Salvos (A Monster Evolution)

Chapter 5 - Not Like Me

5. Not Like me

I stared down the [Demon Larva] that I had just saved as he stood in front of me. At first I had thought he was about to attack me too, but when he did not move, I concluded that that was not the case. However, as to what he was really trying to do? I had no clue.

He had been on the verge of death before I interrupted his battle with the other Demon— the one that I recognized as an 'it' and not a 'him' or 'her'. I still didn't fully parse this distinction, but that did not matter at the moment. Because right now, I was trying to figure out what to do with this Demon.

It was odd— for some reason, he seemed to have recovered from his injuries rather quickly. I would have thought earlier that I would be able to defeat him with a few regular attacks, but with the way he was looking now, it would probably take more than just a [Fire Strike] to take him down.

In fact, he was not only looking better than before, he was also slightly bigger. His body appeared to be more solid. Perhaps...

I used [Identification] on him.

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]

It seemed that my musing had been right; this Demon had leveled up, which healed him somewhat from his injuries. Not only that, he had probably spent a significant amount of his Stat Points on his [Vitality], further regaining his health, as well as giving him a bigger form than before.

But how did he level? Was it because he had contributed in hurting the other Demon before I had defeated it? Was my experience shared with him because he damaged it beforehand?

I intuited that that was probably the case. And that irked me somewhat.

This Demon, who barely did anything and who I had inadvertently saved, had taken some of the precious experience I deserved from me? I had fought and struggled to gain that experience, and he reaped part of that reward? That was ridiculous!

I was irritated at him. He was simply just standing there uselessly in front of me, as if he was gloating that he was able to... to... steal from me. If I... defeated him, I'd get the experience back from him, right? That made sense, did it not?

But— something held me back; I... recognized him?

That was right. He looked slightly different now— he had limbs where he did not before. His entire body was red, which was not an unusual color; I had seen others of that color before. But the black and yellow spots on his back were what clued me into the fact that I had met him before.

He was one of the others! The ones in the first group of Demons I had met!

If I recalled correctly, he was only Level 2 back then. And now he was Level 5, after having escaped that large Demon that slaughtered the others...

Apprehension seized me, stopping me from raising my limbs at him. Wouldn't I just be like the large Demon if I attacked him now? It attacked us without reason, other than maybe the desire to level and grow. Just like the other corybantic Demons. I did not want to be like them! I wasn't an it. I was a she!

They were not like me!

I felt my irritation dissolve as a slight fear stopped me from doing anything to him. I took a look at his clueless face one last time before I whirled around. I'm not doing it. I started away from him. I will not do it!

With that resolve ingrained within me, I began my search for the next group of corybantic Demons to fight. As I did, I decided to test my new Skills out. First of all, I had leveled in [Basic Mana Manipulation]. It was now Level 2, which I could infer meant that I could manipulate mana better?