They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 35: Level Fifty and a New Skill
Mana shells exploded across the marsh, blasting black mud and fragments of half-rotten bark into the air.
After several quiet months, heavy bombardment descended upon the Marsh Zone once more.
This time, however, the enemy consisted of only two Beastkin.
The instant they realized they were surrounded, Inigo and Miro fixed their feline eyes on the forest.
If they could escape the Marsh Zone, the complex terrain among the trees would help them flee even if more enemies waited outside.
First, of course, they had to break out of the Marsh Zone.
Neither intended to fight. There were simply too many Puffcaps.
Even if every one stood still and allowed itself to be cut down, the effort would exhaust the pair to death.
Their only chance was to breach the encirclement before it closed.
Several Spore Cannon blasts tore through the air as they sprinted, falling toward their positions.
[Haste LV6]
[Refract Step LV7]
Both used their respective skills to evade the attacks, but this was only the prelude.
Nearly saturating fire made the entire marsh boil. The two Beastkin darted and twisted through the mud, able to do little more than avoid direct hits.
They could only endure the shock waves from the explosions.
Confident in his tougher body, Inigo charged ahead with even greater speed and ferocity.
He drew close to the edge of the encirclement. Only several dozen widely spaced Puffcaps stood before him.
Inigo raised his saber high and used Charge, flashing behind one Puffcap as its upper body sailed into the air.
His nimble movements and exceptional Beastkin instincts let him find precise gaps within the killing field as he fought his way outward.
He was almost through!
Several Puffcaps ahead curled into balls and used Charge against him at the same time.
The sight nearly made the Tigerkin laugh.
He did not dare take those mana shells head-on, but did creatures as soft as Puffcaps truly intend to fight him in close combat?
If he met their charge with his saber held across his body, he could cut through them in an instant.
A chain of Detonations thundered.
The Tigerkin burst from the blasts, his entire body charred.
At the final instant, instinct had driven him to escape, but he reacted slightly too late.
Everything below Inigo’s left knee had vanished.
He crashed to the ground and could no longer stand.
The Puffcaps aimed their Spore Cannons at him from a safe distance.
“The Fifth Stratum ... cough, cough ... They’ll laugh themselves to death. Dying in the island mists would’ve been better than this.”
Inigo looked toward Miro in his final moment.
He saw his companion’s body flying through the air after an explosion.
The pose was so ridiculous that Inigo could not stop himself from laughing.
“Pfft!”
Boom!
Evan had finally dealt with the two adventurers who came looking for trouble and was about to calculate his losses.
Then a notification he had awaited for ages appeared in his mind.
[Level Up: LV49 → LV50]
[New Selectable Racial Skill +]
Finally!
He had finally reached LV50!
Leveling was unbearably difficult. Evan had already been LV48 when he first arrived on the Fifth Stratum.
He had devoured almost every monster on the stratum, then spent months harvesting mana through hyphae spread across the entire level.
At last, these two Beastkin provided the final push!
He was almost moved to tears.
In Evan’s experience, every ten levels brought a skill naturally suited to his species.
Spore Cannon was an obvious example. Skills designed specifically for mushroom species were far more useful than most of the random abilities he plundered.
Quickly. What could he choose this time?
[Available Skills:
Long-Range Dispersal (greatly extends spore drift for very long-range propagation)
Mycelial Reconstruction (automatically repairs an organism hypha by hypha, alive or dead)
Delectable (an incomparable flavor)]
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