Reborn As An Evolving Monster

[The Skill "Berserker[SS]" activates!]

[Your Endurance Stat temporarily increases by 40%.]

[Your Agility Stat temporarily increases by 20%]

[Your Strength Stat temporarily increases by 10%.]

The increase in power was great.

So much so that cracks appeared below Mark's feet despite his not moving.

'This...'

A slight feeling of lightheadedness.

The world around him appeared slightly fuzzier.

He couldn't tell whether his senses had been dulled or sharpened.

But something had definitely changed.

'This is it.'

[Your Pain Tolerance temporarily increases substantially.]

Despite the numerous enemies before him, Mark did not move a muscle.

His gaze moved up and down, from right to left.

Instead of moving, he observed.

He observed the Corrupted Dark Elves fending off the waves of Insect Monsters, the struggle of those Insect Monsters to coordinate with the troops shooting Fire Balls from the rear, the Fire Spirit's attacks that grew fiercer and fiercer.

'Huh...'

It all seemed fuzzy.

Not exactly blurry, but out of focus somehow.

As if the events weren't happening in front of him. As if they were taking place somewhere far away.

'This is...'

An arrow was shot. Aimed straight at his chest.

For some reason, the arrow did not produce any sound as it pierced through the air.

Or rather, it seemed not to.

A side step was more than enough for the attack to miss its target.

Mark contemplated the carnage for a bit longer.

It seemed far away from him.

Distant.

Mark couldn't exactly tell why it seemed that way.

But he wanted to enter that carnage.

Something inside of him wanted to become a part of that carnage.

To become one with it.

Mark closed his eyes for a moment.

'I have...'

The purple Aura around him stopped fluctuating.

'To calm down... And focus.'

Mark opened his eyes to four Timeworn Elven Daggers approaching his neck.

With a flick of his tail, two arms were broken.

The Corrupted Dark Elves cried in pain.

Uncharacteristically, Mark took two steps away from the injured enemies.

It was an uncharacteristic action, as the Fire Spirit, who was looking down on the scene, thought so too.

A distance away, a volley of Fire Balls was shot by Fiery's Offspring.

The Fire Balls were still at the beginning of the parabola they were about to draw.

At the end of that parabola was the raging battlefield. A certain area of that battlefield. The area densest with Corrupted Dark Elves. The area that ensured a higher probability of hitting the targets.

'I have to start thinking...'

Despite having just been shot into the air, Mark could more or less tell when and where the Fire Balls would hit the ground.

He didn't really have to think about it either.

Mark was very familiar with the motions of such attacks. After all, the first time a Fire Ball had been thrown at him was a long time ago, on the Dungeon's Lowest Floor.

If anything, it might have been the most common Magic Skill inside the Dungeon.

It was an attack Mark had witnessed again and again. An attack he had used many times too.

'A bit more like Levi.'

Mark extended his arms and aimed for the spot he believed the Fire Balls would descend upon.

A flurry of Thunderbolts was shot.

Due to their high Sense and Agility Stats, most of the Corrupted Dark Elves had the ability to dodge the attacks. And many did just that.

Many dodged the Thunderbolts. Nevertheless, most of those Thunderbolts did end up hitting target.

Electricity permeated through the Corrupted Dark Elves' bodies, momentarily causing their muscles to twitch uncontrollably.

That short window was more than they could afford, as a volley of flames sent straight from hell was descending upon them.

'Shooting at those at the back. Mm. Yeah.' Mark nodded as he stepped back and dodged a hurriedly and sloppily swung Timeworn Elven Dagger.

Four injured Corrupted Dark Elves formed an arc in front of him.

Despite their attempts at taking his life, none could even scratch Mark.

The substantial Stat boost from his newly obtained "Berserker[SS]" Skill allowed him to freely evade their attacks.

Even though numerous opportunities to counterattack presented themselves, Mark did not take them.

He focused on dodging and using his Magic Skills to injure and debilitate the enemies away from him.

"How mature." The Fire Spirit commented, before ending the lives of four paralyzed Corrupted Dark Elves.

Mark stepped back, and the injured enemies followed him.

He leaped to the side and jumped over several Insect Monsters. And the injured Corrupted Dark Elves did the same.

'I can't focus solely on those in front of me like I used to. There's no reason to do so...'

Indeed, prioritizing long-range attacks to take out the enemies unaware of his presence seemed to work well.

After all, no matter how numerous, the Corrupted Dark Elves had been surrounded. And each only had one pair of eyes.

Growl-

'These guys are really sticking around, huh?'

The same injured Corrupted Dark Elves stood in front of Mark.

'Well...'

He smiled.

'Why not?'

Not only were their attacks easy to dodge due to their injuries, but they also played a certain role.

The Corrupted Dark Elves, as a whole, knew that they were outnumbered.

And so, each took up a role. An enemy to defeat.

Now that Mark was being followed by attackers, no additional Corrupted Dark Elf turned his way.

Unbeknownst to them, the injured enemies had been assigned the role of shield. Or barrier, perhaps.

'I'd like to test it out further, but I can feel it. If I let go, the Skill will go wild. I'll test it on a Lower Floor. Yeah. That's probably the right move.'

Mark continued following the same game plan for a bit.

He followed the same simple plan, until a powerful punch was thrown at him, coming from his blind spot.

The clenched fist grazed Mark's cheek, as he dodged by a hair's breadth.

'Ha...!'

Mark's heart immediately started beating faster.

A large smile appeared on his face, and his tail moved explosively. With great power and speed.

The four injured Corrupted Dark Elves had finally been disposed of.

'It's only right...'

GROWL-

'We try this again too!'

A second punch was thrown, and Mark managed to dodge it somewhat gracefully.

At the sight of the imposing Corrupted Dark Elf Warrior, his fighting spirit started burning brighter. And so did the Aura around his body.

'Let's do this. We couldn't finish it last time, but now it'll be-'

The Warrior was preparing to throw a third punch. And before Mark could move,

Pierce-

Three arrows broke through Mark's scales and penetrated his right arm.

Anger immediately sprung forth inside of him.

The purple Aura turned fierce and violent.

Ants meddled where they shouldn't have.

A powerful punch hit Mark's left side.

His fighting spirit and desire for a rematch had been ignited.

And those feelings quickly mixed with the sudden and rising anger.

Mark clenched his fists.

'You fucking...!'

His focus had been disturbed.

An opening had appeared.

And the repressed beast did not miss that.

[Your Skill "Berserker[SSS] is activating!]