I Refused To Be Reincarnated

"What's wrong with you?" Adam asked, his eyes narrowed in confusion and suspicion. Would their collaboration end so soon?

Only silence answered his question as Octavia's legs buckled. She collapsed to the ground next to the dead creatures, crying her heart out after remembering her sad story and her owner's demise.

With an emotionless face, he gazed at her, weighing his options.

'If she's going to cry after each abomination I defeat, she'll slow me down more than anything else.' He thought, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes for a second before he shook his head. 'Let's give her one more chance.'

"I'm sorry for your companions, but I can't afford to waste time. Stand up," he said, walking past her and returning to the corridor.

As his words echoed in the empty room, she looked at the dead chimaera with sympathy and said, her voice filled with resolve. "Don't worry. I'll take you all out with me."

Then, she bent her tear-filled face and devoured the two abominations, using their body to fuel her evolution and believing that they would live through her.

After a brief transformation, using its pain to cement her resolve, she joined Adam, surprising him with her new look.

"Can you assimilate every abomination you eat?" he asked, fixing her fur-covered face. However, her already short maw became even shorter, her bent legs straightened, and her snout became more delicate.

"Yes. My genes were modified to mutate and assimilate other creatures." She explained before adding, "But to reach the next realm, I'll need to consume five chimaeras of my level."

With a nod, he gestured for her to lead the way.

'What a devious and perverted system,' he thought with a sense of disgust.

'I'm no saint or hero, but this man is too much.' Fear veiled his eyes as he imagined the madman.

Then, he voiced his decision through gritted teeth, "I declare you my enemy, Ignatius. We cannot coexist under the same sky. Whether you are a fabricated creation of the tower or not, one of us will perish within the next three days!"

Startled by the sudden declaration, Octavia turned to gaze at him, her developing human emotions stimulated by his resolve.

She opted to flee after her transformation, using her bestial instinct and the cold-blooded calculative nature of a predator to drive her decision. But now, she wanted more. For revenge, to protect the other innocent animals from the monster and to offer peace to Misha's departed soul.

"I'll help you. You may be a weak human, but together, we'll have better chances." She said, her eyes ablaze with revenge.

"Hahaha. You'll understand how wrong you are soon, little Octavia." He replied with a smirk.

As Lucius explained years ago, mages held the absolute advantage against melee fighters. It was even truer for him, who bypassed the need for incantations and manifested his attack in split seconds.

"Four chimaeras are guarding the next lab. Let's see how you handle so many alone." She answered, annoyed to be called little by the short human. She was already almost three meters and would grow more as she evolved. So, what gave him so much courage?

"I have seen you fight. You strike as viciously as a beast, but your body is much weaker. You'll be overwhelmed by quantity or brute force eventually." She advised, trying to help this new companion.

After all, assessing their enemy's strength was the base for beasts. Overestimating oneself was the quickest way to die, and she needed him to confront Ignatius. Your journey continues with m-vl-em|p-yr

With a dismissive shrug, Adam walked to the door she was pointing at and kicked it open, revealing four abominations.

Pincers clapped, and paws echoed as they immediately lunged at the weak-looking human, their eyes filled with hunger.

"Hahaha, I'm only afraid of your creator's madness, not mere mishmashed beasts." With a smirk, he dashed towards an abomination, its lower body resembling a scorpion's legs, its midsection like that of a lizard, and its upper appendages resembling crab pincers.

The creature immediately launched a preemptive strike, using its pincer to crush the stupid human.

SNAP

The sound of the pincer closing echoed in the room as the velocity of the action caused the air to explode and the temperature to rise slightly.

However, the attack only hit empty hair as Adam slid on the ground, his hair blown backwards by the explosion.

Then, taking advantage of the height difference, he used his momentum to slide below the scorpion's legs and swung his spear at the abomination's abdomen.

BOOM

With a familiar explosion, the creature shrieked in pain as the burning light engulfed its falling inner organs, sharing them a black color.

"13," he counted before standing up and planting his left foot firmly on the ground. Then, he tensed his back muscles, bending backwards before releasing the tension like a spring.

"RAA!"

A mighty shout echoed as he catapulted his right arm forward with all his strength, releasing his grip on the spear mid-movement.

The air parted before the rapid-travelling spear until it collided with one of the charging creature's head.

BOOM

Octavia's eyes widened at the effective movement of the human, feeling they had deep purposes hidden behind them. Yet, also a deep-seated madness. Why was he grinning in the face of danger fearlessly, and his eyes sparkled with enjoyment?

These questions tormented her as she watched him slaughter the two remaining chimaeras with ease, using a bestial dagger.

Then, after he was done with his carnage, she expressed her doubts to him, unable to understand him.

"As counterintuitive as it may sound, I need madness to protect my sanity," he answered after a moment of thought. After all, combat was an alien concept to a peaceful citizen like him. Yet, he had been forced to fight wild beasts unprepared for his first trial.

As fear gripped his heart and consumed his thoughts on that tree, the only refuge he found for them was in the embrace of madness.

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