What lies beyond the ground

They said that a monster's rank changes its power and behavior altogether, how they act towards its surroundings. Their power grows more horrific as their ranks rise through the category. Though we can't only speak about their pros when there is still a con. The higher the monsters ranking the longer they appear in the world this was proven after I hatched a variety of ranked monsters in my youth

"Really!!? Those monsters that I saw disappeared into the air were killed by you? But a dream battle? Fighting your greatest foe inside your mind and winning without having to use your abilities? So evolution relies heavily on a person's will and not their talent, so as long as I don't give I can evolve!!?" Alex was deeply motivated to grow once he heard of the real experience of evolution

'This kid... Why do I even bother, it seems like he's the easy-going type of lad, but I don't hate it in the slightest? I can see a similar manner to my old self when I was deeply infatuated with my work. Evolution was just like they said in my interview, it was a battle of pure willpower which means personal strength. They can't use their abilities to fend off the foes that materialize in their mind I concluded this when I experienced it myself,'

Apart from his body gaining a boost in his stats, Neon notices a newly former skill after he evolved

[Special ability: Due to the host's evolution your special abilities have been greatly affected. One of the new changes you can use is [Catastrophic form]: It's both a unique race ability & special ability, and it allows the guardian to transform into the chosen catastrophic body parts. The passive which enhances your senses have been turned into a skill called [Abyssal sense]: This will further enhance your senses to a level that your passive has yet to reach]

'Abyssal sense? I haven't heard of that ability even though I've come face-to-face with this monster. No, now that I think about it, I remember it was too aware of its surroundings. The Abyssal tiger was one of the most horrific catastrophes that I've ever faced. When you think about a tiger their highest stats were placed in strength and speed,'

'However, the Abyssal tiger was something that wasn't comparable with any kind of monster that I've faced. It felt like I was fighting a guardian, its highest stat was on Intelligence which made it possess an intelligence that exceeds a monster. Fast, witty, and strong at the same time, the thing that I've had the most was that it possesses a teleportation skill. We're talking about the smartest monster I've faced, I wonder how heightened was its senses? Guess I'll figure it out,'

[Special ability: The guardian has activated a skill that dwells in the [Golden eyes of the abyssal tiger]

Abyssal sense: Your sense will now be enhanced!!

Alert: The increase in the host's sense might not be the best option since you've recently evolved. Would you like to ignore the warning and continue? [Yes] - [No]

Outcome: You've chosen to ignore, the skill activation will now commence!!]

Neon already knew about the risk of using such a new skill without him knowing the power he would gain. Though the outcome wasn't something that he expected it didn't harm him in any kind of way. The moment the effect of his skill was concluded he gained a sight to behold that he couldn't even begin to understand

'I theorize that the abyssal tiger's awareness was beyond anything that was known for the guardians but this is beyond my imagination... Is this what it was seeing all the time? Abyssal sense, a skill that enhances its sense? This isn't enhancing I felt like I can see throughout the forest with the limited range of my skill. Everything changes to black and white, black signifies those that have no life, and white shows anything that contains life,'

A thick wall isn't but a match with the power of this skill, it feels like he transcended the very meaning of sense. In his surrounding areas, he could feel see, feel, and react to every kind of movement that occurred in his position. The monster that hunts, leaves that fall, and every movement of the trees when a powerful gust appeared. His eyes were filled with wonder that will soon be splashed by fear, deep within the ground was an egg of a monster

'What... What the heck is that!!?'

He went ahead and uses his abyssal sense and gazes deeper into the egg and there he sees a horrific encounter. It was an egg that belonged to a powerful monster, its pulse was equivalent to the quake he felt not long ago. It had the same frequency though it got stronger than ever, he could sense its beating was rapidly growing. The outer surface of the shell showed a crack and then the vibration it emitted mimics the magnitude of an earthquake

"Whoa!!! Master, there's an earthquake!! We need to leave before we get buried in the cave!!!" Alex's reactions were normal for anyone who didn't know about the truth that lies beneath the ground

For the very first time since he awakened in this forest, this little hint of fear would affect his body. He shook and not even he could have a way to face such a disaster that'll soon appear in the world. From the beat itself, he determined its rank and the power it'll wield once it came bursting from the ground

'This pulse...! It can't be... Even though the egg is far beneath the ground its heartbeat can even mimic the force of an earthquake... The only possible answer to this is that this egg... This egg belongs to a mythical-grade monster!!! No way, I've already thought that a mythical-grade monster was beyond what the dark forest can produce. This place has become more stable, even if there were a preexisting mythical-grade monster they'd probably take a nap,'

'Mythical grade monsters are powerful that's a fact that no one can deny but as they kept on growing their bodies grew bigger. They can't possibly lessen their diet and they need to maintain their energy if they wanted to survive this barren wasteland. This is the reason why I've taken the account of a mythical grade slumbering in a certain surrounding but an egg. Thats... Thats beyond disastrous, because of their small size they can live longer. My current power isn't even enough to face a newborn mythical-grade monster, I can't even imagine fighting anything beyond high-grade monsters,'

He remained seated in the middle of an earthquake that reaches their position and even threatened them with their lives. Alex was packing every single material and item they have in their cave and placing it all in his inventory. Neon couldn't be bothered to move and when falling debris would come and strike him in his head his body neutralizes the threat

[Special Ability: Your evolution has greatly influenced the body parts that you currently possess. You've acquired a new kind of ability called [Survival instinct]: Whenever the host is unavailable to move or tend to the need in his body it'll automatically activate. This ability will focus on the survival of the host and it'll grant his abilities sentience if needed for their duty. To summarize, the host can just sit, and his ability will neutralize any kind of threat that targeted his life]

Alex was amazed by the way he parried the fallen rubble that would've flattened his body to the ground. Every time a rock would come falling into his body it'll be pierced by a manifested bone. At some point, his other abilities would appear, and a small part of his body would be detached and become a lesser homunculus. He was so absorbed in thinking about a way to easily gain power and increase his level at the same time. That's when he realizes it, the answer was in front of him all along an option that he tried to avoid

'Thats it... Why didn't I think about that option, I can just participate and even get some benefits from that place. The tower would lessen the stats of the monster to match my own. Nonetheless, I can still increase the difficulty of the tower and increase the prizes that I can gain. With that said and done, where's that child? Alex, where did that little brat go... What happened here?'

He came back to his sense and he finds himself standing in the middle of what was previously his cave. The area around his body wasn't covered by any kind of rubble and he could see claw marks on his lesser homunculus. When he collected the memories he acquired from his lesser homunculus he finds himself being absorbed by his topic. His disciple exited their cave and soon after he finishes browsing the memory he came back to his side

"Master, it's good to see that your body wasn't injured in the earthquake, but where are we going to stay...? Our cave has collapsed, and we don't have any place to move, most of the places I've been to are inhabited by monsters. Oh I know, there's a small area inside the shadow ape valley, I made it my home when you kicked me out. It's a little cramp but I think we wouldn't have any problem with the space,"

"No need for that I've found a better place for the two of us to stay... Would you like to accompany me to the tower? It's been two weeks and you've grown so much in that short amount of time. I think you are ready for that kind of hardship, if not you can stay at that place you've mentioned," Once he had spoken about his plan, he handed Alex the key he received from the tower

It was the invitation that he received and was confiscated when he was out of his supervision. Neon thought of returning the key to his hands once he finishes his evolution. But he couldn't risk a chance of Alex disobeying his orders so he took his key to be sure that he can't enter. When this key was returned to the palm of his hand, he was given a choice. Alex wasn't ordered to follow, he was told to choose whether he'll follow his master or wait for his arrival

"Of course, I'll join you also I've collected a ton of monster cores, can you teach me how to evolve!!" Their journey to the tower was about to begin once they set off from the cave and back to the route which leads to the tower