, and recovering from any  damage taken quickly.]

I  grinned at that. Perfect. Increased defense and regeneration combined  with the already powerful attack capabilities of the Komodo would be a  good match. Since the Komodo was the primary reagent in the merge it  wouldn't come out as some freakish slug abomination either, which was a  relief. Still, I had to see what the actual result of the merge would  be, I assumed something draconic, but probably pretty thin blooded. I  couldn't imagine an actual dragon would be G rank regardless of what  it's ingredients were called. But the only way to find out was to give  it a shot, so I triggered the merge.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Lifeweaver  Wyrm- G rank. A powerful beast overflowing with vitality and life  force, the Lifeweaver Wyrm is a distant relative of a life dragon.  Though the flesh and blood of the wyrm is a tonic that can heal most  wounds (including it's own, on the rare occasions something manages to  damage it) it's bite causes rot and pestilence.]

I  whistled. Wyrm wasn't a surprise. I expected real Dragons were  extremely high rank, but still, this thing was a juggernaut. I couldn't  help but gulp as I stared at the now much bigger beast. It's scales  practically glowed the luminous green of life energy, it's legs had been  lengthened and it's claws grew out in fingers. It also developed a brow  ridge and spikes and in a general sense just became more obviously  draconic.

Before I actually did  this though I had questions for Crassus. "Hey Marcus, tell me about  merging myself. How does this work? I take it it's something you tried?"  I spoke low, keeping my voice subvocal to make sure that Whisper didn't  hear. I trusted my girl, but something just told me that no one else  should know the specifics about the system. Maybe I was being greedy  with information, but it just seemed like I should keep it to myself.

[Eventually.  I was paranoid about that, physical differences were much less accepted  when I was alive. What with all the aliens and metas around today a  slight change would be less of a problem. It should work the same as  merging someone else, maybe slightly better. The merges work on intent,  and your intentions can shape the ability better when it's used on you  personally. The result should be roughly in line with what you're  expecting, provided it's within the range of what the effect of the  merge should be.]

Translation,  I'd turn into what I wanted to turn into, as long as I wanted to turn  into something pretty close to what the merge would have done before.  Fine details could be adjusted subconsciously. That actually made me  feel much better. It meant I was less likely to develop some horrible  mutation. I was much more interested in using the system like than in  making a mutagen like Kobra Venom or the variants. Even higher ranked  versions were much less controllable and predictable. I still didn't  know everything the Blood did, even with appraise.

Honestly,  creating that mutagen was the worst possible method of upgrading myself  I could have used. It caused absurd amounts of pain and suffering for  the same benefits I would get from using the system properly. The stuff  was fine for garden variety thugs, and I'd use it for that, but using an  object instead of a much more impressive merge on my best people or  even myself was a waste.

I  considered sending Whisper out for this, but it seemed like a good idea  to have someone around to watch me before I used the ability on myself  for the first time. I turned to my redhead. "Ok, hopefully this isn't  going to be a huge deal. You went through this and so did Roy. It'll be  much less dramatic than my last upgrade. I hope." I was nervous about  this honestly. As convenient and magical as the merges were, they were  basically breaking something down into pure energy and inserting new  energy.

The  concept of literally dissolving myself into raw power was intimidating,  but it was something I had to do, so I targeted the wyrm and myself and  initiated the merge. I'd been at fifty thousand GP so an F rank merge  was more than doable for me. Even with the thousand I'd used making the  wyrm and the hundred making the slug had been barely a dent. I wasn't  making the mistake of tapping myself out again. Once I initiated the  merge I felt...strange.

It  didn't hurt. It was more like the feeling of adrenaline flooding my  body, except it kept flooding, that excitement rushing into every cell  and then building. I felt myself begin to almost vibrate with energy,  then it increased, and my cells weren't cells anymore, they were just  power, like I built up so much energy that I creased to be a physical  being. The light flooded my vision, but even without seeing I could  still sense the energy composition, tweak the way it worked.

The  wyrm's energy flooded me mixing into my own like syrup into milk,  altering the flavor of the milk and making it something different. Since  the rank of the two beings were the same, the mixture caused a  qualitative improvement rather than diluting the stronger. My energy  shifted to take on a new aspect. Green mixing with gold but not forming  any recognizable color. More of a green gold. At least that WAS what was  happening, Until the red flooded in.

It came from the gold, and it took me a minute to figure out what the  hell it was that was happening, but I finally got it. The Blood. The red  energy was the Blood of Apophis, the hidden effects that I'd been  warned about. In retrospect ignoring that had been stupid. The safety  features on the system didn't apply to things it made, I knew that  because I could and had created poisons, and I knew they would work on  me if I took them.

I  ignored that, focusing on the energy, I had no real choice but to mix  it into my own, hoping to disperse it enough to prevent any serious  changes. It felt hot when it joined with the rest of my energy, like  there was a bonfire exploding inside me, or rather, since there was no  inside or even a me, more like I was a bonfire. I felt myself solidify  again easily enough, so fast and simple it was almost anticlimactic  after that huge event. I walked over to the mirror on one side of the  room and appraised myself. I didn't look any different, though I could  feel that I had another form. Still, I was interested to see the  details.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Nicholas Lord- F rank.  Lifestorm Wyrmkin. The possessor of the Greed System, a recently  transformed Lifestorm Wyrmkin. A powerful race possessing immense  defense and vitality, the Lifestorm Wyrmkin are beings touched by chaos  and the storm. A being whose very presence brings the storm, both  literally and figuratively, incidence of rain and thunder increase in  their vicinity, as does the natural chaos of the world.]

I  blinked. That was...less than ideal. Chaos was usually annoying. Storms  were fine, I loved the rain, and I was betting once I evolved again I  might be able to actually control that. I loved the defense and regen,  plus the vitality would be fun for sex. I was anxious to try out my new  power. I should be a physical powerhouse now, even with my main  attributes being healing and defense I should be around the same level  as Waylon. I turned to Whisper. "Go get Fafnir and have him meet me in  one of the training rooms. I have some things to try out." I'd worry  about the side effects of the blood later. For now it was time to take  this body for a test drive.