342 – Petit Nightmare’s Evolution

As the magical tree ― treant-san dances around happily, the petit nightmare’s red cocoon starts to shake slightly.
At some point, the soft bundled threads of the cocoon have hardened.
It looks like the contents could come out any moment now.
As I watch, a crack opens in it and a black tentacle-like thing slithers out.

As I stand stunned, a white mask that comes out following the tentacle and looks left and right.
The crack in the cocoon widens, revealing a large spider inside.
The petit nightmare has appeared, two…no, three sizes larger than it was.
It seems it was quite cramped inside the cocoon.
Its total length is already nearly three metres.
Up to now it still had a level of cuteness to it, but now the impression it gives of fear is much stronger.

I-is it even stronger than treant-san? No, well, I should check its status first…

【[Nightmare]: C+ rank monster】
【The final evolved form rarely reached by individuals that grow in a harsh environment and receive the influence of powerful magic.】
【As it hides in the darkness of night and steals away life, it truly is fitting of the name nightmare.】
【In areas where [Nightmares] appear, it is often said down that should you see a white faced monster, you should run for your life.】

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Species: Nightmare
Condition: Normal

Lv: 1/70
HP: 122/122
MP: 18/115
Attack: 111
Defence: 69
Magic: 118
Speed: 97

Characteristic Skills:
[Darkness Attribute: Lv-] [Automatic HP Recovery: Lv3] [Poison Sash: Lv5] [Presence Perception: Lv3] [Nekomata: Lv-] [Stealthy Movement: Lv5]

Resistance Skills:
[Physical Resistance: Lv3] [Magic Resistance: Lv3] [Poison Resistance: Lv4] [Curse Resistance: Lv4]

Normal Skills:
[Poison Fang: Lv3] [Spider Thread: Lv5] [Ally Call: Lv1] [Thread Daruma: Lv3] [Poison Thread: Lv3] [Neck-Hanging Thread: Lv3] [Sneak Attack: Lv3] [Curse: Lv2] [Humanisation Technique: Lv3] [Autoregeneration: Lv1] [Dark Sphere: Lv1] [Clay: Lv1]

Title Skills:
[Pet of the Evil Dragon: Lv-] [Thread Expert: Lv5] [Malicious: Lv-] [Mutation: Lv-] [Obsession: Lv5] [Cunning: Lv4] [Abyss Eater: Lv2] [Assassin: Lv3] [Final Evolution: Lv-]
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I-its stats are quite high… Treant-san is the same rank and yet looks pitiable by comparison.
Other than defence, it loses in every way…

The number of excellent skills it has have increased too.
[Stealthy Movement] and [Presence Perception]… These two, if it gets used to them, crises can be avoided and hunting can get a whole lot easier.
[Dark Sphere] looked really powerful from the chimera lich’s use… [Autoregeneration]… [Autoregeneration] is good.
Even without worrying too much, missing body parts will be regenerated by themselves.

That leaves [Nekomata] and [Humanisation Technique]… [Nekomata] is the one the manticore had.
If I remember right, it cuts down the stupidly high MP consumption of [Humanisation Technique].
I’m jealous.
Both the treant, and you, why is it that you two get the skills I want so easily? W-well, now that I know it’s not just restricted to cat-related monsters, I can hope to get it at some point.
Evolving into something like a cat dragon might work.

…Huh? [Final Evolution] has been added to the title skills…? H-hey, nightmare, C+ is your end? No, if anything, is that what’s normal for monsters? H-hmm… Generally C+ would already be considered a fairly high rank, so that might be all there is to it… When treant-san becomes B-rank, their positions will completely be reversed.
I kind of want to see that, but also feel a bit sorry for it… I wonder if Aro’s next evolution might also be her last.

The nightmare looks at my partner strangely.
She quickly looks down to avert her eyes.
It then looks at me.
Unable to bear it, I also look away.

If treant-san evolves, the nightmare will become baggage… N-no, I don’t know much about the evolution limit… There might be a way to lift it for all I know.
In my case, some title skills have increased my evolution options.
It’s still too early to be pessimistic.

F-for the time being, Aro, the treant, and the nightmare are all C+ rank.
Their skills have been strengthened, and now not just Aro but the others also have a decent fighting style.
At this rate we might be able to explore the ruins sooner than expected.

Now then, they’ve finished evolving so… Since we’re here, how about we set up a base on the tree? It doesn’t seem like the adams climb up here very often, so it should be perfect for sleeping.
If something like the chimera lich attacks, I can turn the tables on them easily.
But being attacked by an adam in my sleep would be difficult, both in terms of stats and visually.
Among all the monsters I’ve seen so far, the adams and eves have the most atrocious appearance.

As I’m thinking about finding a decent cavity in the tree, I hear the “Fuuh! Fuuh!” huffing of a monster.
In the distance, swishing its tail to either side is the pink slender dragon… The horny dragon, giva.

I-I’ve found something dangerous! Right, it was up on the tree! I need to move somewhere a bit higher.
For now, let’s retreat.
It’s not like it’s an opponent I can’t beat, but rather one I don’t want to fight.
It’s not hostile, so it would be a bit difficult…

“…I won’t let you come.” 

Quietly, Aro raises hand towards the giva.
Green light gathers in front of her hand.

“Wind magic, Ga…”

I lower my head towards her and stretch out my tongue, quickly storing her inside my mouth.

She struggles inside my mouth.
I get that you want to raise your level, but that’s a bit… Difficult, really.
Something… I’d rather fight something that sees me more as a foreign enemy.

As normal, I grab the treant and kick off the tree branch.
The nightmare spits out red thread at my tail and hangs below me.
Great, we’re fleeing upwards.

I raise my altitude, and the giva looks up to glare at me in frustration.

“KuoOOON! KuoooOON! Kuonh! KuoOOnh!”

The giva lets out a more pitiable, coaxing cry than before.
Understanding that it’s not having an effect, it exposes its belly and patters around on the tree branch.

Feel free to do that for the rest of your life! Sorry, but I’ve no intention of joining you!