No, you don’t understand. They are weak. Pitifully so. The Misti Hawar raise them as if they were so many carnivorous squirrels, and, if what I’ve been told is to be believed, their Nyust’taa annihilate entire swarms as individuals to prove their worthiness to succeed the throne. Even so, when there are as many of a creature as there are of the keelish, there are bound to be exceptional individuals, and THOSE are the ones whose existence is feared, and whose existence spurred the “Great Purge” or whatever it is that the Veratocracy calls their extermination initiative. The Gran Verat says it’s something to do with a prophecy, but we don’t care here.

Letter from Drolick of Shandr to City Lord Ferrah of Harandal

It wasn’t necessary to fall asleep to begin my evolution. Instead, all that beginning the evolution took was a moment’s conscious thought that “now is the time”, and I immediately lost all sense of my surroundings.

Again, I felt… freed of my body. My perception of time, space, and self was distorted, yet somehow comfortable as I somehow floated down the invisible river of nothing.

[I must confess], the female voice interrupted my idle relaxation, [I thought that you might somehow return even faster than you did. I knew you weren’t completely reckless in here, but I thought that your personal fire mixed with your chemical inclinations would lead to either immediate death, or accelerated evolution.] The Administrator chuckled, her voice throaty and genuine. Meanwhile, I rebelled against my inclinations to ask questions or interject and let the Administrator continue to speak.

[I am happy to have been proven wrong, though. A more… moderate User of the System tends to make it further. Now, what does making it further mean?] The Administrator let the question echo out into the void. For uncomfortably long. [That, I won’t say, unless you want to use your singular question on it…?]

Suns burn her. She had already known that I was idly fishing for additional information and let me think that I was going to get something for free. The Administrator’s chuckles echoed through the space again as I came to the realization.

[Do you want to ask the question you asked before leaving last time?]

I.. don’t remember what it was.

[“What about me is so interesting? Why would I be singled out?”] My own voice, whiny and childish, immediately responded. Was that how I’d sounded?

[If I’ve exaggerated it, you’d never know. But is that your question?]

As curious as I was about that, no. I needed real information that would assist me, not just sate my thirst for a single question.

[So…?]

I had thought a little about this, knowing it was coming. I know that there are ways that I can “achieve growth” and have my stats increased other than evolution, but I don’t know what the ways are. Please advise me on what I need to do to qualify for that growth.

[Strictly speaking, you haven’t asked a question.] I began to try to formulate the question in my head, but I was cut off by the Administrator. [So far as I can tell, the question you wish to ask is “what do I need to do to qualify for growth outside of evolution?” Is that correct?]

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Yes…? I thought that was the case at least…I could feel anxiety begin to creep into my mind. Would the question work? If not, would I get another chance?

[Well, that is more of a Systemic Request than an Administrator’s Question, but I suppose that I can accelerate your acquisition of the Quest option.] Relief washed over me as the Administrator continued to speak. [I suppose that’s a good question, though much less exciting than any I’d expected.] I could tell she was pouting. For a so-called Administrator, she seemed pretty childish…

[No, I’m not childish, little fang. Just… bored beyond belief. Eternity is an unspeakably long time, after all. Anyway, I can give you some advice, though, for free, what with your question not really being a question. Evolve more, and don’t look down on the Alpha evolution options. Keelish are a creature that depends on numbers and unity to survive, and if you want to rise to the top, you must be an Alpha.]

Before I could form a complete thought in response to that, I was relegated back to oblivion, sinking deeper and deeper into the intangible river I’d floated in before, everything going dark and my mind clouding.

I woke with a start. I felt… good. Strong. I stood up, and as I moved, I could feel my vertebrae pop from the base of my skull all the way down to the tip of my tail. The release of pressure was divine, on the same level of my first sand bath, but instantaneous. Sighing under my breath, I pulled up my Status.

[Status:

Name: Ashlani

Race: Young Keelish Bloodletter

Current quest: Hunt and consume 1 new creature. Reward will vary depending upon the evolutionary level of prey. Base reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility +1.

Titles: none

Stats:

-Constitution: 4+2=6

-Strength: 4+4=8

-Agility: 6+4=10

-Intelligence: 6+1=7

-Magic: 0

Skills:

Bloodlust

Evolutionary foresight

-Adult Keelish Bloodletter: Survive 60 days. Progress: 5/60

-Young Keelish Bloodletter Alpha: Acquire 10 followers. Progress: 5/10

Other evolutions possible, but not currently foreseen. Progress further, and such possibilities will be presented to you.]

That… was great. I’d grown quite a bit, and I figured that the bulk of the difference between a bloodseeker and a bloodletter would be manifested in adulthood. Even so, I’d doubled my Strength alone with this evolution. Plus, I now knew for sure that I could evolve again relatively soon, so long as I was able to get some of the other spawnlings to follow me.

Looking down at myself, I’d grown quite a bit. I was probably about half again larger than I’d been before evolution, bringing myself to about 18 inches tall at the shoulder. More impressive than my size, however, were my new claws and hands. Instead of the thick, utilitarian claws of before, now my fingers could lock together with new wide scales that overlapped and could be locked together with a slight flex of the muscles underneath. More impressive and dangerous than that, though, were the claws that tipped my fingers, which could almost more correctly be called blades than claws.

I could feel the smile split my face, my tail whipping back and forth involuntarily in excitement. Yes, evolution was great.