"So, this is my new appearance?" Kai muttered as a mirror appeared before him.
He was definitely a baby dragon, just like Isla had just said. His skin was a mix of purple and black, which made it quite hard to distinguish the two from one another. His claws were somewhat of the same size as before, albeit a little on the shorter side of things. Kai also had two wings on his back; however, they were way too small to make it possible for him to fly.
Still, Kai's physical appearance was only secondary. What was the most important, his Monster Core and its evolution?
Kai had felt in an instant just how much energy his Silver-Ranked Monster Core now held. It was, at the very least, thrice as much as before. This amount of energy would definitely be useful for Kai since he would be able to use [Shadow Claws] three times as much.
Looking at himself in the mirror, a sudden thought appeared in Kai's mind.
"How many Experience Points do I need to reach the next Growth Stage?"
-Beep!
[Growth Stage: Baby Dragon (1/5 | 0/1000)]
"1000 Experience Points to reach the next Growth Stage?! Why is it that much already?"
"Because of the potential of each evolution. The more potential is contained in a monster, the higher the cost in Experience Points will be."
Kai wasn't too sure what to think of this as he knew that he had just gotten extremely lucky by killing a minotaur. The chances of running into a high-level monster once again and being able to kill it were so low that Kai didn't even bother thinking about it. It would take quite some time to reach the next Growth Stage.
Suddenly, a bright light surrounded his body, and he was back in the forest he had just left, where the corpse of the minotaur was nowhere to be found.
Kai tried to take a step forward, but as he did so, he fell to the ground.
The length of his arms and legs had completely changed, becoming much shorter. It made things a lot harder to move around. In fact, it took well over five minutes for Kai to be able to take a single step forward, and even then, he struggled quite a lot. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, and Kai would spend as much time as possible mastering such things. But Kai wanted to see what the Dark Elf Village looked like.
After all, the skills of the person he had seen at the very end had been absolutely incredible, and he wanted to know if such skills were common in their village. Kai doubted it, and Isla had already mentioned that most Dark Elves are weak and only strong through corruption. But he was still curious.
"You don't have to worry about the location of the village. I've already marked that guide from earlier," Isla suddenly uttered.
Hearing that, a slight smile appeared on Kai's face as he now had a lot more time to understand this new form of his.
"Does that mean that I can hunt around here a little before going to the village?" Kai asked as he noticed something strange when he spoke up.
It was no longer squeaky sounds coming out of his mouth but words. It still wasn't a human language, but this monster could actually utter sounds quite similar to the English Language, which was the universal language back on Earth.
This slight change gave Kai hope of reaching a human quite soon. If things continued, there was a good chance that Kai would be able to find a human within a few weeks of playing. It could even take less time than that.
However, before Kai could even think about this change, Isla answered his question.
"Yes. That was actually what I was about to propose to you. Actually, from what I've just witnessed, you will need to reach the second Growth Stage of the Nocturne Dragon even to have a chance at surviving when you reach their village."
"You're telling me this now?" Kai said, panicking. "What would have happened if I reached the village with my previous form?!"
"Meh, who knows? I would have also warned you. Don't worry, you wouldn't have died."
Kai just shook his head as he couldn't bother talking more about this issue. Over the short time he had spent with Isla, he knew about her casual persona, and it wouldn't change anytime soon. It was better to focus on the task ahead of him.
***
"Thalos, what were you thinking back there?! You would have died if I hadn't been there to save you." The King of the Dark Elves just shook his head as he looked at his son's flinching body. "You really learned nothing from your punishment. Whatever, I have a new job for you, son."
Thalos looked up at his father, Dravorn, with fear. He knew his father, and he also knew that the "jobs" he had for him were never normal. It usually included a lot of pain coming his way. Dravorn always said that it was his way to "toughen up" his kid, but it was much more than that, as Thalos practically died a few times through those "jobs" of his.
Nevertheless, Thalos couldn't say anything. If he dared talk back to his father, then he would get beaten up senseless. It was better to accept his "job" and do nothing.
"W-What will it be…?" Thalos asked, his voice shaking.
"You will be the one in charge of the beast. That will be your new job."
Dravorn uttered those words without any care as if it was the easiest job in the world. However, every single Dark Elf in the village knew that it was the worst punishment anyone could ever receive. It was the same as telling someone to kill himself. After all, that beast wasn't a simple beast. It was a monster with a Diamond-Ranked Monster Core.
Even Dravorn couldn't deal with it, which is why he sacrificed a few members of his village to feed it. After all, they needed that monster; it was the source of their power and corruption.
"But-"
"No buts. You will listen to what I tell you."
Thalos tried to complain once more, but he simply shut his mouth as he followed behind his father's shadow. They were on their way toward the beast, which was placed right in the middle of the village inside of a large tree. There was a single way inside the tree because the monster that was inside wasn't something that anyone within the village could control.
After all, the beast inside the tree wasn't a monster that came from this realm. Its power was superior to everything currently living in the 1st Realm.
As they walked through the Dark Elf Village, multiple looked at the two of them as it was extremely rare to see the King close to this area.
"Did something happen?"
"Did Thalos do something?"
Multiple Elves whispered to one another as they walked past them. However, they made sure that the King couldn't hear them since his wrath might be going in their direction instead of his son.
Within minutes, they reached the tree, which caused Thalos to get even more nervous than he previously was.
"W-Why are you doing this to me?" He stopped walking as a whole, his father was the one currently dragging him. "Wasn't I a good son to you?!"
He tried his best to fight against his father, but there was no point. His father was much stronger than himself, and there was no way out.
His father didn't even speak a word as he brought his son in front of the entrance, which was a small hole within the tree and threw him right inside.
"Try not to die," Dravorn said with a smirk. "If I come back one week from now and you are still alive. Then, I'll let you leave this place."
Thalos didn't even register the words coming out of his father's mouth. He heard a growl right beside him as he landed inside the tree. Thalos slowly turned his head to his right, and what he saw absolutely shocked him.
The beast was right before him, slowly approaching him.