After they finished celebrating, Riseth and Alistair finally succumbed to exhaustion, their bodies yearning for rest after several consecutive days of activity. As they stirred from their slumber, their gaze instinctively drifted toward the window they had willfully ignored.
Grade Advancement
Description:
You have sufficient records to advance your Grade to 9. You must complete any system-imposed requirements to start the advancment. The quality of your accumulated records and your affinities will determine your available racial evolution and potential titles if any.
Warning: You will be defenseless during the evolution, and it is recommended that you evolve while guarded or in a secure location.
Prerequisites:
Racial [Human]:
Develop at least one skill to Epic rating. [1/1]
Body Cultivation:
Kill or defeat at least one opponent of a higher grade than yourself in single combat [1/1]
All Advancement requirements have been met. Do you wish to advance your Grade?
[YES]
[NO]
The prerequisites were quite easy to accomplish, though Alistair had not expected them to be particularly demanding for his first Grade advancement. He allocated all his leftover stat points into [Body], as it would put his base stats total above 400, which might matter.
"Do you have optional requirements as well?" Riseth asked as she looked over her own window.
"No, I don't. I only got two easy ones, and it does not look like it's keeping track of me killing more than one monster above my grade. What's your optional requirement?" Alistair inquired, leaning against the headboard of their bed.
"It's an optional Dual Cultivation requirement," She said innocently.
"I can't tell if you are serious or just can't get enough of me," Alistair retorted with a laugh.
"Why not both?" Riseth asked with a shrug, a toothy smile on her face.
"But no, it requires the dual cultivation skill to have a high enough skill rating. And I am good on that front. I presume it is related to me being a Succubus," Riseth remarked as she stretched.
They continued exchanging insights and theorizing about the nature of racial evolution and the benefits they could expect from their accumulated records. Eventually, they decided to let Riseth evolve first, and she made herself comfortable. Alistair sat crosslegged next to her, keen on observing a racial evolution.
Nothing happened for quite some time, but Riseth's whole skin suddenly turned a crimson shade of red, and her horns adopted an obsidian sheen. Power radiated from her. However, the rest of her body and its proportions stayed the same. Her eyes suddenly opened, and her gaze felt sharper, the magenta in her eyes almost glowing before becoming more subdued again. She looked down on her body, which visibly turned back to her usual, more fair-skinned tone.
"What did you get?" Alistair asked curiously.
Riseth sighed, a hint of slight disappointment in her voice. "The choices were somewhat limited," she replied. "Succubus Vixen, Succubus Sovereign, Voidspawn, Infernarii, and Seductrix. I decided to advance along the succubus evolution path."
"Any particular reason?" Alistair inquired. He would have expected the Voidspawn would mesh well with her current setup.
"Well," Riseth began, "the system warned me that picking Voidspawn or Infernarii would change my [Charm] stat into something else, which would drastically reduce the efficiency of Dual Cultivation. And the description and potential requirements for Seductrix... let's just say hell fucking no. The Succubus Sovereign is the higher-tier version of the Vixen. I essentially skipped a step in the linear evolution by picking it, so I can't complain. Plus, I am a big fan of Dual Cultivation, fucking for gains is great." She concluded as she gave him a quick kiss.
"Well, let's hope it warns me, too, in case I get non-human racial options; humans do have a high compatibility with Succubi," Alistair mused aloud.
"I would not worry about it too much," Riseth reassured him. "The majority of benefits come from our resonance, my race, and my charm stat. If you get something incredible, go for it," She encouraged him.
Alistair thought about it and agreed he had not heard of anyone getting an option to evolve into an entirely unrelated species without an Evolution Stone. He then took Riseth's place in the center of the bed, closing his eyes as he confirmed the prompt. He found himself in his soulscape with a new window in front of him.
Racial Evolution Options: Species Name: Racial Qualities: Description: High Human
Boosted [Adaptability] Affinity.
Boosted [Endurance] Affinity.
Boosted [Magic] Affinity.
Boosted [Ambition] Affinity.
Moderate increase in all stats obtained per level.
Innate human benefits.
The High Human is the most common linear evolution of the ambitious human race. Common racial characteristics compared to regular humans include a taller stature, sharp and defined body and facial features.
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Magus
Boosted [Magic] Affinity.
Boosted [Arcane] Affinity.
Boosted [Spellcasting] Affinity.
Moderate increase in all stats except [Mental] and [Control] per level.
Large increase in [Mental] and [Control] stats per level.
Innate human benefits.
The Magus is the human male-exclusive sub-species counterpart of the Witch sub-species. Requires high magic and Arcane affinity. An uncommon sub-species not found in pre-initiation universes. The Magus' racial characteristics are varied, but common features are glowing eyes and magic veins, among other things.
Kinetic Magus
Boosted [Magic] Affinity.
Boosted [Arcane] Affinity.
Boosted [Kinetic] Affinity.
Boosted [Spellcasting] Affinity.
Moderate increase in all stats except [Mental] and [Body] per level.
Large increase in [Mental] and [Body] stats per level.
Innate human benefits.
The Kinetic Magus is the human male-exclusive sub-species counterpart of the Kinetic Witch sub-species. Requires high kinetic, magic and arcane affinity. A specialized version of an uncommon sub-species not found in pre-initiation universes. As a further specialized sub-species, the racial characteristics, if any, usually reflect the affinity in question.
Leprechaun
Boosted [Luck] Affinity.
Boosted [Rainbow] Affinity.
Boosted [Magic] Affinity.
Boosted [Nature] Affinity.
Moderate increase in all stats obtained per level.
Innate magic resistance.
Innate fey and human benefits.
The Leprechaun is a particularly rare human-fey hybrid and one of the few races capable of increasing their luck through the acquisition of wealth. Their usual racial characteristics are short stature, red hair, pointed ears, and golden eyes.
Nephilim
Boosted [Magic] Affinity.
Boosted [Arcane] Affinity.
Boosted [Celestial] Affinity.
Boosted [Summoning] Affinity.
Boosted [Purity] Affinity.
Large increase in all stats obtained per level.
Innate magic resistance.
Innate human benefits.
The Nephilim are a legendary and incredibly rare subspecies of Humans. They are commonly the result of a union between a Human and a powerful Angelic or Demonic species. Typically, Nephilim's racial characteristics strongly depend on their evolution's origin, such as unusual eye colors, hair color, wings, markings on skin, pointed ears, and large stature.
Alistair was taken aback by the final option presented to him. Initially, Alistair suspected Sol had something to do with it, considering Ambrosia as the origin of this option. However, he wasn't so sure as he had shared the energies with Riseth during their dual cultivation, and she had not received the option. Another clue was the last of the boosted affinities. He had inherited the legacy of the [Supreme Heavenly Essence Body Cultivation Technique] from the system, which leaned heavily into the purity aspect, and its associated [Cultivation Patriarch] title had mentions of heritage records to offspring. Had the lost legacy belonged to a clan of Nephilim or another species that would result in it when blended with his human lineage?
It could be a combination of all factors, high stats, heritage records, and corresponding affinities pushed by the ambrosia he failed to refine that had saturated his body. His now very high luck affinity and resonance with Riseth, a demon, could also play a role, though it was improbable in his mind.
If Ambrosia truly helped, was this Sol's plan all along? To obtain more contribution through Alistair evolving into a high-tier species? Intel Nessyra managed to obtain hints at Sol being upset that his nice guy approach had not reeled him in, and Alistair had not accepted Sol's other offers either. Nessy had refused to name the source, though she promised Alistair would find out soon enough.
The Kinetic Magus had tempted him and was the race he had expected would be his chosen species. However, from the orbs Nessyra had obtained, he had learned that his kinetic affinity was already absurdly high, and he would benefit little from increasing it further. His magic and arcane affinity were also both very high. His luck had been high even before using the affinity orb and obtaining the lucky racial skill.
The Leprechaun was out of the question, not only because he already had the racial skill associated with it but also because of its small stature. The large stature of the Nephilim worried him momentarily, but he would be able to adjust his size with the use of magic if he became too large. He knew Desily had made some headway in that department, and he was sure he could figure it out eventually.
He knew that he would not get another potential racial evolution until grade 7 unless he came across an item like an Evolution Stone or underwent a ritual. This meant he would most likely not be evolving again any time soon. Alistair took some more time to think it over but did not wish to leave Riseth waiting for too long. He hoped that the Nephilim would not have some ridiculous prerequisites to advance his grade.
Notifications:
The race of [Alistair Ryser] has been changed to [Body Culivator Nephilim] An increase in Grade has further tied Natural Resilience to [HP] and increased its efficiency. [Body Cultivation] has prevented the removal of redundant organs. Title Rising Titan [Legendary] has been obtained.
None of the notifications were overly surprising. Sebastian had explained how the body would become more and more magically attuned as he passed through the grades. This included the fact that his body would lose the need for organs and be more tied to his energies than worldly needs. Grade 9 was the first big step toward becoming a magical being. He would not immediately die from having vital organs destroyed now. However as a body cultivator, he would still be more affected than most, even on higher grades. But it still meant that he could live through things that would have killed him some minutes earlier.
When he opened his eyes, Alistair immediately noticed the once oversized bed now more fitting to his new frame. The second thing he noticed was Riseth's shocked expression as her gaze wandered over his body.
"You like what you see?" Alistair asked, not sure what he even looked like.
"Fuck yes. What the hell is your race now?" Riseth inquired, her finger tracing over the subtle interplay of jagged runes and celestial motifs intertwined with delicate silver patterns on his shoulder.
"I am a Nephilim now," Alistair said, checking over his body. He was glad he was not completely covered in patterns as they were sparse and subtle, forming a symmetrical pattern on his body. He quickly checked his title and was quite impressed. Another reduction in skill prerequisites was a massive boon.
Titles: Tier: Name Effect: Origin: [Legendary] Rising Titan
+10% to all stats
Greatly lowered prerequisites for future skill upgrades and acquisition.
Acquired by building an excellent foundation of Skills, Stats, and extremely high-quality Records before advancing into Grade 9. The system guards the title, preventing divulging the path to its acquisition or existence.
He wondered if Riseth had gotten the Rising Titan title as well. She should have had even more stats than him and just as high-quality records and skills. Annoyingly, the system prevented him from asking, but she had gotten something from what he could sense through the resonance. He stood up and, briefly, felt disoriented by the height difference as his skill helped him find his balance. Alistair guessed he was probably around two and a half meters tall. He would preffer to return to his original height as the added mass would benefit him little other than making him a bigger target.
"That won't do," Alistair murmured as he turned his intent inwards.
His body had changed, and he felt powerful yet also lacking. He knew he would need to refine and temper his body to adapt to the new changes. Riseth had explained to him how she could innately change her body as she and Desily discussed polymorphing. He would not obtain the polymorph skill like most species when reaching Grade 8, but it did not prevent him from using the magic manually. After trying for a while, he gave up, failing to adjust his size. He would look into that in more detail later. Alistair headed towards the bathroom, intending to examine himself in the full-length mirror. Riseth joined him as he reached the mirror, her height barely reaching his chest.