'Yes! Evolve Etheria!' he thought with great excitement.
The notification disappeared and Donis turned his attention to Etheria who was now glowing in a bright light. Even though it hurt his eyes slightly, Donis continued watching the rapid changes happening to her body.
Firstly she grew in size to be about 3ft(91cm) tall. Her wings spread out and grew to be twice as long as her body. Her head grew in size and her beak turned into a more sturdy looking version. Her tail remained the same shape but grew out further, getting more feathers and widening slightly. She still retained her lithe build, but she definitely has put on some mass!
As the light was receding, Donis could make out her new colourings. Where as before she had a dominant platinum sheen cast over her whole body with splotches of gold and beady azure eyes, now she had layers of platinum, gold and azure interlayering themselves between feathers. Her eyes were bigger, had more life to them, more intelligence. Her talons still remained menacing, but they were now surrounded by more fluffy feathers, they were elongated even further to support her new build.
'You're beautiful,' he whispered in his mind.
'Thank you,' Etheria spoke back.
Her new voice was far more bodied, it had an almost human touch to it. Donis looked at her new stats and realise her intelligence was increased by 1, among other things. She was inching closer and closer to the intelligence levels of humans.
He ran over and hugged her. She was soft. So soft. It was like hugging a dream. He couldn't believe that she could have gotten any more comfortable than before, yet here he was, losing himself in the sensations that she provided.
Pulling himself away from her, Donis looked at her stats once again, and saw a drastic change in her. Not only did she gain a nice stat boost, but she gained upgraded abilities and a new one on top of that.
Height: 3 Feet
[Name: Etheria]
[Species: Ethereal Azure Alpha]
[Danger Rating: Uncommon]
[Age: 15]
[Level: 20][0% EXP]
[Mana State: Breath]
[Health: 760]
[Mana: 350]
[Strength: 18]
[Perception: 29]
[Agility: 33]
[Intelligence: 7]
Skills: [Soul Contract] – [Ethereal Winds II] – [Azure Eyes II] - [Etheric Wings II] – [Ethereal Fire I]
[Soul Contract]: The user is bound eternally to the recipient through a contract using the soul.
[Ethereal Winds II]: Unleash a strong gale in the facing direction. When using [Etheric Wings] the gale also rapidly shoots hardened Ether as projectiles dealing 30 damage per hit.
[Azure Eyes II]: Look in to the targets eyes to calm it down or put it to sleep.
[Etheric Wings II]: The wings take on the properties of condensed ether, hardening them further. Casting it again hardens the rest of the body using [Etheric Wings I].
[Ethereal Fire I]: Ignites the Ether, rapidly discharging it through the mouth. Bypasses armour and directly damages the organs of the target. Damage is dependant on the targets inner workings.
It looks like [Ethereal Fire I] was gained because of Donis's Combat Job. He didn't know if it really was, but knowing the [System] it definitely looked like it.
Etheria now seems to be just under the strength of the Tranners around, and Donis couldn't wait to let Etheria loose. He knew she was eager to prove herself and test out her newfound strength. Who was he to stop her anyway?
Looking at his [760SP], Donis decided to peruse the [Skill Shop] for abilities relating to Soul Contracts. Opening it up, he saw another insane amount of skills and abilities. They varied from giving Soul Contracts new abilities, to synergising abilities, to gaining status effects based upon how many of them you have out at any time.
They were cheap too!
He didn't know what to get right now, so he decided to first check out Etherias combat prowess first. Gathering up a few straggling Tranners, Donis commanded Etheria to try and take one on with extreme caution. He wanted to test her, but to not die. They were still a higher level, and had many more years of wild experience compared to her.
Disabling one of them, Donis watched the battle between Etheria and the level 23 Tranner take place. Etheria definitely used her intelligence to cover the gap between their raw stats. She was much much faster than the Tranner, which had a bulkier build compared to her. She flew round and round the beast, studying it from all angles.
She was definitely also getting used to her new flight speed. She was like a platinum bullet compared to the Tranner. It had no hopes of catching her. Watching her study it like this gave Donis a sense of pride. She either took after him, always trying to think logically and be prepared, or Ethereal Azure Alphas always have that trait.
After studying the Tranner for long enough, Etheria cast [Etheric Wings II], hardening her whole body, quickly followed by [Ethereal Winds II] and pushing the Tranner off balance while pelting it with hardened Ether chunks. Clearly the Tranner didn't like this and cawed aggressively back, charging at Etheria with reckless abandon, not caring for the damage it was taking.
Etheria easily dodged the enraged Tranner with a lithe manoeuvre placing her right above it. While above she threw her hardened body right at it, exposing her talons to the wings of the Tranner, clearly looking to take out the sole thing keeping the Tranner in the fight.
A gnarly wound appeared on the Tranners wings, exposing the white bone underneath. Unable to keep itself afloat, it fell. This was a sure victory for Etheria!
She dove down, following alongside the Tranner, unleashing her talons once again before it hit the ground. Another attack, another wound. The Tranner hit the ground hard, breaking the exposed bone. Etheria didn't let up just because the beast was hurt on the floor.
She hovered a little bit above the beast, staring intently. Donis wondered for a second what she was going to do, but his answer came before he could even actualize the thought. She cast [Ethereal Fire I].
It was an odd sight, a pale white flame that was almost see-through. It didn't burn, nor did it damage the floor. Though he could see it doing no damage, the Tranner didn't think so. It writhed and screamed in pain on the floor for a second or two, until it could no longer. The [HP] had hit 0, and Etheria had killed her first beast all by herself.
She flew back to Donis, perching down on the small incline beside him. He looked at her and with the biggest smile on his face sent out a thought.
'Congrats Etheria, you're strong now!'
'I'm strong! I can help!' she chirped back, delighted with herself. While her beak and face didn't allow for facial expressions, her mental link with Donis was buzzing with feelings of pride and warmth.
Donis finished off the other Tranner with [Immolate I], upgrading it further. The stronger the skill got, the easier it will be to finish off these Tranners, and the closer he'll get to upgrading the ability.
'I wonder how the Draconic abilities change when they evolve. Do they follow the same path as levelling a regular ability, or do they veer from that path entirely?' he thought while petting Etheria.
'No matter, right now I don't need to think about it. I need to finish off the last 41 Tranners, and it's gonna be a messy job!' he thought as he exhaled out loud, stretching his body.
The duo then got to work. With Etheria safely in the mix, the job was going to be a lot easier. Not only could Donis then get more Tranners against him, he could also wilfully attract them to him, rather than waiting for them to separate themselves from the pack.
It didn't look like the main pack really even noticed the lowered numbers of Tranners, probably well used to the harshness of the environment at this point. This gave Donis hope that he could do it all without any serious issues coming up.
***
Late in the evening, Tranner area.
Donis and Etheria were both sprawled out in the makeshift hut he had made earlier in the day. They were tired, and beat up. They had completed the job but not without any issues popping up like he hoped.
At one point there were 15 Tranners all on top of them, and Etheria was only able to hold off 3 at most with her [Azure Eyes II]. They both learned that the ability had a cooldown of about 60s. Her being able to only put one bird asleep at 1 minute intervals really didn't help too much, but at the time he was happy to get any help.
They had used everything in their repertoire to the fullest extent, and come out on top. Etheria levelled up 3 times in the whole ordeal, making her level 23 now. Her levelling ability almost made Donis jealous, because even after killing so many of these things, he was only level 22.
He also found out that there was some sort of capping for [Immolate I]. He was either no longer within the required level range to keep upgrading it, or he couldn't kill too many of the same creature. He didn't know which one it is yet, since he couldn't venture out on his own just yet to try his luck. He had to return back to the headquarters and report to Striga.
Though there was a cap, Donis still ended up gaining a total of 20 kills with [Immolate I], increasing the damage to 220. It was currently his highest damaging ability! It went from being the absolute weakest, to being able to carry fights. Yes, it did cost him health, but his health regen and the inability of the monsters to actually reach him allowed this skill to truly shine.
After he learned it was no longer upgrading, Donis used [Dragonfury I] and ended up killing 5 Tranners with it. He also found out that this ability only counted multi-kills for its damage increase, not the amount killed. So unfortunately, the ability only raised by 15 points of damage. Still, an increase is an increase.
Feeling proud of the work done today, the skills learned, and the absolute revelation that Etheria can evolve left Donis beyond satisfied. He still needed to pick up something for Etheria from the [Skill Shop], but with the now bountiful [1,340SP] he had plenty of options to choose from. He had been abusing The Will of Dragons to its fullest this past battle. Constantly using it to create new and different challenges for himself, and it definitely paid off. He was able to gain [600SP] in a single day while fighting.
While laying on the cool ground, Donis once again opened up the [Skill Shop], this time with a goal in mind. He wanted to increase the battle prowess of Etheria a little bit, but he also wanted to gain some ways to track her in fights. He kept losing sight of her amongst the large swaths of enemies, and it would send him into a panic every time. He wanted a battle skill, a way to track her, and a utility skill.
Looking to spend around [300SP], Donis sat up and looked intently throughout the seemingly never ending lists.
For the battle ability he wasn't overly impressed at the selection compared to what he would be getting himself. It was either her level, her evolution, a combination of both or something entirely outside of his knowing. He did find a few that intrigued him, though he settled on one; [Projectile Paralysis] for [150SP].
[Projectile Paralysis]: Any projectile the Soul Contract pet shoots will have a 25% chance to paralyse the target. If the target is 5 levels or below the Soul Contract, the chance rises to 100%. If the target is 5 levels or above, the chance falls to 1% and entirely dropping to 0% if the level difference is 10 or higher.
It was the perfect skill for Etheria since she was able to shoot out projectiles at an incredible speed, and even if the first one doesn't paralyse, the sheer volume she is able to emit will help out with their chances.
For the utility skill Donis went with something simple, yet effective; [Ethereal Enervate] for [80SP].
[Ethereal Enervate]: Passive. 10% of the damage done to the target will be returned.
It was cheap, and it seems useful at every stage of Etherias life. It's nothing fancy, but not everything out there has to be.
Donis also found a skill that allowed Etheria to seen no matter what; [Contract Knowledge]. He gained an innate knowledge of Etherias status, health and whereabouts through a telepathic link with her. It only extended to about 50m, but there were upgrades to the skill he could buy in the shop later if he found it lacking. It was only [50SP], with each subsequent upgrade costing only [50SP] as well, he figured he'd buy the first two, and upgrade it as he deemed necessary. Each upgrade added about 25m range to the tracking, and it also gave him a clearer understanding of her status.
'It's been a good day Etheria, it's time to go home right? Lets message my parents. I've started to miss them a lot," he thought to Etheria.
'Lets go home! I'm hungry!' she chirped back.
'Wait, you're hungry?'