Victor ran amok through the second floor, killing any zombie he found, and avoiding the bats if he could. Apart from some exp, they brought him nothing, for he already had enough evolution material from them. It would have been a different story if he possessed some type of AOE skill, but since he didn't, it was more time efficient to avoid them.
The concept of taking whatever was available no matter how small didn't apply here because of Victor's situation. Going by what the adventurers said, there was a team being put together to come and challenge this particular dungeon and clear it, and since the higher floors had monsters of level 70 and above, it only meant the people coming would be the same or above. Wasting time on the lower floors in the name of getting some extra experience points was just the worst idea.
In what Victor could calculate as a day and probably a half, he was finally able to gather the required number of evolution material to evolve into the next stage, and even went past the limit, just to be at an advantage. He had made full use of a zombie's ability to remain awake and not need sleep or rest.
Evolution Material:
-Fiery Tailed Wolf – 1000
-Zombie – 250000/100000 (can be further evolved)
-Dungeon Bat – 5000
_ _
-Zombie – 250000/100000 (can be further evolved)
Next evolution – Zombie Commander.
…
With this, Victor was ready for the next evolution. He had found a spot where he would be able to hide himself during the process, but unlike the previous one on the first floor, this one had a wide entrance. But this didn't bother him. The zombies in this dungeon had a set path they always follow, just like in games, and the bats basically remained hanging on the dungeon ceiling until they spotted a target. This place he was in wasn't close to any bat spot, and if any zombie was to walk by he wouldn't be attacked, nor even paid the slightest attention to.
After entering the small room-like spot, he sat down and ordered the system to begin the evolution process.
Beep
[Starting evolution process]
[You will lose consciousness during the evolution process. Make sure you are in a favourable location]
[You will now lose consciousness as evolution begins]
.
.
.
[Evolution complete]
[You have evolved into a Zombie Commander]
[Gained new skill Negative Burst]
[Gained new skill Melee Combat]
[Gained new skill Spearmanship]
[Skill Rot Bite has advanced to level 7]
[Skill Corpse Manipulation has advanced to level 5]
[Skill Undead Aura has advanced to level 5]
[Received 20 stat points]
[Strength +10, Agility +10, Sense +7, Intelligence +10]
[Max HP has increased by 200]
[Max MP has increased by 100]
[You have leveled up five times in a row due to the effects of evolving]
[It will take 48 hours to completely adjust to the new form. Till then, evolution is impossible, unless under favourable dangerous conditions]
…
Looking at the barrage of notifications, Victor was speechless. He had to go back and check some of them to read them well. Who knew evolving could bring so many benefits.
"This is absolutely insane! No fucking shit!" Victor exclaimed as he went over the notifications. The benefits this time were just that good.
He quickly rushed and called up his status screen to see the new look.
Level: 15 (0/21,540)
Name: Zombie #2314
Race: Undead(Zombie Commander)
Evolution Material: 1000,…
Class:
Title: True Undead [...], One Who is Favoured by 'The Process' [...]
Hp: 445/445 > 905/905
Mp: 200/200 > 560/560
[Stat]
Strength: 29 > 52
Agility: 32 > 41
Sense: 29 > 31
Vitality: 20 > 21
Magic: 10 > 11
Intelligence: 22 > 33
remaining stat point: 27 > 67
[Innate Ability]
Undead Body
[Skill tab]
Passive: All Title, Rot Bite LVL-max, Undead Aura LVL-5, Melee Combat LVL-2, Spearmanship LVL-2
Active: Corpse Manipulation LVL-5, Negative Burst LVL-1
…
(Each level up increases MAX HP and MP by 50, distributes 5 total stat points randomly to Victor's stats, awards 3-5 free stat points, and sometimes grants skills)
…
Seeing the new skills he had gained, Victor's eyes were drawn immediately to the skill 'Negative Burst' which he just got. Going by the name, Victor could tell the skill was an AOE skill or something along that line. "One thing's for sure though, it attacks multiple enemies at the same time." He said. Instead of simply guessing, Victor extended each skill to get a description of what each could do.
…
[Corpse Manipulation]
You are able to control 20 corpses of lower levels than yourself.
Level: 5
Mana cost: 1
No. Of Corpses: 5/20
_ _
[Rot Bite]
Any target bitten will be inflicted with rot and will rapidly decay and rot away. The infected area can only be treated with a high level of holy/healing magic.
Duration: 30s
Level: MAX
Mana cost: none
_ _
[Undead Aura]
Inflicts fear/terror/hallucination on targets that are affected. Duration varies depending on the target. This status effect cannot be cleared with external skills or magic.
Level: 5
Mana cost: none
_ _
[Negative Burst]
Send out a wave of negative energy that deals magical damage to surrounding targets. The closer the target to you, the more damage is dealt.
Level: 1
Mana cost: 5
Radius: 3m
…
As for Melee Combat and Spearmanship, Victor didn't need to look at them, as they were pretty basic and self-explanatory, just from their names.
After Victor came out from the spot he had harboured for his evolution, he noticed a difference in his balance. He almost immediately knew he had grown taller, but not too much this time. He now stood at 6'2ft and for Victor, this was quite the achievement. Too bad he couldn't play basketball now and completely woo all the beautiful girls with his skills.
"If my father saw me now, he would shed tears. Haha.." Victor said as he remembered his family. If he remembered correctly, his family had never had tall statures, not from his mother's side, not his father's. They were all average height at best. "Ahh, with this alone, I can say, I am destined for greatness..."
'Kind of embarrassing to say knowing the system is listening.'
"It was just a joke, a joke." He clarified with himself, just to defend himself to himself, about his own shyness. 'Miserable.'
Before memories about his family could surface in his mind and cause him to reminisce, the thoughts were knocked off even before they appeared. Victor had long ago made up his mind. He was already in this world, and there was no going back, crying about the past and things he left in his former world was completely useless and stupid to do. He would move forward in this life, and if he ever feels like it, he could always find a way to go back to his previous world. Though he doubt he would, since by then everyone he knew would be dead anyway, and he might not have these powers.
"Why would I ever forsake such a magical world for my old one? Not even my father would."
"..."
"That's the most stupidest thing to think about. Now to more important things, can't be living in the past." Victor said, as he pulled up his status window, and went straight to evolution. He had a feeling that his zombie form could still undergo further evolution, and as he thought, he also wasn't disappointed.
…
Evolution Material:
-Fiery Tailed Wolf – 1000
-Zombie – 150000/500000 (can be further evolved)
-Dungeon Bat – 5000
_ _
-Zombie – 150000/500000 (can be further evolved)
Next evolution – Zombie Lord.
…