Becoming a Monster

Chapter 41 Old ‘Friend’

It wasnʼt long before he received a notification.

[Your tamed creature, Arachne, has achieved the first limits of 50 stats in agility, perk based on class Arachnid obtained; ʼCaught in the eyes of the spiderʼ]

[Passive-ʼCaught in the eyes of the spiderʼ]-Spiders already can perceivably sense danger, but what happens if it can anticipate its enemies moves? When activated, youʼre able to perceive the targetʼs next movements within a hundredth of a second. Can only level up by increasing Agility.]

At a glance, maybe the skill didnʼt seem that good. A hundredth of a second? How much would that even do? But when Noah thought about spider awareness and their extremely quick reflexes then the skill was truly made for her. His curiosity was at its pique concerning what other perks he would receive when he reached fifty stats in his other attributes now.

”Aaahhhaaaa” Thinking up to here, Noah felt a yawn coming on and tried to stifle it, but the yawn was too overbearing, preventing him from holding it in. Now that he was able to relax, drowsiness suddenly hit him from the mental fatigue and his stamina at the moment. He turned to his side. and saw that his companions were already fast asleep.

”I should probably try to sleep too, at least rest my eyes for a few minutes…” he muttered to himself, his eyes slowly opening and closing during his mumbling before he fell asleep like the others.

It took the group in the locker room more than a few mins to just barely remove the person stuck from Noahʼs webs. Since then no one felt safe to return to the area unless it was in groups. As of now, they set a barricade of whatever they could find alongside the wall of webs.

For now, the area they were in sheltered around fifty students and the number was slowly increasing now that the majority of the runaway students were returning in batches.

...

Meanwhile, unlike earlier when it seemed that Markʼs group wouldnʼt have any difficulties handling their own hoard of zombies. The battle quickly turned for the worse. What made Noahʼs fight seem almost effortless was his tamed creatures that could pin target the biggest threat out of the groups which were the runners.

And the fact that not only was Noah immune to turning into a zombie from both bites and scratches. Animals, for some reason, were less targeted by zombies when humans were present and they were also unable to be turned.

Noah couldnʼt think of the reason why, but he attributed it to the fact that his notification referred to the so-called ʼzombie virusʼ as corrupted mana instead. So maybe animal mana was already corrupted or was just unable to become corrupted by zombies.

Markʼs group was doing just fine in the beginning, Mark was the designated ʼrunnerʼ killer while everyone else aided in crowd control. But who there was near the same level as Noah? Sooner rather than later, their mana would be running low and fast. Mark unsurprisingly was the first to run out of mana, rendering his unique skill useless.

Without the increased agility, the Runners were now close to his speed. It wasnʼt long before two of the twelve people in their group died. If it wasnʼt for Ailetta and Jasmine in the group, the deaths would be much higher. Jasmine would use her unique nature spirit to try to entangle any Runner that approached. While Ailetta would reanimate a dead Runner and use it to distract or possibly kill another.

The show of skills inspired the group to use theirs more proactively. Their one and only mage finally began to cast his fireball skill. The two priest classes, who all received the ability to heal were also in possession of another skill. The first, casted a thin holy flame onto Markʼs and two others weapons. Meanwhile the other priest projected a semi-translucent barrier around only Mark and himself. Even though the spell would do better on someone fighting in close range, his life took priority.

The varieties of so many different skills being at use helped to fight off the zombies, but the insignificant levels started to play a role. Low levels equaled less stats which meant less stamina and magic. Just two spells alone from some classes were enough to drain them of all of their mana. Not all of them could effortlessly kill a zombie which only helped to deplete their stamina more.

But now that the second person died, it was time for them to retreat before more were lost.

”Mark, we need to leave! Now! Weʼve already done enough, if we linger anymore then coming here wouldnʼt be worth it!” Jas screamed angrily towards her brother. The rest of the group was already motioning to retreat but they couldnʼt go too far. Mark was continuing to be stubborn as he hacked down another zombie. They still had to think about the future. Without Mark, how long can they last unless someone else steps up?

”Leave? LEAVE?? We havenʼt even achieved HALF of what ʼheʼsʼ done and thereʼs more of us! Just a little bit lon-”

”No Mark! This is why youʼre not fit to be a leader, everyone will die from your selfishness! Weʼre leaving NOW! Ailetta, use your zombie to help him retreat…” The calm and rational Jasmine sounded deflated towards the end. What would she do if he decides to stay stubborn? Leave her own brother?

Soon she sighs in relief when saw him slowly making his way back, even though he was still trying to accumulate experience on the way. For every few yards he ran, he would turn around to fight some more. She turned to face her group and observe whatʼs ahead, who knows what unexpected creature could appear. How would she know that in just that short instance, her world would turn upside down, again?

”Ahhhh! YOU BASTARD! GET OFF ME!” Markʼs roar sent a ripple through the hearts of everyone in his group. They all caught the scream of pain, causing their sense of self preservation to increase. Half the group of the ones who didnʼt start out with Markʼs made a beeline for the cafeteria. If the strongest person in their group couldnʼt protect himself, then what chance do they have if they stay? No one from the group of runaways bothered to turn back to see his situation.

The person who was supposed to be the voice of reason also wasnʼt paying attention to stop them. Unlike the rest, she knew…the only things they were fighting were zombies, to get hurt means to become infected and to become infected means death. If her heart could beat any stronger then it would rip out of her chest.

Her face snapped directly onto her brother, who struggled to finally pry off a runner from his less dominant arm, but his condition wasnʼt looking any good when the arm dangled to his side.

”MARK!!” And her panic state only worsened when she noticed two more runners approaching. Worry, fear, desperate? So many emotions were influencing her all at once, but all of them held one thing in common, and that was to save her brother.

Impulsively, she tried to use her skill, yet this time she willed it to do more than intended. There was no thought process to it, she ʼneededʼ for it to happen. Her skill was only strong enough to temporarily restrain her opponents, but it wasnʼt enough.

During the process of her skill, her spirit was summoned and unlike before, where it aided her in her skill. The spirit dryad seemed to sense its contractors emotions before it merged with Jas. Temporarily, her eyes turned bright green and her hair was replaced by vines and flowers. The aura radiating from her caused the surrounding grass to grow and twirl around her ankles before wrapping around her legs. The scene felt enchanting to the ones watching her perform her transformation in front of their eyes.

”Go…” Despite the stressful emotions she bore, the voice that was projected from her was completely different. Her tone was soothing and warm and could calm the hearts of anyone listening to her. But her voice and her actions were complete opposites.

Mark was beginning to grow frantic. After he killed the zombie that bit him, he noticed the new pair of Runners gunning for him. He was already losing his touch of reality from being infected. He couldnʼt accept what just transpired but the pain and blood constantly reminded him that it was real.

The weight of his sword felt heavier than before and his body was starting to feel the effect of fatigue when he thought about what would happen to him even if he makes it out alive. But soon a figure entered his mind, causing any depressed feelings he had previously to feed his desire to keep moving forward.

”He was bitten too and he didnʼt turn so why would I? My life wonʼt end here, this is just the beginning!” He vowed in his heart. His mana was running on empty, but he planned to use it all at once when the zombies neared. If he could kill them then he would turn to make a run for it and not look back.

But suddenly he noticed the grass shackled both zombies mid run causing them to fall. He knew what this skill was and who it belonged to. He has never felt more grateful to his sister than now. However he noticed the skill wasnʼt over. Streams and streams of grass continued to wrap around the bodies of the two zombies until they were completely covered.

He was stunned at her ability to completely impair them considering the new zombieʼs strength and yet he was also slightly angry that she didnʼt do this before.

Mark prepared himself to run after being briefly stunned from the display, but when he thought the skill couldnʼt do anything more. He saw the body figures made of grass begin to become drenched in blood until every blade of grass was dyed red. Suddenly the lumps of grass started to press down, returning to its original state and after everything was done, what was left was only the skeletons of the zombies bones.

If it wasnʼt for the constant yelling of Jasmine and Ailetta calling Markʼs name then he wouldʼve taken longer to regain his focus as he ran away to regroup with everyone else before making their way back to the cafeteria. What awaited everyone in the cafeteria would be only more hardship and possibly the creation of a new and dreadfully powerful creature.

....

Boom!

”Hurry, theyʼre right behind us!”

”But Ella is still back there! We left her with those things!”

”Shut up already! This is the fourth time you bitched about it, why donʼt you help her!”

”Nowʼs not the time! Every one we need to get what we can to ba-WH-WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??”

The trio was awakened by an onslaught of noise, instantly causing them to go on alert. Arachne has already been around a large group of non-hostile humans before, so even though she was vigilant, she wasnʼt preparing to attack, unlike Grim.

He was the one the voice was directed towards, Grims fight response was to spread his arms wide, brandishing its scythes, while it spread its wings, flapping it manically.

The group was formed of at least 15 different people, all who had some form of weapon and some even gear. It didnʼt take long for the group to notice the spider and then Noah right beside them.

They werenʼt sure whether Noah was friend or foe but the huge group of zombies left them with little options.

”Hey! You five, start barricading the doors, now!” A man quickly took the lead, while three more, including him, stepped up to address Noahʼs group. They all brandished their weapons for the worse case scenario, but it still wasnʼt looking good for them.

”Are you human?” The leading figure asked. He was the most interesting of the group because he was the only one barely wearing any clothing! His upper torso was bare while he wore jeans but they were split in random areas that revealed his skin. But even his skin was hard to see when it came to his upper body. Where ever hair was supposed to grow, it grew excessively. His arms, chest, stomach and his back was swarming with hair. Honestly, Noah was stunned that the man made it this far, but there had to be a reason. ʼMost likely a unique skill, apparently itʼs given out like candy.ʼ

But once again, Noah was caught off guard, they didnʼt directly assume he was a monster. And the people appeared battle hardened, especially the one who voiced the question. The man brandished a sword in each hand and his body language screamed he was ready for a fight.

Noah hesitated in the beginning to answer. ʼWould they even believe me if I said I was?ʼ The short hesitation allowed someone else to chime in. However it was the last person he wanted to meet.

”Wait! Isnʼt that Noah? It is you isnʼt it? What happened to you?”

———

A/N Sorry everyone! Was busy and didnʼt want to rush the chapter. Iʼll be uploading the next one shortly, gotta make sure to keep up with the 5 chapters.