## Chapter 8
The pain came like an electric current surging through his body, jolting his blood until it felt charged with a volatile energy—as if his very veins might burst into flame and explode from within.
As the reaction took hold, Solomon let out a roar that was entirely inhuman; he had undeniably become a creature.
Everything went blank. It was as if he were no longer himself; his mind felt detached, locked away in a cell, yet he remained acutely aware because he could still process his own thoughts.
He brought his arm up before his face, staring at the mutated limb. Veins bulged beneath the surface, and his fingers had shifted into abnormal shades, stretching much longer than usual. Solomon didn't want to imagine what the rest of him looked like now.
But sadly, a mirror stood directly in front of him.
One eye looked almost human, though the iris glowed with an unnatural, haunting shade. But his other eye... what had happened to it? Had it gone blind? Thick, dark veins stretched from the socket, covering the area with a deep, vivid red that formed the distinct shape of an 'X'.
"I like this appearance," Solomon grinned, leaning in to inspect himself further in the glass. "System, what are my skills?"
The system didn't respond immediately. Instead, it sounded unsettled. "You scare me, Host. You're actually happy looking like that?"
"Isn't it better than my human skin?"
"Creep."
"Yeah."
Suddenly, a tongue lashed out, striking the iron bars he had been hiding behind and shattering them instantly.
Having now evolved, Solomon ignored the system's insults. It seemed he would have to discover the skills of this mutation entirely on his own.
"Soul coins! Give me your soul coins!" the teacher screamed.
The tongue launched at the bars again. Solomon leaped, his body soaring several times higher than a human could manage, and landed firmly on a nearby rooftop. He looked down, then raised his head to face the monster coming for him.
A grin spread across Solomon's face. That was thrilling—had he been any slower, would he have been turned into a bloody mess? It was probably the wrong thought for the moment, but he couldn't help it.
"No more playing around."
The rush of adrenaline flared and subsided like a sudden combustion. The feeling of being a creature was truly exhilarating—it felt like breaking free from human rules, from the very skin that bound him.
He was a monster now, free from the laws of men. He could commit any heinous crime, and the authorities would never be able to catch him.
"Host, your thoughts are dangerous!" The system sounded panicked, clearly frightened by the direction Solomon's mind was taking.
Solomon didn't respond. His eyes remained locked on the creature.
The tongue stretched out again, attacking with every move he made, but he maintained his distance, keeping an extra length of space between them.
His evolution had granted him incredible speed and lightning-fast reflexes. While the default user's tongue possessed speed, it lacked those same reflexes—a weakness Solomon could exploit.
Whenever the tongue struck, he could react instantly, using his newfound advantages against it.
The default user launched at Solomon again, giving him no time to think or calculate. The atmosphere grew heavy as the monster charged. Solomon leaped away, descending from the rooftop to the ground below the school building.
Though the system hadn't listed his skills, Solomon was beginning to figure them out. He now possessed the wall-crawling grip of a gecko, and then there was the tail—a feature he had only just noticed. It was a limb he could control with ease, manipulating it for any action he desired.
'This is interesting,'Solomon thought.
He allowed himself only five seconds of reflection before the default user resumed the assault. The tongue swung through the air, rushing toward him, but Solomon continued to play a game of cat and mouse. The monster's tongue was predictable; it only knew how to strike directly.
"How dare you escape me!" the default user roared, raging with anger. "I have never met a person as difficult as you. Are you also a system user? How were you able to mutate? Speak!"
Solomon merely sneered. His eyebrows furrowed as he stared intently at the creature, offering no verbal reply. The default user had paused to vent its frustration, and that was all the time Solomon needed to calculate his next move.
It was time. He was done playing around; it was time to strike.
His transformation wasn't useless. His 'X' eye, though dark and bulging with black veins, was far from blind. In fact, it was the most functional part of his new form.
While his normal-looking eye felt dull, this mutated one allowed him to gaze deep into the horizon, perceiving things far beyond human reach.
He was no longer normal. He had evolved into a creature, and the feeling made his blood boil with excitement.
He felt as though he were losing his mind, but he forced himself to stay calm. He was still in control, even if his rampant thoughts were enough to creep out the system.
Now, he would be the hunter, and the default user would be the prey.
Solomon launched himself at the monster. Caught unprepared, the creature couldn't react in time. Solomon extended his claws and sliced through the massive tongue, sending a piercing scream echoing through the area.
"Ah—!" the default user roared in agony. It had never expected such an attack.
The entire time, the creature had sensed that Solomon's energy shouldn't be enough to reach him.
The default user had absorbed nearly a billion dollars' worth of value for its evolution, while Solomon hadn't even reached two million.
To be successfully attacked by someone so "weak" was unacceptable.
The default user was enraged.
However, its thoughts meant nothing to Solomon.
His only focus was to bring this user down; if he failed, his life was at risk. The pain of the wound seemed to snap something inside the monster's head, making it even more violent.
Solomon lunged again, claws bared. The tongue was still a dangerous obstacle, but his main target was the head. Unfortunately, the default user wasn't a cripple—it had four powerful arms and two legs that created a lethal barrier.
Worse, Solomon could sense his energy fading, draining at an alarming rate. He couldn't easily reach a vital point while his strength was flagging. He had only one minute left to end this. If the default user was still standing when his energy hit zero, he was completely done for.
He needed to disable the arms, but the tongue kept blocking his path. Solomon leaped backward, his body rolling as if he were about to land hard on the ground. But mid-leap, he twisted his frame. His feet found their mark, delivering a powerful, crushing hit to the creature.
The default user thought Solomon was still in front of him, but Solomon's speed was so great that he had disappeared and reappeared behind the monster before it could even register the movement.
The only thing the default user had was the speed of its tongue—and that simply wasn't enough anymore.