Narco morphed into an axe's form, but its scales and eye were still there. "What were you talking about earlier?" I asked our new partner to clarify what he said earlier; nothing of it seemed understandable. Maybe there is a deeper side to it. Probably it wasn't as simple as Darak's just getting assisted; nobody does anything for free. What is 'heaven' anyway? "And what is heaven?" I asked my second question, waiting for his answer patiently.
"I don't recall much, I was sentenced to eternal damnation then my sentence changed once again to serve you."
"All I know is that Heaven's Will assisted this phantom. And now you fit for the job." I heard his echo as his red pupil stared at Darak.
"Hmm, what job do we fit?" I attempted to gauge more information from him, but I saw no reason he wouldn't tell since he would be involved in this job.
"Taking care of an outrageous race, something like that," he said, "And something about defending your world too, probably..." That was interesting, despite it being nothing good. I couldn't think of any races or even species that could threaten this world's peace. Anyway, time to move on. I called Narco's {Phantom Form} ability; there was no reason to keep him in his weapon form. I inspected the weapon as it started shape-shifting, assuming a phantom form. I was now touching the end of his tail in my hand, although it didn't fit in at all.
So the tail is your hilt, and the rest of your body is the blade. I nodded my head, noting it was weird as it made no sense. If his tail is the hilt, then shouldn't his eyes be located on his tail? Whatever, why was I even thinking about something pointless?
"I'm gonna think what to do with these points, feel free to continue your brawl," I said before leaving the domain, I didn't care what happened from here since they couldn't harm each other anyway. I appeared on the roof made my way to the edge and sat down eyeing the street below me then I called my status. I have a pending evolution, but how does that even work? Meh, I will just do it later. Without overthinking I decided to spend the attribute points on [Heal] to balance my dark matter and health rate. The ability point available was precious as I wouldn't get another until level twenty-five.
I inspected my upgradable abilities one by one. {Phantom Form} upgrade didn't feel so important. It was decent enough, and my total stats matched that of level fifty. Yup, I will skip this one. {Shift} upgrade would probably allow me to keep a limb or two of my base form. It wasn't so important as well. Skip this one as well, not a priority. Only {Regeneration} and {Absolute Darkness} remained. I preferred upgrading the former, as the latter would, at most, expand my domain. I upgraded {Regeneration} to level 2, satisfied with my decision.
[Regeneration (Level 1) -> Regeneration (Level 2)]
Its description no longer mentioned severed limps but I assumed it wouldn't fix me if I got cut in half, probably. I had no other skill but Narco so I just dumped my skill points into it.
[Narco (Level 1) -> Narco (Level 2) -> Narco (Level 3)]
Nothing changed in his info except the food; it was now 1/3. I expected more, but it was acceptable for now; still, I shouldn't have dumped all my points right away. That was a stupid decision. When I was finished, I got up. I wanted to visit the guild once again before heading out; maybe sell these red scales in my ring if they had any value or get an armor forged for me if it was doable. I waited until the busy street cleared a little, and then I jumped off. I landed with a thud, causing some small cracks to spread on the decorated floor, which seemed decently aligned. I ignored the figures eyeing me as I went to the guild's tavern.
I pushed the wooden doors as I entered; some were staring at me in fear, probably the ones present when my partner did his thing. Darak's effect was strong indeed. I made my way toward the management desk to inquire about a blacksmith who could help me with my request.
"Excuse me," I said politely as I knocked on the desk, "Could you please help me with this material? I need to create an armor from it if possible." Then I took one of the lizard's scales and placed it on the desk. It wasn't something I knew anything about, and Darak just picked it up. Our monster form was better, but I didn't have dark energy at my disposal all the time.
Shortly, the manager held it in her hands as she inspected it. "I'm sorry, you won't find any armorer who can do it for you in this small kingdom, but you could sell it to us for a decent amount of gold." That was a problem, but maybe I could sell some since I had too many. After a little while, I decided to sell ten of them. I earned seventy gold coins from the trade, which was a decent amount. I brought up my status once again to look at the evolution prompt to get an idea, then a new screen was displayed before me.
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[First Evolution]
[Minimum Requirements: 600 Health, 1,000 Dark Matter, and 200 Dark Energy]
[Yes / No]
The selection was greyed out, probably because I had not met any of these requirements. If I wanted to succeed, I would need to double all of them, or maybe just a little extra would suffice. Health was probably the biggest challenge right now; it was at 540, but increasing it to 1,200 would be a pain in the ass. Perhaps 900 is just enough. I suppose an extra fifty percent on each requirement would increase the odds a lot. I activated my {Absolute Darkness}, bringing myself into my domain. I ignored the two fighting in the distance and made my way to the monster Darak obtained in the abyss. It gave me 9 attribute points, but it wasn't enough so I went to the serpent's corpse I hunted lately.
A large part was consumed already, more than what I recalled when my phantomized body acted instinctively. I reckon I would need to consume it entirely for {Predation} to work. Let's hope Darak was the one who ate that part. I wished, doubting it since he was in his soul form, besides the fact that my food never increased at all. It took about an hour to consume the entire corpse, sadly the ability never triggered. All I got was my stomach filled to the brim.
Since I had no further business in this city, I decided to head out. Requies Kingdom was far to the west. I could look for anyone traveling there, but flying was technically the best and quickest option. I'd rest now and then every time I came across a place where I could find an armorer who could fulfill my request. Once I decided, I went around looking for a merchant where I could get anything lighter than this coat. I wasn't picky, and anything decent would just work. I headed out flying west shortly after putting my new stuff in the storage ring.
***
Less than an hour passed, and I was already far from any human structures. Then I remembered the Spirit Bearer living in the Gloom Wood. I held a grudge against it honestly. I think I will just pass on this one. It was a level 31 beast, but it was sentient; I doubted it would pose a threat this time, but caution was needed. Without further ado, I changed my direction to the forest. At least this time I wouldn't mess up as Darak did. Two hours went by and I found myself high above the forest, then another hour passed looking for the beast. I landed gracefully on a branch a little far from it then I reverted to my human form, I called {Narco} and soon a blade materialized in my hand. I jumped off the tree landing on the rough ground causing the dead leaves and debris to scatter around.
It caught his attention, which made me greet him. He deserved my recognition for what he had done before. "We meet again, Mr. Bear!" I said as I steadily approached it. Boredom was painted across its face as it eyed me. Although I would like to know why, I doubted it could speak at all. I assumed my fighting stance and kicked the ground, charging at it. I swung the blade with the strength I could muster. As my sword came closer to it, I felt the ground shake. Vines burst forth, and cracks speeded through the floor, forming a wall that ruined my attempt.
A fist sped through the air in my direction, prompting me to dodge. As I tried to move my body, I noticed the roots coming up from the ground, attaching themselves to my legs and reaching up to my knees, firmly restricting my movements. It was too late to defend myself; I quickly closed my eyes as the fist hit my face, spreading a painful feeling through my head. My nose was badly damaged. I fell to the floor like a rock; I had to distract the beast somehow until I freed myself. I called Narco's {Phantom Form}, forcing him to take on his monster form. Distract it for a few minutes, I sent him a mental message, just like how I do it with Darak usually.
Why should I? What do I get in return?" I heard his voice as I took a stomp on my stomach, making me wish I was in my phantom form. The pain spread through my body as I caught a mouthful of blood. I sent another mental message, screaming at my partner, WE WILL DISCUSS AFTER, JUST FUCKING PUSH IT AWAY! Finally, I watched Narco run at the bear, engaging him in combat. Soon both were wrestling against each other far from me.
I brought my attention back to those bloody roots, I spent some time attempting to cut them, but I was met with failure, forcing me to take on my monster form. Once my transformation started and my body started enlarging, I immediately ripped the roots off with my claws, freeing myself. I took a look at the two fighting; they were rolling on the ground. Then shortly, the bear was on top, smashing my partner's head against the ground.
I watched as the vines restricted my partner's body, keeping it on the floor. Although it looked like he didn't feel any of the damage inflicted on him, it must have been annoying to him, just as it was to me. I had to find a way to stop him from using it. The skill or whatever it was must have some requirements to function. Would bringing it to my domain prevent it from using the vines? I thought it was a decent idea, and I wouldn't know unless I tried. I made up my mind and charged at the bear. I jumped high, landing on it. Once I made contact with its body, I released my darkness, enveloping the three of us and transporting us inside my domain.