Becoming a Monster

Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Brief Glimpse of the Systems Secrets

After transforming into monsters truly worthy of their title, their strengths were now not only inferior, but perhaps even stronger than the Queen’s. And now, when looking at the current scene, those two monsters that could devastate human bases of the same nature of the one they had just accompanied on their own, were now being used to serve a purpose far removed from combat.

Fenrir’s massive form scoured through the area, causally lifting corpses of still intact insects in each of his claws before throwing them all in one particular direction.

Arachne awaited on the other end, unfazed. Each corpse hurtled towards her with a velocity that could end a normal person’s life or easily incapacitate someone approaching the limits of awakening. And yet, each corpse was easily intercepted with only one of Arachne’s spider appendages.

As quickly as Arachne spiked a corpse on one of her legs, her human form dug into the area where the corpse’s residual energy was the densest, pulling out its core while catching another thrown corpse in the process with another leg.

The once dominant predators were now working together in mundane labor, yet the zealousness within their actions spoke of how driven they were to accomplish their goal, driven as if their very survival depended on completing the task. Their efforts weren’t encouraged by their usual motivations, acquiring higher power, delicious food, or even just earning Noah’s praise wasn’t their driving factor this time around. Instead, it was their sense of inadequacy that spurred them on. In the end, when it really mattered, they failed to support Noah. And even through their failure, Noah not only protected them, but also rewarded them with power they could only dream of. They were driven by a need to prove their worth, not to show Noah their gratitude, but to convince themselves that they deserved such power.

The silence between them was thick, not with tension, but with an unspoken understanding. As Arachne dug into another corpse, her thoughts raced. Was strength everything? If so, then could she prevent the same situation from happening again? And if she could, then how should she go about it next time?

She couldn’t understand it. Physically, she was faster than Noah, and Fenrir was stronger and far tougher than Noah. Yet in the end, he was still stronger than them both and remained superior. What was different?

Her thoughts slowly were being consumed with doubt. She wanted, no, needed, to be more than just a companion, more than just someone who could only support him in battle when the enemy were of equal or lesser strength. She needed to be his equal, capable of standing by his side even when the opponent was overwhelmingly stronger than they were.

But that was when her thoughts began to take on a drastic turn. Something within seemed to speak beckoning to her, no, it was more as if it was pointing her in the right direction to the path she needed to follow.

’That’s right! I’m a Queen, the strongest Queen....and a Queen needs....” Her eyes grew more intent as she gazed towards the corpses, she had recently thrown on the ground. Although the ant they fought was unbelievably strong, was that strength her own? Or was it the result from her soldiers’ efforts? Or perhaps the Queen’s power grew based on the strength of her army?

On the other side, Fenrir was also lost in his thoughts, but his thoughts were simpler in nature. He had no grand ambitions like Arachne, no complex strategies or plans. He just wanted to be stronger, better, and bigger. ”Good, good, bad, good,” his tunneled mind could only put his focus towards one thing; and that was doing a good job in his task. He continued to sift through the corpses, picking out the ones that looked the most edible. From his instincts alone, he could tell which corpses still retained their cores, driven by his desire to feast on them.

His mind was so devoted to his task that he no longer needed to look in the direction in which he was throwing. His four arms worked in tandem, creating a volley of corpses being thrown into the air.

And while the two continued to work, Noah was in the midst of deep thoughts while Ailetta waited patiently by his side, waiting for what he was about to do next.

With both Fenrir’s and Arachne’s transformations, Noah was not only privy to all of their stats, but also reviewed their newly acquired skills, starting with Fenrir.

[Player: Fenrir

Race: Chimeric Dreadbeast

Class: Chimeric Dreadbeast

Lvl: 11>12

Exp: 124/25,600>571/51,200

Health:100%

Stamina:100%

Mana: 16/16>24/24

Strength:200>300(341)

Agility:80>120(166)

Constitution:150>225(310)

Stamina:75>110(163)

Magic:8>32

Spirit:75>110

[All of Fenrir’s skills and perks have gone through a mutation, synchronizing with the change of his new race while also gaining a new skill.]

Fortress Smash has been gained- Channels the power of the mitigated damage Fenrir has accumulated into his gauntlet-like hands, allowing him to deliver a crushing blow that also combines his strength. The strike not only causes significant damage but also creates a protective shield around you.

[Alpha Inheritance has mutated into Apex Dominion (Lvl 0)- The creatures you infect will no longer just turn into mere imitations of you. Each organism that is subjected to your infection will undergo a transformation with one of your genetic traits taking priority over the others, influencing the abomination that they will become. These abominations are driven by pure will and instinct from your deepest origin, and that is to devour. And if you so choose, as their creator, one with the bloodline of a true fallen, you retain the power to convert one of your mindless beasts into your most loyal follower, granting them a unique skill inspired by your bloodline.]

[Spawn of abominations has mutated into Spawn of Brooding aberrations (Lvl 0)-Your infection is just as deadly as it is potent. It is able to infect and mutate beast of any nature as long as they are unable to resist. And those that fail to resist would find their bodies destroyed if they aren’t powerful enough for their bodies to go through the forced mutation. They are feral beasts, but you still possess a certain degree of control over the abominations you create, slightly influencing their destructive tendencies.

[Demented Reckoning has mutated into Dreaded Cataclysm (Lvl 0)-Instead of the ability to change your size, exchanging one state for the other. You encompass the true nature of your very being, causing you to be able to tap into the raw uncontrollable state of your monstrous form. Your body will warp, intensify your genetic traits. Either fully exhibiting your power of a:

Werebeast, increasing your strength and stamina by 25% while also temporarily enhancing your regeneration. Beetle, increasing your strength and constitution by 25% while also converting 25% of your constitution to your defense. Or Centipede, increasing your strength and agility by 25% while also ejecting your claws and teeth with a more lethal poison.

[Abyssal Curse has mutated into Dreadbeast Fortification(Lvl 2)- Loses the capability of resisting dark and mental attacks, but in return can mitigate 20% of incoming physical damage.]

[Accursed Weapons has mutated into Chimeric Alteration(Lvl 2)- Using your mana, you coat your teeth and claws with a more potent and solidified form of your venom while also causing the affected venom’s structure to change in its intentions. It will no longer work with the intent to destroy from within or to paralyze, but it’ll work with the intention of subjugation and conquest. Allowing for a quicker mutation within the target. The potency is decided up the amount of mana supplied, starting with the minimum of five mana]

[Infectious Feast has mutated into Ravenous Momentum (Lvl 1)-Not just your pack, but even the abominations created by you will now receive a 15 percent increase to their speed and attacks when in a thirty-meter radius.

[Howling Savagery has mutated into Sovereign Beast Roar- Lose the ability to instill fear within those that hear your calling, instead, gives you the authority to command and temporarily dominate species that are made up of the same genetic traits as you are. Uses ten mana upon each use.

[Berserkers Adrenaline has mutated into Dreadbeast’s Enduring Shield- Loses the ability to become more unfazed to attacks and ailments when stamina is low. Instead, as your stamina depletes, your exoskeleton stiffens, in return it builds up a protective coating, improving its density, further reducing physical damage from 1% to 10% based on stamina lost.

[Unholy Reconstruction has mutated into Dreadbeast’ Regenerative Shield- Your regeneration still allows you to recover from the most grievous of wounds at the cost of becoming more erratic and develop difficulties withholding your sanity. But in return, your healed areas will temporarily become more resistant to physical trauma, mitigating damage by percentage of 1% for every 5% of health regenerated, capping at 10%]

Noah wasn’t just in deep thought trying to read and understand all of Fenrir’s skills. First, he made sure to allocate all of Fenrir’s accumulated attribute points, allocating every single one into Fenrir’s mana. Even without reviewing his skills, Noah wanted to at least activate Fenrir’s last perk, uncertain of how beneficial the perk could be.

But then he was pondering about how Fenrir’s overhaul of a mutation changed literally everything about him, from his appearance, down to his race and even his class; that not only resulted in the change of his perks, but every single one of his skills. Noah looked back to his stats, looking towards his class.

[Race: Fallen Chimera

Class: Monster Evolutionist]

”Although my race changed, my class is still the same....why is that?” The question tugged at his attention more than Fenrir’s changes. It wasn’t that he was unsatisfied with his current skills, but he wanted skills that suited his transformation, skills that would further instantiate his new identity into a monster.

”If you’re curious about that, I have the answer,” Ailetta said. Noah looked up at her, who was still observing him. More than wanting to hear the answer right off the jump, Noah was now further interested in how she would possibly even know. From her tone, she sounded completely confident that what she was about to say was the absolute truth.

”Don’t worry,” Ailetta smiled as she acknowledged his skepticism. ”The one who made me into this is the one who told me. I was curious too, and what I was told was that whoever gave us this system imprinted it onto our souls. And when we choose our class, we are also binding the class onto our soul. It is also the reason why creature classes change with their evolutions, and even us, who are now considered monsters, are still stuck with our class. Because unlike humans, monsters and animals weren’t given systems...”

Noah’s eyes widened a little with that realization. Everything he was thinking just now made complete sense if what Ailetta said was true. But the more he thought about it, his gaze began to narrow. ”If that’s the case, then why are your skills different than before? I don’t see you having to summon those things anymore, so are you saying that your case is different?”

Ailetta’s smile grew more comforting than before even as she took on his gaze. ”It’s not that I became a monster that changed my class. It’s because I was given more than just a transformation. That ’being’ awakened me in the process, allowing my awakened classes to become influenced by my transformation; Otherwise, what I am, and what I could do would be significantly different...”

Noah paused. The more he heard, the more believable everything Ailetta said seemed to be. But in his mind, this meant he had lost his chance to improve not only his class, but also his skills; at least, that was on the condition that awakening was only able to be done once.