Intelligent Design: A Monster Evolution LitRPG

David felt like a villain as he paused at the entrance to the large den, looking back over his shoulder at the pile of bloody fur that once occupied it. He tapped his talons against the rocky soil thoughtfully as he paused, rubbing his back against a particularly nice rock protruding from the earthen tunnel, scratching an itch that had been forming in his mane he couldn’t quite reach as the blood began to dry. A deep sigh of satisfaction hissed out of David’s mouth when the itch abated, and he hopped out further into the night, landing with a rustle of grass as his jaws worked rapidly. His ears began to swivel and tilt as the Echolocations returned and he bounced into the sky with a single well-timed wingbeat. The silhouette of his wings still visible against the faint glow of twilight as he glided above the trees, never once ceasing his pulsing scans of the forest below.

This feels like cheating, somehow. That last one never even woke up, and it took forever to go down, I had to chew through– You know what, that was nasty. Worth it though, but Claire was right, I’ll have to eat a crow and apologize to her. I’ve been…I dunno, doing it wrong? Kai and Dallas were right too, if I’d just tried to level my Abilities I’d have learned how to use them correctly. Maybe someday I’ll tear it up like Claire and Kai can but for now…Fuck it, I’ll ‘cheat’.

David’s left ear snagged a returning Echolocation and he flipped around, passing over the area several times in a figure 8 pattern just above the tops of the trees. He felt slightly bad, but only slightly, as he landed a few dozen yards away from his targets and began to slink closer. David allowed his instincts to guide him through the dusk, slithering through dense foliage and over dried leaves and sticks without even a whisper of his leathery wings to give him away. He made a conscious effort to never relent in using his special for a single second, and the line between his eyes and the mental superimpositions had begun to blur into something much more useful.

Five chunky hairless bodies lay in a loose dogpile, tucked up against a pile of fallen logs heavily overgrown with moss and lichens. David noted that there were a few heavily mangled mushrooms still gamely clinging to life on the deadwood, but the vast majority of fungi had been stripped clean. With a bit of concentration, he could even see where the beast's teeth had scraped along the dried bark, removing their delicious treats with prejudice. He mentally filed ‘piles of logs’ as a good place to check for more prey before he began to examine the beasts themselves as he lurked low in the long grass just within range. The quadrupedal beasts were heavily muscled, sporting layers of fat that made them look almost portly, with wide froglike mouths. David shuddered and suddenly didn’t feel bad about what he was about to do in the slightest.

He observed diligently for several minutes before he was satisfied they were asleep, bunching every muscle in his body as he launched himself high into the air before unfurling his wings and Gliding closer. He flapped sparingly to maintain his low altitude, striking a fine balance between speed and momentum as he smoothly swooped over the group. David rustled his wings slightly before and after each pass, leaving a dense streamer of Gloom trailing in the air behind him to swirl down and coat the beasts. He rapidly came around and repeated the maneuver twice more as the lengthy trails of Gloom intersected, mingling together fitfully in the wake of his passing. Cooling night air filled David’s wings as he swooped quietly to a nearby tree, landing near the top where the branches were sparse and working his way down to a more comfortable perch.

Now we wait, I think that might have been overkill but there’s a lot of them. Serves you idiots right for sleeping in the open thinking you’re too swole to fuck with. Little bit of wind, but it shouldn’t scatter far enough to matter with how dense it is now. Chances are…

–Anourobore x5 has been inflicted with |Gloom| |Paralysis| |Sleep|–

–Bonus: Control Combo |3|–

–Gained 25xp!–

David couldn’t even bring himself to be angry when he discovered that his current Combo Bonus seemed to be capped at 25xp. He’d spent a long time after recovering from the stabbing attack of the Heron simply experimenting with Gloom; its effective range, how much it spread in the wind, and the number of targets it could affect. David had even tried to game the System, tossing small debris into the river to lure a school of vicious minnow-size fish to the surface to be afflicted. Rather than instantly leveling up from a massive xp surge, he’d been capped at 25, grumpily realizing that of course that asshole Omega would have thought of that.

Okay, a lot quicker than expected and they’re basically hairless soooo…yeah it works faster if it gets on your skin. Probably be a lot faster if I could get it into something's eyes or mouth reliably. It didn’t use to do that, must have been the Soporalytic improvement. I swear, being patient is so hard for me, it’s like the System was trying to give me a start that made…me…I don’t like that. But at least I feel like I understand the Control…what is it uh…Archetype? Yeah, the ‘Control Archetype’ a lot better now.

David finally deemed it had been long enough when he could perceive flecks of dirty foam spotting the creature's mouths, their flanks twitching as cramps and spasms began to wrack their bodies. It took a long, long time for the Gloom to saturate their bodies enough to completely disable them, and it probably wouldn’t be as effective in a straight fight. The situation would be too chaotic, with too much movement for the Ability to reach all 7 Stacks, though David felt it was possible to chain Glares at ruinous cost to his Stamina. That being said, there was a very simple, reasonable, logical, not-dumb reason that it would work consistently with a bit of forward thinking. David was very proud that he had devised it, and it all stemmed from a thought he had after his encounter with the Herons.

Who said I have to let anything fight back? Controllers can fight, but if we have to fight, it means we fucked up somewhere. If they never see me, they can't stop it anyway.

David lazily glided down from the tree, flapping his wings as he came in for a landing a few lengths away from the doomed beasts. He sniffed at them curiously, surprised at the almost peppery scent of them, more accustomed to things simply smelling bad or weird. With a shrug he loped closer, reaching out and slicing at one of the Anourobor’s feet and leaving a shallow gash before he quickly scampered back to observe again. Its foot twitched a few times feebly, but the creature itself did not stir beyond the expected muscle spasms that would have crippled it had it been conscious. David wasted no more time, leaping forward and landing in front of the beast again before he tilted its head to the side and activated Nocturnal Strike, slashing a huge rent into its unprotected throat. He tried not to listen to the gurgling as he wove in a few Glares and repeated the process on each of the ugly things in turn, wishing that he could somehow tune out the chorus of dying breaths from creatures that never even knew they had been in a fight.

David shrugged distastefully while the notifications came rolling in before smiling hugely as he finally saw what he had been hoping for since he’d left.

–Your |Gloom| |Paralysis| |Sleep| has faded on Anourobore x5–

–Level up!–

–Gained 2pts!–

–Nocturnal Strike has leveled up!–

–Gained 3xp–

–Nocturnal Strike D → C–

–Glare has leveled up!–

–Gained 3xp–

–Glare F → E–

David nodded to himself, ears flopping as he shook himself hard before flapping his wings violently in an attempt to clear some of the sticky blood before it dried. He gave a last pitying glance towards the creatures before getting a running start and leaping away into the sky, swiftly gaining altitude as he aimed himself back towards Claire’s presence at the border of his perception. It might have taken him almost an entire week, several ass beatings, and a few brushes with death but David felt like he’d finally figured out what he was doing.

Yeah, for once in my life right? You finally figure it out, but ‘it’ is how to be an effective monster thing. What’s that say about you, huh David? Ah fuck it, Status.

User: David Fisher

Species: Twilight Seeker Ω

Rank: E

Health: 120/120

Stam: 285/285 (++)

Level: 7

Exp: 41/225

Special: Echolocation D

Traits: 4/4

Nocturnal F: +8% Damage, Stam Regen, Exp Gain at night.

[8/10]

Echolocation D: Manipulate high-frequency sound waves to see with more than just your eyes. Multi-stage ability: Repeated uses against the same enemy builds Combat Expertise, and may trigger an Echo.

[0/10]

Flight: Allows for flight and gliding. Moderate Stamina drain. (stam+)

[7/10]

Small: Your form is small, weighing no more than 115bs. (stam+)

[n/a]

Abilities: 4/4

Screech E: You emit a loud screech, damaging enemies in a cone. Low Stam consumption.

[0/10]

Glare E: You fix your target with a baleful gaze, inflicting Fear. Small chance to cause the enemy to flee. Variable Stam consumption.

[0/10]

Gloom D: Your wingbeats spread Dusk powder with every flap. Enemies under the effect of Gloom are inflicted with visual hallucinations. Stacks up to 7 times.

[7/10]

Nocturnal Strike C (4pts): A quick, lunging attack that steals a small percentage of the target's Stamina.

[0/10]

Mutagens: 4/5

Unnerving Mutagen B: Your appearance is unnerving. May cause enemies to reconsider aggressing you.

Atavistic Mutagen D: Form becomes primal, strengthening your body.

Soporalytic Mutagen E: Your attacks have a moderate chance to inflict paralytic sedation, inducing muscle spasms and rendering targets unconscious.

Secretive Mutagen E: You become more elusive, making you harder to track and detect.

Empty:

Yep, Kai and Dallas were right. Claire and I have been running around with shit abilities without all their effects because we never bothered to train them up. Well, that was mostly my fault but…Anyway, Echolocation ranked up earlier too, the fuck is an Echo…

|Echo: May trigger via repeated uses of Echolocation on a target, and causes Echolocation waves to reverberate mapping a large area around the target.|

Nice. Okay, Glare, oh that’s a nice upgrade. Nocturnal Strike makes sense, been using it to finish things off for a few hours. I can’t tell if this was too easy because I cheated, or just something I should have done before evolving and now it’s easy.

Now if I can just convince everyone that…

His silhouette faded into the night sky, leaving nothing behind but a silent forest, the scent of blood, and a faint glimmer from his wings that faded into the starry night sky above him.