Becoming a Monster-Chapter 85: Nothing good comes from a Glutton

As he bent down to open the chest, a subtle prodding in the back of Noah’s mind hinted at a notification awaiting his attention. However, his curiosity toward the chest demanded satisfaction before he could divert his focus elsewhere.

Upon opening the chest, Noah was greeted by an intense yellow light reflecting off the gold inside. The increasing darkness of the night made the light momentarily blinding. "Fuck!" he cursed, feeling the intensity of the light with four pupils to bear it. Shielding his eyes with one hand, he reached inside the chest and retrieved the glowing orb. As long as the light didn’t reflect off the gold coins, he could manage.

Examining the orb, Noah realized it was similar in size to the one he had given to Fenrir, but this orb was for the stamina attribute. Lately, he had been giving every orb he found to his creatures to enhance their strength. However, now that he had discovered a way to continuously empower them, he felt less inclined to do so and decided to use the orbs for himself again.

[+25 stamina]

"Well, I can’t say it’s the best attribute I would want to increase, but I’m not complaining about free stats!" Noah thought as he readjusted himself to get comfortable. Obtaining such an orb as the first item filled him with hope for what else might lie within the chest. Without wasting a moment, he reached for the next item and pulled out a long piece of light grey cloth.

Initially, he frowned, thinking it resembled the same material as the short cloak he had obtained earlier. However, when he attempted to rip it apart, he found it indestructible. His eyes lit up with excitement as he reached for his ring and retrieved his dagger to test the cloth’s durability.

"Ha, hahaha! This thing is great!" he cheered as even the dagger failed to tear through it, despite him exerting all of his meager strength. Satisfied with its durability, Noah quickly discarded the chest piece he had been wearing, feeling constricted by his current full gear set. The small attributes weren’t worth the discomfort, and he resolved to find better gear in the future.

After shedding the top piece of his armor, Noah adjusted the cloak around his shoulders, allowing it to cascade down to his knees. As he ran his fingers along the fabric, he discovered a hidden hood concealed at the back of his neck. With a satisfied nod, Noah pulled the hood up, completing his ensemble with a flourish that felt oddly fitting, as if the cloak had been tailor-made for him all along.

"It looks great and it feels great, but what does it give me?" Noah wondered aloud as he reached to check the increase of his stats.

[Player: Noah

Race:Human? Chimera ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Class: Monster Evolutionist

SubClass: Apprentice Mage

’Eh? Subclass?’ Noah was stumped by the first set of information before being able to check his stats that had looked up the upgrade of his skill. His first instinct was to scrutinize the implications of the class being a subclass compared to a normal class. His first thought was unsettling, whilst the next didn’t help to improve his mood.

"The subclass doesn’t appear to have a level of its own. And yet I’m level ten and the class hasn’t advanced. Does that mean that obtaining a basic class this way makes it impossible to advance?" His worry continued to echo amidst his thoughts. When considering obtaining the class, Noah made the decision with the anticipation of advancing something in the future, but now his planning wasn’t turning out so well.

Frustration bubbled up within him. If this subclass was a dead end, it could potentially hinder his growth and limit his potential. He needed to find answers, at least he should properly understand the full benefits of obtaining the subclass. His mind raced, a mental checklist forming of all the things he could obtain and feats he could perform with the notion of his class not being able to advance. Within minutes of focused tunneling, Noah was feeling considerably better about his situation.

"Here I am judging without understanding anything at all. Why am I so hung up on just advancing my class when I receive so many benefits already? The countless basic skills that I can still place in my arsenal, the combinations that I could achieve..."

He paused, letting the realization sink in. "Maybe this subclass isn’t a dead end after all," he mused, a small mental smile forming. "It’s a foundation, a chance to become something entirely better. I’ll make this work, and I’ll be stronger for it."

Gold: 3751

Lvl: 10

Exp:2543/12800->3865/12800

Health:100%

Stamina:100%->94%

Mana: 320/320->197/320

Attributes

Defense: 25>40

Strength:42(46) +5

Agility:60(66) +7

Constitution:95(105) +10>+5

Stamina:57>82(90) +5

Magic: 145(160)

Spirit: 160(216) +25

’Hmmm’ Noah pondered over his stats, feeling a sense of disappointment. Despite the cloak’s stylish appearance, the stat boost it provided felt underwhelming.

"Well, I guess the defense is still a huge boon compared to what I could get. If I think of the cloak as part of an entire set, then it’s actually pretty good. Why can’t these chests drop more loot, damn it..." Noah lamented, feeling frustrated that others in groups seemed to gain more benefits than him. He turned his attention to the last item in the chest, annoyed that he usually received four items.

His annoyance quickly morphed into confusion, and then curiosity, as Noah reached down to pick up an enchanting circular orb, its size matching that of his palm. Despite its lack of radiance, the orb held an allure of its own, with golden-yellow swirls constantly coalescing within, resembling a mesmerizing vortex.

He lifted it towards the moon to illuminate the sphere and noticed the swirls were constantly moving. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t discern anything else of interest or verify its purpose.

’Sigh...what’s the point of getting this if I don’t know wha-’

Boom!

Noah’s senses tingled as his sensory hairs detected a large object hurtling past him, but he remained strangely unperturbed. Despite the heavy breathing and the rush of wind generated by the colossal creature’s movements, Noah recognized the unmistakable presence of Fenrir.

Turning slightly, he saw the massive wolf eyeing the orb in his hand with intense desire, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Noah moved the orb to the side, and Fenrir’s gaze followed, his desire evident in his whimpering.

’Maybe this is what the notification meant about having drops meant for my class? Hmm...’ Noah considered his options. Should he let Fenrir have it now, or give it to Arachne since Fenrir was already strong enough?

However, the image of Arachne trapped in a cocoon re-emerged in his mind before he made his decision.

"Don’t say I never gave you anything..." He held out his hand, offering the orb to Fenrir. It was no surprise when Fenrir took the orb with his mouth and quickly swallowed it.

Noah stared at Fenrir, waiting for some change, but all he received in return was Fenrir sitting there silently with his eyes closed. Noah wasn’t sure if Fenrir was getting a boost in stats or what the orb’s effect might be, but he felt certain that the notification in his mind would provide the answers.

[Fenrir level up! +5 free attributes]

[Fenrir has reached level 10 and can now undergo his evolution! Due to your class ’Monster Evolutionist’, Fenrir has been given an additional evolution path that is up for you to choose, so choose carefully! WARNING! Choose when you are in a safe area, time for evolution is unknown.]

[Fenrir evolutionary path Pure blooded Lycan, and Demented Lycan can be obtained.]

[Pure blooded Lycan-You have perfect control of your werewolf instincts and abilities and can now revert back and forth to your human form willingly. Human skills can now be used along with your original class before transforming. While in human form, you can perform partial transformation to grow claws, fangs or even enlarging specific limbs for enhanced capabilities.]

[Demented Werebeast- Your zombie genetics, once dormant, overruled by your primal genes, is now fully awakened. The instinctual urge for carnage is what drives you, while your infectious blood calls for you to make others of your kind, making you the beginning of your own race. Your followers will become crazed beasts, but obedient under your rule, their numbers and prowess will become your own. You have rejected your human form in return for becoming a progenitor of a new age. Once you choose this route, there is no chance of returning to humanity.]

[Fenrir has obtained a monster skill orb! Skill, ’Storing Strength’ has been learned!]

[Storing Strength-Your body structure isn’t adapted to have the strength capacity as an ant. However, through the use of the skill, you can fully bring out the potential of your entire body down to the smallest blood cell to increase your strength. The increase starts off at 10% and increases by the amount of power being stored by intervals of 10% for each second stored for the maximum of 50%. Must remain stationary to use the skill, and stat increase gradually diminishes every second by intervals of 10% per second. The longer the usage, the heavier the strain on stamina.

Noah was definitely surprised when he found out that Fenrir had leveled up again, but it paled in comparison to the revelation that he could now determine Fenrir’s evolution. The weight of this decision hung heavy on Noah, presenting him with a dilemma he hadn’t anticipated.

Initially, the allure of the Demented Lycan path seemed irresistible, promising unparalleled strength and ferocity. Yet, as Noah mulled over the possibilities, another option emerged, one that held the potential to exponentially increase Fenrir’s utility by granting him a class. The prospect of Fenrir reaching new heights of power, potentially even advancing his class, filled Noah with a sense of excitement and possibility.

However, Noah’s reverie was abruptly interrupted by a sobering realization: the return of Fenrir’s human form meant confronting a past he’d rather forget. The thought of facing that irritating face once more extinguished any lingering doubts Noah had about his decision. He threw those thoughts aside for later, he wasn’t able to choose yet anyway and he was more eager to learn about the skill Fenrir received.

Noah’s mind raced as he contemplated the implications of Fenrir’s new skill. ’This skill is both good and bad,’ he mused. ’The effect would be really sweet if it stacked with all his other buffs. Stamina has never seemed like an issue for him, at least not to a point where I noticed. I wonder if he would use that skill if he was under the effects of killing instincts. At this rate, he’s becoming more broken than me!’

He glanced at Fenrir, who stood by, seemingly unfazed by the recent battle. Fenrir’s prowess was growing at an alarming rate, and Noah knew he had to be strategic about allocating his companion’s points to maximize their effectiveness. With a deep breath, Noah focused on distributing Fenrir’s points.

Strength:81(90)

Agility:53(70)

Constitution:74(106)

Stamina:48(71)

Magic:5

Spirit:42

Unassigned Points: 20

Although Noah was aware that he would be able to distribute the entirety of his creatures attributes from now on, seeing the total number of points at his disposal still left him in awe. However, the responsibility of properly using the points made Noah take the matter more seriously than before.

"I need to set priorities....Fenrir is more of a strong meat shield with endless energy. It would be more efficient to increase both his constitution and Strength even more, but...." Noah gazed upon Fenrir’s stamina and spirit. The two attributes couldn’t entirely be considered a necessity at this time, but Noah was aware that perks were a godsend, especially since the abilities would cater towards the wielder more than any other skill you could recieve.

Noah was firm with his decision, increasing both Fenrir’s stamina and Spirit to fifty, he then used the last ten to increase Fenrir’s strength to ninety-one.

[Fenrir has achieved his first limit of 50 stats in stamina, perk based on class Lycan obtained; Faster recovery]

[Faster Recovery(Lvl 0)- Regeneration doesn’t only affect your health but now has a small impact on your stamina, increasing the speed at which your stamina is gained when your health is regenerating by 0.1% of health regenerated.

[Your tamed creature, Fenrir, has achieved the first limits of 50 stats in spirit, perk based on class Lycan obtained; ’Predatory Roar’]

[Predatory Roar-Your howl already inspired fear and dread to your enemies, but now it can also lower their stats by 10%. The effect is increased per level and can be resisted.

Noah nodded thoughtfully as he observed the outcomes of his actions. The additional skills were a welcome bonus, but he knew that after evolving, Fenrir’s perks would likely change, potentially becoming even better. He couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and anxiety at the possibilities.

As he retrieved all the gold from the chest and prepared to rush back to Arachne, something unusual caught his eye near the Queen. He wouldn’t have noticed it if Fenrir hadn’t returned to that spot, noisily chewing on something with a hard, mushy texture. Noah’s curiosity piqued, he approached cautiously.

When he looked closer, he saw eggs the size of his finger, and Fenrir was scooping up tens at a time with his large mouth, trying to eat them all. Each crunch sent a shiver down Noah’s spine. He stared at the scene, his mind struggling to process what was happening. He had always trusted Fenrir’s instincts, but this was different.

Just as Fenrir devoured what seemed to be the last egg, a sudden realization struck Noah. One of those eggs might have yielded a Queen, a powerful ally or a valuable asset. His heart sank, and frustration bubbled up inside him.

"No, no, no, no, no! Why do you have to eat EVERYTHING?!"

A/N: If you don’t know, with this species of ant, any ant can become a Queen based on their diet, but Noah doesn’t know that.

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