Chapter 9 - Evolved

Weapon out, Rynold braced for whatever could come next.

X was pushed back as the Enhanced Ghoul let out a piercing yell, knocking the Mech Knight a considerable distance from where it was originally standing.

"Shit," Rynold cursed as the Enhanced Ghoul started glowing and it looked like it was evolving. 'Well, I guess that's how the different ghoul variants came to existence.'

Pulling out his Wooden Staff from the ground, Rynold stood up. Looking at the group, there wasn't much that he could do. This time, at least, Oliver didn't collapse but he didn't have enough mana to cast Broken Wing Slash anytime soon.

Rynold was not in a better condition because he drained a significant amount of mana from sustaining X and casting Mana Infusion.

Putting the concerns of resources aside, Rynold looked back up to the Enhanced Ghoul, only to see it change in shape and form.

'Scan.'

Immediately activating Scan as soon as the metamorphosis ended, the Enhanced Ghoul changed into something else completely. Instead of a ghoul that looked like something that emphasized defense, however, the newly evolved changed into that is balanced in strength, defense, and speed.

The result of the scan was horrifying news to the party but they didn't know that. Only Rynold was thrown into a horrible situation because he was the only one who could notice it.

[Evolved Ghoul Lvl 12]

A Ghoul that evolved from its enhancement.

This meant that the level of the ghoul doubled since its evolution from the original Enhanced Ghoul. Even though the Evolved Ghoul didn't have any particular advantage when it comes from its latent physique as the Stretch-Type Ghoul did, Rynold still knew that what they were facing was big trouble. A ghoul that was stronger in every aspect.

Rynold ordered X to take the vanguard once again as the team braced for the new fight. Considering the options that are open to them, Rynold instantly checked his inventory as there was nothing else that could be done.

The fight between the Mech Knight and Evolved Ghoul was drastically one-sided. X was getting constantly pushed back and didn't even have the means to counter-attack. The claws were paired with huge, bulky arms that carried a lot of force between each attack as the Evolved Ghoul continued mauling on the Mech Knight.

Even though Rynold had 20 points that he could allocate to any attribute, he still wasn't confident that he could beat the Evolved Ghoul even if he put every point into Strength. Looking at his inventory, there were a bunch of different options available.

There were swords and spellbooks that they could use for the battle and a familiar metal gear was dropped too. Rynold doubted that he could use the upgrade material for X during combat and took to different options instead.

Checking the spellbooks that he had, Rynold noticed another support-type magic that could be useful. Pulling it out from the inventory, he threw the book to Skye and told her to learn it.

[Strengthen]

Magic Skill Book

Buffs the target's physique. Increases the target's Strength by 10% for 30 seconds.

Cost: 10 Mana

Rynold acknowledged that having only one set of skill types on a specific person is a massive disadvantage. But, now, they didn't have a choice; especially since their mana pools aren't that big.

Learning the spell, Skye immediately started casting. Oddly enough, the buff didn't go to where Rynold expected.

Instead of X, she decided to target Oliver with the buff.

"Woi!!" Rynold couldn't help but facepalm.

He couldn't comprehend why that happened and chose to focus on the situation at hand; making it up as he went.

Luckily, Oliver managed to reach Level 5 from the farming of the smaller ghouls.

"Put enough points to Intelligence! Just enough for you to cast Broken Wing Slash again!" Rynold threw out all sense of formality as he yelled, "Put the rest to whatever you want! Just make sure you can kill that damned thing!"

Oliver nodded in response and pulled up his Attribute window. He decided to put 5 points to Intelligence and distributed the rest to Strength.

Meanwhile, X managed to get back up and rushed up to the Evolved Ghoul once again. This time, however, Rynold was supporting his Mech Knight. With their double team tactic, X managed to have a better time tanking the ghoul with Rynold managing to deal damage as well.

Rynold was hyper-focused on making an opportunity for Oliver to deal a hit at the neck of the Evolved Ghoul. Before that, though, he needed to make sure that the enemy had to be pinned down before a complete guarantee of killing it.

Time was running out from the buff that Skye cast on Oliver and there were still no opportunities present. It was hard to pin the ghoul down since its arms and attacks were a lot stronger than before.

Cursing, Rynold pushed harder, using Mana Infusion to puncture the palm of the Evolved Ghoul when it struck downward. Forcing out every ounce of strength he had, Rynold pinned the palm to the ground, fastening it in place.

Meanwhile, X followed his master's tactics and didn't hesitate to follow up on the opening. The Mech Knight grabbed onto the other arm of the Evolved Ghoul; the massive metal hands holding the powerful arm in place.

Oliver saw an opportunity that was impossible to miss. With both arms being held down by his teammates, Oliver pounced. Having his physique and Strength attribute buffed, he rushed to the ghoul's back.

Without any delay, Oliver slashed.

"Broken Wing Slash!" He yelled with much volume.

It was funny to look at the situation that was going on to a third party. A person and some sort of Mech was holding a ghoul, that was huge by the way, down. Then, an idiot holding a kitchen knife of all things to swing at the neck of the creature.

By no means, however, was the sharpness of the knife in Oliver's hand a joke. With the Strength buff and the damage multiplier from using the Physical Skill: Broken Wing Slash, it wasn't something that any person could laugh about.

Like a samurai brandishing his blade against bamboo, Oliver cut the Evolved Ghoul's neck as easily as slicing some pie.

Dust came from where the Evolved Ghoul once stood as both Oliver and Rynold collapsed to the ground from complete exhaustion. Both of the idiots managed to exhaust their stamina and Mana, rendering them immobile. On the bright side, at least they didn't pass out from exhaustion.

Skye rushed to Oliver's side with a worried expression. Pulling him up from the ground, she asked a number of questions that Rynold was too tired to even listen to.

Elle, on the other hand, hesitated as to whether she should help Rynold up or not. When she decided to move though, the Mech Knight helped its liege sit upon the Mech Knight's steel body while managing to grab the loot from the Evolved Ghoul fight.

"Thanks, buddy," Rynold said in a low voice. He was surprised after all he didn't say any sort of commands for the Mech Knight to move on his own. Maybe this was what the sentience in X's status screen meant.

Rynold moved his tired and aching muscles up and grabbed the loot, tossing them to the inventory screen without even a second look. He also grabbed the familiar gear from his inventory and decided to use it on X — making the Mech Knight drop Rynold to the ground once again.

'Oh come on!' Rynold thought, 'This is the pavement for crying out loud!'

Wishing he was on the grass side of the courtyard instead, Rynold watched as the Mech Knight was once again enveloped in a magic array. With a smile, he wondered how much has he depended on X over the past few hours. It hasn't even been a day since they both met but Rynold was thankful for that one random drop that made him able to summon the Mech Knight.

After a few moments of light and magic that the party couldn't understand, X was visible once again. Looking at it, there wasn't a physical change to the Mech Knight's body so Rynold didn't know what the upgrade meant.

He decided to check on the skill instead, surprised at the changes from the upgrade item that he used.

[Skill Level Up!]

[Summon: Mech Knight]

Active Magic Skill Lvl. 3

Summons a Mech Knight using magic. Consumes 3 Mana per minute while the creature is summoned. The Mech Knight follows your command without question. It is possible to let the Mech Knight grow stronger and evolve. (1/1)

The cost of sustaining X was lowered. Rynold couldn't help but feel elated from the change as he gestured the Mech Knight to help him up.

Walking as fast as his pained body could move, Rynold found a bench just outside the main building and sat down.

He then took a deep breath and did the one thing that could make all the struggling worth it.

Opening the inventory screen, he checked the loot of their farming.