Becoming a Monster

Chapter 189: Chapter 189: I’m a Big Girl

Noah paused, narrowing his eyes toward Eve, watching her carefully. His intense stare wasn’t meant to intimidate, but more to discern her true intentions. It wasn’t as if Noah was that dense; he was fully aware of Eve’s mischievous nature; granted, he was only aware of it because of the bond they shared; otherwise, he truly would be that dense to what the little zombie was hiding.

But because he knew, he wanted, no...he needed to understand her intentions for her current actions. He didn’t mind the way she was, in fact he felt it was better that the little zombie was able to have her own personality, despite how warped it was, but out of his other three companions, which one didn’t have a quirk or two?

If she simply liked the taste of the cores and wanted another one out of hunger or curiosity, that was harmless enough. He would understand that and let it slide. If she felt that the core should belong to her simply because Diablo was her father and the core was originally made for him so she believed that it should go to her, then he would also be okay with that, despite the selfish behavior. However, if she was aware of those options and was trying to take advantage of his ’obliviousness’ of her true nature, manipulating the situation to test how far she could push him, well, that was a different matter entirely.

With all of his companions, no matter if it was Fenrir, Arachne, or even Ailetta; Noah had boundaries that he believed shouldn’t be crossed. Fenrir could be very rebellious, and oftentimes spoiled, but Noah would put his foot down if the furball intentionally behaved in such a way to get what he wanted. Arachne’s arrogance and pride knew no bounds, believing the roles within the group made certain privileges within the group absolute. Yet if she were to ever use her position to take advantage of the others, then Noah would not hesitate to put her back in her place.

And Ailetta? Her over possessiveness was possibly the worst quirk out of the four. Even then, he wouldn’t allow Ailetta to use their relationship to divide the others, nor would he allow her to influence the way he treated everyone.

Noah had always maintained a sense of fairness, ensuring that none of them could take advantage of the others. Eve was no exception.

His gaze sharpened on Eve, there were a cluster of ways he could handle the situation, but out of all of them, he chose the one that he believed would best clarify her intentions without ruining her place among the others.

”Eve,” he firmly called out her name. His expression and tone elicited a flicker within the zombie girl’s eyes. She could tell that Noah was judging her, but she could also tell that he was undecided, her innocent smile continued to show as she looked to him with a display of puzzlement reflecting within them.

His gaze remained fixed on her, however his hand was now held out, offering up the core to her. The smile on Eve’s face widened seeing the action, believing that despite his speculation, he still couldn’t ignore her charms. Yet, as she took an eager step forward, her hand outstretched to grab it, saliva already escaping her mouth as she fantasized about her next meal; Noah’s following words made her understand, the jig is up.

”If you really want the core, then here, you can have it.”

Eve’s eyes flicked up to meet Noah’s. The widening smile on her face faltered slightly, though she quickly masked it again. The core gleaming in his hand continued to tempt her, ’just this once,’ she thought to herself as she returned to reaching for it, but she stopped again, realizing that Noah wasn’t done talking.

”Or!” He continued, ”You can show us how much of a big girl you are by waiting to get your own when it’s your turn, just like everyone else.”

Eve’s hand hesitated mid-air, her once-widened smile now wavering as Noah’s words settled in. His offer wasn’t just a challenge, it was an opportunity to prove something. Deep down, she didn’t just want the core; she wanted the doting affection that being given more cores than the others would signify, even if her twisted sense of self had trouble fully grasping why.

The act she put on wasn’t entirely an act. Noah’s care, his attention, despite everything, meant something to her, more than she liked to admit.

After a long moment of silence, Eve let out a small, almost reluctant sigh and took a step back, this time with no pout or protest. ”I’ll wait,” she murmured, her voice softer than usual.

Noah watched her closely, noticing the subtle shift in her demeanor. He didn’t smile, but a sense of relief washed over him. Eve had made the choice herself, and for now, that was enough.

What Eve wasn’t aware of, was her decision to participate with everyone else didn’t go unnoticed by the others, even Fenrir felt a greater sense of respect for the little zombie. He imagined himself in her position, no matter how many times he asked himself what he would do, he would take the food every single time. ’Master said I can have it!’ He thought to himself, trying to justify his decision.

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This time, the group of four waited ’patiently’ together for Noah to continue to complete each batch before devouring the core with relish.

With Noah’s current mana that was less than his max capacity, was still enough to make enough cores for everyone to complete his original objective. And after his mutation because of Ailetta, all of his stats were increased yet again by 25%.

Attributes

Defense: 180

Strength:150>187(215)

Agility:165>206(237)

Constitution:304>380(437)

Stamina:194>242(278)

Magic: 325>406(467)

Spirit: 305>381(533) +69

Not only did his strength, agility, and constitution perk level up, but now with his newly increased mana, supplying enough cores to increase every one of their abilities to the next level would still leave him with quite the bit of mana left to spare.

The act of preparing an orb didn’t take long at all, while his creatures had no problem keeping up with the pace of consumption. However, despite how well it was going, Noah realized his error in his earlier judgment. One, the time it would take for him to complete enough cores to upgrade their levels. Wouldn’t take into the later hours of the night to complete. In fact, just 10 minutes would make do.

Although it was a miscalculation, it was one that Noah could take in stride. Yet, his next error was one that could hinder his first. His body was paler than normal, his breaths grew heavier, while his strength was beginning to feel depleted. The scene would be where one would assume to be the side effects of his skill. What they didn’t realize was Noah’s body was weak from the continuous usage of draining his blood. He was only able to complete roughly thirty cores before he felt that doing anymore would be dangerous for his body.

The number of cores only allowed for each creature to receive eight cores at most, only allowing for an increase of 40% to each of their level zero skills level progression. It wasn’t what he desired, but with some rest, he could create more before they left the next day; potentially he could even create more during the night.

Although Noah was physically drained, he still paid attention to his notifications, hoping that even 40% would be enough to level up at least one of their skills.

But out of all of their skills, not one had received a level up. What he saw instead reminded him of an earlier notification that he didn’t pay too much attention at the time due to Ailetta’s situation.

Both Fenrir and Arachne have acquired an affinity to mana due to becoming a Fallen and extracting the full amount of mana from the magic source.

Creatures have reached the limit of the effectiveness of the current zero tier mana stones. Mana obtained are reduced by 90% of their original effectiveness.

Not only did the notification make him aware that the process of making his creatures go through a mutation with the use of his Nexus makes them into Fallen, just like himself. But the news also reminded him that the cores were more than just a resource to help upgrade their skills.

That made him curious, if regular cores from unevolved creatures would normally give him one point in his magic before he reached the limit, then would his cores now give more than one attribute after the core was enhanced by his transcended mana and blood? And if that was the case, would the cores still only provide a 5% percent increase?

His eagerness wasn’t expressed with the rest of his body. His eyes continued to slowly close, although his mind wasn’t slowing down in the slightest. Before he knew it, everyone around him took in the sight of his peaceful slumber.