NOVEL WEB Chapter 9 – Another Painful Evolution
[Warning - There is gore and massacre in this Chapter!]
It's been 25 days since he started to hunt for his prey. He didn't directly fight anything out of his league, mostly because he ambushed all of them. That didn't stop him from provoking some of his enemies and then using [Burrow] to hide in the ground and confuse them, before killing them. This was also a great way for him to increase his Level.
That night, he activated [Sprint] again. He managed his Stamina well, so he always had his Stamina topped up, to the point that he increased his [Stamina Recovery] to the 3rd Level.
Aiko had also increased his [Health Recovery] to the 4th Level. This happened because he experienced many hardships, most of which was because he overestimated his luck.
There was a landslide nearby, chopping his HP almost down to zero. That was also the first time he experienced the effects of Low HP. His body felt heavy and unresponsive, being greatly weaken by his wounds. As for stamina, it felt like he was in a constant state of daze and out of breath, which drastically reduced his efficiency and coordination. As such, he always maintained full HP and Stamina whenever he could to never experience that again...
However, what truly made him upset was the fact that he had never levelled up once since been dropped out of the Village. His current level remains stagnant at 100. It seems like he would have to hunt a much more powerful Beast to be able to level up further.
Even so, the hardships paid off in the end, as he only had a few days left. During his time in the forest, he had also noticed that the forest grew restless, in which he had spotted Buddy a few times.
Everytime he saw Buddy and his comrades, they would always be bloodied and tired. The least injured was always the panther, but judging from his fur, he was likely also a shadow predator, allowing him to avoid direct confrontation and sustain less damage compared to his peers who confronted their enemies up front.
...
He snacked on some more eggs and returned to his Den. He realised that his [Burrow] skill softened the ground so that he could 'move it' out of the way when he burrowed. This could also be used during digging. He could soften the ground with [Burrow] and then 'shovel' it away with his paws.
Aiko laid down in his enlarged Den. He was worried that he would be stuck inside if his Evolution enlarged him too much.
Aiko lay down and waited for the counter to finally finish. He would then hunt for some food later once it was finished. It would take him about half a day to 2 days to digest the eggs, and he was fine without eating for just 3 days. He had water nearby, so that wasn't a problem, but even then he could go for 5 days without water. Not that he would...
...
[Starting Evolution process: [Shadow Fennec Fox] - 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minute]
Evolution was upon him. He was waiting for it to start, quite anxiously. He noticed things like [Reduced Pain] or [Increased Pain Tolerance]... but they were too expensive.
Aiko would have to bear the pain with his skin and teeth.
[Evolution is in process]
'AGHHHHHHHHHHH'
His mind immediately blanked from the pain soon after he heard strange voices.
-100Hp
'It's nice to be in the darkness, right? You can kill anything you want and nobody will find you~'
'It's pleasant to be female, they dote on you so much and when you are pretty enough they even worship you. Imagine having everyone at your beck and call~'
'It's fine to just murder everyone who enters your domain, after all, it's yours!'
'You should enjoy your beauty and create a harem, so you don't need to hunt for yourself and just wait for the delicious meat dripping with juice to arrive in front of you~'
'You should expand your domain, so you can continue Hunting! The Hunt never stops!'
-100Hp
There were strange noises that gnawed at his Willpower. His mind was in turmoil, questioning his race, attraction, murdering, hunting... Everything was asked, but only some were answered. This was the burden of the [Unique] rarity.
-100Hp
Then she heard another snap.
Aiko’s body shook as unimaginable pain coursed through it. Her body swelled as her bones expanded. Her muscles and skin ripped as it couldn't accommodate her new, larger body. Aiko’s fur was dyed red from her bleeding and she soon lost the ability to feel her body.
-200Hp
She lay there motionlessly, the pain still torturing her body as new bones, muscles, and tissues for skin were swiftly created.
-1 Vitality
She could feel this draining her greatly as something small was slowly forming in her body, something so minuscule, yet...
-1 Vitality
-1 Vitality
-1 Vitality
-1 Vitality
It was draining her so much. The system didn't expect her to reach Unique rarity so soon. It was supposed to guide her through a few worthless rarities and slowly make it up the food chain, but the one who controlled it was currently making a new Feather Duster and wasn't watching all that much.
Her Vitality dropped to 5, yet it was not over. She could feel her life flashing in front of her eyes as her vitality slowly dropped to 1, but it stayed there.
Soon a violent draft of air entered her Den. It collided with her body as her body was trying to greedily suck everything in. The dirt turned from a nutritious black colour to mere brown and soon into sand.
The Den was slowly collapsing, the outside landscape was no better.
A huge whirlwind was above the forest, cycling the Energies of Heaven and Earth, trying to maintain their balance. Yet one greedy little bastard was not satisfied and was continuously sucking its Energy!
Soon it couldn't sustain the whirlpool and nearby trees withered, having their Essence forcibly stolen. Yet, the culprit was currently marvelling at the fact that it didn't hurt her as much as before.
She quietly laid there as she waited for her Evolution to finally complete. Unaware of the fact that she had not only alerted the friendly Village but also many Cultivators nearby... War was upon them. Who would be the first one to find the cause of this?
...
She woke up completely hammered. Her Den was destroyed, or rather it had turned into a sand castle. All the Vitality from the surroundings was squeezed dry. Even her ceiling was slowly crumbling with each tremor.
Aiko blinked a few times. It was a warm feeling. A feeling of power coursing through her veins. She felt familiar, even intimate, with the darkness. She was loved and caressed by it. Encouraged to run and hunt, yet hide at the same time.
She walked outside before her Den completely collapsed.
It was a full moon. A beautiful night for a Hunt.
Her senses were more sensitive during the night. She felt weaker, yet strong. Her Level declined, but she wasn't discouraged.
She had mastered almost all of her skills and gained many more. But her senses were warning her. Get away from here, get away from here and quickly!
Aiko ran using her [Sprint], yet the darkness encouraged her further. She glanced at her system. Her eyes were drawn towards [Shadow Walk].
Aiko activated it and the whole world changed. She could see the darkness swaying as if burning. She could see the pathways she should take and others that she should avoid.
It was a surreal feeling.
Aiko ran on the predetermined path, encouraged by the darkness. The darkness clung to her, yet she only felt lighter and faster, it was not slowing her down, but helping her.
She made it to the edge of the forest. There was a desert, a blood-red desert.
Her [Shadow Walk] activated with her [Hide]. She stopped there to observe the carnage. Humans were killing each other. Beasts were killing Humans and Humans were killing beasts.
The blood ran until the ground was red, dying the previously creamy and rocky desert into a red and black, putrid hell.
The shadows were protecting her. Protecting her from the cruel world, yet she was allowed to observe it. Observe the struggle, observe that massacre.
Should she join? Should she leave?
She decided to wait some more. She could feel their energy. It was a strange feeling... like staring at a powerful hero with the mask of a Joker. (AN: Card Joker, not the other Joker)
It was a disgusting sight, the fighters rejoiced in euphoria and relished in their power, some getting stronger with each kill, while others with each slash they made. Many ran low on energy and either fled or were done in by other Beasts. Some grew too strong and Beasts avoided them.
Aiko stared as something magical was happening in front of her. It felt like she was witnessing fireworks each time those Humans gathered their energies and released it, yet she knew that she couldn't just sit around as she would definitely be killed by the aftershocks!
A person was tossed near her, completely oblivious to her presence. She observed him, noticing that his Vitality waned as his inner organs slowly slip out of his wounds, until he died soon after.
The Shadows encouraged her. Guiding her towards his finger. There lay a pretty ring with strange runes on it. If she was in her right mind, she wouldn't take it as it looked like a wedding ring.
She took it, the body was unmoving. Soon she noticed that others came closer to the body and the darkness guided her away.
They searched his body and cursed loudly. It seems like they were looking for the ring, but considering their clothes... they weren't the dead man's friends. Bandits? If so, they were incredibly powerful, enforcing her opinion to avoid Humans.
The darkness guided her away. Her senses warned her, but they were too vague.
She couldn't make out where and what was the danger. She walked through the darkness.
Her [Hide] would no longer break while she moved around. It could be permanent if she wills it, but her Stamina wouldn't keep up forever.
Aiko made a mental note to find a way to greatly increase her stamina.
She was in a strange trance. Observing the living as they slowly breathed their last breaths, she didn't feel repulsed or disgusted. She felt broken.
Aiko arrived outside a small camp. 5 Humans were roasting food around the campfire, chatting and laughing.
She sneered as she stared at their defenceless backs. One move and one of them would be dead, but she would have to fight the rest. That was not optimal.
She observed them for some time as her senses no longer warned her of danger. It was safe, she could take her time.
