After fighting off the initial group of Clay Goblins, Xen spent a few minutes observing the humans fighting as a party.

  The number one thing he learned from the fight was that, individually, they were quite weak, but by working together, they covered each other's weaknesses. Despite there being only three of them and their levels not being that much higher than the goblins, they were able to wipe out dozens of them effortlessly—a feat they wouldn't have managed alone.

  Xen understood that he had many advantages not enjoyed by the humans, but having finished his observations and returned to his own slaughter really put into perspective how hard those advantages compounded. By quickly moving deeper into the earth away from the humans' prying eyes, he was able to go all out.

  His first advantage? The sheer variety of skills he possessed allowed him to cover multiple roles at once.

  By applying the defensive spell Indomitable Defense on his armor and sword, he greatly empowered their durability to ensure they didn't break under the strain. This skill alone made him a tank, but he could do even more. By casting Buff of the Berserker, a spell he had stolen from Gerald, on himself, he no longer felt pain and had heightened strength. Combined with his new passive Sword Proficiency, he was now a warrior who was nearly immortal to these weaker Clay Goblins.

  This setup alone would make him a significant threat to the Clay Goblins, but it wasn't enough to defeat a horde. That's why he also went on the offensive by spamming his Crescent Rage and Phantom Strike skills. As it turned out, Clay Goblins were literally made of clay, so the Crescent Rage skill that was designed to destroy armor and terrain did wonders against them.

  However, if he were a normal human, using these mana-intensive skills repeatedly would result in his mana pool running dry, causing his buffs to fade, and he would soon succumb to exhaustion.

  Thankfully, he was far from a normal human.

  You have killed multiple opponents.

  Experience split between [Necrovore Slime] and [Human] form.

  [Necrovore Slime] has leveled up: 23 -> 24.

  [Human] has leveled up: 18 -> 19.

  Xen felt the power of the dungeon flood into his body, partially refilling his mana pool and washing away the exhaustion that was being nullified by his Buff of the Berserker skill. While the dungeon's assistance was a big help, he could keep fighting like this forever so long as there were corpses.

  All because of a crucial skill he had obtained from picking the Necrovore evolution.

  [Soul Leech (D)]

  Drain life force from weakened enemies to regenerate mana and biomass over time.

  Activating the skill, streams of ashen light arched off the nearby corpses toward him. He saw how the bodies began to deteriorate in real time as their skin turned from gray to sickly white. Before he got his fill, he canceled the skill. Soul Leech was a necromancer skill, and while he desperately needed the mana and biomass regeneration, he didn't want to risk leaving nothing but bones in his wake, as that would be hard to explain. It's also why he didn't stop to feast on any of the Clay Goblins—at least not yet. Once he found a more secluded area and they stopped jumping at him from the walls, he would enjoy a meal.

  "I don't know why you guys keep trying to sneak up on me," Xen said, amused. Perhaps the most overpowered skill he possessed for this situation was Geomantic Perception. It rendered any traps and sneak attacks attempted by the Clay Goblins futile.

  Making use of Sword Proficiency, he effortlessly struck at a Clay Goblin that had crawled out from the ceiling and tried to leap onto his face. There was a nasty scraping noise as his enhanced sword met the goblin's claws.

  Xen used his forward momentum to throw the goblin to the ground. It bounced off the stone and was about to get back up.

  "Radiant Smite," he said, unleashing a flash of golden lightning at its face. It struck the goblin, causing the monster to let out an ear-piercing screech as it was stunned. Xen didn't bother swinging his sword again and simply strode over and crushed the goblin's skull underfoot. He felt it give a moment of resistance before caving in with a satisfying crunch. That act seemed to enrage the other Clay Goblins he could feel in the walls, so they all emerged and rushed at him from all sides.

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  Just what Xen had been hoping for. Due to the change in environment, while watching the humans, he had taken a moment to replace [Gravehook (C)], which had been taking up his 8th Free Skill Slot, with a skill that would be far more suitable for this situation.

  Letting the many Clay Goblins tackle him to the ground and try gnawing at his enhanced armor, he smirked behind the helmet.

  "Necrotic Pulse," he said once they were all on him, unleashing a wave of necrotic mana in a small radius around him. The effect on the Clay Goblins was immediate—they howled as the corrupted mana burrowed into their skin, and the skill applied a [Slow] debuff to them.

  "My turn," Xen laughed, grabbing a goblin on his chest by the neck. With a simple squeeze empowered by Buff of the Berserker, the monster was silenced. He snapped its neck and easily hurled its limp body to the side, taking out another. Standing up, he surveyed the five Clay Goblins surrounding him. They were hissing in pain as corruption blackened their skin and seemed sluggish in their movements.

  "One, two, three, four... ten?" Xen counted, waiting to see how long the slow lasted. At around ten seconds, he noticed the Clay Goblins regain their vigor, and the corruption seemed to have worn off. Of course, he simply cast the skill again.

  "Necrotic Pulse."

  Raising his sword, he swung in a wide arc, chopping them all in half. As the bodies fell to the floor with a satisfying thump, ashen light flowed off them into him. Necrotic Pulse was a highly effective skill, but the cost was immense. Thankfully, he regained around half of what he had spent by leeching mana and life force from the monsters' departing souls.

  You have killed multiple opponents.

  Experience split between [Necrovore Slime] and [Human] form.

  [Necrovore Slime] has leveled up: 24 -> 25 (Evolution Pending).

  [Human] has leveled up: 19 -> 20.

  "Oh, that's not good," Xen said, noticing his slime form had reached the threshold for a C grade. Sure enough, another series of system messages popped up.

  [Necrovore Slime] has reached Level 25 (C Grade). Evolution is available.

  Do you wish to begin the evolution process?

  [You have 59:59 minutes to agree to the evolution, or a random option will be forced upon you]

  [Yes/No]

  "No," he said, causing the message to vanish, but he could feel the presence of the timer ticking down in the back of his mind. Looking around at the quiet tunnel filled with corpses, he debated what to do. He had an hour to find somewhere safe to evolve, and he had no idea how long it would take. The monsters hiding in the walls were an obvious concern, but so was the group of humans he was partying with.

  He was starting to regret his decision to agree to team up with them. He had proved without a doubt that he worked best alone, and he hadn't gained enough new information on party dynamics for the risks to have been worth it... which was partially his fault. He had abandoned the group to go solo—a decision that was now biting him in the ass.

  Humans didn't gain much by moving between grades compared to monsters that could evolve, but at least they didn't make themselves vulnerable like he had to.

  "Gerald! We are down here! Help!"

  An echo pierced the silence, drawing him away from his thoughts. His head swiveled as he glanced up the tunnel lined with corpses.

  "That was a human's voice. Was that Randy?" Xen wondered. "They need my help?"

  Dropping to one knee, he fanned out his fingers on the floor and concentrated on his Geomantic Perception skill. Following the voice, he soon located a giant cavern. While he couldn't pinpoint Randy or the others, it seemed there was a large body of water and a lot of monsters surrounding it.

  "Well, they are dead," Xen said matter-of-factly, standing up. This turn of events solved his issue. With the monsters and humans fighting, he could simply leave with his level-ups and find a safe place to evolve. Picking up the most intact goblin corpse to eat later, he began to trudge up the tunnel the way he had come.

  Soon, he came upon a massive hole. Peering down into it, he could see the vague shifting darkness of water at the bottom. With great effort, he managed to get around the hole by clinging to the wall and made it to the other side.

  "What a hassle," Xen grumbled. It had been an obvious trap. How had they fallen for it? He continued forward, picking up another corpse on the way.

  "Gerald!" Another terrified-sounding voice called out. It was likely Vesper. "Can you hear us?!"

  Xen continued on.

  "Please help us!"

  "And why would I do that?" Xen chuckled to himself. He had no connection to these humans and knew they would kill him the moment they discovered his true nature.

  "I was really looking forward to working together in a party with Gerald," a terrified voice that likely belonged to Valoria echoed up the hole behind him. "Now I'm going to die to such an ugly floor boss."

  Xen paused. Floor boss?

  He bit his lip in contemplation. The hundreds of Clay Goblins down there would be easy to kill, giving him a lot of experience in the process. But a floor boss? He would need a group of people to assist him in taking one of those down anytime soon.

  He had 55 minutes left until his body was forced into an evolution.

  Xen dropped the two goblin corpses he had been carrying with a sigh and looked at the hole in the tunnel behind him.

  "Didn't the system give me such good evolution options because of my past achievements? I wonder what I'd get for killing the floor boss," Xen mused as he rolled his shoulders. He paused on the edge of the hole for a moment, wondering if this was really a good idea.

  "This is the last time I give humans a chance," Xen said, turning around and planting his foot into the rock to get a hold. As fast as he could without falling, he scaled down the hole toward the cavern.

  He would save the humans, and in turn, they would help him defeat the floor boss—or he would kill them himself. The only problem with this plan is that he would have to demonstrate a significant number of his abilities to the humans to defeat all the monsters and fight a floor boss.

  "I hope they hate goblins more than slimes," he quietly joked to himself as he continued his descent.

  to read ahead!