Becoming a Monster

Chapter 14 Is It That Serious?

”FINALLY! I can finally call myself a monster tammmmerr?…..Uhhh whatʼs going on here?”

Noah was awakened to an unsettling atmosphere and an even more confusing scene. He was ecstatic that he was finally able to secure a monster and a strong one at that.

But after coming back from that dark space, he came to witness the spider, HIS spider, killing someone else while the person from before who originally had a shield was now bearing an axe towards him. Because of the unexpected occurrences, he wasnʼt able to observe the new changes from within him.

ʼWait….I was able to tame it right? RIGHT?ʼ He assumed that taming a creature meant that the said creature wouldnʼt be able to act without his orders. If it did, he at least believed that it shouldnʼt kill friendlies. But when he looked towards the spider, he felt a small connection to it so that could only mean that he had tamed it, which means.

ʼ!Donʼt tell me these people tried to attack us.ʼ Meanwhile, while Noah was trying to come to terms to this crazy development. The ones who werenʼt too busy with saving their own skins reacted to the scene, mainly the ones who had a relation to Matt who was just killed and of course Derrick, who still couldnʼt comprehend what just happened. He could only look towards Mattʼs body dangling with two sharp legs penetrating him before looking towards the spider and finally to Noah who was left in his own thoughts.

He repeated this process a few times, he didnʼt know how to feel at this moment or even what actions to take. He failed every step of the way to kill anything he set his eyes on and he realized that both things had one particular denominator in common.

ʼUgh! itʼs always him…ʼ Derrick glared towards Noah with an extreme hatred as if they were lifetime enemies. That hatred bore a dense killing instinct that would be impossible to pick up if this were still their earth of security they were used to before. But now, with Noahʼs abnormal early stats in his spirit, he instinctively felt danger coming from a certain direction that made him reel in his wandering thoughts just to find a man from before staring deeply at him while he seemed to be fuming heatedly like a bull in heat.

”Hmm?” Noah questioned with his gaze after seeing Derrickʼs attitude towards him. He didnʼt know what he couldʼve done to offend him, he saw the majority of the end of his confrontation with the spider and saw how he basically had given up. Even if he didnʼt, Noah didnʼt see any way for Derrick to win against the spider when the spiderʼs vigilance was almost entirely directed towards him.

”Yo-you made th-that thing kill Matt? N-no…no…you killed him! You murderer!”

Maybe it was because Noah has been able to quickly assimilate his mind to everything that has been happening. Seeing the boy Matt dying in front of him by the very spider he just tamed didnʼt come to mind until he heard an aggrieved voice screaming towards him within the group of students who followed him.

”Ah!” An imaginary light bulb appeared over his head, he didnʼt consider that the boy the spider killed could be the reason for Derricks hostile gaze against him. Heʼs forgotten how it felt to have a bond with another, he doesnʼt know how it would feel to lose a loved one since he doesnʼt remember the last time he loved anyone before or even felt loved.

He looked towards Derrick with a sense of pity while ignoring the voice who screamed before. If that voice cared so much then why is Derrick here and not him? Noah couldnʼt imagine how wrong he was in this situation, but nothing else would make sense why they were here unless they were trying to help him against the spider which made the spider defend itself. It also made sense why Derrick looked at him like so, they came to save him from the spider just to have the spider kill his friend and it appeared that he himself made the spider do it. He tried to imagine himself in their position and felt that Derrickʼs enmity towards him was justified.

What Noah didnʼt know was that his look of pity played differently in the eyes of Derrick. His look, to him, appeared to be one of arrogance as if Noah was looking down on him as if he was a bug.

”Ugh Iʼll kill you, you bastard!” Derrick lost his patience, he was blinded by rage and consumed with hatred when he looked towards Noah. Nothing else mattered to him right now but to wipe away that face of his that made him feel small and inferior.

”What? Is it really that serious?” Derrickʼs berserk state really confused Noah at this point. He could already see the amount of bodies that the spider killed before which numbered close to 15 deaths and he was sure some of those bodies were people that Derrick knew, so why is he so upset over this one person? Besides, Noah inadvertently saved them by taming the spider, heʼs the victim here! Thinking up till here, he decided to try to appease Derrick and the others by at least returning the body to them. That should make them appear less threatening to them no?

”Uh…wait I didnʼt give you a name did I? Can you give him the body back? Maybe thatʼll calm him down.”

Boom!

Not a moment later, Derrick was soon seen flying back a few meters after being impacted by Mattʼs lifeless body which not only flung him away but had him rolling a couple meters more. Noah facepalmed himself, flabbergasted due to the spiderʼs actions to his orders. He doesnʼt know if the spider couldnʼt comprehend his intentions or if the spider did it intentionally because of the bad blood between the two already.

ʼMaybe I shouldʼve been more specific…this is really making me out to be the bad guy here. Urgh ok what would someone normally do if their pet killed someoneʼs friend in self defense? Those books didnʼt prepare me for something like this.ʼ

Noah briefly glared at the spider before shaking his head; he couldnʼt put the blame on it since these people attacked it when it was at its most vulnerable. He still wasnʼt sure what their plan was, did they expect the spider not to act at all? The Matt guy didnʼt seem to go out with a fight at all in Noahʼs view.

ʼWhy help if youʼre incapable? Thatʼs like trying to save a person from drowning when you canʼt swim?ʼ He continued to admonish Matt even in his death while he hopped off of the spiderʼs back and approached halfway towards Derrick who just now was able to remove the body from himself. Noah wasnʼt sure what to expect in this situation and his spider was exhausted earlier so he wasnʼt expecting to rely on it during this time.

”Hey….Sooo about what just happened…”

Noah still wasnʼt able to formulate the right wording that could calm down the raging man in front of him. What is he supposed to say? ʼDonʼt be mad since the spider is now under his control? Sorry for your loss?ʼ it all sounded cheesy to him in his mind.

Well it wouldnʼt have mattered what Noah could say at this point, his words couldnʼt reach Derrick who now was consumed by rage and pride. Throwing a dead body at him was equivalent to being slapped in the face, and it hurt! Whatʼs worse was that it was in front of others. At this point, Derrick felt so humiliated that he wouldnʼt be able to move on if he didnʼt kill the annoyance in front of him. He would be haunted by this moment during every second of his life if he couldnʼt personally watch the life leave Noahʼs eyes.

”FUCK IT! I donʼt care anymore, Iʼll end you!” Derrick roared with all of his might. If there were creatures in the vicinity before, whose attention were on the other students. His monstrous bellow certainly caused more than a few to look their way now, but like he said before, none of that matters.

ʼYou made me do this….ʼ Still glaring deeply towards Noah, a change began to happen to Derrickʼs appearance. His muscles throughout his entire body seemed to have grown and bulged out. He was already particularly stocky before, but he seemed to be morphing into a bodybuilder in real time. During this time, his clothes were not able to properly fit anymore as his shirt and pants were ripping at the seams while he continued to grow in muscle mass.

Noah, who was witnessing the change happening, was astonished at first. This was a transformation for crying out loud and he was witnessing it first hand. Every moment during this apocalyptic time he was reminded time and time again how fantasy like the world was becoming and every moment he witnessed made him even more excited for the unforeseeable future. It was just after a few seconds of watching Derrick change that Noah started to wear a grave expression. There were no enemies in the area besides the ones the group on the perimeter were engaging with, there couldnʼt be any reason why he didnʼt use such a transformation before, even when his life was in danger confronting the spider before unless!

ʼIs he planning on killing me? What the hell? What did I do?ʼ Noah inwardly panicked a little, he wasnʼt prepared to face off against someone who seems to be granted the ability to turn into the hulk. He also couldnʼt comprehend why someone with such a power didnʼt use that power to protect his friends earlier.

But his panic state only lasted for a brief moment, if he was going to die then it should be by at least something grand like a dragon! He started to become annoyed that he had yet met someone else who was trying to ruin this new experience for him on the same day.

ʼFine…letʼs have it your way, maybe i can find out if i can also get goodies from killing people as well, hehe…this is getting exciting!

Urgh donʼt get distracted Noah, his transformation seems to be really strong. He definitely got a boost of strength, but what about agility and his constitution?ʼ Thinking this far ahead, he looked to his new companion which was now on high alert, as an insect that always had to struggle to survive, it could easily perceive the danger radiating from Derrick who now was sporting purple veins that appeared ready to burst.

ʼIʼll definitely need help from you with this fella...I also need a weapon now…I doubt heʼll let me go back and retrieve mine.ʼ Using his handy ʼHunters Sightʼ ability, he quickly glanced around to see what he could use in this situation, yet what he found almost left him speechless.ʼ

ʼHmmm? ahh fuck me….Johnathan why cant you just leave me alone already sheesh!ʼ

What he found was definitely something he could use but it was also something he was trying to avoid and that was a shield. Since the start of this new world it appeared that fate was trying to force him to become a tank. He didnʼt mind becoming one since he felt that it would be a good strategy as a monster tamer. As long as he stayed alive then his creatures could do all the work right? He just didnʼt like the idea that he hasnʼt been given much to have options, but at this time he canʼt be picky.

The shield was at least close to him, it laid a few feet ahead, but was partly hidden since it was covered by one of the spiderʼs recent victims. There was no other weapon nearby, at least one that could help him in the situation. He couldʼve had a dagger to fight with from Matt, maybe it was the severe pain, but his hands never let go of the dagger even as he was thrown into Derrick.

ʼIt seems that fate could be a bitch even now…well letʼs make this work! I still have stats to spare, lets just use them all and besides…Iʼve been wanting to see the notification for taming that spider for awhile now.ʼ