Evolution Choices Available.

Notice: Evolving will reset your current level to one. All extrinsic stat points will be deducted after evolution.

Evolution Paths:

[Woodland Ego: Matura]

“The final evolution of Woodland Ego. A Woodland Ego naturally evolving to this state is extremely rare to find in nature and as such much is left unknown about their capabilities. Expect a comprehensive performance bonus to Wood Specialization skills and Virtues.”

[Magna Arboriate Hive: Matura]

“The Magna Arboriate Hive is not an individual organism but a collection of many sharing a singular consciousness. Hivemind colonies such as these have no use for skills nor spectral abilities, and instead use the physicality of their linked hive to strike in unison. Despite being unable to use Ambient Force, hives are a force to be reckoned with, and are either avoided by humans entirely or stricken down in their infancy at all costs.”

[Imperial Delia Ego - Adolescent]

“A rare subtype of Woodland Ego that has affixed its nature to be completely compatible with the Imperial Delia tree species. They have great affinity with Wood Virtues and possess all of the advantages and abilities of the Imperial Delia tree species. Their control over the Ambient Force within their bodies is effortless, and the performance of spectral abilities and skills is far improved.”

[Woodland Controller - Anima]

“In rare cases a Nature’s Ego that has extensive contact with intelligent life may want to relinquish its abstract form in order to relate more to its fellows. A Woodland Controller is the equivalent path of a Woodland Ego. Woodland Controllers have a higher skill with manipulating their environment than Woodland Egos but a lower affinity with individual plant life. Because of this, Controllers take on managerial stances rather than those of guardianship over their territories. The performance of many skills get a comprehensive boost, but not as much as a specialized Ego evolution would have.”

[Serrated Nepenthes - Unique]

“In a moment of desperation and helplessness a Woodland Ego chose to use its position to trap and defeat its enemies, thereby earning the right to an evolutionary path never seen before. Choosing this option will overwrite the host’s current specializations and Virtues with relevant ones. Serrated Nepenthes have a mastery across all kinds of traps and deception, and are able to search proactively for Virtues that are in their specialization.”

Licht’s vision quickly swept over the options. His whole body was still pulsating with waves of pain from his overdue evolution, so he made the decision to quickly select something.

“Aah, oh. This one, this’ll do.”

After selecting, Licht’s vision started to darken. Not like it had through the use of his commune skill, but actually darkening around the edges like a human’s vision. His vision sense over the rest of the forest was abruptly cut off, and his awareness shrunk back to only the form of the central tree.

“Aaaah! Ah, oooh. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH.”

Licht felt like he was splitting apart! Barely having the presence of mind, he looked over to his health gauge, to find it was full?! This must have been the soul rending pain that he had missed when he passed out in his last evolution. Licht half cursed himself for growing so mentally endurant. If he just passed out, maybe he would risk his life during the evolution, but that would be better than enduring this right now…

Such thoughts were on Licht’s mind. If he were to have the ability to concentrate on other things right now, he might be shocked to see the external withe fibers around his orb-like body start to shift and change.

The fibrous net-like encapsulation of the withe body had started to dull to a deep metallic color and sink into the surface of the orb.

Slowly, the hundreds of outreaching withe threads that connected his orb to the roots of the tree and thus to the entire forest, started to wither and snap. The withe body was not dying, but sinking into the body of Licht itself. However this meant that all of the other external connections were being severed.

His orb body as well underwent changes. Shifting from a glossy metallic black surface to a translucent one, akin to a solid sphere of glass.

At the same time, perhaps due to Licht’s inability to focus and noninterference, the leaves of the central tree in total began to rapidly bleach. The totality of the tree’s sizable canopy was before long, a stark white.

“AAAAHHHHHH!”

Licht grew to be unable to contain the pain he was feeling, and expressed it by screaming internally.

The process of a body overcoming millions of years of evolution to span their changes in merely a few minutes was so profoundly painful, that it was beyond explanation through spoken words. Although the sensation could be likened to the feeling of every cell in one’s body expanding and contracting, sliding across one another and scraping, mashing and puncturing, no words could truly do it justice.

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As Licht’s tired vision was on the verge of escaping him, his mind suddenly started to uplift. A cool, refreshing feeling suddenly started to overtake him. Licht cried out in ecstasy.

“Oooh!”

It was the complete opposite feeling of what he had just experienced. With it, came good news from the system.

[Evolution Complete!]

[Skill Upgraded: Wood Manipulation (D-) -> Wood Manipulation (C-)]

[Skill Upgraded: Biogenical Growth (D+) -> Biogenical Growth (C)]

[Skill Upgraded: Passive Nutrition Absorption (E+) -> Passive Nutrition Absorption (D)]

[Skill Mutated: Passive Withe Body (E+) -> Passive Construct Body (E+)]

[Skill Mutated: Wooden Commune (E) -> Passive Arboreal Sense (E)]

[+15 STR, +10 DEX, +0 WIS, +5 END, +0 CHA]

[Level has been reset to 1]

…

[Level: 1]

[Exp: 0/10,000]

[Name: Licht Welles]

[Race: Woodland Controller (Anima)]

[Health: 500/500]

[Stamina: 100/100]

[Energy: 187/187 AF]

[Rank: C-]

[16 STR, 13 DEX, 152 WIS, 25 END, 3 CHA]

[Virtues: (Twig), (Branch), (Root), (Spark)]

[Specializations: Wood, Light]

[Skills: Psychometric Observation (D-), Biogenical Growth (C), Passive Nutrition Absorption (D), Passive Acid Resistance (E), Passive Construct Body (E+), Passive Arboreal Sense (E), Wood Manipulation (C-), Bestowal (D+), Light Manipulation (D+), Warmth (D)]

“You’re starting to look more like a foreigner around these woods. Don’t forget your roots!”

Licht was briefly put at a pause from the onslaught of system notifications. However good the evolution seemed, it felt like there was something missing. He attempted to expand his vision sense, but couldn’t!

He didn’t have a vision sense anymore!

Licht reeled. The sensation was like trying to move your legs after having them amputated. Although he could still see, everything looked different. It was more akin to sight through human eyes, although from all directions of the central tree.

“I can’t use my vision sense or feel my connected forest anymore! What happened?”

Should he have gone with the mature stage of the Woodland Ego after all? Licht had chosen Woodland Controller simply because it seemed the most balanced of the options. The ‘comprehensive boost’ that the description entailed he had seen already as his skills leveled up, but now his connection to the whole forest was lost! Licht immediately regretted his decision.

“Even the [Withe Body] skill is gone! Hopefully I’m not immobile once again.”

As Licht thought that, suddenly a perfectly circular-shaped hole appeared in the side of the tree’s midsection right at the level he was at.

“What? I just thought about moving and the wood shaped itself?”

Licht didn’t ponder too much and just rolled through the hole. He had to figure out how to get mobile once again, and reconnect himself to the forest. There were so many things that depended on [Nutrient Absorption] that he had set up, that he didn’t want to waste even a second.

…

“Damn! So many of my fibers have atrophied.”

Licht repeatedly opened cross-sections of roots and inspected the withe fibers running through them. As he had found that trees simply moved now when he gave the thought, he was able to carry himself in a suspended root basket which was supported by a tentacled mass of roots. This he used to move around the inner ring of trees. The Manacle Blossom farm was his priority, but things weren’t looking good.

He still couldn’t find any way to reconnect himself to the tree network, and beyond that, he couldn’t use his withe fibers anymore. That skill had been replaced with a different one called [Construct Body], but Licht couldn’t understand how to use it or what it did. What that meant for Licht was that he was on a timer to find out how to save his farm.

WIth the Imperial Delia trees lacking their nutrient supply, he had about a day to figure out what to do before they died, or worse, consumed the Manacle Blossoms inside their bulbs for nutrients. Licht couldn’t supplement them with [Nutrient Absorption] either, as the withe fibers that he had once relied on to use the skill now no longer existed. The majority of withe fibers stuck within the trees were dying rapidly, and those still alive Licht couldn’t connect to, as if they were no longer his own cells. Licht didn’t know how to use Nutrient Absorption to supplement the plants if it weren’t for the fibers.

He could draw things into himself like he had done in the stomach of the rabbit, but cycling and transferring things was beyond his understanding of the skill without a crutch. A crutch which was rapidly withering away as he opened another root to check.

The absorption skill had even been upgraded, but it wasn’t any use. Even harvesting the blossoms would be tricky now if he couldn’t connect to the trees.

Although the situation was tense for Licht, he realized that he would get nothing done if stress clouded his mind. He looked upward.

Something that had changed about his vision was that he wasn’t reliant on the sensation of his body or sensing the physical space around his trees anymore. He could see as if he had eyes now, and so for the first time Licht beheld the sky of Hadea.

“Hoh…”

After a few moments Licht felt relaxed enough to start tackling his problems once again. Although there was a possibility of something happening to the elves during this time he was unaware, he would have to wait to check on their situation until he solved his current crisis.

Licht reviewed his system log, checking descriptions, skills, and stat values for anything that could affect his approach to the problem.