The world faded away without fanfare or feeling, and Meda found itself in the nothing. Its brief jaunt to the real world had been dangerous, and stressful, and proved to it just how weak it currently was. And yet, it was so... Exhilarating. When it had killed the Horror, there had been a sense of visceral joy, elation at proving itself through combat. It was a feeling opposite to that of PAIN. The mundane pain of that fight had been an almost pleasant burn, just more proof of its efforts.
It would have to fight more. That feeling of mania, of utter abandon in the struggle for survival, was too good to pass up.
A bubble of void sprang up within the nothing, and it brought the screens with it.
*DING
[YOU HAVE FULFILLED THE GOAL FOR WIND ELEMENTAL.]
[PROCESSING EVOLUTION...]
[BASE EVOLUTION COMPLETE.]
[DISPLAYING COMPLETED HIDDEN GOALS...]
1. Complete your first Goal in under a week. A tiny amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
2. Complete your first Goal in under a day. A tiny amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
3. Complete your first Goal in under an hour. A small amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
4. Reach your first Goal without leaving the confines of the Crater of Blood and its valleys. A tiny amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
5. Kill a Monster 2 times as strong as you. A small amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
6. Kill a Monster 3 times as strong as you. A small amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
7. Kill a Monster 4 times as strong as you. A small amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
8. Kill a Monster 5 times as strong as you. An amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
9. Kill a Monster 6 times as strong as you. An amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
10. Kill a Monster 7 times as strong as you. An amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
11. Kill a Monster 8 times as strong as you. An amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
12. Kill a Monster 9 times as strong as you. A large amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
13. Kill a Monster 10 times as strong as you. A large amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
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14. Kill a Monster 11 times as strong as you. A massive amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
15. Kill a Horror. Thank you. An amount of evolutionary energy has been granted.
[PLEASE SPEND EVOLUTIONARY ENERGY.]
[DISPLAYING POSSIBLE MUTATIONS...]
A flood of messages popped up, along with a warm feeling. It spread through Meda's soul, soothing and familiar. Then it grew. And grew, and grew and grew and grew. It was full to bursting with energy, far too much for a soul of its power to contain. It needed to get rid of the energy before something in its spirit gave way. And it knew just how to do that.
It scoured the Mutation shop for anything good. It seemed that while evolution Goals were used for the broader design of a Monster, Mutations were how one could be refined. The first thing Meda searched for was flight. And there were a number of different options.
There was flight that focused on speed, flight that focused on maneuverability, and flight that focused on stealth. There was flight that made its body into a cloud, flight laced with lightning, and flight that either burned or froze anything around its path. The options were almost limitless, but a few different ones stuck out.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE MUTATION: Unnoticeable Flight: You may take to the skies and make them yours. You are a master of stealth, and the passing of all but your Core is invisible to all but the most skilled.]
Interestingly, There were multiple costs for the same Mutation. The initial purchase cost the most, but after that more energy could be poured in to increase the efficacy of the mutation until it hit a wall at peak performance. With the deluge of evolutionary energy coursing through its soul, Meda fully powered Unnoticeable Flight and two other skills.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE MUTATION: Hasty Flight: You ride the winds at breakneck speed. The speed at which you can fly is greatly increased.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE MUTATION: Touch of Wind: You have supreme control over the gales that make up your body. You can finely manipulate your winds to perform in any way you wish, with a large degree of shapes, densities, and flexibilities.
The flood was gone, and besides for a few residual trickles, Meda's soul was empty. A whole three fully powered Mutations. With the amount most Monsters would evolve with, they would likely only be able to obtain a relatively weak Mutation at the base level. It was strong, and with the way the hidden Goals seemed to be centered around combat, strength would beget strength.
Once the Elemental was finished, the void closed up, and the nothing faded yet again. It reformed on the same valley floor, albeit with many changes to its form. It now had far more control over its shape, able to stretch in any way with no restrictions. It was only limited by volume and the time it took to shift. When it allowed its body to clump up into a blob like it had previously, it now came halfway up the trees!
It was made of a near-invisible churning wind, which held its Core aloft in midair. Its passing barely disturbed the grass, although it felt it could bring far force to bear if it wished. Its Core had also grown, increasing in size and taking on a slight white coloration. Unlike its previous perfect sphere, it now had engravings of swirling wind splayed across it, making the gem into a fine piece of art.
For now, Meda turned its Core to powder with Shattered Form, distributing the dust through its wind. It was slightly more visible now, with sparkles spread throughout as the sun glinted off a few of the larger chunks, but the glaring warning of its Core was absent. Once it evolved again and had a chance to pour more energy into Shattered Form, it would be a master of stealth. Speaking of evolution, it was time to check the new Goals.
[NAME: Meda]
[TIER: 1]
[EVOLTION: Wind Elemental]
[MUTATIONS: Shattered Form, Unnoticeable Flight, Hasty Flight, Touch of Wind]
[GOALS:
North Wind Elemental: Hours of ice mana contact survived: 0/5
Gale Elemental: Monsters Killed: 0/25
Eerie Wind Elemental: Beings Terrified: 0/1
Maelstrom Elemental: Water Elementals Killed: 0/3
]