Chapter 8: Realistic Body Mutation

During his break, Luke exited the game and returned to the real world.

Ava seemed to have been prepared for some time.

As soon as Luke opened his eyes, he saw steaming food on the coffee table.

The television was playing an old documentary, *Man and Nature*, which Ava was watching with great interest.

Tossing aside the game terminal, he rubbed his hands together.

“Oh man… are we living beyond our means? You added so many sausages to the instant noodles.”

“How can you drink National Cellar like water? You have to savor it…”

As she spoke, she unscrewed the cap of a black tea bottle and poured a full cup.

Luke picked up the large bowl of instant noodles and began to slurp them down happily.

Ava turned her head toward him.

“The aunties in the group chat sent over some intel. The supermarket to the east is having a free egg giveaway in four days.”

“Mhm… yeah, okay…”

Luke answered indistinctly, devouring the food like a starving dog that hadn’t eaten in three days.

Accustomed to this, Ava continued on her own.

“According to intelligence gathered by players, the churches of various kingdoms have detected a total of twelve Candidate Saintesses. Then there is the Adventurers Guild, which has detected a total of sixteen Seeds of the Hero. This is the highest number of markings to descend since the game’s open beta began. There’s also movement on the dark side. It is speculated that the successor to Demon King Lucius has already arrived. Also…”

By the time Ava finished reporting the news, Luke had finished his meal.

He reached out and rubbed Ava’s shiny metal head.

“I’ll go buy that synthetic skin for you.”

Luke stood up and walked toward the door.

Just as he reached the exit, he suddenly paused and said solemnly, “Ava, you absolutely cannot let word about the terminal leak out. Otherwise, both of us will be locked in a dark room.”

Ava raised her hand.

“Master, Ava has already removed the networking module. I won’t be hacked.”

“I mean that girl you’re dating online,” Luke said with a mischievous laugh as he closed the door and left.

“Oh my… Master is still peeking into my privacy.”

Ava covered her face, swaying shyly.

“But I’m using Master’s name for everything… even the photos…”

—

In the sweltering heat of summer, Luke walked down the street.

He wore loose, casual clothes and stood at a height that wasn’t too tall but certainly wasn’t short.

His shoulder-length hair, which hadn’t seen a barber in years and was haphazardly trimmed, was tied loosely behind his head.

His skin was somewhat pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes, giving off an air of laziness and lethargy.

However, his features were strikingly exquisite, drawing frequent glances from passersby.

Who would have thought that this boy, who looked 15 or 16 years old, already possessed a body nearing middle age?

Perhaps the heat was too intense today, as Luke felt like everything was slightly off.

In an increasingly uncomfortable state, he almost jogged all the way into “The Sanctuary.”

“Brother Li — is Ava’s prosthetic skin ready?”

“Hey, hey — it’s been ready for a while. Look — top-tier material! This hair is also the most realistic kind.”

Hearing the call, Brother Li walked out with a smile, carrying a box.

Luke opened the box, lifted the silky-textured prosthetic skin, and marveled, “As expected of Brother Li! The stuff you make is truly beyond reproach.”

“Hehe — naturally!”

Brother Li wore a proud expression.

“How much?”

“What kind of relationship do we have? Take it for one-tenth the price! Giving me a cent more is not treating me like a brother.”

Brother Li waved his hand generously.

“Oh… it’s a ninety percent discount this time?”

Luke asked meaningfully.

“Hehe… Brother Luke…”

Brother Li rubbed his hands.

“So… set a time?”

Luke’s eyes darted around shiftily.

“Next Saturday?”

Brother Li leaned in sneakily.

“No problem!”

Luke carefully folded the prosthetic skin.

After a conversation that only the two of them could understand, Luke returned home with Ava’s reward.

—

Perhaps the day truly was too hot.

Despite being gone for less than half an hour, Luke felt sticky all over.

Seeing Ava stroking the prosthetic skin as if she couldn’t put it down, Luke dashed straight into the bathroom to take a shower.

“I love taking a bath, my skin is so good… oh…!!!!”

He sang a nursery rhyme while scrubbing, but after a few minutes, his voice suddenly spiked into a terrified scream.

“Holy mother of…!!”

There was a series of loud clatters, followed by the dull thud of a body hitting the floor.

The commotion was enormous.

The bathroom door slammed open, and Ava, now wearing her prosthetic skin, stood at the entrance with her eyes flashing a crimson light.

“What happened? Master.”

“Ava! Something huge has happened!!”

Luke was clutching a tentacle that emitted a purple fluorescent glow, his face full of disbelief.

“A tentacle grew out of the base of my tail! And look, I can even control it freely…”

He even waved it twice!

Staring at the tentacle covered in suckers behind Luke, Ava shook her head mechanically.

“Oh boy… we’re finished, Master. Even the cute Ava is going to be finished along with you.”

The sound of metal plates grinding echoed as she moved.

“Ava… put down the scissors in your hand! Your father can still be saved!”

Luke reached out a hand desperately.

Ava held up the scissors.

“Oh, these? I was just helping Master sew the holes in your underwear…”

Before she could finish, the tentacle behind Luke shot out with lightning speed, snatching away the scissors she was waving.

“Ah!”

“Wow!”

Two exclamations rang out simultaneously.

“This thing is connected to my mind, Ava.”

“But that move just now cost you a lot of SAN points, Master.”

“Huh?!!”

Luke looked down and saw the number 20 on his watch.

His face changed instantly as he shouted, “Ava, help me! Give me a SAN-Leda!!”

“Yes, yes, Ava understands. But Master, you should fix Little Luke’s SAN value first.”

The master and servant pair didn’t seem to take the matter to heart at all, looking completely carefree.

A few minutes later, Luke was slumped on the sofa in front of several empty bottles of SAN-Leda.

He controlled the tentacle to wave it twice, and the SAN value on his watch dropped by more than half.

“One move costs 30 points, Ava.”

“Two shots and you’re out. Two shots and you’ll need more medicine, Master.”

“Watch your language, Miss Smart-Servant! A human being shouldn’t… but it’s not like I can’t try.”

“Is Master finally going to pump iron? Do you finally want to improve yourself? A 20 kg bench press is perfect for a beginner.”

“Give your father a break… I’m saying, this thing is shrinking.”

“Yes, yes, it’s shrinking,” Ava agreed, holding up half a bottle of National Cellar.

“…”

“Water it, Master! Look! It got bigger again!”

“Hmm…”

Luke rubbed his chin and quickly retracted the tentacle.

He put the game terminal back on his head.

“I’m going back for more adventures. You can go back to admiring yourself. This month’s Hero subsidy is about to be issued. When it arrives, I’ll take you to get a few of those little dresses you like.”

“Alright! I wish Master a pleasant game!”

Ava immediately switched to her standard professional mode.

—

Luke returned to the game.

Today was a good day.

To celebrate Lucoco learning the **[Mimicry]** skill, Lucia prepared to make a table full of good food.

In this uninhabited wasteland, it could be considered a delicacy — at least it had salt.

Lucoco hadn’t been idle either, spending the whole morning familiarizing herself with the **[Mimicry]** skill.

**[Mimicry]**: A transformation-type skill.

Max rank: SS.

Current rank: E.

[As a Half-Demon, the user can shift between their true form and a human form.]

As it neared noon, Lucoco had finally gained a basic grasp of the skill.

Although her fingers still looked a bit strange, she at least had hands.

Her legs had also grown out, though her toes were still small tentacles.

The tentacle that originally made up her right hand had moved to her chest, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t make it disappear.

Furthermore, a pair of fleshy wings had grown from her back; she couldn’t get rid of them either, but she could control their size.

Lucoco felt this was likely because her **[Mimicry]** skill level was too low.

Now that she had legs, she began to get used to her new body.

She walked unsteadily, but whenever she was about to fall, the tentacle on her chest would flexibly prop up her small frame.

She suddenly felt that walking with tentacles was actually quite nice.

On the other side, Lucia watched Lucoco’s “toddling” while she cooked, finding it quite charming.

‘And… a serious little mochi is so cute!!’

Lucia felt her protective instincts swell even further. With a slight thought, she subconsciously cast **[Appraisal]**:

**[Status Window]**

Name: Lucoco **[Demon King]** **[Saintess]**

Rank: Elite

Level: 5

(Other details omitted…)

She nodded in satisfaction.

Having Lucoco reach the Level 5 threshold and nearly hit Level 6 in such a short time meant her efforts as a mother were paying off!

During this period, besides having Luti as a “rival” to act as a punching bag, Lucia would occasionally bring back dying monsters for Lucoco to finish off.

She didn’t specifically search for monsters over Level 10; she simply brought home whatever unlucky creature happened to be passing by.

Aside from the fact that this area was mostly populated by low-level monsters, Lucia believed that Lucoco’s current strength wouldn’t be able to break the defense of any creature over Level 10.

She could never have imagined that her daughter’s current state allowed her to use a twenty-fold King Kai’s… Apologies, she definitely couldn’t do that.

However, those who couldn’t break defenses were definitely the monsters nearby.

—

And that was exactly the case.

A week later, Lucoco completely mastered **[Magic Field]** and began to accompany Lucia out for actual combat.

Lucia patted her chest and promised she would never let Lucoco get hurt!

Then, the first battle began.

While Lucoco was “crying out in fear” and shouting “So scary!”, she simultaneously punched a Level 7 wild wolf to death with a “Wu-wah!”

Lucia was stunned!

It took a long time for her to recover.

After remarking, “As expected of the Demon King!”, she continued to lead Lucoco around to grind mobs.

Gradually, the light in Lucia’s eyes grew brighter.

The growth speed of her own daughter shocked even a battle-hardened Saintess like herself.

At first, Lucoco would be nervous, her small body trembling uncontrollably (she was faking it).

But as the number of battles increased, that small figure gradually began to exude the aura of a fighter.

By the time the day ended, Lucia could no longer see any trace of cowardice in her daughter’s eyes — only an eager fighting spirit.

Once again, she lamented, “As expected of the Demon King!” before dragging a large pile of prey back home.

Lucoco was too lazy to walk and climbed onto the pile of prey being carried by floating magic to hitch a ride.

She was currently looking over her growth summary.

‘My acting was a bit rough, but I gained another level. Not bad.’

‘At this rate, I should hit Level 10 in half a month.’

Behind Level 10, it was noted: Unlocks the Saintess skill **[Warp]**.

Consumes one month of the target’s lifespan to teleport selected targets to a place they have thought of.

The target must have been to the location before.

Cooldown: one month. Initial maximum of three people can be teleported.

Lucia was determined to live here and could no longer be persuaded to leave.

But as long as she mastered this skill, she and Lucia’s safety would be guaranteed — and Luti’s, of course.

‘I should turn off my Authority while leveling in the future. A twenty-fold stat boost is too boring,’ Lucoco thought, propping up her chin.