Heavy Metal [ A Monster Evolution LitRPG ]

Chapter 113 – Getting Angry.

As the Salamander’s decapitated body crumbled into motes of flame, Rusty stood victorious, his glowing poleaxe resting on the ground. His Lesser Twilight Embrace faded, leaving his metallic form steaming from the residual heat of the mana his body was encased in. The crowd’s cheers and gasps filled the arena, and Gwendolin finally let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

Katherine was trembling, her face a mixture of rage and disbelief. Her hand still clutched the red mana stone, though its glow had dimmed. Rusty could tell the girl had exhausted its power, and resummoning a monster of this caliber would likely be impossible. There also appeared to be side effects from using the crystal; the young summoner was visibly out of breath. The murmurs in the crowd grew louder, shifting from awe to skepticism as they pieced together what had transpired.

‘Oh?’

While Rusty was glancing at the fading monster, a system message appeared before his gleaming metal head. The mission was marked as complete, but the presence of the salamander had evidently caused the difficulty rating to increase. The battle with the first monster had been relatively straightforward, but the new one was no pushover. This highlighted a critical issue: he couldn’t rely on the difficulty ratings. He would need to figure out what was causing these discrepancies and he knew who to ask for help.

‘I’m sure Alexander and Aburdon will know what’s wrong here… so, does this mean I get to go back now?’

There was a strange hourglass on his system window, its sand trickling down as it circled around. Rusty wasn’t sure what it meant, but after a moment, a sixty-second timer appeared. It seemed he would be sent back shortly. Yet while his mission was technically complete, the events around him were far from over.

The arena fell silent after the Lesser Flame Salamander's defeat. Katherine’s chest heaved as she tried to steady her breathing, her trembling hands betraying her. Fury radiated from her - at the loss, at the crowd’s shifting loyalty, and perhaps at herself. Whispers about the red mana stone grew louder, and the instructor who had conveniently ignored her actions so far finally seemed inclined to intervene.

“This isn’t fair! She must have cheated!”

Before the instructor could say anything, Katherine’s venomous voice rang out, cutting through the murmurs. She jabbed a shaking finger toward Gwendolin, then swung it toward Rusty.

“That... thing is unnatural! There’s no way she could win otherwise!”

Gwendolin opened her mouth to reply but faltered, her words sticking in her throat. The accusation had left her momentarily stunned. The crowd exchanged glances, whispering among themselves. They knew Katherine's claims were baseless but were hesitant to get involved.

‘Why is everyone always against me? Why?’

Rusty stood silently, the timer ticking down on the system window. Gwendolin’s thoughts echoed in his consciousness - despair, fear, and anger swirling together like a storm. Though his summoning was temporary, he could feel her emotions boiling over, demanding release. Gripping his poleaxe tightly, Rusty shifted his gaze to Katherine, her shouts echoing across the arena. Twilight began to encase his metallic form, shadows rippling across his frame as if alive.

“Hey, what is that summon doing?”@@novelbin@@

Murmurs of alarm spread as others noticed Rusty’s sudden shift. He had raised his hand, gripping the poleaxe in a stance resembling someone about to throw a javelin - aimed squarely at Katherine. The crowd collectively held its breath. Even the instructor, who had conveniently ignored Katherine’s earlier actions, took an uneasy step forward, his hand outstretched as though he might intervene.

“Stop…”

Before the teacher could call out, Rusty performed the throwing motion, hurling his poleaxe at Katherine who was standing on the other end of the arena, next to one of the summoning circles. It cut through the air like a comet, trailing black-and-white energy. The arena’s mana shields flared to life, intercepting the weapon just inches from Katherine’s face. The force of the impact made the shield shimmer violently, and the reverberation echoed through the space like a thunderclap. 

Katherine shrieked and collapsed to her knees, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the poleaxe hovering mere inches away, vibrating against the barrier. For a moment, the entire arena was silent, save for Katherine’s panicked gasps. Then, like a dam breaking, the crowd erupted into laughter.

“She almost fainted!”

“Did you see her face? Priceless!”

“Not very dignified, is she?”

Katherine's face burned with humiliation as mocking laughter rolled through the stands, momentarily drowning out her own flustered attempts to recover. Amidst the jeering crowd, no one noticed the ominous development - the poleaxe still radiated energy, a metal hand stuck to it, channeling both light and darkness. Suddenly, a colossal explosion ripped through the arena, catching everyone off guard.

The blast was so powerful that it cracked the mana shield, its force pushing through the weakened barrier. Katherine barely had time to raise her hands in defense before the shockwave tossed her backward. The instructor sprang into action, his own mana surging as he leapt to intercept her fall. A shimmering new shield enveloped them both, protecting them from the worst of the debris and chaos unleashed by the cataclysmic event.

Rusty stood there, his right hand missing. He had remembered one of the old techniques he used to win fights. Mixing both light and dark energies led to those energies going berserk, producing large blasts. He had hoped to do more damage, but the amount of darkness and light he could infuse was quite low. Now, the timer had reached zero, and it was time to return.

For a moment, he glanced at his summoner, Gwendolin. She was stunned, just like everyone else here, perhaps even more so. Her negative emotions faded as she saw Katherine's shocked expression, and Rusty could feel it. He looked at the destroyed poleaxe, which was turning into particles of mana along with his body. The quest was over, and now it was time to return.

As his body faded away, he saw Gwendolin reach out in his direction as if she were trying to stop him from disappearing. He could feel sadness wash over him as he sensed her emotions, as if she didn't want him to leave. He wasn't sure how to react, but just before he completely faded away, he managed to transmit a few words, finding her behavior somewhat daunting.

“Become stronger, so that they don’t look down on you…”

With that, he was gone; his body faded from the arena, and he felt his soul being tugged back towards the Soul Forge. The body he had just lost reappeared, this time with the hand he had used to overload his twilight energies. Even the poleaxe was back, and another system announcement awaited him.

He was back in the grand summoning chamber and just as promised he would be given some rewards. Rusty didn’t expect to gain much from the quests as it was marked for easy but perhaps after defeating the Salamander he would be given something more exceptional.

“Oh!”

He cried out in joy as he saw the rewards appear in his storage system, which was now unlocked again. According to the instruction manual, completing this quest would grant him some experience, though he wasn’t sure how it would be implemented. It seemed tied to the experience talismans he received, but there was more to it. Along with the talismans, he had been given schematics for a weapon and an enchantment talisman as well. However, before he could take the items out of storage, his two guides called out to him.

“Rusty! What were you thinking? Why did you attack that young girl?” 

Alexander exclaimed, his tone sharp as if he was trying to scold a child.

“Haha, what do you mean? He did great! Did you see the look on that brat’s face? I bet she won’t be so pompous in the future!” 

Aburdon retorted, clearly pleased by what Rusty achieved during his quest. Alexander was displeased with Rusty’s actions, while Aburdon seemed to revel in the fact that he had put the noble girl in her place. Reflecting on his actions, Rusty realized he wasn’t sure why he had that outburst. It was almost as if the girl summoner had influenced him somehow. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder - would he have received even more rewards if he had defeated the summoner? After all, summoners were the source of their summons. If he could take her down, wouldn’t her summon vanish, ensuring his victory? If not for the powerful mana shield protecting her, he might have tried it sooner.

“Oh quiet down you two and instead answer some of my questions.”

The two instantly froze when he raised his voice in a commanding tone. He had just been through an intense battle, but there were things he still needed to know. If he was to use the summoning chamber to his advantage, he had to understand exactly how it calculated the rewards and what he could do to influence them.

“Do you know why the quest suddenly increased in difficulty?”

He posed the question to the two and Alexander was the one to reply.

“I think there could be a few reasons, one of which is how you handled the first monster.”

“How I handled it?”

“Yes. Perhaps if you had struggled more, the other summoner wouldn’t have reacted in such a way. She seemed quite angered by it.”

“Oh?”

As he thought back to the red orc, he realized he had defeated it rather easily, without even needing to use any of his extensive skills.

“But maybe there was nothing you could do, and it triggered automatically? It could have been a trap…”

“A trap? Is that something the Soul Forge could do?”

Rusty was surprised by this possibility. He had trusted the Soul Forge to be a place where he could gain more power, not something that might work against him.

“This place could have a mind of its own, perhaps it realised that the challenge was too simple so it offered you a chance at better rewards? You probably wouldn’t have gotten that flame talisman if you didn't defeat that salamander.”

“A mind of its own?”

Rusty wasn’t entirely sure what Alexander was talking about. Was the Soul Forge not just something within his soul that helped him build it up? But if it was connected to his soul, it might have reacted to his own desires, creating a more difficult scenario because the first one had been too simple. He would need to conduct a few more tests to be certain, but being greeted with greater challenges wasn’t all that bad - especially since they came with rewards.

“Oh, right, how do I even use these?”

After speaking with Alexander, Rusty retrieved the talismans he had acquired. As he pulled them from his storage system, they shimmered faintly in his metallic hands. He examined them closely, trying to decipher their purpose while his guides hovered nearby, eager to chime in.

The first items were three Small Experience Talismans. They resembled pieces of paper inscribed with strange magical symbols, along with some writings he could understand. These talismans featured golden letters and a golden outline along their edges. Though Rusty wasn’t sure how to use them, he felt fortunate to have his guides present.

“Interesting, It seems similar to magic scrolls. You’ll probably need to channel some of your mana into it to activate the item.”

Aburdon floated closer, hinting that Rusty should treat it like any other one-use magical item he had encountered before. Wasting no time, Rusty decided to test it. However, instead of the talisman activating, he was met with an error message.

“Makes sense. It’s best if you use it after you’re done with your evolution, Rusty”

Alexander commented, having also seen the error message. Rusty felt a twinge of disappointment, but he understood it was likely better to use the talismans before he maxed out his experience points. Shaking off the thought, he next retrieved the Large Advanced Axe Schematic, which resembled the weapon the Red Orc had wielded.

The schematic was a straightforward blueprint, far superior to the weapons Rusty had crafted on his own so far. It appeared to be designed for him to create by himself. The blueprint outlined every detail: from the type of flame he needed to use, to the specific tools required, down to the precise number of hammer blows on each side.

Rusty knew it would probably take a few attempts to get it right, but the axe had the potential to become a powerful weapon in the future - or even a profitable product to sell once he established his smithy in the real world.

The final item was the Lesser Flame Enchantment Talisman. It was similar in appearance to the first talismans but had red letters and a fiery outline along its edges. The borders flickered with tiny tongues of flame, and Rusty could feel a warm energy radiating from it.

“This will come in handy,” 

Aburdon remarked, hovering closer. As the group’s magic expert, he quickly identified its use.

“I assume you can use it to imbue one of your weapons or tools with flame properties. It’ll probably make your attacks even more devastating, especially against enemies weak to fire.”

Rusty turned the talisman over in his metallic hands, studying the intricate runes engraved on its surface. He wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but with only one in his possession, it would be best to save it for an improved steel weapon - perhaps a sword or a polearm. Satisfied, he carefully stored all his newly acquired items. With everything settled, Rusty turned his attention to the console for one final check.

“I see... so I can’t use it again”

The icon representing the summoning circle was now grayed out, and no matter how many times he clicked on it, it wouldn’t open. He searched for a timer or some indicator but found none. It seemed this was a one-time-use quest, and he would need to wait until his next evolution to attempt it again.

“Oh… what is that?”

To his surprise, a new icon had appeared. It resembled a notebook and was distinct from the instruction manual. Without hesitation, Rusty pressed it. A new window opened, and a familiar name appeared: Gwendolin Rainstar.