Chapter 18

—–

Ding!

[Calculating EXP…]

[You’ve gained 2650 EXP]

[Your level has increased to Level 8!]

[Your level has increased to Level 9!]

[Your level has increased to Level 10!]

As we massacred the buggers, we received tons of EXP and levels. Through the quick massacre, my Skills also leveled up a bit, mainly the ones I spam the most.

Holy shit, this is what I call fast-paced progression. Level 10 already?! And some of my Skills already leveled up pretty high now. My MP and Magic stats also reached over 500 too! Half of 1k, I am built up to kill more than ever. After this fruitful grind, I began to pick up everything hastily and then assess things by looking at the slots inside my Inventory.

Ding!

[You acquired the following Items]

[Black Beetle Bracelet (F-Grade): Lv4] x2

[Dark Copper Greave Armor (F-Grade): Lv6] x2

[Red Beetle Shoulder Armor (F-Grade): Lv3] x3

[Yellow Beetle Leg Armor (F-Grade): Lv5] x3

[Bug Juice (F-Grade)] x74

[Varied Bug Carapaces (F-Grade)] x134

…

A lot of equipment dropped! And a lot of disgusting carcasses… Uegh. I let Partner equip anything that could fit her, so she chose the Leg, Greaves, and Shoulder pieces.

I could equip armor, but as I was phantasmal, as stated previously, it would get in the way of my sneaking around. I can hide it with my phantom body, but the material armor is still there. I need some kind of phantom armor that can turn into phantom with me or something, but this junk won’t do for me.

But Partner is physical, so she chose it all. At the very least, little things like bracelets can work with me, so I equipped the two bracelets.

…

[Black Beetle Bracelet (F-Grade): Lv4]

+25 MP

+12 Magic

+10 Dark Attribute Damage

…

Two of these gave a nice boost to my offensive stats, so it made me rather happy with the grind.

“We really needed something like that, didn’t we?” I asked Partner.

*Rattle*

Partner had reached Level 10 and was ready to evolve with my command.

“You’re already evolving ahead of me! It makes me a bit frustrated, you know?” I sighed.

*Crackle…*

She petted my phantasmal head.

“Oi! Who taught you how to do that?”

*Crackle…*

Hm, I think it hasn’t been much since I raised her, but she has been warming up to me more and more. She’s learning from what I do, and now she’s even learned how to pet me.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Evolve!” I shout with excitement.

*Crackle!*

As her master, it seems that she needs my approval to evolve.

Partner nodded as she began to glow with phantasmal essence. The phantasmal essence wrapped up her body as she began to change.

Unlike what I had initially thought she would evolve into, which would probably have been a bigger skeleton with sharp bones and stuff, the changes that came to her were… stranger than I could ever imagine.

Tendrils started to emerge out of thin air, enveloping her bones. Muscle tendrils entangled against each other and her bones, as blood vessels surged from them, and more flesh started to grow with quite the terrifying scene. Her skull was also filled with twisting flesh as eyes appeared with crimson red pupils that looked at me.

Uwah, this is actually a bit creepy!

But wait, she’s getting flesh?!

Skin slowly began to form around her flesh, even short hair grew on her head, and a bit of hair over her eyes, creating a pair of cute eyebrows. She took out her helmet as the hair gracefully fluttered to her shoulders. It was fluffy and black.

Her face looked just like… when this body was alive! But a bit younger. And her skin was as brown as dirt… and dry… very dry. Her ears had become pointy too. She slowly took off all her armor as she revealed her entire evolution to me.

Some clothes suddenly came out of nowhere. A very simple red and black dress that looked a bit tattered. But at least it covered her new body. Her hair seemed fluffy, but it was also very dry and messy so it covered her crimson eyes.

“W-What the heck!? Partner, you got flesh?”

“Fwesh!”

Partner quickly imitated my words; she could now speak as she had a throat and vocal cords.

[Partner] has evolved into [Lesser Ghoul Warrior]!]

Ghoul?!

“Fwesh! Fwesh! Fweesh!”

Partner moved clumsily towards me before hugging me tightly.

“Feweewfg…”

“Yeah, we need to practice how to speak, dearie…” I sighed.

“Deawie…”

She’s like a baby.

Despite her dry, almost mummy-like skin, she’s kind of cute.

…

[Name: [Partner]

[Race: [Lesser Ghoul Warrior]

[Level: [10/20]

[Rank: [E+]

[Status: [Strengthened]

[HP: [290/290]

[MP: [65/65]

[Attack: [210]

[Defense: [150]

[Magic: [55]

[Agility: [120]

Characteristic Skills:

[Undead: Lv–]

[Dark Element: Lv–]

[Fiend Language: Lv3]

[Black Steel Bones: Lv4]

[Morphed Body: Lv1]

[Self-Regeneration: Lv1]

[Flesh Consumption: Lv1]

Resistance Skills:

[Status Effect Immunity: Lv–]

[Physical Damage Resistance: Lv3]

[Magical Damage Resistance: Lv2]

Normal Skills:

[Life Drain: Lv4]

[Bone Claw: Lv5]

[Intimidation: Lv3]

[Spear Thrust: Lv3]

[Dark Bullet: Lv1]

[Steady Fighter: Lv1]

Title Skills:

[Servant of the Dark Witch: Lv–]

…

“Damn, you’re strong, girl… Oh, you can use Dark Bullet? Is that a lesser version of Dark Sphere?” I pondered to myself out loud.

“Buwet…”

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