The Doppelganger's New Enemy?!

"Ugh..."

I felt horrible because of the huge amount of useless information in the minds of those elves. My head hurt. It was like someone had hit my head with a stone mace repeatedly.

'They were from the nearby town, I see. Adventurers kill monsters and collect their limbs for money.'

The information I gained this time wasn't just combat and things useful to fight.

My biggest gain was the detailed knowledge about the guild, what the outsiders wanted, and why they came here to kill monsters. 

'To grow stronger and earn money to live... It seems they don't just kill and eat to live. Money, what a strange thing.'

"Phew... let's quickly hide in the shadows in case someone else comes."

Because of the knowledge of Erina and Eril, I understood the dungeon better, too; weak and low-class monsters like goblins and I shouldn't have thoughts because the dungeon controls their minds. They wouldn't feel anger, sadness or pain at all. Of course, they would still die if their heads got crushed.

I felt a sense of jealousy that the elves could feel those emotions because I didn't quite understand them even after gaining information from the elves.

"But me? I don't follow anyone's commands. This is weird, right?"

No, I should stop speaking out loud... I learned many things and habits that started my strange sense of superiority, and the habit of speaking to myself would lead to my death. Those elves were only rank D adventurers. 'This means they were weak barely worth mentioning according to Erina's memories of her hometown.'

'Though it's true I should quickly grow stronger and head outside... weapons, can a monster use them?'

My gaze lingered on the two black hands hovering over my shoulders. The two black arms of pure mana attached to my shoulder blades.

'I could try wielding one after entering the lower floor, but it seems the dungeon already devoured the daggers of that male. I would forget his name without the help of Envy...'

Even though I was sure I had taken them, it seemed items left on the floor would be devoured, and when I fainted, they were all taken.

"Well..."

Somehow, there was a feeling of glee in my chest. The elves were dead, and I completed that strange task thing the beautiful voice asked of me. Doesn't that mean I have those rewards... should I evolve now or leave first?

I gazed at the panels while letting my body fade into the darkness, using [Shadow Walk] while trying to keep focused on anyone else coming to attack. 'Since it's a beginner's labyrinth, there won't be powerful people. However, once those elves don't return for a while, then the guild will send someone to investigate... strange.'

"Annoying... I am hungry..."

Without wasting more time, two large boxes appeared on new pages. One flashed with a red light, while the other just flickered with a white light every few seconds.

[Would You Like To Evolve?!] - flashed red.

[Enhancement Panel] was the one that seemed a little more casual... I wonder what it means. 'Can I enhance my body?'

—

[Enhancement]

Increase your attributes using bonus mana gained from all things devoured.

[Strength Up] - 100 Mana

[Agility Up] - 100 Mana

[Vitality Up] - 100 Mana

[Intellect Up] - 100 Mana

[Wisdom Up] - 100 Mana

[Mana Up] - 10 Mana

Current Bonus Mana: 104/200

—

'Oh?!'

I couldn't believe how excited I felt, but when I saw the costs, somehow, it made me feel a strange feeling. Suddenly, I wanted to crush something and throw it at someone's face.

There was a temptation to use my mana, but the task seemed to point towards my next evolution... and the elven blood made me wonder what might change. 'Though somehow I doubt it will modify my race.'

So, ignoring the fancy panel with a blue background and white font, a sad feeling of wanting more mana before I opened the evolution message.

"Okay... let's find somewhere safe to hide..."

Using my special sight, I found a cliff several metres above my head, in the dark walls filled with cracks. A nice place to sit and take some rest...

—

[You have enough excess Mana to Evolve.]

[Would you like to evolve?]

[Yes/No]

Of course, I didn't take any time climbing up the wall before taking several loose rocks and using them to hide my figure. The darker the place, the more effective my shadow walk would become. This way, even if adventurers with special eyes appeared, they wouldn't find me while evolving.

After settling, I took a few seconds just resting while enjoying the sound of silence and the empty tunnels. When the silence became unbearable, I selected yes on the first panel.

As always, new lines started to appear, along with a timer...

[Evolution will begin in five minutes (05:00)]

[Prepare for your Evolution]

[Fusion with the elven (Royal) bloodline will begin.]

[Lust finds this choice of bloodline amusing!]

[Lust has improved the elven genes as a thank-you gift!]

[Envy feels annoyed by Lust and has added the skills and memories of all the elves you devoured!]

[Gluttony is hungry...]

"Ugh... These strange noises are distorting the beautiful voice!"

The sounds of Lust, Envy and Gluttony were more thoughts in the form of sounds. Rather than words... and they caused my head to feel like something was screaming inside my head.

[Time until Evolution (03:35)]

Suddenly, after the timer began counting down, my chest started to tighten, and I had a strange feeling, like my mana had stopped following my commands. 

"What's going on?"

Panicked, I tried to get up, but my arms moved slowly and started fading into darkness. The two shadow arms on my back suddenly became soft, flowing back into my body, as I could feel all my mana surging towards my chest.

"Ugh....what?! This pain..."

[Time until Evolution (00:45)]

It seemed the closer I got to evolution, the more pain I felt as my thoughts became slower.

"What? Strange, why do I feel so horrible?"

At the very last moment, before fading away into blissful unconsciousness. I vomited some black goo, a painful sensation as it forced its way out of my makeshift throat.

[Starting Evolution!]

***

[????] (3RD POV)

Meanwhile, in the depths of the labyrinth, a party of adventurers in expensive armour and shiny weapons with various enchants lay on the ground. A beautiful figure stood in the centre of an icy cavern stained with blood. Her snow-white hair flowed in the cold breeze of her domain, tearing apart their bodies.

The beauty wore a strange armour with tiger print patterns, while a white fur cape wrapped around her neck, likely stolen from an adventurer. She also had bits of fur around her wrists and ankles, with feline-shaped lower legs and feet with sharp claws.

She was a Weretiger, the mutated evolution of a cat-type monster.

However, the moment she killed them, her chest began to tighten. A deadly threat caused her to tremble, all the fur on her neck and wrists standing at the end.

"Hmmm?" A low tone sounded as she looked towards the sky.

'Another like Lua... but so weak!'

Her ice-blue eyes shone with magical light while looking towards the higher levels of the dungeon; the adventurers bragged about being Rank B when they attacked her.

Yet Lua didn't understand and killed them without mercy, just like she did in the past before evolving.

"Lua doesn't care... weak monsters are prey!"

She seemed to stop caring about the increase in mana several floors above her. Instead, Lua began tearing apart the adventurers and stealing their shiny things.

Lua always wondered how the weak monsters could eat such disgusting meat and toss it into the frozen canyon beside her ice bed. Suddenly, lay on her ice bed; she looked up again with a strange face... her adult figure too large for the small ice bed, seemingly made for a smaller cat.

'Maybe Lua will see... a new monster.'

After those thoughts, she vanished... the former guardian of this floor was now absent.