A new voice popped in Mia’s head, causing her to swivel in confusion “Huh? Evolution? But I…” her vision glanced down towards Hiiro, his dead body surrounded by various items “Ah.” Of course she’d reach 100… Hiiro was evolved himself. But it was starting immediately? She wasn’t ready!
Her vision darted to Hiiro’s items, passing over swords, hammers, a variety of weapons before her eyes fell on the strange metal box from before “there it i-erk!?” She hunched over, feeling as if her heart had attempted to leap out her chest. She shakingly reached out her hands towards the box, that thing was dangerous and she didn’t want anyone using it but another heave and she dropped to her knees.
“Mia!”
Mia turned her head and through blurry vision she saw Ria flying towards her, being lifted by someone. “T-the box…” she pointed to it, the world around her turning white as walls of ice rose up, encasing her in an icy prison.
* * *
She awoke, surrounded by white, floating in the empty space “what is…” she remembered something about evolution, but was this it? It was like the Void, except white. “Hello?” she shouted out, wanting an answer from anyone she yelled out “Ami? Void? Anyone?”
[I am here, as always. Congratulations on reaching level 100]
“Thanks…” if it was up to her, she’d have waited longer, still unsure about the whole evolution thing, but here she was. “So this is it? Do I just wait for it to be over or…?”
“Oh, there it is.” A panel much like her status screen appeared in front of her as the voice spoke quickly being filled by a never ending list of words and numbers going by too fast for her to read.
Another screen appeared to her right, this one was her status screen “1050…that is going to take awhile to point.”
“Oh! Nice.” She had gained a lot from the battles she had recently, she did level up all in one go but, this worked. Now she just needed to figure out how to point them…
[Mia, If I may.]
“Hrm?” Mia looked over her shoulder, at nothing in particular “what?”
[Throw it all into mind.]
Oh? Well, she did say she was going to do that for every future level “why should I?” she asked, wanting to know the reason.
[Trust me?]
“No.” Mia shrugged, an action that caused her to slowly start spinning, the screens following her orientation “but fine, was planning on it anyways.” She pointed the stats, shoving everything into Mind “I think this is overkill…”
////
Name: Mia Status:
Age: 8 Race: Fox Beastman
LVL: 100 Points: 0
HP: 2,010/2,010 MP: 58,200/58,200
Str: 201
Con: 200
Dex: 1,000
Int: 2,175
Mnd: 2910
Lck: 1
////
Seriously, who needs fifty-eight thousand mana points… besides her.
All that mana amounted to was around 60 slows, at best. But now with that amount she could probably slow time longer per cast without worrying about her mana.
“I get to pick?” Mia said in surprise, she thought it was something that just happens?
[People are secretive about it, or did not accomplish enough to get multiple options on their first evolution.]
“Huh…” Well, she wasn’t going to hide it from her sister.
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Low Fox Beastman
Requirements: Reach level 100 as a fox beastman
Description: The next evolutionary step in the basic evolution line of the fox beastman. Stronger than a normal beastman but the basic of the basic. With hard work and dedication, they can change their path and gain new power.
Race bonus: None
Evolutionary level max bonus: +10 stat points per level
/\/\/\/\/\
“Oooooh” The panel in front of her had stopped filling with useless information, and displayed her first option “so, this it’s like this? Doesn’t seem too amazing.” The max bonus, what ever that was, was only 10 additional stat points, she got 50 already “So…with this I’d get 60.” She shook her head “not a lot.”
[It is the basic of the basic.]
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Spy Fox Beastman
Requirements: Dex higher than 150. Has a variety of stealth related skills. Has high Dagger or Bow skills. Has killed someone without being detected.
Description: A race dedicated to espionage and assassinations. Their skills just starting to blossom as they support their race from the shadows. Marked notably by their thinner tails.
Race bonus: Gain the innate skill: Shadow Step
Evolutionary level max bonus: +10 stat points and 25 Dex per level.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Requirements a lot higher than the first one.” She had to wonder, 150 was low, only 3 level ups for her, but if someone was only getting 10 stat points per level that was 15, her being a hero had ruined her perception on stats.
[These are also the low requirement ones and the first tier.]
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Magic fox Beastman
Requirements: Intelligence higher than 150. Has at least one elemental skill. Has at least 300 mana.
Description: A fox that has just started to unlock the secrets of magic. has a higher affinity for magic and efficiency for casting spells. Magical knowledge comes easier for them.
Race bonus: Reduction in mana usage for all spells.
Evolutionary level max bonus: +10 stat points and 25 int per level.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Hmmm.” It was interesting, but if this was all she was getting for evolving than she was beginning to have her doubts.
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Spirit Fox
Requirements: Be a Fox Beastman of any evolutionary line. Have higher than 25 thousand mana. Intelligence is higher than strength and constitution combined.
Description: A fox that has started on its path to enlightenment marked by their two tails. It is a being that has begun to transform into a spirit, taking on several small aspects of spirits as a core has begun forming in their heart. Only a small fraction of this race is counted as a spirit, as such its spiritual powers are weak.
Race bonus: Gain innate skills: Float, Spiritual life, Spirit language, Spirit sight, Mana boost.
Evolutionary level max bonus: 1.5x stat total. +50 Int and 50+ Mind on level up.
/\/\/\/\/\
“…” she stared at it, not believing what she was seeing “I, what?” she could become a spirit?! What even was a spirit?! The level up bonuses were insane! Not to mention the skills “this is why you wanted me to point it all in mind?”
[Yes, but that isn’t the important part.]
“…?” she continued down the list.
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Lupin Fox
Requirements: Have blood of the fox and wolf beastman race. Have a strength, constitution, intelligence, and mind higher than 200. Has honed themselves in battle.
Description: A race once saw as heretical among beastman, known for their immense physical and war prowess, able to morph into a more beastlike appearance to boost their strength. Has a tendency to lose themselves in their wild nature.
Race bonus: Gain innate skills: Beast Transformation, Berserker, Strong Limbs, Thick Skin, Blood Lust.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Evolutionary level max bonus: 50 additional stat points on level up. 50+ str and 50+ con on level up
/\/\/\/\/\
“I’m part wolf beastman?” was Mia’s first question, besides that everything else looked really good “Bit worried about the tendency to lose themselves… berserk and blood lust sound scary…” she would like to avoid those skills if she could.
“Oh, Ria could get this one…” she’d have to warn her about it, can’t have her sister taking it and going on a rampage.
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Fox Maiden of the Shrine
Requirements: Has title “Shrine Maiden”. Intelligence higher than one thousand. Accepted by the last Shrine Maiden. Have a high affinity to fire. Strength lower than half the value of intelligence.
Description: The True Hero of the fox beastman, chosen by chain of succession and marked by their greater tail, they will lead their tribe and guard the shrine to ward off [ERROR]. Has increased magic capabilities and the unique ability to speak to spirits and a boost to their fire magic affinity.
Race bonus: Gain innate skills: Spirit language, overdrive. Gain affinity boost to fire magic.
Evolutionary level max bonus: 2x stat point boost. 50+ int and 50+ Mind on level up
/\/\/\/\/\
“Those requirements…” Least she now knew why having magic affinity was so important, and it proved Maria wasn’t totally lying, having fire affinity was a hard requirement to get the specific evolution of the shrine maiden.
“So, she could give it to Ria, but she can’t do anything with it?” she wondered she even bothered then…was it just to give her a stat boost to find her? If not, she wondered what kind of evolution Ria would get since she did not meet the requirements for this one at all.
More importantly,
“Ward off what now? Another error?” what did that mean… all she could gleam from it was that the shrine was a lot more important than she first thought.
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Hex Fox
Requirements: Blessing of the god of luck.
Description: A trickster fox devoted to the god of luck, known for their pranks often at the misfortune of others but can also be viewed as a bringer of fortune.
Race bonus: Every day at midnight, luck stat is randomly set to a random number. Gain innate skill: Luck Hex
Evolutionary level max bonus: Random stat points gained on level up. Plus 1-50 to all stats upon level up.
/\/\/\/\/\
She stared at the description “…this from the title?” she hasn’t used it, willingly, since she got it. It was hardly a blessing, more of a curse. But she personally never got the point of her luck stat.
She wondered how high the random stat points could go…
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Hoarfrost Fox
Requirements: Has title “Maiden of Snow”. Has Ice Mastery maxed out. Intelligence higher than 1000. Has mind higher than 1000.
Description: A half spirit lifeform whose essence is made of ice. Wielders of true ice, their capabilities have skyrocketed, their ice being extensions of themselves. Usually, such beings are found at the highest points in the world, living in the coldest places they can find.
Race bonus: Gain innate skills Spiritual Constitution, Spirit language, Spirit sight. Evolves Ice Mastery into True Ice.
Evolutionary level max bonus: 2.5x stat total to Int and Mnd. 75+Int and 50+Mnd on level up.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Oooooh” she liked this one, it wasn’t like the other one where she was only part spirit, but now half… what ever that meant. She’d also gain 2.5x instead of 1.5x, but only to those specific stats? They’d also get boosts by themselves every time they leveled up so she didn’t even need to spend points pointing them.
She was also immensely interested in what True Ice was, if this evolution was the only way to unlock it… she might pick this one.
And that was it, those were her options. She couldn’t help think that there should be more…
[There would be, but you hit their restrictions.]
“Restrictions?”
[For many low level evolutions, your stats have made them unavailable. Think that for every option you had a intelligence requirement, a one for high strength was closed for you. Also, some were so low level they were overtaken by other evolutions, skipping them.]
“Hm.” She looked over the evolutions again “I guess, the ones I get from titles compared to low fox… 2.5 times is insane.”
[While true, that is the max value.]
“Max?” She raised an eyebrow, looking at the evolutionary bonus once more “Oh, it does say max.”
[Affirmative. For stat points that give 50, that is up to 50. So when you pick that evolution it will decide if you get anywhere from 1-50 stat points per level up. Likewise for the modifiers, it is anywhere from 1.1x to 2.5x, a major difference.]
“Eeww…” suddenly she was very worried, that was a huge difference. She was getting 50 now, if worse came to worse and she ended up only getting 1 additional point… “Low Fox beastman is really bad.”
[Mediocrity befits Mediocrity. Besides, this is only the first evolution. Bonuses from every evolution stack.]
“So even if they get a low boost, the next time will be higher…” still, she didn’t like the very high possibility she could just get screwed out of a high bonus based on lu- oh…
Oooooooh…
[Nothing to worry about, you can determine the outcome by saving once you select the evolution, and load if you get a low bonus.]
“Yeah…” she didn’t want to think how long that would take, but it was a silver lining.
Now she just needed to choose. She was leaning towards either the shrine maiden or Hoarfrost, those giving the best bonuses, but frost looked more tantalizing with the upgrade to true ice. She was still unsure what a spirit was but… she’d just look into it, unless…
[Cannot tell you.]
“Figures.” She crossed her arms, floating in the white void while she thought.
[Before you put too much thought into it, you have one more option.]
“Hm?” she checked over the list one more time, only seeing what was previously mentioned “I don’t see any?”
[Check again]
She sighed, checking again and at the very bottom she noticed something hazy “this is…?” she reached out and poked it “Ow!” and pulled her hand back as it got shocked.
“Huh?” she watched as the haziness glitched, a new option filling out.
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Laplace Fox
Requirements: Has skill Time. Has reached a certain understanding of Time. Approval of Time and Aeon.
Description: A fox that controls their own Fate through the manipulation of time. Borrows from other instances to form their power.
Race bonus: Undecided
Evolutionary level max bonus: Undecided.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Laplace…?” she looked over the short description and quickly noted it lacked any bonuses “This is… who is Aeon?”
[Not important, what IS important is what this, my evolution option does. If you choose it, then it will take from all your other evolution options, picking from those alternative fates and combining into what will be your Laplace race.]
“So…” She looked over all her options, all the bonusses and skills “I’d get all of them?”
[No, it will take a part of some of them and form the evolution.]
Her eyes fell on hoarfrost “…so it’s either selecting what I want, or potentially getting this…”
[It does come with some downsides; it cannot take from everything and all the innate skills you’d potentially want to have a fairly good chance of not being on there.]
“Hmm…” she thought for a moment “can I save, see what it is, and then load if I don’t like it and try again?”
[No, it will not be allowed. Resetting for the desired stat boost is allowed, not for skills.]
{This is non-negotiable.}
“?!” Mia flipped around, a voice unlike any she had ever heard spoke right into her ear, but as she turned to face it, it was gone. “Who was that?! Aeon?!”
[Not important. If you choose Laplace, you are going all in.]
“…Great…” She floated in white space, trying to make up her mind. It was now shrine maiden, hoarfrost, and Laplace. The hero skill and the skill points it gave was nice, she would not have gotten as far as she has without them, but the same can be said for time, literally the only reason why she was alive right now.
And for hoarfrost… it was just preference, she would not have gotten that either without time, as she spent a year throwing a fit doing nothing but cast ice magic.
She could twist it any way she wanted, everything came back to time. She wasn’t even supposed to have the Shrine Maiden in this timeline, Ria had it. The only reason why she had it was, again, thanks to time letting her keep title and skills… it was also now helping her not get screwed over by rolling low bonuses…
She heaved a heavy sigh “This is only the first evolution, right? I can pick the ones I don’t get later, right?”
There was no answer, it was all or nothing.
She shook her head, if time had carried her this far then what was the harm in delaying it any longer.
She slapped her hand down on Laplace.
“Wait, consuming?!” already regretting her decision, confusion overtook her “what is going on?!”
[Forcing save to slot 3]
“I get no say in this?!” she was glad it was slot 3 and not 1 but… with no time to dwell on it, the screen appeared in front of her again, showing the final result.
/\/\/\/\/\
Evolution: Laplace Fox
Requirements: Has skill Time. Has reached a certain understanding of Time. Approval of Time and Aeon.
Description: A fox that controls their own Fate through the manipulation of time. A being that has become part spirit that can dictate the future via the manipulation of the past, blessed by their time as a shrine maiden and now running wild free of their previous shackles, they may freely alter the fates of others or abandon them to their misfortune.
Race bonus: Gain innate skills: Float, Spiritual life, Spirit language. Evolves Ice Master into True Ice
Evolutionary level max bonus: 2.5x Stat total.
/\/\/\/\/\
“…” She had mixed feelings about this, all those innate skills and this is what she got? She was missing a lot of them. But at the same time, she was happy she got True Ice. But that happiness was dashed once she saw the evolutionary max bonus, only the stat point boost and no additional stats gained at a flat rate despite having so many options that gave it.
[That isn’t for stat points, that is for your stat total.]
She paused, reading it again “So if I get-“
A screen with several slots appeared above her, marked by several fancy lights that was labeled “Level up Bonus: 10+ stat points> the later half started spinning rapidly, the numbers becoming a blur.
[MIA SAVE!]
“R-right!” she snapped out of her zoning out, saving to slot 3 again as the numbers spun round and round, eventually coming to a stop.
“…Yeah no.” She loaded again, the numbers spinning and spinning till they came to a stop.
“No.”
“…what is that?”
[25]
“So, no.”
“Oh?” This was it, right? At first she thought it was the same thing again, but this was stat total, which according to Ami was better “We can pick this, right?”
[No, you want the max.]
“Arugh…” She lamented, going again.
“…” She felt like crying.
She kept reloading and reloading, spending an unfathomable amount of time spinning the level up bonus, but each time not getting any closer to her goal.
“Why…” she weakly said, her eyes dull “won’t it go…” she spun again, briefly checking if it was right, then loading again. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for other people, having to get just get a 1.2x stat total bonus and then dealing with it till their next evolution.
[Well, They get rerolls, usually 3 depending on their evolution.]
She paused “What?” narrowing her eyes “I could have been rolling three times per save this whole time?!” she screamed out in frustration.
[No, Laplace doesn’t get any rerolls… because you can reroll all you want.]
“…argh!” She turned away, going back to rolling “Why is this taking so long…how long was I at this…”
[Sorry, it is just luck at the end of the day.]
“Yeah yeah… and my luck is one.” She frowned, then, struck by a stroke of genius she opened up her status and scrolled down to her titles and smirked at her unlucky child titles and read the points she had “6,320…heh, should have done this earlier.” She loaded, and as the slots spun she decided to use it “Unlucky child! All the points!”
“Finally.”
She heard a cold voice, a shiver running down her spine as the white room suddenly gained a tint of green. She looked around for the source of the voice, but saw no one.
“A momentous occasion, oh how lucky I am to be graced with the privilege of dining at an event such as this.”
A chuckle reverberated throughout the space, Mia wanted to speak, but found she couldn’t. Instead she helplessly watched as a metallic grey skeletal hand reached up from behind the screen, digging its boney fingers into the spinning slots sending sparks flying.
“A treat such as this, one can enjoy, the spurn you have given cast aside. This feast of misfortune a satisfactory remission.” The fingers dug in, forcing the spinning to stop part of the numbers.
Metallic chains wrapped around the number 2, locking it into place. Two more skeletal hands rose up from behind the screen and like before started digging into the spinning slot.
“Observe, little kit, my gift is not a curse to be scorned.” The hands forced another part of the slot to stop, chains following suit to lock them in place “It is a boon to be adored.” The final part grinded to a halt and locked in place.
‘It did it…’
“A feast is appreciated every so often, but the wait…”
She stopped, watching with bated breath as something began rising from behind the screen. A grey metal skull with glowing green eyes and silver teeth staring at her.
“…Unbearable” it spoke, green smoke spewing out between its teeth “starving is undesirable so throw us a bone once or twice, feasts are for celebration! Not for everyday overindulgences!” it started cackling, the space shaking with its laughs “Regards, unlucky child, Congratulations and salutations. May this not be our last.” It then began to fade away, leaving nothing but its metallic chains behind as the room returned to its normal shade of white.
“Pweauh-!” Mia let out her held breath, panting heavily. She had felt fear a lot in this time frame, but between that mad church lady and Cy that was on a whole different level, she might not even be afraid of that lady anymore…maybe… but with that she had her bonus, it was covered in chains but… should be fine, right?
“Oh so it i- oh no-“ Mia felt an overwhelming sense of tiredness take over as she swiftly passed out.