Xen squinted at the system message floating above the monster's head.

  [Living Armor (??)]

  "No displayed level," Xen had never seen that before. Was it because his human form lacked magic stats, or was it because the monster's level was so much higher than his that he was unable to discern it? "System," he whispered, "Why can't I see its level?"

  [Your appraisal skill allows you to understand and analyze things you have sufficiently observed that are of a lower grade than the skill. In this case, it's likely that the target's level exceeds the grade of your appraisal skill, as you have the passive skill [Undeath Resonance], which gives you affinity for the undead]

  Xen checked his skill list and confirmed his appraisal skill was at C-grade, meaning this monster had to be a B-grade monster or higher.

  "What were the grades again, system?" Xen asked, wanting to check if this was as ridiculous as he thought.

  [Grades: SSS (200+), SS (150), S (100), A (80), B (50), C (25), D (10), E (5), F (0)]

  So, the monster was at least above level 50.

  "Does the fact there are two question marks indicate the level at all?"

  [Yes, two question marks suggest the level is between 10 and 99]

  "Level 99, I can't even imagine how strong such a monster would be," Xen muttered to himself. He quietly observed the Living Armor for a little longer. It floated there silently in the dead center of the room with its back to him. It was around two meters tall, wielding a beautiful great sword that gleamed with mana, resting in its hand.

  Desire flashed through his mind. He wanted to add the Living Armor form to his arsenal. However, he was currently only level 12. While he could fight enemies a few levels above him, this Living Armor was in a different realm of existence compared to him.

  "Why is such a strong monster down here on the second floor of the dungeon?" Xen wondered, searching his memories. To his surprise, he did find something.

  It's likely a floor boss. They are typically taken down by large teams of Hunters in organized raids, according to the memories of the Hunters I've absorbed so far. However, none of them have ever competed in one; they have only seen videos and learned about it in school.

  Xen attempted to simulate a massive raid on this monster and couldn't help but think it was still over-leveled, considering it was on the second floor. Unless the guilds brought a team of priests and a few C or B-grade warriors to defend them, he couldn't see how they would win.

  There had to be something he was missing...

  "Hold on, why isn't it coming to attack me?"

  Undead, wolves, even slimes—any other monster he had encountered in the dungeon would roam the tunnels and attack anything they found. But this Living Armor simply remained in place, as if it were guarding something.

  That's when Xen remembered the passive skill he had gotten from picking the Necrovore Slime evolution, [Undeath Resonance]. When he had gotten it, the description had been: Undead creatures treat you as kin. Corruption-type skills enhanced.

  Taking an extremely hesitant step around the corner, he confirmed the Living Armor ignored him even though he was now standing openly in the doorway.

  This might be really stupid, Xen thought as he took his first step out of the tunnel and into the room—his entire body froze as a terrible chill ran down his spine. It was as if an aura of death blanketed the room.

  The Living Armor moved.

  Xen gulped, ready to meet his maker. Yet the Living Armor didn't turn around. It simply shifted its body as if to remind anyone watching that it wasn't a statue.

  Letting out a sigh of relief, he debated turning back now. However, he had a potentially crazy idea. He needed to evolve his Undead Mage form, and finding a safe place where he wouldn't be disturbed by a wandering monster or group of Hunters had been difficult. While shrouded in darkness, the crypt was far too open. He had gone down this tunnel in hopes of finding a small side room he could hide in, but this was potentially even better.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A level 50+ guardian to watch over him as he evolved.

  Walking deeper into the room, he slowly circled the Living Armor. At this point, he was pretty convinced that his [Undeath Resonance] was working, as there was no way such a high-level undead wouldn't have noticed him. Coming to a pause before the monster, he met its eyes—two orbs of blue fire peering through a thin horizontal slit. It didn't react much, simply looking him up and down.

  Xen mirrored the monster by conducting a more thorough analysis of the Living Armor. Its body was full plate armor that seemed to be a strange mix of ancient and slightly asymmetrical, as if forged from scavenged battlefield remnants but fused into a coherent whole. Each plate bore mismatched etchings—some arcane, some tribal. He wondered if the monster had been created in this form or if it had replaced sections of its body with armor taken from those it had killed.

  What led him to lean more toward the idea that it was created in this manner was the metal's dark, reflective hue, which fell somewhere between obsidian and tarnished silver. Veins of faintly glowing blue mana coursed through the gaps between the plates, which softly pulsed, making it feel alive. Through the gap between its eyes in the helmet slit and each armor plate, Xen could see that the inside of the armor was mostly empty, except for a blue haze—as if it were occupied by a ghost.

  What was most notable was the sheer aura of power radiating from the monster. Even with appraisal failing to determine its level, he could tell it was far above him and any person or monster he had encountered before.

  Satisfied that it wasn't going to attack him, as it would have already, Xen sat down before the Living Armor. While he could sit against the wall of the room, he felt the safest place would be directly next to the Living Armor. The last thing he wanted was for some Hunters to find that tunnel and manage to kill him with an arrow or spell from beyond the Living Armor's aggro range.

  "System, I want to upgrade my Undead Mage form," Xen whispered. The Living Armor looked at him a little closer when he spoke, but still didn't attack. That didn't save him from his heart almost beating out of his chest as he was stared down by the powerful monster.

  [To evolve, you have to assume the desired form]

  Xen winced at the system message. While the Undead Mage form was humanoid, it wasn't strong enough to carry all of the armor he was wearing.

  I suppose I could lie down, switch to my Undead Mage form, evolve, and then switch back to being a human.

  [Do you wish to take on the Undead Mage form?]

  Xen agreed to the system prompt. To his surprise, the shapeshift consumed a considerable amount of biomass despite all of the skin, flesh, and organs melting away and began to be reabsorbed into his slime body. He got his answer as he saw the human bones being reformed with mana channels in them.

  Despite looking like a simple skeleton, an Undead Mage was anything but.

  Now lying there on the floor, barely able to move with the armor weighing him down, Xen once again asked his system to allow him to evolve.

  [Undead Mage] has reached Level 10 (D Grade). Evolution is available.

  Do you wish to begin the evolution process?

  [You have 13:01 minutes to agree to the evolution, or a random option will be forced upon you]

  [Yes/No]

  "Yes."

  [Generating evolution options... error]

  [Due to [Undead Mage] being a form granted by the unique grade class [Shapeshifter], no evolution options can be provided]

  "What?!" Xen shouted, flinching as the Living Armor glared down at him. "What did you say?" he repeated, far quieter this time.

  [Monsters can evolve. As you were initially a [Mind Slime], upon reaching the next grade, you were given extensive evolution options. However, the form [Undead Mage] was copied from another monster, so you cannot evolve it by leveling up]

  "Is there any way I can evolve my Undead Mage form?"

  [Devouring a rare variant or evolved version of a form you already possess will offer the option to upgrade the existing form. For example, devouring a [Lich] would evolve your [Undead Mage] form into [Lich] rather than adding it as a new form. All levels and previously learned skills will be retained]

  Xen grunted in understanding. But he still had questions.

  "If that's the case, do I get anything for evolving my Undead Mage class?"

  [Upon completing the ascension to D grade, you will receive a new skill and passive. This will happen for all future evolutions as well]

  Xen thought about it some more and realized that this was actually advantageous for him. If I leveled up my Undead Mage form really high, only to encounter a Lich and then have to start again from level 1 as a Lich, that would be terrible.

  While he wanted a variety of forms to unlock niche skills, the last thing he wanted was numerous forms that were quite similar, all of which required his attention to level up.

  Any further musings could wait. Xen had found a safe place to evolve and didn't want to be here if a raid party showed up to kill this Living Armor. With only one option, he accepted it.

  [Evolution to Undead Mage (D) Confirmed: Time until completion 19:59]

  Compared to his previous slime evolution, which had taken an hour, this one only took twenty minutes, a small blessing considering his precarious situation.

  "I hope nothing interrupts me," he muttered as his consciousness began to fade and his evolution commenced.