Feeling a collection of essences gather inside his body, and seep into his very being, his soul, Aiden once again, after so long, felt the addictive sensation of growing stronger in the most natural way to his race, the Primal's know-how.

Strangely, absorbing the very essences of the orc didn't feel wrong to him at all. On the contrary, it felt good, as if this was the natural way in life. He felt the energy rapidly increase in his body, he felt his muscles contort as they gained even more density. His eyes that were shimmering with a bright, golden luster didn't seem to cease.

He saw a multitude of notifications appearing silently in the system, but for the time being, he chose to ignore them. He checked on the progress in the Dark Essence analysis.

[Note: Dark Essence found! Progress... 85% … Gathering Complete!... Analyzing…]

The required amount of essence has been collected. System Analyzation is underway.

Estimated time before completion: ???]

His lips curved into an expression of satisfaction, he was satisfied with the results. Just as he hoped, absorbing the creature soaked and empowered with it provided a significant boost to the comprehension process.

One thing that puzzled him was that he didn't get an estimation on when the system would finish the process, and was just greeted with question marks instead. Regardless, he gained what he could, the only thing that remained was to put a stop to this mess and finish what he came here to do.

Calming his senses, he lowered his gaze and looked at the walking pile of abhorrent mutant, that was currently being surrounded by his three standing minions. Despite that he was still keeping its glowering, scarlet-colored bloody eyes on him, ignoring the insignificant ants that kept surrounding him.

He didn't know the specifics, but Aiden could feel an increase in his own attributes. He felt stronger and even more agile than before. He wanted to check the slew of messages that cluttered at the corner of his vision, but he knew that he can't waste the time on it right now.

Despite using so much of his own energies, he felt rejuvenated, as if his reserves were restored to their peak state. He wanted to test his own strength, his new 'normal' limits, without the boost of his powerful abilities and inmates. Cracking his joints his eyes locked on the target, the creature that failed to complete his evolution and became this abomination.

Pushing more power onto his legs, he planted them stably on the floor. He bent his knees as he lowered his posture, focusing on the creature swaying his meaty arms wildly at Glohn and Gob whilst Galina stood a step behind the two and kept spamming her nature spells supporting the two.

Aiden was similar to a predator, eyeing his unsuspecting prey from the distance. He was focused, he waited for the optimal moment to unleash himself and lunge at this fiend.

He did not activate his Draconic skillset, he didn't enhance his body with the energies of the [Mystic Martial Arts]. He wanted to see what the limits of his own body his true strength could output.

As the small ants that the monster did not consider any threat kept pestering him, its annoyance slowly grew, reaching ever higher, culminating to the point where its rage was slowly started shifting from its original target.

Even though he was consumed by an eternal madness, with no possibility of turning back, and he lost his sanity to the point it can no longer be considered a humanoid conscious creature and should be referred to him as 'it', it still realized the problem that if it wanted to reach the creature standing far in the back it first had to crush this current obstacle, these annoying ants.

With a bellowing roar, the creature raised its massive arms in the air ready to strike down and squash the bugs in front of him. As he raised his air and continued to gather his strength, even the air around him turned colder, thicker. Gob and Glohn's senses warned them of the impending doom that was cast on them, but as they were about to move, they felt their master's presence from their back. Through the connection they all shared, they knew of his plan and decided to hold up this horrible existence for as long as they can, so the young master could get ready. Now, that they felt that he was ready, they suddenly jumped to the left and right, opening a path in the middle, in front of the creature.

Aiden was just waiting for this moment. The moment the creature raised its arms and made an obvious opening in its previously tight defense, he launched himself forward and charged with an immense speed. It was a far cry to the one when others could only see him blinking, almost akin to teleporting a distance, but it was still not something that could be explained by normal means.

His blurry figures, zapped through the short distance, crashing into the meaty giant with a violent explosion of sound and dust, forcing the trio of ex-goblins to shield their eyes momentarily.

Before the dust could settle another explosion, another blustering soundwave rang out from inside the cloud, throwing some more rubble and destroying the nearby doors that housed the now-dead orcs not too long ago.

The series of punches followed by the loud explosions continued for more than a minute until the sound of crashing could be heard. After that, only a gravely groaning, the creature's recognizable voice was the only indicator of what could have transpired inside the thick cloud of dust that continued to dissipate but was always fed with even more substance.

The trio felt the seconds that continued to pass were crawling at a snail's pace until finally, it cleared out enough to see the outline of the two confronting figures. The scene, despite only being able to make out vague silhouettes seemed incredible.

The large bulky frame of the mutated creature was deeply implanted to the wall whilst a couple of steps away from him, the lean figure of Aiden stood domineeringly. His chest was puffed out, proud of his achievement of triumphing over such a fearsome opponent using only his physical strength and speed.

After the momentary respite, he walked next to the heaving, beaten, battered mutated existence, looking at him with cold, emotionless eyes.

"[Orc] Although this may sound hypocritical coming from me, but I do hope that you find peace in your next life. I will now take your core and heart, absorb your memories and use the unique power you garnered for a much better purpose."

His words said, he struck down at the mutated orc, piercing its thick skin and plunging deep into its chest. His hand quickly went through the meat, searching for a particular organ and the crystal that was usually found next to it.

It didn't take long before his agile fingers felt a cold, smooth surface. Next to it, a tired, but still beating organ continued pumping the life-preserving blood, albeit with a decreasing rhythm. His fingers quickly wrapped around both of them, while Aiden was looking at the slowly dying creature with rigid coldness in his eyes. He was about to finish off a life, that although done horrible things and most likely caused endless suffering and torment to other, weaker beings, it was still a life.

He remembered Granny's teaching from the past, which seemed to not be able to withstand with the passing of time. Despite being taught to protect life, he still found himself not caring about it at all. As he continued to grow, and evolve, he found himself caring even less and less about those that stood against him or tried to cause harm to those that were close to him.

He shook his head, clearing it from these ill thoughts. He couldn't falter, he had to push forward. He had many things to accomplish, he had to stay strong. He had to push forward, to be strong to protect his family, his sister, and his friends.

Grabbing the crystal and the heart, he tore them from their meaty sockets, pulling them out of the orc's body, putting an end to his suffering.

His eyes focused on the strange, unique crystal that was now in his hands along with a bloody, rapidly waning organ. The crystal, which was usually relatively small in size, easily fitting in his palm, was much larger this time. A dark gaseous cloud of energy was swirling madly inside its transparent crystalline walls, with an even darker, seed resting in the midst of it.

Aiden was looking at this much darker seed with amazement, he had never seen anything like it before. He was really interested in the use of it, but for the time being, he had to shelve it just like the notifications. With a thought, he stored the Unique Monster Core in his system's inventory, shifting his attention to the dark, grimy heart that was slowly turning to its eternal slumber.

He was already aware of a series of images that the system somehow forced to stall that most likely came from the absorbed orc, and he was now about to add more to that list with this one… Still, he was already hungry for the increase in power that he would most likely receive.

With expectant, wolfish eyes, he didn't hesitate for long, opening his mouth he bit down...