Reborn As An Evolving Monster

Mark stood in front of a Hobgoblin.

Even when he was a Black Wolf's Skeleton, the Hobgoblin was a Monster Species that did not cause much of a threat.

Mark closed his eyes.

He raised his arms forward.

The Hobgoblin, although shaken from finding an enemy of such caliber, mustered its courage and clutched its fist.

The next instant, the green Monster was overtaken by confusion.

It was preparing to attack, so why was it, so suddenly, spinning in the air?

Only once it rotated another 180 degrees, did the Hobgoblin understand.

It could see the white-scaled Monster, standing at the same spot it had been earlier.

The Hobgoblin could also see its decapitated body falling to the ground.

'My senses aren't that sharp, but my Sense Stat is too high for me to have an issue with Monsters of this level. If I want to develop new Passive Skills, I'll have to challenge myself.'

Mark left the Tenth Floor.

'Tsk. Ever since those Monsters blinded me, I've been feeling like this. I'm nothing but brute strength and eyesight. Lose one of those, and I'm done for...'

Mark challenged every Floor, but on every one of them, the Monsters were too weak to pose a threat.

'All of them keep dying after one Tail Flick. Plus, they can barely pierce through my scales...'

Mark went back to the Fourth Floor.

Despite not getting injured once, he felt defeated.

Still, he had amassed a number of Underlings on the way.

Behind him, stood two Velvet Werewolves, three Ogres, four Inferior Drakes and three Royal Minotaurs.

'Feels like a strong army, but... Individually, they're pretty weak.'

Just when Mark was about to enter the Third Floor, he got an idea that made him chuckle loudly.

'Stand in line.'

The Monsters obeyed.

From left to right, the Ogres, the Velvet Werewolves, the Royal Minotaurs and the Inferior Drakes stood.

'I'll use one Skill Point on Assimilation.'

[You have used one Skill Point.]

[Your Skill "Assimilation" is evolving...]

[Your Magic Skill "Assimilation[A]" has evolved into "Perfected Assimilation[A+]".]

'Alright, no more limitations now. As long as the Assimilated Monster is at least a bit stronger, the Assimilating Monster will get stronger.'

The first step now was to compare the Underlings' Stats.

After that, Mark made one of the three Ogres assimilate the two Velvet Werewolves.

Its body became a bit smaller, but its bulging muscles still looked impressive.

The Ogre's head became that of a werewolf, and red fur covered its neck, chest, and shoulders.

Claws replaced the nails on the end of its fingers.

'Now, two Royal Minotaurs to up your strength.'

Horns appeared on the monstrosity's head, while its muscles became a bit slimmer.

Slimmer, but much more defined.

It was as if each muscle fiber had become visible.

The Underling was about 250 centimeters tall.

Mark stood in front of the Underling, proud of the creation that was 50 centimeters taller than he was.

'Alright. You're really ugly. A monstrosity, really. I'll name you... Calamity.'

[You have bestowed the name "Calamity" upon your Underling.]

'Now, hit me. Hard.'

Calamity stared at its Master with wide eyes.

The next second, it clutched its hand into a fist and hit Mark's side with all its strength.

The Underling blasted the Master away and into a wall.

'Haha. Maybe I overdid it.' Mark thought while exiting the hole made in the wall and dusting himself off.

Even though the wall had been destroyed by the impact, Mark was practically intact, apart from a couple of grazes.

'Alright then. Let's fight.' He thought while cracking his neck, 'I'll try my best not to kill you.'

The Underling immediately roared loudly.

'Unless I go to the next Floor....'

It ran towards him with great speed.

'The strongest Monsters I can fight are those I make.' Mark thought while dodging the numerous incoming blows.

Mark dodged and deflected every attack from his Underling.

While their Strength Stats were on par, there was a slight difference in Agility.

Still, the main thing that gave Mark a definite advantage, was his Passive Skill "Advanced Kinetic Vision".

The Skill enabled him to utilize that slight advantage in Agility to dodge perfectly.

Multiple times, he had to stop his tail once it was inches away from the Underling's neck, to avoid decapitating that Underling.

Mark was used to fighting and killing.

Sparring on the other hand, not so much.

The Underling was not sparring though.

It was trying its best to sink its teeth or claws into Mark's body.

'This isn't working...' He thought while looking at the Underling's attack, 'Just stop already.'

The Underling's claws stopped right in front of Mark's face.

It dropped on one knee right after, showing respect for its Master.

'Those Velvet Wolves can pierce through my scales... If I want to train, then the choice is obvious. Come.'

The previous Underling walked away while another one approached.

It was a Royal Minotaur.

'Hey. If I end up killing this guy, any way I can revive him?'

[None.]

'How about healing him?'

[As you do not possess any Healing Skills, you cannot heal it either.]

'Tsk, too bad. Guess I'll use you. That's why I brought you here after all.'

Mark made the Royal Minotaur devour the second Ogre.

[Your Underling has developed the Passive Skill "Self-Healing[E-]".]

'An Ogre's healing ability isn't anything special, but it can be useful. I'll have to devour some later... Oh, go get me some Ogres.'

The Inferior Drakes and the newly created Underling left immediately.

The Royal Minotaur walked towards Mark.

Its body hadn't changed at all.

Maybe it was because it had devoured a weaker Monster.

Mark closed his eyes and raised his arms.

"Come now. Beat some Passive Skills into me!' Mark ordered.

The Underling, of course, could only obey.

'I can hear the footsteps.' Mark thought as he moved his arm.

The next instant, a heavy punch hit his stomach.

It pushed him back, but his feet did not leave the ground.

'I'm too slow! I need to-'

A second hit landed on his back.

'What the hell, how can I...!'

A ferocious uppercut connected.

The hit made his feet leave the ground.

Mark's whole body was lifted into the air.

He landed on his back.

Mark opened his eyes and lay on the ground for a bit.

'This is... Going to take some time, huh?'

***

Five hours later, the white-scaled Monster's eyes were closed.

Standing tall, with its open palms raised.

Facing that Monster, was a Royal Minotaur.

The latter was breathing heavily.

If it had sweat glands, its body probably would have been covered by their secretion.

'Again. Come at me.'

And so, the Monster trained some more.