Becoming a Monster

Chapter 510: Chapter 509: A Forced Scholar

Noah’s eyes opened.

Nothing around him had changed, but the way he perceived everything did.

It wasn’t overwhelming, and it wasn’t something that disrupted his senses, but it was clear that something within him had shifted.

The mana in the air felt the same, yet at the same time, it didn’t. He no longer needed his Nexus Eye to focus on it to understand its flow. That understanding came naturally.

He even believed that he could bend the mana around him to now sustain his spells.

His breathing remained steady as he stood there, allowing himself a moment to adjust, but even without moving, he could already feel the difference within his body.

His mana moved more smoothly, not because there was a sudden increase in its quantity, but because there was less resistance in how it flowed through him.

His control followed that same change, requiring less effort to maintain.

That efficiency didn’t stop at simply reducing the effort needed to use his abilities.

It extended into how he could manipulate them, allowing him to potentially shape and combine his abilities in ways that he either couldn’t achieve before or didn’t dare to attempt.

Normally, when a creature was fused with a soul, all of their abilities would change according to the new fusion. It would become a perfect representation of both, manifesting two additional skills in the process.

But Noah was different.

Because his soul was more dominant, the fusion didn’t alter his existence to that extent. His abilities didn’t undergo the same reconstruction as his creatures did. Nothing was replaced, nothing was lost, but something was added.

The change manifested directly within his soul as two abilities that didn’t restructure what he had, but instead expanded on it.

The first was something he had already experienced the moment he entered his soul.

Adaptive Arcanum

The deeper Noah’s understanding of his abilities became, the more freely he could alter, combine, and evolve them into new forms.

That unrelenting flow of thought that had begun to take over his mind wasn’t random because it stemmed from this ability.

The skill had no off switch, and the more he understood, the more it pushed him to go further, to question more, and to refine what he already had without pause.

In that sense, its value far exceeded the raw power he had gained.

The second ability was just as significant.

Arcane Dissection

Noah could observe, deconstruct, and internalize the structure of mana-based abilities, allowing him to understand their composition and the principles that governed them.

With both abilities working together, the limitations he once believed existed no longer held the same meaning.

As long as he was given time, there was nothing that he wouldn’t be able to understand.

—

Noah was already itching to uncover more about himself, to explore his skills one by one to see what exactly he could change about them and just how far combining and evolving a skill could go.

What were his current limits, and just how much could he evolve a skill before he reached a wall?

And just as importantly, after learning someone else’s skill, could he evolve it and aid them in learning an improved version?

His mana was already circulating, urging him to begin with what he considered his strongest skill.

But just as he was about to act, he looked out at his surroundings and immediately halted everything he was doing.

The joy of discovery was extinguished the moment he noticed his companion’s reactions.

The expressions of his creatures had changed, and although none of them showed outright fear, there was a clear sense of wariness in the way they looked at him.

Even the strongest among them didn’t approach him as they normally would, and instead remained where they stood as if instinct alone told them to keep their distance.

Ailetta remained composed, but she didn’t step forward, her gaze fixed on him as if she was trying to understand what had changed.

Even as she used her link with him to make sure that nothing untoward had happened after taking the risk to merge with that creature’s soul, she was still unable to process everything with certainty.

Noah’s thoughts were never-ending and forever changing. They were too distracting for her to uncover the truth quickly enough.

Fenrir’s posture lowered slightly in caution, while Arachne had gone completely still. Her focus locked onto him with a sharpness that showed she was assessing him rather than simply looking at him.

The confusion didn’t last long before Noah discerned the most underlying possibility that could have caused it, and as he focused inward, he immediately began to rein in his aura.

He could feel it clearly now. His aura spread outward without restraint, without consciously being released.

To the weaker ones, it created a sense of dread, while even the strongest among his companions felt a sense of foreboding that they couldn’t ignore.

As he pulled it back under his control, the pressure that filled the space began to fade, and with it, the tension in their stances lessened.

If he had been unsure before, he had at least found one change that was uniquely different from before, and that was his aura.

His mind immediately went back to the memory of his own experience when in the presence of the shopkeeper.

No matter how strong he became, there was always a constant feeling that danger was within reach, as if a single misstep would have been enough to end him without resistance.

He understood that they were most likely experiencing something similar.

Even if that wasn’t his intention, this instinctual aura didn’t reflect his emotions. It mirrored his existence for what it really was.

"Sorry about that...I- I didn’t realize until now." Noah awkwardly apologized. He didn’t know just how long they had to subject themselves to his aura, and asking them felt disrespectful.

"It’s...fine..." Arachne spoke first, but even then, it sounded as if she was unsure what to say.

It wasn’t a sense of distrust. Their nerves still needed time to recover.

"Noah, let’s finish up here. We have everything we need. And we can further discuss everything when we get back."

Ailetta understood that this wouldn’t settle immediately, and she knew it because she was experiencing it just as clearly as the others.

Even as she stood near him, even as she looked directly at him, the feelings she experienced lingered.

She knew Noah, and she knew that he would never harm her, but being placed under something that constantly suggested that he could, left a subtle discomfort that lingered beneath her thoughts.

It wasn’t fear, and it wasn’t doubt, but it was something instinctual that couldn’t be ignored, no matter how much she understood him.

The others were most likely the same.

Because of that, she knew that staying here wouldn’t change anything.

Her focus shifted before settling back onto Noah as her thoughts moved forward.

She wanted to quickly return.

Not just because the others needed it, but because she did as well.

What Noah had just shown through their link wasn’t something she could ignore, and it wasn’t something she wanted to leave unexplored.

The way he thought, the way he was beginning to question things, it went beyond what she had expected even from him.

Instead of creating distance, it drew her closer, because it felt as if she was looking at something that resonated with her on a level she hadn’t realized before.

A kindred soul.

—

Noah considered Aietta’s words as he thought about what was left to do.

He then looked over to his creatures, who were waiting for his decision.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath as he acknowledged his neglect.

"You’re right. Everyone, let’s go home."

Without further instruction, the group began to move, and the aftermath of the battle was finally addressed.

Arachne’s soldiers took the lead as they began picking up the bodies that were piled up. They didn’t proceed to wrap the bodies in webs this time; merely gripping them with their mandibles was another.

The grunt work was left entirely to them.

With the holy field no longer present, the lingering effects that had suppressed them faded completely.

Baka’s injuries had already begun to mend on their own, his body slowly stitching itself back together now that nothing was interfering with it, but the loss of blood still weighed heavily on him.

His steps were uneven as he made his way back, each movement carrying a slight stagger that he tried, and failed, to hide.

There was no complexity to his thoughts, perhaps because the foundation of his existence never needed it.

The troll within him only understood strength through action, through overwhelming force, through smashing whatever stood in its way.

But the werebeast that he had become instilled in him something that was impossible to ignore.

Pride.

And the way he had lost left him deeply unsatisfied with himself.

He reached Fenrir’s side just as the wolf glanced toward him, and the derisive snort that followed made his expression stiffen immediately.

Baka didn’t respond, but the way he looked away, his jaw tightening, made it clear that he hadn’t taken it lightly.

—

While this was going on, Noah stood over Ryder’s body after just finishing storing his soul inside his Nexus Eye.

Footsteps approached from behind him. Ailetta stopped at his side, and without saying anything, she extended her hand toward him.

Resting in her palm was the fused core.

"Just one more thing to take care of."