[Evolution to Necroplague Slime (Rare Variant) is complete]

  [Pending experience can now be distributed]

  [Necroplague Slime] has leveled up: 25 -> 32.

  Xen awoke to the darkness of the lake, with only the system messages floating in his mind to let him know he wasn't dead. Well, he was technically dead, considering his human body hadn't taken a breath in over an hour. But he could always force it to move by feeding it biomass. After all, the man known to the Humans as Gerald was nothing but a puppeted corpse.

  Wait, I'm level 32 now?! Xen thought, and his status screen popped up to confirm that the previous one hadn't been a hallucination.

  ??[Name: Xen]

  [Level: 32 (C)]

  [Race: Necroplague Slime (Rare Variant)]

  [Current Form: Human (Level 25)]

  [Class: Shapeshifter (Unique)]

  "So all that experience from killing that horde of monsters was funneled onto my Necroplague Slime form, as my Human form is still awaiting me to pick an evolution?"

  The system message faded, and another took its place to answer his question again.

  [Human] has reached Level 25 (C Grade). Evolution is available.

  Please choose a class from the following options: [Mage], [Priest], [Archer], [Juggernaut], or [Spellblade].

  There are no new options? I guess that makes sense since I haven't devoured any humans in a while, only monsters.

  A sudden splash overhead caught Xen's attention. He looked up at the lake's surface and saw a large body, likely a Clay Orc, boiling the water around it as its body turned into steam.

  Where did that come from? I shouldn't be near the shore.

  Looking closer at the surface, he noticed three shadows that seemed to be bridges. He appeared to be under one of them, and with Geomantic Perception, he could sense that he was near one of the many pillars holding these new bridges.

  I'm lucky I didn't get crushed while evolving—wait, the humans! Xen suddenly remembered. An hour had passed to facilitate his evolution, and he had thought they would be safe since he took out the shoreline, but he hadn't anticipated that the Underworld Orc or some other beast would be able to summon bridges to reach them. I wonder if they are still alive? Considering a monster just fell into the lake, they must still be fighting.

  Standing up from the mountain of rubble on the lakebed, he made use of the weight of the armor and the fact that his lungs were filled with water to walk along the lake's floor toward where he had left the humans.

  While walking and considering what he should do, the system became more agitated with him.

  [You have one minute to make a decision, or a random class will be picked for you]

  Okay, okay. What were the options again? Xen questioned as he slowly made his way across the lake floor toward the muffled sounds of fighting overhead.

  Please choose a class from the following options: [Mage], [Priest], [Archer], [Juggernaut], or [Spellblade].

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  If I remember correctly, I will get a skill and a passive for whichever class I choose here, right? Mhm, in that case, what do I want? Xen pondered. Last time, he had picked Spellblade and received the very useful Phantom Strike skill and a Sword Proficiency passive that let him wield the sword like someone who had trained all their life. While the strength of a shapeshifter was his versatility, he was also wondering if it would be better to double down and specialize in becoming a Spellblade.

  Just for the sake of it, let's weigh the other options. What would picking the Priest class give me? Maybe abilities useful against the undead. Mhm, while the Underworld Orc can reanimate his clay minions, I'm not sure they count as undead, and they aren't particularly strong anyway. Actually, on that note, if the floor boss isn't considered undead, the Priest class won't be helpful when dealing directly with the boss. Though it could give me a skill or passive that lets me heal or buff my party members, assuming they are even still alive after my absence. In that case, I guess Priest could be a potential option, as the Humans certainly aren't weak, but they aren't that strong either. Moving on, what about Archer? Nah, it seems pretty useless in my current situation, as I lack a bow. Meanwhile, the Juggernaut class has lost a lot of its appeal now that I have the Earthen Regeneration skill.

  Xen paused, rechecking the list.

  So that leaves Mage and Spellblade. The Underworld Orc is a mage-type monster, so I would be trying to out-mage a level 41 floor boss. Even with all my advantages of having two forms and many skills, I doubt I can close that level gap. The Underworld Orc's spells will simply hit harder than mine can at this stage.

  Xen nodded, making up his mind. The only way he could close the level gap was by going all in and specializing as a Spellblade.

  [You have selected the devoured class [Spellblade] to imitate]

  Skill: [Vampiric Blade (C)]

  At the cost of half your current mana pool, infuse your blade with life-leech for one minute. During this time, each time you hit an enemy with a weapon while Vampiric Blade is active, heal for a percentage of the direct damage you just dealt (heals are applied instantly). The amount you heal is based on how much mana you exchanged.

  Passive: [Solo Hunter]

  When fighting alone, gain a stacking magic damage buff (up to 50% bonus) depending on how many enemies are in your vicinity.

  Xen read the skill first.

  Vampiric Blade? It seems to be a spell that lets me trade my mana pool to restore life force, with the caveat that I have to land hits on an enemy. Though it costs half my current mana pool? Such a ridiculous cost must mean I restore a lot of life force per hit if I use it with a full mana pool. On the other hand, if I use it when I have a small amount of mana left, the life-leech will be a far lower percentage.

  Xen considered the skill a little longer, and while it wasn't quite as valuable for him as he had the Earthen Regeneration skill and biomass on hand to self-heal, to a regular Hunter, this skill would be invaluable. It basically allowed a Hunter to fight without the need for a dedicated healer, as they would be able to heal through killing.

  Wait, it says the healing is applied instantly? Isn't that far better than Earthen Regeneration or using my biomass, which takes time to repair my flesh? How can healing even be applied instantly? Does a chopped-off arm just reappear as if it were never gone?

  Xen was excited to put this new skill to the test. His focus then settled on his new passive, [Solo Hunter]. Effectively, it could make him up to 50% stronger if he were fighting alone. Simple, but it was going to be invaluable for closing the gap on high-level opponents.

  Perhaps I won't need those humans after all, Xen thought, grinning behind the helmet. His foot suddenly got stuck on something, causing him to look down. His walking along the lake floor had kicked up a lot of sand, so it was being obscured. Picking it up, he guessed what it was from the feel of the material. Is this some clothing? He held it up to the surface to get a little light and realized what it was. Wasn't this Valoria's coat?

  Using Geomantic Perception, he confirmed the coat wasn't all the sand had hidden from him. More clothing, a quiver with a few arrows, three bags, and more. Picking it all up and bundling it, he used one of the coats like a big bag and continued trudging toward the shore.

  Just because he might be able to fight the boss without the humans' help didn't mean they could die just yet. After all, he had shown them his monstrous side, and they had seemingly accepted him.

  I still have a lot to gain from this partnership, and perhaps by saving them once more and returning their belongings from the lake's depths, it might make them see me in a more positive light.

  After some more walking, he eventually stood before an underwater cliff face. Above him, the lake boiled as corpses seemingly rained from the bridges. The humans were engaged in battle and appeared to be still alive.

  Drawing his sword, he imbued it with the crackling red mana of a Crescent Rage strike. Instantly, he could feel that this attack was going to be on a scale beyond anything he had unleashed before. Originally, he had planned to remove one of the bridge's supports, but with the amount of mana imbued in his blade, he knew he could go for more.

  Aiming upward, he targeted all three of the bridges at once.

  to read ahead!