IDBIRR Chapter 8: Evolution Chart.
Crack, twist, wriggle. A goblin who was beneath my feet struggles. It was a hopeless and overwhelming difference in strength. After my first kills, I went around the Labyrinth and hunted some monsters without rest, left and right for a couple of days.
Crack!!
It had tried to bite me, but it's teeth broke in the process. I sigh. I grabbed it's throat and ripped it's inside's out. A painful death.
I sit on top of a mound of corpses as I grew tired of this scenery. Each corpse glowing a second later before vanishing into light particles and entering inside of my core.
This was the fifth monster camp today. I can feel my power becoming stronger with each kill I have committed.
It was a sickening motive to reach the summit for survival. With every gesture I make in order to land the finishing blow on these monsters, I could see their emotion of fear, confusion and pain.
Despite the inability to feel or become pained, I felt restless and haggard. It doesn't make sense, but it is what is. It was tiring.
Yet, sickening as it was to murder innocent monsters just standing by. I also felt like I was enjoying every bit of it as much as I continued to rise above everything else.
There was a time before I piled up a mound of bodies beneath me. I thought, "I am still human right?" after walking past the trail of death I havocked.
Sitting on top of a hill with no care as monsters tried to crawl above the same level as me. I once again yearned to meet my first friend in my thoughts.
I wonder where that Reindeer is at now..?
.
.
.
[[Congratulations for today's hunt. I kept cheering for you as best as I could.]]
Looking into my stats as I once again rest on top of the corpses that piled up.
I suddenly recall her monotonous voice that cheered for me as I brutally murdered every hostile monster that attacked me.
I-...I guess she was trying to keep me company in my lonesome?
Her voice was...surely one of a kind.
[[Woohoo.]]
[[You've got this.]]
[[Awesome.]]
Those were the same lines she repeatedly cheered for me like a programmed computer. I dunno if I shoud feel relieved or what...
( ;一_一||)
[[Are you not happy with my encouraging support?]]
She asks in a straightforward manner.
Ehh...even if you say that...
...
No...hehe...nevermind. Yes, despite your voice sounding so low in spirits. Your cheering is indeed reassuring.
[[Ah. I see. I am glad that I can be of help to you.]]
Yes, being alone in such a place. Someone else's presence would surely be warm.
Well...there is another intelligent creature here that I could communicate with...but...that person is waiting for my ripening. Which frightens me with each and every day I get stronger.
I open up my map and observed Big Boss's movements. He only ever stays in one place, and it's the boss room of the labyrinth. Well, it does make sense, since he is the boss of this place after all.
Although he does take random strolls around the labyrinth. I've bumped into him a couple of times before. And every encounter was truly an overwhelming experience.
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With a dumb smile on his face as he waves a friendly gesture my way, he emits an intimidating aura despite all that peaceful demeanor. I sometimes wonder what it is I'm doing in order to survive, only to be soon stopped by this unreachable wall that even greets me happily everyday.
Damn you!
Punching his foot as he once again passes by me. Big Boss laughs, thinking it was a cute struggle and then walks away, continuing his stroll.
Sheesh, what a weird guy.
I decided to gather around the item drops I received. In case you didn't know, in RPG's (role-playing games), when monsters die; they drop items or weapons that can be used by players. Just like how I got my previous loot from before.
[Loot]
{Health Potion "S"} x3
{Mana Potion "S"} x2
I got more S-Ranked potions...is this normal? or is it just because of my luck stat?
Anyways...
[Inventory]
{Health Potion "S"} x 21 (+3) -> x 24
{Mana Potion "S"} x 9 (+2) -> x 11
{Earth King's Forgotten Blade "Legendary"} x 1
{Chunks of Metal} x 34
{High Grade Mana Stone "A"} x 17
These are all the loot I get from monster drops. I only take the chunks of metal from their broken armor, weapon, or shield as some sort of souvenir or what was it called.....a trophy hunt?
As for the mana stones...I remember it being some sort of high value drops that could sell for a price. If I ever get the chance to escape from this hell-hole, I could probably sell it for some pocket money.
On the contrary...I don't what I would feel about the potions. How do I even use it? My mouth doesn't open for some strange reason. The health potions might serve some use later on, but for the mana potions? I don't even think I would need it at all.
I have no Mana anyways.
Plus, my skills don't need mana for their use.
Although if you were to ask me if I should throw or discard them from my inventory, then my answer would be no.
I'm a very cautious man. Who knows what the future has in store for me. Just being sure to stick to the useless materials has it's own benefits for a later transgression. In it's own sense for praise, even the useless ones have their own unexpected value for what others think doubtly of.
And so I decided to store it all inside my Inventory. I don't want to make mistakes I'll regret later on. I am trying to survive, not to take life and death lightly.
After all of that was done and dealt with. I decided to look at the other options from my menu screen. Particularly snatching my interest, the [Evolution] tab.
[Current Evolution]
[Lesser Golem+]
[Requirements for your next Evolution]
[Lesser Golem+] (MAX) -> [Greater Golem+]
[Requirements for further Evolution]
[Greater Golem+] + [Greater Golem+] (MAX) + (???) -> [??????????]
[Requirements for Ascendance]
[?????????????????????????????????????]
[?????????????????????????????????????]
[?????????????????????????????????????]
[?????????????????????????????????????]
[?????????????????????????????????????]
Jesus christ, so many question marks.
It seems that I only have four evolutions. That's fine. I don't plan to be the strongest anyways. My main focus for now is to escape this Labyrinth If I can.
But the main obstacle right now is Big Boss, who prevents me from leaving the labyrinth through any means possible.
Huh? Why don't I just phase through the ceilings or the floor and escape, easy peasy?
Impossible. Literally impossible to do. Whenever I try to climb through the open ceilings of my room, there's this...force, this barrier that pushes me away from escaping.
The same thing goes for underground. It's like I'm hitting an invisible wall that only pushes me back to the surface.
It's some sort of a defense mechanism that prevents monsters from escaping the Labyrinth through such any and many means thinkable.
The only way out is through the main entrance. Through it's frame. You can't go under or above the door. You can only pass through it's inside frame. The barrier extends to the outside frame of the door, that's why I can't escape the Labyrinth no matter what I do.
Since I need to surface back to land and pass through by normal means of just walking to it.
The problem with how difficult it is to achieve and get out, is because Big Boss suddenly appears infront of the main entrance for no reason.
It's like he's specifically preventing me from escaping. So I decided to give up on that struggle.
The main entrance is also stationed with incense repellant that repels off monsters that monsters don't like the smell of. It's also pretty intoxicating for them.
Maybe that's why he only ever prioritizes me in guarding the main entrance. Since I'm a Golem, I don't have most of a human's main senses. I don't need to breathe to stay alive. And since my body is made out of stone, any kind of ailments would not affect me in any manner.
A perfect and undying body. A terrifying existence of an Unstoppable Force.
What an unreasonable guy...He knew I would just try to escape his clutches from the very beginning.
If I would turn into a [Greater Golem+] would I atleast stand a chance against him?
Hmm....
Yea, NONONONONONONONONONONONONO.
Looks impossible. That guy's an absolute monster. There's no way for me to compete at all.
I just hope I could [Evolve] or maybe acquire the use of my [Earthen Warrior] skill by the end of this.
-----------------
~Somewhere outside the Labyrinth~
???: "A storm is brewing."
Black Cat: "Meoww?"
???: "The Emperor's aid will come soon."
Black Cat: "Meow..."
???: "Ah...how bright, a light so bright it could blind. This future that I see...Granite's prophecy has now turned it's gears. The One who would Stand Above All meager existences has already started to grow."
Black Cat: "Meow."
???: "Oh Nerida...the answer you'll seek from me that's tasked by the Emperor...It would soon intertwine it's fate with yours and Lady Joane."