Chapter 37: Evolution Problem?
Mamadou placed Osbone in a corner of his cabin.
He lay down on the floor of his cabin, one of the habits he had developed.
Since his cabin was perched high in the trees, he had no problems, at least so far.
"The more I think about it, the more terrifying that monkey is! Is staying here really a good idea? Breaking the seal doesn’t seem like a good idea either. To think that I swore to stay focused on my goals."
"I’m even afraid to think. I feel like he can hear me and is watching me."
Mamadou shivered at the thought because it wasn’t impossible. After all, the Greater Ark Monkey had said he had been observing him all along, even from this place while he struggled to survive in the forest. If he could do something that terrifying from such a distance, why wouldn’t he do it now?
I hope it’s limited to observation.
In any case, it’s not like I can do anything about it. Let’s check my status first.
Since I reached level 10, I’ve definitely become stronger. The monsters around Mount Meru should be child’s play now. I’ll have to venture farther away if I want to keep getting stronger.
As anxious as I am, coming to Mount Meru hasn’t been without benefits after all. And there’s that thing—the Pit—which works like a dungeon. Forget searching for monsters. If I can farm inside it, I could become extremely strong. On top of that, there are ten levels. The deeper I go, the more dangerous it should become.
"I really want to go down to the second level and take a look!"
Anyway, besides that and breaking the seal, I doubt I have much else to do except get stronger. I doubt he gave me directions to leave this place out of the kindness of his heart. That’s a risk I’m going to avoid for now.
The Greater Ark Monkey had said it was far away, but if that were all, everything would be fine. Mamadou doubted it would be that simple. After all, he had gone as far as offering to help Mamadou leave the forest.
Mamadou could only remain suspicious.
I need to get away from here for a while. Going to destroy the first stele seems like a good opportunity. I’ll be able to observe the surroundings, and maybe an idea will come to me. Or maybe I’ll encounter other intelligent life forms. What I’m lacking is information.
I can ask him certain things, but I’m too afraid he’ll use it against me someday.
Fine. Tomorrow, I’ll explore and look for that stele.
"Status!"
[Name: Ma]
[Level: 10]
[Mana: /]
[Race: Ark Nocyris Monkey]
[Class: Human, Nocyris Snake]
[LP: 100/100]
[SP: 550/600]
[Defense: 20]
[Speed: 25]
[Resistance: 19]
[Agility: 20]
[Points: 1000]
[Ability: Evolution]
Perfect. These stats are so different from the first time. I could probably one-shot every monster I encountered when I first arrived here. Even wandering around the first level of the Mount Meru Pit from time to time would be easy.
That place, the Pit, is strange. Even the first level felt too vast. I couldn’t determine its limits. Fortunately, I had an intuition about where the boss was. Otherwise, I would have wandered around that place for quite a while.
But let’s forget about that for now.
I gained 100 SP, which means my limit has risen to 600. I’ll be able to use my skills more often, but with some of them leveling up, I’m afraid their costs have increased too. What a scam.
It’s a very common strategy. Prices are always rising whether you’re rich or poor. Once you become rich, prices rise so much that it creates a vicious cycle where you must constantly earn more money just to stay rich.
What kind of capitalist god created this system? I can’t become dependent on something like that.
When he remembered the reward he had received for killing the special monster, Mamadou sighed.
Yeah, the special monster.
After receiving the heart—or rather, after obtaining the special monster’s heart and the reward of 1,000 points—Mamadou had received a notification telling him he could evolve. He had been delighted, but he had put it off.
And he didn’t even know how to use that heart anyway. He had eaten the entire monster. That heart should have been digested by now, he thought.
Remembering his first evolution, he didn’t want to take any risks.
"So much to do. My base strength has increased. Let’s take a look at my skills. I haven’t forgotten that notification. I wonder what surprises are waiting for me..."
[The Evaluation skill has reached Level 5. Would you like to use it?]
Is it just me, or is this system changing more and more?
"Don’t tell me you’re actually a talking system and you’re deliberately ignoring me?"
"..."
Mamadou immediately activated the Evaluation skill.
And he was pleasantly surprised.
[Ark Nocyris Monkey Level 10]
[Description: ...]
[Skills: Dash, Bite, Claw, Craftsmanship, Infrared Vision, Night Vision]
[Resistance Skills: Poison Resistance, Pain Resistance, Fatigue Resistance]
[Attributes: Blind Black Foxes, Ridge Wolves, Steel-Beaked Roosters, Meru Green Bear]
[The function, level, and conditions of use for each skill can now be individually examined.]
Oh, I can see skills I couldn’t see before, and attributes too. I see. It doesn’t tell me exactly what they are, but it shows me the monsters whose attributes I possess. I remember losing most of them during evolution, but if it’s something I can regain just by devouring them again, it’s not a huge problem.
The function and level section seems interesting too.
This Evaluation skill really leveled up well, haha. Maybe I’ll be able to evaluate that old monster.
Remembering what had happened the last time, he abandoned the idea.
Evaluation gave him all the information he needed. In a sense, this skill was his greatest weapon.
Can it display enemy skills too?
I’ll test it tomorrow!
"It’s time!"
[Do you wish to evolve?]
[Y/N]
Spending the 1,000 hard-earned points... sigh.
He accepted.
This time, he was prepared, but his control over his Evolution ability was still too low. He ended up losing all the attributes he had gathered so far.
However, something interesting happened instead.
The system asked if he wished to use the Meru Green Bear’s heart.
He immediately accepted.
He screamed in pain once again. It was so intense that he wondered what the point of his Pain Resistance skill even was. It hurt so much that he seemed capable of hearing voices.
Especially a laugh that appeared to come from every direction.
His evolution was complete.
And he had unlocked a stat that had remained inaccessible until now.
The Mana stat.
This evolution was different from the previous one.
Something seemed to have gone wrong.
