Chapter 103 : Cat Knight’s Level-up

（Well then, it’s about time I start…）

A day had passed since the fierce battle against Vassago’s summoned beasts. In the night, Tama slipped out of the house and made his way to the labyrinth’s entrance.

The reason he went to visit the labyrinth was to gather 〝EXP?. His status presented a clearer picture of his goal.

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Name :Tama

Race :Behemoth(Infant)

Inherent Skill : 《Elemental Howl》, 《Skill Predation》, 《Elemental Tail Blade》, 《Divine Protection of Lion King》, 《Elemental Bullet》

Predated Skill : 《Storage》, 《Poison Fang》, 《Flight》, 《Fireball》, 《Icicle Lance》, 《Iron Body》, 《Summon Tentacles》, 《Unlimited Mucus Bullet》, 《Crossbreed》, 《Dragon Fang》, 《Dragon Claw》

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His skill column was the same as before. It was just that the ‘Evolution’ entry had vanished.

（As I thought, it disappeared after I used it in the battle against Orthos and Cyclops. Though, I already have a guess about how to make the ‘Evolution’ entry reappear.）

After fighting for a long time, Tama had become able to enter his second form. Then, he had fought a large number of undeads and undead dragons in order to attain his third form.

Even though mastering one’s abilities were important, the ‘Evolution’ entry would only appear if the accumulation of his EXP broke through a certain threshold—that was the hypothesis Tama had arrived after pondering for a while.

To test it, he had slipped out of Aria’s bed in the middle of the night and arrived at the labyrinth.

『GIGYA!』

『GUGIGUGIGU!』

As soon as Tama entered the labyrinth, he was met with two goblins.

「NYAN（《Flame Edge》）!」

Tama invoked one of his 《Elemental Tail Blades》 as he ran ahead, leaving behind two sliced bodies.

（Since Master and co. aren’t here with me today, I shall turn all of you bastards into a precious source of EXP for the incoming battle!）

Tama’s adorable eyes sharpened as he dived deeper into the labyrinth.

◆

『GEBAAAAAAAAAAA!』

Tama had finally arrived on the floor where the fierce battle had happened yesterday, the fifteenth floor. However, a grotesque monster blocked his path.

Troll!

It was an A rank monster that Aria and co.’s combined force had defeated without Tama’s assistance.

「NyaaAAA (Uhm, fat EXP… HERE I COME!）」

Tama raised an adorable war cry as soon as he saw the Troll. He then invoked one of his 《Elemental Bullet》 and 《Water Missile》.

The bluish bullet flew straight into the troll’s abdomen and trapped the monster inside a water prison in the next moment.

As expected of an A rank monster, the Troll could still struggle inside of the water prison and escape with its sheer strength.

「NYAN（《Water Howling》）!」

Tama didn’t let his guard down and used 《Elemental Howl》 toward the troll’s arm that came out from the water prison.

The resulting pain weakened the troll’s resistance by a lot, and the monster swallowed tons of water as it howled in pain.

Its wound had already closed thanks to its insane regeneration rate, but its resistance was gradually weakening by the seconds. Since the troll couldn’t breathe, it was only natural that it kept swallowing water.

And finally… the whites of the Troll’s eyes showed themselves as the monster met its death in the water prison.

（Great, now let’s confirm my status.）

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Name :Tama

Race :Behemoth(Infant)

Inherent Skill :《Elemental Howl》, 《Skill Predation》, 《Elemental Tail Blade》, 《Divine Protection of Lion King》, 《Elemental Bullet》

Predated Skill :《Storage》, 《Poison Fang》, 《Flight》, 《Fireball》, 《Icicle Lance》, 《Iron Body》, 《Summon Tentacles》, 《Unlimited Mucus Bullet》, 《Crossbreed》, 《Dragon Fang》, 《Dragon Claw》

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（Uhm… the evolution option still hasn’t appeared even though I beat the troll. Guess I need to defeat more monsters.）

Feeling slightly dejected, Tama advanced to the next floor.

◆

『GROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!』

A howl capable of sending shivers running through one’s spine resounded inside the stone passage on the twentieth floor of the labyrinth.

（A 〝Lesser Dragon?, huh. Interesting, this guy will become my precious source of EXP!）

The name of the monster waiting for Tama was Lesser Dragon. Just as its name stated, it was a member of low ranked dragons.

The monster walked on its four limbs, and hard scales covered its entire body. It was incapable of using breath attack, but its movements were witty and agile.

Although its height paled in comparison to that of the giant Earth Dragon, an S-rank monster, the Lesser Dragon was still around five meters long.

Its offensive abilities were a far cry from a high-rank Dragon, but it was more powerful than a Troll. The Lesser Dragon’s rank lied between A rank and S rank, A+ rank to be precise.

The Lesser Dragon shook its giant tail as soon as it saw Tama.

「NYAN（Attack on sight）!」

Tama had made full use of his experience as a knight, and his behemoth’s dynamic vision had predicted the Lesser Dragon’s tail attack. So he dodged it with a jump.

Then―

「NYAN（《FLIGHT》）!」

Tama invoked the skill he had acquired from the wyvern that he had defeated long ago, 《Flight》, and soared on top of the Lesser Dragon.

『Growl!?』

A seemingly small, weak animal had dodged its attack, and it had spread its wings to fly on top of it.

The Lesser Dragon couldn’t hide its surprise.

「NYA!（Eat this《Rock Howling》）!」

Tama fired his Earth Elemental’s Howling form above the Lesser Dragon’s head.

He didn’t feel like fighting an opponent whose size was far greater than him. That was why he had chosen to attack from outside of his opponent’s attacking range.

The mass of rocks created by Tama’s 《Rock Howling》 fell right on top of Lesser Dragon’s head.

The Lesser Dragon tried to get away from that place, but…

（YOU CAN’T RUN!）

Tama flew even higher and higher until he reached the ceiling, then he released a barrage of 《Rock Howling》.

The second and subsequent Rock Howling attacks were more powerful than the first one since they had an altitude advantage.

After receiving such powerful impacts right on the head so many times, the Lesser Dragon finally crumbled. It fell unconscious due to the damage to its brain.

（Uhm, fainted, huh. Now it’s time to end this!）

After approaching the unconscious Lesser Dragon bit-by-bit, Tama unleashed one of his 《Elemental Sword Tail》 and 《Ether Edge》 and finished off the Lesser Dragon with a stab to its eye.

Finished with the fight, Tama checked his status again.

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Name :Tama

Race :Behemoth(Infant)

Inherent Skill :《Elemental Howl》, 《Skill Predation》, 《Elemental Tail Blade》, 《Divine Protection of Lion King》, 《Elemental Bullet》

Predated Skill :《Storage》, 《Poison Fang》, 《Flight》, 《Fireball》, 《Icicle Lance》, 《Iron Body》, 《Summon Tentacles》, 《Unlimited Mucus Bullet》, 《Crossbreed》, 《Dragon Fang》, 《Dragon Claw》

Possible Evolution:?Behemoth, 2nd Form

?Behemoth, 3rd Form

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（I see! Two evolution options have appeared, huh! So, the second form gives me a pure destructive power, while the third form provides me a high defense and Holy element. However… using the second form is basically telling Master and co. about my identity as a Behemoth, which leaves me with only the third form…）

Even though he was really delighted upon seeing two options in the evolution column, Tama felt that the second form was the cart before the horse. He could never use it in public.

But still, he had achieved the goal he had come to this place with.

Tama licked his dirtied fur to clean it, and…

「Nya~~~~~n!」

With an adorable triumphant cry, Tama walked back to the surface.