Becoming a Monster-Chapter 68: Frog in a Well

Within the chest, Noah retrieved the first items, setting a green orb off to the side. He had received every color besides that, he could only assume it was agility, perfect for Arachne.

Next he pulled out a pair of what he would consider to be brown sneakers that had a imprint of wings on the side of them.

His eyes brightened when the thought of flying entered his thoughts but then he calmed himself. He didn’t really believe the shoes could allow him to fly but the thought was sure enticing. Before he did anything else he removed his bloody boots he had on to put on the new ones. The ones he had now felt almost weightless. It may not have been as durable as the boots before, but when he checked his stats, he saw that the shoes increased his agility by five instead of the boots two.

After that, he picked up some leather armor pants that matched the ugly brown color of the shoes with the wings logo. It wasn’t something he wanted to put on over what he already had, so he decided to stuff it into his bag.

When he finished recovering the little bit of gold within the chest, he noticed a medium-sized pile of bloodied, crushed hearts of the remain zombies piled close beside him.

’Must’ve been Fenrir’s handiwork...’ Noah thought, taking a glance at his two creatures who appeared more proud doing such a simple task than actually killing monsters for him.

"Haha~ you both did great." Noah praised, patting Fenrir on the head and giving Arachne the agility orb he obtained from the loot. "Go on, do whatever you want while I take care of this, but don’t go far, alright?"

From his connection with Arachne, he could tell that she felt extremely proud of his praise, while Fenrir’s actions alone were enough to indicate his happiness. Surprisingly, Arachne didn’t go off to eat like he thought she would; instead, she walked over by his side and made herself comfortable.

’Well I can’t expect her to always eat, she has to get full at some point, and that fat thing should’ve definitely satisfied her. But I have no words for him...’ Noah glanced towards Fenrir, who was busy with the two vulture’s bodies. Noah seriously doubted that Fenrir could ever get full, but considering his size, everything seemed more reasonable.

Noah quickly rummaged through the piles of hearts to obtain their cores, stuffing them in his mouth, relishing them as if they delicious sweets. The cores themselves were tasteless, but the flow of invigorating mana that entered his body gave him the impression that the cores were the most refreshing snack in the world. With everything taken care of, he then checked his notifications to get a sense of his improvements.

’So eating almost twenty something cores increased my mana by two. How can It feel lackluster and rewarding at the same time?’ Noah complained out of habit. His rate of growth has been exponentially faster than the people that he’s encountered; incremental increases in his strength always left him wanting more. His thoughts and behavior would be seen as ungrateful in the eyes of many, but it was because of this mindset that instilled Noah to continuously improve.

He was always searching for a way to obtain immediate gains, reflecting on the minimal benefits he acquired to gain a bigger picture for his growth since he was never satisfied. That trait led him to notice a glaring observation that was holding him back.

"Not being able to upgrade my skills without that stone might become a problem. Maybe that’s what the quote ’a jack of all trades, a master on none’ means. Having too many skills isn’t always better; I’ll have to really consider what to level up next when I obtain another one," Noah pondered to himself.

As he was about to get up to leave, he noticed the increase in stats from wearing the new shoes, prompting a thought he had overlooked until now. He looked down at the eerie sword in his hands with a frown.

"This was from a boss monster and it doesn’t give me anything except being ridiculously heavy and sharp? No...There has to be something to it...lets try..."

Running one of his fingers along the blade, he easily caused blood to appear, as his constitution was not as high as it used to be. He then used the bloody finger to smear the blood on the blade and some on the hilt for safe measure, checking his stats again.

’....Nothing? This sword is just too good to not have any effects or stat boost. But I can’t spend all day thinking about it if I don’t even have an idea of what to do.’ Noah muttered, feeling frustrated with himself for not being able to figure out the niche.

He gave up for now and prepared himself to leave, about to call out for his companions when he noticed a wound on Arachne, the same one created by the vulture from before. Rushing over to her, there was a sense of panic in his step, even though the wound didn’t seem to trouble her in the least, which was partly the reason Noah was able to overlook her injury. Unbeknownst to him, Grim’s death had left a small trauma in his heart. Having never confronted such emotions before, he remained unaware of the change stirring within him.

Desperate to heal Arachne before her condition could worsen, Noah finally made use of his healing skill. Moments passed while the skill was in use, and soon the wound stopped bleeding before it began to heal in real-time. His skill compared to the healers he had seen before couldn’t be compared given how high his stats were. Sadly, the skill could only be used on creatures.

Noah didn’t hesitate to move on after. His next step was to head past the building leading to the main lot. If nothing came out from the open doors of the center by now, then he was confident that there was nothing that could endanger him within.

On the way there, he was able to make out the smoke in the air more clearly, with alarms blaring nonstop from the traffic of cars. The only thing he realized was missing were the screams.

Having made it past the other side, he was met with a chaotic sight. Cars were piled on top of one another, while dead bodies lay inside the vehicles and many were scattered throughout the lot. There were multitudes of cars emitting smoke, the air was thick with the pungent scent of burning rubber and fuel, ready to explode if they hadn’t already.

Amidst the wreckage and carnage, Noah spotted zombies scattered throughout the area. They roamed aimlessly among the twisted metal and burning vehicles, their dull eyes scanning their surroundings for any signs of life. It wasn’t a lot, maybe a little under seventy. Given the scale of the disaster and the potential for survivors to have fled through this area, the number could be justified as small. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

’Well, I was expecting this,’ Noah thought to himself. ’All the noise is on the other side, so of course they wouldn’t stay here. Still, I won’t let this experience go to waste.’

Gunshots!*

Noah was about to start moving again when he heard sounds blaring on the other side. And not just any sounds, the sounds were of multiple guns shooting in rapid succession like an automatic weapon.

’The police? Or is it the army?’ Noah’s mind raced with possibilities. His instinct told him to find another way out if it was either of them. He felt that people in law enforcement or anything that had to do with the government would try to exploit his strength, justifying it by saying he owed it to the people because he was strong.

Plus, they had guns! Noah was unsure regarding Arachne and Fenrir, but he believed that guns were still lethal to him, especially during his recovery.

"Aaahhhhh!"

Before he could decide on his next move, screams pierced through the sounds of gunfire.

Noah’s curiosity peaked upon hearing the screams and gunfire. "What the hell are they fighting?" he muttered to himself, unable to shake off his desire to know more. Determined to investigate, he began to make his way through the maze of cars, opting to walk over them instead of around them to ease his progress.

"Fenrir, Arachne! Help me finish up the zombies here."

Even though he was interested in what was going on the other side, that didn’t mean he could ignore the experience trying to make their way towards the sounds too.

Thud! Thud!

As Noah made his way forward, the sound of two heavy objects landing on the roofs of cars sounded. Arachne and Fenrir were naturals of parkour, swiftly making their way to their prey. Meanwhile, Noah wasn’t going to participate in this fight, he was already struggling to traverse across the cars while holding his sword.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

"Don’t stop shooting! Just maintain your distance, idiots! If it can’t reach us the-"

A man clad in all black shouted orders to his group, armed with an assortment of weapons from pistols to assault rifles. However, mid-sentence, his voice abruptly cut off, leaving him standing in a daze, conscious of the abnormality concerning his body but unable to move. His companions sensed something was amiss after his orders were interrupted.

They ceased firing to watch in horror as blood began to seep from his body, starting from the center and flowing down to his feet. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, the man’s body contorted in agony as a deep, guttural sound escaped his lips. Then, in a horrifying display, his body split perfectly in half, a gruesome scene that came as a traumatizing sight.

Though they didn’t witness the exact cause, they knew who was responsible. Despite their shock, they quickly resumed firing their weapons, desperate to avoid the same fate as their commander.

"Kill that bitch!"

The group became riled up even more to take down the one responsible. With over fifty people armed with guns, they appeared to be a well-organized force, distinct from both the military and the police. And they weren’t alone.

Another set of cars arrived from the other side of the road, and groups of people hurried out, all wielding guns. Unlike the first group, these newcomers arrived in black SUVs, compared to the other groups whose cars ranged from different colored luxury cars and models.

They didn’t immediately fire, they kept their vigilance up around them to observe what’s going on as they waited for their leader to give orders.

Among the pattern of similar vehicles, one stood out, a black Hummer. Instead of the door swinging open, the window rolled down, revealing an older man with full gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard peering out from within.

"Don’t worry about the others, just kill that beast so we can go find my princess!" The old man’s face appeared calm, but his voice betrayed his anxiety.

His group nodded in acknowledgment and cautiously advanced, their weapons at the ready. They couldn’t show it, but as they laid eyes on their target, fear gripped them.

Before them stood a creature, once a woman but now transformed into something beyond comprehension. She was no mere zombie—she was a grotesque aberration of nature. Tentacles, that was the first thing they saw when they spotted her. It wasn’t the kind of tentacles you would see from an octopus, but more akin to muscles and tendons woven together in a horrifying display.

The sight was terrifying. And it wasn’t just a few, the tentacles would emerge from her back like bees from its hive, each stretching for meters, moving with astonishing speed and lethal precision! That alone wasn’t what made her so frightening.

The tentacles were more than mere appendages; they were deadly weapons capable of slicing through flesh with frightening ease. And whenever bullets approached her, she would surround herself with tentacles, forming a protective barrier around her vital areas while using her unused tentacles to attack.

But they had guns! Even though they were afraid, holding the guns gave them courage to take on anything. They had the courage to trek through the city to get here because of the security provided by their weapons. The zombies and animals they met so far were easily put down when shot in the head, allowing them to level up with ease, growing stronger with minimal threat on their lives.

With their newfound strength and weapons, they ignored the accumulating fear and rain down bullets on the monstrosity before them.

As another group arrived to offer support, their attacks intensified, accompanied by fervent battle cries.

Whoosh!

The monster shielded her face from the bullets, rendering her vision obscured, but she could discern the direction of the gunfire through the impact of the bullets. With unnatural precision, she unexpectedly lashed out with one of her tentacles in a sweeping motion towards the source.

Meanwhile, the second group, unaware of the monster’s swift and far-reaching attacks, relied on their enhanced stats to react in time, narrowly avoiding the tentacles of death, at least some were fortunate to react.

"Duck!"

"Get back!"

The air was filled with urgent shouts, drowning out the gunfire. Most people reacted in time, but five hesitated and could only feel something swiping across their midsections. Confusion clouded their expressions as they looked down, only to see blood spurting from their lips before their bodies toppled over involuntarily.

——

"...."

’I’m not prepared for this shit!’ Four pupils stared through the gates watching everything transpire.

Noah could discern that the creature before them was one of the zombies that had "broken its limits," as the god had mentioned before. Initially, he believed his stats were high enough to contend against these so-called superior creatures. However, witnessing the one-sided slaughter made him realize the harsh reality: even with his abilities, there was a chance he could die.

In shock, Noah watched as more people fell victim to the monster. His gaze turned solemn as he absorbed the grim reality. He saw what he needed to see, he turned back around and began to make his way back to the campus with a determined expression, he knew what he needed to do.

His creatures were still engrossed in watching the monster’s slaughter,it took them a few seconds to realize that Noah was walking away. Too preoccupied to call out, Noah pressed on, his thoughts consumed with his new realization.

’Just reaching level ten won’t cut it...If I’m going to do this on my own, then I need those two to evolve as well. It seems that the tutorial stage is over.’ Noah thought to himself. He cast one last glance back before heading toward an area where he was certain there would be something to kill. He just hoped it wasn’t anything similar to the monstrous creature he had just witnessed.

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