Reborn As An Evolving Monster

The Guardian's anger was tangible.

Mark lifted his hand towards it, as he thought of a previous fight.

A great amount of Mana was amassed and formed a ball in front of his palm.

'Mana is a bit harder to use than Magic Skills like Great Fire Ball. But it was the only thing that could damage that Guardian's barrier, so...' Mark thought as he fired the Mana Bomb.

The Guardian he was thinking about was the Seventh Floor's Boss Monster, the Undead Lich.

Its barrier made of Dark Magic could not be penetrated nor broken by anything other than pure Mana.

"What's that? You think you can-" The Guardian's words were interrupted once the Mana Bomb hit its leg.

An explosion of Mana ensued.

Once the smoke faded,

'So I was right...?'

Mark's eyes widened.

"SON OF BITCH!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! WHAT WAS IT, HUH??" The Guardian screamed.

Its left leg had disappeared.

'Did that take his leg, or... Is he making fun of me? He might've just made his leg disappear. The same way he can make his whole body disappear...'

Mark had no way of knowing which was the truth.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!!" The Guardian shouted before opening its mouth wide.

In front of it, a small ball of fire appeared.

'That almost looks like... The Magic Skill Kalès-'

The next second, the ball increased in size many times over.

At the same time, the Guardian's missing leg reappeared.

'So it was trying to trick me... I'll make you regret it.' Mark thought.

The next instant, he realized something.

'Oh. Huh. I'll use two more Skill Points on Fire Manipulation.'

The ball of fire in front of the Guardian's mouth was now about ten meters in diameter.

[You have used one Skill Point.]

[Your Skill "Fire Manipulation[A+]" is evolving...]

[Your Magic Skill "Fire Manipulation[A+]" has evolved into "Fire Manipulation[S]".]

[You have used one Skill Point.]

[Your Skill "Fire Manipulation[S]" is evolving...]

[Your Magic Skill "Fire Manipulation[S]" has evolved into "Fire Control[S]".]

The ball of fire in front of the Guardian's mouth was condensed thoroughly.

So thoroughly, that it emitted a blinding light and was small enough for the Guardian to swallow.

Mark knew what was about to happen.

But he wasn't scared.

After all,

'Mm. Yeah. You don't use Fire, do you? You don't need Fire Manipulation, Fire Resistance...'

The Guardian swallowed the ball that held an extremely high amount of energy.

The next second, the Guardian seemed like it was about to throw up.

About to throw up all that energy as a devastating blast.

'After all, you are Fire.'

But before the Guardian could move, Mark raised his arm.

A devilish yet nervous smile on his face.

He lowered that arm.

'To the ground.'

The Guardian's body was immediately slammed on the ground.

The Boss Monster, unable to contain all the energy it had swallowed, opened its mouth while its face was on the ground.

BOOM-

A great explosion occurred.

'It's just one explosion after the other against this guy. Still, I guess this means I win, right?'

The smoke faded.

And the Guardian appeared.

It looked the same, but,

"My... My Fire... You made it... Turn... Against me... You..." The Guardian whispered, as it struggled to stand.

Its flames didn't shine as brightly as before.

After all, it had expended a great amount of energy, with no way to regain much of it.

The Guardian tried reabsorbing the energy that it had meant to use for the blast, but it could only get a portion of it back

As soon as the Guardian stood up, Mark swayed his hand towards his right side.

The next instant, the Boss Monster felt an intense gravitational pull.

BAM-

Its body hit the wall with great force.

As it was made of flames, the collision caused an explosion.

And the Guardian disappeared once more.

'Fire Control, huh? Yeah. I guess having control over something equals more power over it than simply manipulating it.'

Mark stared at the empty Boss Room, waiting for the Guardian's flames to reappear.

'It makes sense. Since you ARE fire, then...'

It reappeared right in front of Mark.

"SON OF A-"

Just as it was about to punch Mark, a strong force made its body hit the ground.

'I can control your flames...'

Mark felt chills go up his body as the Guardian lay at his feet.

'I can control...'

Defenseless, unmoving, and at his mercy.

'You.'

As if gravity itself was trying to constrain its movements, the proud Guardian, now, seemed utterly powerless.

'How does it feel... Being made to crawl on the ground?'

Mark could not talk, but that didn't mean the Guardian couldn't understand the position it was in.

The Boss Monster struggled against the gravitational force to lift its head.

And as its gaze connected to Mark's, it seemed like the Guardian could read his thoughts.

No.

The wicked expression on Mark's face made his thoughts obvious.

"AGHHH!!!" The Guardian grit its burning teeth.

It tried to stand back up, but,

'I can't even... Make my Fire disappear... Is his control over me that... That immense?' Despair filled the Guardian's thoughts

And Mark looked down on that despair and struggle.

'His control... Over me... His control... Over my... My... MY FLAMES!'

The Boss Monster's flames regained their brightness.

"I can't accept it... I can't... To have... My flames stolen from me... This..." The Guardian whispered.

'Still struggling, huh? Don't know if that'll help.' Mark asked himself sadistically.

He raised his palm.

What seemed like an increase in weight immediately bound the Boss Monster's whole body to the ground.

"I WON'T ACCEPT...!" The struggling Guardian shouted.

'What-' The Boss Monster's flames grew tremendously in both size and heat.

"I WON'T! I WON'T! I WON'T! I WON'T! I WON'T! I WON'T... ACCEPT IT!"

The Guardian's flames burned brighter than ever.

Mark, sensing resistance, immediately increased the flow of Mana that fueled his Magic Skill "Fire Control[S]".

He raised his arm.

'Time to end this.'

The Guardian's body hit the ceiling, the floor, and the room's walls multiple times and at great speed, leaving a trace of flames behind that showed its course.

Again and again, the Guardian's body was hit.

But its flames didn't disappear.

Not only that, but,

'Huh? Feels like... His body is getting heavier... No... It's-'

The light emitted by the Guardian's flames started changing.

Slowly but surely, the tip of its flames started turning red.

The Guardian's body was hit again and again, but each time, the speed with which it was moved decreased.

'My control is... Weakening? I should have plenty of Mana left though...'

Mark's control over the Guardian's body got weaker and weaker, until he could not move the Boss Monster by an inch.

"Ahhh..." The Guardian moaned as it stood up.

Shiver-

"I've never felt like this before. Something... Is coming." The Boss Monster whispered, as it stared at its own flames.

'What is he talking about?'

"I can feel it... My Fire... My flames...!"

'What the hell is happening-'

[Warning!]

[The Guardian is evolving!]

[You must defeat the Guardian as fast as possible!]

'Evolving? What do you-'

"Trust me..."

A wave of extreme heat was suddenly exuded by the Guardian.

"This humiliation... I won't forget." It said as it stared at its hand.

From that hand, red flames appeared.

"It seems my Fire didn't appreciate it either."

The Guardian raised its gaze towards Mark.

'Flames... Of Chaos?'

"My flames... Are quickly changing. You wanted to make them yours but... They, too, couldn't accept that. Fascinating... These new flames... They feel strange... but also natural... I can tell..." The Guardian commented, as if in a haze.

'This... Can't even be described as a power-up or an Evolution. Just the flames from a couple of Chaos Fire Bullets had given it the firepower to beat me half to death. But now...!'

"That feeling. I'm not sure what to call it. The way you made me feel. I want you... To feel it too..." The Guardian whispered, before it raised its foot, revealing a melting footprint.

Mark couldn't help but step back.

'If he can use those Flame Of Chaos the same way he can use Fire then...'

One devastating explosion was all it would take to end Mark.

He stepped back once more, and the Guardian disappeared.

'Where is he??' Mark asked himself as anxiety started creeping in.

The Guardian appeared right in front of him.

A flick of Mark's tail cut the Boss Monster in two, but its body didn't disappear.

Not only that but,

'AGHHH!'

A horrific burn scar had appeared on Mark's tail.

The Guardian chuckled while Mark took another step back.

'I have to... I need... To run!!'

The Boss Monster disappeared and reappeared between Mark and the Boss Room's exit.

"Come now. Let me help you understand how it felt. Let me teach you, what hopelessness is. What powerlessness feels like!" The Guardian shouted, drunk on its own power.