Evolution starts from a seed.

A seed of intense desire to overcome hardships. Tempered through life-and-death situations, I had long since met the elusive requirements.

Although it boasts many benefits, it comes with a terrible cost—your skills and levels reset back to square one, except for inherent racial traits and techniques that don’t require the usage of a skill, such as the [Divine Castration Arts] which I’ve created.

Clenching my forehead, I staggered forward towards him. A thin film of sticky liquid—-blood—-coated my face. Cursing under my breath, I couldn’t believe my terrible luck. I thought the [Dimensional Rift] would disintegrate them all into dust.

He—no,—she brushed off some debris from her cowl. “Nice try,” she said, sidestepping an icicle spear. “Ambushes won’t work on me!” she shouted over her shoulder with a smirk.

Ajay carried Yuki, her arm outstretched and panting from exertion.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion from [Beserk] ending washed over me.

[YES/NO EVOLUTION]

“I accept.”

A brilliant flash of light enveloped me, and I felt as if I was born anew, without injuries. As the light dissipated, weakness took hold. Helplessly weak. My legs are trembling like a newborn’s.

[New racial skill : Plagiarism obtained!]

[Plagiarism]

Upon glimpsing the usage of a skill, you have a short time frame to copy the skill.

Copied skills are single use.

Costs 10% of maximum mana pool to cast.

“Fuck you in particular” - unknown

I had dreaded this moment. The reason I held off using Evolution for so long was that it reset my abilities. Losing them was devastating, but at least my health and mana were fully restored.

My tongue instinctively searched for the missing tooth, and I checked my body over. No wounds.

“[Plagiarism].”

[Analytical Eye obtained!]

[Analytical Eye]

You can accurately gauge the situation.

Proficiency increases on usage.

Passively consumes mana.

The gears in my head started turning as I read the skill description, then it hit me.

She is the notorious “Dragonic Actuary.” She became so adept at analysis and predictions that she could almost tell the future.

Due to the loss of item-storing skills like [Predation], a bunch of random items are scattered around me. Her eyes widened as I picked up a pouch, revealing coins.

‘Heads I attack her, tails I run away.’

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As she was prepared to chase after us, I copied Yuki’s [Borrowed Time] skill to reset the cooldown. Passive activation skills appeared to be always available to copy.

I leaped at her, slamming my fist into her stomach in an uppercut motion.

Crack.

I felt my bones shattering just from the impact, but she was sent flying, blood spurting from her mouth. A familiar voice echoed in my head :

[Borrowed Time] activated, five second cooldown starting.

She raised her arms up in an attempt to block.

‘Heads I punch her in the gut, tails I use my technique on her.’

“Divine Castration Art First Form : Crescent Kick!”

Crack. Crack.

“Do you forget the sword without skills?”

The anger surged within me.

[Berserk obtained!]

With a war cry, I flipped the coin again.

‘Heads I duck, tails I punch her in the face.’

The coin flew through the air, seemingly slowing time as we both stared at it. I ducked, dropping prone. A look of realization flashed across her face—too late.

A barrage of icicles skewered her into the ground. Her corpse is mangled beyond recognition, blood glistening on the spears.

I turned around. Yuki hunched over, heaving up blood from mana overuse, the coin slipping from her fingers. She gave me a thumbs up.

‘[Borrowed Time] should activate soon for her. She’ll be fine.’

I turned my attention back to the actuary. Too tired to gloat, I quickly absorbed her body, unlocking the prerequisite to the [Azure Dragon Shunpo] skill. Even with the correct lineage, it is near impossible to obtain due to the difficulty of the technique.

I grimaced from the pain as [Borrowed Time] ran out.

In the distance, I saw more dragons rapidly approaching.

“Nova! Are you okay?? Are you hurt?” one called out.

‘So her name is Nova…’

I nodded, feeling her blood that stained my face during the confrontation. “A… Potion,” I croaked.

I pointed to Yuki and Ajay. “Friends.”

Probability manipulation.

Deceived by my appearance and assessing the situation quickly, they obliged, bring us to Nova’s home.

“The generals pray for your health,” they said, dropping items and my friends in a heap. “Rest and recover.”

Flapping their wings, they disappeared into the distance.

Taking the chance, I polymorphed into Nova’s human form, poking around her home while drinking potions. Ajay was relatively unhurt, tending to Yuki. Walking into an adjoining room, my eyes widened. Piles upon piles of minted gold coins from long fallen empires, rare jewels, bizarre items lay scattered about. The walls are lined with paintings and sculptures—like a personal museum.

‘Useless,’ I thought. ‘How am I going to use them? I don’t even have an item storage skill.’

Night turned into day then into night again. Dragonian servants periodically checked up on us.

“Are you feeling well? The divine generals send their regards. You will have to resume work on the ledgers soon.”

“Yes, tell them I’ll recover soon, and to look for my escorts who… Backstabbed me. The green and red dragons accompanied me on that day.”

“I understand. I will relay your message. Rest well,” he said, leaving food.

I hadn’t realized it, but I have a craving although I don’t have to eat. My party is too. I’m not sure if this is normal dragonic cuisine. A wide assortment of roasted meats and venison stew—it was comparable to the feast at Yuki’s bestowment ceremony. They brought massive portions, befitting a dragon. Another reason they preferred their humanoid forms—it consumed less energy.

Wiping my mouth on a handkerchief, we started to pack up. We were all healed and ready to go, and it'd be suspicious if they saw me harboring two strangers while not doing any work. Taking one last look at the cavern, I set the ledgers ablaze.

‘Fuck those lizards.’

Grabbing all the gold that we could carry, we booked it. Transforming into my dragonic form, I spread my wings and flew away, carrying Yuki and Ajay.

“Where to next?” Ajay asked. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this has been fun.”

Yuki and I scrutinized him.

“Adrenaline junkie,” she muttered.

“Exactly,” I replied. “I bet he enjoyed shitting his pants.”

“What? Hey, c’mon guys don’t be like that….”

After a few hours of flying, we descended into the forest below for a meal.

“Eris, you’ve been putting this off,” Yuki said between bites of rabbit. “Remember what happened? You can’t just keep running amok.”

She was right. It slipped my mind.

“I heard he used to attend a prestigious academy in dwarven territory,” she said. “Aegium Academy, I think?”

The fire crackled.

“Hmm,” I said, roasting a rabbit and handing it to Ajay. “I thought you wanted an adventure.”

Yuki paused. “I’ve never attended school traditionally. Royalty is educated by tutors. I could get us a pass.”

Little information is known about the new pope. In a few years, he would go on to graduate and become the new pope.

“Well, we might as well,” I said. “It’ll be a safe place to lie low. I can rebuild my strength—and, of course, assassinate him.”

“Besides, I’ve been holding off on teaching you to write,” Yuki continued. “This would be a good chance to slow down and catch our breath. Who knows? It could be fun.”

‘For centuries.’

“You don’t know how to write?!” Ajay coughed, interrupting us. “Sorry, I—” he hacked louder. “Choked on my food.”

Yuki and I shared a brief gaze. ‘Yup, he’s totally useless,’ we thought.