Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

After another minute of slowly torturing the underground monster with countless more tons of sand, Cassius finally received the system notifications, guiding him to a gradual decrease in speed. He refocused his vision back to a normal level of speed perception, then read through the notifications. That was also when he learned the name and rank of the thing he had just suffocated to death.

*Ding!*

[You have slain a C- Sand Devourer!]

[Your Experience Bar has tremendously moved!]

[You leveled up!]

[You received 4 AP!]

[All of your Main Attributes have increased by 3 Points!]

OOOM!

Cassius felt a wave of power wash over him as he experienced a level-up, something that hadn't happened to him for a few Gates worth of grinding.

A smirk formed on his usually apathetic expression.

This Gate was already showing signs of being extremely lucrative. And would he really be a pursuer of Character Development if he didn't take advantage of a dangerously profitable opportunity?

As one guided or, rather, misguided by the Idle Evolution System, there was really only one answer to this question.

While in the midst of his own satisfied thoughts, Cassius was slow to notice the appearance of similar tremor events all around the area. For miles on end, brown feelers sprouted up, with their owners already in the process of digging out of the ground.

Cassius's expression hardened at this sight.

"No matter how confident I am in my speed, there's simply no possible way that I can use the same trick on upwards of a dozen of them," he analyzed retrospectively. "But even if I can't drown them to death, I have other methods…"

He flicked his wrist, causing a jagged puzzle piece blade to appear in his grasp. Its crimson glow shone under the searing heat, creating a vast contrast to the icy expression plastered across its owner's devilishly handsome face.

Cassius lifted the blade vertically and placed it up against his chest, with the blade's edges reflecting his chiseled features. His stance emulated the sheer level of explosive power contained within his muscles, while Lilith's killing intent further amplified his own.

For a moment, the tremors subsided. But in the very next moment, they returned with even greater ferocity, and then explosions of sand occurred in several different locations!

Taking a cold glance at the appearance of these monsters, Cassius saw their yellow system tags, all of which identified them as |Sand Devourers|. Then, his frosty eyes fell on their physical appearances, which could easily be described as monstrous creatures derived straight from nightmare fuel.

Each Sand Devourer had a similar look. Their lower half was that of a massive worm body, with each eerie segment squirming over the hot sand. Their upper halves, on the other hand, were a mixture of a worm, a mole, and a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. The mole aspect solely consisted of their two front claws, which resembled those of the burrowing mammal.

The other traits were obvious… as they looked like smaller versions of those enormous sand worms from the Star Wars saga.

Cassius knew he was in for a tough fight, but he was not deterred. Far from it.

His eyes flashed with cold killing intent, further accentuated by the icy gleam exuding from them. Then, without giving a shout or warning, he slung Newbie Sword 2 over his shoulder and blurred toward the closest of the Sand Devourers.

The Sand Devourer let out a hiss-like roar as it met the brazen human head-on. It planned to devour him in a single bite!

Yet, it only took one swift movement for Cassius to kick against the ground and throw the Sand Devourer's original plans way off track.

SHING! SHING!

Cassius glided past the Sand Devourer's gaping maw, then tossed Newbie Sword 2 onto the monster's back. But before it made contact, he magnified the sword's weight with the assistance of a basic Gravity-type D+ Skill called 'Weight Dilation.'

From its original 10,000 or so pounds, Newbie Sword 2 reached an astronomical 25,000 pounds, which was the upper limit of Weight Dilation's current effectiveness!

Unable to dodge in time and far too large to consider a counterattack, the Sand Devourer felt an insurmountable force burrow into its spine and plant itself deep into its sinew. The only thing it could do was shriek in pain and violently thrash about, forcing the other attacking Sand Devourers to slither back by a few hundred meters.

Taking advantage of this moment, Cassius phased above the frenzied Sand Devourer and lashed out with Lilith. At first, the serrated blade pieces did little to no damage against the monster's tough skin; however, with each further slash, more and more of the Sand Devourer's hide was ruined.

Two seconds later, after a series of rapid slashing, Cassius figured it was time to wrap things up.

The Sand Devourer's skin had been shredded by the countless serrated strikes, revealing spots of exposed red tenderness just begging to be exploited. Doing just that, Cassius erupted in multiple consecutive bursts of speed.

Freed from the weight of Newbie Sword 2, he was able to lap the Sand Devourer's massive body multiple times per second.

Making use of Lilith's ability to extend her individual pieces across large distances while maintaining a connected form, Cassius wrapped her around the entirety of the Sand Devourer. Once no part of the monster was left untouched, Cassius's killing intent solidified. He materialized behind the disturbing monster's body, then lightly tugged on Lilith's bloody handle.

SPURT!

The Sand Devourer was shredded to bits and exploded like an overfilled canister of paint. The surrounding desert was splattered a dark shade of reddish-green, making the already desolate scenery even grimmer.

*Ding!*

[You have slain a C- Sand Devourer!]

[Your Experience Bar has moderately moved!]

Although Cassius didn't receive a level-up system notification, there were still plenty more EXP bags for him to extract experience points from.

"Time for a bit of Grinding Character Development," he declared coldly, his subsequent actions displaying an even greater level of coldness.