Something new

Or at least that was what he tried to do but that sort of news was rather hard not to focus on. Thankfully something happened that distracted him from it as Hephaestus created a crude Asauchi , a weapon soul in a way that was blank until the essence of ones soul was imprinted on it. Hephaestus was not happy with the way it turned out however as the thing was barely functional and prone to violent outbursts against its creator which was a sign of mistakes having been made in the creation process.-

In this case an incorrect ratio of hollow and soul reaper energy with there being too much hollow energy. Nick explained this and the goddess didn't hesitate to dismantle the Asauchi to try again while Nick took a bit of the excess hollow energy for himself. The energy was surprisingly obedient when he took it into his essence. A day later Nick still hadn't noticed much of a change in himself and thought it was because he hadn't used enough energy. It was at that point however that his entire soul quivered in pain. Apparently the hollow energy was waiting in the part of his essence tied to his mana and that part had been hit with his domain transition at this moment.-

The previously converted energy was rapidly changed again as the hollow energy spread and corrupted it. The more was converted the greater the pain Nick felt as his essence began to clash and shift within itself and shrink down. With this transformation came a violent and savage hunger that had Nick turn his attention to the souls in his realm that he was saving. Nick acted on instinct and began to consume the raw souls directly which eased the hunger he felt and let his mind return to clarity.-

'Hollow instincts are no bloody joke!' he thought in horror at what he did while out of it. It was a violent and savage action that made him feel almost tainted for doing it. The hunger suddenly vanished the moment the transformation of his essence was complete and the realm surprisingly doubled in size immediately afterwards. Nick found this odd as he didn't feel like his power had improved so much and the transition of his mana to his domains energy was still ongoing though now the change was also into hollow like energy as well.-

His essence was denser though but it certainly didn't feel as though that made any difference from before at all. The transformation had however caused his daedric body to break down into energy however so Nick had to recreate it again but that was when he discovered a difference. The new body looked almost the same as before but had a few differences. The first was that it was larger and more muscular. It was as though the original body had hit a major growth spurt and also packed on muscle at the same time.-

The second change was that the body had a tail now that was a bit like a mix of a serpent and a bird as it was long and slender but had small feathers along it's whole length and a fan of large ones at the tip. The third change however was in the form of a white bonelike mask covering the mouth and jawline of the face with rows of sharp predatory teeth clear to see.(A/N: Think Harribel.) The final change was the one that interested Nick the most however as the body had glowing energy channels snaking across it's entire form that gave the whole thing a sinister vibe.-

Thanks to the knowledge that came with the crafting style Nick could tell what parts came from the hollow side of things but these energy channels didn't belong to any part of any of his previous races so he assumed it was part of his new one. Controlling this new body was an interesting thing as well for Nick as he felt almost without limit while doing so. The body also came with a new innate ability that made him slightly annoyed , soul devouring and manipulation.-

Nick could now grab a raw soul with his bare hands while in this body and even consume it in order to grow his power much the same way a hollow would. It was very similar to his netherworld grasp but didn't allow him to modify a soul that he was holding so the artifact could still have it's own uses. Casting magic with this new body was also not only very easy but even seemed to amplify it's effects slightly. The body had a trait that Nick knew would be irritating to deal with as well since it could regenerate on it's own in next to no time at all.