Quickly leaving the forest, Si Sheng carried the body of the Killer Horned Rabbit back to his cave. He sat down laying the carcass to his side, not even caring to clean it right away.
Tired, Si Sheng laid down staring at the ceiling blankly. He had won his first true face-to-face battle and had a lot running through his head the whole time walking back. He reviewed the fight looking for mistakes he made, what he could've done better, etc. The main flaw he saw was his initial strike. While, there were no real, negative consequences from his first strike, he still could've done better, in hindsight. For one, he could've used a more ranged attack to test the rabbit before getting close, something like a feint attack, so he wasn't stuck in a situation that relied on the other party not taking action before he reset the positioning. Besides the fight, the whole Evolution Menu thing was right at the forefront of Si Sheng's worries.
Si Sheng's Evolutionary Body depended loosely on what he ate, what skills he had, as well as a few other factors that would affect his evolution, like environmental factors effecting the epigenetics of his body that would give him an evolutionary advantage.
He hadn't opened the menu yet. If he had, he wouldn't've been able to fully concentrate on reviewing his fight and would've wasted the experience since he would've been too preoccupied with which path to take in his evolution. But, now that he had returned to the cave, he decided to open the menu.
[Evolution Menu]
[After maxing out your level, ★Guide★ will unlock the Evolution Menu where you will be able to pick between five different evolutionary pathways to traverse. The percentage for each pathway is the compatibility between the evolution and you, as well as an indicator of the potential for future evolutions. The higher the percentage, the greater the compatibility, and greater potential.
Evolutions:
Human Type I (Evolved): 98%
Human Type II (Evolved): 85%
Rabbit-Human (Demi-Human): 65%
Scaled Human: 43%
Exoskeletal Organism (Human Form): 22%]
Si Sheng looked at the options for his first evolution. The most compatible evolution was Human Type I (Evolved). Si Sheng read the description for the evolution.
[Human Type I (Evolved)]
[An evolved version of a human. It has greater Intelligence, Agility, Strength, and slightly greater Defense. However, Vitality and Luck are the same as unevolved humans.
Racial Trait(s): Rapid Learning, Assassin's Silence]
At the essence of this evolution choice, it was everything Si Sheng wanted. It gave him a good overall stats increase and it increased his learning capabilities, which were very important to him. Not to mention a boost to his assassination skills, which, at this point, he relied heavily upon.
Si Sheng looked over the other options. Human Type II (Evolved) was similar to Human Type I (Evolved), except it was a slower and tankier version. Its racial trait gave it naturally thicker skin, bone, and tissue—it was a tank in the purest sense. It was similar to a less debilitating cross between a person with harlequin ichthyosis and pycnodysostosis, which harden the skin and give denser bones, respectively. Additionally, its stat bonus was mainly in Vitality, Defense, and Strength.
The Rabbit-Human (Demi-Human) path was like one would expect, it was a humanoid rabbit form. It was described as a human that had legs of a rabbit and ears of a rabbit, as well as a cute fluffy tail. It had incredible speed with the same Vitality and Luck as a regular human; lowered strength in the arms and increased strength in the legs, as well as a lowered Defense and Intelligence quotient, meaning, less mana from the same Intelligence value and more damage taken per hit for the same amount of Defense. Additionally, its racial trait allowed it to have excellent hearing, due to its large ears. So the real merits of this evolution were the increased leg strength and speed, as well as the heightened hearing sense.
As for the Exoskeletal Organism and Scaled Human, they were similar, where the skin was replaced with either an exoskeleton or scales, respectively. In the case of the Exoskeletal Organism, in the process of forming an exoskeleton, the previous skeleton would be dissolved into the body with the exoskeletal replacement, which Si Sheng imagined would be an extremely painful process, not something he wanted to go through. As for their merits, they were similar to Human Type II (Evolved) in that they had increased tanking abilities, but also had the demerit of the Rabbit-Human (Demi-Human) that lowered intelligence. Furthermore, Si Sheng's aesthetic sense didn't line up with them, making them an instant no-go.
***
After checking through all the evolutions, Si Sheng came to a conclusion quite easily. Human Type I (Evolved) was the right evolution for him. Not only was the compatibility and potential the highest out of the evolutions, but it also had Si Sheng's desired stats. Also, the racial traits were the most desirable. The others mainly increased defense at the cost of speed, where this trait increased learning and assassination capabilities with no drawbacks. Additionally, he wouldn't have to sacrifice his aesthetic sense for a stronger evolution, which was an added bonus.
So, with a firm decision, Si Sheng chose Human Type I (Evolved) to evolve into.
[Human Type I (Evolved) Selected!]
[Starting evolution process...]
In the next second, Si Sheng felt like his body was on fire! It was like he had suddenly jumped into a pot of boiling water only to realize how hot it actually was.
"AAAAUUUGH!!!"
Si Sheng screamed out in agony. It felt like every cell in his body was revolting against him. Every bit of his body was consumed by this magmatic sensation.
Si Sheng tried to seek relief. He immediately stripped, tearing his clothes off as fast as he could. All this did was leave him laying on his naked ass with no relief. The heat wasn't alleviated in the slightest after he stripped, if anything it was growing worse.
"W-Water Ball!!"
Si Sheng cast a water spell and splashed himself with it. As soon as it came in contact with his skin, it immediately evaporated! He kept casting the spell, trying to cool himself down, but it didn't work. Si Sheng couldn't find any relief whatever he did. As he was suffering, Si Sheng looked down at his body, he noticed some changes visibly taking place.
First, his skin was turning a paler shade of tan, refining into a purer complexion. With tone change came a change in texture and suppleness. His skin had become smoother and springier, you could say his skin became healthier-looking and more beautiful, like that of a pretty lady's. The same could be said about his hair, it was getting smoother and lighter, turning a charcoal gray from his previous black color. In conjunction with the skin change, he could feel himself getting bigger, his limbs were growing longer outwards, his muscles were growing more refined and toned. His muscles, at this point, looked like they had been trained for a year or so, even though he was mainly a bookworm back on Earth that didn't exercise much and had only been in this new world for a little more than a month, not enough time to get the results that were seen in his now refined muscular body.
After noticing his body changing, Si Sheng noticed his senses were getting sharper. He could see even clearer than before, being able to see the surface textures of individual hairs on his body with enhanced view. His hearing, sense of smell, touch, and the rest of his senses were refined into a more sensitive system that opened a whole new door to the world.
Si Sheng's body at this point was starting to return to normal, the fiery pain was receding, but the heightened senses and changed body stayed the same. He was pretty glad about this because it opened a new door for him to explore and he generally was pleased with what he saw—his body that is.
[Evolution Complete!]
[Race has changed from 'Human' to 'Human Type I (Evolved)'!]
[Title: 'Pioneering Human' Acquired]
[Racial Trait(s) Unlocked: Assassin's Silence, Rapid Learning]
[Strength, Defense, Agility increased!]
[Intelligence ratio increased!]
[The ★Guide★ skill will now be locked until the next evolution.]
A burst of notifications streamed into Si Sheng's mind as he finished evolving.
***
His body no longer felt like it was on fire, but he was tired. He was covered in sweat from head to toe and was laying in a pool of a mixture of his sweat and the water he poured over himself. As if his fatigued body couldn't wait anymore, the evolution process having sucked his cells dry, they were now screaming at him to refuel, his stomach growling a fierce rumble for him to eat and drink something. Thankfully, he had the freshly killed Killer Horned Rabbit laying beside himself.
Si Sheng lit a fire and checked his status.
"Status."
[Name: Si Sheng | Age:18 | Race: Human Type I (Evolved)]
[Status: Healthy (Tired)]
[Level 1/15 | Experience 138/2000]
[Titles: The Sin of Gluttony, Supreme Healer, Pioneering Human]
[Stats]
[HP: 1000/1000 | MP: 1000/1000]
[Strength: 150 | Intelligence: 50 | Defense: 75 | Agility: 200 | Vitality: 100 | Luck: 15]
[Attribute Points: 50]
[Skills]
[Awareness (F), Evil Eye (Eye of Understanding), Evolutionary Body, Fire Magic (D), ★Guide★, Gluttony, Healing Magic (SSS), Presence Concealment (C), Repair (A), Sneak (F), Sprint (E), Swordsmanship (D), Water Magic (D)]
[Racial Trait(s)]
[Assassin's Silence, Rapid Learning]
Looking at the changes in his status, he noticed that his Strength and Agility had increased by 50 points whereas his Defense had increased by 15 points. Additionally, his Intelligence coefficient had gone up, from 1:10 MP to 1:20 MP, giving him a much larger mana pool to draw from. Additionally, he had a new title, which he decided to inspect.
[Pioneering Human]
[Title given to the first human to walk the path of evolution. Grants additional benefits to the human when they evolve in the future, as well as benefits to offspring.]
When Si Sheng read this he felt that it was weird. He didn't think he could've been the first human in all of this world's history to evolve past being a 'Human'. In his Evolution Menu, which was now locked, there was an option for Rabbit-Human (Demi-Human). If a human could evolve into a Demi-Human didn't that mean the ancestors of the Demi-Humans had to be humans that had evolved into that form? If that wasn't the case, as his title suggested, did that mean Demi-Humans didn't exist in this world, or was it that they were non-human in origin? His only thought to add to this was that it was a form of convergent evolution, where an animal species independently evolved into a humanoid figure. Si Sheng would put his money on this being the case. But, whatever the case may be, it wasn't something Si Sheng was going to ponder over in too much depth. It had nothing to do with him, he just thought it was an interesting tidbit of this world.
Besides his new title, the new Racial Traits interested him. It was something beyond a skill and if he were to have a child, it would be passed on to them, or at least have chance of passing on.
[Assassin's Silence]
[A natural inclination to walk, breathe, and act quietly, making hiding and assassination easier.
Reduces the effectiveness of scanning, awareness, and searching skills on the Human Type I (Evolved).]
[Rapid Learning]
[With increased brain capacity, learning information becomes easier. Due to the way the brain of a Human Type I (Evolved) functions, understanding and comprehension of information is increased.
Intelligence influences the rate of comprehension.]
'Quite convenient and useful.' The trait of Assassin's Silence was convenient for him now since all he was doing was hiding and assassinating animals. It would further enhance his current capabilities and increase his survival rate if he ran into a creature that he had to hide from, like the owl and wyrm.
The trait for Rapid Learning, while being more underutilized than Assassin's Silence at the time, was useful for Si Sheng since it would help him practice fighting techniques beyond assassinating. With it, he could master how to effectively fight at a faster pace than he would have had he not evolved. Additionally, it would help him to master other tasks with greater ease, like weapon making, tailoring, etc.
The traits he gained added greatly to his potential and strengthened his survivability, giving a great sense of comfort to Si Sheng who now saw an easier future ahead of himself.
***
Si Sheng had cooked the rabbit and was eating it now to satisfy his overflowing hunger. It was even more delectable than the rabbits he had killed before. The meat was tender and overflowing with juices, but you know what they say, hunger is the best seasoning, which made the gamey rabbit taste even better than it normally would. Besides the taste of the meat, Si Sheng got a taste of its skills.
[Killer Horned Rabbit Consumed: "Skill: Sixth Sense (D)" Acquired.]
[Killer Horned Rabbit Consumed: "Skill: Blink (D)" Acquired.]
The Killer Horned Rabbit gave Si Sheng two skills! These skills weren't useless either, they were actually incredible skills. After just reading the name of the skill, Si Sheng already knew they were invaluable skills. Taking a look to confirm his hopes, he inspected the skills.
[Sixth Sense (D)]
[Have a mystical awareness of your surroundings.
Sixth Sense effect increases with grade and Sense stat.]
[Stat: "Sense" Unlocked.]
The skill unlocked a stat for him!
Not knowing that this could happen, it surprised Si Sheng, but he wasn't one to turn away from a gift. Si Sheng was elated at this nugget of gold. He would definitely invest in this stat as it had incredible potential.
In theory, the stat had the potential to outrival his defense stat since if he was able to sense anything within a certain radius around him at all times, he wouldn't need to have a high defense because he would be able to react before he was ever struck. While this was a good thing, in theory, Si Sheng knew that every aspect of his status was important, except Luck, and wasn't going to be conceited to the point that he wouldn't acknowledge that he might find an opponent in the future that could overcome his Sense stat.
[Blink (D)]
[Move through space itself for a brief moment allowing for close range teleportation.
Range of teleportation determined by tier and Intelligence. Current Maximum Range: 5 meters.
Cost: 50 MP]
Thinking back to the fight with the rabbit, Si Sheng could see that it had used both of these skills and that it was its own arrogance that led to its demise. When Si Sheng committed his sneak attack, the rabbit has used its Sixth Sense skill to be aware of his attack and then used the Blink skill to avoid his strike. Thanks to the rabbit's arrogance, it didn't use them again, for what reason he didn't know. Maybe it was trying to prove something or maybe it was too flustered to remember to use them. Just the Blink ability alone would have allowed it to slip away from Si Sheng, not to mention the Sixth Sense ability, which would've allowed it to detect the hidden spear and avoided it, crippling Si Sheng's plan. This realization just further reinforced his notion that he needed to get stronger and that he needed to be cautious no matter what reality seemed to be, since it may not be how it seemed.
Furthermore, he reproached himself about his progression of events. Had he eaten the Killer Horned Rabbit before evolving, it might have added some unknown factor that he would've taken otherwise. Possibly a route where he had access to Space-Time Magic, like the Blink skill. However, that possibility was gone, for this evolution, but still may have an effect on the next evolution. That didn't lessen the loss, since it might have increase the potential of his future evolutions.
While it was good and all to reflect and improve, Si Sheng wouldn't let his failures get to him. Si Sheng was more than happy at what he had earned that day. He had evolved and got the benefits from it, gained a new title, and gained two new skills. It was a good haul for the day. He also got some actual fighting experience, which would seed his growth outside his status.
Overall, it was a good day for him.