Chapter 46: Crack!

Levi sat about two hundred meters from the Raving Entity, by his small campfire, cooking several pieces of undeveloped bird meat. The birds were skewered on a stick and placed near the fire to cook evenly.

Levi bit into one of the skewers, chewing the meat with a hint of irritation.

"When is it going to come out?" Levi mumbled, weary of the monotonous taste of the meat.

Much time had passed since Levi had formed his core, he could feel the light beard starting to grow on his face. In this period, he had killed all the black cocoons except for the boss monster.

The reason for leaving the boss was simple—he was waiting for it to evolve. As soon as the monster evolved, he would kill it.

There were two reasons for this approach. Firstly, Levi was almost certain that this wasn't the last floor of the sanctum.

At least one more floor—and with it, a new type of monster—was likely awaiting him. If he was going to fight them regardless, it made sense to do so after gaining experience from battling the evolved form of the Raving Entity. He reasoned that this opponent would probably be weaker than those he would face on the next floor and that this would prepare him for the tougher battles ahead.

Secondly, Levi could now freely use his Demonic Transformation. Although the aftereffects left him tired and depleted, the power he gained was undeniable.

Thus, he chose to wait. However, the uncertainty of when the evolution would occur was becoming frustrating.

"I'm really getting tired of waiting," Levi thought, contemplating whether to destroy the cocoon and move to the next floor.

Yet, he held back, glancing at the cocoon.

[Raving Entity]

[Rank: Wicked-Vile (Evolving)]

The monster was on the verge of evolving into the next ranl, and Levi wondered if he could handle something even more formidable than the Vile monster.

"Let's wait for maybe another two naps. If it doesn't come out by then, I'll move to the next floor," he decided.

Two naps were his way of keeping track of time, as there was no day or night in this realm. Since he wasn't feeling drowsy yet, he opened his status to check his demonic essence.

[Demonic Essence: 77/1000]

She hesitated, her expression thoughtful. "I couldn't make out everything, but you kept mumbling something about... Lunacy, larvae....cocoon? You seemed quite troubled."

Levi frowned, trying to recall but finding no memory of it.

"That's strange. I don't remember anything like that."

"Is it? Leave it then. How was your game yesterday?"

"Oh! That, you know Mom, I managed to score a goal! You should have seen the face..."

They continued their conversation, discussing Levi's day, his plans, and sharing light-hearted jokes. Levi began to relax, enjoying the comforting presence of his mother.

Just as he was about to ask his mother more about her day, her face suddenly changed. She looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Why are you crying, Sunshine? Is something wrong?"

Levi was taken aback by her question and his hand instinctively moved to his face.

His fingers came away damp, and he realized he had been crying. "What? I—I am crying...?"

Before he could react further, the tranquility of the scene shattered. The room around them seemed to blur, the warm light from the morning sun dimming as shadows stretched and twisted. The kitchen dissolved into a haze of darkness, and Levi reached out for his mother, but his hand met only empty air.

"Mom...!"

His eyes snapped open, and the familiar desolate land came into view. It took a few seconds for reality to sink in, before Levi realized it had all been a dream.

"...Ah!" he gasped, his hands involuntarily moving to his eyes. His eyes were wet.

"It seems I was crying in my sleep too," he murmured, his voice tinged with confusion.

A dry laugh escaped him as he shook his head.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn to the cocoon of the Raving Entity. And his heart skipped a beat as he saw it.

The cocoon was cracking!

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