‘Ugh.. not this again,’ Zyrus groaned as he found himself in a different region. His injuries were fully healed and he felt more clear-headed than ever.

“You there Aurora?”

“…”

"..."

“Nevermind.”

As she didn’t reply, Zyrus figured that they were back in the system's range. The tutorial was about to end and he had one last thing to do. But before that, he decided to check out his status first.

‘Let’s see which race I’ve got…’

Status:

[Name: Zyrus Wymar]

[Race: Sylvarix]

[Class: None]

[Level: 10]

Exp: 0/60,000

[Title: None]

[Achievement: First Blood in tutorial, Goblin Slayer, First step of the Spearman, Killer of Keliodus, Boss Buster(I), Forged in combat, Shattered in Victory, Gaze of the Predator, Humanity’s Pathfinder, Child of mana, The first Traitor…]

[Talent: Blood fusion (S rank)]

[Strength: 20]

[Agility: 20]

[Vitality: 50]

[Intelligence: 21]

[Mana: 10]

[SP: 30]

HP: 2500

Crit rate: 10%

Crit damage: 100%

Poison resistance: 150%

[Basics of Sojutsu], [Eye of Annihilation], [Poison breath]

[Bloodspine spear (Unique)]

ATK: 65

Piercing rate: 5%

Effect:

The weapon can absorb the lifeblood of enemies to evolve itself. Current rate: 29%

Currency: 735C

[Vitality recovery potion x 1]

[Durability Scroll x 2]

[Ore of Kothar (Fragment)]

[Class selection Scroll (Unique)]

[Fang of Nidraxis (Unique)]

‘Sylvarix huh, never heard of them.’ Zyrus scratched his head as he looked at the changed status window in contemplation.

There were both advantages and disadvantages about his new race. Since he was no longer a human, he would find it hard to increase his intelligence.

On the other hand, his vitality and HP multipliers would be off the charts.

‘I’m like a mini boss monster now.’

He decided to save his SP for the time being. Stat bonuses for leveling up were different for each race, so he had to figure them out to make the optimum use of his SP.

Zyrus was certain that he wouldn’t get any stats in intelligence from now on, it was the biggest drawback from this encounter.

‘I’ll need 1 SP per level in order to keep all of my stats balanced.’

As a rule of thumb, it was ideal to have all of your stats above your current level. Although it wasn’t a big deal for him now, the case would be different once he reached the higher level.

For example, when Zyrus becomes lv 100, he would need ~80 SP to reach 100 Intelligence.

‘No point in worrying about that now,’ Zyrus shrugged as he moved around the forest. Even he didn't know about all the tutorial areas.

Unlike the one around area 7694, the forest here was less dense. Trees and plants were thin and tender and that allowed the sunlight to cover the moist earth below.

Zyrus was looking for a good place to relax and fill his stomach. Changing species didn't make him any less reliant on food. Soon enough, he found a perfect place that met his needs.

It was a clean pond surrounded by water lilies. It couldn't hold a candle to Celestia's cradle, but hey, at least it wasn't infested by creepy snakes. He jumped in without hesitation and opened his status once again. One of the perks about being a lizar- no, a Sylvarix was that he could see underwater.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

*Splash*

The ‘Child of Mana’ Achievement gave him 10 MP for becoming the first player to have unlocked the mana stat.

‘And The first Traitor huh… to think that I of all people would get this achievement,’ Zyrus grinned at the irony of this situation while submerged in water.

Only the first human to become a monster would get this achievement. It didn't award something like SP, skills, and stats.

It changed a very simple yet important thing. With this achievement, one wouldn’t draw aggro from roaming monsters under normal circumstances.

In simpler terms, it allowed you to mingle with other monsters who didn't have a leader. However, just like everything else, it also had its negative side.

Your favorability would drop with the original species you belonged to, and they would instinctively loathe the ‘Traitor’.

‘It sucks, but looking at these rewards, I’d say it was worth it.’ Zyrus swam around and tapped at his talent window.

[Talent: Blood fusion (S rank)]

Drink their blood and devour their souls, only the worthy deserve the crown of evolution.

Transcending your human roots, you have now become a Sylvarix, a species that has no limits for evolution. However, you still carry the lineage of Homo sapiens. May the mark of adaptation light your way to the stars!

Effect: Absorb your enemy’s vitality to regain your stamina.

CD: 10 min

Special Ability 1: Drink the blood of your slain foes to obtain their special traits. (0/10)

Note: This ability can be used once every 20 levels.

Note: The traits will be granted at random and they will be modified to suit your race.

Note: The obtained traits can be developed further with the race evolution.

Special Ability 2: Devour the essence of mythical creatures to obtain their traits. (1/7)

Note: The traits are fixed and cannot be improved.

Special Ability 3: (Locked)

This was by far the best talent Zyrus had seen in both of his lives. The special abilities definitely aligned with the grand description the talent had.

‘This is much better than the arcana talent I had,’ Zyrus soaked in satisfaction and stuffed an apple in his mouth. For now, the only advantage of his altered mouth was that he could eat faster than before.

He had to give up a lot of things to complete the cube’s mission. Although his vitality was improved, the poison resistance he acquired wasn’t all that great.

Sure, it can save your life in niche situations, but that’s all there is to it. The same went for his skill as it was only good for aoe fights.

Compared to humans who could learn all sorts of skills and employ a variety of fighting styles, Zyrus knew that his prospects were limited.

However, everything changed with blood fusion. Now, he had a way to make up for his limitations.

‘And there’s this as well…’

In this strangely peaceful forest, Zyrus was deep in thought as he looked at the line that described Sylvarix.

‘A species that has no limits for evolution,’

He knew the impact behind those words. One of the main reasons behind his past struggles was related to the human's limits to evolution.

‘Does this mean that I no longer have gene locks?’

*TANG * TANG * TANG * TANG*

He didn’t have the luxury to think further as the chimes of sharp bells brought him back to reality.

“Finally, it’s started.” Zyrus jumped to the ground and surveyed the forest.

His reptilian eyes no longer had the relaxed look from a moment ago. He looked around in caution, his ears alert to every sound and his eyes alert to every movement.

*TANG * TANG * TANG *

The chiming bells marked the end of the tutorial.

Now, it was time to hunt.

…

Unlike Zyrus who knew about the past events, others were perplexed by the sudden sounds that enveloped the entire forest.

Of course, Lauren and Kyle were an exception.

“Has it started?” Lauren asked between panting breaths,

“Yeah, so keep moving,” Kyle replied as he looked behind their path. The burning forest echoing with wails and screams created a hellish landscape.

“Can’t believe we walked out unharmed from this,”

“He is a good teacher.”

“Yeah, but we failed.” Lauren spoke in a dejected tone. They wanted to protect the monster camp, but things didn’t go as planned.

Everything was fine for a couple of hours when they rested near the goblet of fire. The monsters stayed far away due to the poisonous air, and they had enough to recover their strength. However, things went downhill after the arrival of a team of players.

Apparently, they weren’t the only smart ones who had decided to kill the roaming monsters. It would be fine if the newcomers were there to attack the monster camp, but the poor players were being chased like dogs by a field monster.

Yes, a field monster that had less than a 1% chance of spawning attacked their camp. It was a chaotic mess as the ten-foot white bear fought against the remaining monsters at camp. The ragtag group of players was thrown into the mess along with Lauren and Kyle.

Everyone attacked everything and by the time the bell started to ring, only three people survived.

*ROOAR*

Well, two people and a bear to be exact.

“Fuck! Why is it still chasing us?”

“Really? You’re asking me that?” Kyle stared at Lauren's innocent face with accusation. She was the one responsible for everyone's death. With her speed that was unmatched in the low levels, she hit the bear and ran around the group of humans and monsters.

“Cough…cough..Ahem”

“So you still have some conscience,”

“You’re still full of energy huh? Fine then, I’ll leave him to you,” Lauren huffed and ran away like smoke.

“H-Hey waiiit…”

*ROAR*

Two humans and a bear ran around the forest, unaware of the changes happening around them.

The ground moved like a block of toys while the mountains and the rivers changed their locations. Without the slightest tremor, the tutorial areas merged with one another.

The first ring of the sanctuary emerged in its fullest as space unfolded itself, unnoticed by all but one.

…

*Slash*

-100,-100,-100

Exp +180

Three sawtooth rats popped out of thin air, and in the next second they died just like that.

‘It’s amazing!’ Zyrus exclaimed in surprise as he looked around.

His instincts as an archmage still remained, and he knew how difficult it was to pull off such a feat. He knew the principle behind this phenomenon as Aurora had explained it to him before.

To put it simply, imagine the first ring of the sanctuary as a gigantic piece of paper.

Now fold this paper over and over again until only a small square remains. Although it wasn’t something one could do physically, in this scenario the space is folded for thousands of times. Every square was a tutorial area, stacked against one another without interfering with other spaces.

Groups of them mirrored the same structures. Hence, the mountains, rivers, forests, deserts, and even the boss monsters were nothing but a projection across the thousands of tutorial areas.

Now, that paper was unfolding itself. The distance between structures increased drastically as more and more space unfolded. If that was everything, then two people staring at one another from ten feet away should now be hundreds of kilometers apart.

But things didn’t happen quite like that. That’s what made this change even more amazing. Throughout all these changes, the distance between different players and monsters remained the same. It was the sky above them and the ground below them that changed.

*Sweep*

-100,-100,-100,-100

Exp +240

The same thing didn’t apply to roaming monsters though. Unless a player or prominent landmarks were around them, the monsters would be reallocated just like other objects.

This scenario created the beast tides, events where hoards of monsters popped up in front of players' camps.

‘Whoever came up with this must be a sick bastard,’

Even in the short while when changes were taking place, millions of humans would be dying in this purge.

*Stab*

-200

“Kuck-”

‘It’s a cruel way to establish the survival of the fittest,’ Zyrus recalled his past life as he absorbed the blood of a fallen troll.

In just a couple of minutes, he had managed to fill up his Exp by one-fifth.

At long last, the chiming of the bells ended, and what followed after it was an announcement from Aurora that reverberated across the first ring.

She gave a perfunctory speech to congratulate them and gave some crucial information about the changes in the tutorial area. She addressed the survivors as ‘players,’ and with modern gaming terminologies, she explained the effects of various stats and equipments.

Zyrus wasn’t the least bit interested in her blabbering. He clenched his fingers on the bloodspine spear as he waited for the ‘real’ announcement.

‘Here it comes,’ Zyrus grinned in excitement as he looked at the status screen in front of him.

Just like him, thousands of other players also received the same message.