Elise rocketed back toward the Mother Tree, and picked the first alcove she found that was out of the way before stopping to work out her Evolution.

System, can you show my evolution options on a screen?

“Yes. Would you like me to narrate them for you as well?”

Sure.

“You currently have {6} evolution options. Of those, you have 1 Epic evolution option and 4 Legendary evolution options, and one Mythic option.”

As it spoke, a purple screen appeared in front of her, showing the same information. Her eyes widened when she saw that she had a Mythic option, then narrowed when she saw what it was.

“Your Epic option is {Rabbit Fey}. Your Legendary options are {Wolpertinger}, {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey}, {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)} and {Giant Slayer Rabbit Fey}. Your Mythic evolution option is {Demon Consort (Rabbit)}.”

Elise gasped when she heard the Changeling option. She had been too distracted by the Mythic option to notice it at first, but that sounded like exactly what she wanted. If being a Changeling worked how she hoped it did, she would finally be able to take a human–or at least humanoid–form.

She still needed to check the other evolution options though before she made a decision. She had already basically ruled out the {Rabbit Fey} and {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey} ones. The first would just be the worse version of her Legendary options, and she was pretty sure that the second would just have her doing more of the same things that had just given her an identity crisis. Aside from Changeling, she had no idea what the others meant.

There was one final thing that was giving her pause, and that was that the text for the Mythic option was in bright red, rather than the gold that the rest of them were, and she didn’t know why. Was it because it was Mythic, because it was Demonic, or was there something else going on?

Can you describe all the options?

“Certainly! A {Rabbit Fey} is a very rare creature that thrives on trickery and deceit. They often target humanoids, luring them in with innocent appearances or friendly conversation before taking advantage of them. A Rabbit Fey has the form of a Rabbit, which it can use to trick other creatures into thinking it’s harmless.”

Yeah, probably not worth considering, Elise thought

“A {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey} is similar to a Rabbit Fey, but specialized in infiltration and subtle manipulation. A {Wormtongue Rabbit Fey} has skills that allow them to subtly affect their target’s minds, aiming for long-term, well-orchestrated manipulation.”

Definitely not.

“A {Wolpertinger} is a fey-adjacent mythical creature with the body of a rabbit, antlers of a deer, and the wings of a pheasant. Despite their small size, they are very powerful, and have a small array of manipulative abilities to lure their prey into dangerous areas. They are omnivorous and opportunistic predators.”

I’d be able to eat meat, which would be a plus, but I’m not sure about the rest, she thought.

“A {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)} is a species of fey that uses transformation to trick and manipulate its targets. However, as it is a Lesser form of the more mature {Changeling}, its transformation is imperfect, and it cannot take on the exact forms of others. It can only take on their species.”

Elise almost couldn’t believe her ears. Basically, what it was saying was that it would let her transform into another species, such as a human, and she would have her own unique form. That was all she really wanted. She would have accepted the evolution right there if she wasn’t still curious about the others.

“A {Giant-Slayer Rabbit Fey} is a leporine species of fey that specializes in hunting creatures above its own level. It is larger than a {Lesser Rabbit Fey}, but its form is otherwise unchanged. A {Giant Slayer Rabbit Fey}’s skills are more effective when facing opponents whose levels are beyond the user’s, scaling with the level and stat difference.”

“A {Demon Consort (Rabbit)} is a unique species of rabbit that has worked closely enough with demons that it has started to become demonic itself. The rarity of this species is determined by the rarity of the species of the demon with whom the rabbit has most interacted.”

Elise frowned, mentally. There was only one person this could be: Freddy. She had her suspicions, but confirming that he was, in fact, a demon made her feel conflicted. On one hand, she was glad that she hadn’t signed the contract with Ostra. On the other, she was regretful that she had signed any contracts at all. Freddy seemed to be fine with her knowing about Ostra, which meant he might have even told her everything without the contract.

It also made her question his goals even more. Her interactions with him, and the succubus and incubus at Ostra had led her to believe that maybe demons weren’t pure evil, but it was still clear that Freddy was inhuman and lacking in empathy. His reaction to Emilia’s death and his cold blooded killing of the vigilante dwarf were evidence enough of that. If she took that species, would she start losing her humanity and empathy as well?

What does “demonic” mean in that context?

“Demonic is a term that means ‘demon-like’. It refers to something that is like a demon.”

But what does that mean in the context of that species? What does it mean that a {Demon Consort (Rabbit)} has “become demonic”?

“It means that the {Demon Consort (Rabbit)} has taken on demonic characteristics.”

What demonic characteristics?

“Demonic characteristics are characteristics typically associated with demons.”

Elise wanted to fire a volley of {Magic Missile} into the face of whoever had developed the System assistant.

Give me an example.

“I’m sorry. You do not have permission to access that information?”

All that circular logic, just to end with that? Seriously? Fine. I don’t care anymore. Why is that option red on my screen?

“An evolution option appearing red indicates that it is an option that is not available on your current evolutionary tree. Choosing this evolution will cause you to lose some of your current skills associated with that tree, and instead gain ones associated with the new tree.”

Which skills?

“Your current evolutionary tree is Fey, so all fey-exclusive skills will be lost.”

That meant she would be losing her wings, her dust, and her bargaining, all of which were things she was heavily dependent on at the moment. Even before she lost her back legs, she hadn’t been doing much hopping. And her dust had saved multiple lives, and her bargaining had been the lynchpin that saved her against Emilia. Would the new demon-exclusive skills be enough to make up for it? Maybe. But she couldn’t know for certain, and she didn’t think she wanted to be a demon anyway.

By ruling that one out, she brought her options down to 3, but really, there was only 1. {Wolpertinger} and {Giant-Slayer Rabbit Fey} seemed like decent species on their own, but they were not what she was looking for.

All she needed to do now was find a place to complete the evolution. She could probably do it right there and be safe, but she was not at all comfortable with that. It was high up, but it was exposed. There was no telling what could happen. The birds tended to avoid the alcoves, but one particularly brave one could be her end.

She could go back to the wyrm tunnels. That had worked the one time. It would probably be safe too. Actually, as she thought about it more, there was no place safer. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the drow, but the wyrm tunnels were a much more controlled environment that people didn’t regularly enter.

The only problem was, who would she tell about it? She was tempted to do it without anyone’s knowledge, since the less people that knew, the safer she’d be, but she didn’t think there was a way to get out of the cavern without being noticed. The tension had almost vanished entirely, but there were still scouts watching every entrance and exit, including the one into the wyrm tunnel after Elise exposed it. She would have to tell someone.

Naomi was trustworthy. Probably. At the very least, she had not given Elise any reasons to mistrust her. And she had the power to keep her evolution under wraps. She wasn’t sure about letting Naomi in on exactly where she was going to evolve, but Naomi would at least be able to help her leave the main cavern in secret.

She jumped out of her alcove and glided over toward Naomi’s hut. It was early afternoon, which is when Naomi typically did her mana meditation. Elise felt a little guilty about interrupting it, but she knew it wasn’t all that important, and that Naomi would gladly take a short break to help her. She wanted to get her evolution out of the way as soon as possible. Things were peaceful at that moment, but there was no telling when something else would happen that would force her attention away. It was better to evolve right then while she had no responsibilities than to wait out of courtesy, only to be forced into a time crunch later.

“What’s up?” asked Naomi, emerging from her hut as Elise touched down.

Elise glanced up at Nicole who had been standing guard, then decided that Nicole seemed trustworthy enough too.

“I need to evolve,” she said. “But I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. Can you sneak me out of the cave without anyone noticing?”

“You’re evolving?” asked Naomi. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, we can get you out of here. Nicole?”

“I can do it,” said Nicole. “But shouldn’t we wait until you’re done?”

“Eh, I’ll be fine,” said Naomi. “It’ll only take a couple minutes. And it’s not like I can’t defend myself.”

“Yes, Captain,” said Nicole. “Lady Elise, was there a specific destination you had in mind?”

“Yes. Do you know about the wyrm tunnel?”

“Which one?”

“The one that I exposed a few months ago. I think it’s over on the west side?”

“Yeah, I know that one. Is that where we’re going?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I can turn us invisible if we’re touching.”

She held out her arms and Elise jumped into them. Nicole made sure she was settled in comfortably, then the two of them vanished in a wave of mana. Elise had already heard that Nicole was the best at stealth of all the scouts, but seeing it in action was impressive. She was just as fast, if not faster than Naomi, and she didn’t even create wind when she moved. Elise had all of 30 seconds to appreciate whatever combination of skills she was using to achieve that effect before they were slowing down as they approached the tunnel.

Nicole took her a few hundred feet down the tunnel before coming to a stop and undoing their invisibility.

“Is this far enough?” she asked.

“Yes, this is perfect,” said Elise, extracting herself from Nicole’s arms. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” said Nicole, bowing slightly. “Good luck with your evolution.”

“Thank you.”

Elise turned to head further up the tunnel, and at the same moment, Nicole disappeared once again.

The whole tunnel network seemed almost completely untouched. No doubt the drow had gone through the place and checked every nook and cranny, but there was nothing in there now. There weren’t even any snakes this time.

Her old evolution spot still looked exactly like she had left it. After some brief deliberation, she decided to use the same spot again. She doubted the drow would come patrolling through there again, especially since Naomi knew Elise was evolving there, but even if they did, they would be less suspicious of the hole that was already there than any new one Elise might make.

She carefully dug out the loose collapsed dirt, pulling it back toward the entrance behind her to make it look as undisturbed as possible, then looked at her former handiwork. It was just as cramped and unglamorous as she remembered it, but it would do. She crawled into the side chamber.

System, I want to evolve. I choose {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)}

“Would you like to begin your evolution now? I must warn you that the process of evolution takes a significant amount of time, and a disturbance in the middle would result in your death.”

Yes.

[Beginning Evolution]

[Evolution Complete]

[You have successfully completed your third evolution! +30 to all stats!]

[Your new species is: {Lesser Changeling (Rabbit)}. +35 Strength, +35 Agility, +35 Dexterity, +35 Fortitude, +200 Charisma, +50 Intelligence, +45 Willpower, +50 Mana, +65 Mana Control]

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

[You have unlocked the skill {Lesser Transformation}]

[You have unlocked the skill {Sense Emotions}]

Elise tried to push her way out of her evolution membrane, but found she couldn’t. She could press against it, but it didn’t give more than a quarter inch before it encountered a solid barrier. Like with her previous evolution, she suddenly felt cramped in that tiny chamber, but unlike the last time, it wasn’t just because she had gotten a new set of limbs. This time she had actually gotten bigger.

She had deactivated her wings before the evolution, so there was no light, and she could only see the vague outlines of her new body, but she could see that the growth was not simple scaling. Her main body seemed about the same size as before, but her limbs had gotten at least twice as long.

She struggled a bit longer to get out, but her new body was just too unwieldy, and it was scrunched in an awkward position. She couldn’t orient herself in a way that would let her slip out toward the main cavern.

Elise wasn’t claustrophobic, but she was starting to get a little panicked when she realized something that made her want to slap herself in the face. She was a changeling now. She could just change her form to get out. She pulled up the {Lesser Transformation} skill description to double-check what she could do with it.

[ {Lesser Transformation}: Transform into another species that you have encountered that is at or below your current evolutionary tier. Duration: up to 4 hours. Cooldown: 2x usage time. User’s stats will be adjusted based on current form. (Note: Duration and Cooldown do not apply when transforming into prior evolutions) ]

She willed herself to turn back into her previous evolution, and immediately shrank down. The walls of her evolutionary membrane sagged around her, and she used the sudden extra space to turn and push her way out to the main burrow. She stopped there for a moment, then decided to dig back out to the wyrm tunnel as well.

It was a form that she had used for months, but somehow, being in it felt mildly uncomfortable. She hadn’t even had her changeling form for more than a minute, and she already felt like her legs were uncomfortably short. On top of that, her stats were much lower. For the first time ever, the “Bonus” column in her status window had values, and they were all negative. All the new stat points she had gained by evolving were effectively halved by being in that form, and it made her feel sluggish.

As soon as she made it back into the Wyrm tunnel, she transformed back, and took a moment to admire her new body. Being so much higher off the ground felt good, and her legs felt like they were bursting with strength compared to her old ones. She couldn’t test it in the low tunnel, but she was confident she could jump at least ten feet into the air if she tried.

Her fur was a little bit shorter than it was before, but it kept the same color and faint metallic sheen. However, there were limits to what she could see with just her eyes. Especially since she now had a blind spot behind her head. Not being able to see directly behind her wasn’t that big of a deal, but it felt really strange after spending so long with true 360 degree vision.

She activated her wings and noticed that they too had gotten a little bigger than before. They weren’t wide enough to brush the sides of the tunnel yet, but she had to be a lot more careful when she flew than she did before. She also had to tuck her legs in more carefully to keep her toes from dragging on the ground.

System how long did my evolution take? She asked as she flew back to the main chamber.

“Your evolution took 11 hours 41 minutes and 26.840 seconds.”

“Huh,” said Elise out loud.

That was three times as long as her previous evolution had taken. Was that going to be a continuous trend? Or was it just because she was evolving into a Legendary species this time? Whatever the case, she would need to take extra precautions regarding evolutions in the future, in case the timer kept extending and she needed multiple days of safety.

That aside, she took a closer look at the System windows that had appeared since her evolution. The stat increases were absolutely astounding. She still wasn’t completely familiar with how everything worked in this world, but she still knew that +200 Charisma was absurd. That was almost double her current Strength and Fortitude, and she had gotten it all at once in a single evolution. Something was definitely strange there. Even if she was choosing Charisma-focused evolution options, from the moment she entered that world, her Charisma numbers had been strange.

“System, why is my Charisma so high?”

As she spoke, she noticed that her voice had gotten a little deeper. It wasn’t deep, but it no longer sounded like her lungs were full of helium.

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure I understand the question. If your Charisma is high, that means that you have gained many Charisma points from your species and levels.”

Elise sighed. She knew that even if she pressed it for answers, she wouldn’t be able to get them. The reason for her high Charisma was probably related to the reason she had the Rune of Fate, and she doubted she would be getting that answer any time soon. She had already been at the center of two prophecies, but in the grand scheme of things, those two prophecies were inconsequential. Far too inconsequential to be the entire reason for having a skill with such a grand name. She didn’t doubt that she would encounter more fate-related issues later on.

However, worrying about that then was a waste of time. She had more important things to do, like finally doing what she had been trying to do ever since turning into a rabbit: turn back into a human.

She reached the main chamber of the wyrm tunnels and made her way over to the river. It was flowing, so it didn’t give the best reflection, but the current was relatively slow and calm, so she could still get a good view of herself. Her new changeling form was still cute, but it was starting to border on uncanny with how disproportionately long the legs were. She wouldn’t go as far as to say she was creepy yet, but if she saw one of these back on Earth, she would be a little hesitant to pet it.

Her eyes were closer to the front of her head than they had been before, which explained the sudden blind spot behind her. It wasn’t that much, but it definitely was one of the major contributors to the uncanny sensation.

She took another few seconds to look at herself before taking a deep breath and preparing for the real test. She closed her eyes, and willed herself to take on a human form. While the transformation back into a Lesser Rabbit Fey had been simple and mundane, this one felt disconcerting, almost to the point of pain. She could feel her body being twisted and stretched and compressed and folded and expanded outward into the familiar, yet unfamiliar shape of a human.

When she opened her eyes, she realized that she couldn’t see anything. Her rabbit form had good dark vision, but her human form did not. That was easily resolved by activating her wings, bathing the chamber in a soft silver glow.

With the area now illuminated, the first thing she noticed about her new body were her hands. She opened and closed them, then reached down into the dirt beside to grab a handful. As she held her hand out again and watched the dirt slip through her fingers, she couldn’t help but smile. It had been so long since she was able to grab things without magical assistance that even a small handful of dirt felt amazing.

It was amazing being able to smile properly again too. She followed the smile with a frown, then a scowl, then a grimace, then opened and closed her mouth a few times. It all felt so unreal, and oddly unfamiliar. She had lived much longer as a human than a rabbit, but somehow, her human form now felt foreign to her. It was like inside, she was still a rabbit, just controlling a human avatar.

She shook out her limbs a bit, just because she could, then bent down over the water so she could finally see her reflection. The reflection was smiling when she first saw it, but the smile soon slipped away and was replaced by a look of confusion.

This… isn’t me.

Edit: Forgot to include it, but here's her new status window. I will also include this in the next chapter

Name Elise Burrow Age 0 (20) Race Lesser Changeling (Rabbit) Level 1 (IV) Stats Base Bonuses Total Strength 109 0 109 Agility 286 0 286 Dexterity 274 0 274 Fortitude 107 0 107 Charisma 900 0 900 Intelligence 514 0 514 Willpower 324 0 324 Mana 463 0 463 Mana Control 508 0 508 Skills Level Description Inspect 45 Identify the species and level of another creature Nature Magic Affinity - As a creature of the forest, you feel a strong connection to nature and natural mana Leap 32 Jump with additional force. Can be used again in midair. Cooldown on second jump: 5 seconds Rune of Fate - A rune granted by !@#$%^&* that @#$%^&*. Allows the user to channel divine power. Current charges: 0/3. Cooldown: 29 days. !@#$%^&* Dart 31 Dash quickly in any horizontal direction. Charges: 8. Cooldown: 7 seconds Sudden Growth 16 Cause all nearby plants to grow at many times their normal rate for 3 seconds Mana Sense 41 Sense nearby mana Magic Missile 34 Create missiles of mana that attack your target. Current missiles: 8 Suggest 43 Plant a subtle thought or desire in the target's mind Prehensile Vines 28 Vines grow out of the ground in front of you. You can control them as you would your own limbs. Charm 12 Increase a target's attraction to you Ensnaring Roots 21 Summon sturdy roots from the ground that wrap around the target Fey Wings - Fold or unfold your wings Fairy Dust 31 Release dust from your wing that either blesses or curses (user's choice) any living creature it comes into contact with Fey Bargaining 14 Form a contract with another creature. If either side breaks the contract, they will be cursed Telekinesis 1 Use mana to move an object without touching it Mimic - Copy the voice of another creature Lesser Transformation - Transform into another species that you have encountered that is at or below your current evolutionary tier. Duration: up to 4 hours. Cooldown: 2x usage time. User’s stats will be adjusted based on current form. (Note: Duration and Cooldown do not apply when transforming into prior evolutions) Tongues - Speak and understand any language Vicious Bloom 1 Create a magical seed. If planted, it will bloom violently when a creature steps within 1 foot of it. If thrown, it will bloom violently on contact