Ok, so, all of the evolutions have benefits.

The Young Fire Dragon compounds on what I have now, and gives me the skill A Berserker’s Rage, which doubles my power, but makes me lose my mind. At least for the duration of the skill. This evolution also increases the growth of all of my stats 'slightly’.

The Young Nature Dragon changes my element, allowing me to attack my enemies from all directions by controlling the plants around them. However, I can only control one or two at a time, at least until I get stronger. On top of that, it only increases my intelligence and wisdom in ‘minor’ increments.

The Young Void Dragon has the most benefits and the most drawbacks. It gives me the power to permanently take the stats of my enemies, and temporarily gain access to the skills of creatures that I eat. This evolution replaces Spark with Darkness Breath, which is just Spark, but stronger, and with a different element. It also increases the growth rate of all my stats to ‘minor’. However, if I’m not constantly eating, then I will lose my mind. In this case, it’s practically equivalent to dying.

So, it’s time for me to make a choice. I think that I can safely get rid of the Young Void Dragon. It just has too many drawbacks for an inequivalent amount of benefits. That leaves me with the Young Fire Dragon and the Young Nature Dragon. The Young Fire Dragon is more of a boost to my current powers, while the Young Nature Dragon completely changes them. The Young Nature Dragon’s powers are really well suited to fighting in the forest, while with the Young Fire Dragon, I have to be much more careful. However, new powers would mean that I have to change my style of fighting, even though I don’t really have one.

The Young Fire Dragon has an advantage here, as it doesn’t really change what I already have, only adding a new power. The Young Nature Dragon, however, completely changes my powers. I lose my breath attack, and maybe my claw attack, and replace it with a manipulation ability. It seems really powerful, but I will have to learn how to use it, and I don’t know if I will have time to train with it. I could be attacked right after I leave the evolutionary space. But wait, wouldn’t that also be a really good chance to practice? And I kind of need to change my fighting style anyway. I only barely won against that fox, and even that was mainly because of danger sense and my stats.

Well, I guess that decides it. I’m going to evolve into a Young Nature Dragon. I turn away from the purple pillar of light, just now realizing that I’d been standing in front of it the entire time. I quickly lope towards the green pillar of light, and stop just a couple of meters away from touching it. Now, how do I do this? Maybe I should walk inside it? It doesn’t hurt to try. I walk a bit closer, and the explanation about the evolution appears again. I dismiss it, and slowly move my claw into the green light. Another notification rings out.

Would you like to evolve into a Young Nature Dragon? Yes/No

Well, I’ve already decided that I want to. Yes. The moment that I confirm my choice, I black out.

I wake up to a blindingly bright light and a bunch of loud dings in my ear. I blink a few times, trying to adjust to the bright light. After a couple of minutes of blinking, the light finally dims down to a manageable level. The first thing I notice is that I’m surrounded by the forest. Wasn’t I inside the log? Why am I outside it now? It’s only a couple of seconds after that that I realize that I should be on watch for any danger.

I look around and start checking my surroundings for danger. All I hear are normal forest sounds. The chirping of birds, the rustling of the leaves in the wind, and the rustling of grass. I start to stand up, and then abruptly stop. Why is the ground getting so much farther away? I continue standing up. When my legs are fully extended, I’m at a dizzying height. Did I grow taller? Why? It only takes me a second to recall the message that I received earlier when I quarried about evolution.

Is this what the message meant when it said ‘physical changes’? Did anything else change? Getting taller doesn’t seem like a fundamental change to my body. I look down at my claws. They are still an ebony black, but the skin behind them is now a splotchy, leafy green interspersed with a darker green that I would associate with moss.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Wow, my scale color has completely changed! I wonder what else is different? I crane my neck to check my back, and am surprised by what I see. Woah! My wings are so much bigger now. I wonder if I can fly now? Wait, has anything changed in my status? [Status].

Razag

Level: 10

Species: Young Nature Dragon

General Skills:

[Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 3

[Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 2

Skills:

[Plant Control - Minor] lvl 4

[Slash] lvl 3

Unused skill slot x 3

Skill Bank:

[Flora Camouflage] lvl 1

Stats:

STR: 31

END: 31

VIT: 45

WIS: 40

INT: 40

Flora Camouflage? What’s that? Well, I still have some empty skill slots, so maybe I should equip it so I can see what it can do. Assign [Flora Camouflage]. Ok, now that it’s assigned, I’m gonna test it out. [Flora Camouflage]. Just like what happened the last time I activated a skill, a rush of knowledge flows into my head. However, unlike with Spark or Slash, this rush of knowledge only lasts a couple of seconds. But that’s because the skill is relatively simple. It just changes my scales to the color of the plants around me, using a very small amount of my energy to do so.

That’s a really good ambush skill. It would let me attack creatures from a bunch of different directions, and still be hidden from their view. I look down at my claws to check if the skill works, and am momentarily surprised when I don’t see them. Oh, that’s what it meant when it said camouflage. It’s so good that I can’t even see my own claws! What happens if I move? I take a step forward, and then look down at my claws again. They are much more visible now. They look like distortions over the grass.

It seems that it only changes my color to match the exact area where the skill was activated. That means if I move, I will probably be seen by whatever I’m hunting. I guess that’s why the requirements are so low. The skill probably needs to constantly be refreshed if I’m moving.

Anyway, I should probably test Plant Control now. And maybe I should move out of the clearing so that I’m less conspicuous. I stroll through the clearing, and into the forest. I only stop once my entire length is hidden in the trees. That’s where I start to practice my other new skill, Plant Control. I activate it, ready for the rush of information. However, I never could've predicted just how much would be rushing into my mind.

AHHHHHHHHH, there’s so much! My mind is temporarily overwhelmed by the amount of information I’m receiving. It takes me a full two minutes to process the information. I didn’t think controlling a plant would be so complicated! And I didn’t know that the knowledge to use a skill could be painful. Maybe I should be more careful about which skills I choose? But how am I supposed to know what’s dangerous or not? Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now.

Anyways, back to Plant Control. It was definitely a good choice. It’s way more versatile than Spark, and It can do more damage, via stabbing or crushing. Although, depending on how much energy I need to use to get it going, or whether energy is actively consumed when it’s being used, it might become something of a finisher move, or a last-ditch attack. I should probably test it before theorizing more.

I follow what the instructions said, and activate the skill, focusing on a vine that’s intertwined with a tree trunk right next to me. I can tell when the spell activates, as I suddenly feel like I have a new limb. However, instead of being uncomfortable and difficult to control, it goes where I want it to effortlessly. I make it disentangle itself from the tree.

As it’s disentangling itself, I notice that some of the bark on the vine falls off, in an area around the tip. That area is where I have the most control, like how I can do more dexterous movements with my claws, than something like my bicep. How fast can it go? I make it shoot forward as if I was lunging. It only goes a little bit faster than I do. Well, it is really sharp, unlike me. One last test, then I’ll turn off the skill. I make the bottom part of the vine surround the tree it was previously curled around, and then make it crush what it’s surrounding as hard as it can. The vine goes right through the tree’s trunk, and quickly meets itself. Uh oh. I quickly move out of the way of where the tree is falling, and watch it go right into the clearing.

CRASH! It crashes at a truly impressive volume, probably alerting everything for miles. That was dangerous. Well, at least I know just how powerful it is now. This was definitely the right choice. And it seems that I only need to activate the skill, and then no more energy is consumed.

I should get out of here. The sound of the tree falling will probably alert something really dangerous. I turn back to the direction where the mountain is, satisfied by the results of my testing. I start running towards it, quickly leaving the area where the tree fell behind.