I wake up with a slight headache. It takes a minute for the pounding to slow down enough that I can open my eyes. Once I do, I look around. What happened? Where am I? A second later, the memories of the fight flood in. Oh. I’m in the fallen tree trunk. Wait, where’s the fox? I’m feeling pretty hungry.

I frantically look around, before my roaming eyes abruptly stop on the remains of the fox. There it is. I was worried for a second there. I stand up, feeling the tip of one of my horns scrape against the ceiling. Huh. I don’t think they did that when I came in here. Maybe I was just crawling? Yeah, yeah that must be it. Anyways, it’s time to eat. I start devouring the fox, breaking apart and swallowing everything, including the bones.

After about five minutes of eating, I finish the fox. I walk a couple of feet away from the pools of blood, so I can stay clean and harder to detect. Only after sitting down do I remember that I have a couple of system notifications to go through. I open up my status, and start reading through it.

Razag

Level: 10 (Max Level)

Species: Dragon Hatchling

General Skills:

[Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 3

[Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 2

Skills:

[Spark] lvl 4

[Slash] lvl 3

Unused skill slots x 3

Stats:

STR: 31

END: 31

VIT: 45

WIS: 38

INT: 38

{EVOLUTION AVAILABLE}

Woah. There are a bunch of different things that have changed. I wonder if the system will tell me what those things mean? Here, I’m going to try it. What is max level? Why did my stats increase by three points instead of two? And, what I feel is most important, what is evolution? After asking the questions that feel like the ones most likely to get a response, I wait. It only takes a couple of seconds before I receive a notification.

Evolution is a process where monsters evolve their race, increase their level caps, and fundamentally change their body. This process takes between ten minutes and two hours, depending on the rarity of the evolution, and the amount of physical body changes associated with the new species.

Huh. I guess I wasn’t really expecting it to work. Well, I should take advantage of this opportunity. I read the system notification quickly, and then reread it to make sure that I fully understand what it’s saying. I begin to think after my third read. So, will this make me stronger? And it says that I have an evolution available. Maybe it’s because I reached the max level? Or is it because I killed that fox? I mean, those are the only things that happened at the same time as they notification came. But why would killing a random fox make me evolve? That doesn’t make any sense, so that must mean that it is the max level.

Also, the definition mentioned increasing level caps. Does that mean there are higher levels? And that evolving will allow me to reach them? Maybe there are even more evolutions. It’s not like the definition said there aren’t, but it also didn’t say that there are. I should probably find someplace safe to evolve.

I look around the fallen log. This place is probably safe enough. Nothing found me while I was asleep, and I won’t be responsive for a much shorter period of time this time around. Also, something seems off here. I reread the description once again, and what I find, or rather, don’t find, confirms my suspicions. It seems like most monsters don’t get a choice in their evolution. I mean, it doesn’t actually say that, but it also doesn’t mention monsters having a choice in the first place. Maybe I shouldn't evolve. I don't want to change into something I don’t want to be. Then again, I am at the level cap. It's not like I can get stronger without evolving.

I weigh the risks and benefits, and end up deciding that I should evolve. Being able to get stronger is ultimately more important than the risks. Is there anything I need before I evolve? Maybe food? But it says it only takes an hour, and I just ate, so I should be fine. Wait, how do I evolve in the first place? Maybe I should think "evolve"? No? What else can I do? I think about it for a minute, and then it comes to me. Can I think it the way I do status? Ok, I'm going to try it. [Evolve]. Right after thinking the word, I black out.

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I wake up in a pitch black space. The first thing that comes to mind is a question. Isn't it awfully concerning how much I've been blacking out recently? Only after that do I think, where am I? I get the answer when I hear the system message.

You are in an evolutionary space. This is where all of your achievements culminate into three evolutions. You must pick one before you leave this space.

Ok, so where are the evolution options? Just a moment after I think that, three pillars of light emerge in front of me. I recoil away from them, blinded by their brilliance for a brief moment. In that time, they dim down, and the white spots in my vision fade away. I blink a couple of times, expediting the process. When I can finally see clearly again, I start to notice the different colors of the pillars.

The one on my left is green, the one in the middle is red, and the one on my right is a dark purple. What are these? Are they the options? How am I supposed to know which one is which? I step closer to the leftmost one to examine it, and nearly jump back in surprise when information on the evolution inside enters my brain.

Young Nature Dragon - a dragon that, even though it possesses fire, takes care so as not to destroy nature. This has given it nature’s favor, and thus allowed it to change its element to one that is not so damaging, but is equally destructive.

When I read the description, I notice one thing that seems a bit off. Something that seems to qualify me for this evolution, but also something that I haven’t really done. I haven’t made sure to avoid damaging nature, have I? I think back to all of my fights. I mean, I guess I didn’t aim at the plants, because I didn’t want to start a fire. But would that really count as ‘taking care so as not to destroy nature’? It doesn’t really matter anyway.

After I finish thinking about that, a couple more questions come to mind, such as, what does the evolution mean about changing my element? and what powers would I gain? The system only answers my question about the powers.

The Young Nature Dragon can control the roots and vines of nearby plants. The amount of willpower necessary to control the plants increases exponentially for each new plant being actively controlled. The [Spark] skill will be replaced by [Plant Control - minor], and the stat growth speed of intelligence and wisdom will have a minor increase.

Well, I guess that answers my question about the evolution’s powers. I can see how this would be really beneficial in the forest. There are vines and plants everywhere. It would be like having ropes that I can control, and they are constantly surrounding the enemy. The only real disadvantage is that I won’t be able to control more than one at once, at least not yet. I step away from the Young Nature Dragon evolution, and move toward the next one, the red pillar. Once I get close to it, I receive another message, this time describing the next evolution.

Young Fire Dragon - a dragon that has embraced its native element of fire. It hunkers down on its instincts, and grows stronger for it. It brings down rage and flame on its enemies, and has no allies.

Well, this one is much simpler. Though, I do wonder what it means about rage and flame. The Young Nature Dragon didn’t talk about anything like emotions. Maybe this one is special? Well, I think I should know its abilities before I make any decisions.

A Young Fire Dragon will have its [Spark] evolved into [Flaming Breath]. It will also gain the skill [A Berserker’s Rage]. This skill doubles all stats, but takes away all of the user’s intelligence for the length of its use. The Young Fire Dragon will also have slightly increased stat growth for all its stats.

Oh. That’s actually better than the Young Nature Dragon, isn’t it? Instead of only boosting stat growth for two attributes, it will boost all of them! And already, Spark is an amazing skill. It’s been one of my primary methods of attack, and any boost to it will inevitably be good. Then again, compared to a skill like plant control, does it really compare? Plant control seems much more versatile than spark is, whether it is in or outside of combat. I think I might not take this one. I look towards the last pillar, and see shimmering purple. I walk towards it, and feel the information appear in my head, like all the others.

Young Darkness Dragon - a dragon of the all-consuming void. It fights its enemies brutally, using all of the tools at its disposal to end them. After defeating its foes, it consumes them, empowering itself. Dragons that choose to evolve into this forsake their previous elements, and turn to the path of darkness.

Wow. This seems to describe my fighting style pretty well. And, that last part about getting stronger by eating what I kill is really appealing. But, I don’t know, something about this evolution seems off. It almost seems tailored to me. Well, maybe I’ll decide once I hear the rest of its powers.

A Young Darkness Dragon can consume the flesh of its foes to temporarily gain access to the dead creature’s skills. It also gains additional stat points in the stat that that specific creature was highest in. These stat points are permanent, and correlate to the tier of the creature.

The other skill that is gained replaces [Spark]. It is called [Darkness Breath], and it sends out a wave of void sparks that devour whatever they touch, even if it’s the user. The evolution also gives a minor increase in all stats’ growth speed.

The description was two paragraphs? It also seems to have more benefits than the other evolutions. There has to be a catch, right? There's no way something this powerful would be here if there wasn't a catch. Maybe I should ask? System, is there a catch?

Young Darkness Dragons have a vicious hunger that never lets them stop eating, for if they do, they are consumed by it. Their personality will be destroyed, and they will become mindless monsters.

Oh, there’s the catch. Yeah, that kind of makes this not worth it anymore.

Ok, now that I’ve checked out all of the evolutions, I should choose one. Which one should I choose, though?