The crack quickly widened and ran up the entire length of the sword, Seth tried to move his hand away, but he couldn't move an inch and he had no idea why, it's like his body was refusing his instincts.
'Shit, I didn't want to do anything yet, I just wanted to check it out!'
He was not equipped properly to deal with anything yet, he had been wearing only the chest piece of the armor he has to move faster and give his core protection and the rest was in his storage circlet which he deeply regretted at this point.
'I really should stop underestimating my bad luck, shouldn't it?' he had a moment of self-reflection since he was stuck, the cracks eventually covered the entire surface of the sword before the lights in the room began to dim at a fast pace, then with a loud shattering the sword broke apart and a black aura rose from the ground like a fountain, it quickly engulfed Seth.
He could not react in the least, the moment he was covered his vision and mind turned black.
… … …
He felt a massive wave wash over him, fear, anger, hate, sadness, lament and other negative emotions seemed to try to consume him, but he wasn't effected in the least, he looked around in the sea of darkness and saw countless souls raging, looking for escape as they crashed and destroyed one another in a selfish attempt to survive yet all he felt was a sense of hollowness, it was like he wasn't there just merely an observer, a long time passed unknowingly and the shattered souls fragments dissolved, they took on the blackness of the sea and became another droplet increasing its volume and yet still, he did not react.
Suddenly he was stood on the sea, his figure still as a calm lake as he stared out to the horizon, the sky was gray and the water below his feet was pitch black with an ever-consuming depth that saw no end, he looked around yet the scene was the same no matter where he looked, the only thing standing out was himself, a pure white light that acted as a beacon in this dull world.
Soon the black liquid stirred, it took the form of an almighty beast that towered to the heavens, its glare could pierce and destroy the very world that they stood on yet what returned its gaze was a soundless tranquility that never let its power disrupt it, the titan soon collapsed back in to the sea before many forms took shape one after another, different beasts, people of different kinds, even some he was without a doubt familiar with and yet he still stood tranquil no matter what appeared, he certainly found the scene strange but something told him it was fine, that this was just a shadow, a dream turned nightmare looking in to his psyche.
He did not know how long it took, but the black plane soon returned to the quiet sea that it was before, yet another thing occurred, without the raging power or the cunning manipulation it showed before a figure rose before him, there was a sense of familiarity that he did not get from the other scenes.
The shape was himself, it existed like there was a mirror placed in front of him mimicking his posture yet the different was the composition, it was black like the lake.
He didn't get the hollow feeling like before from this one either, as he stared at what he could only assume to be its face he felt a gaze, he couldn't pin what he felt from it down, yet he could swear it resembled curiosity.
It took a step towards him causing a ripple in the water below, one, two, three before I was stood right in front of him at arm's reach; It lifted its 'arm' and held it out towards him, he did the same and they came in to contact, they stood still as if gauging each other before the black mass twitched, tendrils grew out of its body as they crawled up is bright arm, slowly and surely it covered his entire body yet it shook even more, it wasn't long before it dissipated and the entire world shook like the body before it.
His white light grew ever so bright becoming a gleaming star in the world of darkness, the blackness seemed to corrode, no, purify becoming part of the white light, the sea became crystal clear the sky lit with an ever-present brightness that seemed to pierce everything in existence.
He stood there, unchanged; In front of him existed a black blob shuddering in fear.
He stared at it, before reaching his hand out until it grasped the small, weakened existence.
And then.
He ate it.
… … …
Seth awoke, he had felt like he had been in a long sleep yet when his vision adjusted, he had remained in the same position as he was before, his hand that was laid upon the sword now hanging in the air, the sword now mere dust laid on the ground.
Snapping out of his stupor he looked around the area, it wasn't just the sword, the pillars the supported it and the chains linking them seemed to have disintegrated as well, the cavern was no longer lit by a bright azure light, he looked up and saw the massive layer of crystals dim as if they had died.
'What was that?' He was confused, he had the memory of what happened, yet he didn't understand it, the 'him' there was contrary to him, it was calm like nothing in the world could influence him as if he stood alone in the long history of time.
'The shadow at the end… was it what I think it was?' He activated spirit vision, to his surprise the area around him seemed normal which was abnormal, there was no trace of the black aura no matter where he looked, only the usual flow of the spirit ley-lines that he saw everywhere else.
"So it was that thing… but- did I eat it? Was that real? Or something else?" While it was vivid in his mind the memory had an ethereal feeling, it was similar to the time he performed a spirit merge and yet he felt more grounded than he did then.
[???????????????????????????]
'What the hell?!' He almost screamed as he clutched his head, he realised the 'system' seemed to be notifying him yet all he received was a combination of static and a long high-pitched screech.
"Fuck, my head, what was that?!"
[Threshold Reached – Evolution Progressing]
'Evolution?!'
Before he could react any more his body became wracked with pain filling every inch, he could feel and hear his bones creaking as they deformed and cracked, his core glowed with a bright light as a shroud of energy surrounded him, wind seemed to form from nowhere as it gushed towards him and dived in to the cracks in his bones.
The pain was equivalent of rubbing spice into an open wound ten times over, a burning sensation overwhelmed all of his senses so much so that he couldn't maintain his mana vision for his sight, he couldn't even scream or shout either as whatever caused that seemed to also be overloaded.
This went on for what seemed like hours in his mind, in the end the pain went away; He was curled up in a fetal position as that's what he felt let him bear the pain the easiest, when he realised it was over, he flopped over on to his back and let his head spin for a good minute or two.
"Thanks for the damn warning" He sarcastically complained to his system.
'Evolution huh, Just another thing that solidifies the fact that I'm a monster now' He thought to himself, evolution was a process that monsters underwent after reaching a specific growth point, they undergo a qualitive change either improving their species or becoming a new one altogether, there wasn't a set path of evolution as it could vary based on the environment, feeding habits and bloodline among many other variables.
'I was level 16 or so right? I didn't think I'd be ready to evolve yet' He didn't hesitate before recalling his status, which left him speechless.
[ Name – Seth
Race – Undead [Skeletal Ravager]
Level – 25 (18 points)
Health – 100% Mana – 100%
Current Status - Normal
Titles: Missionary
Stats:
Strength – 33 > 45 Perception – 12 > 20
Intelligence – 20 > 25 Vitality - 17 > 32
Agility – 16 > 21 Stamina – 24 > 29
Dexterity – 12 > 27 Mana – 68 > 93 (??) ]
[Abilities:
Stainless Soul [Blessing] – A fragment brought about by one's innate desire to become unimpeded.
Adept Learning [Blessing] – A fragment brought about by a desire for boundless knowledge.
Far-Sight – An extension of Mana Vision, creates an oculus that can act as an extra eye for the user.
Spirit Sword – A sword formed from the user's spirit, can harm ethereal and spiritual beings and their souls.
Spirit Sense – Allows the user to see spirit energy and subsidiaries.
Spirit Communication – Grants the user the ability to perform contact between two souls using spiritual energy.
Spiritual Pact (1/1) – Creates a contract between two beings through spirit energy, allows them to share their energy and more.
Inspection – Shows information about a target in sight.
Mana Vision – Uses mana to substitute basic vision, can observe the flow of mana.
Life Sense – Grants the user ability to 'feel' life force
Ravaging Devour – Can consume anything to attempt to take on its property or skills, higher chance for more compatible skills.
Reinforcement - Grants 2% stat increase per mana point, consumes 1% mana per second.
Reconstruction - Regenerates 0.75%+ (0.02*Mana)% health in injuries.
Crushing Strike - A powerful overhead blow, performs the best with a blunt weapon
Core Overclock - Triples Mana Stat, Drains mana continuously until 0%
??????? - ??????? ]
The additional information overwhelmed him, but it wasn't just that, too many things have changed!