Becoming a Monster-Chapter 56: The start of cannibalism?

The room fell into a hushed silence as all eyes turned to the shy figure clutching the skill parchment in his hands. He squirmed under the weight of their collective gaze, feeling the intensity of their scrutiny. Desperate to break the tension, he cleared his throat and began to speak about the skill he obtained.

"Purification??"

The room reverberated with the sounds of echoes all mindlessly repeating the name of the acquired spell. There were some questioning looks among the group,many harbored suspicious thoughts, while the others doubted the person in question. ’How could someone find a spell ’EXACTLY’ when we needed it most?’ was on their minds. This was too good to be true just to be coincidence, prompting them to wonder if they were being played for fools.

The shy individual who had spoken out about the skill could feel the weight of their doubt bearing down on him, causing nervous beads of sweat to form on his brow.

"Believe it or not, the skill is right here so why would I lie??" He retorted loudly, irritated by their accusatory judgment. "It’s just...." He began to look around nervously, his nervousness actually made the suspicious ones feel more relieved. ’So there is a catch’ They thought, yet, his next words took them by surprise. nonetheless.

"I...I have a skill that grants me luck." The answer surprised everyone, the more clever ones were more excited to hear this. That would make him a more valuable individual.

"But....It only works when it involves saving my life..." His voice faltered, his expression clouded with gloom. As the group processed his words, their eyes caught sight of the torn, blood-stained patches on his clothing.

"So he was infected...What kind of irony is this?"

Everyone soon recovered, but there was still one thing they needed to cover before making use of the skill.

"Who should hold on to the skill? And what happens if we roll for the wrong one?" Jasmine, who was unfamiliar with gaming, asked out. The question caused a silence to descend on everyone. The atmosphere seemed to start getting heavy.

Each member began to consider the implications. Who wouldn’t want a skill that could save their lives? Wouldn’t it be unfair if someone were given the skill and only used it for themselves? Or worse! What if the chosen holder of the skill died?

"What if we let our healers Rock Paper Scissors for it?" Just as the tension threatened to boil over into conflict, a voice cut through the silence from a distance. Then they saw Ailetta slowly making her way towards them, her hand pressed against her temple as she still experienced mild discomfort.

"Ailetta?" Both Jas and Bailey had the same urge to support her, but stopped and looked at one another when they noticed they had the same thought. Jasmine relented under the staring contest, her thoughts flashing back to the recent danger Ailetta had faced alone, guilt for not supporting her friend filled her heart.

"Tsk! And why does it have to be a healer? Anyone of us can still use the skill." Mark growled annoyingly, shooting an irritated glance at Ailetta. She was the only person who irritated Mark as much as Noah did, especially after he learned of their relationship.

But Ailetta disregarded his gaze, turning instead to address the rest of the group. "If we have our healers roll for the spell, there’s a higher likelihood that they will obtain the skill, considering they already possess the heal skill. There should be a low possibility of obtaining the same skill twice, so that we don’t waste this chance let’s have our healers roll for it to be safe."

The majority of the group readily agreed with her proposal. Among the healers were only three candidates: Isabelle, one of Mark’s companions, and a woman from another battle-hardened group that had confronted one of the zombie king’s retainers.

While Isabelle specialized in healing, the other two focused more on support skills for combat. Each of them recognized the significance of the skill and felt the weight of responsibility as they gazed upon the scroll. Under such pressure, the other two healers didn’t even attempt to challenge for it, leaving Isabelle as the eventual recipient of the skill.

The tension in the room reached its peak as they awaited Isabelle’s success in obtaining the skill. Every eye was fixed upon her, scrutinizing every subtle movement and expression. Anxious anticipation filled the air as they observed her closed eyes wince, her forehead occasionally creasing in concentration.

Even when she opened her eyes, her expression remained as blank and cold as before, revealing none of the emotions swirling within her. The morning’s trauma had left her devoid of any sense of gratification, so acquiring a skill of such worth failed to evoke any satisfaction within her.

Finally, she spoke, her voice devoid of its usual warmth. "I did obtain the skill." she announced, her tone flat. "It doesn’t specifically say if it will cure the infection. It only mentions the removal of negative ailments, but that also depends on the level of the skill."

A sense of foreboding began to creep over the group as they heard the description of the skill. They were eager to test its effectiveness immediately, but they overlooked one crucial detail: Isabelle’s depleted mana reserves rendered her unable to cast the spell, at least for the time being.

They hastily gathered their belongings, scouring through their supplies for anything that could aid them. While they weren’t fortunate enough to find a cure like Noah did, they did stumble upon a red potion. Given their familiarity with video games, they assumed it was a health potion, their best shot at restoring vitality in this dire situation.

With little else of immediate use, save for some gear, a few additional skills, and a handful of attribute orbs, they resolved to regroup at the cafeteria. They recognized the importance of sticking together, especially after the traumatic ordeal they had just endured. Their primary objective now was to seek out other survivors and find refuge under government protection.

Meanwhile, Noah had finally arrived at the cafeteria, albeit at a slower pace than he’d hoped for. However, as he took in his surroundings, he noticed a subtle shift in the environment. It wasn’t just the animals that were mutating; something else seemed to be changing, and it wasn’t for the better.

The grass had lengthened enough to brush against Noah’s shins, while the surrounding plant life had also flourished. Trees stretched an additional foot, their leaves more expansive, lending the area a wild, untamed appearance. Fortunately, the campus hadn’t prioritized extensive landscaping, or navigating to the cafeteria would have been as perilous as traversing through a horde of zombies.

While it wasn’t quite a jungle yet, the overgrowth provided ample cover for lurking creatures to launch surprise attacks.

Noah glanced over to Arachne, his expression tinged with annoyance. It wasn’t directed at her, but rather at the spiders they encountered on the way to the cafeteria. The average size of each one was half the size of Arachne. However, unlike Arachne who used her body to hunt, the breed they encountered were spiders that specialized in using their webs.

Noah could’ve easily avoided the lair of webs in the vicinity, but there was no need to with Fenrir leading the way. He just wasn’t prepared for the barrage of webs to come shooting in his direction. Webs shot out from multiple directions, a dense network entangled with branches and bushes that had similarly grown in size.

The skirmish would have dragged on longer if not for Fenrir’s intimidating roar, which effectively unnerved the spider creatures, relying on their instincts. Noah had hoped Arachne’s presence would deter the creatures, but without her queenly status, she was perceived as just another obstacle in the spiders’ pursuit of prey.

After dispatching the remaining spiders they couldn’t outright kill, Noah retrieved the silver chest they had dropped. Inside, he found a curved dagger, its tip coated in a green, non-corrosive liquid that oozed out when pressed against a surface. Noah surmised the dagger must be poisoned, sliding it into the side pocket of his bag for easy access.

There were also a pair of fingerless gloves in the chest. Noah still wore his bracers, unused until now, if one discounted the shower incident. He swiftly replaced the metal gloves with the new leather-like ones. Sensing no discernible difference when wearing them, Noah chose not to overthink it. They were from a silver chest, so they must serve some purpose—at least, that was his hope.

Noah stored away the meager amount of gold he found, disappointed by the lack of valuable items in the chest this time. But considering they hadn’t slain many spiders, the scarcity of loot seemed justified.

As they prepared to depart, Noah noticed Arachne lingering near the head of one of the fallen spiders. Curious, he approached to investigate. Rather than feasting as usual, Arachne was using her legs to rummage through the spider’s abdomen.

"What are you up to, Arachne?" Noah questioned, intrigued by her behavior. He watched intently as she unearthed a pearl-like object from the spider’s innards. Well that’s how it looked from Noah’s perspective, but their hind was also where their hearts were located.

Arachne swiftly stuffed the pearl into her mouth, remaining still for a few moments before moving on to the next one. Ignoring Noah’s need for answers, she seemed absorbed in her own task. Noah, feeling frustrated by her indifference, considered dissecting his own spider to uncover the information he sought. However, a soft ringing in his head interrupted his thoughts, prompting him to pause and investigate. He speculated that the ringing might be a result of the earlier fighting, but he couldn’t ignore the possibility that it held the answers he was looking for.

[Fenrir Level Up! +5 attributes.]

[Arachne Level Up! +5 attributes.]

[Your tamed creature Arachne has consumed the mana source of its compatible species. Mana and progression of its skills linked to the mana source has been increased.]

"Wait, wait, nooo....so does that mean..." Noah struggled to concentrate as he processed the implications of the new information. His mind raced with thoughts about the hidden potential of what he had observed. If this phenomenon applied to spiders, could it also affect humans? He had already witnessed the daunting requirements for upgrading skills at level 0; he could only imagine how challenging it would be at higher levels. That thought weighed heavily on him, preventing him from wanting to check the upgrade requirements of his newly upgraded skill.

’What if humans had the same pearl to help increase my skills and what if that was also the reason zombies are growing so fast? Wait! Do zombies have them too?’ Noah’s mind raced with questions as he pondered the connections of the pearl’s effects on different creatures. He needed to get to the bottom of it, but there was still something more immediate to deal with.

"Hey! At least leave one for me!" He rushed to push Arachne out of the way as she dug for the next pearl. There were only two more spiders left, and he wanted to observe the progression in which the pearls increased their skills, but Arachne was being selfish.

"Don’t fuss, when I recover more mana, then I’ll give you more of my webs. Or would you rather I find a male spider for you?" Noah asked with a smirk, but his expression changed to shock as he had to dodge an incoming leg aimed at him.

’How is a weakingly comparable to delicious food?’ Noah wanted to laugh, but for some reason he couldn’t. She was just on another level of a foodie. Delving his hand into the spider’s body, Noah navigated around its squishy innards without flinching. The sensation didn’t faze him; if anything, he had to resist the urge to indulge in another meal. He realized he could use the spider corpses to level up his skills gained from his chimera race, regretting letting the others escape. However, he quickly dismissed the thought, knowing he didn’t have time to consume them all and didn’t want to attract unnecessary dangers.

Finding the pearl-like object wasn’t difficult, and without bothering to wipe off the guts and blood, Noah popped it into his mouth. He felt the pearl slide down his throat before dissolving.

Noah’s excitement bubbled as he entertained the possibility. If the pearl worked for him too, he looked forward to encountering more spiders in the future, and perhaps even zombies that could possess these valuable pearls. He didn’t yet realize the significance of being able to obtain benefits from a zombie core.

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