I was watching the battle from above, coordinating Pim and Vulcan to win the fight. The last swordsman had just died in Vulcan’s arms, bringing an end to this fight. He had the greatest combat potential, so I was most wary of him and tried my best to keep him isolated from the rest of his party. The mage was limited from me smothering the room in my mana, nor could he overcome his assumptions about magic. Hiding Pim in an orb of light was a gamble; he could’ve flown face-first into a wall if he didn’t predict the mage’s movement. Vulcan did a good job keeping the swordsman’s attention and taking out their tank in the first move. If the room wasn’t saturated in my mana, I wouldn’t have been able to hide his mana signature after he climbed to the ceiling. He managed it by fusing himself to the stone of the wall and slowly making the climb that way. Luckily, he was able to attach himself pretty solidly to the ceiling and quietly separate from it. The fall caused a lot more damage than I expected, though, requiring some time for him to regenerate his legs enough to fight. I’ve even learned how to overcome mana-based and physical detection skills with just my mana. That scout would’ve been a bigger problem if I hadn’t found that workaround, and if I had burned through all of my mana. That first diversion took a lot more mana than I thought, but it was burning one mana per second per orb, and I only have about three hundred mana. At least it’ll be good for training in the future.
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But now, it’s all over. We had won, and the dungeon delvers were taken care of. Now, for the results of that battle.
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Name: Willow
Race: Monster (Will O’ Wisp [Lvl. 20])
Blessing: Chaos-touched
Skills: Manipulate Mana [Lvl. 6], Glow [Lvl. 10 (Max)], Mana Projection [Lvl. 3], Identify [Lvl. 3]
HP: 110/110 [+1/s]
MP: 55/317 [+1/s]
Skill Points: 45
Would you like to continue with evolution: Y/N
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I’ve finally reached level twenty, and with it, the ability to evolve into a new monster. After all of the work I’ve done, everything I’ve had to do with the help of Vulcan and Pim, I’ve finally reached my first goal. I can get stronger in this world, even if I have to rely on others to help me get there; I can claim the life I want with my own will. So, without any doubt in my heart, I embrace evolution and the process begins as soon as I think that. My pale, blue fire begins to glow white, an iridescent sheen covering my flames. Rainbow-colored mana escapes from my core, swirling around me until it creates a larger core around my old presence. That also includes all the mana I sent out as threads to be seen. Each of those threads is pulled back from across the dungeon, returning to my core, and plunging me into darkness. My mana saturating the room also returned to me, plunging me into complete darkness. I couldn't see the changes occurring within me anymore, but I think I can still feel them. My form bulges and grows, an indescribable warmth pervading every fiber of my being. There is no pain or discomfort, but I feel as if there’s a pair of eyes watching me, smiling at my evolving form. I don’t know where it’s from, but it quickly leaves as my evolution seems to be finishing. My mana is able to leak out again, my sense of sight being restored as the glow from my core starts to fade. Once my light returns to its normal pale blue, I know I have become something else entirely, so there’s only one thing left to do: ‘Identify’.
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Name: Willow
Race: Monster (Soullight Phantasm [Lvl. 1])
Blessing: Chaos-touched
Skills: Manipulate Mana [Lvl. 7], Glow [Lvl. 10 (Max)], Mana Projection [Lvl. 4], Identify [Lvl. 4], Possession [Lvl. 1]
HP: 220//220 [+2/s]
MP: 634/634 [+2/s]
Skill Points: 100
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My race had now become a Soullight Phantasm, returning back to level one. Identifying it further just brings up flavor text. “Soullight Phantasms are a cousin species of wisps. Spiritual in body, they are known as the shepherds of death, delivering lost souls to the cycle of reincarnation. Unlike a typical ghost-type monster, Soullight Phantasms have a closer connection to the souls of living beings, allowing them to exert control over souls to fulfill their prescribed duties.” It looks like the only relevant piece of that blurb is to explain why I gained the ‘Possession’ skill. The details of the skill say that I’m able to control the physical body of a target. However, stronger beings and minds are harder to control, especially at lower levels. It recommends breaking a target’s mentality to increase the chances of success. A sufficiently strong target may be able to resist, even if it is successfully possessed. Overall, it looks like the skill will be useful once I level it up, but using it now is riskier unless I’m able to psychologically weaken a target. As for my other skills, they’ve all gained a level after my evolution, with my first skill, ‘Glow’, finally reaching its max level. It can get pretty bright, but I can’t really tell how much of a difference the higher levels have been in this dank, dim dungeon. My HP and MP have doubled too, which seems pretty busted if that happens for every evolution. To be fair, dungeons aren’t exactly designed with monsters evolving in mind, so it might not happen too much. I wonder how I would compare to a naturally spawned Soullight Phantasm, if there is another one. At least I’ll be able to see if this holds true when Pim and Vulcan evolve. If it does, their stats may be able to rival the dungeon managers, even if they’re technically one evolution lower. Oh, depending on how De’gon takes this, it could end up really bad on either side. I hope he can’t see my stats in too much detail, as he said before.
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To top it all off, I’ve earned one hundred skill points, allowing me to buy two new skills from my limited list. And, as usual, I still don’t have access to any offensive skills. My new skill kind of needs another skill to pair with it, and it’ll drain even more mana from me. With an increased mana pool, and an increased recovery rate, it still might not be enough to make full use in battle. Considering all of those things, I’m split between three different skills I can purchase: ‘Mana Up’, ‘Mana Recovery Up’, and ‘Illusion Magic’. I want to get illusion magic no matter what, so I can fully utilize my new skill and create new battle strategies, but I’ll need to improve my mana somehow. I can either increase my overall pool or increase my mana regeneration rate. Depending on how much my mana would increase, it would give me more to work with in individual battles, but I would need more time to recover it all between battles. That would be fine if I knew I could leisurely take fights at my discretion, but I’m anticipating a confrontation with the dungeon master soon. Improved recovery would allow me to get back in fighting shape faster, which would be useful if De’gon tries something right after I get out of a battle. If he waits, the larger pool would then come in handy. But, as my magic skill improves, its efficiency should improve, so I won’t need as much mana. Decisions, decisions, long-term versus short-term. I could die soon if I prioritize the future, or I could limit myself if I worry too much about the future. Alright, I think I’ve got it. To reach the future I desire, I’ll have to take these risks to achieve true strength. Resolved, I take ‘Illusion Magic’ and ‘Mana Recovery Up’. If it behaves like Vulcan’s regeneration skill, then it should be well worth it in the future, since I’m always burning mana.
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Okay, that’s all sorted, now onto Vulcan and Pim. They have both reached level seventeen, putting them in striking distance of reaching level twenty. The next group is a little weaker, but they should provide enough levels for them to level up. They’ll get to evolve, too, and then we’ll be ready to face even stronger enemies. Pim flies straight to me, cackling with a smile on his face after seeing my evolution.
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“Haha, you actually did it, Willow! You’ve finally evolved; I knew you could do it. What did’dya evolve into? I’ve never heard of a monster like you.”
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“I’m a Soullight Phantasm now. All of my stats and skills went up, and I gained a few more. We can take on stronger parties, and I'll be better able to pull my weight.”
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“Don’t worry about that, kid, you were already doing plenty. We would’ve died a long time ago if it weren’t for you. The goddess is a cruel mistress to the human intruders and us monsters. But don’t get too big a head now, we’ll be evolving soon, too, then we’ll all be strong.”
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“Right, the next group should be enough for both of you to reach your evolution. They’re a little weaker than this group, but it should still be enough. Do you know what you’ll evolve into?”
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“Not a clue. Just that it’ll be something stronger than me. The big guy will probably just become a stronger golem, but I don’t know which one.”
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“That’s fine. I don’t have a direct way to attack yet, so I’ll still rely on both of you. But for now, we should move down to the second floor. De’gon wanted us to move down once one of us evolved. Vulcan, can you also move the bodies to the sides of the room for the slimes? If the next group saw this, that might bring unwanted attention to the dungeon, and the dungeon master would get mad at us.”
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“...Okay.”
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After Vulcan moved the bodies, we descended the stairs to the entrance of the second floor. We had a bit of time before the next group came, since they have to go even further to reach us now, so I’ll try to get used to my new skills until they arrive. Vulcan will probably evolve into something like a copper golem or iron golem, if the typical fantasy rules apply. Pim, I have no idea. He could become a physical-based demonic creature, or possibly gain magic. That would increase our options in fights dramatically if one of us had access to offensive magic. Well, only time will tell, and that time is soon.
