Becoming a Monster

Chapter 205: Chapter 205: It Is What It is

The giant mutation slithered over to Ailetta with an enthusiasm that contradicted its form. Ailetta, however, wasn’t phased by the image, in fact, she herself was filled with an equal enthusiasm, but for different reasons.

She placed her hand on the underside of its snake body, looking up and over, verifying something that left her movement somewhat sporadic.

”Noah, we can go now, right?” She urged him with a question. Before she could try out her daring experiment, she wanted to first test out the creature’s strength on its own.

Noah took a moment to consider the situation. All this time there they had yet to be further attacked, nor had anything come to spy on them besides the presence that was still present around them. His best guess was the presence was somehow relying their information to whatever was ordering around the creatures, otherwise he didn’t believe that a creature that was trying to lure in Arachne would do nothing and wait without a hint of information.

And if that was the case, then the creature leading the others held an intellect that was able to calculate, potentially making the creature’s presence much more dangerous than what he originally thought. In fact, now it could be trying to study them, maybe even planning a better ambush than just the simple coordinated attack its minions had performed in their last push back.

”One moment..” His gaze traveled over to the dropped chest that remained untouched. Before he allowed himself to gather his loot, he first made sure to eat his fill, to both replenish and strengthen himself before the supposed final fight.

”You can come back now.” Noah beckoned over to his golem, which lifelessly starred in the direction the enemy left in. The moment it was created; it had been given a clear directive, kill any enemy that approached them. Even with the fight being over for what was nearly ten minutes, it never slacked on its order, patiently waiting for the enemy to return. But at the call of its creator, it awkwardly walked towards Noah.

Noah didn’t rush it, reaching out his slime arm towards it. The golem wasn’t close enough to grasp his hand and yet it also reached out for Noah in turn. Its robotic stare finally gained a hint of emotion as it felt that it could return to its ’home’.

Its ’hand’ suddenly extended to meet Noah’s. The two limbs initially clasped with one another before the golem’s ’hand’ sank into Noahs’. The golem’s body continued to be absorbed back into which it came, every step closer it took to Noah, more of itself disappeared. Its already toddler form grew smaller and smaller before eventually the last of it, which only left its head containing its eyes, fully submerged with Noah.

Noah felt the last of the golem’s essence melt back into his own form, its energy merging seamlessly into his being. The emotional flicker in the golem’s eyes just before it had been fully absorbed left a strange, bittersweet impression on him. Despite its constructed nature, the golem had shown that it wasn’t just a mindless creation.

”Rest well,” Noah murmured to himself. Although he was able to reabsorb the mana used for casting the golem, he noticed that the amount of mana he received back wasn’t the same amount that he used to create it. The realization wasn’t surprising. Firstly, he had used part of his mana to create the barrier, remove the webs, form the golem, and the golem used its form to kill off several enemies. Even then, he was able to receive close to half of what he put in, which was still better than nothing.

There was the option of leaving the golem out, using it for one last instance for when they encounter the creature further in the forest. However, the skill only lasts for twenty minutes, twenty-six if including Noah’s spirit. Even then, that didn’t give the golem much time to last.

Noah felt slightly bitter about wasting mana, but at least now he slightly understood the capabilities of the next level of his golem ability. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself, checking his surroundings once again before walking over towards the platinum chest. The creatures they killed couldn’t have been said to be more valuable than the zombies they killed on the way, but their numbers easily justified the chest’s grade.

”Are you really going to do that every time?” Ailetta amusingly chuckled seeing that even though they should be in a hurry, Noah knelt over the chest, pausing before he lifted the lid.

”You should know that things like this shouldn’t be rushed. Don’t try to ruin my lucky streak.” He replied with a seriousness that was more intense than when killing almost hundreds of mutated beasts.

”So there was actually a purpose for that...” Noah’s eye twitched hearing Arachne’s voice on the side.

Noah shot Arachne a playful glare, being both annoyed and amused. ”Of course there was a purpose,” he scoffed to himself, finally lifting the lid.

For a moment, the world around them felt suspended, Ailetta found herself walking over to see if Noah’s ”luck” continued. And after their back-and-forth banter, there was now another presence who was just as curious.

”Can I try opening it?” Eve poked her head inside the chest, uncaring about the contents within and more curious about said ritual.

”No....maybe another time...” Noah said, a hint of reluctance in his voice. He then gently nudged Eve away from the chest, his hand hovering protectively over the loot as if it held some deep secret.

Eve tilted her head, her curiosity far from satisfied. But Noah’s lack of attention towards her left her without a chance to continue to nag him.

Of course, the first target of his attention was the platinum and gold coins. With the monsters he killed so far, attributed with their levels, the amount of gold he obtained from the fighting he did in one day was almost as much as he earned within his first two days starting the apocalypse.

His eyes then shifted towards the other pertaining loot. Reaching in, he pulled out a giant white attribute orb. Out of all of his stats, he felt that spirit was the last one that needed upgrading, but knowing how much spirit affected, he wouldn’t dismiss upgrading his spirit by another fifty points. Give it to his creatures? There was no need when his buffs would become more powerful with a higher spirit. Increasing his own stats were comparatively the same as increasing theirs.

The next item was a bracelet, one that had intricate runes etched along its exterior and interior. The blend of gold and crimson metal caught his eye, making it the next item he felt an allure to.

Immediately he put on the bracelet, seconds passed without a change. Even after inputting mana into the bracelet. Noah frowned slightly as he waited, seeing that nothing he did brought about any immediate effects. But his frown wasn’t made thinking that the bracelet was useless. Receiving such an item from a platinum chest could only mean that the object had a special mechanism about it, it was just that he had yet to process how it worked.

Not being able to figure it out himself, he looked towards his system. Unlock the dungeon core, all he was given was the name of the item.

”Runic Beast Armor....” Noah muttered to himself. The name was enough to enlighten him with a thought of what the item was designed for. His theory was further confirmed when Eve maneuvered between his arms, uncaring about the bracelet, but curious as to how much was left in the chest so she could close it and open it herself.

Noah couldn’t bring himself to care about Eve being in his way, on his arm, he finally noticed a change within the bracelet. The insignia etched into the bracelet began to shimmer with a white glow.

”Eve, give me your arm.” He called out to her, unable to hold back his sense of urgency now that he found a clue to getting the item to work.

Eve blinked in confusion, still processing his sudden shift in tone. For a moment, she hesitated, wondering if Noah had grown impatient with her antics. ”I just wanted to see when it was my turn,” she muttered under her breath, but the seriousness in his expression made her rethink the situation.

Slowly, Eve extended her arm toward him, her curiosity piqued. Noah quickly removed the bracelet from his arm.

The Runic Beast Bracelet, upon being worn by Eve, instantly shrank to fit her wrist. As it did, the intricate gold and crimson runes began to glow and shift, responding to her presence. The bracelet then transformed, extending and flowing like liquid metal to envelop her body in a sleek, flexible armor. The armor covered her entire form, from her chest and abdomen to her limbs. The density of the armor was extremely thin in the areas of her joints, groin and underarms, with the golden and crimson hues shimmering and reacting to her movements. However, her head remained uncovered, leaving her hair untamed. The transformation completed, leaving her clad in the final process of the armor.