Becoming a Monster

Chapter 442: Chapter 442: A Dangerous Ignorance

The light enveloping Noah finally died, and the pressure emanating from the core soon after dissipated.

Instead of focusing on Noah, both Arachne and Ailetta were admiring the newly added space. Inside, it was a room almost the same size as the original, except the entire ceiling was closed off.

There was nothing truly special about the space. No carvings, no embellishments, no visible magic lingering in the air. And yet, the two women found such a simple change to be grounding.

For Arachne, the feeling was closer to awe than understanding. She couldn’t quite put into words why the room felt important, only that it did. The fact that it existed at all, shaped by Noah’s will, made it difficult for her to look away.

Ailetta, however, had already moved past that initial feeling. She was already planning ahead.

She was the first to step inside. Her fingers brushed lightly along the stone wall. "This is the perfect space for Eve."

Her eyes looked around again, but this time, imagining how the place would look in the future. "I didn’t believe I would hold such attachments to material things, but the more we turn this place into a home, the more I want proper furnishing."

Her voice carried easily, reaching the others without effort. The words seemed directed towards Noah, yet she spoke as if she were simply thinking aloud, unconcerned whether anyone answered.

There was no question as to who the empty space was meant for.

Why wasn’t there another room for the others? Ailetta didn’t even consider it. They could sleep outside for all she cared.

And Arachne? Their lives were now one and the same. There was no need for separation. Maybe in the future, when things were more stable, when their feelings had settled into something that couldn’t be tainted for one another.

They could each have their own spaces and still share Noah’s. But for now, being together wasn’t a luxury; it was necessary. If they were to move forward without fractures, then having closeness was something that couldn’t be compromised.

Arachne lingered near the entrance, her eyes lifting towards the sealed ceiling. She preferred the room they already had. But knowing that Noah was behind this, that alone was enough for her to appreciate it all the same.

Noah had remained quiet until then, standing just behind them. Something close to a laugh escaped his mouth as he listened to Ailetta.

Moments like this were what he cherished the most. Thinking about the future Ailetta spoke of made even him envision their finished home, full of furniture and living spaces for his other creatures.

He felt like he was getting closer to his dream.

However, whenever he thought about his dream, the obstacles barring it always surfaced. His earlier warmth mellowed as he began to consider the next steps.

The two didn’t disturb him anymore, but they stayed near just in case they could help.

Noah walked back to the core. Although it was constantly absorbing and purifying mana, the current mana within it was almost completely gone.

If he wanted to continue to improve his territory, creating safety measures and fully developing an environment for all his creatures, he would need to start thinking beyond what the core could provide on its own.

When the dungeon first evolved, Noah remembered the sensation clearly.

The moment the core changed, it had drawn in mana like a starving thing finally allowed to breathe. The air itself had felt thinner and heavier at the same time. Mana poured into the core faster than it could normally ever manage. What should have taken weeks, maybe longer, had been compressed into a single surge.

It was the only reason he’d been able to do what he just did within such a short amount of time. The act of strengthening and growing the bordered trees had used nearly ninety percent of the energy alone.

Now that the window was closed. He would have to rely on the core’s natural absorption rate. Although it was reliable, it was still too slow for what he needed.

With his palms pressed against the core. He infused his mana into it. Within moments, the air around the core became denser. Mana became visible to the naked eye.

As long as he had mana, he could continue to add the core to absorb mana at a faster rate than it was capable.

From what he could tell, what would probably take a week for the dungeon to generate enough mana to be able to create a simple structure like the room before, it would take him about three days to generate enough reserves if he aided the process.

He felt as if he had found a loophole. But after nearly a minute, he realized his theory was ungrounded. For every minute he infused his mana, nearly two percent of his mana was drained.

If that was the case, he could barely last an hour.

Even if he were to take into account his own mana regeneration, which was recovering at a rate of nearly .5% every minute, he could at best only last ten minutes past an hour.

Noah pulled his hands away from the core before the drain could deepen further.

He stared at the core longer than necessary. He would have to tirelessly provide mana every chance he could if he wanted to be able to generate enough mana.

In the end, it wasn’t worth it.

’I shouldn’t rely on the core alone. There are still things that I can do without it.’ Noah thought about his ability to build constructs. He may not be capable of building something like a cannon, but building barbed wire, fixing houses on his own, or other defensive structures was possible.

But more importantly, he didn’t want to waste the time that he could use to train himself. He no longer had a system that could simply give him items to improve his skills. He needed to explore his own skills more and learn about the other changes in himself that he wasn’t aware of.

And he needed his companions to do the same.

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Outside, the drake was still trying to come to terms with what it witnessed. However, the more answers it came up with, the deeper its disbelief.

’Where did he get that core?’ The drake felt as if the secrets Noah carried could lead to a full-out war if discovered.

But not by the humans, the dwarves, the beast kin, or the Demons.

But the Elves.

What Noah accomplished was only ever heard of by the Elves of the highest prestige. Bloodlines that ran deeper than most human cities. And those bloodlines all had something in common. Their ancestors were blessed by their ancestral core.

There was no mistake. There hasn’t been a moment in recorded history when any other race could do the same. And if there were, war would’ve already been initiated.

It was the same for the other races. Each nation possessed a core unique to them. Humans had faith, which made them capable of harnessing the only energy truly capable of battling the demons. The energy also had miraculous healing abilities.

The dwarves were different.

Their ancestral core did not grant them dominion over mana or faith. Instead, it anchored them to the physical world itself. It reinforced their bodies, but more importantly, it refined their perception.

They didn’t just see stone and metal; they communicated with it through their bodies. When a dwarf forged, they forged through intent. Those whose connection with the core was highest could even breathe life into their inventions.

The beast kin’s core could bring out the latent potential of the bloodlines related to their kin. Making them one of the most feared warrior races, despite their lack of diplomacy and civility.

And then the Demons.

Even to this day, no one knows the secrets behind their core. There was always speculation.

The demons were not an actual race. In fact, before the demon lands even existed, they were inhabited by humans.

It was when those humans became the very demons that exist today that the rest of the world began to make their own assumptions about the cause.

No matter what other theories stemmed from the other nations, one theory stuck with them all.

The Demons’ core was the reason behind the demonfication.

The drake exhaled slowly.

Every core was considered taboo amongst the Allied nations. It was an unspoken rule that no nation should covet a core of the corresponding nation.

Whenever there were signs of war amongst the Allied nations, or minor scuffles, they were all tied to events from either the rights of a new dungeon core or an attempted threat on their own.

If word spread, if even a whisper reached the wrong ears. The Elves would see him as an anomaly, a threat to their supremacy. And the others...

They would want to claim the power that once was solely entrusted to the Elves for themselves.

The drake worried that Noah was too naive. It needed to teach Noah the rules of this world before Noah got them all killed, before it could even get the power that Noah had promised.

And speak of the Devil. Its gaze snapped on Noah the moment he stepped out of his home.

"Devil! Do you not understand what you’ve done?"

It roared calmly.