Chapter 172 Dungeon Core: “The Eternal Training Ground”

Pov Claw

We had been in this coastal town for over half a year now. While it was necessary for gathering information, the trade company we built is still useful to get extra funding that's legitimate, and we now even have a way to turn the materials and coins we get from the father legitimate through this trading company.

It has always fascinated me ever since I learned how adventurers track their wealth so accurately. It's a fascinating obsession, but like with every other obsession, some get too deep into it.

I have had my own experiences with that but only briefly, as thankfully, I was able to get a lesson in the folly of obsession and superiority just at the right time. It was also time to enact our next stage of the plan, and for that, it was time to remove my current disguise ring.

I had gotten quite used to a human form; it had its advantages, that was for sure. As I took it off, my fur immediately started to replace the skin, and soon I was on all fours in my feline glory. I took a deep breath in and remembered the wonderful world of scent. That was the department humans lacked most in; you couldn't really smell anything interesting.

This was a room dedicated to disguises, so there was a large mirror, and for the first time in a long time, I was able to admire my true form. I was so big compared to where I began. Originally, I was just a bobcat that was a bit smaller than average; now I am larger than tigers.

The one battle scar I had was prominently displayed on my head. It still made itself known every time I moved my head, but I thanked it for it every time as it helped me become who I am.

There is no doubt in my mind that I should have died in that playroom I was born in, but my journey was destined to be a longer one. Yet this scar wasn't the main reason for this journey, even if it did help a lot; it was the defect I have had since birth that set me on this path.

My front left paw had one claw that was a lot larger than the rest. It was this that changed my life the most, mainly because I couldn’t retract it like the other claws.

My time was short, so it was time to stop reminiscing. With one of my normal claws, I picked up another disguise ring, and as soon as it had been on my claw for about 10 seconds, I started to change once again.

It took a couple of minutes before I was in another body, this time in an adventurer body meant for living underwater. This particular species, called Nereliths, have quite a large population, but there are so many different species of underwater adventurers that not a single one could claim the majority, unlike most of the cities and towns on land where one adventurer species is the majority.

This was not the first time I was in this particular disguise, as it was important to practice the movements of this body on land and in the water. There was a reason why I was chosen for this mission, and that was because of my meticulous nature. They liked to call me a genius back in the Academy, but I knew otherwise—it was just hard work and dedication, something that I needed to learn to keep me alive.

It was always fascinating to see the webbing between my fingers in this form. Those were truly brilliant to help you move faster and easier in the water, but they had a huge limitation: you couldn't make a fist without hurting yourself.

It was why, at least to our knowledge, most underwater species didn’t practice hand-to-hand martial arts. That was quite unfortunate, as in most of their towns, having a weapon within reach was against the law.

There were, of course, species that had natural weapons, and that was also why I chose this particular species. Their fingers had longer and sharper nails that could be quite deadly. It was fascinating that even in my human form, my left index finger had a longer and sharper nail, but in this body, it was even more pronounced, making it an even more dangerous feature of this body.

That’s not to say that I didn’t prepare more. Just because you couldn't make a fist didn't mean there weren't other martial styles that could perhaps work. When I found one where you only needed to curl your fingers and otherwise keep the palm open, I knew I had found the one to study for this body.

It focused on striking weak points on an opponent’s body and was quite literally made to fight other adventurers, which was fascinating. It didn't take much, only a few skills, to make it combat-capable against monsters as well.

Thanks to diving into that world, I started to discover more styles. One modification to this style I learned was to keep the two fingers, the index and middle finger, straight and use them to strike even more vulnerable spots.

That was even more useful. Thanks to the sharpened fingers of this body and my own mutation, it made this style truly deadly and, with added skills, unmatched in hand-to-hand combat.

What was more difficult was learning the language of the underwater adventurers. There was a lot more speaking with hands and bodily gestures, but over the course of preparing for this mission, I learned seven of the most common languages and could still roughly communicate in another four.

It was unfortunate that we didn't have the information needed for regional accents, but because of that, I decided that I would be from one of the large capitals and the closest capital to this coastal town. This should fix the problem of not knowing regional accents.

This disguise was purposely made to show the youth of this body. My excuse for being here was simple curiosity, and so was my destination. It was a large town called Cliff's Edge.

There were quite a few dungeons close to it, and every aspiring adventurer from this region would be trying to reach it to start their journey to conquer the waters. Their lifestyle was quite a bit different from the land species as they lived in a much more dangerous world.

While inside settlements it was illegal to have weapons within easy reach, that was not the case anywhere else, where you are expected to be armed to the teeth and beyond.

This was also the reason why I was going alone; it was deemed too dangerous for the others who were good at disguises. They simply didn't have the battle experience or strength to cope with the numerous situations we had learned could happen underwater.

While my main goal was to gather information and knowledge of the underwater world, I was also tasked to find out if there was a way we could establish a more permanent outpost in one of the underwater settlements where the situation was a lot safer.

I had my own idea of how we could get more of our people to be present underwater, but it would mean that I would need to be a truly successful adventurer so I could purchase my own compound. From there, some of our stronger mages should be able to teleport others there to fill out our numbers.

It still remains unknown if this plan is feasible. Yet now, I was fully geared up with all of my equipment showing that I was from the underwater world, except for a large machete-like blade that was made from a steel alloy perfect for underwater use.

It would certainly be an oddity and would stand out, but the personality I was going with would never leave a place like this without a souvenir to help him survive the treacherous world of water.