With Parallel Mind upgrading to Lv. 2, Zoe's exhausted mind felt as though it had received a refreshing rain.
His three parallel minds instantly became stable as well.
Huddled inside the tree hollow, Zoe's body became slightly more solid.
Three days. For three whole days, he had slept for only three hours.
He had spent the rest of his time pouring everything into keeping his three minds independent, never letting them merge back into one.
He was trying to use his mental fatigue to force one of his minds to fall asleep.
However, this was the Death Swamp, after all, and Zoe did not dare to let his mind become too exhausted.
Otherwise, he wouldn't even have slept for those three hours.
Zoe took a deep breath, fighting to maintain clarity while simultaneously attempting to drift into a light sleep.
He had repeated this process countless times already.
But now, Zoe decided to change his approach. He would not try to force one of his minds to sleep.
Instead, he would try to keep one of his three minds awake.
With his three minds being much more stable now, Zoe found them far easier to control.
As expected, the mind that remained awake began to influence the other two minds that were drifting off to sleep.
In his excitement, the two minds that were on the verge of falling asleep suddenly snapped back awake.
Damn it, go to sleep!
The slight fluctuation of his emotions had only made his minds even more awake.
Zoe could only suppress his emotions and try his best to calm himself down.
He felt like he was on the verge of developing schizophrenia. Unlocking the deeper potential of this mental skill was simply too difficult.
Let's try again. This time, all three of his minds fell asleep simultaneously.
Zoe slept for an hour before being abruptly jolted awake by noise from his traps outside.
“A monster is approaching.”
“Damn it, how did I fall asleep again?!”
Snapping awake, Zoe quickly entered a combat-ready state and emerged from the tree hollow.
Although he had spent most of his energy over the last three days exploring the potential of Parallel Mind, he had not completely stopped hunting.
The food reserves in his Shadow Pool remained quite abundant, and he kept a clone active at all times to train his Shadow Clone skill.
His level had also risen to Lv. 15.
Stepping out of the tree hollow, Zoe discovered that the creature that had triggered his early-warning trap was a bizarre monkey.
The monkey was completely hairless and bare, covered in scales and sparse patches of hair.
Its entire body had a dark-blue hue, glossy and smooth as if coated in a layer of grease. While its stature resembled a gnome, it possessed razor-sharp teeth and claws.
The most bizarre part was that this monkey had two faces—one in the front, and one in the back.
Zoe quickly activated his Lesser Appraisal Eye talent.
[Two-Brained Face Demon Lv. 10]
[Mana] 631/651
“Ohoh! Ohoh!”
The Two-Brained Face Demon jumped up and down, screeching as it stared at Zoe.
Following its screeches, more cries echoed from the branches shrouded in the fog behind the Two-Brained Face Demon.
“As expected of Two-Brained Face Demons. They hunt in packs.”
The Two-Brained Face Demon was a special type of monster that lived in swamps, rivers, and wetlands.
They could swing through forests like monkeys and hunt in rivers like fish.
At the same time, they could cast water magic, spitting highly viscous muddy water.
Furthermore, the venom glands in their claws and sharp teeth could secrete a neurotoxin that had a paralyzing effect.
It was naturally not surprising at all for such monsters to appear in the Death Swamp.
But if they wanted to deal with Zoe, they would have to compare their stats to his.
[Strength] 21
[Agility] 35
[Constitution] 14
[Intelligence] 18
[Mana] 727/727
Except for his total mana pool, which he hadn't yet fully built up through Digest, his current attributes had already completely surpassed his levels at this stage in his past life.
“Ohoh!”
The Two-Brained Face Demon wouldn't stop to think about such things. It instantly spat out a barrage of muddy water.
Staring at the Two-Brained Face Demon, Zoe's body vanished like a phantom.
The Two-Brained Face Demon was shocked to see Zoe disappear.
Did you see that? 35 points of Agility. This was a stat that a High Slime could never dream of achieving.
Closing the distance in an instant, Zoe dodged the muddy water and conjured a black hammer, smashing it directly toward the Two-Brained Face Demon in front of him.
[Wall Smasher] talent activated, the swung hammer unleashed 120% of its normal power, shattering half of the Two-Brained Face Demon's body.
[Killed Two-Brained Face Demon Lv. 10. Experience +150. Talent Plunder activated. Extra Experience +150.]
As Zoe stared at the Two-Brained Face Demon's corpse, a sudden wave of inspiration struck his mind.
The reason Two-Brained Face Demons were called Two-Brained Face Demons was precisely because they had two brains.
The face on the back of their head possessed independent thinking capabilities, allowing this kind of monster to achieve dual consciousness.
And because of this two-brained physiological structure, their two minds were relatively independent of each other.
If he could acquire this ability, wouldn't he be able to achieve his goal of rotating rest across his split minds?
Zoe didn't even have to worry about giving himself schizophrenia or developing split personalities.
This was because any ability obtained through Plunder didn't truly belong to him; he merely gained temporary usage rights and could discard it at any time.
He could use this skill to master the concept of rotating mental rest.
Then, he could simply replace this risky mind-splitting skill with a new one once he was done.
Plunder!
Pitch-black shadows swallowed the Two-Brained Face Demon's corpse as Plunder activated.
[Plunder successful. Acquired skill: Muddy Water Lv. 3 (E-grade)]
“Looks like I can't get it on the first try.”
Zoe looked around at the remaining Two-Brained Face Demons, who were glaring and screeching non-stop.
But then again, there were plenty of them here.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Viscous muddy water bullets shot toward Zoe. He transformed into an afterimage once again, slipping into the shadows.
He then rapidly closed in on the nearest Two-Brained Face Demon from within the darkness.
“Ohoh!”
The Two-Brained Face Demon was alarmed, hastily spitting out a large volume of muddy water to envelop its own body.
Zoe swung his hammer, delivering another heavy strike.
However, the enveloping fluid of muddy water perfectly dispersed the force of the impact, blocking his heavy blow and sending mud splashing in all directions.
Ohoh!
With a screech, the Two-Brained Face Demon thrust its claws out, swiping toward Zoe.
Acid: Shadow Blade Heart-Piercing Needle!
Looking at the Two-Brained Face Demon right in front of him, Zoe spat out a black needle condensed from pitch-black shadows.
The razor-sharp point of the needle pierced straight through the demon's oncoming claw and into its head.
However, the Two-Brained Face Demon had two brains. Though its front brain was destroyed, the face on the back of its head screamed, and its body continued to move, continuing its attack on Zoe.
Yet.
The needle burst apart.
The pitch-black Heart-Piercing Needle that had penetrated its front brain suddenly exploded. Under Zoe's control, the acid hidden within it burst outward like a blooming flower, splashing across the Two-Brained Face Demon's entire brain cavity.
With both of its brains simultaneously corroded by the acid, the Two-Brained Face Demon's attacking body spasmed uncontrollably.
Taking advantage of the opening, Zoe closed the distance and severed the demon's head with a sharp shadow blade.
At the same time, the dark shadow, like a colossal beast lurking in the darkness, extended its tongue, swallowing the demon's corpse into his Shadow Pool to begin digesting and plundering its abilities.
[Plunder successful. Acquired skill: High-speed Mating Lv. 1 (F-grade)]
“Keep these damn trash skills out of my skill pool!”
Zoe was utterly horrified. He hurriedly rushed toward the nearest of the other Two-Brained Face Demons.
This time, the Two-Brained Face Demon did not attempt to dodge. It charged head-on toward Zoe, spitting out muddy water that formed a giant claw to swat at him.
At the same time, it clawed and lunged forward, throwing its entire body toward Zoe.
This Two-Brained Face Demon intended to sacrifice itself to create an opening for its kin.
Seeing this, Zoe leaped into the air to dodge the attack.
His Corrosive Gas Slash, which had long since been fully charged with corrosive gas, sliced downward toward the Two-Brained Face Demon.
Faced with the Corrosive Gas Slash, the Two-Brained Face Demon stood absolutely no chance of resistance, and its head was easily cleaved off.
Landing on the ground, Zoe smoothly swallowed the demon's corpse into his Shadow Pool to digest and plunder it.
The sinful skill of [High-speed Mating] was rapidly replaced by a new one.
[Plunder successful. Acquired skill: Dual Brain Lv. 1 (E-grade)]
Rate on N.U.
