Becoming a Monster

Chapter 237: Chapter 237: Pandora’s Reflection

The tree-like monster stood motionless, its body no different than a statue, a trait that needed to be worked on, but not only was Pandora not used to showing human expressions or interactions, but she was also still getting acquainted with using the illusion skill.

With an appearance that held no gender, why would Noah still assume that Pandora, a tree, was a female? By all means, Pandora held no gender at all, but Noah was still persistent in his belief that she was female no matter what. His confidence in his belief all stemmed from her race stated within his system.

________________________

Name: Pandora

Class: Phantomshade Dryad

Race: Phantomshade Dryad

Lvl:12

Exp: 37,871/52,000

Health:100%

Stamina:100%

Mana: 2,100/1,138

Attributes

Strength: 53(128)

Agility: 98(184)

Constitution: 167(342)

Stamina: 105(202)

Magic: 569

Spirit: 241

_________________________

Noah’s conviction about Pandora’s identity wasn’t born out of mere whim but rooted in the deep lore that he had come to know about dryads. The term Dryad, as Pandora’s race was identified within his system, was not a name he took lightly. While her actual form was far from the alluring figures of legend, the very essence of her race’s history shaped his perception, evoking a certain expectation in his mind.

Dryads, in the stories he had read and the fragmented bits of knowledge passed down, were beings of beauty, seduction, and danger. These mythical creatures were often depicted as guardians of the forest, luring unsuspecting men into their clutches with ethereal allure and an otherworldly charm, only to extinguish their lives in a dream-like haze of bliss. That darker, more primal version of dryads fascinated Noah, even if it wasn’t the sole representation of what they could be.

Pandora, when given the name, was unbothered by what the name implied. What truly incited an emotional change within her was discovering from Noah what she was. The moment she began to question her purpose, she sought to know what she was in the first place. Even in the off chance that Noah was wrong about the history of his version of dryads, just knowing she was a dryad gave her a sense of identity she hadn’t known she was missing.

Not only had Noah granted her power and a name, but he had also started her on the road on truly discovering her purpose. Still, the idea of what she was conflicted with what she felt. Noah’s depiction of dryads as lures of men didn’t resonate with her instincts, nor did she feel any pull toward the seductive or sinister behaviors he described. However, the darker, primal connection to the energies around her felt right.

Throughout the day, Pandora stayed rooted quietly, her thoughts looping back to a singular, consuming question: ”What can I do for him?” Her branches swayed subtly in the faint breeze, but her focus was entirely inward. The world outside her was alive with activity, Fenrir’s restless prowling, Eve’s childish experiments, and Arachne’s extensive labouring of her nest. Yet Pandora’s mind remained anchored to her question, not realizing that her need to do something for Noah to uphold her end of their bond was slowly becoming an obsession.

She thought back to the moment Noah had asked her to merge her roots into the walls of their home and Fenrir’s den. That one act alone had filled her with a pride she had never known before. It wasn’t just the act itself but the sense of purpose it brought her. That one act alone had filled her with pride she never felt before, and only left her yearning to receive more orders. Noah hadn’t asked anything else of her since, and while she appreciated his lack of demands, it also left her feeling adrift.

Her constant yearning dragged on into the night. Her restlessness led her to scrutinize the forest differently than she’s ever had before. With her unique bond she shared within the forest that her essence could reach, the extension of Noah’s newly created territory was profoundly clear to her. The mana within his territory was slightly richer than outside of its border, she could sense the plant life growing differently than those that were outside its borders, stronger, more livelier.

The realization filled her with the need to act. Her thoughts centered back to what she was, to what Noah told her the ’dryads’ that he was knowledgeable of would do throughout their lives. She thought about what she would be doing if she had never met Noah. Both situations left her feeling unfulfilled, even her ascension didn’t hold the same level of satisfaction to her current desires. For the first time, she was going to act for someone else on her own initiative.

Slight tremors began to ripple through the border where Noah’s territory ended and the untamed forest began. At first, the vibrations were subtle, barely noticeable, but they steadily grew in intensity, sending faint shivers through the ground. Within moments, the soil shifted, cracks forming and expanding as though something massive was stirring beneath the surface.

The scene was strikingly similar to when Noah had raised his own fortress from the earth, yet this time, the force shaping the land wasn’t his own. Dense, thick roots, erupted from the ground, moving as if the trees themselves were sentient and conscious of their physical being as the roots broke free from the soil. They stretched outward, reaching for the roots of neighboring trees.

The roots continued their directive, intertwining with one another in the formation of Pandora’s will. Slowly but steadily, they began to form a barrier, a natural wall that stretched nearly ten feet high. The spaces between the roots were narrow, leaving just enough room for something as small as a child to crawl through. It wasn’t nigh impenetrable, but to Pandora, it was perfect.

Since then, Pandora had waited, and waited, though for what, she wasn’t entirely sure. All she knew was an ache deep within her, a longing she couldn’t name but felt compelled to satisfy. Time passed, and her resolve faltered. The realization struck her suddenly and painfully: it wasn’t enough to act. What she truly desired was acknowledgment of her efforts.

And after waiting for so long, she couldn’t last another second as she appeared beside Noah with her illusionary ability of her new identity.

Even as Noah acknowledged her presence, Pandora remained unmoved, not knowing how to voice her desire.

”I did it...” She finally responded after some time, a response that bewildered both Noah and Ailetta. ”You did it?” Noah echoed the question, his brow furrowed slightly as his thoughts weaved through the last time he interacted with her, wondering if he told her to do something that he perhaps forgot about, but his search only came up empty.

Ailetta tilted her head, looking from Pandora to Noah. Her curiosity sharpened, understanding that Noah had no clue what was going on. That realization only made Ailetta more eager to uncover the mystery.

”What did you do exactly?”

For the first time since appearing, Pandora moved. Her illusionary head turned just slightly, the motion was slow, given her appearance, anyone else would become extremely tense from the creepy action as her glowing eyes locked on Ailetta. There was no malice in her gaze, but her silence lingered.

Noah’s attention shifted between the two. Though his curiosity over Pandora’s earlier statement burned, another concern took precedence: the unspoken dynamic between her and the rest of their group. He had noticed it before, Pandora’s reluctance to interact with anyone other than him.

During the silent standoff, Pandora was thinking deeply, determining if she should answer Ailetta. Besides Noah, she held no desire to interact with anyone else, she could sense the bond they all shared to Noah, but their existence was secondary at best. She wasn’t hostile to them, but the connection she shared with Noah far outweighed anything else, and interacting with anyone else felt....useless.

Still, Pandora considered the implications. Ailetta was close to Noah, and like all of Noah’s creatures that was bonded directly through him, they could subtlety sense his intentions. Right now Pandora could sense that Noah was eagerly watching their interaction.

This made her finally break her silence, though her words weren’t directed to Ailetta. ”I make....wall, to keep you safe.”

Noah arched a brow, his head turning to look behind him thinking that she was speaking of the wall conjured from the artifact that he now calls the dungeon’s core. He didn’t believe Pandora was speaking of that particular wall.

Instead of responding promptly, one of his spider appendages became enveloped in slime. The leg pointed towards the entrance of their home when it suddenly stretched out, stretching until it reached the center where the core continuously floated, embracing the core as it acted as an extension of itself. Although the core was connected to him, the core was still currently its own independent ”being”. Because of this, Noah couldn’t gain its insights or its usage unless he physically connected to it.

As he closed his eyes, concentrating both his mana and will to link with the core, the forest under his rule entered his mind.

Immediately, he sensed an anomaly that wasn’t there before. It was impossible to miss due to the fact that the scale of change was too large to overlook. Surprised, Noah opened his eyes again, looking intently towards Pandora.

”I didn’t know you were able to do that...”