Although in this world, the bigger a monster gets, the easier it is for them to become cannon fodder, that increase in size also comes with a massive boost in raw strength.
Inside Hans's body, his vitality and energy exploded exponentially, at least tenfold compared to before.
At this moment, he even felt like he'd become immortal.
He now stood tall and broad, with a powerful, lean frame. Every muscle and bone seemed filled with molten energy, bursting with explosive power.
"So this… is what it feels like to be a stat monster?"
After a while, the wild energy rampaging inside him finally began to settle.
Hans slowly stood up, adjusting to his new, towering height and the view that now made everything else seem tiny beneath him.
He casually clenched his fist. The sound of his knuckles was like metal grinding on metal, and the air itself whimpered under the pressure of his grip.
"So damn good!"
He couldn't help grinning from the rush.
Then, his eyes turned toward the next upgrade requirement:
[Upgrade Overgrowth (SSR) Lv4 → Lv5 requires: 8000 SourcePoints]
"...Tch."
Seeing that astronomical number, the feverish excitement in Hans's eyes cooled a little.
SSR skills really were gold-devouring beasts. Just two or three level-ups had burned through over 7000 points, most of what he'd earned from that slime octopus. Painful, but satisfying.
With 5609 Source Points left, Hans decided to hold off on upgrading Overgrowth for now.
"One bite at a time," he muttered. "No need to choke."
His gaze drifted down the list of abilities until it landed on the other three golden SSR skills.
Overgrowth gave him powerful vitality and a massive energy pool, basically maxing out both HP and MP.
But as any gamer knows, having a big health bar doesn't mean much if your defense sucks.
And in a world where city-level destruction was just another Tuesday, survival was the real damage output.
That's why the defensive skill Body of the Savage Beast instantly shot to the top of his priority list.
"Let's tank up to 40 HP first, can't go wrong with that."
Before pouring more points into an SSR skill, though, Hans decided to max out his two basic white-rank skills: Hardened Carapace and Basic Regeneration.
Low-rarity skills had their advantages; they were cheap.
Sure, cheap usually means weak, but once a copied skill hits level 10, it fully fuses with his body and no longer takes up a skill slot.
And fused abilities can even evolve beyond their limits.
He hadn't tested that yet, and now that he had plenty of points and a chance to free up a slot, why not give it a shot?
Quick math told him that leveling a white-rank skill from Lv3 to Lv10 would cost:
4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + 256 = 508 points.
"Alright then," Hans said boldly. "System, max out Basic Regeneration!"
[Consume 508 Source Points, "Basic Regeneration" Lv3 → Lv10 (MAX)!]
[Ding! Copied skill has fully merged with the host. Slot freed.]
[Current Slots Used: 4 / 15]
Since his vitality was already monstrous, the boost wasn't massive, just a subtle increase in tissue activity and faster energy recovery.
Still, a free slot was a free slot.
The Lv10 Basic Regeneration icon now gleamed proudly in his "Innate Abilities" list, like it was begging to be used again.
Ignoring it, Han turned his attention to Hardened Carapace.
[Consume 508 Source igin Points, "Hardened Carapace" Lv3 → Lv10 (MAX)!]
Crack! Crack! Crack!
His black armor shell groaned and thickened, its surface gleaming like polished obsidian.
He rapped his knuckles against his chest, clang! clang!, a deep, metallic sound that resonated through the cave.
His already tough defense had reached a whole new level, and in a world this deadly, toughness was its own kind of comfort.
After maxing both N-rank skills, he still had 4593 Source Points left.
Without hesitation, Hans dumped them into [Beast Body].
[Consume 1000 Points, Lv1 → Lv2]
[Consume 2000 Points, Lv2 → Lv3]
Power roared through his body like a flood bursting through a dam, battering every cell with violent energy.
He could feel his bones becoming denser, his muscles tougher, his entire body turning into a fortress of living steel.
After the storm passed, he pulled up his system panel again.
Even if it didn't look much different, his power was now leagues beyond what it had been.
[No Longer Human System]
Host: Hans
Race: Monster (Unknown insect-type mutation)
Disaster Level: Demon (Low)
[Ability List]
Innate Abilities (2):
Hardened Carapace (N) LvMAX (Upgradeable!)
Basic Regeneration (N) LvMAX (Upgradeable!)
[Ability Slots 4/15]
"Overgrowth (SSR)" Lv.4
"Scorch Bomb (SSR)" Lv.1
"Beast's Body(SSR)" Lv.1
"Primal Instinct (SSR)" Lv.3
[Source Points: 1613]
Disaster Level, Demon!
Hans froze, staring at the glowing word on his panel.
A powerful, oppressive aura burst out of him, weighing down the air in the entire cave.
Killing that slime-octopus freak really paid off; he'd leapt up the food chain, completing his first real "capital accumulation."
In just one day, he'd grown from a weakling to a Demon-level monster, on par with the S-Class heroes of the Hero Association.
Hans had finally earned the right to survive in this cruel world.
"Arigato, Slime Octopus-san," he muttered with a grin.
…Wait, no.
"ARIGATO, SLIME OCTOPUS-SAN!!!"
As his excitement finally began to settle, Hans's eyes drifted to the two newly evolved skills flashing with golden light.
[Ding! Detected evolvable ability. Consume 1000 Source Points to evolve "Hardened Carapace (N)" Yes / No]
[Ding! Detected evolvable ability. Consume 1000 Source Points to evolve "Basic Regeneration (N)" Yes / No]
Seeing the prompts, Hanspaused, deep in thought.
"...Evolution, huh?" he murmured, his lips curling into a smile.