∼ Day 7 ∼
Standing before a pile of withered goblin corpses, I stare down at the beautiful radiating red crystal within my claws.
After consuming all of the goblin corpses the crimson core didn't simply just glow more radiantly.
But in some strange and mesmerizing way, it had also become much more polished and beautiful to behold.
I only had to deal with a single three-man goblin party returning from hunting while I was having the red crystal consuming all of the corpses.
The fight was very easy and was over pretty quick because when they witnessed the scene of dozens of dead and withered goblin copses within their cave, they became scared shitless.
If goblins don't manage to become battle frenzied before witnessing some extremely terrifying, they'll simply just crumble into fear and panic.
Adding those three goblins to the crystal I also managed to finish absorbing all of the corpse infested cave.
While it's a lot of blood that I don't get for my siphon trait, it was going to waste if I didn't use them on the crystal.
Not only could I not absorb anymore blood because of the forced evolution but also if I waited until, after my evolution, the blood would've been all spoiled.
Besides, who knows what benefits making the crimson core absorb all of the bodies give me?
On that note, I focus my attention on the small crimson core, wanting to see if I can make that prompt appear again.
[Mature - Lesser Crimson Core]
[Compatability - Extremely high]
[Do you want to assimilate crimson core?]
[Yes/No]
Yes! I managed to upgrade it from juvenile to mature it seems.
Not exactly sure what it means but hey, I can't imagine it's bad.
Moving to the goblin chief's chambers again, I make sure that I won't be in harm's way if I were to be incapacitated while assimilating this crimson core, like when I evolve.
I had also managed to pile all of the goblin corpses together at the entrance to the big chamber, knowing that it was more than enough to discourage any further goblin parties from entering.
Readying myself I begin.
-Yes!-
Expecting pain, I was surprised as the crimson core simply began radiating a warm feeling of welcome.
Slowly and but surely, red glowing veins began traveling up my leg that I was holding it with.
The more the glowing veins advanced, the more intoxicating the feeling was.
It was like pure life injected straight into my body.
I'm barely able to keep myself from slumping to the ground. But I persevere through the wondrous feeling.
Seeing the core slowly beginning to melt and absorb straight into the leg holding it, I become delirious, almost high from the increase in intensity.
As soon as the glowing veins, creeping up my front leg, reached my thorax the entire process speeds up many folds.
Rushing towards the center of my being, all of the red glowing veins retreat into that center disappearing from sight.
Nothing happened for a few seconds. But then suddenly many smaller veins spread out in all directions of my body with a glowing ball of crimson in the center of my thorax very much looking like a heart and its veins.
Feeling like I was on cloud nine, I suddenly began to see the glow in the newly formed veins of pure bliss slowly dull down.
When the red glow stopped glowing from both the core in my thorax and the veins, I began to slowly lose consciousness.
...
...
Urgh...
Not going to lie, that was a pretty fucking awesome experience, although the headache tearing my mind apart right now is less than stellar.
Slowly getting back on all five legs, I study the prompt laid out before me.
[A Mature - Lesser Crimson Core has fused with your body!]
[To complete the process of assimilating the core, evolve]
Oh?
I need to evolve to complete the assimilation.
Wait, might that also mean that it will provide me with even more benefits when I do evolve?
Anticipating my third evolution even more so now, I make my way back out of the goblin cave.
With fresh air hitting my senses, I almost cry after having had to spend so much time inside that rancid goblin odor filled cave.
I originally wanted to evolve inside the cave, since the dead goblins should be a discouragement from any other goblins looking for trouble.
But I knew, while it may keep other goblins away, it might just draw in other creatures instead because of the scent of death.
For now, I've only seen goblins and rock beetles as the creatures in the rocky hills.
But after the glades, I know better than to think that those might be the only monsters here.
Making my way through the rocky hills I find a very large tree suitable for my purposes.
Since the tree was a bit large, I made sure to check if any creature had decided to make this home.
After using my senses for a bit, coupled with some scouting, I find no traces of bigger creatures.
Before proceeding I look to the sky.
The twin suns are beginning to hang low on the horizon, so not long until nightfall.
Well, I'll just check my status before evolving.
-Status!-
[Status]
Name: "???"
Race: Sanguinite
Sex: Male
Rank: I+
Level: 20/20
Health: 63/63
Stamina: 26/26
Mana: 0/0
[Attributes]
STR - 10 ⇒ 11
VIT - 15 ⇒ 16
AGI - 25 ⇒ 27
DEX - 17 ⇒ 18
INT - 18
CHR - 2
WILL - 15
MAG - 1 ⇒ 12
[Trait, Titles, and Skills].
Skills - 13 ⇒ 15
Traits - 4
Titles - 1 ⇒ 2
Skillpoints - 19 ⇒ 5
[Resistances]
Phy. Resistance - 4 ⇒ 5
Mag. Resistance - 0.658 ⇒ 0.802
Men. Resistance - 7
Um...
What the hell happened to my magic power attribute?
Did the crimson core really do that?
I know that the magic power attribute stands for the body's ability to use, control, and conduct mana.
As of now, I don't have any mana, but my body is now apparently very attuned to it.
I seriously hope that after fully assimilating the crimson core that I get access to mana, and that I might finally be able to use magic.
Oh yeah, there was this new title I got.
-Titles!-
[Titles]
-The Sanguine Plague Bringer-
The title held by the lord of the sanguine plague.
-Ruthless Assassin-
By consecutively killing a very large number of creatures a rank above you in power silently, and in a very short timespan. Provides the titleholder a significant increase in their ability to assassinate and kill silently.
Well, that does seem pretty fucking good.
If not for me being a mosquito having my power level this low, and having all these skills, traits, and intellect, it would've been virtually impossible for me to get it.
I killed more than 30 creatures with a higher rank than me. Imagine doing that as an ordinary human having to fight in weight classes such as swamp stowlers.
Who can even accomplish such a feat?
Well, let's just hope I never run into one that has.
Now... I guess it's time for evolution.
While I'm quite excited about it, I still dread the mind rending pain that always seems to follow.
I shudder a bit upon remembering the horrifying experiences of evolving the last two times.
Well, fuck it.
-Evolutions!-
[Available evolutionary paths]
Sanguinite Queen (Epic): Rank - F+ / Primary ATTR - VIT, INT, MAG / Requirement; Bloodsucker race, Any core, VIT - 15, INT - 15, MAG - 5
A sanguinite queen is the very heart of a sanguinite hive. While their immediate power isn't all that great, their ability to spawn multiple thousands of sanguinite minions through egg-laying gives them unparalleled growth of power. With the ability of a hive mind, the sanguinite queen can command her thousands of minions to do her bidding unconditionally. Coupled with her supportive magic, she can bring destruction to all within the vicinity of her hive.
Shadow Moth: Rank - G- / Primary ATTR - AGI, DEX / Requirement; High level of stealth capabilities, AGI - 15, DEX - 10
Shadow moths are seen as bad omens by all. With their very high levels of stealth, they are immensely hard to spot. But their deadliest trait is the miasma of death that surrounds them which will harm any creature not aligned to darkness or death.
Ichorpede (Rare): Rank - G- / Primary ATTR - AGI, DEX / Requirement;
G
STR / VIT
Bloodsucker race / STR - 10 / VIT - 15
Giant centipedes that live in big conglomerates of numerous ichor insects. With their immense size and physical capabilities, they're feared by many. Ichor insects are not only known for their size but also their impeccable carapace.
Ichormite (Rare): Rank - G / Primary ATTR - VIT, AGI / Requirement; Bloodsucker race, STR - 7, VIT - 10, AGI - 15
Giant mites that live in big conglomerates of numerous ichor-insects. Their strong legs with their high agility stats provide them with extreme mobility. Ichor insects are not only known for their size but also their impeccable carapace.
Macedda: Rank - F / Primary ATTR - DEX / Requirement; DEX - 15
Maceddas are insects that are covered in bladed appendages. Although their health and ability to travel long distances give them hardship, their very high dexterity coupled with their bladed appendages makes them beyond deadly to any who dares approach them.
Night Crawler: Rank - H / Primary ATTR - AGI, DEX/ Requirement; AGI - 10, DEX - 7
Considered to be an amalgamation of the terror of Mordria's commonfolk. They prey on humans in dead of night and are known for their speed and stealth.
Azde (Epic): Rank - F / Primary ATTR - AGI, MAG/ Requirement; Bloodsucker race, Any aligned Core, AGI - 25, MAG - 10
Shrouded in mystery, the azde are insects in humanoid form. They are all feared by their natural ability in magic and control over the blood of creatures. They combine their immense speed with their magical powers to produce a terrifying result.
Crimson Fae (Rare): Rank - F- / Primary ATTR - AGI, DEX, INT, MAG / Requirement; Bloodsucker race, Any core, AGI - 18, DEX - 15, INT - 8, MAG - 3
The fae and fairies are commonly thought of as mischievous and beautiful creatures. But mostly they're just a minor annoyance to adventurers who stumble into them. But the crimson fae instead, is hated and feared by all. While like their counterpart fae likes mischief, so does the crimson fae. Simply their mischief only results in either dismemberment or death of any unfortunate soul who are the victim of their pranks.
That are a lot more evolution options than I had expected...
Jesus christ, just look at those power ranks.
My attributes are really beyond what a damn mosquito should have.
I suppose if you gave a mosquito with the siphon ability, human-level intelligence coupled with some powerful traits they can become quite fearsome.
After taking a closer look at the descriptions, I end up quite stunned by them.
Well for now I can at least exclude the ones that I won't be picking.
Those would be the shadow moth, the night crawler, and the sanguinite queen.
The shadow moth although cool-sounding simply doesn't fit what I want and also it's worse than other choices.
Looking at the night crawler it is simply weak, and the description is a bit too ominous for me.
For the sanguinite queen, while being the highest-ranked in power here, I have no interest in swapping genders and becoming an egg-laying factory. Doesn't sound all that fun to me.
For those that really piqued my interest, were for example the macedda.
Although it wasn't even specified as a rare evolution, it still had such a high power rank. But reading the description and doing a bit of thinking, it's most likely because it has significant drawbacks.
While deadly, it may not even be able to properly relocate itself.
The last four were the ones I really considered.
The ichor-type evolutions seem generally just very powerful. While they might not have much flavor to them, they are a definite solid choice.
As to the other two evolutions, the azde and the crimson fae seem to be the only one having a humanoid form of all the evolutions. Or that is at least if fae in this world is humanoid creatures.
I'm not going to lie, I'm seriously missing being able to function with a human body. Seriously I must give credit to humanoid beings, while they're not that powerful with no real combat capabilities as an ordinary human. Their bodies allow for some real miracles to be made by them.
Well other than that, there is also one key point in these two evolutions, they both require a core.
Well, the sanguinite queen also required a core since they're all capable of magic.
One thing that I noticed though, was that the azde evolution required an aligned core.
So not simply any core can be used, and if I'm not guessing wrong here there is multiple different types of cores based on the elements and concepts of this world.
Such as the one I absorbed was a crimson core, but there might also be cores of earth, water, fire, and wind, the four basic elements.
So the crimson core must a type of aligned core that matches the azde. They also specialize in power over blood, making it a lot of sense.
It doesn't take me long to decide. The azde evolution is just way too powerful and enticing, not only that but it also matches my current situation with my stats, traits, and skills.
With this evolution, I should be to tap into the power of my unique skill, and the evolution also even matches my new core. It's too perfect to pass up.
With this evolution, I might finally be able to make a true place for me in this world.
Not being so damn fucking fragile, that pretty much ANYTHING can kill me if I don't pay attention.
I don't even doubt that if I was caught off guard and were to be rammed by a simple horned rabbit with its horn in a vital spot, I could very easily die from just that.
This is opportunity, I'm going to grasp it and forge my own power and life.
-Azde!-
Oh, no.
Wait.... wait-wait-wait.
I wasn't prepared yet!
I didn't mean do it right now, I'm not ready!
Practically shaking in nervousness from the fear of the pain that seemingly increases every time I evolve.
...
Nothing happened...
...
Oh no, you're not fooling me this time!
...
I keep holding my bated breath in anticipation of the pain and horror sure to envelop me.
...
Nothing still happens...
...
I spend an entire 15 minutes just waiting, and nothing happens.
...
Wait, did I really say it wrong this ti-
(CRACK)
MOTHERFUC- ARGH