Evolved

As soon as the evolution notification appeared, Ray's body felt as if it were burning. He was quickly brought down to his knees. The pain was unbearable—he needed to do something.

He sat down and started to meditate, just as he did when practicing gathering his Ki. Focusing on the pain, he tried to imagine it wasn't there. The sensation then changed slightly; the burning turned into a prickly feeling, as if every pore on his skin was being stabbed with tiny needles.

He cursed the system. He wasn't ready for this—it hadn't even given him the option to start or not.

After ten minutes, the prickly sensation subsided, but a new pain took over. His bones. It felt as if they were being torn apart from the inside out.

A cracking noise echoed through his body. His bones were actually breaking down and rebuilding themselves. The process repeated over and over again. With each break, he thought the pain might become easier to bear—but it didn't. It was just as agonizing every time.

Ray clenched his teeth, using all his willpower to stop himself from screaming. If anyone heard or saw him now, they would know something was wrong.

Finally, the pain stopped. He had lost track of time, too focused on enduring the suffering to notice how much had passed.

He rubbed his eyes, thinking they were playing tricks on him. But as he read the notification screen again, the words were clear. Dragon Knight.

Wasn't that what they called the founders of Avrion? Or was it just a coincidence?

There was no time to think about it now—he had a bigger concern.

Had the evolution changed his appearance?

With no mirror to check, Ray activated his Dragon Eyes skill. The first thing he noticed was that his senses had improved drastically. His vision was sharper than ever, and he could sense every person around him as if he were looking at them from an aerial view.

From below, he could hear the students' conversations. Though they were far away, their voices reached him as if they were speaking right beside him.

Then, when he turned his attention to himself, his heart sank.

His aura had changed.

Instead of the pure yellow color he once had, it was now yellow mixed with a slight tint of red.

Yellow represented humans. Red was for magical beasts. Purple signified the Shadow Plague.

If what he was seeing was correct… did this mean he was now part beast?

A memory surfaced. He had seen this before.

When he first entered Avrion Academy, they had visited the cemetery. In the tomb of one of the Dragon Knights, he had sensed the same type of aura.

His outward appearance still seemed human, which was a relief. But when he checked his status, next to "Race," it now read Dragon Knight.

There was no use in trying to wrap his head around it now—he didn't have the answers.

For now, there was another test he wanted to try.

Opening his system inventory, he spotted the Intermediate Beast Crystal still inside.

When he had tried this before, the system had displayed an error message. But if his hypothesis was correct, the system was now treating his body like that of a magical beast.

If a basic-tier beast—or in his case, a human—could only absorb basic-tier crystals, then his evolution into a Dragon Knight should mean he could now absorb intermediate ones.

And if he continued evolving… would he eventually return to being a true dragon?

He selected the option, and the crystal slowly started to disappear. A tingling sensation spread throughout his body.

<3 Points earned.>

Ray frowned slightly, disappointed by the low number. But at the very least, he could now absorb intermediate crystals. The strength they granted still felt the same as before, and that was enough for now.

Before heading back to his room, he decided to check his reflection in the school toilets, just in case his appearance had changed more drastically than he realized.

Walking through the hallway, he used his sash as a scarf, lifting his hood to cover himself. He also activated his Black Sash skill to avoid being seen as much as possible.

Once inside the restroom, he examined himself in the mirror. Nothing seemed to have changed too noticeably. His body had become slightly more muscular, and he was a bit taller, but it wasn't drastic enough to raise suspicion.

Satisfied, he made his way back to his room.

Everyone was already in their beds, getting ready to sleep. Sylvia was just about to turn off the lights as he walked through the door.

"Oh, nice of you to join us," she said, pausing as her eyes roamed over him.

Ray tensed slightly. Had he missed something?

"You look a little different," she muttered, still staring, as if trying to figure out what had changed.

She had a keen eye for these sorts of things—her senses were sharp.

"Stop flirting with Ray and turn off the lights!" Dan shouted from his bed.

Sylvia's face immediately flushed red. Without another word, she turned off the lights and went to sleep.

Ray lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He had a lot on his mind—more than usual.

As he drifted into thought, he suddenly heard someone speaking.

It was Gary.

Gary had been talking in his sleep frequently over the past few days, as if trapped in a nightmare. But this time, it was worse.

His body jerked and shifted so much that the entire bunk bed shook. His words were slurred, impossible to make out. Then, suddenly, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"No! No, don't!"

Everyone in the room jolted awake at the sound of Gary's cries.