Chapter 19
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In the largest area of the Jelly Sea, Astaroth was weaving in and out of groups of Lvl 9 Micro Jellyfish.
The ones who stayed still were easy prey, while the ones who undulated in an attempt to get away were considered easy prey with a bit of resistance in them.
In the end, all it took were a couple Pulsation Lazers to blow chunks through the slimy bodies of any Micro Jellyfish who got caught in his line of sight.
During the last couple minutes, Astaroth successfully went through his Minor Energy Overflow into Rank 5. The result of this evolution was an extension of the length of both his tentacles and the spikes attached to the ends of the tentacles.
From this evolution also came two new racial Abilities. One was called |Jelly Slice| and the other was termed |Razor Cross-Slash|.
Jelly Slice was quite simple, as it was an ordinary slicing ability that made use of his energy and sharp spikes to unleash an energy arc that dealt Slicing damage. Or, to be specific, it inflicted |280% Slicing Energy Damage|.
Apparently, skills and abilities held many different attributes, such as paralysis or slash damage. Slicing damage was another one of these attributes. And from what Astaroth could gather, an Ability could have multiple attributes. For example, Jelly Slice inflicted both 280% Slicing Damage and 280% Energy Damage when it succeeded in striking something.
Though two 280s might seem better than an Ability with only a single attribute, that wasn't always the case.
Comparing it in that manner was like saying that if you took two Lvl 1 Micro Jellyfish, it would equal the strength of a Lvl 2 Micro Jellyfish, and that simply wasn't the case.
However, that didn't mean that having multiple 280 attribute affecters was worse than having a single 280 attribute affecter. It was common sense that more meant better, and attributes were no exception to that statement.
|Jelly Slice| was a solid Ability when Astaroth wanted to conduct some multi-single-targeting and make quick work of his smaller targets with slicing damage. However, when he was pitted up against larger and stronger opponents, |Razor Cross Slash| was just better in every way.
Though it consumed a shit-ton of Energy with every usage, its attributes were an astounding |1500% Energy/Slash Damage|!!
Just that alone nearly put the Ability on the same damage level as the devastating |Super Pulsation Lazer|, which was capable of decimating even groups of hundreds of Lvl 9 Micro Jellyfish!
All of these powerful and diverse abilities were being put to good use in the Jelly Sea as all living things for as far as the eye could see were either diced up or burnt to a crisp…
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At the very center of the Jelly Sea, the largest Micro Jellyfish in the world sat in still motion and farmed its own kind with countless tentacles and laser beams.
Having become the largest Micro Jellyfish in the Jelly Sea around a minute ago, Astaroth found it to be too much trouble to move around and kill. Therefore, he took a very conservative approach and chopped up anything as if he were the universe itself.
All the other Micro Jellyfish seemed to have even the universe against them…
Now tens of thousands of times larger than the second largest Micro Jellyfish, Astaroth was just waiting for his Energy Mass to cross 10,000 (G8) and allow him to proceed with the last and final Micro Jellyfish Evolution.
It was originally seen by him as a massive, unreachable number, but in no time at all, that number suddenly became a whole lot reachable.
And with the final system notification ringing out inside his head, it was time to see his last evolution and the evolution that would come thereafter.
[Ding! You have absorbed 105 (G8) Energy from a Lvl 9 Micro Jellyfish!]
[Ding! You have passed 10,000 (G8) Energy and reached a point of Energy Overflow! Would you like to go through with the Evolution and achieve the last and final evolution phase for a Micro Jellyfish?]
"Yes, I would."
BLING!
Brightening up the entire Jelly Sea was an iridescent energy that covered Astaroth's massive slimy body in its entirety!
After the energy evenly dispersed away from his body, something akin to a nightmarish jellyfish emerged into the world of the living!
With long, terrifying fangs, six sets of horns on his head, and a seemingly unlimited number of infinitely stretching, razor-sharp tentacles, Astaroth had become nothing less than a monster straight from the pits of purgatory!
"..."
Although he was only given a moment to look at his reflection through the water wall of the Jelly Sea, that was all Astaroth needed to fully come to terms with the fact that he was no longer human.
Even if he did eventually evolve into a human or something of the sort, he would still never be an actual human…
"In the end, did I want to be human…? A human that lived a life different from my previous life…? Did I want to be a happy human…?"
Staring deeply at himself in the water reflection, Astaroth realized something, prompting him to say, "No… I don't want a human's life… Not if it means I have to feel what I felt back then… That isn't what I want…"
For some reason, he could see tears streaming down eyes that weren't there.
His memories had all come back to him for those few seconds. All the pain, hate, and sadness that festered his past self… It was all so much for him to take in all at once…
It was too much.
Just like what happened when Astaroth first transmigrated to this world, his mind automatically cut him off from his memories. This time being more permanent than the first time…
He no longer wanted to remember. He had no need to remember. His only path was forward, not backward.
BLING!
With Astaroth returning to the mentality of his current life, yet another bright source of light exploded from the core of his being. This time, it forcefully expanded the size of his existence, quickly shooting him past the bubble-like Jelly Sea!
In half an instant, his size reached that of around a thousandth that of the Baby Sponge, and his race was no longer that of a Micro Jellyfish.
Astaroth had become a Mini Sponge!
He had become a Mini Sponge that had a direct evolution path to becoming a genuine Sponge!
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