Demonic Fernil Sporix

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I couldn't post the chapter yesterday. I'm currently not feeling well but I'll be sure to try my best to write you guys some good stuff. Enjoy!

°

"Ha ha...it really pays to be someone strong", Liam mused to himself when he saw all the system notifications popping up.

"Kyuu!" Kai yelped in agreement, her bright orange tail wagging back and forth happily.

It seemed that all of the familiars had gone up by one level because of Liam leveling up as well. However, because they'd actively participated in the fight, Ralph, Razor and Kai managed to go up by two levels.

"You did great, guys!" Liam praised all of his familiars with a warm smile, before he opened up the last notification that had popped up before.

[«Notice»

-You have reached the first level cap for the sub class <Beast Tamer>. Begin evolution to second stage?

YES/NO?]

"I reached the second stage already?!" Liam exclaimed in astonishment.

Back in his village when he'd been training with Mr Fenris, his mentor had told him that each class, regardless of it's rank or nature, had it's own path of evolution. With each evolution, the abilities and skills of a person grew stronger and stronger as all their stats get doubled at each stage!

Liam was absolutely thrilled as he hadn't expected to break through to his second stage so soon because he had a sub class. He had heard that for most people in the sub class, it took them months before they could even go to their second stage.

However Liam managed to accomplish it in just a few days after receiving his class!

Calming his nerves, Liam clicked 'YES' and the system screen in front of him vanished.

[Ding]

[«Notice»

-Subject <Liam Waylen> will now undergo evolution to the second stage of the sub class <Beast Tamer>]

[«Attention»

-The subject's conscious will fall into a deep slumber for the duration of the evolution.

Time Duration: 2 hours]

[Beginning reconstruction...]

"Wait wait wait, I'm going to be unconscious while I evolve?" Liam asked when he read the message from the system, "Why didn't it mention that before I clicked yes?! I need to-"

Before he could say anything more, Liam's knees buckled and he fell to the ground. Ralph, Razor and Kai all rushed to his side in concern.

'Not good...', Liam thought to himself as he fought to keep his eye lids open and stay awake.

Liam was still in the forest and if he collapsed now, there was no telling what other monsters could along.

Even if he had three of his familiars watching over him, Liam thought that there was no guarantee that they would be able to defend him without him there to instruct them.

With a last desperate thought, Liam muttered, "Odin...make sure I'm safe"

[ODIN: Understood, master]

That was the last thing Liam heard before he finally let up and he let himself fall into the evolution slumber.

°

"Mmm...that was a good nap!", said Liam with a yawn as he sat up and stretched. He looked around him at the many trees of the forest surrounding him and frowned, "Why am I not in my room?"

[ODIN: Master, you have just awoken from your evolution. You are now a second stage Beast Tamer]

"Oh, that's right!" said Liam, remembering what had happened. He turned behind him to see Ralph, Razor and Kai all seated patiently and keeping guard over him.

Liam's eyes widened because they all looked slightly different from before. For Ralph he was now a bit bigger than before, almost as tall as some of trees here. His fangs had also grown and were now sharp tusks that poked out of his mouth.

For Razor, he had also grown in size and his fur had darkened slightly. He seemed almost as tall as Liam now, almost like an ape. As for Kai, her fur coat seemed brighter than it was before and her fiery tail had split into three.

"Wow, you guys look awesome!" said Liam after studying each one of them, "And thank you for watching over me. You too, Odin"

[ODIN: I simply complied with your orders, Master. Three more Corrupted Fernil Trees were created while you were unconscious and tried to attack. As per your last order, they were swiftly eliminated]

"More of those tree monsters, huh", Liam looked at the pieces of dead tree bark in front of him in disgust before he frowned and said, "Wait...Odin, what do you mean they were created?"

[ODIN: I have analysed and concluded that Corrupted Fernil Trees are not natural occurring monsters. As their name suggests, they are regular trees that have been corrupted and converted to monsters with the influence of some outside factor]

"Hmm...I see", said Liam as he stroked his chin, deep in thought. That explained what Jacob had told him about people coming into the forest and never coming out.

Since the monsters were unheard of, any person looking for herbs would be on guard for every dangerous monster in the forest but the trees themselves. It all made sense!

[ODIN: I have decerned the general location of the source of the Corrupted Fernil Trees]

"Oh? Then let's go over there now, I can check my stats and other things later", said Liam, who didn't want to let any chance at getting stronger slip past him, "Ralph, return. Jet, come out"

Liam figured it would be better to have a smaller and quicker party. So with Razor, Kai and Jet in tow, he set off deeper into the forest in the direction that Odin instructed.

The further in he went, Liam encountered more and more tree monsters. But now he had more than enough experience and fighting them was easier.

'Woah!' thought Liam as he fought.

Thanks to his new strength, Liam and his familiars were able to easily finish off the monsters in just a few quick strikes. He smiled gleefully and quickly made short work of the rest of them before moving onwards.

After running for about a hundred more meters, Liam's party arrived at a small clearing swarming with dozens of tree monsters. In the middle of the clearing, stood a towering gray mushroom creature with a purple top.

It had long thin gray tentacles that slithered across the forest floor. It was ten meters wide and stood as tall as a three storey building. A faint green cloud was slowly seeping out from it's top, spreading out towards the trees.

Liam crept a little closer and hid amongst some nearby bushes as he observed the current situation in front of him. The sheer number of the tree monsters, which must've been at least a hundred, were one thing but that mushroom was going to be a problem.

"I don't know why but I've got a bad feeling about that Mushroom...",Liam murmured.

[Ding]

[«Notice»

Quest:

-Defeat 100 Corrupted Fernil Trees.

-Defeat 1 Demonic Fernil Sporix

Rewards:

-800 experience points

-1 demonic monster core

-???]

"Again?" Liam asked with a sigh when he saw the system deliver another quest. He noticed, just like the previous one, that this quest wasn't choice based like others he had received before so he couldn't decline.

Well, it didn't really matter because Liam had been planning on fighting anyway.

"Odin, our strategy?" Liam asked, as he quietly summoned the rest of his familiars. This time Blu was back in action and rearing to go after being killed by some dumb tree.

[ODIN: Preparing the best possible plan of action in accordance with all the available variables...complete.

Please proceed as instructed]

After receiving Odin's strategy, Liam nodded his head before stepping out from where he was hiding with his sword on his shoulder. The tree monsters immediately noticed and started closing in on him and his party.

Liam just smiled confidently as he declared, "Time to Hunt!"