“This is taking forever!” Two days passed, yet Mors hadn’t even reached the halfway point. Thanks to how tiny he was, he was able to easily fit his hands into the little crevices on the mountainside to pull himself up. Unfortunately, because he was tiny and not very strong, he wasn’t very fast and got tired easily. Right now, he was taking a little break on a ledge, looking over the forest he had come from. “The big yellow thing is sinking into the ground, and the sky is orange. This world is so strange.” Soon the sky was black again, and the big white circle hung in the air. “Time to keep climbing.” Mors said as he continued his journey up the mountain. That was when a big brown thing with wings similar to the tiny ones sprouting from his back swooped down and plucked him from the mountainside. This was a rather surprising development. Mors thought about trying to free himself; however, he feared what might happen if he fell from this height. An unfamiliar feeling filled him as he stared down at the ground below him. If the creature dropped him… Mors began trembling. He didn’t like this feeling, not at all. The terrified devil closed his eyes to try and forget about what awaited him below.

I’ll just have to go along with this flying creature for now. I’m sure I’ll end up killing it soon, anyway. And indeed, once they had flown halfway up the mountain and started heading for a small cave, the creature abruptly stopped moving and crashed into the cold hard mountain.

Mors' eyes burst open as he fell from the sky, as the notification sounded in his head. He felt the wind against his body as he fell, and in a desperate attempt to save himself, he floated towards the mountainside and latched on with his little strength. His body slid downwards while gradually slowing down until it finally came to a halt. That was scary. I almost got killed this time! Mors knew he couldn’t stay like this forever; luckily, even though he had fallen a bit, he was still much higher than he was before. If no more brown bats flew down and grabbed him, it shouldn’t take too long to reach that cave. I can’t wait to find out what's in there! Mors thought excitedly as he scrambled up the mountain. When he finally reached the cave, he let out a sigh of relief. “Finally, now I can rest a bit.” Mors slumped down and closed his eyes. A little while ago, he discovered that when he was tired, he could close his eyes, and the next time he opened them, he had energy again. Mors opened his eyes and saw that the sky was blue again. Even so, the cave was still quite dark, and Mors was having a harder time seeing the farther in he went.

[Gained Skill: Nightvision Lvl 1]

“Oh hey, I can see better now!” The happy devil exclaimed. It was still dim; however, being able to see a little was much better than not being able to see at all. It’s actually kinda cozy in here. Maybe I’ll stay here for a bit. As soon as he thought that, the strange voice sounded in his head once again.

[Gained Unique Skill: Create Dungeon]

[Would You Like to Convert This Cave Into your Dungeon?]

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“Huh?” Mors was confused. Where did this skill come from? And what was a dungeon? “Only one way to find out, I guess. Create Dungeon!” A wave of inky blackness shot out from Mors’ body and engulfed every surface of the cavern, killing every living thing inside. Eventually, the cave led to a dead end, and the blackness stopped emanating from the devil. Mors collapsed to the ground in exhaustion as a storm of notifications filled his head. Most of them were to tell him that he had killed such and such, but among them were a few curious ones.

[Dungeon complete. Whenever something dies in your dungeon, you will receive twice the amount of experience.]

[Gained Title: Dungeon Master (Grants access to dungeon functions)]

[Gained Title Skill: Dungeon Teleportation (Allows you to instantly teleport yourself and up to five others to the dungeon from anywhere in the mortal realm]

[You have reached level 10! Evolution unlocked. Two evolution paths available]

An evolution? What is that? Mors didn’t know what evolution was supposed to be, but he felt an instinctual urge to pursue it.

[Option 1, Chaotic Blight Devil: You have cast aside all rationality in pursuit of greater power. The miasma inside you flows freely, cursing the very ground you are bound to. All races fear you, for you are death incarnate]

This was… interesting. Mors had barely been alive, and yet he was being offered a massive boost of power. No brown bats would be able to carry him away anymore if he chose that! He didn’t know what rationality was, so he didn’t care about losing it. The voice made option 1 sound so enticing, almost as if it wanted him to choose it. An image unbidden came to his mind. Of a gigantic black monster rampaging across the land destroying everything it touched. “Wow, that seems pretty good! ok, what about option 2?”

[Option 2, Young Blight Devil: You forgo power in order to retain your sanity. As your body has grown and developed, you are now able to experience pain, hunger, and other unpleasant sensations. Since your muscles have developed, You are much stronger and faster. Note choosing this option allows for more diverse evolution choices in the future.]

Well, that doesn’t sound nearly as good as the last one. Mors decided to choose the first option; however, as he thought over what the first option had said again, he thought of what would happen if his miasma was constantly flowing. “I’ll kill everything, won’t I? That’s what the noisy lady wants, though, isn’t it?” He sat down with his chin resting on his hand.

That’s what they want, but what do I want? Do I want to kill everything I touch? They were all like him alive. Mors didn’t really care about other creatures, nor was he sad he had killed them, but he didn’t want his existence to amount to only killing others. With that in mind, Mors chose the second optionWhat do I want to do? Wait, it says I’m bound to the earth…that means I can't touch the white circle in the sky! And just like that, his mind was made up. “Evolution: Young Blight Devil.” Darkness erupted from his body and wrapped him in an ebon cocoon that pulsed like a heart. When the sun reached its zenith, the cocoon began to change into a humanoid shape. Some of the blackness faded from the head and lower arms and was replaced with a ghostly white. Two short horns sprouted from a head of also white hair. Mors opened his crimson eyes to find himself taller and skinnier than before but otherwise unchanged. His body was still pitch black, and his wings were still tiny. “So, this is evolution.” He said, marveling at his new body. He took a step forward and was disoriented for a moment as his mind processed his sudden growth. W-woah! I just went way farther than I usually do when I walk. Amazing! I wanna evolve more!

Mors wasn’t very fond of killing, but if killing would continue to make him bigger and better, why wouldn’t he kill other living beings? I don’t have to kill everything all the time, But if a brown bear is just lying on the ground in front of me… Mors smiled as he imagined what further evolutions were in store for him.