Apotheosis of a Demon - A Monster Evolution Story

Chapter 36

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.[Magic Points: 4300/4300] 300↑[Total Combat Power: 4730/4730] 330↑[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption> <Materialization>] [Racial Skill: Fear][Simple Identification] [Human Form (Wonderful)] [Specialist Packer]

With the acquisition of [Materialization], [Humanoid Form] turned into [Human Form]. I wasn't just looking like a human; I had gained a real body, one that was practically the same as when I was still a normal human, only more grown-up.

My voice was no longer simply me messing with pockets of air. I was truly breathing now, even if I was actually breathing mana, not oxygen.

In the beginning, I could recover only ten percent of my magic each hour. With the combination of [Absorption] and [Materialization], that number had jumped to thirty percent.

Yet all that did not excuse the use of (Wonderful) to describe me... just what the hell was it assessing? I agreed, [Human Form] was really quite wonderful, but still!

So my body was almost indistinguishable from a real human's now, but the rabbit ears were still staying... unsurprisingly. Honestly, I was halfway to complete resignation by now. Weird, isn't it? My brain was supposed to be taking over the job of the System these days, yet I was only evolving in the oddest ways.

Maybe I should just embrace the inevitable already... might as well find myself a bunny suit, in that case.

Anyway, that was about it. From now on, I'd need to learn how to fight with both forms, and how to use them in the right situation.

Three days after I went south from Seis, I finally began to see traces of what looked like human civilization in a forest, so I turned human again.

Whenever I turn human, first, I needed to throw out my clothes and satchel from [Packer] inventory. The moment they appear, I would slip my body of mist into the outfit and change form. Clothed human transformation, in effect.

It took me half a day to learn how to do this... god, so much precious time lost. But this was important. I would never allow myself to forget wearing clothes!

Personal dignity aside, once I started putting one foot after another on solid ground, Blobsy immediately jumped out from my satchel. She hauled herself onto my shoulder, then jiggled in joy.

Cute. I took some jerky from my satchel, fed Blobsy her snack, and began running. My sprint was as fast as a cheetah's now.

The Academy City of Cinqres was supposed to be nearby. Apparently the country was gathering elite students and researchers from all over the world to do... something.

I only turned human as insurance. I had no plans to get anywhere close to the country. The people there must be doing mana research by orders of the corporation, so I expected heavy surveillance. Which meant I shouldn't be showing my mist form here. I didn't want to allow for the possibility of them realizing my link to No. 13.

Well, I had a feeling they already had an inkling of my identity, though... whoa!

The moment I exited the forest, I noticed a watcher drone. I immediately blasted mist from my fingers to freeze it.

I could now expel mist in human form, in exchange for the ability to partially transform. This mist was both me, yet not me. It moved according to my will, but it also had some similarities to spells in that it consumed my magic power.