Part Nine

This is weird! I know we just had a moment, but what’s up with this?

Alicia was currently sleeping beside me on the couch. She’d said that there was no way she was going to sleep alone. This made it very awkward for me, as I had a hard time getting to sleep.

Grrr, why do I have to be the one in this situation? I just want to get some sleep. Fuck.

I resigned myself to getting little sleep that night.

“It’s pretty hard to get used to.”

Alicia was getting used to her new skill. Accuracy was pretty simple. Its main function was to increase the efficiency of a person’s eyesight. It enhanced her dynamic vision, as well as letting her more easily make out objects at a distance. Alicia said that the change was jarring, as she could now make out details about things she couldn’t before.

“It’s really hard to explain how it feels. I need to focus to make the skill work and if my concentration slips, my eyes fell like they’ll burst.”

“If you can learn how to maintain your focus, that shouldn’t happen during battle. I'm worried that you won’t be able to see if you overexert yourself.” If she flinched at the wrong moment, she could easily be killed.

I wanted to find some weak monsters. I figured that by having her get used to the skill while fighting, would make it harder for her concentration to slip. There was only one problem: what monsters to hunt.

I’d gotten plenty of information from Eric about the nearby area. He’d told me about not only the actions the militia was taking, but also about the nearby monsters.

He'd told me that there five varieties of monsters in the nearby area. Goblins and Black Wolves I already knew about. To the north there were dog-like beasts called Kobolds, and further away were D-Rank Trolls. Both of these were out, as Kobolds were stronger than goblins and used pack tactics. I didn’t even need to explain the Trolls.

The only remaining candidate was the E-Rank Claw Monkey. They were about as strong as the Wolves but had one advantage: they were sneaky as hell. Eric had said that several people had been killed during a surprise attack, before the walls were built.

The shelter group had launched a counter attack, killing most of the monkeys and driving away the survivors. Now, Claw Monkeys were only found near a park east of the shelter.

Damn, that’s a sight. How are there so many? Cavisburgh’s sole park was currently swarming with monkeys. There easily had to be over a hundred. I thought they nearly exterminated them? Maybe Claw Monkeys repopulate quickly? Or were there more than they knew about?

“Mike, is this safe?” we were watching from a nearby rooftop. With our vantage point, the monkeys shouldn’t be able to see us.

“Reasonably. So long as we don’t get too close to their nest, they won’t come after us.” We weren’t here to exterminate them.

“Okay.” She calmed down after that. “Why are there so many together?”

That was a good question. From what Eric told me, they’d originally kept to small groups of about ten. Maybe after being nearly killed off, the survivors had banded together. It was a nice story, if only it wasn’t about monsters.

After waiting for thirty minutes, a group of monkeys left the park. Since this is what we were waiting for, we slipped off the roof and proceeded to follow. A half dozen monkeys had separated, perfect for our current objective.

We followed them while keeping a short distance. If we attacked too soon, we risked the nest hearing and coming to their aid.

“Are they hunting?” The monkeys had been searching aimlessly for awhile now.

“I don’t think so. Maybe they’re looking for other monkeys?” Either way, we were far enough from the park.

Alicia climbed onto a house. At first she’d needed help to get up, but after awhile she was able to climb up herself. This was a clear sign that those that actively fought would gain power faster. Hm? I just realized. Neither Alicia or Cameron ever obtained Survival Instinct. We were certainly in more than ten fights, so why didn’t the Title trigger?

If they’d gotten that skill it would make it a lot easier for them to survive while alone.

*Angry monkey noises*

The claw monkeys had become excited. We’d been hanging back to keep them from discovering us, so I had no idea what was happening. I ran around the corner, only to find a massacre.

Weregoblin

Rank: C

Description: One of only two C-Rank goblins. When a Goblin Wolf Rider fully assimilates with their mount, they evolve into a Weregoblin. Filled with an unquenchable bloodthirst, they hunt other monsters to slake their hunger for battle.

OHMYFUCKINGGOD! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!

It had completely ripped the Claw Monkeys apart. Survival Instinct was telling me to haul tail and get the heck out. Thankfully it hadn’t seen me yet, and I quietly backed away. I wasn’t going to try fighting a monster like that. Yet.

I successfully collected Alicia and got the hell out of there. I was almost expecting the cliché of me stepping on a twig and alerting the monster to my presence. Most likely, the Weregoblin was going to find either the shelter and probably get killed, or it would find the monkey nest and head further out of town. Either way was good.

“Well that was a bust. Now we need some where else to train.” This wasn’t good. I needed to keep my skills sharp.

“Was it really that strong?” I didn’t blame Alicia for not knowing. Even if it was different, it was still a Goblin. We’d already killed hundreds.

“It was C-Rank. If we’d fought, there was no guarantee that I’d win. And even if I did, I’d be on the verge of death.”

I wasn’t scared of fighting it. I was more worried that Alicia would get caught up in the fight. C-rank monsters were simply on a different level. And considering my experience with monsters having hidden abilities, I wasn’t going to take chances. The doppelganger had nearly killed me before, and I didn’t know what a Weregoblin was capable of. Even the fully outfitted militia would suffer multiple casualties to kill it, if they even could.

Unknowns were better off being avoided, as I put my life before anything. But it wasn’t just that, there was something off about that Weregoblin. It was something subtle, like an itch at the back of my mind. Something I only picked up on due to my intuition.

I believed it to be a result of how it had gained strength. Monsters gained power through Enhancement and Evolution. While the System was vague on the specifics, there was a clear difference between them. When a monster gained knowledge on a technique or learned a trait that turned it into an outlier, this was called Enhancement. It was similar to how humans gained power through the System.

But when a monster underwent a period of sudden growth, resulting in the acquisition of new traits or its body transforming, that was Evolution. This would lead to a remarkable uptick in power, essentially making it a different monster than it was before.

The problem came about due to the fact that most monster species had their own rules. Goblins for example, could not evolve and would only gain modifiers to their race, giving them little chance to drastically gain strength. This meant the Weregoblin was more of a mutation, than an evolution. It was akin to being an entirely new race.

But that’s not to say that monsters with a race modifier, like Soldier or Mage, couldn’t evolve. It was simply determined on their race. Most of the time, when a monster gained a modifier, it would help signify what Evolutions it could acquire. A Minotaur could gain the Soldier modifier, which kept it at D-Rank, and later on Evolve into a Minotaur Warrior, which was C-Rank. While the former looked similar to a normal Minotaur, the latter was much larger.

The biggest difference was that Enhancement rarely led to an increase in Rank, except at F and E, while Evolution always led to a jump in Rank, sometimes more than one. Of course, this only applied to monsters outside of Dungeons. Those inside were puppets manipulated by the System and were set to stay at their current Rank.

Since the Weregoblin had rapidly gained power, it had probably gone on a rampage, allowing it to further strengthen. If it had managed to learn some techniques, then there was no telling what it was capable of. Not to mention that it probably outclassed me in pure ability. I wasn’t suicidal, I’d either pick my fights carefully, or fight those I had no choice but to.

“So what do we do now?” An astute question. But I did have one idea. Survival Instinct had been warning me about something nearby. Well not warning. It was notifying me.

“There’s something inside that house over there. I don’t know what exactly, but if it’s what I think it is, it’ll aid us even better than the monkeys.”

“…?” She looked confused as to why I’d want to go in, but she’d realize soon enough.

I walked over to the door and knocked three times. I wasn’t doing this to be polite of course. I was seeing if there were any monsters inside. When I didn’t hear anything, I opened the door.

The inside of the room looked like a hurricane had gone through. All the furniture was pushed against the walls, with much of it being broken. But that wasn’t what caught my eye. I knew it! I thought I recognized that sensation. It’s what I felt back in my apartment.

Portal to E-Rank Dungeon

Type: Linear

Description: An entrance point to a dungeon.

Hahahah, I knew there was a dungeon nearby! I knew it! This is almost too perfect.

Dungeons were System constructs. I didn’t know what their purpose was, but they could help rapidly develop someone. Since this was the lowest rank of Dungeon, it wouldn’t aid me much, but it would work wonders for Alicia. It was even better than hunting low rank monsters!

“A-a dungeon?” Alicia seemed unnerved by the portal. And why wouldn’t she? She’d heard about what I’d gone through.

“You don’t need to worry. I won’t force you to go in. It would be safer inside, though. The monster’s ranks are more consistent, and only humans can enter dungeons. This should be the safest way to get stronger.“ we would need food, but since an E-Rank Dungeon wouldn’t take all that long, we’d be fine.

“Alright. If it helps us survive and help Cameron.”

And with that, we stepped into the portal.

::Entrance into E-Rank Dungeon confirmed.::

[???’s POV]

The hunger. It was burning a hole into it. It couldn’t settle down. All it wanted was to fight. So much so that it was all it thought about. It would kill and kill and kill and kill but it never felt any better. It came across so many things. Members of its former species, beasts in many shapes, the dog-headed people that it used to despise, even those grotesque Trolls that lorded over them all.

It didn’t matter. It had killed them all.

All it wanted was something that it could fight to the death with. A rival: one who would prove to be more than just prey. There had been one: A human. He was strong, but not strong enough. Even with its instincts telling it to kill him, it had held back and let the human go. Hopefully, he would grow and become a worthy opponent.

Until then, it would continue to kill.