My (Monster?) Hero Life

Kace awoke with fuzzy vision as the hammock beneath him swung back and forth. A sound like an earthquake entered his ears, causing him to snap to attention. However, he heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted Grugda in the hammock next to his, snoring his head off!

'Ugh, where are we?' It took a few moments for Kace to sort out his memories from the night before. 'Damn, we've already left Stonefall?'

As Kace tried to get up on his feet, a slender green arm reached around to stabilise him. A refreshing scent entered his nostrils and cleared the fogginess from his mind.

"Morning." Lilly chuckled as she helped him to his feet. "Seems like you boys had a lot of fun last night."

"Yeah, it was alright," Kace replied with some confusion. After all, things were still kind of tense between him and the women in his group. Truth be told, he had not been expecting to see Lilly anytime soon.

"Well, you better get some food. You've been out for half of the day, and Gyn says we'll arrive at the Oasis City in around half a day."

"Wait. Half a day?" Kace raised an eyebrow. That was a hell of a lot faster than his last trip out here. 'I know he said it would be faster but who would've guessed that he wasn't exaggerating it!'

"Yeah, this ship is pretty amazing. Now, off you go! Doctor's orders." Lilly chuckled. "I have to wait here to fix up the rest of my patients."

Kace glanced around as Lilly gestured to the rest of the room. Every hammock was filled with Tu'Thrag, Goblins, Orcs and Trolls who were snoring. Kace guessed that these were the guys who joined Gyn, Grugda and himself in drinking themselves into oblivion.

Kace bade Lilly farewell before leaving the room set aside as the ship's infirmary. The ship was busy with activity as monsters moved different cargo boxes around and rushed around doing their jobs. Kace actually found it hard to believe that monsters were truly capable of doing all of this as if they were humans.

'I guess they just never had the opportunity.' Kace felt a sense of pride welling up inside of him. Although it had become clear that there were internal problems amongst the different monster tribes, they were still far more unified than the Heroes. 

Kace happily greeted those who spoke to him while he asked for directions a few times. Boisterous roars echoed out from the door at the end of the hall he was in, making him feel confident that he had found the cafeteria. 

Kace broke into a wide grin after a stunned moment when he glanced inside. The smell of roasted meat wafted throughout the room as whole boars rested on spits across multiple fires. But what got to him and made him feel nostalgic were the goblins flying through the air like piranhas trying to claim the first bite!

As he watched their horseplay, he noticed that several orcs seemed to have taken up the tradition he had inadvertently started. It was quite the sight to see! Monsters, acting like children and just enjoying their lives!

Kace's grin broadened as he raced inside to join in on the fun! The goblins went into an uproar when they saw him coming to try and steal their glory! Crude cutlery was thrown at him in an attempt to slow him down as others dove for the meat!

An orc roared as he swung a roasted boar leg at Kace as if it were a weapon! Kace chuckled as he slid underneath the arm and grabbed the poor orcs food from his hand as he passed by. Kace tore a chunk from the leg with his teeth before he lobbed it off the head of a goblin sailing through the air!

The sudden strike made the goblin flinch and close his mouth, causing him to fail to gain a bite of the boar over the fire! Kace suddenly found himself surrounded by a sea of green that wanted to keep him away from the food! As the orcs and goblins grinned savagely at him, he returned it with a wolfish expression.

'Kinetic Vision!' Kace activated this skill as he dove into the crowd! Screams of outrage soon erupted as Kace danced around every blow that was aimed at him. With the assistance of his Hydra head, it became impossible for any of the monsters to even touch him! Kace lightly tapped them and sent them flying or writhing on the ground in pain.

It took him less than five minutes to completely incapacitate the one hundred-odd monsters who had been enjoying their meal! 

"I hope you've all learned your lesson!" Kace wore an arrogant smile as he looked over those who were still conscious.

However, only silence answered him as they seemed to stare past him towards the still cooking boars. 'Hm?' As Kace turned around and beheld the sight before him, he burst out laughing! Lorget had snuck in at some point and completely ignored him! Grease ran down his white dress as he chewed on one of the boars!

"This one goes to me!" Lorget bellowed crazily.

With the fun and games over, Kace enjoyed the juicy meat placed down in front of him as the scene became more regular as the monsters recovered from his assault.

[Digestion Activated]: DNA detected. Analysing. Awarding +50 exp.

[Assimilation Activated]: DNA strand activated. Awarding +5 HP. 

'Oh? It's been a while.' Kace frowned. Naturally, these abilities had activated many times, but it was gradually getting farther and farther apart. What he felt like was meant to be his ticket to power when he first arrived in this world had become something like a background support ability.

Kace sighed as he finished off his food and headed for the top deck. 'I wonder if Rysa can shed some more light on these abilities.' With his recent change in swapping out DNA strands, Kace felt as if there was something he was missing when it came to Digestion and Assimilation. It was almost as if they were not quite suitable for his level or something anymore.

"What are you doing! Turn around!" A female goblin screeched from near the top of the stairs that led to the top deck.

"Why would I! Look at those gorgeous beasts! We have to get them!" Gyn's enthusiastic voice permeated the air.

"Gorgeous beasts, my green ass! They're drakes! Why do you think we always avoided that area whenever we came out here! I'm the Captain here, so you'll damn well listen to me!"

"Yeah, sure, Captain. Maybe if we were on that piece of scrap that you flew before! But this is my baby! And it can definitely handle a few lizards!"

Kace arrived on deck in time to see the female goblin's complexion pale as she became livid. It seemed like they had been arguing for some time.

"Kace! Please tell this maniac! We can't possibly go up against those drakes! They'll sink the ship!" The Captain sounded as if she would explode at any second as she glared at Gyn.

Kace raised an eyebrow in interest as he looked towards where they were headed. There was a red stone canyon sunk into the ground as the desert surrounded it. It looked like a gaping wound on the terrain as several large creatures flew around above it. 

The Captain sighed in relief when she saw Kace's expression became serious as he studied the beast. 'Finally! Someone with some brains!'

"Gyn, are you sure we can take them?" Kace's tone was stone cold as he asked his question.

"What do you think?" Gyn grinned smugly as the Captain looked as though she was about to faint from the shock! Just when she thought she had found an ally, he had stabbed her in the back!

"Ok then! Let's have some fun!" Kace broke into a predatory grin as he continued to study their prey!

Meanwhile, in a forest deep in the Western territories…

"I can't thank you enough for coming." Erik bowed his head to a lithe figure that covered their face with a loose, green hood.

"It's no problem. We're allies, after all." A male voice responded from the figure as he glanced at the people that Erik had brought along with him. "So, who's the target? It's not like you Heroes to need outside help."

"A monster that's causing us significant problems." Erik pulled a look of disgust as he thought about Kace.

"A monster? That's it?"

"He's not just any monster… He's a serious threat." Erik snarled, but his companion took no offence to this. After all, he knew Erik quite well. The two of them had worked together in the past to protect his realm.

"Tell me about him…." Erik's companion pulled down his hood to reveal long golden hair. However, the most notable thing about him was the two pointy ears that held his hair back…