Becoming a Monster

Chapter 620: Chapter 619: Awakened Evolutionary Insight

There was a lapse between Noah checking his other skills. During that time, his attention drifted to the roots that were attached to him that didn’t belong to him.

Pandora’s roots were still loosely wrapped around his body, quietly drawing in the traces of miasma that naturally leaked from the plants that grew from his body.

The amount that she already absorbed was enough to easily turn an ordinary plant into its necrotic version. However, it wasn’t nearly enough to produce any meaningful changes within her.

For someone like her, she would need an enormous amount of it to bring about any significant change.

He continued to watch the process of her roots absorbing his mana, remaining blissfully unaware of exactly what she was absorbing.

She had merely followed her instincts, just as he had unconsciously released the miasma into her roots. Neither of them had intentionally done anything.

Even so, observing her triggered his newly evolved instincts.

He gained an intense feeling that his newly developed miasma was exactly what Pandora needed to take the next step.

If he hadn’t awakened a more highly evolved version as an Evolutionary Guardian, he doubted whether or not he would’ve come up with the idea of using an ability meant for just plants on a highly sentient dryad.

Just from this alone, Noah found himself appreciating his awakening far more than the abilities themselves.

There was the urge to put his thoughts into action.

But that would have to wait. He had already delayed understanding his new abilities for longer than he intended. There were still two remaining, and if the previous one was any indication, they would likely prove just as important.

As his attention settled upon the next skill, Noah’s expression gradually became more complicated.

It wasn’t because the ability itself confused him.

Rather, it was because it left him with the same strange feeling he had experienced while reading through Necrotic Biome.

Worldroot Dominion.

As long as Noah remained connected to the earth, he could spread his mana through every plant that had already become part of his Necrotic Biome. Every root, vine, branch, flower, or mutated plant creature connected to that biome would become an extension of his own body, responding to his thoughts as naturally as moving one of his own limbs.

The amount of mana he supplied determined everything else. The more mana he invested, the stronger, faster, and larger those plants became.

And because those plants were already sustained by his misamic mana, they naturally inherited its unique property.

Anything caught within its grasp would gradually have its mana drained away. That stolen mana would then travel back through the interconnected roots and plants before eventually returning to Noah himself.

The potential of this skill was enormous; however, the downside was just as obvious. If he ever turned the entire forest into his dominion, he would be nearly invincible if someone didn’t have a way to deal with the plant life.

But the opposite could also be said if he wasn’t around plant life under his control. The skill was practically useless outside the forest. Even if there was plant life around him, he wouldn’t be able to control it, not unless he converted it into his biome.

Still, he was completely satisfied with the skill. Noah had no definitive reason to go outside of his own territory, so his skill would always be useful.

However, it was only when Noah’s attention was drawn to the skill’s final condition that his expression became more complicated.

He had to remain connected to the earth. The moment that connection was broken, he would instantly lose all control of his dominion.

The condition itself wasn’t enough to change his opinion of the skill. However, it did raise his suspicions about how it came to be.

Only recently had he begun deciphering the troll chieftain’s defensive ability. The ability to redirect incoming force into the ground, dramatically reducing the damage its own body suffered. Only as long as it was connected to the ground.

Now this ability demanded that exact same condition. Noah found it difficult to believe that was merely a coincidence.

At this point, he was almost certain that his other thoughts weren’t too far off from the truth. That an individual’s desires directly correlate to their mutations and evolutionary changes.

–

Noah eventually pushed the thought aside.

Whether or not his suspicions were correct was something only time could answer.

For now, he still had one final ability waiting for him.

When he finally turned his attention toward it, a faint smile appeared on his face. He was almost amused, and yet at the same time exasperated.

The next skill was just as useful as the last one. At the same time, it also had much more potential.

But the problem lay with its usefulness in the short term. All of his abilities from Pandora’s blood so far wouldn’t be able to directly shine on the upcoming battlefield. It felt as though his body had already determined that this battle wasn’t worth all of the preparation.

Looking at the final ability only reinforced that feeling.

Blighted Evolution.

The ability itself was almost deceptively straightforward.

Every plant growing within his Necrotic Dominion would continue evolving; however, the evolution was more influenced by his Evolutionary Guardian lineage rather than his dryad bloodline.

The longer those plants were affected by his domain, the more they would gradually strengthen. Their vitality would increase, their bodies would become tougher, their capacity to hold mana would steadily expand, and their affinity toward miasma would continue deepening.

Yet that gradual growth wasn’t what Noah found most important.

The vegetation wouldn’t all evolve in the same direction.

As time passed, the mana surrounding them, the creatures living among them, the blood spilled across the land, and even the environment itself would all begin influencing their growth.

The same species of flower growing in two different parts of his dominion could eventually become entirely different plants.

One might evolve into something beautiful that continuously released life energy into the surrounding vegetation.

Another could develop rows of curved thorns, a poisonous nectar, or even an instinct to hunt creatures.

Noah’s eyes slowly wandered toward Pandora’s vines that continued to instinctively absorb the miasma emitting from his flowers.

“…So that’s why.”

He understood just why his instincts were telling him that his miasma-

Or in this case, his necrotic energy would be able to lead Pandora to her next growth.

—

“Is it done?” Ailetta was the first to ask after noticing that Noah was continuously looking around himself again.

“…Almost.” Noah took a moment to answer her.

But noticing their questioning stares, he explained all of his changes, while at the same time he kept getting distracted as he talked to them.

His Evolutionary Guardian instincts apparently didn’t have an off switch, at least not one that he was aware of.

Whoever he laid eyes on, he immediately began to process what they needed to grow stronger. It was hard to look at them as his family when he saw them as something that he could evolve first.

His weird actions couldn’t escape their attention. It was impossible when Noah would suddenly stop talking only to stare at one of them, and then his gaze would tunnel intensely onto their body as if he was looking inside them rather than at them.

“Isn’t this a good thing?” Ailetta quipped after Noah had to explain what was going on.

Not only Ailetta, but both Eve and Arachne were also looking at Noah as if they were ready to kidnap him to force him into telling them what they needed to do to get stronger.

Surprisingly, Eve’s desire was even more intense than the others.

The little vampire practically pushed herself to the front, forcing Noah’s attention to settle on her.

There was no reason to leave them waiting, telling them it wouldn’t take long.

Compared to the others, Eve’s path was surprisingly simple.

She needed blood.

More specifically, she needed to continuously drink blood. Every drop she consumed would provide vitality and mana, gradually strengthening her body while nourishing her core. To a vampire, the core was far more important than the flesh surrounding it. Their bodies could survive injuries that would be fatal to almost any other race, but the core remained the true vessel of their life, bloodline, and power.

Naturally, all blood benefited her. The greater the vitality and mana it contained, the more nourishment it provided. However, when that blood resonated with her own lineage, the effect became far more profound. It no longer just sustained her core. It accelerated its growth, allowing her bloodline to mature at a dramatically faster rate and bringing her closer to her next evolution.

It also explained something Noah had never fully understood before.

Eve had always reacted far more strongly to human blood than the blood of monsters many times stronger. At the time, he had assumed it was simply because she had once been human.

Now he understood the real reason.

Her instincts weren’t drawn toward the blood with the greatest vitality.

They were drawn toward the blood most compatible with her own lineage.

Humans.

Revenants.

…

Angels.

Noah couldn’t explain why.

He simply knew that Eve’s bloodline possessed an unusual affinity toward them. Perhaps another awakening of his Evolutionary Guardian instincts would one day reveal the reason, but that understanding hadn’t reached him yet.

Under normal circumstances, fulfilling those conditions would’ve been nearly impossible. There weren’t any humans living within his territory, let alone beings possessing bloodlines even more compatible than theirs.

Fortunately…

Noah himself had become the exception.

His blood had always been an unusually powerful catalyst for evolution.

Unless Noah resorted to farming humans, or they somehow discovered another source of highly compatible blood, such as an ancient vampire or another ancient relic containing exceptionally pure blood like the one that had transformed Eve into a vampire…

Noah doubted she would ever find a catalyst more suitable than his own blood.

Blighted Evolution opens up a lot of possibilities. What kind of mutated plant would you want to see appear somewhere in Noah’s territory?