After sobbing in mom’s arms for a while, mom started to check on my physical well-being. After determining that my body was fine, we got up and returned to the living room in silence. I wasn’t able to focus on anything, and my shoulders were shaking at the haunting memory of the pain.
I don’t know how long we spent in silence, though I eventually found to speak up.
“St… Stat…” I tried to say, though my voice came out hoarse and weak.
The trauma of the evolution was still fresh, and I was scared to even open my status. I feared that the pain would return, so my voice disappeared at the thought of interacting with it.
Mom moved from her chair to sit next to me and squeezed my hand.
“There’s no need to rush sweety. I am sorry to have rushed you into evolving. You don’t have to do that ever again.” She whispered kindly.
I looked towards mom and saw the same scared and broken woman I’d seen when I had chased after her the day Durreg and I returned from the Academy’s exam. Mom was deathly scared of losing me or seeing me get hurt, even more than I myself was.
Seeing that gave me the courage I needed to push past the fear, grit my teeth, and call up my status.
“Status.” I said with a firm, slightly shaking voice.
I was still in my human form, which was beginning to confuse me, since I doubted Sorcery Dragon had shapeshifting abilities, though what I saw in my status quickly cleared it up.
[Hurun’s Mercy] triggered.
Unique skill obtained: [Evolutionary Pain Resistance Lv. 1]!
[Evolutionary Pain Resistance Lv. 1] upgraded to [Evolutionary Pain Resistance Lv. 2]!
…
[Evolutionary Pain Resistance Lv. 9] upgraded to [Evolutionary Pain Resistance Lv. 10]!
[Evolutionary Pain Resistance Lv. 10] and [Hurun’s Mercy] merged into unique ultimate skill [Pain Immunity]!
For obtaining a unique skill for the first time, [Divine Shard] gained!
For obtaining an ultimate skill for the first time, [Divine Shard] gained!
…
Evolution Complete.
You have evolved into a [Sorcery Dragon]!
For evolving into a pink race or higher for the first time, [Divine Shard] gained!
[Draconic Sorcery] upgraded to [Kin of Mana]!
Racial trait obtained: [True Elemental Body]!
Racial trait obtained: [Evolutionary Inheritance]!
Skill [Poison Resistance Lv. 8] subsumed into [True Elemental Body]!
…
Skill [Soul Resistance Lv. 2] subsumed into [True Elemental Body]!
Skill [Forceball Lv. 1] subsumed into [Kin of Mana]!
…
Skill [Icicle Bolt Lv. 4] subsumed into [Kin of Mana]!
Skill [Mana Manipulation Lv. 10] subsumed into [Kin of Mana]!
Racial Trait [Greater Regeneration] subsumed into [True Elemental Body]!
[Sorcery Dragon Lv. 1] leveled up to [Sorcery Dragon Lv. 2]!
…
[Sorcery Dragon Lv. 12] leveled up to [Sorcery Dragon Lv. 13]!
Name: Kiara Azoth
[Sorcery Dragon]
[Level 13]
EXP: 8,513,962/16,500,000
Divine Shards: 9/?
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HP: 25,745/25,745
SP: 6,037/6,037
MP: 77,816/77,816
Vitality: 1,040
Strength: 1,233
Dexterity: 1,159
Intelligence: 2,381
Wisdom: 1,905
Racial Traits:
[Sapient Creature]
[Dragon Combat]
[Dragon Breath]
[Draconic Vision]
[Draconic Scales]
[Kin of Mana]
[Shapeshift: Base Humanoid Form]
[Greater Appraisal Obfuscation]
[True Elemental Body]
[Evolutionary Inheritance]
Class: [Celestial Herald]
[Level 100]
EXP: 77,309,813/MAX
Class Skill Points: 8
Class Skills:
[Elemental Dominion Lv. 20]
[Law of Exclusive Attraction Lv. 20]
[Force Coefficient Lv. 20]
[Herald’s Domain Lv. 20]
[Force Sphere Lv. 20]
[Sky’s Wrath Lv. 20]
Skills:
[Appraisal Lv. 10]
[Sneak Lv. 9]
[Ambush Lv. 9]
[Fate’s Jester]
[Pain Immunity]
Titles:
[Ferocious Underdog]
[Abyssal Cockroach]
[Avenger]
[Indomitable Will]
[Progenitor]
[Giant Slayer]
[Trailblazer]
[Protector of the Meek]
[Mad Dog]
I gasped, holding my breath in shock.
Taking that as an alarming sign, mom shook my shoulder.
“Kiara, are you alright?!” she yelled.
“Yeah! Yeah, I am alright.” I said, stunned.
***
After reading out the first bit of the status notifications I got to mom, she was just as stunned as I was.
“Your evolution triggered Hurun’s blessing, yet it wasn’t strong enough to handle the pain on its own. The pain was so bad that you got a unique resistance skill for it, it upgraded all the way to level 10, then merged with Hurun’s blessing to form a unique, ultimate skill. Is that right?” she asked in horror.
I hesitantly nodded.
Mom sat back, speechless.
“In all my years, I’ve never seen anything like that before. Not even your S rank evolution is supposed to hurt that much. What’s going on here…?”
Seeing as the conversation had come to a dead end. I tried to change the topic.
“Err, you could probably ask some of the other dragons for opinions? I don’t think we’re going to figure out something new just by thinking about it, aside from maybe the rarity of the evolution influencing the pain? In any case, there’s still more to look at in my system.”
Mom sighed and nodded.
“I’ll do that later. In the meantime, tell me what else you got.”
“I got three racial traits, two of which ended up absorbing most of my skills.”
I used appraisal to see what the two of them did.
[Kin of Mana]
Your relationship with mana is not just that of a caster and their fuel; mana loves you and is eager to obey your will.
[True Elemental Body]
You possess a powerful mana-based body. You possess vast reserves of mana, are no longer affected by temperature conditions, are immune to physical damage, and can manipulate mana instinctively. You may use your MP in lieu of your HP. If your MP reaches 0, you will die.
“So… I think I might have figured out why that evolution tortured me.”
***
“You became an elemental in one go?!” mom yelled out hysterically.
Surprised, I just shut my mouth, though mom was just downright shocked.
“No wonder you nearly died…” she said putting a hand to her face.
“What’s so dangerous about that?” I asked.
“Your entire physical body was destroyed, creating your elemental body in the process. The only thing that remains physical in your body is your mana core. Normally, you gain an evolution to become a partial elemental, which is either your final rank S evolution or in rare cases, your rank A evolution. The latter case is the only hope for most to become true elementals.” She shook her head.
Huh.
“Well, what makes elementals so special?”
“Elementals have no need for the mana manipulation skill or even spell skills – they simply will the mana to take the forms and effects they want, much like a living being simply commands a limb. Their affinity for mana is beyond that of even dragons – they are natural spellcasters.” She explained.
“Wait, does that mean I don’t have any more use for sorcery?!” I asked in excitement.
Mom chuckled and shook her head.
“No, sweety. While simple effects no longer require magic circles to create, any complicated ones still need a magic circle. The good news is that manipulating mana will come so naturally to you that you won’t struggle again with creating magic circles – so long as you’ve properly memorized them. You’ll be able to reproduce them from memory instantaneously. You’ll also have ridiculously large mana reserves, having a body made up entirely of it, with the only physical part of your body being your mana core. I know this because a few other dragons happen to be partial elementals, with two of them being true ones.”
Huh. Taking a look at my stats, the obscene amount of mana I had did stick out like a sore thumb.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, my last racial trait and the pain immunity skill I got is pretty interesting.”
[Evolutionary Inheritance]
You retain all non-obsolete, non-conflicting racial traits from your evolutionary line.
[Pain Immunity]
Unique skill. Ultimate skill. You no longer experience pain. Instead, your mind receives awareness of any and all injuries, wounds, and conditions without suffering, including any painless, spiritual, or hidden ones.
Sure enough, I had a vague feeling that my entire body was just fine.
Despite some hesitation, I tried to pinch myself to see how the awareness would work.
“Oh.”
I had already forgotten that I was immune to physical damage.
“Is something the matter?” mom asked.
“…Nothing at all.”
***
“The pain immunity skill you got should theoretically protect you from any more pain during evolutions, but do not evolve without my presence and permission. Are we clear?”
After making sure nothing was off about the rest of my status and receiving an eager nod from me, mom settled down in her chair.
“I am going to need to speak to Dimri about this.” She sighed.
The Life Dragon?
“Oh yeah, that reminds me. My [Asexual Reproduction] skill vanished in the middle of the siege of the port town. Do you know anything about why that would happen?”
I remember that there was some reason mentioned in its description, but I don’t actually remember it.
Mom’s eyes widened for the hundredth time today before she seemed to talk telepathically with someone.
Her face slightly annoyed and exasperated, she cut off the connection to speak with me.
“Get up and get your best formal clothes, Kiara. We’re going to meet with your aunt and cousin then go on a visit to the Isles.”