Chapter 56: Evolving!

The quarry dungeon had reset by the time Nacho returned that afternoon.

He stood at the entrance, watching the yellow mist swirl with that familiar hunger, and felt something close to anticipation building in his chest. Two more levels. That was all he needed. The Frost Titan and Bone Colossus were still guarding their respective floors, which meant he only needed to farm the first two levels until the experience bar filled up.

Simple enough.

He stepped through the mist and immediately felt the dungeon’s magic wash over him like cold water.

[You’ve entered the dungeon: Abandoned Quarry - Floor 1]

[Floor Boss: Iron Excavator (Rare) | Level 35]

[Warning: Dungeon has fully respawned.]

The Iron Miners were waiting for him in the first chamber, their rusted bodies grinding against each other as they turned toward the sound of his footsteps. Six of them, spread out in a loose formation that might have been tactical if they weren’t mindless constructs following basic programming.

Nacho didn’t bother with subtlety this time. He pulled six Silverion Daggers from his inventory and let Dagger Duchess do the work, each blade curving through the air with that unnatural homing precision before burying itself in a different target’s core chamber.

[-3,000 MP | 6,590 / 9,590]

[You’ve slain: Iron Miner (Uncommon) | Level 30 x6. +3,600 Experience]

The constructs collapsed in a shower of rust and sparks, their cores already dimming as the magic that animated them faded away. He collected the fallen daggers without slowing down, his feet carrying him deeper into the dungeon on autopilot while his mind wandered elsewhere.

Vance’s file on Lord Daven was burning a hole in his inventory. He hadn’t looked at it yet, partly because he’d been focused on the dungeon, but mostly because he wasn’t sure what he’d find inside. The Inquisitor had been chasing this guy for three years without success. What made her think a Siren with weird tentacle powers could do any better?

Maybe she’s desperate. Or maybe she knows something about me that I don’t.

Neither option was particularly comforting.

The Stone Breakers came next, three of them lumbering out of a side passage with all the grace of drunk elephants. They were bigger than the Miners, their bodies reinforced with thick plates of granite that would’ve given him trouble a week ago.

Now they just looked slow.

He activated Storm Manipulation at fifteen percent, sending crackling bolts of lightning arcing between the constructs and cooking their internal mechanisms. The smell of ozone filled the air, mixed with the acrid stench of superheated stone.

[-1,500 MP | 5,090 / 9,590]

[You’ve slain: Stone Breaker (Uncommon) | Level 32 x3. +2,880 Experience]

[Level Up! Level 48 → Level 49]

[+5 Free Stat Points]

One more.

The notification sent a thrill through him that had nothing to do with the stat boost. One more level and he’d finally find out what evolution meant for his kind. Would he get stronger? Faster? Would his tentacle abilities expand in ways he couldn’t predict? The system had been frustratingly vague about the whole thing, offering nothing but that tantalizing condition at the bottom of his status screen.

Evolution Condition: [Reach Level 50]

He dumped the new stat points into Charm without thinking about it, then continued deeper into the dungeon. The Rust Walker was waiting in the chamber before the boss room, its corroded body creaking with every movement as it turned to face him.

This one was smarter than the others. It didn’t charge blindly like its lesser cousins. Instead, it circled him with predatory patience, testing his defenses with quick feints that never quite committed to a full attack.

Nacho let it dance for a few seconds, using Combat Precognition to track its movement patterns. The creature was Level 34, strong enough to give him a real fight if he wasn’t careful. But he’d killed things much scarier than this in the past week.

His tentacle shot out while the Rust Walker was mid-feint, wrapping around its leg and yanking it off balance. The construct hit the ground with a crash that echoed through the chamber, and before it could recover, Nacho was on top of it, driving a dagger into its core with enough force to crack the surrounding metal.

[-500 HP Damage!]

[Rust Walker: 500 / 1,000 HP]

It thrashed beneath him, trying to throw him off, but his grip was too strong. He twisted the blade, widening the wound, then activated Storm Manipulation directly into the core chamber.

[-1,000 MP | 4,090 / 9,590]

[Critical Hit! -1,500 Damage!]

[You’ve slain: Rust Walker (Rare) | Level 34. +1,360 Experience]

The experience trickled in, adding to his bar without pushing him over the edge. He checked his status and saw that he was sitting at roughly 4,200 out of the 4,900 needed for Level 50.

Seven hundred more. The Excavator should give me enough to finish this.

The boss chamber opened up before him, that massive excavation site with its towering ceiling and rusted support beams. The Iron Excavator was waiting in the center, its drill-arms already spinning up as it detected his presence.

[Iron Excavator (Rare) | Level 35]

[HP: 8,000 / 8,000]

"Round two, big guy."

The construct roared, which was impressive considering it didn’t have a mouth, and charged. Nacho sidestepped the initial rush, using his enhanced Agility to dance around the creature’s massive bulk while he analyzed its attack patterns.

Same as before. Predictable. Slow.

He could end this fight in thirty seconds if he went all out, but something made him hold back. Maybe it was the anticipation of what was coming. Maybe he just wanted to savor the last real fight before everything changed.

Or maybe he was stalling because he was a little bit scared of what evolution might turn him into.

Stop being dramatic. Just kill the damn thing.

He launched himself at the Excavator’s back, using his tentacle as a grappling hook to haul himself up onto its shoulders. The creature thrashed and spun, trying to dislodge him, but he’d learned from last time. His grip was iron, his footing secure.

He found the core chamber and started cutting, his daggers biting into reinforced metal with patient determination. Each stroke peeled back another layer of protection, exposing the glowing heart beneath.

[-2,000 MP | 2,090 / 9,590]

Storm Manipulation poured into the wound, lightning arcing through the creature’s internal systems with devastating effect. The Excavator’s movements became jerky, uncoordinated. Its drill-arms slowed, then stopped entirely.

[Critical Hit! -4,500 Damage!]

[Iron Excavator: 3,500 / 8,000 HP]

One more push.

He grabbed the edges of the core chamber and pulled, tearing the metal apart with brute strength that would’ve been impossible a month ago. The core pulsed beneath his fingers, hot and desperate, like a dying heart fighting for one more beat.

He reached in and ripped it out.

[You’ve slain: Iron Excavator (Level 35). +7,000 Experience]

[Level Up! Level 49 → Level 50]

[Evolution Condition Met!]

[Initiating Evolution Sequence...]