Demonic Devourer's Development

Of course, I didn't understand two thirds of what was written there. Science stuff, this is what the books were full of. But I got a gist of it, at least. These were research journals, with the last, sixth, one being filled to about a half. From what I could say, the writer of them spend his time in this place adding parts of animals to other animals.

I immediately recalled the doe with wings.

The intervals between the dates in the journal entries varied. Sometimes, there would be an entry every day, or even several. Sometimes, there would be no entries for a couple of months. The earliest entry dated four years ago, and the latest—a week before I got here.

That meant that I had approximately two months tops until the arrival of the person who created this place. I didn't wish to meet them, but for now, I didn't see how I could escape them.

I read all the journals, and found some interesting bits in the places that I could understand with my limited, as far as technical terms went, vocabulary. One of them went:

[High density of fur seems to improve aesthetics of any creatures that have it in nature. From earlier experiments, that theory was further confirmed by shaving animals and comparing their resulting looks with their un-shaved counterparts. But to be sure, I have to add fur to creatures that didn't have it originally. To make the results of the experiment more obvious, I it will be best to use an animal with low natural aesthetic. An insect, perhaps?]

Then there was a lot of technical stuff as the researcher described the process itself, so I had to skip some until the next part.

[I have to consider the experiment to be a failure. Despite growing out dense fur, the specimen somehow became only less visually pleasing. Perhaps fluffiness content is a factor that works closely with others—a matter which I will have to research deeper in the future. The failed specimen had been disposed of. I doubt it will survive for long in the caves, seeing as fur will only be a negative trait in surroundings that have a much warmer average temperature than these on the surface.]

Furry insects… Caves… Were these caves—that pathway that led somewhere deeper into the mountain from the researcher's lab—connected with the caves where I wandered before? Were furrypedes somehow connected with this person's research?

After reading more, I had reasons to think that yes; they were. The descriptions of some experiments fit all too well with the weird monsters in the caves. Could it have been that they were not just chaos-spawns, but creations of a mad scientist? Or not mad. The notes, except for their subject, seemed sane enough.

Except for one part I found written on margins of a fourth journal, next to notes on an experiment that involved transplanting thicker skin to an octopus and a pair of lungs so he could live on land. The specimen in question lived, but not for long.

[What a disappointment. This creature had so much potential. These tentacles… So slick and agile. I fantasised about them at night… If only monsters had wanted to mate with me, instead of seeing me as either a danger or food. It would've been such a satisfying way to relax.]

I had to raise my brows. The writer of these words was perverted as fuck, that was for sure. And that compared even to myself. If you ask Rosha, I was the most perverted person in the world. Ha! Wait until she hears about that.

Sadly, despite being quite interesting, the journals gave me no answer to the question of how to get out of this valley. I was left on my own, with only Pest to keep me company and to help with escaping.

One more time, I walked to the edge of the valley and tried to push my way out, with the same amount of success as before. When the invisible barrier forced me back, I sat on the ground in frustration and stared at the slope behind it.

'Pest, can you find a way to unravel this spell, or weaken it, at least?'

'I wish I could. This all doesn't bode well for me. But this stuff is real solid. I don't see a single loose thread I can pull at. Whoever made this is a pro. Though, they'd have to be to just stitch animals together like that.'

'Great. Well… Try to think something up, at least.' And I would try to do something myself.

Like that began my days of imprisonment in the closed valley. I was still poisoned, but I grew used to it as days passed with no exit in sight.

I explored every bit of the barrier, but the only place where I could slip through was the part that separated the lab from the rest of the valley. There was enough food—in form of animals—to sustain me… for a while, at least. My hunger was intense since I had a third of my body to regenerate, and I ate more than I could've.

The valley itself wasn't big enough to sustain all the animals in it for a prolonged time, anyway. Rather sooner than later, the owner of this place would have to return and, I didn't know, grew new grass.

I saved them some of the bother by eating these animals. A few at first, but as days turned into weeks, I ate the rest. Then I ate the lab and the journals—out of pure hatred for the creator of this place—and began to slowly chew through plants. I could feed myself on rocks alone, but that was the option I left in reserve.

In my free time, I tried to push through the barrier. It always ended the same, but the attempts raised my stats, and I hoped that one day they will become high enough to get out. Before I ate all the ground to the bottom of the barrier and died of hunger.