Becoming a Monster

Chapter 347: Chapter 347: Evolution by Design

Before Noah had left his home in search of the shop, he didn’t feel comfortable leaving both his dungeon core and Pandora to be protected only by the snake bound to her, Dummy, and Eve’s two creatures. That unease had gnawed at him longer than he admitted. After all, every day that had passed, both creatures and monsters had grown at an exponential rate.

Every day he believed he grew stronger, he had met a foe just as powerful, or even stronger. And after hearing about the ambush initiated on Pandora’s snake, an ambush that revealed the fact that both the ants and bees have colonized together in pursuit of creating hybrids that were already able to stand toe to toe with the snake even after consuming Pandora’s mutated fruit; he wasn’t naive enough to believe his home wouldn’t be attacked again. That small attack had to be a scouting party.

To prepare for such a scenario, he not only left Dummy and Eve’s two undead ant servants, but also created two golems, infusing them with the residual cores of both the serpent and the oiled zombie, creating golems that were on par if not stronger than Dummy.

But that wasn’t enough. Noah planned for something bigger, and that plan involved his Soulforge.

Although, he had four potential cores to use and he still had creatures who had yet to go through the transformation of becoming a true chimeric fallen. Noah was always hesitant to use the ability.

His usage for the skill was limited by the strength of his soul. With that, he only had the potential to turn a total of five creatures into his fallen. With Fenrir and Arachne taking up two of his chances, then Ailetta and Eve planning to create a soul that would purely suit their needs, that left only one slot.

With four cores, three of those were cores whose energy had already been used. Their potential was half as worthy as before. And even if they weren’t, their potential didn’t hold a candle to the one he chose to use. The very soul that he received from Edward, the zombie with the ability to absorb and assimilate the absorbed creatures stats and unique ability.

His soul, by far, was the most unique, and had limitless potential. So much so that the soul could potentially be more useful if used as the catalyst for his other creatures.

And yet, Noah still decided to use it on Dummy.

Because, when he used his Soulforge on both Fenrir and Arachne, he learned that simply merging them with an individual’s soul doesn’t mean that they will gain that beings exact ability. What happens is a merger, one where the host of the merger will take on that essence and shape it to cater to their own.

So Noah began to consider a different approach when it came to his Soulforge ability. He didn’t want to focus on the strength or usefulness of the soul being used as the catalyst. What he focused on most was how compatible was the skill to the creature receiving it. A soul, no matter how powerful, would never reach its full potential if forced into a vessel that couldn’t understand or harmonize with it.

That was why Dummy was chosen.

A creature whose body temporarily took on the qualities of the creatures it devoured, now merged with a soul that thrived on assimilation.

Dummy could potentially become a perfect evolution of gluttony.

And he did.

Not only was Dummy able to retain the stats and skill of the creature he consumed, but he also essentially gained an extra life from those creatures just like the zombie had done before. And most importantly, Dummy could also retain the essence of what he consumed permanently, until he replaced it with something else. If he ate metal, he could permanently coat his body with metallic plating as dense as what he consumed. If he tore into a beast with wings, he could sprout his own. And that wasn’t counting the skill and strength that came along with it.

Even this new evolution came with its limitations. Not everything could be perfect... not yet.

Despite his ability to consume and assimilate, he could only retain two unique skills at a time. Any new skill consumed beyond that limit would have to forcibly overwrite one of the previous two.

And while Dummy could absorb the strength of his prey, it came at a cost. The yield was minimal. Each creature only contributed a fraction of its total might. When Noah still had the system, it estimated only around one percent would be obtained, maybe even less depending on whether or not the ”food” came with its core.

The process was slow, exponential, but slow. One would grow tired of having their path set on endless eating. But that was why Noah thought the soul fit him perfectly, because Dummy never grew tired of eating. He practically lived for it.

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Pandora, however, was always restless, yet vigilant in her state of deep processing. Noah, her purpose, was gone. And in his absence, an existential loop had begun to spin. What should I do? What could I make that would have him acknowledge me again?

At the same time, her consciousness was aware of every subtle moment that was made inside of their territory. From Dummy’s voracious eating, to the unmoving golems, to a creature merely grazing in the grass. Nothing escaped her perception, and it never had before. But her vigilance was more active than normal. Noah had given her a purpose before he had left. To protect their home.

So she obeyed.

Hours of constant hyperawareness didn’t strain her in the slightest. Boredom wasn’t something she was capable of, at least not yet.

And suddenly, her consciousness caught on to something. Something was moving far faster, and more purposeful than anything she had monitored throughout the day, and they were heading towards the center of her domain, exactly where her main body was.

Her focus sharpened. Two small groups of enemies were flying towards them, while one group ran on the ground. The speed of the three groups were in sync, neither was moving faster than the other. They were eerily organized.

The three groups consisted of five creatures, and each group was led by a creature who radiated danger far above the others.

They were all unique bee hybrids, but each one had been created with a different purpose in mind.

The first was the very same creature that had attacked her serpent. One that appeared to be a balance of speed and strength, created for endurance and adaptability.

The second was sleek, remotely similar to the exoskeleton structure as the first. Its wings buzzed at an unnaturally higher frequency although it moved at the same speed as the others. Its antennae twitched, reacting to every minute movement around it, its eyes glinted with an awareness that nothing could escape its gaze. This one was purely built for speed.

Then the last one, it was a giant compared to the other two. It was as if it was a humanoid replica of the warrior hybrids that followed along in each group. Its bearlike appearance was still there, yet giant mandibles also adorned its monstrous jaws. Its bearlike traits hadn’t been erased, only amplified. This one retained its thick bristled fur around its torso, but the rest of its body was no different than a metal-bodied juggernaut.

Four thick limbs used as legs, reinforcing its body to lift and withstand force that none of its kind could overcome, while its two arms, thicker and longer than its other limbs were even more lethal than the stinger it no longer had.

Out of all the hybrids thus far, the third leader was the only creature that was without wings, its body was too monstrous for them to be practical. Instead, it relied entirely on its overwhelming strength to propel itself slower, inadvertently slowing down the advance of the rest of the party.

From Pandora’s perspective, their life force was stronger than the Dummy’s, but on the same level as the snake.

She only hesitated for a moment. There was the slightest chance that they weren’t enemies. But Pandora’s rule of thought was simple. Only those who had a spiritual connection with Noah were considered allies. The rest were all enemies.

With that rule in place, Pandora acted. An illusory form of her appeared near Dummy, while another version of her appeared in front of the two golems and the servants who stood near the fortress Noah had built.

Her words were brief, but the message was clear.

”Enemies.”

She spoke before breaking the illusion.

The serpent was the only one she didn’t take into consideration of creating a form to communicate with, but her message was delivered just as clearly.

The serpent’s eyes glittered with a cold sharpness. It was waiting for this moment. It was time to redeem itself.

The others moved, while the golems and the servants moved without hesitation, only Dummy moved with the eagerness of someone who wasn’t going to battle. To him, an enemy meant food. The stronger the meal, the more rewarding the feast.

The three groups weren’t aware that their presence had already been detected, but they could certainly feel the malice in the air. Pandora made no attempt to hide it.