I was struggling to make sense of the absurdity of the situation when Sensei spoke.

«Just…Do what he says.»

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief. "Why should I kill him when he can just escape and live?"

«Unless you want him to spend decades of his life wandering around as a bloodthirsty monster, you should kill him while he still has the dignity of a mortal.» Sensei insisted.

What was he talking about! What monster?!

His words were like an impartial judge, dispassionate and solemn, leaving me no room to retreat.

But as the seconds ticked by without me doing anything, the man's body began to tremble as if wracked by a terrible cold. His cries became even more incessant.

|[K-Kill...me]| |[P-Please k-kill...me]| |[I beg you]|

The fearful look in his eyes was so intense that even I began to feel scared. Without realising it, I slowly began to back away from him.

But then, a loud crack resounded throughout the dungeon and the man fell forwards to clutch one of his legs, grimacing as he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

I realised in horror that one of his legs had broken of its own accord, the bone below his knee now jutting backwards at an awkward angle as the horribly mangled flesh bled out.

But as quickly as it happened, his flesh and bones soon began to knit together, forming a secondary joint below the knee like the limbs of a wolf.

Witnessing this transformation was a shock, so I quickly appraised him.

--------------

Name: San Khir

Specie: LV 24 Ailith Mutant

Class: LV 10 Hunter

HP: 40/230 Defence: 160

MP: 2/12 Intellect: 54

SP: 21/250 Magic: 10

Attack: 87 Agility: 150

Skills:

[Archery: LV8] [SP Recovery: LV8]

[Herbology: LV6] [Endurance: LV10]

[Detection: LV6] [Martial Art: LV6]

[Awareness: LV7] [Stealth: LV5]

[Strength: LV8] [Tracking: LV10]

[Body Strengthening: LV8]

Title:

[Warrior]

Resistances:

[Impact Resistance: LV7]

[Poison Resistance: LV6]

[Pain Resistance: LV8]

--------------

I didn't think there was anything amiss, his stats seemed normal - for a mortal.

Yet, the man screamed once more as his other leg shattered in the same way, the nails of his fingers and toes blackening as they curved inwards, like those of a monster.

I watched the whites of his eyes turn bloodshot, before being replaced by an ominous dark vein that crept out from under his eyeballs to stain everything. Soon, his red pupils expanded to fill the entirety of his brown eyes, and he began to growl like a beast.

But in the next instant, all of his teeth fell out of his gums, replaced extraordinarily fast by double rows of shark-like fangs that tore through the flesh of his lips as they grew in length. Eventually, the flesh of his face melted down to reveal parts of his skull, but the bones melded together with his fangs as they healed, becoming thick and heavy, like a tool meant for tearing through flesh.

I watched as his body began to morph into something else right in front of my eyes.

His skin had become rough and hard, blistering purple where muscle ripped under his skin to make room for new growth. He was crouched forward, hunched over to expose his back when the bones of his spine began to extend and form spikes along his back.

All the while, the mortal-monster continued to scream in anguish.

"How do I help him!?" I cried out in panic.

I'd garnered nothing from his stats, and watching this unstoppable descent struck fear and horror through my body.

«You cant.» Sensei mercilessly declared. «Don't waste any more time. If he transforms completely, you will be in danger.»

The man's body had grown to three times his original size, every fibre rippling with uncontrollable power, his skin now dark grey colour that glistened slickly under the faint light, in a mixture of fluid and blood, like a metal smeared in oil. The exposed bones on his back were long and razor sharp like steel.

More and more, he had become unrecognisable.

And with every change, an aspect of his sanity was being shredded away.

I watched him thrash around on the ground, his excruciating screams distorted like the guttural wail of an inhuman creature. I was hit with the acrid stench of sulphur whenever the mad creature crossed my path, which made me retreat even further.

«Do it, now!» Sensei persisted. «Can't you see he is holding himself back!»

"But…"

I couldn't do it. How could I take such a drastic action, when I didn't even understand what was going on?

Soon, the creature that was once a man, crashed through several iron gates, disappearing from view in his endeavour to quell the pain.

His red core was still expanding, a clear sign that he wasn't an Abyssal creature, and I held out hope. Perhaps, this was some sort of evolution or something?

«Don't you understand he is in terrible pain?» Sensei implored. «Do you want to be responsible for that mutant's continued torment?»

His comment hit me like a brick wall.

In a truly grotesque turn of events, I could only imagine the pain the man must be experiencing to have his entire body reshape itself while he was still conscious. It was no surprise he begged to die.

By not killing him sooner, perhaps I damned him to this harrowing experience.

Yet, to treat him like something less than like Sensei was doing, just seemed wrong.

Why did he have to be killed like some beast? Weren't we the same kind?

What difference was this transformation compared to the many I had gone through?

The creature finally collapsed after crashing through another one of the cells, and I began to wonder if its evolution had settled. However, the moment I thought of this, the reddish-black core in its centre exploded, before disappearing into a void.

In an instant, the sulphuric smell filling the air gave way to the tangy smell of blood.

A red mist formed around its motionless body, and seeing this, I immediately felt despair.

In the end, it still lost its core.

«Do you want me to do it, instead?» Sensei asked.

"No…I'll-I'll do it. I…"

But then, the Abyssal monster that was formerly a man began to twitch.

And in the darkness of the dungeon, all I could see were a pair of glowing red eyes accompanied by sinister sharp fangs.

With a single bound, the creature leapt onto me, its sharp fangs gnashing at me as saliva dribbled everywhere.

I forced it back with my pronged tail, but I couldn't stop staring at those insane eyes that wanted to tear me to shreds.

All reason and sanity seemed to have disappeared. It was like there was no longer a person inside.

I immediately formed a dark blade and released it. I was drenched in blood as the blade sliced the mutant's head clean off its body. Soon, the creature stopped moving.

But as the body fell away from me, I began to tremble.

Unlike other victories, this one was bitter. I kept having flashbacks to the man as he begged for his own death. The look of despair in his eyes as all of his hope faded. If he wanted to die, why did he withstand the shadow creature's torture all this time. He clearly wanted to live at some point…and yet.

It was like I ruined the hope of an innocent man and I felt extremely resentful.

"Why did you make me do that?" I shouted at Sensei. "How do you know there was no way to save him?"

«There isn't.» Sensei coldly replied. «Once a mutant's main core is destroyed, there is nothing anyone can do to keep their mortal lives. They are cursed to survive as a creature of the Abyss or die.»

"Why?"

How did he come to have two cores in the first place? And why did one explode before merging with the other, like its sole purpose was to destroy the main core.

My mind reeled with possibilities as my suspicion intensified.

I couldn't help drawing comparisons to mine and Sensei's core. If mine was the main core, Sensei's although larger would class as a secondary core.

A core could be destroyed, whether willingly through a creature's acceptance of the Abyss, or unwillingly through the aid of a secondary core. But how did this secondary core come to exist?

This got me thinking more about [Devour].

Like Sensei said, this unique skill and the system was what bound us together.

But what exactly was Sensei's core doing while I devoured various monsters?

Every time I gained a new attribute, the system briefly announced something about an evolution tree, like it was collecting data. It was slightly simplified in that I only gained one or two attributes at a time, but subsequent alterations in the system's notifications implied there was more to this basic rule.

And as I came to a devastating new conclusion, everything I thought I knew seemed to be in jeopardy.

Was it somehow changing my core, and making Sensei's more volatile at the same time, in order to destroy us both?

"Is the goddess trying to kill us?" I asked suddenly, making Sensei gasp in surprise. It seemed fitting, perhaps his placement beside me was as a safety net, something to keep us in line, or the consequence was...that.

But it didn't make sense why the goddess who reincarnated us would need one.

«Whatever you're overthinking about. Stop it now!» Sensei shot back.

"You didn't answer my question." I frowned.

Whether Sensei wanted to admit it or not, weren't we both in danger?