The Sixth Evolution – (4)

[I don’t want to die… death is so cold…]

[Why are you trying to kill us?]

[You are still alive. Leave us be…]

The corrupted souls, undead of the soul but not of the flesh, did not have powerful physical attacks like the monsters on the Rookie’s Battlefield. Instead, they had strong magic that tried to penetrate my mind. It wasn’t enough to faze me, however. I had been developing the strength of my soul with L’s help. I couldn’t just kill them. So instead of a weapon, I shaped the Demon’s Claw into a thin shield to protect myself.

[You’re exposing your soul.]

[Kekeke, lower the shield and lend me your body!]

[It’s an elf’s body. It’ll be mine!]

I already figured it out. I could assimilate Demon’s Claw into Blood Shadow to slay the monsters before, so why couldn’t I imbue the black smoke from my Predation skill into the Demon’s Claw? Shouldn’t my Demon’s Claw be enough? The idea was simple enough at its base, and I thought it should be possible.

A huge explosion went through my head, feeling as if someone lit fireworks inside my mind. My heart pounded wildly as if it were readying to burst free from my chest. My body, my soul, my abilities, my Predation, my heart. Thoughts of all the things I could or couldn’t do, thoughts of my future, overwhelmed my mind and then, just as quickly, flowed out.

It didn’t matter, nor did it matter that I couldn’t think of even half the things that had just been running through my mind. What I could hold onto had little meaning to me anyways. It didn’t matter; I would never forget this moment. This was the time that everything would start to change. I felt like I had been able to put my feet on firm ground for the first time.

My Demon’s Claw morphed, capturing that idea of Predation only able to manifest in the flesh before, and expressing it now as a form of my soul. It stretched out to the limit of my body, encompassing all I had learned in my dealings with matters of the soul. The enemy was quick to realize what had happened. The mutated souls were sensitive to my change in appearance and power.

[It’s wriggling.]

[Run away or be eaten!]

[I’ll die!]

The Demon’s Claws rose up to both of my shoulders, now long tendrils like those from the monsters in the Rookie’s Battlefield. The undead attempted to flee to avoid me but couldn’t escape the Colosseum. Such a short distance meant nothing to me in this space.

I observed the undead who had been flocking to me, aiming to attack my soul fleeing to the Colosseum’s edge. Using Ubiquitous to jump into the middle of them, I was buried amongst these spirits, surrounded by malice and evil energy. But I had no worries.

[Aghhhhhh!]

[I’m scared! Don’t!]

[I don’t want to die!]

The Demon’s Claw wrapped around me like a snake, tendrils of gloomy gray energy expanding out to wrap around the undead. It was already over for them; they couldn’t run away. The only fate that awaited them was to be devoured by my power of Predation.

[Magic has increased by 1.]

[Predation became Lv6. Predation has become more efficient.]

I could feel the power they had acquired by becoming undead souls flowing into me. I could feel it, as the one who was devouring them, that they were being completely destroyed by this. I wouldn’t be able to capture their souls, any chance of that lost. I felt a brief flash of guilt, but it was gone as soon as it had arrived. If I wanted to grow stronger, I couldn’t let this stop me. I had to look ahead and keep pushing forward. No matter the value of a soul, I couldn’t compare it to my own life.[Aghhhh!]

[My soul, my power…!]

It took me only seven minutes and thirty seconds to conquer the third floor of Jinma’s Tower. For the first time since I had entered, I was able to conquer the Tower without dying.

[Conquer the 3rd floor of Jinma’s Tower 1/1]

[Quest Completed!]

[You have earned 24,810,000 experience.]

[You have received 13,000 gold.]

[Level up!]

[You have obtained 25 air balms.]

[You have obtained 3 vitality potions.]

[You may now evolve.]

The Colosseum faded around me, replaced by a smiling A who watched me as I retracted the demon’s claw.

“Have you put on a little weight?”

“Don’t joke, I’m tired.” I retorted, pulling up the evolution notification window.

[Please select a race to evolve into.]

[1. Crimson Elf Blood Walker]

[2. Crimson Elf Shadow Runner]

[3. Crimson Elf Taker]

The first of the three specialized in weapons and armor, the second in using artifacts. The third seemed to be related to my abilities that I had been perfecting through the Rookie’s Battlefield, and this floor of Jinma’s Tower. I wasn’t sure which to pick, but I figured I could grow stronger without any issues regardless of which one I chose. Which meant it didn’t matter which one I picked. I quickly picked one, looking at A, who was watching me with blank eyes.

“I may look different in a moment, but it’s still me.” I told him quickly before the pain of evolution overtook me.

[Quest!]

[As you grow in strength, others around you are growing stronger as well. Your allies are few, and your enemies many. Life belongs to those who take it. The moment one story ends, a new one will begin. Run through the dungeon faster than anyone else.]

[Predation of monsters in the 5th floor of the Black Palace District 7 0/150,000]

[Predation of high-ranking species in Black Palace District 7 5F 0/500]

[Predation of a Giant Troll 0/1]

[Conquest of the 4th floor of Jinma’s Tower 0/1]

[Garden of Nak’s 3rd game won 0/1]

After I had finished evolving, I waved goodbye to A and opened the door to the store. Stepping through, Rain was wiping down a glass with a dry cloth as always.

“You’re back Fate…oh my. You’ve grown quite a bit again, haven’t you?”

“Is that so?” As I evolved this time, I had assumed my appearance wouldn’t change that much, but Rain’s reaction indicated otherwise.

“I think it’s your eyes more than anything. Eyes like a man possessed, with a firm goal in mind that can’t be shaken, much different than my dead eyes. You look pretty cool, Fate.” I felt a bit embarrassed by Rain’s praise, even more so because he was self-deprecating. I opened my question to respond but stopped myself short. I wasn’t sure how I should approach this, given how delicate the subject I wanted to broach was. So, instead of talking about it, I took an item out of my inventory and displayed it to Rain.

“Could you check this out for me Rain?” I produced the egg I had acquired.

“Hm, a Fortune Egg. I’ve only seen one of these once before… it’s an item that I don’t sell here too.” It must have been rare indeed then. Rain wasn’t an elf, and I could only guess at how long his lifespan was. I knew it hadn’t been short, and yet, he had only seen something like this twice.

“There’s no knowing what sort of creature may hatch out of this egg or how to get it to hatch in the first place. I know just one thing: it is said the luck of the person holding it is said to influence it. That’s why it has the name of Fortune Egg.”

“Ah… Luck.” Was that the one ability in my status that was still a mystery? I hadn’t thought about it lately because I couldn’t figure it out by myself, and I didn’t want to ask anyone.

“Hm…I can tell it has already started to resonate with you, Fate. Can you feel it?”

“Huh…now that you mention it…” The light pulsated within the egg in tune with my own heartbeat. Furthermore, it felt like it was drawing my gaze to it, slowly sucking me in.

“Please be patient. This egg will be affected by you. Your magic, your soul, your will. All of them will help this egg hatch. You’re involved with this creature now.” Rain’s look lingered upon the egg before he handed it back to me, a look almost like that of a doting parent.

“If your future is not clear, it will influence this egg. However, the trajectory you are on will lead you to great things…although you don’t need me to tell you that.” I accepted the egg and brought it to my chest, feeling a sense of burden and confidence blooming inside me in equal measure.

“My future…” The path I would take…a path no one else could walk. I put the egg back into my inventory and turned around, heading back deep into the Black Palace.

And so, time continued to pass.

I could not count how much time had passed by the watch’s hand, though Mireina told me an entire year had passed since the Great Fusion. Rain was still kind and gentle, still polishing the glasses and pouring out alcohol. As I needed to return to him for advice less and less, I felt like our relationship continued to deepen. At first, I had felt like he was a dependable older brother, and I, a snot-nosed younger sibling. But now, I felt as if we were drinking buddies.

A’s blunt remarks never softened, but I realized it was his way of caring for my well-being, even if he did offend me once in a while. He had lived lifetimes more than I had, but he was much more awkward around people. I made a point to keep that to myself, fearing retaliation. L was much the same. No matter how much my appearance changed, she still recognized me by the appearance of my soul. Her presence wore at my mind at the same time it refreshed me. She had been working on building up my interior, and now she was focusing more on working on the external aspects of the soul.

Now I was on the 7th floor of the Black Palace District 7.

[Captain.]

A voice rang out in my head, causing me to snap to attention. I was in the midst of a battle with higher-level advanced monsters, but my combined skills of Surprise and Fairy Tale were enough to ensure my safety even here.

[I’m here, what’s going on?]

Reaching out with the highest level of Detection I could manage, I felt some sort of abnormality out in the dungeon.

[What we were worried about is happening.]

Only

[What is?]

I already had a feeling of what was happening, but I wanted more time to prepare before the world’s attention turned toward me.

[The guild is coming, with the intent of killing the dungeon elves.]

I let out a sigh as I swung my greatsword down, cleaving off the neck of an ogre that tried its best to hold me back. Blood splattered on my sword and clothing, the body of the ogre unable to hit the ground before the black smoke consumed it without a trace.

[You have gained 3,850,918 experience.]

[You have received 12 gold and 38 silver.]

[I’m on my way now.]

I started sprinting down the dungeon passages, on my way to a war with these humans.