Growing More Powerful.
His hair on his head had turned white, and veins of dark red magic power ran down his body underneath his clothes. His right hand twitched. Then, Rob slowly opened his eyes, showing the glowing red irises, before groggily looking down at his right hand.
Rob clawed at the ground, slowly curling his fingers into a fist. He clenched and unclenched his hand multiple times, confirming that he was indeed still alive and that his body still listened to him, before slowly getting up.
Rob felt his body surprisingly light, and power was overflowing from within him. Despite how much the constant pain had exhausted him mentally, he still felt better than he ever had in his life.
Rob looked over at his arm before looking down at his stomach. He saw very prominent muscles.
Rob had grown a little taller too. His height had originally been 176 centimeters tall; he had grown a full five centimeters.
On top of that, the change wasn't just on the outside. The inside of Rob's body had changed as well.
It was both hot and cold at once, an indescribably strange feeling. If he focused, Rob could make dark red veins glow with an eerie light.
Finally, Rob took out his status plate. He examined his current stats and was surprised by the result despite already expecting it.
[ Rob Freeman - Age: 29 - Male - Level: 18
Job: Abyss Lord
Strength: 170
Defense: 170
Vitality: 370
Agility: 370
Magic: 330
Magic Defense: 330
Skills: Gifts of the Abyss [+Camouflage] [+Item Box] [+Assimilation II] [+Abyss Break] - Improved Memorization [+Improved Recollection] - Presence Isolation [+Minimum Mind] [+Phantom Step] - Assassination Techniques [+Short Sword Proficiency] [+Dagger Proficiency] [+Projectiles Proficiency] [+Hidden Weapons Proficiency] [+Escape Proficiency] [+Transmission Wave] - Shadow Dance [+Water Dance] [+Sky Dance (New!)] [+Aerodynamic (New!)] [+Supersonic Step (New!)] [+Monstrous Legs (New!)] - All Elemental Affinity - Improved Spellcasting [+Improved Proficiency] [+Improved Efficiency] [+Improved Speed] [+Improved Duration] [+Reduced Consumption] [+Delayed Casting] [+Multicasting] [+Image Supplementation] [+Chant Annulment (New!)] [+image Composition (New!)] - All Elemental Resistance - Improved Magic Recovery [+Meditation] - Barrier Creation - Farming [+Soil Management] [+Soil Restoration] [+Soil Auto-Restoration] [+Large-scale Cultivation] [+Improved Scale Cultivation] [+Contamination Conversion] [+Enhanced Fertilization] [+Selective Breeding] [+Plant Appraisal] [+Fertilizer Production] [+Mixed Breeding] [+Auto Harvesting] [+Fermentation Proficiency] [+Fermentation Acceleration] [+Large-scale Fermentation] [+Remote Fermentation] [+Wide-area Temperature Control] [+Temperature Optimization] [+Weather Barrier] [+Farming Barrier] [+Fertile Rain] - Superhuman Strength [+Improved Effect] - Enhanced Defense [+Improved Effect] - Enhanced Speed [+Improved Movement] [+Improved Attack Speed] - Physical Resistance [+Improved Effect] - Foresight - Detect Presence [+Improved Effect] - Detect Magic [+Improved Effect] - Unarmed Combat Proficiency [+Improved Damage] - Armor Proficiency [+Improved Defense] [+Reduced Weight] - Spear Proficiency [+Improved Piercing] [+Improved Mobility] - Transmute - Magic Manipulation (New!) [+Direct Manipulation (New!)] - Improved Sense (New!) [+Improved Auditory (New!)] - Wild Intuition (New!) - Language Comprehension ]
Rob didn't get 'Iron Stomach' like Hajime in the original story, but his 'Assimilation' got upgraded instead. Meanwhile, the skills coming from the Rabbit such as 'Sky Dance,' 'Aerodynamic,' and 'Supersonic Step' became derivative skills of 'Shadow Dance.'
Besides that, Rob also obtained 'Improved Sense' and its derivative, 'Improved Auditory,' 'Magic Manipulation' and its derivative, 'Direct Manipulation,' and 'Wild Intuition.' In addition, other spellcasting-related skills, such as 'Chant Annulment' and 'Image Composition,' appeared as the derivative skills of the 'Improved Spellcasting.'
Rob decided to practice the new skills he got. With Ambrosia he had in stock, he could keep practicing 24/7 without sleeping. He practiced for the whole 72 hours. He also practiced transmuting until he unlocked some derivative skills such as 'Ore Appraisal,' 'Ore Perception,' and 'Precise Transmutation.'
Finally, on the fourth day after his monsterification, Rob decided to head out of his hideout to hunt the twin-tailed electric wolves inhabiting this floor.
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Twin-Tailed Electric Wolves, shortened as Wolves for the sake of convenience, made their dens in certain parts of the labyrinth floor. They usually moved together in packs of four to six.
Alone, the wolves were among the weakest of the monsters that roamed the floor, so they always acted in groups. This pack was no exception and was a group of three.
Those wolves skirted from boulder to boulder, vigilant of their surroundings, searching for a suitable hunting ground. They generally preferred to ambush their prey since they were the weakest on this floor. Fighting against other monsters inhabiting this floor was tantamount to suicide.
They wandered the corridors for a while, being cautious as ever. But, something happened suddenly. Something blitzed at the wolf in the front, followed by a loud sound of bones being broken. Then, that wolf flew away from its pack.
The other Wolves were taken aback by the sudden ambush. Usually, they were the ones ambushing others, not the other way around. Now, the ambush predators were being ambushed by something.
The other wolves soon regained their composure and risked a glance at their ambushed comrade. They found that their comrade had died, its skull caved in and its neck bent wrongly. They immediately raised their vigilance.
After carefully looking around for a while, the wolves weren't attacked by their unknown assailant. They were confused and risked a glance against each other.
Confusion shone on their menacing red irises. Then, they turned to check their dead comrade. However, they discovered their dead packmate had disappeared. Therefore, their confusion deepened.
Just what had happened?
Not far from the position of the confused wolves, our protagonist silently walked away from them, seemingly invisible as he was under the effect of his Presence Isolation and its Minimum Mind derivative skill. Indeed, Rob was the one who had ambushed that pack of Wolves before.
In addition to ambushing that pack of Wolves, he also tested his new leg strength from eating the Rabbit. In fact, his kick was what crushed the skull of the Wolf at the front and killed it.
After successfully killing his target, Rob decided to leave. Of course, he didn't forget to store the results of his hunt in the Item Box while the other Wolves futilely searched for him.
As an aside, Rob had taken a bath in the river not far from his hideout before focusing on hunting. He hadn't taken a shower in the past several days. He'd been beyond uncomfortable and disgusted by his smell and how dirty he'd become.
Unlike Hajime who'd gone a full caveman in the original story, Rob still cared for his hygiene.
On top of that, Rob also searched for some useful ores. His Ore Perception skill helped him find some useful ores like Blastrock and Taur Stone.
For the description of those two useful ores, it is as follows;
[ Blastrock: A combustible ore. When exposed to fire, it burns like oil. As it burns, it slowly decreases in volume until it finally burns to cinders. Burning large quantities of blastrock in a confined space will make it explode violently. Depending on its quantity and pressure, it's possible to create flames as strong as those created by fire magic. ]
[ Taur stone: A black, hard rock. On the Mohs scale that went up to 10, it would rank an 8 for hardness. It is able to handle the heat and direct impacts well but is weak to the cold. Cooling the stone makes it brittle and fragile. However, reheating it will restore its hardness. ]
Rob stored all ores he discovered on the way in the Item Box.
Soon, Rob arrived at his hideout. He then processed the dead Wolf, stored its fur and bones in the Item Box, and roasted the meat with seasonings.
Then, Rob ate his meal with a grimace of disgust. The Wolf's meat tasted as disgusting as the Rabbit's meat he'd eaten days ago.
After enduring the agonizing pain of eating Wolf's meat (it wasn't as bad as the one from eating the Rabbit's meat), Rob immediately checked his status plate.
[ Rob Freeman - Age: 29 - Male - Level: 20
Job: Abyss Lord
Strength: 270
Defense: 270
Vitality: 350
Agility: 550
Magic: 430
Magic Defense: 430
Skills: Gifts of the Abyss [+Camouflage] [+Item Box] [+Assimilation II] [+Abyss Break] - Improved Memorization [+Improved Recollection] - Presence Isolation [+Minimum Mind] [+Phantom Step] - Assassination Techniques [+Short Sword Proficiency] [+Dagger Proficiency] [+Projectiles Proficiency] [+Hidden Weapons Proficiency] [+Escape Proficiency] [+Transmission Wave] - Shadow Dance [+Water Dance] [+Sky Dance] [+Aerodynamic] [+Supersonic Step] [+Monstrous Legs] - All Elemental Affinity - Improved Spellcasting [+Improved Proficiency] [+Improved Efficiency] [+Improved Speed] [+Improved Duration] [+Reduced Consumption] [+Delayed Casting] [+Multicasting] [+Image Supplementation] [+Chant Annulment] [+image Composition] - All Elemental Resistance - Improved Magic Recovery [+Meditation] - Barrier Creation - Farming [+Soil Management] [+Soil Restoration] [+Soil Auto-Restoration] [+Large-scale Cultivation] [+Improved Scale Cultivation] [+Contamination Conversion] [+Enhanced Fertilization] [+Selective Breeding] [+Plant Appraisal] [+Fertilizer Production] [+Mixed Breeding] [+Auto Harvesting] [+Fermentation Proficiency] [+Fermentation Acceleration] [+Large-scale Fermentation] [+Remote Fermentation] [+Wide-area Temperature Control] [+Temperature Optimization] [+Weather Barrier] [+Farming Barrier] [+Fertile Rain] - Superhuman Strength [+Improved Effect] - Enhanced Defense [+Improved Effect] - Enhanced Speed [+Improved Movement] [+Improved Attack Speed] - Physical Resistance [+Improved Effect] - Foresight - Detect Presence [+Improved Effect] - Detect Magic [+Improved Effect] - Unarmed Combat Proficiency [+Improved Damage] - Armor Proficiency [+Improved Defense] [+Reduced Weight] - Spear Proficiency [+Improved Piercing] [+Improved Mobility] - Transmute [+Ore Appraisal (New!)] [+Ore Perception (New!)] [+Precision Transmutation (New!)] - Magic Manipulation [+Direct Manipulation] [+Remote Manipulation (New!)] - Improved Sense [+Improved Auditory] [+Improved Olfactory (New!)] - Wild Intuition - Electrokinesis (New!) - Language Comprehension ]
As stated before, Rob had unlocked derivative skills of the Transmute skill. Besides that, he also unlocked 'Remote Manipulation' of 'Magic Manipulation.' From eating the Wolf, Rob obtained 'Electrokinesis' and 'Improved Olfactory.'
'So, it's Electrokinesis, not Lightning Field that Hajime got in the original story,' Rob commented in his mind.
Rob had noticed he got more skills from eating monsters. However, he chalked it up to his Assimilation II.
After that, Rob decided to practice his new ability. He soon found that Electrokinesis was more convenient than commonplace lightning magic. Unlike casting lightning magic that requires the caster to chant or prepare a magic circle, Electrokinesis is directly transforming magic power into electricity and freely manipulating the generated electricity at will.
Though Rob has Chant Annulment, he still needs to call out the name of a spell to successfully cast it. Despite not requiring a magic circle anymore, Image Composition still requires him to imagine the structure of the magic circles in his mind.
However, Electrokinesis requires no such things. Overall, it's way better, faster, and easier to use than commonplace lightning magic. It quickly becomes Rob's favorite skill.
Besides practicing his new skills, Rob also crafted some weapons to help him conquer this deadly labyrinth. He shamelessly took Hajime's idea in the original story. Thus, one of the two weapons he crafted was a revolver.
It was a firearm that boasted immense strength and fired projectiles that traveled faster than the speed of sound. It was about thirty-five centimeters long, made of the hardest and densest material he could find, Taur Stone, and it boasted six chambers.
The barrel was rectangular. The bullets were made from the same super-hard Taur Stone, and each shot was packed with powdered Blastrock.
On top of that, that revolver used more than just the power of Blastrock's combustion to propel its bullets. Rob was able to use his Electrokinesis skill to electrically accelerate his shots like a coil gun.
Yes, a coil gun would be the proper term to call the gun Hajime created in the original story, not a railgun. If it was a railgun, it would be far more complicated than what Hajime had made.
Regardless of the details, the combination made his bullets pack more of a punch than an anti-tank rifle. Rob crafted such a weapon from trials and errors.
However, he decided not to name it like what Hajime did to his gun in the original story. "Naming your weapon... That sounds so chuuni! Nope! I wouldn't name any weapon I'd make!" was his monologue after Rob finished creating his revolver.
Another weapon Rob made was a western sword. It was capable of vibrating at an extremely high frequency, giving it an insane cutting power.
At first, Rob wanted to create a katana as per the demand of his inner weeb. However, he decided against it after realizing how chuuni he would look with a katana in hand and a revolver in another hand.
Rob realized he was already chuuni enough with white hair and red eyes. He didn't want to raise his chuuni level over 9000!