Even Durreg’s yapping was not going to make the spring in my step go away. Finally, finally, I get to evolve! As soon as Azoth locked the door to her mansion – I didn’t realize how huge her house was, and I am preoccupied with more important things right now – the walls glowed with the familiar privacy spells, though these seemed much more powerful and advanced.
“Remember not to pick anything till we see all of your evolution and class options, and we finish discussing it!” Durreg said, as I rolled my eyes.
I then took one last glance at my current status before I opened the evolution menu.
Name: Kiara Azoth
[Draco Sapiens]
[Level 20]
EXP: 457,201/MAX
Divine Shards: 1/?
HP: 3750/3750
SP: 870/870
MP: 640/640
Vitality: 150
Strength: 140
Dexterity: 170
Intelligence: 130
Wisdom: 130
Racial Traits:
[Sapient Creature]
[Claw Strike]
[Night Vision]
[Regeneration]
[Draconic Sorcery]
Class: N/A
Level: N/A
EXP: N/A
Class Skill Points: N/A
Class Skills:
N/A
Skills:
[Appraisal Lv. 7]
[Tail Strike Lv. 3]
[Sneak Lv. 5]
[Ambush Lv. 5]
[Poison Resistance Lv. 7]
[Spark of Ambition Lv. 3]
[Corrosion Resistance Lv. 2]
[Paralysis Resistance Lv. 4]
[Mental Resistance Lv. 5]
[Mana Manipulation Lv. 3]
[Mana Perception Lv. 2]
[Pain Resistance Lv. 6]
[Frost Resistance Lv. 1]
[Soul Resistance Lv. 1]
[Fate’s Jester]
[Hurun’s Mercy]
[Asexual Reproduction]
Titles:
[Ferocious Underdog]
[Abyssal Cockroach]
[Avenger]
[Indomitable Will]
[Progenitor]
[Giant Slayer]
[Evolution Available]!
[Class Available]!
My stats and skill levels have improved considerably over the few months I spent killing monsters alongside Durreg in the smaller dungeons located in Tamery, showing that my evolution to Draco Sapiens was indeed just as powerful as I had always expected it to be. Lessons from mom on basic mana perception and manipulation also helped me learn the two spells that I knew, though casting anything more advanced or using something other than the raw element I am trying to cast will require a class. That said, the real boosts to my power came from the fights on the second layer. My [Predator’s Bane] title evolved into [Ferocious Underdog] and the title [Giant Slayer] was granted to me after I killed the tyrant gorilla, not to mention the nearly a million experience points I got from it.
[Ferocious Underdog]
You keep entering fights with beings much more powerful than you, and yet you continue to emerge victorious! You are a dagger pressed at the throat of those who rest on their laurels upon their thrones in the sky.
When entering combat with a higher ranked being, deal 10% more damage and receive 5% less damage.
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That skill had weaker multipliers, but its universality makes it much more useful, so I would say it’s an overall win. I didn’t particularly need bonuses against monsters I managed to kill before. The other title was also just as powerful.
[Giant Slayer]
Many despair when faced with a powerful monster many ranks above them. But not you. Your prey are your would-be predators; the more powerful they are, the better!
Rewards from killing higher ranked opponents scale exponentially with rank difference.
I am going to have to be very careful with this one. I am getting the feeling that my greed is going to get me killed if I keep picking fights that I have no business being remotely close to in the first place.
With the rewards from the second layer out of the way, it’s time to look at my evolutions!
Do you wish to trigger your evolution now?
Yes.
I’ll just back out of the menu when I am done looking around at my options, instead of just picking something straight away like I usually do.
Select an evolution:
[Draco Magnus]
Rank C creature. Sapient race. This is the natural evolution of the Draco Sapiens species; Draco Magnus improves on the Draco Sapiens powerful attributes, as well as its talent for magic. The most powerful improvement, however, is its ability to switch between its humanoid form and a powerful beast form; In exchange for locking its class skills, the Draco Magnus gains a tremendous boost to all of its attributes and increases in size, its form changing to be similar to those of other dragons.
[Rainbow Dragon]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Is a Dragon.
* Is a Rank D creature.
* Possesses a minimum of high affinity for all attributes.
* Possesses [Mana Manipulation] and [Mana Perception].
Rank C creature. Sapient race. The rainbow dragon evolution is an elementalist capable of wielding all of the attributes. A jack of all magic species, rainbow dragons will almost never find themselves in a situation without a spell that could help, provided that they learned them beforehand. The widespread focus on use of all the attributes comes at the cost of the inability to use advanced and derivative forms of magic, as well as subpar physical abilities.
[Berserker Dragon]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Is a Dragon.
* Is a Rank D creature.
* Has reached 1 HP and recovered to full health repeatedly.
* Has fought and killed higher ranked monsters in melee combat.
Rank C creature. Sapient race. The Berserker Dragon is a dragon that has forsaken its magical heritage in favor of raw power and the savage dismantling of its foes. Berserker Dragons can temporarily lose all inhibition and be consumed by murderous rage for a massive boost in power. Berserker Dragons lose the ability to take on a humanoid form but keep their ability to take classes.
[Demon of Ambition]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Has slain over 500 higher ranked beings.
* Possesses a skill or title that provides bonuses against superior opponents.
* Deeply desires more power.
Rank equivalent to prior evolution. Sapient race. The Demon of Ambition is a highly dangerous individual who seeks strength beyond their means by any means necessary. Its form takes on the same appearance and abilities as its previous evolution; all attempts to appraise it will show that it is a member of that species. The Demon of Ambition does not gain attributes with levels; instead, it gains some of the attributes and skills of sapient beings it kills. Like the other Demons of Vice, only one Demon of Ambition may exist at a time.
(Warning: This evolution will automatically make nearly all sapient beings hostile to you – should they discover your race. You will gain powerful bonuses to slaying mortals and to gaining experience, with a chance to obtain an evolution to a Demon Lord race and, eventually, an Evil God.)
[Dragonkin]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Possesses the Blessing of Aanat.
* Is a Dragon.
Rank D creature. Sapient race. Dragonkin are a human-dragon beastman race whose birth may only come about with the permission of the Goddess of Fertility and a willing Dragon. While no match for full Dragons, Dragonkin wield attributes and an affinity for magic head and shoulders above even other beastmen. As another result of its draconic heritage, dragonkin inherit part of the low fertility widespread amongst dragons.
[Dragon Shifter]
Secret Evolution Requirement:
* Is a Dragon.
* Is a Rank D creature.
* Subjected to a transformation spell numerous times.
* Lived among members of other species.
* Possess a divine shard.
* Unlock the Rank C evolution as a sapient race without selecting a class.
Rank C creature. Sapient race. Dragon Shifters are a species of dragon that is capable of taking on the form of any sapient race it encounters, given that it is of equivalent or lower rank. Upon doing so, a Dragon Shifter will temporarily gain the racial traits of the species in question on top of keeping their Draconic racial traits. The Dragon Shifter is naturally resistant to all but the most powerful appraisal spells and skills.
I stared at the options I had for quite some time, and I would have continued had Durreg not dragged me out of my thoughts.
“Well? Don’t keep us waiting! What did you get? Explain it all in detail!” he said excitedly.
Mom and Aunt Ighir were also leaning forward in tense anticipation.
“…The options I got put me through a rollercoaster of emotions. Please let me list everything before anyone says anything, alright? I am not picking anything without discussing this with all of you and settling on a class first.” I said pre-emptively, as Durreg rushed me and the adults were visibly unnerved.
***
“…is naturally resistant to all but the most powerful appraisal spells and skills. That’s the last evolution I have unlocked.”
The moment I finished my sentence, Aunt Ighir spoke up.
“I should hope I don’t need to say this, Kiara, but don’t even think about evolving into a Demon of Ambition.” She said with a steely voice.
“Well, of course not. This isn’t the first time I got a red evolution option anyway.” I shrugged.
Their eyebrows only rose higher.
“Kiara. Tell me about every other red evolution you unlocked. Immediately.” Mom said in a tone brooking no argument.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, dear, not unless you actually chose one of those evolutions in the past. Now tell us.”
“On my Rank E evolution, I got the option to evolve into something called the Infernal Lizard, which is apparently affiliated with the Evil God of Revenge. On my Rank D evolution I got the option to evolve into a Man-Eater Drake. Obviously, I took neither of them.”
“Three red classes in a row…” Aunt Ighir frowned.
Mom put her hand on her face for a moment, as if to chase away a headache.
“Well, let’s put the red evolutions aside for now. For now, remember that you should never pick them under any circumstances. Now tell me which of these seem interesting to you.”
I thought for a while, then summed up my thoughts.
“The Demon of Ambition evolution aside, I am also throwing away the Dragonkin evolution. Not only is it another Rank D class, but it’s even weaker than my own!” I complained, shrugging in disbelief.
“Don’t be so quick to disregard, cousin. While I agree that it is worse than the other alternatives, becoming part human gives you access to the racial benefits of one, which will benefit your class experience gain. There’s a reason they grew to dominate the continent.” Durreg said.
“Anyway, I don’t want to take Draco Magnus or Berserker Dragon either. Draco Magnus is just a standard evolution, which is entirely obsolete when compared to Dragon Shifter, and Berserker Dragon has the same problem as the berserker class; it doesn’t boost my magic and even threatens my mind. You’ll have to pry those two from my cold, dead hands.”
“I still can’t believe you got two gold evolutions. Disgusting.” Durreg shook his head.
“That really leaves me with only two options: the two gold evolutions. The Rainbow Dragon and the Dragon Shifter. I am not sure which of these I am going to take, but I am slightly leaning in favor of Dragon Shifter, if only because Rainbow Dragon is going to restrict my ability to cast advanced and derivative magic.”
“I don’t have much to add to what you said, though keep in mind that mastery over the five fundamental magic attributes is much more powerful than you give it credit for. For now, I suggest you take a look at your class options first before you decide between them.” Mom said, and I nodded.
“Alright, here goes nothing.” I said, turning to check my options for a class.