Chapter 174: [Arc 4] Chapter 52: Awakening of a Nightmare

*Yawn*...this time's evolution was...interesting, to say the least. 

While stretching my limbs, I started to appraise my new body...I need some new clothes. These are now too small. 

I think my human self has turned a few years older in appearance. Probably have gotten a little taller. And, possibly due to a side-effect from that [Charming Devil] skill I bought in the rebuild, but this bod...is gonna get the ire of Noire again. Luckily, it's not too slutty, but people are gonna turn their heads when I walk around. 

My face has become more mature, and my horns have not changed...except, they may look more "demonic" now? They look closer to a goat's horns now, and they are positioned so they are almost hidden by my bangs. Other than that, my hair hasn't changed so much, except for maybe growing a little longer. Just above my waist. Well, I was trying to grow it out, so that's no biggie...

Time to stop avoiding reality and go to the less human parts...

It's only my upper half that's retained its "humanness", as the lower half is now that of a monster. It looks similar to a Grey Demon...or, maybe calling it a demonic spider is better? The eight legs are thin, yet strong-looking, but the feet look like the X-shaped claw I had as a Grey Demon. Strangely, I can move around easily despite having suddenly been forced to switch from two- to eight-legs. 

Overall, I look quite similar to an Arachne, but the body is a little strange again. The head looks like a spider and a dragon had a child, with the mouth of a spider and a dragon's face. The eyes are like black beads and there are no visible ears or noses. Despite that, I can still smell and hear with the lower head. I also got a tail, which is slim like it's a snake's tail, except for the tip. It's got a sharp, arrowhead-like shape. It looks similar to the tail of Succubi and Incubi, but as said, sharper.

Despite all these reptilian traits, there are no scales on this new body, which, by the way, looks like it's made of black tar. It has a slim, yet powerful appearance, but the "blackness" of the skin is giving me the chills.

Speaking of demonic-looking bodies, my eyes have turned strange again. The markings that represented my Evil Eyes are gone, my eyes have turned more purplish than just wine-red, and my pupils have become cross-shaped. Sharp crosses. They look damn cool, but a little scary as well.

Scary, cool, or whatever, my current appearance is closer to "scandalous" due to my clothes being too tight-fitted because of my recent growth spurt. And where did my pants and shoes go? 

I tried to return into a human-only form, something this Kur-Udug Therion race should be able to...and I returned to a human lower half without problems. What gives? My clothes are there without any problems either. 

And, did I use [Spatial Storage] subconsciously? Did I switch the clothing the moment I returned to my human form? Damn, that's awesome. 

My lower human half didn't undergo any change. My height is not so different from before...maybe I'm a little taller? Other than that, I've got a slim black tail now. It's practically identical to the one the monster-body had, but as said, much slimmer. It, along with the horns and the demonic-looking eyes, makes me look like some sorta Succubus subspecies you don't wanna meet in a dark alley...

Oh, yeah. That's exactly what I am.

Now that I've confirmed that my body is in one piece, I should do something about these tight clothes. Good thing I have a spare set in case of emergencies or if I ever needed a disguise. Something baggy would be fine now...

Hmm? "You are not going to test out the extra appendages your new race supposedly has", you say? I'll look at them when I have the time. Better return and tell people I'm safe before they send out some rescue party. The new skills will have to wait for the same reasons.

After dressing in some less painful clothes, I walked out of the grave..., now that I think about it, this is one heck of a place to sleep in, not to mention evolve inside. Am I some sorta evil demon that's being released into the world?

A-anyway, when I returned to the "throne room" where I had crushed the Mirror Throne and its lackeys, I found a huge lack (pun not intended) of corpses. Where did everyone go? I didn't convert them. I didn't have the time! Argh, what a waste!

"Hey, GM! Get down here now!" - Garami

"Yes, yes, what can I...who are you!?" - GM

In the hope for answers, I called on GM to hear her opinion, but the idiot failed to recognize me. And she calls herself my skill?

"If anyone should comment on appearance changes, it should be me," I replied to the not-a-box-anymore in front of me.

"What's that supposed to mean? ...! Who am I!?" - GM

Did you just notice it now?

GM no longer looks like a floating box. Thanks to Dahaka-sensei, she now resembles a small fairy with dragonfly-like silver wings, pale skin and even paler, waist-long hair, dark emerald-colored eyes, and black horns that point upward.

She is dressed in a royal-looking black dress while wearing a grey jacket with black fur trims over the dress,  a small cape attached to the jacket's shoulders, metal-like shoes, and black stockings. She has a wand-like pointer attached to the belt of the dress and jewelry that seems to be made of dark-colored metals and emeralds.

All in all, she looks like some, I don't know, a gothic fairy? Unlike the colorful ones you can see on television and in cartoons, this one seems to be a resident of nightmares. Still cute, not to mention cool. Dahaka-sensei, you're better at this job than me or that Skvalv-guy from Velantas.

"Can you be grateful and tear up on a later date though? We have a schedule to keep," I told her as I moved the conversation along. "First off, where did the corpses go, and why are there treasure chests in their place?" 

"Wha-wha-wha-...where did those come from!?" shouted GM in surprise when she finally noticed the chests.

"Did the new form come at the cost of reducing your processing abilities?" - Garami

Maybe I should turn her back... As if hearing my thoughts, GM started to explain in a hurry.

"Th-th-these boxes are the rewards for conquering the Chaos Dungeon and the "Yamatai Grand Festival" Quest respectively! So says the System Messages!" - GM

Ah, I ignored them because they felt like a pain, but putting all the responsibility on GM's tiny shoulders is too much, right? Let's have a look...there's a World Message mixed in with them. Let's ignore it for now...

Whoaaaa...glad the new skills weren't mentioned. That would be a pain to look through...and why did the rumored biggest pervert of the Ultimate Gods slip something strange into my Skill List? Eh, I can think of as many theories as possible, but I would have to meet Her Divinity to confirm them, and after hearing what the Life Champion has been through, I wanna refrain...

Moving on, what does this big and important guy say?

Ah...this is gonna make people confused...and hesitate. At least the guys from Babel won't be dragging their feet. At worst, we can take this kingdom by force if necessary.

"Shall we look at your new skills now?" - GM

"As if this is the time and place for that." - Garami

I said so, but I took a quick look at my stats to confirm if I was close to dying from hunger...luckily, I was not. Still had more than half of my SP left. The problem is that it seems some of my stats are lower now compared to before evolving, but I should blame the high stat-growth due to my classes from that.

I was an unnatural example from the start, and even now, I still have stats above 1.000 despite "only" being level 1. If I started to complain, I would end up getting divine punishment from Order or Chaos or some other god related to the System.

Now it's time to see what the loot is. Specifically, the contents of the treasure chests. Come to Garami!

In treasure chest #1, the one supposedly being the reward for conquering this place...

"Wait, why am I getting this again? I didn't exactly clear this place in one go or alone." - Garami

I did exit the Dungeon once after I saw that huge gecko, and saying I conquered it on my own would be sorta wrong, considering that Dejidem gave me a hand with that Evil Dracolich.

"Maybe they used it as an excuse to give you an extra reward? Or that they felt it would be a waste not to release these items?" -GM

Ah, I think that's it. The Mirror Throne went rogue and all, so maybe the gods are more likely to trash this place, thereby eliminating any chance this Unique Series has to see the light of day.

Unique Series are special sets of items awarded to anyone who clears a Chaos Dungeon on their first go and as a solo clear. The items are designed so they will fit the user's playing style, but it's also based loosely on the Chaos Dungeon itself. There's also the rule that there exists only one Unique Series for each Chaos Dungeon, and only the conqueror of the Chaos Dungeon can use these items.

Let's say Ciara conquered a Chaos Dungeon similar to Damavand-Volcano. If she cleared it on her own at her first try, she would be awarded items that would be useful for her as a painter, as a fairy, and/or for her Water/Ocean skills, while also somehow retaining the Chaos Dungeon's "traits" as a volcanic Dungeon. 

Though, just because the Dungeon's gonna get scrapped wouldn't be a good reason to just hand over its Unique Series. Then again, this was a big exception from the norm. Guess the Gods got loose-handed with their wallet from seeing this millennium-old Quest cleared.

After getting my doubts cleared, I returned to open the first treasure chest. And inside it was...

Stats: Effects:

• Protection of Ruin
  • Reduced chance to be inflicted with status ailments: 50%.
• The Killer's Path
  • Unsteady ground, even liquified surfaces, are possible to travel across.
• Nightmare's Crafting Fingers
  • Positive correction to item-crafting: [Normal]
  • Further positive correction to crafting items used for assassinations: [Huge]
• Adaptive Size
  • The form and size of the equipment will adapt to the user at any given moment.
• Ability Slots (Nightmare Demon):
  • [empty]

Description:

A set of clothing owned by the Vile Queen, but it was taken by a vicious, yet honorable, demoness. Seeing its new master worthy, these garments will grow in power along with its new mistress.

......this is damn cool!! The name could use some work...

It's a set of "armor", one that covers all the equipment slots mentioned in the new "Equipment Placement"-tab on the Item Page. According to GM, it's part of the new update, which also renamed the former "Body" category to "Armor" and the "Underwear" category to the new "Body" category.

Appearance-wise, it's not that different from the equipment I've always used. The "set" consists of quite the risque and sleeveless grey tank top that doesn't cover much of my stomach, a purple-black jacket with wide sleeves and a hood, a dark-grey cape that I can take off if I need to, a pair of black trousers, black gloves, and black boots. The main color is black and purple, but the clothing is designed to make use of the black parts to highlight the purple parts.

The inside of the jacket, however, is blood red, and some parts are reinforced with metal protectors made from dark-grey metal, but the design is heavily focused on movement speed. Several gemstones are used as decorations, like amethysts on the gloves or the belt, or pieces of obsidian on the cloak.

It also has a casual look, which would make it difficult to see as something an assassin would wear, but for me, it was perfect.

Hmm, maybe this "mirror" Chaos Dungeon is responsible for the little difference between this and my previous get-up? Did the reward "mirror" my previous best appearance? Well, I like it, so I'm not complaining. There are lots of effects as well...

"GM, what's this "Ability Slot" thing about?" - Garami

"Uh...it seems you can reinforce the item by using materials, even skills, to grant it a new ability. More Slots will be unlocked when you reach Lv.20, Lv.40, and so on." - GM

So it's linked to me? As expected of a Unique Item. 

"...and these VIT and RES-parts?" - Garami

"They say how much your stats will increase by equipping the items. It is part of the System Update. But you would require a weapon-proficiency skill to gain the most out of the stats." - GM

"...and what about me?" - Garami

"Garami has [Assassin's Garnment] at Lv.5, so you gain 55% of the stats granted by this type of equipment, according to the new rules from the System Update." - GM

Seriously? ...monsters will need a power-up if that's true. To confirm, I took another look at Carnwennan and...

Effects:

• Shadow-Threading
  • Allows the user to travel through the Realm of Shadows.
  • Allows the user to command shadows to a certain degree.
• Enhanced Dark Weapon
  • Enhances the weapon's Darkness attribute.
• Darkness attribute UP [Small]
• Shadow attribute UP [Normal]
• Completed Growth:
  • Mode change: Deathcalibur
• Automatic Repair
  • The weapon in question will recover from any damage while in the possession of the owner.

Description:

The false dagger of the fallen king. After a long rest, it now seeks to be laid on its true master's resting place.

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...yup. Poor weapon-less monsters.

Well, it's lower than what it had when it used "ATK" and "MATK" to show its stats, but honestly, those numbers were never any reliable. Even Flint was grumbling about that, saying that the gods haven't fixed that part for over a thousand years...

Ah. The "Grand Nightmare" Quest...must have been created to introduce the update with some extra flair...too bad. That's all I can say.

Moving on, there are still two more items resting in the first treasure chest. One of them is a nasty-looking dagger. Compared to Carnwennan, which has a straight blade with a katana-like feeling, this one has a black, curved blade that's rather demonic in appearance. It may be my imagination, but I can almost hear it screaming after blood.

Stats: Effects:

• Elemental-focused Energy Blade
  • Creates a blade with the dagger as its base based on the racial attributes of the user.
• Royal Parry Dagger
  • Positive correction to Parry-type moves: [Huge]
• Judgment of Rot and Ruin
  • Consumes MP to perform a deadly long-range slash of the Darkness- and Death attributes.
  • 1 use per day.
• Ability Slots (Nightmare Demon):
  • [empty]

Description:

A dagger owned by the Vile Queen, but it was taken by a vicious, yet honorable, demoness. Seeing its new master worthy, this dagger will grow in power along with its new mistress.

Yikes. It has higher stats than Carnwennan. And with my [Hidden Dagger] skill at Lv.11, I should get 61% out of those stats...and since I have [Dual Weapon], I get to equip Carnwennan too, but I only get 1% from that stat-boost due to [Dual Weapon]'s low skill level.

The new dagger also shares the same Ability Slots effect as the clothes. According to GM, the dagger and the clothes both have one Ability Slot now in the beginning, but when I reach Lv.20, I would have to decide which one would be given the new Slot.

Other than that, the first two abilities are a great fit for me. The first one is Carnwennan's ability, now upgraded to use Light as well since that's one of my racial attributes. The second one will help me with the parry-style that I use for defense. As for this "Judgment"-effect...is it related to the Vile Queen who was buried in the inner room? Scary...

And for the last item...a mask?

Stats: Effects:

• Anti-Magic
  • Reduces the effect of hostile magics: [Normal]
• Anti-Observation
  • Reduces the effect of hostile Perception Skills: [Normal]
• Self-Replenishment (Night)
  • Instantly restores 10% of maximum HP, MP, and SP.
  • Can only be used a maximum of 3 times a day, and only during the night.
• Ability Slots (Nightmare Demon):
  • [empty]

Description:

A mask owned by the Vile Queen. It grants defense against magic and suspicious eyes and was held dearly by the lost queen, granting her the boons of the night while wearing it.

Now the mask is in the possession of a vicious, yet honorable, demoness, the mask will protect its new mistress while growing alongside them.

It's a mask. One with some good effects, honestly. But...how am I supposed to get its stats? Does [Assassin's Garnments] still work, or do I need some mask-skill?

The mask is of the type that covers the whole face. There are no holes for the eyes or mouth, but according to GM, you could still see through it, heck, you could still eat and use Evil Eyes even while wearing the mask. It's made of some dark-grey material and has tribal-like lines drawn on it in blood-red colors. 

The Ability Slots are producing some question marks, but all in all, these are all good items. Especially since the Garments fits the current me. As for treasure box #2, the rumored "tailored rewards"...

Effects:

• Dungeon Stat rank-up.
  • Can only be used on a Dungeon stat at rank C or below.

Description:

A wonderful ticket for Dungeon Masters. Using this item inside your Dungeon will allow you to choose one of the Dungeon's stats and increase its rank by 1 without using any DP at all!!

Note: only stats at rank C or below can be rank-uped with this ticket.

Effects:

• 1 week-long Dungeon Renovation.

Description:

A wonderful ticket for Dungeon Masters. Using this item inside your Dungeon will allow you to select a "Sub Master" for each Dungeon Territory that makes up your Dungeon and grant them CP equal to the Dungeon's original amount for 1 week.

The Sub Masters can use their respective CP to rearrange the contents inside their gifted Territory, allowing them to recreate the Dungeon in their perspective. To assist with this, the Dungeon will be granted a week-long Psuedo-Peace period, meaning that attackers cannot attack the Dungeon while the ticket lasts.

Note: this item will expire in; 7 days.

Effects:

• 10 DP.
• Dungeon Monster-Line: [Standard]
• Dungeon-type: [Ruins].

Description:

A wonderful ticket for Dungeon Masters. Using this item inside your Dungeon will grant your Dungeon 10 extra DP, the [Ruins] Dungeon-type, and the Dungeon Monster-Line: [Standard], which allows the Dungeon to summon Dungeon Goblins, Slimes, Orcs, Kobolds, and other classic monsters one can find inside a Dungeon, but only creatures up to racial rank E.

…do the gods only see me as a Dungeon Master or something? I'm still gonna use them, but still...

"If that's all, I wanna leave this place-" - Garami

"Ah, wait a moment. A request came to you from the World System." - GM

"What does that want with me?" - Garami

"No, not the System itself. There is someone who is using it to...A-A-A-AZI DAHAKA!?" - GM

"Oh, him. What are the contents?" - Garami

"Y-y-you aren't surprised by this!?" - GM

"Not really. What's the request? I'm gonna agree to it anyway, but for appearance's sake." - Garami

"Still going to......, here it is," said GM with an exasperated look on her face. I should tell her the story when I have the chance.

"Hmm? What's this?" - Garami

"A naming request. If you do not own a name, someone with great powers can gift you a name of your own. There is no deep meaning behind the act though." - GM

"You don't say. Still..., "Blackwood"? GM, do you know if this name has some sorta meaning?" - Garami

"I ran a search after seeing it was the Calamity itself-" - GM

"HIMself." - Garami

"...when I saw that it was the Calamity himself who was the source of the request, but the only hit I found was a self-proclaimed haunted forest in the Avalar region." - GM

"Self-proclaimed?" - Garami

"The forest itself is huge and with solid trees of an unknown nature that turns brittle enough to fall apart on you if you just carry it around after cutting it down, but nothing else. All parts of the forest have been mapped and discovered, and there are no living or non-living creatures that make a habitat in that place. The only eerie rumors about it are that many people mysteriously disappear, but..." - GM

"Probably gone and eloped or something." - Garami

"That is the most common theory, yes." - GM

Quite the sorry forest, that one. Still...maybe Azi wanted me to have that name for such a reason? To make people think, like that forest, that I am not as dangerous as I look like? Hmmmmm...

"Eh, whatever. "Garami Blackwood" sounds cool, so let's go with that." - Garami

"Just like that?!" - GM

"Just like that," I replied as I accepted my new surname. And then...nothing special happened. Guess it was just an act of goodwill from Azi...right?

"Nothing more I need to do here now?" - Garami

"No, it doesn't seem like it. Why the hurry?" - GM

"First, this place gives me the creep and I wanna return to Damavand." - Garami

"That's understandable. And the second reason?" - GM

"...that I got a bad feeling in my gut." - Garami

And it makes me think of not only that huge gecko that walked out of the Dungeon before but also the guy I saw on the first day of the Festival's first Event. The same guy who I saw walking around with Springwood the former Wind-General and owner of [Humility]. The guy who could rival even Filyn in pure power...

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Skill List:

 Attack Skills: Magic Skills: Crafting Skills: Active Skills: Passive Skills: Resistance Skills: Perception Skills: Leadership Skills: Elements: Monster Skills: Extra Skills:

Title List:

Hunting Titles:

Status Titles:

Trait List:

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Kigal-Note/Traits: Albino

Description:

Albinism is classified as a sort of Trait in the World System. It affects the pigments of the owner's hair, skin, eyes, and even scales or feathers if they have those too.

Albino will result in the user having reduced abilities while exposed to the sunlight, but this is reduced if they stay in the shadow. It is simpler to think of it as being a tad weaker to the sun than people without the trait and is not of the undead or their likes.

As if putting the nail on the fact that those with albinism are weak to the sun, this Trait makes its owner gain a slight weakness toward both the Light attribute and the Sun attribute, making them more vulnerable to attacks that use either or both of these attributes.

Due to Albino resulting in the owner's body losing its pigments, they will gain white skin, hair, feathers, scales, and so on, while their eyes will gain a redder shade compared to normal. 

Demons have an easier chance of getting the Albino Trait compared to other species lines, but since they prefer to live in the dark, they do not see this as a negative trait. More demons find the Albino Trait to be something to be envious of, similar to how Succubi sees having a voluptuous body being the sign of someone great, or how a Beastkin respects their kinsmen who have hunted greater beasts than others.

Garami's comment: Huh, guess I'm blessed with this body then.

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