“Umm, where am I? What’s this place, it’s so bright!” Niko exclaimed as he frantically looked around. Niko felt like a blank slate, no rather a wisp of air, he could barely feel my body, he didn’t even know who he was.
[Wandering soul whose name art Niko, what is thy path?]
“Huh weird, I wonder what that voice is, my head’s spinning crazy, wait do I even have a head or even a body? Never mind that, what are these paths?” he thought to myself. This situation was peculiar, however, his instincts pressured him to seek knowledge. However, before he could communicate with the mysterious voice it spoke, as if telepathically sensing my inquisitiveness.
[Thou hast lived nine most fruitful lives, thou hast faced great peril in support of thy comrades and endured great hardships, some of which caused thee great agony. In recognition of thy feats, I offer thy wandering soul three paths to enjoy a great peace without peril.]
“So…. I am in the afterlife and my name is Niko?”
[Yes, you could either be reincarnated in a peaceful world as the king of a prosperous, peaceful kingdom. You could rest in heaven alongside the gods for eternity or wander across a new world and find meaningful peace.]
Well, thought Niko to himself, the first one sounds odd and the second one is intimidating me, my gut tells me that the third is the best. Mustering up whatever courage he could, he told the voice, “I’ll go with option 3”
As soon as he said it, in a flash the bright light intensified, and he soon found himself in a lush green forest. All around him there were beautiful green trees intermixed with various herbs and flowers, there was also a clear stream flowing around, most of the scenery was beautiful and normal, however one thing stood out. All around he could see floating orbs of various colours, yellow, white, blue, purple and many more. Initially he did not bother with them at all, he just made it a point to stroll around as much of this beautiful place as he could, however after it soon got boring.
In this time he realized a few important details. First his body, if it could be called that, was simply a round nearly transparent white orb. Second, he was not able to actively interact with my surroundings, nor could anything seem to interact or even notice him. Lastly, every time he interacted with any glowing orbs, he ended up assimilating them. This caused his body to grow slightly larger and attain a more solid colour. In addition, it would seem that he had the capability to introspect on his own capabilities, getting a rough idea of his skills, mana capacity and even his vitality. However, due to his limited interaction capabilities, there really was nothing to do, hence he decided on a grand plan, one to halt all semblance of boredom. He steeled himself, declaring that a grand game of tag had begun, one where he shall chase and hunt down as many shining orbs as he can, damned be the consequences.
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With this resolution Niko, a young phantom assimilated every single glowing orb around, in doing so he found a great many colours of them, purple, red, blue, green, yellow, silver. He chased and gulped each one of them without end, without ever noticing, the sun had started setting, however while the mere mortals of this world absconded to their dreamy state of sleep, he had no such requirements, or so he thought. Around midnight, he stumbled upon a treasure trove, a cave emitting a great many of these orbs, which he had now identified as mana. With the slow strides of one who was about to splurge on an all-you-can-eat buffet, he spent the next two hours devouring every ounce of the cave’s mana. After consuming it all, he received a prompt in his head.
[Mana requirements attained, would the individual {Niko} wish to evolve?]
Hell yeah! Don’t know what it is, but it has to be good.
[Elemental mana- sufficient, Shadow mana- sufficient, Light mana-sufficient]
[{Niko} may now evolve to; Inferior Grade - Spirit (any element), Angel or Demon]
Okay, hold the pedal a second. Now, this was an extremely important decision. For some odd reason, vague ideas of the three options floated in his head, knowledge which he didn’t know that he had possessed. Spirits were eliminated instantly, they didn’t exactly seem all too convenient. Angel should have been a natural choice, however every ounce of Niko’s being protested against the notion, almost as if he’d played that role before. Hence, he decided, Inferior Demon it is.
As soon as he made that decision, his phantom body, which by now was a pure white orb the size of a watermelon, started morphing into a vaguely humanoid shape. Concurrently, his white aura slowly turned purple, just as he was getting pumped up for his new form, another voice played in his head.
[Incompatible mana transmuted. Evolution parameter {Primordial} added. {Niko} shall now evolve from {Phantom} to {Primordial Inferior Demon}]
Hmm, Primordial seemed like an interesting bonus. As the purple light intensified, Niko finally opened his eyes upon this world. Till now his vision was limited to his ability to sense mana, however now he had actual eyes. Unable to hold his excitement, Niko rushed to the nearby stream to finally glance upon his new form, and it would be an understatement to say that he was impressed. He seemed to possess jet black hair and was adorned with a fair complexion, Niko’s eyes were black with red retinas. It also seemed that the evolution granted him clothes, although they looked more like a new soldier's
uniform, albeit one in black and red with a single chevron and some basic boots. His hands seemed to possess moderately sharp nails while from his back two wings sprouted, the wings however resembled bats wings and could only be described as medium-sized. The final test.
“Well, this is pretty decent,” Niko said. Then he realized, he actually spoke, not just telepathically but with actual words. Finally, all his senses were returned, slightly better than they should be too. However, while he gained, he also lost. It seems that while a phantom could easily gain nutrition by chomping down on the world’s mana, as a demon, he now needed to consume souls, life energy or complete contracts with vagabond summoners to evolve any further. As a phantom he had noticed all sorts of fauna, from little horned rabbits to giant wolves, wyverns, and even dragons. Armed with his new-found knowledge, Niko finally set a goal for himself, to evolve and to enjoy. Leading to the natural conclusion, straightening his collar, he tapped his boots to the ground and spread out his new wings. As he jumped in the air, he snickered and proclaimed, “Time for a hunt!”