I Refused To Be Reincarnated

As the dim light radiated from his spell, dissipating the surrounding darkness, he couldn't help but shudder, understanding where the terrible odor came from.

He gazed at the row of cells lining the rocky passage. Inside, rotting carcasses covered the ground, their purple-dark blood contaminating the damp air. Their corpses, an unholy mix of several creatures, made his stomach churn in repugnance.

"I'm regretting the forest..." He muttered, slightly scared by a towering carcass chained on the wall combining the features of a bear, a shark and a monkey. With its jagged teeth, fins, bulging muscles and standing on two legs, it looked nothing less than grotesque and coming straight out of a nightmare.

Diverting his eyes, he gazed at the tower's familiar notifications.

[Defeat ten magical creatures to complete the third trial.] Only on m v|le|mp|yr

[The reward's quality will be based on the type of beasts slain by the challenger.]

[Slay the boss to obtain the biggest potential reward.]

[Remaining time: Seven-two hours.]

With a sigh, he engulfed himself in the passage, unsurprised by the slightly different settings. After all, he expected the clear requirements to increase or at least become much more difficult as he conquered more floors.

After two minutes, he reached a massive wooden door guarded by... something.

'What's that?!' He screamed inwardly, his eyes bulging at the sight of a fully armored knight. However, instead of the robust arms expected, it had tentacles. Its head, a wretched mix of a gorilla covered in green lizard's scales, contrasted with its spotless plate armor.

'Who's the crazy fucker who created creatures like that?' He shivered as the aberration hissed, his thin pupils locking on the intruder.

Bending its arched legs, it lunged at him with a terrifying, guttural growl with its tentacles drawn behind.

Swiftly entering battle mode, Adam summoned his ethereal radiance, his eyes narrowed in focus.

SWOOSH

With a mighty swipe, the aberration flailed its massive tentacle, aiming to crush him.

Despite its speed, Adam, now an experienced fighter with years of deadly battles behind him, swiftly sidestepped the deadly tentacle as it collided with the ground, cracking its hard surface.

Then, he firmly planted his right foot on the ground, tensed his back and arm muscles and rotated his hips in a skilful movement, delivering a slicing strike at the extended tentacle.

BOOM

Before the creature could bleed, a powerful explosion of radiant light engulfed its severed limb, charring it black in a second and making it roar in pain.

Subsequently, the creature grabbed its shoulder, making him frown in confusion. Then, under his enlarging eyes, it tore off its burned arm, causing a fountain of disgusting blood to spew everywhere.

As he pondered if the creature had gone mad from the pain, the sizzling sound of rocks being dissolved by acid filled his ears. Simultaneously, a purple mist rose ominously from the reaction.

"Poison!" He exclaimed, swiftly using his control to create a small spinning mass of mana.

Then, he increased its speed, causing it to spin faster and create a light blue swirling miniature twister, drawing in the purple gas.

The creature frowned with irritation, noticing its poisonous mist absorbed and isolated in the darkening twister.

Then, its forehead's veins bulged like snakes as it released a low growl under Adam's amused gaze.

However, shock quickly replaced amusement as a new tentacle sprouted from the torn shoulder. In his astonishment, he understood the abomination inherited the natural traits of the creatures forming it.

"Seriously, who would conjure such an abomination?" he asked, frowning as the creature opened its mouth.

"Ignatius."

A name uttered in a disgusting voice thundered in his ear as he blurted out, "It can even speak? What in the world is going on?"

In response, the creature's eyes turned bloodshot as it repeated the name, its voice gradually becoming louder.

"IGNATIUS!" It roared, its eyes filled with madness, and threw all caution to charge at the stunned, daring human, flailing its two tentacles in a barrage as it uttered ancient words.

Faced with the fast-approaching tentacles, Adam jumped back, creating distance and channelled his mana into a solid bullet hovering before him.

"Time to end this." He smirked as the sound of snapping fingers echoed in the corridor.

BOOM

With an explosive sound, the bullet cut through the air and lodged itself in the abomination's forehead.

"GRAA!" Disbelief covered its features as it growled in pain, stopped its chant, and focused on healing the deadly wound.

Simultaneously, Adam's smirk broadened. He had already witnessed its regeneration abilities. Was he a fool not to account for it?

Then, despair filled the creature's eyes as something prevented its recovery. After a second, its legs buckled, and it fell to the ground amidst clattering sounds. Until its ultimate moments, it couldn't understand where the problem came from as the mana bullet lodged in its head finally dissipated after his eyes turned glassy.

"Thanks for the information!" He said, his gaze calculative as he reviewed what he learned.

Of course, he could have ended the battle in seconds by abusing his mana, yet decided against it. He potentially had to spend three long days in the trial and needed to keep his mana for the boss or when encountering multiple enemies.

Additionally, he wanted to understand the creature's abilities and meticulously devise plans to defeat its companions effortlessly. Even if he was stronger, he still refused to take any risks or underestimate his opponents.

"Regeneration, poison, maybe magic, increased strength, and other bestial traits." He said, not feeling threatened and pondering if he should use these creatures as training materials to improve his melee battle style as he walked towards the door.

Then, before opening it, he checked his new notification.

[Tier 2: ??? defeated. You have gained 100 experience points.]

"Sixteen more to go," he said with a wry smile, remembering he was 1620 Xp away from levelling up before adding, "Did the system glitch or even he can't name this... thing?"

With a shake of his head, he struck the door with his spear, triggering an explosion that sent it flying off its hinges, revealing what lay beyond.