I Became an Ancient All-Host Lifeform - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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023 Found it!

Whoosh!

Bokgu’s nimble feet cut through the forest without hesitation.
We’re racing recklessly in pursuit of the mushroom spore scent that Gyusik left behind.
No matter how keen Bokgu’s nose is, finding Gyusik in this vast forest will still take time.
In the meantime, I might as well rifle through my Status Window.
Now that I think about it, one Essence slot opened up when I mutated into a higher-tier form last time. Let me check that first.
I pulled up my Status Window immediately.

【Paleonucleus Sub-Form Stage 1 Lv10】

【Active Essences】
– Slot 1: “Ancient Dragon’s Bloodline Factor” (Incomplete)
– Slot 2: “Essence of Mushroom”
– Slot 3: [Empty Slot]

Slot 3 had opened when I mutated, and it’s empty now.
Filling it with something—anything—would be better than leaving it vacant!
I immediately equipped the Flame Mage Aptitude Essence Gene into the empty slot. It’s the one I got by parasitizing a mage from the Mage Tower back in the Mushroom Cave.

[Applying “Flame Mage Aptitude” to your core genetic code.]

A message appeared on my Status Window and a loading bar began to spin.
Warmth rose gently across my body—my genes are changing again. But this time it’s actually manageable?
I waited with a racing heart.
Ah… Am I finally becoming a mage?
Fire spewing out of Bokgu’s mouth in torrents! Ah… this would be completely like a hellhound!
I waited for the loading to finish, imagining my hellhound form spitting flames.
Then a notification appeared.

[You have acquired the trait “Flame Mage Aptitude.” Your fire-attribute affinity increases.]

…Huh? What? That’s not all, is it?
I turned my Status Window every which way, waited, tried everything.
But nothing else happened.

‘Wait, why is there no real effect? Did something go wrong?’

It stood in stark contrast to when I’d equipped the Essence of Mushroom.
Back then I’d gained skills, gained traits, created a unique species through genetic manipulation—I’d gotten plenty of mileage out of it.
In that moment, a cold realization struck me.

‘Could it be… that “Aptitude” in the name literally means I’ve gained the talent or affinity to learn fire-attribute magic? Not the ability to cast spells outright like a skill?’

How anticlimactic.
No wonder they made a point of calling one a “Species Essence” and the other an “Essence Gene”—they’re clearly different things.
Now that I think about it, when I equipped the Essence of Mushroom, I gained multiple skills and traits all at once.
Whereas with Flame Mage Aptitude, I only got a single trait.
So it seems like a Species Essence is a package bundling multiple traits and skills together, while an Essence Gene contains just one thing.

Ah, I think I’m getting the picture now.
So the Ancient Dragon’s Bloodline Factor, which granted me multiple skills and traits instantly, must be Species Essence-tier.
Wait—but the Essence of Mushroom required me to accumulate genetic data from countless mushrooms before I could obtain it.
So why did I get the Ancient Dragon’s Bloodline Factor all at once?
…Dragons are always the exception, I guess?
Ah, never mind. That’s not the real problem anyway.

‘Sigh… so the Flame Mage Aptitude is useless to me right now?’

I’d been dreaming of unleashing fire skills the moment I equipped the gene.
Well, life isn’t that simple, is it? You have to actually learn magic to use it.
It looks like I’ll have to ask Morgul about the magic side of things whether I like it or not.
If magic were that easy, the old man wouldn’t have pursued it so relentlessly that he ended up as a skeleton.
I swallowed my disappointment and refocused all my attention on Bokgu’s nose.

Sniff, sniff.

The deeper I burrowed into the forest, the stronger the scent of Gyusik carried on the wind grew.
It was clear evidence that the distance between us was shrinking steadily.

‘Just hold on, Gyusik! I’ll be there soon!’
Howwwl~

Bokgu tore through the undergrowth like wind itself, racing forward with everything he had.

* * *

At that same moment.
Morgul and Gyusik were wandering through the forest.

– How many days has it been now, you stupid creature! Give it up already. Your master is dead!
Snap!

Gyusik let Morgul’s nagging roll off him like water and took another step forward.
Day after day, Gyusik wandered aimlessly through the forest, his nose working constantly.
There was no reliable way to track an ancient being, no clue that would pinpoint its location.
Yet Gyusik searched relentlessly for his master anyway.
He couldn’t put it into words precisely, but he was certain—his ancient master was still alive.
A moment later, the indigo jewel embedded in the creature’s forehead flared with an irritable voice.

– Ugh, at this rate, you won’t find your master even in a thousand years. Give up!
Snap!

Gyusik let out a sharp cry and pressed his nose to the ground once more.
No amount of talk from Morgul would sway a creature bound by such loyalty to his master.

– Sigh… how can a mere beast harbor such pointless compassion? Tch, tch….

It was just as Morgul was clicking his tongue.
An anomalous disturbance was detected in the Mushroom Mycelium Network.

– Wait. Something’s strange…?

Two presences he’d been sensing suddenly began rushing toward Gyusik’s location.
When they were distant, he’d dismissed them as passing wild animals, but once they reached roughly five hundred meters away, they abruptly changed course and began running straight toward him.
Nearly in a straight line, at that.
The trajectory was far too precise to be mere coincidence—they were clearly locked onto Gyusik.
Which meant only one thing.

– Someone’s chasing us! Find a place to hide, quickly! Now!
Crackle….

Morgul’s urgent shout rang out, but Gyusik didn’t stop searching.
Faced with the creature’s indifference, Morgul began pressing harder.

– Listen to me! You stubborn beast! Find somewhere safe and hide right now! If you die here like this, it’s just a dog’s death!
Snap!

Gyusik was about to press forward with an irritated retort when—

Crash!
A low, bestial growl.

A savage beast burst through the undergrowth, thrashing vegetation aside.
Behind it, a man emerged, his presence sharp with killing intent.

“Found you at last, you little rat.”

It was Bern—the hunter who’d survived the Mushroom Cave.
His relentless pursuit with his war-hound had finally cornered Gyusik.
The moment Morgul recognized his opponent, he surged his magic power upward.

– Damn it! I knew this would happen. Run—now!
Crackle…

Morgul desperately channeled his magic, summoning the Mushroom Mycelium Network across the region.
While he worked, Gyusik bolted at full speed.

Thud-thud-thud…

With a heavy rumble, five Iron-Cap Mushroom creatures erupted from the ground all around them.
But Bern remained unfazed.

“Mushroom monsters? Not this time. I won’t let you slip away.”

Bern drew a crimson sphere from his side and hurled it at the mushroom creatures still rising from the earth.
The projectile traced an arc and detonated the instant it struck one creature’s head.

Boom!

It was a Fire-Attribute Magic Bomb.
Burning mushroom fragments exploded outward in a cloud of dust, scattering in all directions.
Morgul gasped as his mushroom minions shattered to pieces in an instant.

– No… my poor fungal servants… Gah! And that wretch isn’t even a mage, yet he mimics one so well!
Crackle!?

Stripped of his escort in a heartbeat, Gyusik fled in blind panic.
The war-hound and its master pursued, closing in hard.
As Gyusik thrashed between trees and brush, he suddenly had to stop dead.
A trembling, panicked cry escaped his throat.

Screech!?

Before him yawned a sheer drop that fell vertically to the river’s edge.
A cliff so steep that a single misstep meant a dizzying plunge into the void below.
Tens of meters down, churning water roiled in violent eddies.

– Hell. Of all the cursed luck—a dead end.

Enemies at his back, a sheer cliff ahead—trapped between two dooms.
Then, pushing through the brush, Bern and his hound emerged. They had finally run him to ground.
Seeing the cliff before him, Bern smiled faintly.

“Ha. A cliff? This is where it ends. Go!”

The words barely left his lips before Bern made a sharp gesture.
At the same moment, the hound’s jaws yawned wide as it lunged toward Gyusik.

A ferocious roar erupted.
“Damn. Is this it, then?”

Just as the hound’s gaping maw was about to swallow Gyusik’s small frame whole—

A howl tore through the air.
A shriek of pain split the silence.

With a sound like wind being ripped apart, something wreathed in cyan light burst from the side and crashed over the hound.

Bone snapped with a sickening crunch.

The hound never even managed a final cry as its throat was seized.
A beast with ashen fur had clamped its jaws around the hound’s neck—the very one that had been about to devour Gyusik.
The hound convulsed, bleeding and gasping, before going limp on the ground.

It fell with a heavy thud.

Once certain the prey was dead, the creature turned its gaze sharp and piercing toward Bern.
The one that had ended the hound’s life with a single strike was a wolf, its fur rippling silver in the light.

A soft chirp escaped Gyusik.

Gyusik’s mouth fell open in stunned silence, a bewildered sound tumbling out.

* * *

[You have defeated Hound lv 9.]

The moment the Status Window message appeared, I released the hound’s neck.

A soft whimper came from Gyusik.

Only now did Gyusik’s slack-jawed stupor come into focus.
Ha—it was strange how comforting that dopey expression felt after all this time.
But with danger pressing close, I’d deal with threats first, questions later.

‘Wait, is Bokgu’s Tailwind Sprint performance actually real?’

This skill’s performance was genuinely broken.
It provided acceleration comparable to Gyusik’s Instant Acceleration, yet its duration and range stretched far beyond his—like the wind itself was pushing hard against my back.
The sensation of the surrounding air driving me forward with tremendous force.
It was nothing short of perfect mid-range movement enhancement.
Thanks to that absurdly powerful skill, I’d closed the distance and caught up with Gyusik despite how far apart we were.
Bern, meanwhile, was visibly caught off guard by our sudden arrival.

“What in blazes is this?”

I turned my focus to Bern, the one who’d driven Gyusik to the cliff’s edge, and fixed him with a sharp stare.
Unmistakably the same hunter who’d ambushed us alongside the sorcerer back in the Mushroom Cave.

‘Hell, his luck truly holds. Surviving that explosion. Stubborn bastard.’

Bern, veteran hunter that he was, quickly collected himself and straightened his stance.
Then, his eyes cold and lethal, he gripped two daggers—their blades gleaming like ice—one in each hand.

“A wolf protecting a rat… Is this another Chimera spawned by the Mage Tower?”

A Chimera? What are you suddenly babbling about? I’m a dog.

“This time, I will not let you escape alive!”

In any case, it was clear that Bern had no intention of letting us leave quietly.
Bern raised both Daggers and settled into his stance, poised to charge at us at any moment.
I met his challenge by baring my fangs and lowering myself into position.
At the edge of the Cliff, where the wind howled with merciless force….
We stood motionless, eyes locked on each other, beginning to search for any opening.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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