Becoming a Monster-Chapter 91: Foolish Pride

He felt betrayed by his sister once more, thinking that she would depend on a stranger more than her own brother. When he saw the fear in Ailetta’s eyes, Mark began to believe that even Ailetta didn’t have confidence in Noah, but for some reason his sister did?

Determined to prove himself, Mark made a silent vow: ’I’ll show them all...’ He turned towards the direction of the zombie.

"Jas, I’ll show you that you shouldn’t keep looking down on me!" He lifted his sword, and without hesitation, he charged ahead.

"Wha-? I’m not looking down on you, Mark, get back here, please!" Jas’ voice cracked with emotion, tears streaming down her face as she desperately reached out towards her brother, her heart heavy with worry.

Then, as if a sudden realization struck her, she whirled around to face the only person she believed could rescue her prideful and reckless brother.

"All of it!" She practically screamed towards Noah, gaining his intention, but it was only a glimpse before he ignored her. Unbeknownst to Jas, Noah saw Mark’s impulsive actions as an opportunity to test the limits of his ’Subservient Hierarchy’ skill against the zombie.

But she didn’t know what Noah was doing and assumed that he wanted Mark to die. She felt that it wasn’t too far-fetched at all considering the history the two created with one another in just one day. Anxiously she looked back towards her brother, her eyes wide with terror when she saw at least five blurred tentacles heading towards him. And just when the tentacles seemed about to skewer Mark, they inexplicably slowed down enough that even she could follow them. Still, it did little to ease her anxiety as she watched, breath caught in her throat, as Mark managed to maneuver past them while still advancing forward.

Noah’s smile widened with anticipation as he witnessed the effectiveness of his skill. He believed that fighting the zombie should be feasible if his ability was able to limit the creature to such an extent, yet he remained aware that five tentacles were not the limit of her capabilities.

"I’ll give you everything I have! Just please! Please save my brother!" Jas pleaded desperately, her voice trembling with emotion. Despite her plea, Noah only briefly glanced her way before dismissing her.

Despite her efforts, Noah remained unmoved. What else could she offer besides the meager promise of gold? What deeper allure could she conjure to compel him to save someone he deemed unworthy? The thought of demanding her body for his services didn’t even cross his mind; such a transaction felt beneath him, would that make him stronger?

Besides, Mark threatened to take his life before. The least Mark could do for him was serve as a testing dummy.

Noticing her heartfelt plea falling on deaf ears, Jasmine’s desperation drove her to contemplate desperate measures. She hesitated, torn between her principles and the dire situation her brother faced. Casting a guilty glance towards Ailetta, she knew what she was about to propose would tarnish their friendship.

"Please Ailetta....he’s all I have..." Jasmine’s voice cracked as tears streamed down her cheeks, her elvish features etched with sorrow like a melancholic painting come to life. Even in silence, her heartfelt request would tug at the heartstrings of anyone who beheld her.

Ailetta, too, felt the weight of Jasmine’s plea bearing down on her. Regret flooded her as she wished she had never locked eyes with her friend. The guilt that Jasmine felt asking her friend was even stronger for Ailetta, who would need to make a similar plea, but with Noah.

In her helplessness, Ailetta tightly pursed her lips, torn between conflicting emotions. Should she abandon her loyal friend, who had always supported her without asking for anything in return? Or should she jeopardize the budding connection she had forged with the man she had grown to love?

If the choice merely boiled down to deciding Mark’s fate, life or death, the answer would be clear: let him perish. After all, he had not only threatened to kill Noah but also recklessly engaged the zombie when he could have retreated to safety.

Yet, beneath her surface resolve, Ailetta harbored a deeper fear. If Mark were to meet his demise, Jasmine would not only hold Ailetta and Noah responsible but also perceive it as a betrayal of their friendship. Ailetta knew that soon after, Jasmine would either succumb to despair or live a hollow existence, bereft of purpose or dreams, akin to an empty vessel, a life that could be argued to be worse than death.

"No-"

"MAAARRRKKK!"

Ailetta had given in to her emotions and was about to plead in Jasmine’s stead, but the hysterical scream had stomped Ailetta from what she was preparing to say.

Mark’s ego had reached perilous heights after narrowly avoiding the tentacles multiple times. He was convinced of his ability to defeat the zombie, even taking swings at the tentacles he dodged, managing to slice a few in the process.

What Noah and the others didn’t know was that Mark really was growing stronger ’in this moment’. One of the biggest qualities and cliches of a hero was always to rise against the odds. Going against an enemy of the current zombies caliber was one of the hidden factors to temporarily unlock this strength. The other...Well Noah was the cause of this, unknowingly, but for a hero, a hero has to have overwhelming confidence in themselves or they could never be charismatic enough to gain the favor of everyone else.

Mark’s capability to "dodge" the incoming attacks from a creature that had driven armed guards to retreat, had significantly bolstered his confidence. A trait he had long since lost following his encounters with Noah.

The thin blue aura that was usually barely noticeable now radiated brilliantly, glowing through the darkness and providing its own source of light. The aura had transformed into two layers: the inner layer was white, appearing solid and calm, while the outer layer retained its blue hue but flared chaotically like a raging fire around him.

Previously, there would have been no way his sword, even when coated in his aura, could effectively cut through a tier one zombie as it had just done. Before, his skill allowed him to increase one attribute by 50% and coat his armor or weapon to enhance durability and sharpness. However, now that his heroic spirit had been activated, all his attributes and skills had increased by 100%. This not only significantly improved the durability of his current armor and sword but also greatly enhanced the sharpness of his blade.

With the addition of his strength perk, ’Weakness Exploit,’ Mark had gained a significant advantage. This skill, obtained after reaching 50 attribute points in his strength, allowed his attacks to inflict bonus damage when targeting an enemy’s vulnerability. As the retainer of this skill, all of Mark’s attacks using his "holy" aura against zombies would exploit their weaknesses, effectively doubling their usual power.

However, even with all these enhancements, it wasn’t enough when the zombie launched nearly 15 tentacles towards him. This was the moment Noah had been waiting for. He focused completely, using his skill to disrupt the zombie as much as possible. The tentacles slowed to a pace where Noah felt he could easily maneuver past them with his elusive ability, but Mark lacked that advantage.

The tentacles left Mark with no room to dodge or press forward. His prideful confidence, gained in this brief moment, quickly diminished as he realized how out of his league he truly was. The only option he saw was to try to evade the tentacles by jumping backward and hacking at the ones that posed the most immediate threat to his life.

All of this could still have been managed if he had more experience, given that the zombie was under the effect of Noah’s skill. However, experience and intuition were what Mark lacked the most.

He was only able to swing at two of the 15 tentacles when he jumped back, causing five of the tentacles to move off course after intercepting one another. Each tentacle had a radius of 1.5 inches, and just one was dangerous enough to be life-threatening.

Meanwhile, Ailetta heard Jasmine scream and was shocked to see her running in Mark’s direction. At this rate, Jasmine would die alongside him!

With adrenaline pumping at an all-time high, Ailetta’s first instinct was to support her friend. She believed that since she had been able to stop Fenrir at one point, she should be able to stop the zombie in its tracks now that she had grown stronger.

Noah didn’t think much when he saw Jasmine running into danger, but his attention was drawn when he noticed Ailetta performing a spell. Since she was casting it from a distance, he didn’t attempt to stop her. A black slime, the size of his head, appeared from thin air and quickly spiraled towards the zombie. He had never seen her skill in action before and was curious about her intentions, momentarily forgetting everything else.

The slime impacted the zombie’s head almost simultaneously as the tentacles breached Mark’s skin. The tentacles punctured nearly half an inch into his skin at eight different locations, leaving Mark crying in agony before collapsing to the ground, blood trickling from the wounds, pooling around him. The tentacles were strong enough to pierce completely through with little resistance, so it was surprising that Mark was still alive, kicking, and able to cry out due to his injuries.

The tentacles hovered in place where they had impaled him. The zombie neither retracted them nor sent out new ones to continue its attack. The zombie was stuck in place, reminding Noah of a similar situation before he had tamed Fenrir. At first, he admired the scene, nodding slightly at Ailetta’s evident growth in power. However, his expression darkened when he remembered what had happened to Ailetta the last time she attempted this spell on Fenrir.

His head snapped to the side, and to his surprise, he witnessed a scene that filled him with gut-wrenching pain, and even more conflicting thoughts.

He had to watch Ailetta struggling with all her might to maintain her hold on her skill. Her will and experience in adapting her skills allowed her to sustain the spell longer than her body’s limits should permit. Blood was leaking from all her orifices at an alarming rate, causing her face to turn pale and her eyelids to droop.

Slowly, her body began to tremble and lean unsteadily.

"Ailetta? Ailetta, stop this now!" Noah didn’t know what to do as he shouted her name, should he knock her out? He had only read about or seen it in movies and wasn’t sure if it would work or cause her more harm. So he did the next best thing he could think of.

Slap!

The sound of his hand against her face almost rivaled Mark’s cries. In his erratic state, Noah had forgotten the difference in their physical stats. The slap was enough to turn her head, and due to her dizziness and the mental strain from losing so much blood, she fell over. The pain on her face hurt like never before, but the cause of her pain hurt her more than the act itself.

"Wh-why...?" she stammered, her eyes wide with shock and hurt as she looked up at Noah, holding her stinging cheek. Her expression pleaded, "Why would you hurt me?" The sight of her pained face cut Noah deeply, but he steeled himself, knowing there was something more urgent at hand to prevent her from acting so recklessly again.

"You win, Le..." he began, his voice trailing off as he summoned a sword into his hand.

Ailetta’s confusion grew as she watched him sprint towards the now-mobile zombie. She should have felt relief at Noah’s actions, but instead, a wave of despair washed over her, and she began to cry uncontrollably.

The look on Noah’s face as he turned away was not one Ailetta wanted to see. The warmth and acknowledgment she had longed for were gone.

His eyes held so much conflict, as if he was questioning everything about her, about them.

"Argh! Nothing changed! Why do I have to be so weak!" she cried out, her voice heavy with emotion as she watched Noah’s retreating back. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, blurring her vision until she could barely see. The effects of the skill were catching up to her. She began to drift off to sleep, unable to stop the tears from falling.

As Noah ran past Jasmine, dragging the screaming, bloody Mark, Ailetta looked up at him one last time. Placing her hand over her heart with a tearful gaze, she whispered, "Please don’t leave me again..."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l