Becoming a Monster

'Please don't leave me again….'

Whoosh!

Noah sped towards the zombie with his sword drawn to his side, the expression on his face was ice cold, but his eyes were telling a story.

Lash after lash, a tentacle would come spearheading towards him and just like the scene from Mark, the tentacle's speed diminished before it reached him. Noah would adjust his body before the speed of the attacks were even affected, with the use of his sensory hairs he realized he didn't even have to use his elusive skill at all.

What seemed to be effortless still didn't change the way Noah was feeling at the moment. He didn't feel the least excited as he did when he was anticipating the fight before. He just wanted something, anything that would distract his mind and that something just happened to be the zombie.

The scene was becoming a dance as he maneuvered his way through countless lines of attacks, the scene wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for his skill that was impeding the zombies control of its body.

But the more the distance between the two were bridged, the less error was allowed in his movements.

The zombie didn't have the capacity to 'feel' emotions, but its instincts were being spurned ever since it felt its body was being oppressed. And when the source of that oppression was growing closer to it. The zombie survival instincts had it unleash every source of its tentacles towards Noah to remove the threat.

The number of tentacles it released formed what seemed to be a wave of limbs coming towards Noah. There was no way for him to continue moving forward when most if all his routes ahead were blocked off, but he was prepared. The spell was shaky, but in his free hand, he was charging a manabolt after dodging the first round of attacks.

When the wave of tentacles were shot out, he unleashed his attack towards the center. His goal was never the zombie, with the web of the zombies appendages in front of him, he couldn't be sure that the attack could pierce through them all.

And at the same time the spell was released, he chose to let his trump skill take over.

Boom*

A small explosion took place between the two, but the two didn't take a break to assess the situation. Multiple branches of her tentacles were blown and scattered in the air. A loud obnoxious streak could be heard coming from the zombie. The zombie didn't have a regeneration ability that could make her recover so many of her tendons and muscles to form and replace the parts she lost.

As the tentacles became closer, mysteriously they had all stopped right before they reached Noah. There was a crazed glint in Noah's eyes but his expression was full of resentment towards his enemy. The pain Noah felt, the conflicting emotions he had to stress his mind over. He pinned it all on the zombie and undergoing the effects of his 'Killing Instincts' skill amplified that feeling even more. These feelings empowered Noah's subservient skill that allowed him to forcefully stop the zombie in its tracks.

Now that his skill was active, his sword was able grant him all of the benefits that were unusable to him before. The black and red mist enveloped the handle just like before, but there was a slight difference to its new appearance. The edges of the sword's blade seemed as it was absorbing the mist being released as its colors changed to a dark red, releasing a sheen that seemed to glow from the natural moonlight.

Noah wasn't aware of the sword's physical changes, but in his current state, he wouldn't care even if he were.

With the attack being stopped before him, Noah activated his elusive skill that granted him a 25% burst in speed, coupled with his killing instincts skill and the extra thirty stats given to his attributes from the sword, his agility easily shot past 100.

With just one quick lunge, he bypassed the initial wall made up of tentacles before he swung with an underhanded swing with both hands gripping his blade and sliced off a huge portion of the tentacles that struck out.

The pain seemed to be the trigger for the zombie to resume moving again, but it just happened to be the limit of the amount of time Noah was able to control it.

Another loud screech resounded through the night.

The sounds were already enough to attract the students who already made their way into the dorm. People like Ishi and Alicia were the first of the few to exit the dorm to aid them in whatever way they could. While the others choose to crowd around the windows to watch from a safe distance.

Alietta was carried to the dorm's entrance, Mark on the other hand was being treated by Isabelle and two other priests that resided in Ishii's group. His cries had stopped after the first treatment, but it wasn't looking good. A hole in his cheek, three in mid section and a few more scattered through his limbs. If he wasn't smart enough to use the sword to protect his vitals, mainly his heart and throat, he probably would've died instantly, even though the attacks were stopped before they pierced through him deeper than what they did.

The sound of the second screech halted everyone's action who was in the process of either caring for Ailetta or healing Mark. The area in the courtyard was barely lit and for most of them, the movements of both Noah and the zombie was too fast for them to keep up with. However the scene of the meters long appendages being cut could easily be observed by the group. The same appendages they saw being used to kill the guards without a challenge.

"He really is in a different league than us…." Ishii smiled to himself when he thought about the fact he believed he could one day reach his idol.

"Don't bother comparing yourself to him…You're you and he's, well you see his appearance." Alicia muttered while watching the scene of Noah barbarically rushing towards the zombie.

"I really doubt if he can even be considered human anymore.."

Now that the zombie is in control of itself again, it quickly tries to withdraw all of its tentacles back within itself to send them out again.

Yet it didn't realize that would be its undoing. With each step Noah exploded further with the use of his elusive skill. Each used would use more stamina than before that could potentially cause extreme muscle fatigue and then wear and tear. However the 25 added stamina and all of his other bonuses more than made up for the repetitive usage of the skill to reach the zombies side simultaneously while the tentacles were being retrieved into its back so the wounds inflicted could be closed off and reformed.

Once Noah made the fight into a close quarters battle the fight was already over. Noah didn't go for a clean kill and attempted to cut off the zombie's head. His resentment for the creature didn't fade as he brought his sword above his head and swung it down as if he was trying to hammer the zombie into the depths of hell.

If Noah still retained his rational insight, he may have hesitated to strike, thinking that the zombie would react considering that it was also a tier one zombie. However life, even if it's evolution, would always find a way to bring balance.

The zombie's strength revolved entirely off of its tentacles, reducing the need for a strong physical body, but that is also the reason the tentacles were not only tough, but were extremely fast and lethal.

Maybe if it evolved again then it could also eject tentacles from other parts of its body to defend itself more. It tried to bring out the few tentacles that were barely ready to project out, but as soon as it tried, it froze once again due to Noah's skill.

The sword easily cut through the zombie's skull, killing it instantly and then proceeded to cut through the rest of its body down the middle.

Just like how the zombie left its prey after it killed them, its body remained motionless for a few seconds before the halves split apart. Blood sprayed from every seam that was made from the sword. Tens of objects that looked like disfigured worms dropped out of its body after it split apart.

The fight was over, everyone watched in shock how easily Noah took care of the creature that brought them so much fear. However the result didn't shock them as much as it did to Pam and the others.

"Ah! Why did yo-"

"Are you crazy!" Pam interrupted Regina as she screamed in her face, shocking not only Regina but the last three guards as well.

"He is just as much of a monster as that wolf and you didn't bother to mention any of this to us??" Her face showed how angry she was, but her voice held a tinge of fear. She recollected the time that she proclaimed that Noah was not only a freak, but she would defend him from Regina at all cost.

"What did you do that would make him want to kill you like that girl said earlier? This is not something I want to risk my life over."

Pam took a few steps away from her as she questioned Regina. Money is important to her, but only if she's alive long enough to use it.

Yet Regina didn't continue to remain shocked. The question made her look towards Pam in confusion, then without warning she began to laugh hysterically. The current scene made the others believe she had gone crazy after finding out that they would no longer protect her when they heard her answer.

"I'm disappointed in you Gina…" Pam shook her head in disappointment seeing the proud and selfish girl she had watched over being reduced to such a state.

"Disappointed? Disappointed in me? Haha! You are really a fool….do you not know who he is! No-Ah! Noah! Does that still not ring any bells?"

"!"

At first Pam stood rooted to her spot as she tried to ponder what seemed to be a sad attempt to get them to stay. However that name began to sound oddly familiar to her, it wasn't until she remembered why that name was familiar.

'It's 'that' boy??' Her eyes reveal her immense shock when she thought about the times she helped Regina 'hire' some thugs to beat him up periodically. The first few times they were actually random people they bought off, but when that didn't go as expected she had actually used some of the guards under her to fulfill that role.

"It seems that you finally remember, it took you long enough. Now…" she walked over to one of the beds and sat down, resuming the act of her arrogant demeanor.

"You can leave me, but I'll also tell him how you were an accomplice to everything that we did to him. Or you continue following me until we reach the meeting place. I'm sure there are many of my dad's friends that could help us get rid of him. You don't have to worry about money, my father has a lot of it, I'll make you rich in the end."

....

Outside another shocking scene was occurring, but the longer they watched, the more fearful they were becoming.

The fight was supposed to have been over yet Noah never halted in his attacks. He would raise his sword again and again, cutting the zombie's corpse into pieces. Everyone felt that he wouldn't stop; the corpse didn't resemble a body anymore!

Crack!*

Just when it seemed that Noah would never stop, cracking sounds echoed near them, startling them enough that their life flashed before their eyes. But the cracking didn't stop, the noise led their eyes towards the cocoon of webs that sounded off like an egg shell.

The emergence and awakening of Arachne was able to reach Noah causing him to falter in his attacks as he looked over to her. His cold stare began to show clarity and his drained body had him collapse on his butt as he watched Arachne, wondering what changes had occurred.