Having a newfound respect and terrier for the colossal tree looming above their heads Adrian and Zero gulped down their saliva before going back to examining the small pond entangled in its roots.
After paying the million point activation fee the two had high hopes for the Evolution Trees abilities.
Walking directly under the tree to the edge of the purple-gold pond a few new messages appeared.
[1,000,000 EP to activate different genes]
[10,000,000 EP to reform body]
[50,000,000 EP to unlock new genome]
[1,000,000,000 EP to Activate all currently unlocked genomes]
Scanning over the absurd prices Adrian wasn't entirely sure if he had gotten ripped off or a good deal considering he never had a use for the Evolution Points before the activation of the Evolution Tree.
If Sakura was watching she would have reminded Adrian that his skills could be leveled and Ranked up with EP, however, she was not there.
Confident in his ability to manipulate genetics, Adrian spent 10 million EP to reform his body to better suit their needs. Once again the palm print appeared in the air beckoning his payment before anything else would happen.
However this time the compulsion didn't affect Adrian's cognitive abilities, as wisdom could now be active in any "Mortal realm" including the mental world, only slightly influencing his mind to pay for the process.
Placing his hand on the screen Adrian's form faltered once again becoming a ball of light watching as his previous body slowly formed in the pond.
Subconsciously, Adrian locked his current look as his main form, instead opting to change the genetic code embedded for its abilities. Once fully formed the system prompted Adrian with a short list of species to pull genetic code from.
[Unlocked Species Compatible to Humanoid sub-genome]
[Abyssal, Demonic, Draconic, Eldritch, Human, Kulatin, Okutiar, Spirit, Yggdrasil]
[Current Species: Lesser Okutiar, Tier 2+]
[Keep in mind every new alteration cost evolution points]
Information related to each species' abilities and adaptations filled his mind, giving Adrian a good foundation of knowledge to build his new body.
Immediately, Adrian disregarded humans from the list as their only unique trait [Intent] an ability that was incompatible with Adrian and his version of humanity.
The next species to be excluded was Eldritch, even though their powers of mental manipulation and illusions were incredibly powerful they were pretty much useless while stuck on the island.
The Yggdrasil, Draconic, and Kulatin species were all born as minimum tier 7 species individually, making every alteration from their genomes impossible to buy with the current 1 Billion EP cap.
With the previous exclusions in mind, the only species left to reform his body were the Abyssal, Demonic, Okutair, and Spirit species.
Spirits & Demons had adaptations focused on the development of Mana and its applications.
Spirits focused on matter-related magics like solid, gas, liquid, and plasmatic magics. On the other hand, Demon's magic focused on phenomena magics such as fire, light, darkness, space, time, and gravity magics.
Acolis (members of the Abyssal species) & Okutairians had adaptations suited for body cultivation.
Acolis bodies were tempered to withstand absolute vacuums in places where universes hadn't formed, making them almost completely unaffected by non-physical attacks. While the Okutairian's bodies are perfected by absorbing physical matter making their forms heavily resistant to physical attacks and hyper-adaptable.
Adrian quickly saw that the Abyssal races' prices seemed odd for their supposed invulnerability when in contact with non-physical stimuli, however, he quickly found that their abilities came from their exposure to the void.
Even with that stipulation Adrian quickly bought adaptation from the four species leaving him broke.
[Spirit Arteries added for 60 Million EP]
[Demon Heart added for 90 Million EP]
[Okutair Flesh added for 400 Million EP]
[Lesser Abyssal Membrane added for 405 Million EP]
[Confirm]
Adrian looked at his remaining EP with a look of regret before saying, "Confirm."
Without a seconds wait four tendrils reached out from the pound that his body had been submerged in stabbing into its flesh.
After melting down the body and reforming an almost identical body Adrian was immensely confused thinking that his evolution had failed.
But, upon closer inspection, Adrian quickly noticed a thin layer of mucus over his body giving it a dull shine, thicker toxic-looking arteries running under his skin, and denser flesh rippling across his body.
When Adrian noticed the changes in his body his soul was re-implanted into his body as he woke up in the purple-gold pond.
Zero, who had watched the entire process, rushed over to Adrian helping him out of the water while asking, "Do you think this'll be enough?"
As Zero's vibrating claw-like hand touched Adrian's fresh body it felt immense danger causing both sides of Adrian's chest to beat in sink as his fingers gained a slight blue tint, from the toxins in his body.
Noticing this change Zero dropped Adrian's body jumping halfway across the island leaving an afterimage that was torn apart the instant he had moved out of the way.
A cheeky smile appeared on Adrian's face as he yelled to Zero, "Sorry, the instincts of this body are crazy."
Sweating, Zero let out a short cough yelling back, "Whatever, you wouldn't have hurt me even if you hit me."
During their little exchange, the once bright multicolored tree started to sink back into the liquid Mythos ocean dragging its island with it.
Zero was the first to notice the change rushing over to Adrian yelling at him, "WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE TEMPLE!"
Hearing Zero's words Adrian felt the ground under him quake causing him to notice the change in sea level all around him. With a new uncomfortable body escaping from the island was much harder than getting to it originally.
Knowing that anything that came into contact with pure Mythos would be erased as an individual and become just another myth to the world. The duo rushed across the retracting roots terrified of the properties of the Mythos below.
Panting, Adrian who was close to half the roots behind Zero kept feeling fatigued under the beating of his new heart unable to time any movements, because of the irregularity of the heartbeats.
Unable to focus Adrian tripped on the retracting roots feeling as if his body would catch fire at any moment.
At the same time, Zero looked back at Adrian's struggle deciding to go back and help Adrian. By the time Zero grabbed Adrian, he couldn't fight against being picked up and carried to safety.
Seconds away from falling into the ocean of Mythos and becoming one with their bloodline, Zero's emaciated body pushed through barely landing on the temple's island.
Sighing in relief, Zero placed a panting Adrian on the ground looking at his dazed eyes, noticing two small purple droplets beading in Adrian's eyes.