My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 226: Unfinished Business

Kace stood in front of the city gates, patiently waiting for Grugda to arrive. The Tu'Thrag tribe surrounded him and were even eager to help in his hunt. Kace decided to bring them along since they could protect themselves from the poison attacks of the creature. While Grugda knew that territory's layout quite well and was skilled in making antidotes and medicines.

Kace was positive that there should be no problems in what he was about to attempt with his help. Simultaneously, the Tu'thrag tribe would come in handy for transporting the Hydra's body back to the city. He had already figured out where to find the information needed to purge his DNA chain. There was a feature of his system that he had never used. 

It was the 'Help' function that Eve had told him about so long ago. He felt foolish for not thinking of using it to gain knowledge for his class advancement. However, that faded when he attempted to use it. It turned out that it was just automated responses in Eve's voice that had been preprogrammed. However, any information regarding Class advancement was unavailable.

Its drop-down menu showed a padlock symbol next to that subject, along with a level requirement of level fifteen. Kace had quickly deduced that the level requirement most likely came from the hero part of his system. Since, according to Elderbeard, monsters did not have that kind of restriction.

There's came from a need to hit a certain threshold of power relevant to their own species. Kace had no idea if he met such a requirement, but it was feasible that he should be able to exploit the monsters method instead of waiting for the one the heroes used. He was almost certain that it should work as intended after he absorbs the abilities of the Hydra. 

With a few quick calculations, he theorised that he would be able to stand his ground against a level fifteen hero at that time. He could only guess where a class advancement would place him, though. Considering he had nothing to really compare himself with he was conservative when he guessed his power would be similar to a level sixteen or seventeen at that point.

Kace was eager to discover how far beyond his level, he could push himself to reach. It would be a great way to deceive his enemies. Especially if they underestimated him if they were at a higher level. However, the one thing that Kace was slightly worried about was if it would impact how he looked. He could see similarities with the different species that made up his body.

The lava-like cracks on his skin, the horns and his vertical pupils represented the Salamander. The dark skin he could only assume came from the Dreamscape Moth. His ear shape probably came from the Goblins. His human body from well the Human and Hero chains. He was unsure though what changes represented the Eljein and Spider chains. 

So that led him to wonder what would change due to the Hydra's presence in his body. If anything did change. For all, he knew he would have to wait until he evolved again for the changes to become apparent. Which, in his mind, was the most likely scenario. His thoughts were quickly interrupted as Grugda appeared from between two buildings slightly down the road connected to the gates.

He just gave Kace a quick nod to let him know that he was ready and that was all Kace needed. Without saying a word to anyone, he simply turned around and raced off in the direction of the swamp. There was no point in wasting words inches mind, especially when it should take them a few days to reach the destination with their speed. 

There was not much to do during that period. They took breaks when they needed to, and hunting for food was not a problem. That area was far below their levels now! 'It just really brings it home how much I've changed since I first arrived here.' His mind could not help but to wander to thoughts such as these. Especially when they traversed the still partially ruined area from where Grugda held off the mercenaries that had chased after him.

The soil had turned a brownish-red colour from the blood that had been spilt that day. Kace still remembered clearly the sight of the impaled corpses used to buy them time. There was even a few yellowish puddles that the earth refused to absorb. The smell that came from them warned Kace that they were poisonous. However, this only caused him to smile.

The image of Gyn riding on the shoulders of a troll while tossing his strange concoctions brought a bit of warmth to his memories. However, the image of Sarah crossed his mind after that. Making his aura turn cold. He knew from Vaskra that she was the one responsible for Gyn and Kharja's deaths. So he still had a score to settle with her. 

Which should be easier without her being backed up by Phillip. Kace was not worried about Phillip managing to escape from Yul's control. Only a lifetime of pain and torture awaited that troublesome hero now. Sarah was a different matter entirely. He was sure that they both had advanced their classes, and Sarah's seemed to counter his too well. 

She was clearly focused on magic and speed. Whereas he was more magic and strength right now. Of course, he could not display the full potential of his class as he was just now. So he had to take that into consideration. A wolfish grin swept across his face when he thought about how Sarah might react the next time they met. A plan had already formulated in his mind on how he could negate her overwhelming speed.

'That's a fine plan if I say so myself!' Sylvan chuckled within their consciousness. The parasitic weapon seemed to be secluding himself in Kace's Inner Mind more often recently. 'I might even be able to make use of some of the Hydra's abilities myself'