Soul Merger

Monsterpedia

Sloth Demon

Monster Level - III

Soul Type - Composite

Intelligence - Humanoid

Strength - Massive

Magic - Average

Rarity - Very Rare

Appearing as giant spiders with a human torso imperfectly fused on top, these hulking monsters are quite tough and agressive despite their name. They have massive physical strength in both their spider and human parts, though their human bits usually prefer bows or ranged attack weapons to use while the physical attacks are handled by the spider's mandibles.

Sloth demons are formed from the energy of those who let others take on unreasonable work while stealing the rewards for themselves. What exactly qualifies is a very nasty debate that frequently leads to wrath demon energy, so we'll leave it there.

The important thing is these demonic entities are interested in getting the most work for the least effort. Preferably no effort at all. They don't build webs or even deep lairs, preferring to just find a good ambush location and rush out from there to pick off easy prey. Something they're unfortunately good at due to their nasty bites and strength. Worse they get offended when enemies survive the attack and lash out ferociously. A sloth demon won't spend much effort to prepare for a fight, but they'll spend a lot to end it. All while cursing the survivors.

The bite of a sloth demon's spider half is an acidic poison! Just curing the toxin won't work. You need to wash away the acid as well or it'll eat into the wound.

Merge

Benefits : Strength, enhanced senses.

Weaknesses : Low energy.

Merging with one of these powerful monsters is hard to achieve, but those that do receive four extra legs popping out from their back. These aren't super useful, though it does allow the merged human a lot of extra poking potential. More importantly they get a massive boost in strength, possibly five times what they had before. They also get a boost to all their senses, while getting the mental acuity to tone down that heightened awareness.

Unfortunately they also become incredibly lethargic. Those who've taken the merge say it feels like waking up an hour early, all the time. Actions that would normally get the blood pumping and provide a burst of energy barely make them breathe hard. Only when their life is threatened or under the effects of very powerful stimulants can they really use their boosted strength. A hot pot of coffee is not going to handle matters.

While it might seem easy to manipulate the sloth demon's low energy state by seeking out danger, or using injuries to boost adrenaline, doing that too often builds up resistance. This can lead to more damaging self harm or an increase in risk taking. Ironically a lot of sloth demon merges get themselves killed by over-correcting.