Chapter 6 - Evolution!
[Quest completed!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Evolution available. Show options?]
[Level up!]
'Huh?' I could feel the body surrounding me from all sides growing lifeless and rigid as its soul left it and began wandering to whichever afterlife monsters and abominations subscribed to. This brought one tiny little problem that I had not considered to the forefront of my mind. 'How does one… Get out of a corpse?'
The holes I had managed to rupture into the beings lungs let blood occupy any space that wasn't already filled with me, but they weren't big enough to go through unless I flexed my shaping skill again, and even then, I would just be in another part of the corpse that was even less connected to the outside then my current spot was. As luck would have it, it seemed that I didn't have to worry about breathing for a while, or at all, but I wasn't sure about that one quite yet. Most of my biological functions still escaped me, but I didn't feel out of breath, so I felt content enough to check out those system messages for the time being.
"Status."
Name: Blobby
Level: 6
Active Title: Giant Slayer
Stats:
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 1
Available Points: 25
Available skills:
Slot 1: [Ouroboros 1]
Slot 2: [Shaping 4]
Slot 3: [Empty]
…
Slot 10: [Empty]
Unused skills:
None
Racial Traits:
Innate potential
[Evolution available! Show options?]
'That's… Quite a few levels for a single enemy, isn't it? Was it that much stronger than me, or is there something else to it besides that? Anyway, let's look at those evolution options first, whatever I choose might influence how I want to spend my points.' But that was when something else caught my eye. 'Giant Slayer?'
Title: Giant Slayer
Successfully slay an enemy at least ten levels above your current one and live to tell the tale. A feat rarely achieved by even experienced adventures and knights. Be proud, you are a menace!
Title Bonus: +10% Damage against enemies of a higher level than your own. Resistance to Fear inducing attacks
'I'm pretty sure this tactic would be hard to replicate, but still, percentage bonus damage is always welcome.' The wording of the message made it seem as if levels were an integral part of this world, rather than something exclusive to myself for whatever reason. I wondered whether the monsters had their own version of the system, relaying them the messages for slaying foes in their native tongue just as it did for me, however, I couldn't learn if this assumption was true or not for a good while at least.
Regardless of the implications of the title, I focused on the evolution options to bring them up, it appears that there were two options for the time being.
[Evolution option 1: Greater Blob!]
Increase your size greatly, providing you with more volume to shape and control, your body is your weapon and you have plenty of it! Increases knowledge of shaping and allows for more complicated maneuvers to be completed with ease. Increases Dexterity and Constitution.
[Rarity: Uncommon]
[Evolution option 2: Hunter Blob!]
A blob with a taste for blood, having already slain foes much greater than himself. The blob is not satisfied with feeding off other bottom-feeders, but desires to slay the greatest of predators with his own strength and rip them to shreds with no intentions of holding back. Unlocks knowledge of hardening. Increases Strength and Dexterity.
[Condition fulfilled: Title Giant Slayer obtained.]
[Rarity: Epic]
'Well… The options seem to make the decision for me at this point. A higher constitution and increased shaping knowledge might be nice, but it would be foolish to give up an Epic rarity option with the unlock condition of having slain something ten levels above your own. Also, that hardening knowledge speaks to me in some way, and I wonder whether it is related to what I kind of tried earlier when I blinded that big fool?' I chose the Hunter Blob option and immediately felt the change taking place all over my blobby self.
I began to glow and expand, right before shrinking again moments later, repeating these convulsions over and over as my body took on a slightly darker shade. I could have sworn that a hint of red was mixed into my previous blue, but I wasn't sure whether all the blood surrounding me was playing tricks on me. When it comes to that blood, my convulsions did me no favors, as pushing against the walls of my confines seemed to release ever greater amounts in my surroundings, but somehow, some of it seemed to disappear into nothingness.
Or rather, into me, and each time it did so, an extremely euphoric feeling took hold of me, showing me new heights of dopamine I did not deem possible. Whether it was the evolution, that strange blood absorption, or even both, I did not know. What I did know is that I had hoped that it would never end as my consciousness appeared to expand exponentially, growing to be one with my surroundings, or rather, the surroundings of my surroundings. First, the village around the corpse I was confined into, the fire, the houses and the other corpses littering the ground and soon to litter it, then the forest around it, its violet leaves and strange trees, the grass on which I crawled to get to this point and the goblin raiders even further into the direction I fled.
Before I knew it, however, it ended, returning me and my senses to the body of the beast and its internal organs. I had escaped the lungs at one point or another during my evolution, although "destroyed them and was forced to vacate due to non-existence of prior residence" would be a more accurate description.
[Shaping level up!]
[Hardening unlocked!]
Immediately, a sliver of knowledge wormed its way into my brain. It confirmed my earlier theories and even my attempt with that attack to be on the right track. In fact, I did not lack much of the steps required and only a small hint was more than enough to get me all the way there, which is what the system did, refusing to give any more or less on the topic. Hardening was not another skill, but a mere feature of shaping, allowing me to make whatever I create more compact and, as a result, much harder. This can be used to create weapons, or simply protect me from certain means of attack. It also meant I had a surefire way out of this soon-to-be-rotting corpse.
'Just have to invent my stat points and get out of here now.' Which is exactly what I chose to do next.
"Status."
Name: Blobby
Evolutionary stage: Hunter Blob [New]
Level: 6
Active Title: Giant Slayer
Stats:
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 1
Available Points: 25
Available skills:
Slot 1: [Ouroboros 1]
Slot 2: [Shaping 5]
Slot 3: [Empty]
…
Slot 10: [Empty]
Unused skills:
None
Racial Traits:
Innate potential
Blood seeker
'A new racial trait?' I contemplated on checking it out now, but I figured I had spent enough time in a corpse for a lifetime by now, so I decided that it would be the first thing I did when I got another, hopefully better, opportunity to rest. Looking at my stats I noticed the change immediately, my strength and dexterity had greatly increased, and it would increase even more now.
"System, invest five points into Dexterity, and ten into Strength and Constitution each." I could once again feel the power flooding my being as the system obeyed my commands. Not only that, I felt weirdly denser than before. Fuller, more real, more tangible in a way. I ignored the feeling for the moment, it was time to leave.
I shaped an appendage, adding more of my volume to it than I had done previously, and then pushed on it from all sides. Simultaneously, I adjusted its shape to be much more narrow on one side than the other, forming a rudimentary kind of blade. I raised it towards the side of the corpse that was pointing upwards with intent, and pushed against the bones, muscles and eventually skin, holding onto the shape of the blade with my mind as I exerted every bit of my newly gained force, revealing an orange hue that enveloped all of my surroundings. First I assumed it to be remnants of the flames, but as I made my way out I realized that those were long gone, as was the child I had hoped to save. 'I hope he made it away. The quest completion means he did, right?'
Instead of flames, what greeted me with its beautiful colors was the scene of an amazing sunset wide off into the horizon. Two suns of similar, yet slightly different shades of yellow were setting at the same time, drowning the world in a mesmerizing orange glow that made the scene of destruction in front of me, with its broken and burnt buildings, as well as corpses littering the streets that were once without a doubt full of life, resemble an old painting portraying a bygone era of bloodshed and suffering. The sunset itself would have symbolized a great change to come and bring forth a better future, that is, if this had been a painting, and not the cruel reality these people had to experience for themselves. If I had eyes to do so, I believe this scene would have made me cry.