Becoming a Monster

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: A Forest Danger

Their steps were slow, making sure to match Noah’s pace. The common person wouldn’t be able to pull their gaze away from the destruction. Despite what should be considered as natural curiosity, his creatures instead were peering into the other buildings.

As they followed, Noah’s own steps faltered, he quickly sensed someone that wasn’t with them. He turned, noticing that Ailetta was facing him, but her eyes were concentrating on the rubble. A brief thought emerged, believing that she was against what he did, but that thought didn’t hold root that long. After knowing Ailetta as she was now, he knew that she would’ve done much worse to them if given the chance. That only begged the question ’what was she looking at?’

”There shouldn’t be anything else there Le....I made sure of it.”

Ailetta’s other eyes readjusted to look onto him, his icy tone didn’t phase her, but there was something else about him that she found surprisingly amusing.

”When you get like that, Noah, you tend to miss the details,” Ailetta finished with a teasing edge in her voice as her gaze returned towards the rubble.

Noah’s eyes narrowed, not at her, but following her line of sight of rubble he had created. Not once did he believed Ailetta’s comment was meant to a challenge to his leadership; he trusted her. He trusted her to know him enough so she can always point him in the right direction just like how she is now.

”Can you just tell me what it is?”

Ailetta’s smile deepened, sensing his growing impatience. ”I never would’ve thought you would forget about what ’drops’ after a fight.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Noah’s eyes widened, if only for a brief moment. His expression quickly reverted to its usual brooding calm, masking the flicker of uncertainty that had passed through him. Without a word, he began walking toward the wreckage, a small weight settling in his chest. It was a burden he couldn’t shake, no matter how much he tried to will it away.

The aftermath of what he’d done lingered in his mind. He’d acted quickly, perhaps too quickly. After killing everyone, a gnawing thought crept in, Had he been too reckless? The idea of ”innocent people” meant little to him. In his view, guilt was everywhere, even if it came by association. The way others would blame him if his creatures took lives, he held humanity to the same standard. No one was truly innocent if they stood by while the world burned.

Yet that reasoning faltered when it came to one thing, kids.

His fist clenched, his footsteps becoming heavier with each step as he neared the area. If children were perhaps in the crossfire......The thought made him pause, just for a moment.

’I shouldn’t think that way...’ Noah agonized amongst himself, shaking the notion from his mind. Mercy wasn’t a luxury he could afford, not now. But the unease lingered, despite his attempts to bury it.

Pursing his lips, Noah revealed his special eyes to help find the unclaimed loot. All of his eyes quickly churned, scanning the entire area for any potential chest. Just mere seconds were all it took for his eyes to differentiate the different shades within the rubble, his spider appendages that were still in their slime enveloped form for a few minutes longer, quickly shot out, uplifting any lingering stone and debris with relative ease before he uncovered a golden chest.

There was a slight pause, seeing the quality of the chest was a slight surprise. Though it was one that could be reasoned with. Despite easy ’battle’, a battle that was less of a struggle than the zombie horde that only granted him a silver quality chest; humans ability to reason, strategies, and manipulate, still made them more of a threat than just the zombies evolutionized stats and infection.

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The walk the rest of their way to the destination was as rosy as the trek before. No one could particularly lose focus of their surroundings for different reasons, but they all had one thing in common; not wanting to let Noah down.

Even Eve wanted to make herself more useful. Instead of letting the others destroy any zombies she put under her control, she wanted to recreate her once miniature army, using them to fight off other potential creatures instead. But her pouty exterior was a clear indicator that she didn’t get to have what she wanted. Although having more creatures under her disposal would seem like a good idea, Noah considered there to be no need for them. What an army of zombies could do, evolved or not, any of his contracted companions could do even more.

And there was also another reason for not allowing her, along the way, Noah would consume an orb that was seemingly more concentrated than the normal orbs they had. He had realized this in the past, but a core from an evolved zombie was just what he needed to raise his level one zombie skills to their next level. With the rise of the evolved zombies each day, collecting what he needed wasn’t a problem at all. And with those same tier one cores, he could also use that chance to upgrade his companions abilities once again.

Noah’s mood was relatively better after trekking a few more miles, not only were they just a few corners away from their potential home. The amount of loot that was now housed through his ring after all of the fighting was worth it all. Not to mention that both Ailetta, Arachne, and himself had leveled up along the way.

Lvl: 11>12

Exp:17,450/25,600> 1,729/52,000

Health:100% [95%]

Stamina:100%

Mana: 510/572> 907/1008

Attributes

Defense: 180

Strength:187(215)

Agility:206>216(248)

Constitution:380(437)

Stamina:242(278)

Magic: 406>438(504)

Spirit: 381(533) +145 {688}

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[Player: Ailetta

Race: Abyssalith Mire

Class: Abyssalith Mire

Lvl: 10>11

Exp: 15,720/25,600>2,841/52,000

Health:100%

Stamina:100%

Mana: 770/770>774/774

Attributes

Strength: 90>100(209)

Agility: 110>120(207)

Constitution: 220(395)

Stamina:130(227)

Magic: 385>387

Spirit: 290 +266 {556}

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[Player: Arachne

Race: Dreadweaver Empress

Class: Dreadweaver Empress

Subclass: Rogue

Lvl: 12

Exp: 12,700/25,600>4,290/52,000

Health:100%

Stamina:100%

Mana: 296/296>342/342

Attributes

Strength: 202(321)

Agility: 400(487)

Constitution:100(275)

Stamina: 126(223)

Magic: 148>171

Spirit: 200

Fighting wasn’t the only way to level up, that much Noah had learned. Monsters and animals gained power through consumption, something that had puzzled him early on. He used to think it was an advantage unique to beasts, believing humans were gifted a class system to make up for it. But as he grew more monstrous himself, he’d realized the truth: eating, like the creatures he fought, could grant him experience as well.

At first, the experience he gained from devouring other creatures had seemed minuscule, barely worth noting. But the effects became undeniable when he consumed more powerful foes. The moment he had devoured the Queen Ant, something shifted. The power that surged through him had been unlike anything before. It wasn’t just the act of consumption, but the nature of what he consumed, stronger prey meant greater rewards.

And now that he had Ailetta’s genes within his arsenal, he no longer had to tediously bite and eat through his prey to consume his fill any more. It was a feat that he had just recently learned after discussing with Ailetta after seeing Dummy eat so much for unknown reasons. Now, just by enveloping a corpse with their slime, the properties of their slime was able to dismantle and break down the body within that didn’t have the capability to resist.

For Ailetta, the process was much more simple, her numerous mouths would manifest wherever she desired, traveling to the area that enveloped her prey and eating through its exterior with relative ease.

Arachne, however, faced a different challenge. Her small human mouth, once able to feast ravenously, was now limited by her transformation. Feeding had been her greatest joy, and though her form had changed, her appetite remained as insatiable as ever. What she lost in physical consumption, she gained in efficiency. Just sinking her teeth into a corpse was enough to drain it of all its life force. Consuming the body’s substance was no longer necessary, though she still preferred it; there was something about the taste and sensation that brought her immense satisfaction.

Yet, no matter how much pleasure feeding on corpses brought her, two things ranked higher in her mind. The first was the intoxicating power she gained from Noah’s blood, a source of unmatched energy. The second were the orbs Noah created, delicacies of a higher order that she relished even more than her typical meals.

With everyone eating everything they killed, especially when it came to devouring evolved zombies; their experience skyrocketed past their normal experience gaining. Now Noah understood why animals and zombies were evolving faster than humans.

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”Noah? There’s a slight problem.”

Meanwhile, as Noah was finalizing the sorting of his claimed loot within his storage ring. Ailetta called out for him to look at what was in front of them.

The giant community park sprawled before them, but it had long since abandoned any semblance of tranquility. The once, beautiful landscape had transformed into a wild, untamed stretch of mutated nature, shaped by the overwhelming presence of mana. Massive trees towered overhead, their bark twisted and gnarled, with branches that stretched like skeletal arms into the sky. Their roots coiled and slithered across the ground, as if they were trying to reclaim the earth itself. Some of the trees’ trunks were wide enough to hide entire buildings, with vines as thick as a person’s arm.

Everywhere, the plant life had grown to unnatural proportions, flowers the size of a wagon wheel bloomed in brilliant, toxic colors, and mushrooms as tall as men clustered in darkened corners. The mana that fed this monstrous growth was still so thick in the air that it created an almost tangible pressure, warping everything it touched. Wild grasses grew in patches taller than humans, and thick, mutated ivy covered the ground like a carpet, its barbed tendrils writhing with slow, deliberate movements, almost as if they were alive and waiting for something to stumble into their grasp.

Massive webs spun by something far more dangerous than ordinary spiders, blanketed entire sections of the park. The sticky strands clung to every surface, trees, rocks, and even the ground itself, forming a dense, suffocating labyrinth. The webs shimmered in the light that filtered through the towering foliage, giving the area an eerie, haunted appearance. Some of the webs were anchored high in the canopy, suggesting that whatever creatures created them were not only large, but highly mobile.

Lurking outside these webs and creeping through the foliage were the park’s new inhabitants: colossal, mutated insects. Oversized beetles, with carapaces as hard as steel and pincers the size of swords, clambered over rocks and thick roots. Massive dragonflies, with translucent wings as wide as a person’s outstretched arms, buzzed ominously above, their bulging compound eyes scanning the ground below for prey. Some of the insects had become horribly deformed; centipedes the size of horses scuttled through the undergrowth.

Among the vegetation, a few predatory creatures besides insects prowled, having mutated and adapted to the dangerous environment. Giant horned toads, camouflaged to blend with the overgrown foliage, sat motionless on the forest floor, their monstrous, swollen bodies covered in mottled scales. Their tongues flicked out like lightning, snatching anything that wandered too close. Meanwhile, in the shadows, the faint glow of bioluminescent fungi attracted glowing insects with wings that sparkled like gemstones, though their peaceful beauty contradicted the danger they posed.

The air itself felt unnaturally thick, buzzing with an unnatural energy that sent shivers down the spine of those who weren’t natives to the environment. The park was alive, not in the way a forest or garden should be, but in a way that made it feel predatory. Every sound, from the rustling leaves to the low hum of insect wings, seemed heightened. From the treetops to the roots below, there was no escape from the all-encompassing sense of danger. Even the wind, when it blew through the park, carried with it a faint hiss, like the warning of something lurking just beyond sight.

Noah stood rooted, his gaze looking up, gazing at the length of the towering trees before he stared straight ahead. Not only was his second pair of eyes being used to analyze the forest depths, but his Nexus eye was also spanning across the forest horizons. Every organism, as long as it held a trace of mana, was lit up within his sights. The amount of life within the buzzing forest was beyond astounding.

And maybe because of the quality and quantity of the amount of trees in this area, Noah was able to pick up on mana even flowing from the trees.

His expression was serious throughout his time trying to understand what they were about to get into. Especially so because among the plethora of mana signatures. There were two sets of mana that flowed with a density and power that far exceeded anything else in the park. And among the trees, one of the sets of mana mixed within the energy source of every tree in the area.