Reborn As An Evolving Monster

Chapter 20 Stronger

?Mark sat up.

'A dream, huh? Or more like a nightmare, I guess...'

His thoughts raced.

'Are my dreams influenced by the System?'

[Negative.]

Mark thought deeply about his so-called "nightmare".

But as is often the case with dreams, his memory of it was blurry, hazy.

'I am a Monster, huh? But I'm still Mark. Tsk. Not that I know who that is... I just can't remember. But it's still me. The core of who I am didn't change...'

More than anything, dreams were easily forgotten.

Fleeting.

'It feels distant, but it's definitely important.'

Mark stood up.

'Saying that I am a Monster doesn't feel right though. Mm. Let's just say... Something between Mark and a Monster. Yeah. For now, that's good enough.'

He turned his gaze to Kalès.

Mark thankfully noted that his Underling was still taller than him, although not by a lot anymore.

He lowered his gaze.

'Feels good to have a left arm. Oh. I wonder if that's what that was about...'

Sturdy muscles.

Coverering parts of his body, was a blueish pelt.

'I'd like to think about that dream more, but...'

Mark raised his hands and clenched his fists many times.

A blueish aura appeared over his arms.

'My muscles are twitching. I'm overflowing with strength and energy.'

Mark reached over his head and found two fierce horns that pointed forward.

He brought his hand to his mouth.

'No fangs. No claws. Mm...'

After taking a step forward, Mark tripped, before balancing himself.

'Huh... I'll have to get used to this.'

As a Minotaur Monster, his feet were the same as those of bulls.

After getting comfortable with his new body, Mark finally checked his Stats.

[ Stats: Strength: 205

Agility: 70

Sense: 65

Vigor: 400

Endurance: 300

Mana: 500

]

Mark's new heart started beating faster.

'Mana, Vigor, and Endurance are way higher... Wait, my Strength Stat is...!'

He hurriedly turned towards Kalès and extended a hand towards him.

'Push me.'

The Underling tried his best.

Even when using two hands, Kalès could barely move Mark away from the spot he stood on.

'You can stop. Damn. This is new. Being strong is good. But being stronger than my Underlings...'

Mark's heart skipped a beat from the excitement.

'Feels pretty damn good!'

The Monster immediately left the room.

Excited to test its new strength.

...

Once Kalès, Mark's least agile Underling, arrived, a pile of Higher Minotaurs and Minotaurs was under Mark.

'2 Higher Minotaurs and 3 Minotaurs... Each one died from a punch to the chest or stomach...'

Mark started devouring them, without a care in the world.

'I've basically evolved into the Guardian, huh? Even though I technically only ate one of them. How come, back then, I could only Evolve into a Weakened Inferior Demon? What's the difference?'

[That information is unavailable.]

'Mm. I've devoured one of both. The only logical answer I can think of is that I've devoured plenty of other Minotaur Monsters. Those were used to fill up the missing... Materials? Or something? Anyway, tell me about those new Skills now.'

[Royal Minotaur's Aura [C-]:

A Passive Skill that activates to raise the user's defenses or attack power.

]

[Royalty's Barrier [D+]:

A Magic Skill that allows the user to protect himself using a durable and strong barrier.

Mana Cost: 50 Mana Points.

]

'Not bad. So that's what that aura was...'

After Mark devoured the three Minotaurs, he revived the two Higher Minotaurs.

'Time for me to ask, I guess. Can I fight the new Guardians on the Lower Floors?'

[Negative.]

[Guardians will no longer be placed on the Cleared Floors.]

'Huh... I guess I wasn't told that Monsters were coming to this Floor.'

[Correct.]

[Guardians are mainly made to protect the Floor they are on.]

'So?'

[The Cleared Floors do not need to be protected anymore.]

'Because I'm not on them? Or because I'm strong enough now?'

[Both.]

[The Boss Rooms will remain empty.]

'Tsk. Doesn't change my plans much. To expect the ability to farm Guardians was a bit too much.'

Mark turned towards the two Higher Minotaurs he had just revived.

He threw two Pouches at each one of them.

'Go back to the Ninth Floor. Bring back any Monsters that use poison, paralysis, venom, or even thunder like those Thunder Eagles. Anything that has Skills is welcomed. Also, you can bring multiple Monsters from the same species. You should be more than strong enough. Go.'

The two Monsters obeyed.

'After killing five Monsters, I already leveled up... That's to be expected since each one gives more than 1000 Experience Points. Guess I'll farm a bit. Oh...'

Mark threw two Pouches at Kalès.

'You too. Try not to die.'

Since Kira, the Higher Minotaurs, and Mark himself were stronger than Kalès, he lost a bit of respect for his previously strongest Underling Monster.

But that was the way of an ever-evolving Monster.

An Evolving Monster that devours everything, in its way to get stronger.

An Evolving Monster that devours everything, on its ascension to the top.

...

'Wonder if I should get rid of Kalès. I've grown fond of him, but he's weaker than Higher Minotaurs. Makes sense. This is the Eighth Floor and he was the Tenth Floor's Guardian...' Mark thought.

His three Underlings were dumping the Monsters they had hunted in front of him.

'Reviving Kira and Kalès was the right decision though. Maybe I should have revived this Floor's Guardian too. After all, I'm now as strong as he was, approximately. The revived Guardian AND myself would be a stronger team than me with the Guardian's strength...' Mark thought as he devoured the unmoving Monsters.

After devouring all of them, he had gained two new Skills.

"Water Resistance" from Lizardmen and "Night Vision" from Poisonous Bats.

A second later, Mark felt a presence coming from behind him.

'Mm, that might be entirely false...'

A black javelin appeared in his hand.

A blueish aura engulfed both his arm and the javelin.

Mark threw it with all his strength towards the incoming Higher Minotaur.

'I think I'm stronger than the Guardian was, I think.'

The javelin was thrown with so much strength that it easily made a hole in the Monster's chest, before turning into the corrupting liquid.

[You have defeated a Higher Minotaur. 1500 Gold Coins and 3000 Experience Points earned.]

'My Mana has increased a lot. My strength too, obviously. And since I have more Skills than the Guardian had, this makes me a lot stronger.'

Mark instantly fused the two Higher Minotaur Underlings with the dead Monster.

'I can decide how many Experience Points my Underlings get, right?'

[Correct.]

'Alright. I'll call this guy XP, and I'll take 100% of the Experience Points he gets from defeating Monsters.' Mark thought as he looked at his new Underling.

[Your Revived Monster shall gain 0% of the Experience Points dropped by the Monsters it defeats.]

'You should be strong enough to deal with all the Monsters here. Except if that calamity comes back. You'll stay on this Floor and kill as many Monsters as possible.'

XP obeyed and started looking for Monsters to slay.

'Alright, that's one thing done...' Mark turned towards Kalès. 'What do I do with you now?'

Mark remembered something.

'I got three Skill Points, right?'

[Correct.]

'Show me all my Skills. It's been a while since I last checked them. Separate the Passive Skills from the Magic Skills.'

[You currently possess:

Passive Skills:

Slash[F+] - Pierce[F+] - Assassin's Movements[E] - Heavy Tail Flick[E] - Demon Senses[D] - Intimidating Stare [E] - Flight[F] - Royal Minotaur's Aura [C-] - Night Vision[F+] - Water Resistance [E].

Magic Skills:

Corrupting Javelin[C-] - Fire Bomb[E-] - Stone Armor[F+] - Abyssal Fusion[B-] - Evolving Abyssal Underlings [A-] - Bone Manipulation [D+] - Thunderbolt [E] - Royalty's Barrier [D+]. ]

'Alright. Corrupting Javelin is good enough as it is. I'd like to have more options when it comes to offense though. I'll use a Skill Point on Thunderbolt.'

[You have used one Skill Point.]

[Your Skill "Thunderbolt" is evolving...]

[Your Magic Skill "Thunderbolt[E]" has evolved into "Staggering Thunder[E+]".]

'Cool. The second Skill Point goes to... Abyssal Fusion.'

[You have used one Skill Point.]

[Your Skill "Abyssal Fusion" is evolving...]

[Your Magic Skill "Abyssal Fusion[B-]" has evolved into "Abyssal Binding[B+]".]

'The difference?'

[The Base Monster for the Binding can be chosen.]

'Nice. That's what I hoped for.'

Mark looked at his Underlings: Light, Kira and Kalès.

'I like Light as he is. He's not an Abyssal Monster anyways. Kira and Kalès on the other hand are. I'd like Kira to be my only big Monster. Kalès has to be fused though. Even if the result of the fusion is disappointing, I can always discard him... Alright, let's look for some guys to fuse you with.'

The group walked towards the Guardian's room.

In front of its doors, two Minotaur Guards stood tall.

'These guys should be good. After all, other than the Guardian and the Calamity Of Minos, they're the strongest around here.'

The two Monsters were easily dealt with.

Mark looked at the unmoving Monsters.

He felt a bit put off by them.

'After devouring the Guardian, these guys really don't look appetizing at all.'

Mark revived one of the Minotaur Guards.

After that, he walked towards Kalès.

As soon as Mark touched his Underling, Kalès turned into a red ball of energy.

'Cool...' Mark thought, as the ball of energy hovered above his hand.

He did the same to the Minotaur Guards.

Three balls of red abyssal energy floated above Mark's hand.

'So I don't need to Revive them first when using Abyssal Binding?'

[Select which Underling Monster will be the base for the Abyssal Binding.]

'Kalès will be the base.'

The next instant, the ball of energy, that Kalès had transformed into, engulfed the other two.

'It looks like it's eating them. Devouring them, I should say...'

The three orbs became one.

It seemed denser.

As the ball of dense energy started getting bigger, Mark stepped back.

[You have used Abyssal Binding.]

[You have given birth to a new Abyssal Monster.]

[Your Underling Monster is an "Orc Of Minos[C-]".]

'Minos?'

As the red light faded, the new Underling appeared.

Kalès' head was more or less the same.

But he had grown from four meters tall to approximately six.

He was also a lot more muscular than before.

'He looks... Beefier?'

On his arms, chest and shoulders was a reddish pelt.

Two black horns were growing out of his head.

They pointed forward.

His legs were covered in reddish fur too, but they did not resemble those of Minotaurs.

'That's a success... Maybe? Show me his Status before I can decide.'

[ Name: Kalès

Species & Level : Orc Of Minos Lv1 (0/10.000Exp)

HP: 7500/7500

Endurance: 3000/3000

Mana Points: 1500/1500

Stats: Strength: 165

Agility: 45

Sense: 30

Vigor: 750

Endurance: 300

Mana: 150

Skill(s): Condensed Fire Ball.

Life Force Stream.

War Shout.

]

'So you kept that Life Force Stream Skill, huh?'