*Splat, sizzle~

Ah! Go away!

*Splat, splat, sizzle~

Why ya spittin' at me, bitch? Do you despise me? I despise your mother for bearing an asshat like you.

*Splat, sizzle~

Aaah! Stahp it, ya bastard, my wing burns!

Just how did I get myself in this bullshit?

Let's take some time and have some brief flashbacks.

I was hungry.

Then I saw shiny...balls.

The aroma was tempting~

And, and...I ate the balls. They were delicious.

I ate someone's children! I'm a terrible person! Nah...that happens all the time.

What's with these judging stares? Didn't humans slaughter livestock for food?

...I'm being oversensitive. There's nobody to judge me here, so I can do whatever the heck I want, Muahahaha~

So, I ate the eggs, but I wasn't aware as to which creature it belonged to.

Now I do.

It uh, looks like a smaller version of bird raptor and it spits poison?

Anyway, that shit's dangerous. It's also quite fast, but very simpleminded. All you need is a whoosh-whoosh and you hear the sweet sound of it missing the attacks.

I vigorously flap my wings and dodge another poison spitball.

Must be hard flying and shooting that with accuracy at the same time, not that I care.

Ah, hey! My cousins! Help me!

I fly through the sleeping flock of bats. The dumb bird follows.

I laugh evilly as I hear messy sounds behind me. Levitating in the air, I watched my cousins deal with the bad guy.

What? I'm the bad guy? Bullshit!

Yeah, beat him up, dear cousins! I'm rootin' for ya!

Soon, the poor bird was turned into minced meat.

Man, now I'm bored.

It's been a while since I've adapted to this lifestyle. Probably, I've gone a bit psycho from boredom, but I can afford that much as a monster. Still, I miss human interactions.

Speaking about humans, I see them a lot more often, the reason being, I've found the giant cave's entrance. Daily, small groups of humans come here for hunting. I, as a monster, would be shot down at sight upon appearance, so I decided to just stalk them.

I don't understand their language, but after hearing it for a long while and making use of my high perception, I can barely discern emotions behind some of the words. As a result, I've learned a word or two, maybe a level higher than a baby, who's babbling mama and papa.

Meanwhile, I've gotten so much closer to evolution. Only a single point of Exp is missing and I'm wondering as to what to have for my last meal, before grand evolution.

That's the result of having formed the mentality of a hunter - Calmness and the lack of impatience. Bloodthirst only erupts in battles. Until then, I'm as docile as a lamb.

This mentality is important because some monsters have a rather strong gut feeling and intuition. They feel unease and sense the upcoming danger, even if they don't see it. If you are impatient, then no meals for you.

After leisurely searching around for a bit, I found a small turtle. It had hidden its body in the shell. After making sure it didn't possess any threat to me, I lifted it up and dropped it from high up.

Unexpectedly, the turtle had quite high defense, so I had to repeat this action several times. The poor turtle was helpless against the unfair treatment and soon, it turned into a messed up meat paste.

+1% Exp

Suddenly the Exp bar shone as it was completely filled and a row of texts appeared in my mind.

Level up!

+30 Skill points; +0.5 stat points

+0.6 HP; +0.4 STA; +0.04 STR; +0.11 AGI; +0.02 DEF; +0.03 WIL; +0.13 PER

Level limit reached

Evolution paths unlocked

Please choose one of the following:

Hunter bat (E) Lesser earth bat (E) Trickster bat (F) Wild bat (F) Noble bat (D)

I have five options! They are even ranked! I'm in no hurry, so let's choose wisely.

System, tell me more about each evolution option.

Hunter bat (E) - One of the more common types of bat species. Their enchanted perception allows them to scan areas like radar. They specialize in burst attacks. Lesser earth bat (E) - The lesser earth bats have a small affinity with earth element and are physically sturdy. Trickster bat (F) - Specializes in deception and control. Wild bat (F) - They are physically violent and have higher attack power. Noble bat (D) - Nobles bats have access to charisma, through which they can control other bats. Their bloodline becomes purer and slightly closer to their ancestor's.

There's not much to think about. I want to become a noble bat! Not only does it have the highest rank, but I feel it also has more potential for growth. After all, no matter how strong I become, I'm still a bat, a rather unsuitable creature for direct combat.

However, it's a different story if I have a bunch of bats at my beck and call. Through numbers, it's more viable to overwhelm the tough opponents.

Wait, how the heck did I manage to get Noble Bat evolution option?

Condition fulfilled: Defend an ally with your life with less than 1% survival chance.

Noble Bat evolution option unlocked.

So harsh?! This was...right, probably when I decided to foolishly throw away my life to defend Celine before Fake saved us. If not for luck, I would have died at that time.

Whew, the system's not being lenient, huh?

Okay, where was I at? Right, before starting my evolution, I'll go to my secret hideout, since I don't want to be disturbed.

I didn't forget to take detours from some danger areas as I safely entered my small hideout from the safe route.

Alright, time for some changes.

The noble bat option shone as I chose it. I started feeling changes, that started occurring in my body.

My blood boiled and my bones began emitting slight crackling sounds.

What?! Was it supposed to be this painful? Ah, I can't...

Before long, I passed out.

...

Huh? Where am I? It's my base. Good, I'm safe. Right, I was evolving, but I lost consciousness in the middle of it. How did it go?

I stared at my wings to see whether there were any changes to my body.

There was!

My wing felt more vigorous and defined. My messy, short brown fur turned light brown and became more fluffy. Also, I'm sure my wings were a bit smaller earlier. I must have also grown in size.

My head hurts.

...

There's new information in my head. Eh? I didn't know monsters could unlock more genetic information as they evolve.

There seem to be 9 realms and currently, I'm in the second realm.

An average adult human is also the 2nd realm with an average of 1.0 in the most stats and has about 10-15 HP if the human is level 0.

Sigh, however, humans have a very convenient body, while I'm just a bat, so I probably can't beat an average human if I fight fair and square.

After organizing my thoughts a bit, I checked the system notifications.

Evolution successful.

Evolved into a Noble Bat

+1.0 stat point +20 skill points

+ 4 HP + 2 STA + 0.1 STR + 0.3 AGI +0.05 DEF +0.1 WIL +0.4 PER

Skills acquired: Charisma, Telepathy, Bloodline

+5 Charisma, +5 Telepathy, +5 Bloodline

Charisma - Determines leadership qualification. Telepathy - You can communicate through the mind and transmit simple intents. Bloodline - Locked attribute. Determines ancestral closeness. The owners of high-level bloodline can awaken ancestral bloodline skills, allocated in the genetic code.

...

I really didn't make a wrong choice! From now on, things are going to change. The hunts are going to become...much more interesting.

Before then, system, show me my full status.

Name: - HP: 5.9/8.5 Realm: 2nd Species: Bat Gender: Male Titles: Cunning, Bully, Eternal observer, Hunter of hunters, Sadist, Samaritan STA: 0.3/5.0 MP: 0/0 Level: 0/10 Exp: 0% Skill points: 104 Stat points: 2.0 Trait: Nocturnal (+10% All Stats. Condition: Night, Darkness. Enchanted night vision)

Stats: STR: 0.96; AGI: 1.42; DEF: 0.64; TEN: 0.00; WIL: 0.5; PER: 2.28; Luck: 0.3 [Locked]; Bloodline: 5 [Locked]

3% crit

Skills: Night vision: 40; Vigilance: 39; Slumber: 21; Flying: 51; Echolocation: 59; Sneak: 44; Bite: 56; Scratch: 42; Deception: 16; Intimidation: 38; Throw: 22; Charisma: 5; Telepathy: 5;

I just need to recover. Then, hehe, can't wait to test my new power!

...

Finally!

With a dynamic flap of my wings, I was once again flying in the air. Whoops, I'll need to adjust to the changes. Let's see what I look like first.

I found the small lake and stared at my reflection.

Yeah, I'm more good looking and my body's bit larger, but...I stand out a lot! How am I supposed to sneak around in dark places with such light brown hair? I'm going to be found out so easily!

Sigh, to get something, you have to give up something. What can we do?

Alright then, where was I at? Oh, I was about to visit my cousins.

Hey fellows, how are you all doing? Haha, I'm fine too. Hmmm, you! Yes, you, do you want to, you know, hunt together or something?

I stared at Realm 1, Level 1 bat with anticipation. Let's start with easy ones.

Bat Realm: 1st Level: 1 HP: 2.5/2.5

Huh? What's with this reaction? Hey, come back! Why are you ignoring me?! You...

Subordination failed. Insufficient charisma.

Fuck you!

System! Put all my skill points into Charisma!

Ah..wait...fuck! I was too impulsive. Sigh...

Welp, I have 79.5 points in Charisma now. That should be enough to get a bunch of bats tamed, right? Ah, wait, I might as well try this on other monsters.

Oh hey, mister lizard, would you like to join my part?

Subordination failed. Target invalid.

Sigh, so I can only get a bunch of bats to follow me around, huh?

Alright, let's try this again. Hey, cousin...

Subordination successful. Bat, R1, Level 1 will now follow you.

Caution: Getting your subordinates killed will permanently reduce your charisma.

What? That's so harsh. I might as well be wasting my points if I just let my minions die. I have to be careful then.

Alright, let's see if I can tame more.

...

In the end, I managed to tame 7 Level one bats. Now they are following me, waiting for my commands. How cute!

Taming a level 1 bat requires having 10 charisma. I'm lacking only a tiny bit, yet I can't get the 8th one. Sigh, damn rules.

Still, I'm satisfied. It's time for some group hunting! I'm looking forward to this.

* * *

In the corner of the dark cave, a deceased skeletal corpse of a human was lying, leaning against the cold wall. The deceased wore black robes engraved with dimly lit runes. The skeleton had a small amount of short, white hair attached on its skull, that appeared devoid of vitality.

A rather large centipede was crawling around the corpse, trying its mandibles against the corpse's skull. Unexpectedly, the skull wasn't breaking.

Suddenly, in the dark, hollow eyesockets of the skeleton, a blue flame kindled.

The ignorant centipede felt something was wrong and gave a screech.

'The noble blood has appeared.' The husky, silent voice echoed throughout the cave. The speaker was unknown.

The burning flames in the skeleton's empty eyesockets blazed more vigorously as the voice could once again be heard.

'It's time for the revival.'

The motionless skeleton slowly rose on its feet, its short white hair scattering ghoulishly.

*Crunch!

Suddenly, without any prior notice, the skeleton grabbed the centipede with its bony hand in a swift motion.

The centipede flailed its dozens of legs and wriggled helplessly.

'Give me your sustenance.' The hoarse voice came from the skeleton. The centipede began drying up as it issued terrible screeching noises. Soon, its carapace crumbled on the floor. Its blood and flesh seemed to evaporate in the air.

The flickering blue flame blazed even more vigorously in the skeleton's eyesockets as its body seemingly began to vanish, blending with the darkness.

The blazing aquamarine eye flames vanished the last.

The creepy silence descended.