Shadow Cloak

A day or two had passed since Kai had last evolved into a Nocturne Dragon. Nothing much had happened in real life. At least, that's what he thought, as getting access to the news in his current state was quite the struggle. The only person who gave him some information was his sister, and she hadn't come to see him lately.

She was most likely busy with school and didn't have time to go and visit her crippled brother.

Kai couldn't blame her. He had been looking forward to learning more about what people were saying about him in the forums. As far as he knew, there hadn't been any other announcements, but he couldn't be sure since he couldn't even see them in the first place.

Nevertheless, Kai wasn't too worried about his secret identity online since there was no way for people online to find him. He hadn't even met a human since he entered the game. He had seen a few of them from far away, but that was it. Now that he was heading toward the Dark Elf Village, it would take some time for Kai to meet some humans.

After all, he couldn't go and meet up with humans since they would try to kill him, not knowing what he was. That's why Kai had gotten an idea over the past few days, which consisted of absorbing enough of the Dark Elf bloodline to evolve into one.

Isla had been repeating that it would never work, but Kai was stubborn on this matter.

"I'm telling you. Humans and Elves, especially Dark Elves, don't mesh well with one another. It might even be worse than if you were to arrive as a monster."

"I told you already. I don't care. I want to try it. I'm tired of being alone in this stupid forest."

The past days had been quite hard for Kai as his desire to interact with humans has been getting stronger and stronger. Isla was an alright companion, but she could get annoying, especially when she's the only person around that Kai can rely on.

"Hmpf, then do whatever you want."

After saying that, Isla flew right inside Kai's body.

It was a recent discovery they had made, which made it possible for Isla to enter Kai's Monster Core and stay cooped there while Kai moved around without many problems. The most interesting thing about this discovery was that Isla could still see and feel as if she was the one in control of Kai's body. It also made it possible for her to talk to Kai mentally.

When Kai saw her enter his Monster Core, he shook his head out of annoyance. He completely forgot about Isla and focused on the situation at the end. After all, he hadn't been fooling around for the past few days. He had been hunting like a madman, trying to reach the 2nd form of the Nocturne Dragon.

'Only a little more…' Kai thought in his mind.

[Growth Stage: Baby Dragon (1/5 | 963/1000)]

Kai only needed one or two more decent monsters, and he would be able to evolve. He couldn't wait to reach the Dark Elf Village and see what was happening there. He couldn't wait to discover why Isla had suggested that he follow that strange Dark Elf.

'Still, it's unlucky, but I'll have to kill another one of those ants.'

Kai stared at the massive ant, taking his sweet time. It wasn't the first time he had killed those ants, and he had gotten used to how they behaved. They weren't all that dangerous, as he made a fool-proof plan to kill them. They were free experience points. There was just one small problem: they didn't give much experience, making this process quite painful.

However, while it was painful, there was practically no risk involved, which was one of Kai's main concerns. After all, he didn't want to die, or else he would lose access to this world.

Kai activated [Shadow Claws] without even needing to think, as it had become natural for him to use this power. Over the past few days, his proficiency in using his Monster Energy and Monster Core had become incredible.

Within a fraction of a second, the ant before him had its head completely cut off. However, one ant wouldn't be enough, so Kai cut another one standing right beside it.

[You have gained 40 Experience Points.]

[Growth Stage: Baby Dragon (1/5 | 1003/1000)]

[Do you wish to Evolve into the next form of the Nocturne Dragon?]

"Yes."

Kai didn't even need to think it through.

Instantly, he was brought to his Evolution Space, blinded. He felt his body slowly changing over time. When his eyes opened once more, he had become bigger and taller, his claws sharper, and, more importantly, he had received a new skill.

[New Skill: Shadow Cloak]

[Description: A rare medium-level ability of the Nocturne Dragon. One imbues Monster Energy within one's entire body, turning his body into a shadow, giving them the potential to hide themselves within the darkness and disappear from everyone's sight. The more Monster Energy is imbued into one's body, the stronger the skill's effect.]

[Cost: 5 Monster Energy/Second]

"5 Monster Energy per second?!" Kai shouted to himself within his Evolution Space.

It was a good thing that his Monster Core had evolved into a Silver-Ranked core, or else, he would have only been able to use his skill for around 20 seconds and maybe a little bit more with Varkul's Cultivation Technique, but it would have been minimal. With his Silver Monster Core, Kai had access to a total of 300 Monster Energy, which meant he would be able to hide himself for one full minute, which was a lot better than before.

Kai was actually quite happy with the skill he had received since it would give him a way out if he were to get caught in the Dark Elf Village.

Suddenly, Kai was back in the forest.

"Isla, are you still there?"

Kai waited patiently for a few seconds to hear her. However, it seemed she wasn't in the mood.

Kai just shook his head when he noticed that she was still mad at him and moved on his own toward the Dark Elf Village. After all, he had one clear goal in mind: Devour enough Dark Elves to manage to evolve into one of them. That way, he would be one step closer to looking like a human.

It wouldn't be easy, and Kai had no idea if it was even possible in the first place, but he could only hope for it.

He took a deep breath and headed for the Dark Elf Village.

'Let's hope nothing goes wrong…'