Becoming a Monster

Chapter 263: Chapter 263: The Wrong Kind of Attention

Noah didn’t savor the moment of his victory. His mind was concerned with the notifications from his system.

[You leveled up, Fenrir leveled up, Arachne leveled up, Ailetta leveled up, Eve leveled up!]

Seeing the first set of notifications didn’t come as a surprise, with his attunement to his body, especially when it came to his spirit, he had already noticed an improvement, despite how minor it was. As for his creatures, his creatures were able to gain up to 30% increased experience, so it would be a miracle if they didn’t level up when he was able to.

His thoughts still remained calm to the information. Leveling up wasn’t as critical as it once was, at least, not in this instance. What he was more interested in was something else. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, he could only see if the answer to the entity’s suspicious behavior inside of him was contained within the notifications.

[Identifying a new strand of a potential higher strand of zombie DNA..The zombie strand, Vileborn can be integrated into your DNA, overwriting your dreadbeast gene. Would you like t-]

Still, he was met with another set of information as he quickly shifted down the list of contents about the warning. His rejection came without a shred of hesitation. The zombie was obviously powerful, but the power it had was not the power that he desired. He didn’t believe It was the trait itself that made the zombie so powerful, but it was the fact that it was a ’zombie’ that made its power transcend to such heights. Noah was confident that if he were to have met the zombie while it was still a human, the human wouldn’t be able to hold a candle when compared to their zombie counterpart.

Just from Noah’s memories alone, he was beginning to believe that zombies were more of an evolution of humans than awakening itself. From the moment when the new world first began, those who were turned into zombies already showed strength that surpassed the average human. The only fault in their existence was their mindless conscience that came with it. Atleast, that used to be a problem, but now, zombies are quickly becoming more than just mindless creatures.

If Noah was a gambling man, he wouldn’t be surprised if he himself became akin to a world ending creature if he were to be subjected to the same fate. Or even worse....If he allowed the true monster within himself to take over.

’It might be time for you, and I have a little talk again...’ Noah muttered to himself; the thought was only fleeting as his focus was still on the list as he continued to read further to the parts that explained Arachne’s new change’s.

[Arachne has consumed the gene, Abyssalith, merging herself to gain the race of a void spinner. She obtained the abilities, Voidwoven Armory, Voidsilk, and Abyssal Husk]

Voidwoven Armory(Lvl 0)- Consume a single piece of equipment, breaking it down and weaving its properties into your own body. Once devoured, the equipment is lost, but its abilities become part of your form until you choose to replace it.

Voidsilk(Lvl 0)- Your webs become permanently infused with your abyssal slime, making them exceptionally sticky and more dangerous. Your Constitution passively strengthens them, while infused mana can empower them. Your webs are affected by both Voidwoven Armory and Abyssal Husk.

Abyssal Husk(Lvl 0)- Reduces all initial incoming damage from elemental sources by 30% of your defense. When infused with mana, your exoskeleton can also mitigate both physical and elemental damage. Increase can go from 1%-10% depending on the amount of mana infused.

[Arachne’s exoskeleton, down to her entire webbing system has become that of an abyssalith, changing the very fabric of her race, a mutation that has significantly empowered both her mana vessels and her body’s constitution, increasing all of her stats by 25%.]

[Arachne has devoured the armor, runic beast armor, taking on the properties of the equipment and incorporating into her exoskeleton. Constitution has been increased by 50%, defense has also been increased exponentially.]

Name: Arachne

Level: 13

Attributes

Defense: 525

Strength: 252(366)

Agility: 625(713)

Constitution:187->200(375)

Stamina: 157(254)

Magic: 171

Spirit: 250->257

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As Noah looked over the contents, it wasn’t exactly what he was searching for, but he welcomed the information with pride. His spider was growing stronger and stronger. With her new transformation, she could now be considered the strongest out of all of his companions. That was if he didn’t account for potential. With Ailetta’s ability to continuously come up with ways to develop herself outside of her listed skills, the role of the strongest was constantly going to change.

Still...the welcome information wasn’t what he was searching for.

But then his heart rate spiked as he noticed there was still more. Instinctively he paused before he proceeded further just to mentally prepare himself.

[You have defeated an unlikely enemy who was unnaturally imbued with the power of divinity. A result that goes above that of which an inferior mortal could achieve despite the miniscule amount of divinity channeled. This accomplishment has been declared as an achievement, an achievement that will allow you to pick between two choices.]

It started with his heart, but now his mind was racing faster than his palpitations. It wasn’t fear, nor was it from excitement. In fact, he couldn’t say for sure what exactly led to the rising emotions within him.

”Defeating a being with divinity? So...a god?” Noah’s shock was drastic, not because his enemy had the power of a god, but because of a multitude of reasons that his mind was trying to unravel. The first was because even though he assumed that there were going to be enemies he would eventually encounter on the level of gods, he didn’t actually expect there to be actual gods. And that brought about the next level of his shock. If there were gods, then what exactly is the identity of the voice that seemed to be the true initiator of what was happening? A god above gods?

Thinking of that particular being, it made Noah reread the system’s words once again, the very system that came moments after that particular voice spoke to them for the first time. He couldn’t help but notice how the information was worded differently than it normally would be displayed. The difference was subtle, but unmistakable. The response felt less robotic, it wasn’t devoid of any semblance of personality, this time it felt....alive.

The phrase ”an inferior mortal,” was strange in itself, carrying a tone that almost seemed as if it was talking from a personal perspective or at least speaking on behalf of the person who created it.

Noah’s eyes abruptly snapped open as he stopped looking at the notifications, his head jerked to look up into the sky, the eye centered on his chest shifting just as fast as his other pupils.

His companions who were still acknowledging their hard-fought victory quickly noticed Noah’s irregularity. Ailetta was quick to call his name, but her words didn’t reach him.

Arachne, who still was in his arms, only shifted her head to look into the sky with him. However, when she didn’t notice any signs of danger, and her skill had never activated, she could only look onto Noah’s face with deep scrutiny.

______________

For the first time, the being that was surveying the world took in a keen interest in only one being. Their omniscient gaze centered itself on Noah, the enigma where all of the unnatural events were occurring the most.

The divine being was interested in Noah the moment that Noah obtained the same capabilities as the being that lived in the deepest realm. However, that alone was only enough for the being to consider Noah interesting out of a few other mortals in that realm, it was aware that Noah wasn’t the only special ”human”. But ever since Noah had lost himself to the entity within himself, Noah had risen to the top as the most interesting specimen out of the rest, even out of some of the more interesting beings in the other realms.

They could sense the irregular energy within Noah, an existence that defied any of the realms that was under their authority, an existence that they couldn’t sense before until now.

This revelation unsettled the divine being. They prided themselves on their omniscience, on their control over the countless realms that they managed to keep balanced and secure.

Despite Noah’s existence seemingly discrediting the divine beings’ efforts. The being was more intrigued by what Noah would accomplish when the later realms merged. That intrigued heightened even further with Noah’s later accolades. A slip within its powers showed. A figure in one of the higher realms was able to gain access to a realm that was supposed to be inaccessible. And that figure was able to accomplish it because of the very system that it granted the humans.

This was not something the divine being could ignore. The system was meant merely to be a tool to give humans a chance to live through the ordeal of merging all of the realms. But now, the being could sense that this loophole would lead to future exploitations if they did nothing. They were fully aware of how the beings in the deeper realms worked.

The divine being felt something they had not experienced in eons, uncertainty.

Was this an error in their judgment? A miscalculation in the balance they had so meticulously maintained?

Whatever the answer, they would not interfere. They couldn’t help realizing that the uncertainty that came with not being in control had created an emotion that they hadn’t felt since their existence, anticipation.

And because Noah helped them see their own limitations, they felt it right to reward Noah properly.

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Throughout all of this, Noah was unaware that he became the catalyst for the divine beings’ decision that would affect every mortal human. His thoughts and concerns no longer lingered on the puppeteer that was still out of his reach, but on reward that he was given. Looking at the two choices, he realized that the decision he had to make was probably one of the hardest he ever had to make in his life.

[Choice 1: Awakening the subclass, Apprentice Mage]

[Choice 2: Merge one of the two monster tamer’s awakening classes, Monster Legionnaire, or Druid Tamer.]