Heavy Metal [ A Monster Evolution LitRPG ]

‘Maybe those guys… but there are so many of them…’

‘I should probably wait for a chance to present itself like last time!’

‘...’

‘Why do they always wander around in large groups?’

‘... How am I going to get stronger in an environment like this!’

Rusty continued to talk to himself with an annoyed tone while hiding behind a large pillar. His ability to resist the voice had increased, and he could now even look at the adventurers without being pushed into a frenzy, as long as he distanced himself. Since leaving the Soul Forge, there was no one to talk to, so Rusty developed an even bigger habit of talking to himself.

After evolving from a damaged, rusted-over suit of armor to a slightly less rusted-over armor, he was searching for a way that would allow him to evolve even further. However, his plan to ambush another lone adventurer wasn’t working, as they always roamed around in larger groups.

Even though his stats had increased significantly, and he had gained some new skills, Rusty still felt apprehensive about attacking a large group of adventurers. They always seemed too powerful, and the assistance he received wasn’t sufficient. Now that he was stronger and faster, he realized how slow the other living armors really were. The same could be said for any other monster there. He wanted to use them as a distraction, but they kept getting defeated before he could even sneak up to deliver a slash.

‘Haven’t seen any of the groups fighting like the two last time… Does that not happen often?’

Rusty noticed that after the incident with the two adventurers, the groups were more on alert than before. It was as if they reacted to the event and increased their numbers to avoid more trouble.

‘Should I just go hunt some rodents? But…’

Another thing Rusty noticed was his experience bar. It began to rise much slower than before. He only needed to kill a few dozen rats, bugs, or large slugs to go from one to two before. Now, on the other hand, it seemed like the requirement was ten times as high. Things weren’t looking too good for him; at this pace, it would take him a month or longer to gain even one more level.

‘I ended up here… if only I could go down…?’

While scouting the environment to ambush a lone adventurer, Rusty followed a group of five towards the stairs leading to a lower level. Normally, he wouldn’t be able to approach these stairs as the voice inside his head would start complaining, but now it was different. Even after reaching the stairs, there was nothing preventing him from going down. It seemed that his new evolution allowed him to descend to a new part of the dungeon.

Rusty wanted to do nothing more than to test his new body and skills, but this new discovery changed his plans. The only thing stronger than his drive for more power and levels was his curiosity. He was already looking forward to seeing new scenery and monsters on the lower floor.

With caution, he descended the long flight of stairs, ensuring that he wouldn’t make too much noise. His body had changed and didn’t produce as much sound, but it wasn’t fully silent either. Luckily, it seemed that the group of adventurers he had previously followed had moved on to another location. After five minutes of walking, when he arrived on the floor below, there was no one there.

As Rusty reached the bottom of the staircase, he found himself in a dimly lit corridor that stretched out in both directions. The air felt different, and he could sense a faint, eerie energy in the surroundings. Excitement and anticipation welled up within him as he ventured further into the unknown depths of the dungeon. The corridor twisted and turned, occasionally branching off into smaller passages, at first glance this lower floor seemed more compacted.

Having more tightly knit corridors wasn’t necessarily good or bad. The sole advantage against adventurers in this dungeon was the abundance of monsters. With a sufficient number of them, it was possible to overwhelm even a larger party. Surrounding them in a corridor like this could be achieved, but it also restricted the area for attacks. There simply wasn't enough space to approach the enemy from all directions.

Though there weren't many pillars for concealment, slipping into one of the numerous side corridors was an option for waiting. However, if a group entered after him, there would be no means of escape. Rusty wasn’t quite sure if he could outrun an adventurer even with his raised stats. His body wasn’t quite designed for running but he did have an advantage over the fleshy beings, he never tired. However, his body did become slower whenever his magic points reached zero, something that he learned to watch out for.

As he continued with his traversal of this new space he noticed a commotion. There were people shouting and monsters growling in the distance. With a steady pace he continued through the corridor and peeked into the area that the sounds were coming from to finally discover a larger chamber. There was a party of five humanoid beings fighting against a monster type that he had never seen before. Curious as always he was quick to use his identification skill on one of these new creatures.

His skill had leveled up since through the time in the dungeon and he was now able to identify monster types as well as their levels. The sight of the undead creatures attacking the adventurers intrigued Rusty. The zombies were slow and clumsy, but they seemed relentless, pushing the adventurers back with sheer numbers.

‘Zombies… Undead… Interesting! I wonder what’s the true meaning behind a monster type?’

Rusty observed, pondering the truth behind monster types and classifications. There likely existed a significance to the identification, but he couldn't quite grasp it. The adventurers had a system similar to classification, but it differed. When he glanced at one of them wielding a sword and shield, he could discern some information. There was no type but only a classification as if the other one was hidden or didn’t matter as much.

Despite the relatively small level difference, it was evident from their movements that the adventurers were stronger. After undergoing his first evolution, Rusty had come to realize that levels could be deceptive. Even though he was merely a level one monster, he was far stronger now than when he was a Damaged Rusty Bronze Armor variant.

‘attack…’

The voice inside his head gave him an order which he managed to resist. He was now able to observe without losing himself at all. At first, it looked like the adventurers were struggling, and the zombies were pushing them into a corner. Then in a strange flash of light, a large chunk of them tumbled down to the ground.

‘What was that?’

The bright attack triggered a recollection of his new skill which allowed him to infuse his sword with a radiant light. It came from the adventurer who was in the middle of the group. It seemed that they were protecting him while the man was holding up a strange-looking necklace. It was composed of many beads and ended in a cross shape. This item looked to be the source of the light that was destroying the zombies in this chamber.

‘Oh, that’s a new one, would that be the fourth type?’

Rusty examined the man in the center effortlessly dispatching the undead creatures. This marked the first occasion he could identify this particular type of adventurer. The previous encounters had involved fighters, scouts, and thieves. He donned a loosely fitting robe, one that likely provided minimal protection, presenting a stark contrast to everyone else who, at the very least, wore leather armor.

It was evident that each class fulfilled a distinct role. The fighters stood out as the physically strongest among them, typically clad in heavier armor. The scouts maneuvered with more agility, armed with a ranged weapon capable of launching pointed projectiles from a distance. Meanwhile, the thieves resembled the fighters but wielded shorter weapons such as daggers or shortswords and they were the most agile of the bunch.

Initially, he pondered joining the battle due to the considerable number of those fleshy beings. Despite their initial sluggishness, they persisted in advancing even after being struck by weapons. Even losing limbs didn't impede their progress, gradually cornering the adventurers. However, everything changed when the cleric intervened, managing to dispatch these formidable monsters with a burst of light.

The cleric's radiant power proved effective against the undead, but Rusty discerned an anomaly. The individual executing this feat appeared fatigued, and the bursts of light occurred at irregular intervals. It seemed as though this magical ability wasn't something he could fully manage; there might be a limit to its uses, akin to Rusty's constraints with magic points. This vulnerability was something that he could potentially exploit.

‘What would happen if that light couldn’t be produced? Would the Zombies overrun them?’

Gradually, a plan took shape in his metallic head. If he could somehow disable the cleric, his allies might take care of the rest. The only hurdle was getting close enough to land a hit. The radiant light posed its own threat, as he wasn't certain if it would affect him like it did the undead creatures. It appeared there was no way to close the gap without putting himself in danger, especially if he engaged in close-range melee.

‘They didn’t have those on the floor above, could I use it?’

His helmet swiveled to focus on another undead, this one wielding a bow. Strapped to its back was a quiver holding a handful of arrows that it shot in the direction of the adventurers. They defended themselves with shields, and the scouts retaliated with their own shots. It was apparent that the Skeletal Scout lacked power, but its arrows were reaching their targets.

Rusty lacked a bow, and he wasn't versed in archery. However, this presented no issue, as his absorption skill allowed him to acquire the skills of the skeletal monsters if he desired. With his increasing level, there was a possibility of executing proficient ranged attacks, a capability currently absent in him and the other living armors.

“That should be all, let’s get the materials and get out of here before they revive.”

While he was devising his new scheme, the battle reached its conclusion. All the zombies and skeletons in the area were defeated, and the adventurers emerged victorious. Though they had not suffered any casualties, they appeared visibly fatigued. Rusty took note that they probably wouldn't be able to handle another wave of monsters as effortlessly, something that could benefit his newest plan.

Keeping this in mind, he withdrew momentarily. If he lingered, there was a chance that more random monsters could arrive. For the time being, he simply wished for the adventurers to depart, allowing him to inspect the large chamber with peculiar slabs of rocks protruding from the ground. Fortunately, the group only took another ten minutes to conclude their activities before retreating back into the corridor leading them back to the first floor.

Rusty, who had concealed himself in a separate tunnel, reemerged and cautiously returned to the scene of the battle, where numerous monster parts lay scattered. He observed that the radiant light had the ability to reduce the skeletal monster bodies to dust and transform the zombies into larger piles, some with charred remnants remaining.

‘That’s a powerful ability, will it destroy my body too? Should I try to learn it?’

The overpowering nature of the radiant light was evident, capable of annihilating multiple monsters simultaneously without direct engagement. Considering his absorption skill, there was a possibility for him to learn it. However, for that to occur, he needed to keep the cleric alive. Rusty lacked confidence in facing the entire group alone, and the other monsters wouldn't wait for him to acquire the skill for himself either.

With the adventurers gone and the area appearing clear, Rusty cautiously approached the remains of the fallen monsters. His metallic fingers sifted through the debris, as if searching for something specific. Luck was on his side as he spotted a damaged weapon, likely belonging to one of the adventurers. A broken spear was embedded in the remains of a zombie, its metallic tip deeply lodged in the flesh. Unlike the other monsters turned to dust, it seemed the adventurers deemed it unnecessary to remove this broken piece of weaponry or it was a remnant of another battle.

Before arriving here, he had managed to decipher the Material Absorption skill on the upper level. It was a straightforward process; he just needed to find something containing metal, and the skill would activate. Parts of monsters, like other living armor, also worked, but only after they were slain by adventurers. This presented a challenge in refining their parts, as the monster remains would eventually vanish without leaving anything that he could gather.

One limiting factor existed for this skill - there were certain material types he couldn't refine from weapons. He was restricted to only absorbing bronze, copper, and tin. Once he selected the desired material, the process would commence. The broken piece of weaponry would start to glow and vanish before his metallic eyes. Though uncertain about the specifics, a graphical representation of this process appeared in his status window.

The section was labeled the 'Stash Tab,' and it was subdivided into many smaller squares. Currently, most of these squares were empty, except for three containing drawings of ingots. One represented the copper he had absorbed, the second one tin, and the last one bronze. Once he gathered one hundred percent of any given metal, it would transform into an ingot and be recorded here. Though currently unable to do anything with them, he anticipated that when he returned to the soul forge, something would be triggered. It also used SP as its main resource without having a long cooldown period as the skill absorption skill.

At a slow pace, he continued to harvest any bronze and copper he could find. The strange slabs of rocks that were sticking out of the ground he identified as tombstones. It seemed that this place was some type of burial ground and the zombies that had been defeated started to slowly emerge back within the ground. It was as if they were moving traps that would spring out the moment someone approached from below.

While navigating the area, he stumbled upon a new discovery. In one corner of this place, there was a nesting ground for strange worm-like creatures. Upon seeing them, he decided to experiment and gained a point of experience after stepping on one. The encounter didn't end there; shortly after squashing the bug, a peculiar purple mist shot up from its compressed body.

‘Hm, poison?’

Being a being of living metal, Rusty lacked internal organs that could be affected by the poisonous mist. He grasped the concept that poison could have adverse effects on living beings, but it held no threat for him. After a brief moment of contemplation, he picked up one of the worms from the ground. It wriggled around, attempting to bite into his metallic body. After gripping it firmly, he gained another experience point and triggered the release of the poisonous mist.

‘Those people did stay away from this side of the chamber, were they afraid of these things?’

His mind brimmed with new ideas on how to leverage these small creatures to his advantage. Soon, the rattling of bones caught his attention, signaling the reformation of a skeletal scout alongside the zombies. When he examined the quiver with arrows it held, along with the bow, a brilliant plan for his next hunt began to take shape. Perhaps, in the near future, he could accumulate substantial amounts of experience. However, before that, he needed to thoroughly explore the entire second floor to uncover any additional surprises that might aid his quest for strength.