Assimilation

The Royal Minotaur that Mark was, threw the red orbs away as he ran towards the Boss Monster.

While he sprinted forward, one of the orbs devoured the other.

It immediately started growing in size.

The Guardian raised both its hands towards Mark.

From its ten fingers, small dark spheres of energy appeared.

'Again, huh? Not too hard to dodge-'

The next instant, ten thin streams of energy were emitted from those fingers.

Mark easily dodged by moving sideways.

But the Guardian was not done.

As the streams were being shot, the Boss Monster started moving its hands and fingers.

And the streams of energy started moving too.

They intertwined and flew everywhere around Mark.

The Guardian's movements resembled those of a conductor guiding musicians through a symphony.

Mark tried as best as he could to dodge.

One of his horns was hit and it turned to dust the next instant.

'Gotta hurry!!'

A second later, a strong and thorned tail hit the Guardian's side.

It was launched away towards Kalès.

After all, the red orbs had been thrown behind the Guardian.

From the "Abyssal Binding", a wyvern with the fangs of a lion, a mane made of flames, and a body covered in orange scales was born.

Kalès, who had just gotten rid of all the Skeleton Monsters that had been summoned, kicked the Guardian's body with all his strength.

It was thrown in Mark's direction.

The latter pulled his right arm back and a dense blue Aura was wrapped around it.

'This guy is half Skeleton, this should be enough...'

As Mark's fist was centimeters away from the Guardian, a dark barrier appeared between the two.

'This fucking guy...!!' Mark thought as he jumped away.

Fuming.

Enraged.

Yet, it was painless.

His right hand had been turned to dust.

The Guardian fell to the ground.

Before it could get up, a dark javelin hit its skull with great strength, shattering it.

[You have defeated one of The Seventh Floor's Guardians. 1'000Gold Coins and 2'000 Experience Points earned.]

[You have defeated a Guardian.]

[You have been awarded 3 Skill Points.]

'Why so little Experience Points and Gold? Anyways, let's revive this guy. Xp, you're not needed anymore.'

[Your Underling has returned to the dead.]

'Oh, wait. I fused Kira with the wyvern. I actually had an empty slot, didn't I? Mm...'

Mark shook his head and walked towards the dead Guardian.

Just when he was about the touch it, a black cloud covered its body.

Mark immediately jumped away.

Under fog, the Guardian's body was changing.

The cloud of smoke faded.

And once more, the Guardian was nothing more than a Skeleton.

'Did he just evolve into whatever he became and then go back to a Skeleton? Seriously? What kind of prank is that??'

Mark's gaze fell on the amulet.

It lay on the ground.

Fissured.

'What is it?'

[A Broken Item.]

[It could only be used once.]

[All of its use has been lost.]

'Right.'

Mark looked around him.

Usually, he would have a Guardian to devour or revive.

But in front of him was...

A mere Skeleton.

'So I need to defeat all four Guardians to go to the next Floor...?'

[Correct.]

'Hope there will be some worth devouring or reviving.' Mark thought.

He lowered his gaze towards his right wrist.

Just like his left horn, Mark's right hand had disappeared.

'Again, huh?'

Mark stared at his wrist profoundly.

'Mm. And it's just one out of four...'

Mark and his Underlings exited the Boss Room.

'Show me the new wyvern's Status. Kira, that's your name. Should be appropriate.'

It was now a bit larger.

[ Name: Kira

Species & Level : Inferior Chimera Wyvern Lv1 (0/15.000Exp)

HP: 11.000/11.000

Endurance: 1700/1700

Mana Points: 9000/9000

Stats: Strength: 190

Agility: 65

Sense: 55

Vigor: 1100

Endurance: 170

Mana: 900

Skill(s): Burning Fire Breath.

Piercing Thunder.

Protective Thunder.

Draconic Tail Flick.

Poisonous Breath.

]

'That's a lot of Mana. Poisonous Breath? None of the two had that Skill. Won't be useful on this Floor, but...'

Mark kept looking at the Underling's Status and long list of Skills, until he remembered something.

'Show me the available Skills and Body Modifications.'

[Available Body Modifications:

1) Right hand: 10.000 Evolution Points.

2) Left Horn: 4000 Evolution Points.]

[ Available Skills:

(None.)]

'Huh? I can get the body parts I lost? I couldn't do that before... Alright. Okay? Um. I'll buy my right hand back.'

A mysterious energy appeared and enveloped Mark's wrist.

A couple of seconds later, it faded away, and his right hand was there. As if it had never been lost.

'The horn isn't necessary. Sucks that I can't have new Skills. I guess that makes sense since I didn't devour a good variety of Monsters...'

Mark looked at his new Underling.

'Seeing that tail attack launch the Guardian away really makes me miss the time I had a tail...'

[Your request is being processed.]

[Analysing...]

[Your request has been accepted.]

[Calculating...]

[Cost: 15.000 Evolution Points.]

'Oh. Well. Sure?'

Mark had enough Evolution Points to spare thanks to all the Lower and Higher Minotaurs he had devoured on the previous Floor.

From his lower back, a tail resembling that of a snake grew.

It was long enough to be wrapped around his body twice.

'Body Modifications?'

[Available Body Modifications:

1) Left Horn: 4000 Evolution Points.

2) Heavy tail: 2000 Evolution Points.

]

As one might expect, Mark bought the second one.

His tail immediately grew thicker.

Heavier.

Stronger.

Mark moved it around.

Seconds later, a lone Skeleton appeared.

Despite not needing to do so, Mark used all of his strength to crush the weak Monster's bones.

And so,

[Your Passive Skill "Heavy Tail Flick[E]" has evolved into the Skill "Bone Shattering Tail Flick[D-]".]

And a wide smile was drawn on Mark's face.

...

Sometime later, Mark and his Underlings stood in front of the room where a second Guardian was.

'Took some time to get used to this tail. Fighting with a tail is very different in this form. I didn't have a problem balancing myself on four limbs. Mm. The tail I had as a Weretiger was a scorpion's, so it was made to pierce, not hit...'

The group entered, and, inside, they found a familiar Monster.

'Isn't that... The Eighth Floor's Guardian?'

Indeed, this Guardian resembled a previous one.

'That's how I would look without my muscles and skin, huh?'

A shiver went down Mark's spine.

He shook his head and focused on the enemy in front of him.

'This guy was extremely strong... As a skeleton, Strength and Vigor must have gone down though. Kalès, go fight it.'

The Orc Of Minos obliged.

With his huge Warhammer, he ran towards the Guardian.

Kalès, who was much taller, swung his weapon vertically toward the Monster's skull.

'Mm. Kalès isn't bad. As a Guardian, he was a Unique Orc Chief or something, right?'

The Guardian responded by grabbing the weapon with its hands.

'I fed him Minotaur Guards, but...'

The attack had been stopped without even pushing the Guardian back.

'Out of the three Monsters involved in that Abyssal binding...'

The next second, the Warhammer was lifted up and so was Kalès' body.

'Kalès was the weakest.'

The Guardian slammed the Underling on the ground behind it.

Kalès hit the ground with great strength.

But the next second, he stood back up, leaving his weapon on the ground.

Kalès' hands and the Guardian's interlocked.

Each one was trying to push the other one back.

'The difference in strength is obvious. Even though Kalès has those huge muscles. The Guardian is stronger. Kalès is more agile, maybe? He's heavier and bulkier, but Skeleton Monsters usually aren't very agile. Although...'

Even though he was using all his strength, Kalès was being slowly pushed back.

'They make up for it with their high Endurance.'

The Orc Of Minos' breathing was getting unstable.

The Underling opened its mouth.

A large Fire Ball appeared in front of it.

The next second, the Fire Ball started getting smaller and smaller.

'Oh.'

It was being compressed.

Or rather, condensed.

'That was his new Skill, huh? Condensed Fire Ball...'

It was shot at the Guardian whose head was inches away.

The explosion was strong enough to launch both parties away from each other.

'Not bad.'

As the two opponents got back up, they ran towards each other once more.

Kalès' right arm and part of his chest were burnt.

The Guardian's skull was half broken due to the explosion's shockwave.

Once again, their hands interlocked.

'I guess that's enough...'

The next second, two black javelins were thrown at the Guardian.

[You have defeated one of The Seventh Floor's Guardians. 7'000 Gold Coins and 14'000 Experience Points earned.]

[You have defeated a Guardian.]

[You have been awarded 1 Skill Point.]

'I guess the two remaining Guardians will also give 1 Skill Point only. How many do I have anyway?'

[You currently possess 5 Skill Points.]

'Is that so? That's enough to cook up something pretty good. For now, I'll use a Skill Point on Abyssal Binding.'

[You have used one Skill Point.]

[Your Skill "Abyssal Binding" is evolving...]

[Your Magic Skill "Abyssal Binding[B+]" has evolved into "Binding[A]".]

'Are you... Seriously?'

Mark's eyes were wide as he read the information provided by the System on the new Magic Skill.

'So now they don't need to be Abyssal Monsters now? The biggest limitation is now gone. I can fuse myself, Light, or even Kira now. Mm. Four Skill Points left...'

Mark looked at the Skills he had.

'I don't need more Underlings. What should I use these on then...?'

He shook his head and walked towards the Guardian's unmoving body.

'I guess I'll leave those Skill Points for later. Right now, I have to...'

Mark's hand grazed the bones that made up the Guardian's unmoving body.

It was transformed into a sphere of blue energy.

'Seeing how it worked before... I guess it should go like this?' Mark asked himself as he inserted the sphere into his open mouth.

Once he swallowed it, what looked like a blue barrier appeared around him.

Seconds later, it disappeared.

[You have used "Binding[A]".]

[You have given birth to a new Monster.]

[You have become a new Monster.]

[You have become a "Strengthened Royal Minotaur[C+]".]

Mark looked down.

His body was the same.

The only difference, was that he was now covered by bones.

Those of the dead Guardian.

But that did not make those bones armor.

'External bones? Like an exoskeleton or something?'

Indeed, the bones were part of his body.

Even though they were outside his skin.

'Weird, but...'

Mark moved his body around.

'I don't dislike it. There aren't many on my legs. No bones at all on my feet or tail...'

His neck, shoulders, back, chest, core, and fists were the body parts covered by bones.

'Stats.'

[ Stats: Strength: 295

Agility: 75

Sense: 70

Vigor: 700

Endurance: 350

Mana: 600

]

A monstrous smile appeared on Mark's face.

He turned towards his Underlings.

Light.

Kalès.

Kira.

Suddenly, a strong hunger took him by surprise.

It was unlike the hunger he used to feel before.

'Mm. I'll use a Skill Point on Binding.'

[You have used one Skill Point.]

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

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

'Now I can fuse together Monsters that are already made up of Fused Monsters!'

The wicked smile on Mark's face got even wider.

He looked at each one of his Underlings intensely.

With a gaze filled with greed and craving.

Proof of his insatiable appetite.

'Which one of you should I assimilate, I wonder...?'