I Am A Monster Reborn [A Monster Evolution Litrpg]

Victor’s legs had been aching for an hour already. Soft tissues were hurting, and his ribs were screaming in pain. He and old man Marius, had been subjected to an emergency draft, and were part of The Commander’s Retinue, albeit as lesser soldiers. The pair marched in tow in the rear, behind the militia.

The commander whose name he had learned was Arminius, had confiscated any and all of his belongings. Which apparently was perfectly legal here in the ‘roman empire’. He was a barbarian here, and his home of origin meant nothing.

His office wear, identification card, currency form back home all taken into Arminius possession. Not even his underwear, which had an embarrassing display of an anime girl, was spared. Arminius took a special liking to those.

He got blatantly robbed, not even a day into his arrival. But he was in no position to argue with a group of armed men, wielding swords, spears, and bows.

Claudio, the Local ‘regent’ of farmland around here was sent away to the capital. It was clear enough to him that these people had set up an unfair class system and were doomed to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. It was simply unfair that he couldn’t go with the escort to the capital, but now had to risk his life for something he had no stake in.

Markus, turned out to be a legionary, a special case, he was sent here as punishment, but not under Arminius orders. Which made Victor all the more suspicious of him. Using every opportunity under the sun to talk with him, much to the dismay of Arminius.

One moment it would be. “I’m teaching him how to use a sword sir.” the next it would be “I want to teach him proper latin sir.”

And Arminius would respond with fury and irritation. “Are you going to teach him how to shit too?”

He missed that cubicle right now, perhaps there is a way to go back home or maybe he’d commit seppuku. Such were his thoughts.

He started losing pace with the militia, stopping and taking a deep breath, arms on his hip. He peered at his surroundings, branches and leaves, trees and the muddy dirt soil, fresh air, the sound of nature’s spring. Perhaps it needn’t all be that bad.

“Oi! Keep up back there.” Arminius shouted. And Victor sprinted back into position.

They had been halfway on the route to the field. The land route proved much more arduous and haphazardly than the river did. He’d pinched himself Occasionally on places making sure that what is seeing and feeling is real. You never know it could be some dream or a post death hallucination. Biting his tongue, breathing in absurd patterns, scratching open wounds on his body.

“Hey man, calm down with the theatrics,” Marcus whispered to him, concerned at his erratic behavior. “ I get it, I really do, a lot to take in all of sudden, trust me I would know. Most people Who get transported don’t end up in a happy place. Trust me, You got lucky being here.”

“You’re a peculiar case Marcus, awfully friendly all things considering, perhaps i’m skeptical,” he shook his head, frowning. “No….no…that’s the wrong word.”

“You want answers, I can give them. You want security, perhaps even wealth. I know how to get those. Just bare with this shit for a moment.” he tried being as reassuring as possible.

“Do you know a way out, then,” Victor said. “Out of this world i mean.”

Marcus’s smile had turned into a scowl as if Victor had done something very horrible to him.

“No. But perhaps we could help each other, with due time,” the friendly demeanor had vanished in a flash, and the spirit of cunning and opportunity appeared in the legionaries face. “Your power, I know you have one, what can it do?”

Marcus loosened his hands as if he was going to a magic trick, started whispering in a tongue Victor could not make out. Held his hands in Victor’s face, electricity started pouring out. It zapped him on the cheek.

“What the Fuck.” Struck by sudden by sudden pain

“Just a minuscule example of what I can do,” smiling about his display.”And yet still Victor I have so much to learn.”

Who was this guy and was it a mere coincidence that he just happened to stumble upon him during that monster's rampage. He also happens to be blessed by some special power.

“What exactly do you want Marcus…” Victor asked. Cutting straight to the chase.

“When this is all over, i have a proposition for you,” His happy go lucky expression had returned.”I need friends, friends with powers like yourself, i already know a few people but we are not enough.”

Victor couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was all so very convenient, Like those fantasy tales he’d used to hear and see. Just in a very subtle, realistic and harsh manner. No summoning object, and not quite a magical kingdom. No mcguffin either but he’s only been here a few hours, who knows what might happen.

“What for?” Victor requested.

“You see men like him,” he pointed to Arminius. “They're all over the world like a plague. No matter how many of them you dispose of, more always seem to arise. Perhaps Victor, I may have even known you would fall from the sky today.”

This put Victor into even more of an edge.

“That just makes you some kind of stalker?” he said dumbfoundedly.

Which caused Marcus to laugh at the remark.

Victor wanted to say something about that but stopped.

“Quiet! Not a word! Not a sound! Arminius commanded.

The Soldiers at the front had stopped marching. Every sound died down.

Not a single animal could be heard, not a chirp, not twerp, not a rustle of a branch or bush.

They had stood in front of Claudio’s hamlet. Which consisted of around 5 buildings and a windmill. Victor saw what he would describe as a literal fog of war surrounding the place. The air pressure had changed. Like the air itself was alive, and it was pushing weight onto every living thing.

Victor swore he could hear wailing, shrieking or crying. “Something akin to Help! Help! Help us!”

“You hear that someone needs help.It sounds like a young woman.” One of the soldiers at the front declared.

He attempted to run into the town, weapons drawn. Arminius tripped and he doesnt’ get very far.

“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” Arminius sneered. “There is nothing living here.”

“It’s a trap, clearly” Marcus pointed out.

“Marcus pave the way”

“Yes, commander.”

Marcus lit an abnormally large oil lamp. Stretch his arms and threw the lamp with olympic force against the building. Setting it aflame.

Fear had taken hold of him. It was all so immediate and nerve wrecking. Like a nasty fear paralysis. Like he took large doses of hallucinogenic compounds and is stuck in a dream state with no way out. He wanted none of it. He wanted to rest. He wanted to run away.. He needed to stay alive.

He turned around to leave.

“Desertion is a crime recruit!” Arminius shouted at him.” Leave and I will spear a hole through you myself.”

“At ease Victor, stay close and it will be over soon.” Marcus told him. practically dragging him back.

“Keep your pet close to Marcus, there is no help coming from the capital, military administration is burdened, we need all the manpower we can get.”

“Yes, of course.” he replied, his tone hinting at something else.

Yeah, fuck that. He wasn't anyone’s pet. He thought.

The entirety of the militia had already drawn their weapons, Victor unsheathed and held his weapons properly for the first time.

Sudden knarling and moaning could be heard among the flames.Then a bloody crowd screaming murder, like a hundred women were being violently assaulted. A swarm of alien corpses started running out of the buildings, who looked like sentient meat wearing human skin. They were grayish in color, utterly devoid of pigment. Wearing pieces of human clothing that weren’t ripped off. Instead of the decaying rot he expected when he heard ‘ghoul’. These looked more like biological abominations. Like a parasite was put into the body of a living being..

“Mars gives me strength to vanquish my foes.” a soldier shouted. And a radiant, aura had enveloped his body

“Lord Jesus Christ preserve us this day.” Another soldier shouted even louder. And Victor swore, some of his fear had dissipated. The whole crowd stood with some for resolve.

He was gonna want to hear what this was, if made it out of this living nightmare.

What the fuck did it mean observe the enemy. He was already looking at it. He thought. And then recalled how in a role-playing game analysis was often a skill the player could use.

“Observe ghoul!” he shouted

The beasts started running at them.. They were getting more by the moment they seemed to be more than just 20 twenty. Even the burning ghouls did not relent to pursue their foes.

“They die easier if their limbs are lobbed off!” he shouted.

Marcus looked surprised and made eye contact with him and seemed to be impressed.

“We know that, but you seem to learn fast. Perhaps there is hope for you after all.”

He clenched his teeth. He had to be honest he didn’t believe the man liked him very much, he wasn’t expecting a commnet. It made feel a little proud of himself.

“Victory or death!” Arminius waved his sword into the air, beating his shield, beckoning the enemy to come at him. “Let none of these beasts through.”

These monsters met the soldiers, at their swashbuckling shields. The militia seemed to hold them easily, Pushing the creatures away from the line

Marcus proved to have exemplary strength in him. It took him no more than a few strikes to thrash the monsters. He beheads one swiftly, impales another simultaneously, kicks another one to the ground. Before another ghoul would take its place.

The battlefield started being littered with undead corpses, the stench had gotten to him, distracting him.

Victor fell on his behind, letting the sword fall on the ground. Something threw him with a large rock, he felt something break in his body. Maybe a bone. He didn’t have time to process it. A ghoul had flanked the line. He needed to get up to defend himself and fast too.

“Oh shit”

He could barely read, and was distracted. The thing started running like hell at him, it’s claw aimed for his face. He just needed to hit it. Is what he told himself over and over.

It got close to him. And swung its disgusting claws at his throat. those distorted facial features and ruby red eyes froze him. He would surely die today.

He closed his eyes and swung the blade as strong as he could. Nothing happened for a moment, only the shouting of the other men. He opened it and the beast lay at his feet.

A part of him wanted to celebrate this new found victor and success. He thought he found relief, and then another appeared from the rear flank. The beast fell to the ground without his input. Marcus had impaled it from behind.

“Stay close.” he tapped Victor on the shoulder. They all moved towards each other. A line grouped in the center, forming a circle. A pseudo phalanx, except it was filled with holes. Victor was pushed in the middle. He had looked for old man Marius but could not find him anywhere.

They now ran in large ‘human waves’ no longer, testing the strength of the makeshift militia. The Hive had seen what they needed and now they were going for the killing blow. For Victor it was ‘Night of the living dead.’ He didn’t notice it before, but the sky had darkened as if the sun had set.

“Damn you George Romero” he shouted in the air.

A soldier had already fallen on the ground. That weakened the group severely. They were surrounded on all sides. Cornered like prey animals surrounded by predators in a corner.

“Shield yourselves.” The commander shouted. And everyone covered their bodies with the shield, Victor as well.

“Sol invictus, my life is yours, Smite my foes, so I may live a day once more.” Arminius exclaimed, his sword in the air. Flames left his blade, and surrounded everything around them. Setting everything aflame. However nothing burned except the ghouls, the remaining ghouls attempted to flee.

The dark sky had broken. Victor looked up in the sky and was flabbergasted; he could have sworn he saw two sun’s up there. Was he seeing double?

‘Victor couldn’t understand why Arminius hadn’t done that earlier. Though he said nothing.

“Hunt them down!” he commanded. And the soldiers started running like wild dogs after the escapees. Letting out war cries.

This left Victor next to some of the dying monsters. One came crawling towards him. Flaming flesh and hall.

He mustered up the courage and stabbed the beast in the heart. The sound and the feeling of flesh being impaled disgusted him to no end.”

Those words excited him to avail. He knew what it meant. He would get stronger, and it. This would all get easier in due time. For now he had to wait. As the legion finished off the stragglers. He breathed a sigh of relief. It would be over soon and he could finally find some rest.

“Open Status”

Two new categories had appeared out of nowhere. Before he wasn’t able to see his health. He was able to distribute additional stat points out into his attributes there by, by strengthening himself. As he was slowly bleeding out. The recruit thought it would be best to increase his constitution but then again he was weak and had an internal injury.

He put 5 stats into the constitution. He hoped he wouldn't regret it.

He felt something changed in him, his weight felt the same, but he felt more composed. Denser, a little leaner. Perhaps he would develop an attractive body this way, it was an exciting prospect.

The pain he felt before was gone too, it was a miracle of sorts.

At the edge of a hamlet. He could see a little child. Holding a toy in her hand, all helpless and without supervision. She was surely in danger. He looked around and the ghouls had all disappeared; she must have been the only survivor. He needed to save her lest she was taken by greater terrors.

He started running towards her, his vision was blurring, he was out of breath and his body was heating, but he didn’t care. He needed to be a hero right now, a warrior.

 

 

He heard his name shouted from behind him.

Arminius and Victor, he turned around to stare at them. Sound was so vague. He couldn’t hear what they were saying. He turned around the little girl. And there was no little girl. It was a corpse being dangled in front him. Bait and switch, he had been played.

There were no villagers left. The ghouls were the villagers

It was the snake man that fooled him, massive and an elongated body. It no longer looked like the reptilian it did before, but like the ghouls from before. It was an undead thing. It dawned on him, the large rock he was thrown with earlier, may not have been the ghoul.

“observe..”

 

It grabbed him, wrapping its large hands around his chest, observing him as the prey he was now. Its tail grabbed him by the waist. Enveloping and constricting him. Subsequently lifting him off into the air, and smashed him into the ground.

He felt almost every bone in his body injured and broken. The sensitivity of the pain went from one-hundred to zero in a moment.

It’s ghastly beak snarled at him and said.

“Consume you, Evolve!” With joy, tongue slithering.

It fit his head in its mouth, he could feel its teeth starting to gnaw at him. The acidity of the thing’s venom started to burn him.

 

He fell from the beast's mouth onto the dirty ground again. Arminius with a flaming sword cut through its tail. Leaving the beast on the ground. It’s tail is still constricting him, even harder without being connected to its other half.

Arminius had started fighting against the humanoid half. Marcus approached him and put his hands on the snake. Electrocuting it. The constriction ceased, the nerves of the snake tail dying.

He was slipping. The pain had returned a little bit, and was too much to bear. He felt worthless, he really came here just to die in a bluff. However it was a hell of a lot more interesting to him than jumping off a building.

Arminius finished what was left of the beast, cutting through it whole

“Thank you….marcus…for the short adventure.” Victor said with gratitude.

Marcus leaned on him, as if he was saying goodbye to a family member. And then he whispered in his ear.

“Victor listen to me, it’s not over yet.” he said. The new recruit listened attentively.

“Once you arrive here, you can’t leave this place once you get here. I’ve done it countless times. And have gotten sick of it. That’s exactly why I need your help. You're different and I need that power of yours.“

“I’ll bestow you a gift, though it will take me a while to recover.” he placed his hands on Victor’s chest.

“If you are lucky and come back as a man, get stronger and find me at Nova Roma,” he then laughed nervously.“And if by some misfortune you come back as a beast, find the Damned men of the waste. They'll find a way to make you ‘human’ again.”

“You have one year before I move somewhere else, goodbye my friend, and goodluck.”

He lay motionless on the ground, everything was darkening. He felt his eyes grow weary. The pain was too intense. This was the end.

Marcus, closed his eyelids.

A flash of memories permitted in his brain, he had wasted his life. Did he really have another chance at living? Darkness took him and enveloped everything