I can evolve already? What?
I awoke from an unexplained darkness only to see this ssage front and center in my vision. I had no idea what was going on and in a desperate effort to gain so clarity, I looked to see if there were any prior notifications. To my relief, there were and I scrolled through them.
I found myself staring in surprise at the strange notifications before . They were familiar, and yet at the sa ti they were utterly shocking to .
Only level ten? Blue sli? Where were all my mutations? Where was my prismatic sli? Is this a bad dream!?
I looked around in panic, confirming my surroundings as the forest where I'd fought the blade wolf, and nearly died in the process. Back then I hadn't taken advantage of my sli nature to its proper extent and had failed to live up to Gramps expectations before he had to step in and save .
I felt horribly weak, and I nervously opened my profile to see if it was true. Sadly, it was.
Na: - [Apex Hunter]
Race: Sli (Blue) LV 10 (MAX)
Class: -
Status: Dying
Mana: Ebbing
Emblems:
[Experint]
[Apex Hunter] *
Traits:
[Mana Sli LV MAX]
[Acid Sli LV 4]
[Pseudopod LV 4]
[Sli Density LV 3]
[Sli Shot LV 3]
[Shape Sli LV 3]
[Consuming Osmosis LV 1]
[Core Refinent LV 4]
[Core Storage LV 3]
[Sub-Core LV 2]
[Mana Circulation LV 2]
[Mana Reinforcent LV 2]
Trait Points remaining: 1
Skills:
[Dissection LV 4]
[Mapping LV 2]
[Stealth LV 3]
[Sneak Attack LV 1]
[Improved Accuracy (Lesser) LV 2]
Skill Points remaining: 1
No way…
This was bad. I had sohow gone back in ti to the forest, when I was just a helpless little blue sli struggling to fight wolves and frogs. Before I'd even evolved. Before I'd gained a class. Before I'd even received my na!
My na is Syl, damn you!
Yes!
That was one problem resolved, although I still felt terrible. I'd lost so much of my abilities, so much of my efforts, my friends, my goals, my treasures, all gone!
Vee… She must just be a normal spider right now…
More and more thoughts dawned on . How had I gone back in ti, was this sothing Llewel had done to ? He was the only Chronomancer I knew. Also, if I had gone back in ti, why had I kept my mories but not my abilities?
This ans Sylthaeryn is still alive… Did Llewel send back to save her? Can Chronomancers really do that?
I genuinely had no idea and his class had always been a big mystery with him keeping a lot of his cards hidden, even after I beca the [Branch Head].
I sighed. I was feeling hopeless, as even if I had the knowledge, what difference could I make in my current state? Even if I evolved right now into my mimic sli, just like before, there was no way I could win against Keaton Stanton and his goons by myself.
Even if I tried now, wouldn't Sylthaeryn just think I was a monster? She'd probably kill !
I sighed again, feeling like it was my only option. I didn't know what to do, or how to proceed, so I looked at my evolution options hoping it would provide so glimr of hope.
Well, I'm instantly writing off Green and Purple Sli. If I had Orange I might have a chance, but just like before there's no point in evolving my species until Prismatic. That only leaves mutations… Gluttonous, Parasitic, Aquatic, Mimic, Predation and Queen…
Mimic had been my original choice and it had served well. I almost instinctively wanted to pick it up again, knowing how it had faithfully served up until now, but I still gave the others a look over again, just in case.
I nearly picked this back then… It might give a chance to assassinate Keaton, but I know that in the future it's actually a pretty crap choice.
Once again Mimic Sli was looking like the obvious best choice, but I couldn't help but wonder if my bias was talking. With Aquatic Sli I could try to control the pond and use it as a weapon, and it might even give [Water Magic] as a skill.
Magic… I really could use so magic right now…
I suddenly paused. I had kept all my mories, other than how I ended up here, didn't that an I had my knowledge of magic? Or, better yet, my blueprints from [Skill Deconstruct]?
I made an attempt to make a basic spell construct, just a simple [Water Orb], and to my surprise and joy it almost succeeded straight off the bat. I had magic!
Alpha is currently destroyed thanks to that damn wolf… If I had a helper I could probably handle so spells. My current core isn't capable enough on its own without [Core Collective] or even just a higher level of [Core Refinent]. I also don't have [Mana Weaving]... No, wait, it was [Mana Manipulation] first, right? Ugh…
Despite having the mories of the skills, I couldn't summon them forth from the system. At best I could try to seek them out, or perhaps try brute forcing them and gaining them through discovery.
Well, one thing is for sure, if I have magic then Aquatic Sli is sowhat useless.
Queen would have been a big buff of stats, but I'd be shooting myself in the foot by imdiately grabbing a final evolution. Gluttonous could have been useful, especially being able to effortlessly control vast amounts of sli mass but part of was extrely reluctant to do so.
Vee would tease nonstop if I actually picked it.
Finally there was Parasitic, sothing that sounded interesting but I had previously quickly written off.
If I had a decent body, this could let kill Keaton…
I glanced over to where the blade wolf should have been, only to find I'd already fed it to [Dissection]. If only I was sent back a few monts earlier, this would have been a perfect strategy.
Ugh… What other monsters are there… There was the bear matriarch, but I'd need to find it and I'm not sure if I could even control it at my level. I could take over a goblin… But Keaton is stronger than a goblin. Those badgers were strong, but it's probably the sa issue as the bear—can I even control it?
I had genuinely considered this might have been my option, and to be honest I was vaguely interested in where this evolution might've led . From my mories, this had only ever been an option at my first evolution and I'd never seen it again. Why?
It's probably incompatible with Mimic, if I had to guess. Or maybe it was to tempt away from picking Mimic, which I assu Gramps wanted to pick? And after that, the person gave up?
I wasn't sure. Truthfully now it was bugging and I wanted to pick it, even though I knew it wouldn't be enough to kill Keaton. After returning to the safety of my tree, I began to ponder, hoping to brainstorm an idea or solution. I was drawing blanks until, once again, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the Parasitic Sli mutation.
Shit… Am I fixating on this again because I'm curious? I need to think of a way to save the damn elf princess!
It suddenly struck like a bolt of lightning. I only needed to prevent her death, I didn't need to kill Keaton, not imdiately anyway.
Rare cases exist where this mutation has lived symbiotically with its host… What if I join forces with her after she is attacked? Would I be able to heal her as a Parasitic Sli?
I was tempted. Truthfully I had no idea if this crazy plan would work, but it felt like the best chance I had, baring sohow finding myself a pink sli.
I'd even considered purple sli as an option, as if I was lucky and got a powerful poison at the start, then I could theoretically kill Keaton. Sadly, as far as I knew, it was random what poison a purple sli started with and I could end up sothing equally useless. I knew one of the purple sli cores the badger was sucking on had Bloodrot, but I didn't know if I could fetch it in ti, or if I was even capable of grabbing it.
Back then I had pretended to be a badger, so I'd need to pick Mimic and level it up enough to fool it. But Sylthaeryn would probably be dead already by the ti I accomplished all of that…
I wasn't sure if I'd talked myself into a corner, but it really felt like Parasitic was the only solution with a chance. Sighing for the umpteenth ti, I moved deeper into my hidden ho inside the tree and opened up the nu to confirm my choice.
I was about to confirm it when I had a sudden feeling of dread inside , and no it wasn't because of my selection, it was more like I was forgetting sothing that I'd regret. I wasn't sure where this feeling ca from, but it felt genuine so I took the ti to properly think about it.
Sothing that can't be done after I evolve… Wait, is it that thing?
To help us survive through the first stage of the [Experint] we were all given a system helper that could recomnd traits based on our needs. I had previously thought I had done a good job milking it for so future purchases down the line, but with my future knowledge, I now knew I had barely scratched the surface.
I only have one trait point, so I'll definitely be stocking up on things for the future. Let's see… Can I ask for unique sli traits? I an I even know the na! Show [Heal Sli]!
To my surprise the system actually listened to , but despite showing all these traits I frustratingly couldn't make a single purchase for any of them due to "lacking the base core structure necessary for compatibility," according to the system.
However, I didn't end my trait recalling spree there and started going through the list of all the generic sli traits I could rember. If I gathered enough of them, I could probably fuse [Sli Mastery] for myself. I did try going straight to [Sli Mastery], but the system told I needed to obtain it through trait fusion.
So Gramps had already created [Sli Mastery] back then already. I wonder if he always planned for to go that route, or if he was just on an inventing spree with the sli stuff. If it's the latter, I can certainly relate getting lost in the sauce.
When I ran out of sli traits to call out, I moved on to so of the generic traits I had picked up in the future. I had plenty of vision, sight and sense traits that I was missing so it was like a window shopping spree. There were a few resistance traits, but I didn't think I'd be spending my valuable trait points on them anyti soon.
Finally I tried to see if I could uncover any generic traits I hadn't gained in the past, but either the trait helper was sick of , or I wasn't providing the information it needed. One thing I had discovered was that while [Chiric Mimicry] seed out of reach for , [Shapeshifting Mimicry] might not be as its error ssage claid I lacked the transformation ability required.
If I improve my [Shape Sli], or better yet, get [Sli Mastery] again, can I just grab [Shapeshifting Mimicry] without needing to evolve? Although I suppose I need to get [Morph Sli] before I can even consider all of that…
I had experienced all of this, I doubted there was anyone in the world more familiar with sli and controlling it than , even if my current profile didn't reflect that. If I could use my future knowledge to shore up my past self, wouldn't I rapidly gain progress?
Well, it's all hopeful wishes at this point. I don't even know what I want to buy first, honestly I think an additional [Sub-Core] would help the most. It's not like buying [Chroma Shift] will help right now. Anyway, I think it's finally ti to evolve!
I was about to confirm it when again sothing was itching in the back of my head. I sighed and thought what it could be, and after perusing my current lackluster profile I finally felt what was missing.
[Prodigy]! Where's my [Prodigy] trait! Hey, system helper, give my [Prodigy] trait! I know I have it!
Not true, I had it before. Also don't lie to , the human trait is [Untapped Potential], [Prodigy] is from Reincarnation Points! In fact, I should have it now, or maybe a remnant of it that wasn't cleaned out properly. Please restore it for !
At least have a look for . Humor , if you don't find anything I won't ntion it again. In fact, I'll evolve right now and then it'll be impossible for to contact you again, right?
That better be a real scan, or I'm going to complain to Gramps!
Thanks! You're the best. Now to keep my promise.
I quickly confird my evolution. Part of it was keeping my promise, but the other was in case the helper decided to take my sole remaining trait point as the price of restoration. I needed to be extrely frugal whenever possible in these trying tis.
I was swallowed by the all too familiar darkness, wondering how Gramps was going to react to all of this.
***
Spoiler
***
Well… That was less than I hoped for.
I had hoped that my conversation with Gramps would have given so answers, but it was the direct opposite of the case. Worst of all, I couldn't even bla Gramps this ti as it was actually my fault.
Our conversation had gone almost exactly the sa as previously, with him lanting the fact that I had needed help to defeat the wolf. It then moved on to him being intrigued by my choice of evolution as he was sure I would've picked Mimic based on all the weapons I had kept trying to shape my sli into. Strangely, he didn't seem disappointed by my choice, and if I wasn't mistaken, he actually appeared intrigued by it.
Then when the floor was briefly opened to , I tried to tell Gramps what had happened, that I was from the future and sohow sent back in ti. Only… I couldn't. It was as if so unknown force had prevented from speaking or even thinking about it while in the presence of Gramps and I couldn't for the life of figure out why.
I had tried my best, and nothing had co out. Gramps eventually grew tired of my silence and sent on my way and I had woken from my torpor state.
Why couldn't I tell him…?
If that was strange enough, he also didn't call out my spree of abuse to the trait helper. Did he not notice? Did he not find my actions strange? Or did sothing hide it from him?
So many questions, so little answers. Well… Let's see what my new evolution has offered !
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