I woke up. My evolution had finally finished, and I was excited. I looked at myself, and whoo-boy, I'm hot. Literally, I'm coated in flames. They were neon yellow, and they coated my arms (blades?) and my back, as well as the inside of my crown. I assured my eight legged friends that my fire wouldn't burn them, and they let me stay.
After a few days of monotony, the elder called me to their tent.
"Ahh, my insectoid friend. Welcome. I have something I would like to talk to you about. It's quite important to us, and it would prove your trustworthiness to the rest of the village."
Their face was unreadable, but their voice was heavy. It seemed like even asking this of me was too much for them to handle.
"Of course, Elder, what do you need of me? I'm here to assist, after all."
I tried to remain calm. This sounded pretty deep, already. I wonder if it's like, a quest or something. Ooh! Maybe I could slay a dragon!
"Yes, well. For years, since the time of the First Elder, we have had an annual feast, with a stew made from a certain flower, known as the Flameheart Bloom. It grows within the Atlas Volcano, and we only send our strongest warriors in to retrieve it. It feeds us for roughly a week, and it is essential to our religious practices. I know it is not my place to tell you to risk your life for us, but I ask you, not as Elder, but as a friend. Would you please help us get the Bloom this year?"
Woah. That was… wow. I'm like, kind of honored. The elder is asking me to go get this super important flower? (Is this romance? Ohmygawdddddd) Of course, I accepted.
"Of course, Elder. I shall return within 2 weeks. I am very appreciative of the trust you have placed on me."
Woah. This is kind of huge. Maybe… maybe I could get some skills out of this? I read somewhere during my human life that everything has a soul, be it the rocks, the trees, the rivers, or even the air around me. This means that maybe, possibly, I could steal skills by punching (stabbing?) the air around me. How fun. Although, that's probably not how it works. It might be worth a try, you know?
And so, of course, I started cutting at the air and stones and trees and all of that. Surprisingly, I actually ended up getting something from doing this.
[You have obtained the following Magic and Titles:
Magic: High Air Magic Affinity, High Earth Magic Affinity, High Nature Magic Affinity
Titles: Elemental Emperor, High Mage, Beholder of Greed]
Aw man, this weird system is the best thing to ever happen to me! I mean, I can get all of these skills so easily! Anyways, show me what these new things do, system!
[High Air Magic Affinity: All air magic is given a 60% boost in power and mana efficiency.
High Earth Magic Affinity: All earth magic is given a 60% boost in power and mana efficiency.
High Nature Magic Affinity: All nature magic is given a 60% boost in power and mana efficiency.
Elemental Emperor: All elemental magics are given an additional 75% boost in power and mana efficiency.
High Mage: All spells are given a 40% boost in power and mana efficiency, and your Mana stat is boosted by 20 points.
Beholder of Greed: A title bestowed on only the greediest of the greediest. You gain the skill [Snatch], which allows you to steal one skill, title, and Magic affinity, as well as up to 10 stat points from the target, with a 1 hour cooldown. As well as this, you gain access to an Epic Branch, specifically the [Greed Branch]. This gives access to the Greed Shop, where you may buy skills, titles, and magics for Greed Points, or GPs, which you gain by using the [Snatch] Skill. Future evolutions may also be influenced.]
…
…
. . .
Excuse me, what? How do- how did I- this is insane. I genuinely don't think my luck could get any better. This is insane. I get a bunch of magic buffs, I get some titles, and I get a super OP title, which influences my evolutions??? This is hacking squared at this point, I don't believe this.
[Due to certain circumstances, forced evolution will now occur. Please stand by.]
"What? Forced evolution? What's that me.."
Then, everything went black.
[Initializing Evolutionary Tree]
[Choose from the following options:
Greed-Touched Mantis
Forced Option.
Your exoskeleton takes on a golden hue, and you emit a small, light green aura from your body. You gain the skills [Covetous Greed], [Midas's Touch], and [Avarice's Bounty]. This is a forced evolution due to the title [Beholder of Greed].
[Evolution Selected]
[Evolving now.]
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[Complete!]
[Welcome, Nameless! You have unlocked a new System Branch! As a new user, you have been given a random gift!
Selecting…
Done!
Granted 100,000 GP!]
"Owww… my head… what even happened? I saw I got a new title and then I passed out.. oh no! What happened to my cool flaming body! I liked that!"
I was so distraught over my loss of my cool previous body, I didn't even notice the system window.
"Hmm? What's this? New branch? I mean cool, I guess. What are these GP things?"
[GP, or Greed Points, are the currency used by the Greed Branch, more specifically, the Greed Shop. They can be used to buy skills, titles, magic, or other things. You earn these by using your skill, [Snatch], with the number depending on what was stolen.]
"Woah. Well, that does explain it pretty well. Hmm.. can I open this thing, the.. uh.. [Greed Shop]?"
[Welcome, Nameless, to the Greed Shop!
Current Balance: 100k GP
[Buy Skills]
[Buy Titles]
[Buy Magic]
[Other options currently locked.]
I pressed on the [Buy Skills] button, and it gave me this list of skills, costs, and what they did. I even recognized some of these skills from one of my favorite anime back in my original world (yes I'm an otaku, bite me.)
[Absorb and Dissolve - 100 GP
You can secrete a mucus that dissolves anything it comes into contact with. This allows you to use [Iron Belly] or [Blessing of Thanatos] without getting yourself dirty]
[Infinite Regeneration - 500 GP
The pinnacle of regeneration skills. This skill instantly regenerates all damage to the physical, mental, and spiritual self.]
[Universal Shapeshift- 500 GP
This allows you to shift your body into any creature you have previously consumed. Multiple 'partial-shifts' are possible.]
[Alert: New skill created via neural scans:]
[Rimuru, Lord of Law and Order - 50,000 GP
This Skill is one created by an ancient Emperor, and grants access to every skill they had accumulated over their many years of tyrannical reign over a long-forgotten country. You can manipulate nearly all ideas of natural laws. Be they Gravity, Spontaneous Generation, or anything else. There are a myriad of other abilities within this Skill, however only by acquiring it may they be unveiled.]
[Synthesis - 10 GP
This Skill allows you to fuse skills, titles, or objects together.]
[No Further Options Available At This Time.]
Well. That's… different. I bought them all, of course. Each one has its own uses that I could use pretty often. Using the [Synthesis] Skill, I combined every skill I had, using the Lord skill as a base. Now, since I have only one skill now, I won't be seen as a monster. Just a little Mantis with a Skill.
[Skill Synthesized: Insekhr, Mantis Emperor]
[True Name Realized: Insekhr]
Huh. Well, I guess that's that. After clicking a couple buttons, I managed to automate the Synthesis skill, so it fuses my Compound Skill with every skill I acquire in the future. Epic. Now, I realized I had gotten off-track. I began walking back towards the volcano, in my quest for the Bloom.
I walked for a few hours, walking towards the looming volcano. I walked until the sun began to set, appearing as if it were nestled between twin peaks. I looked behind me, searching for the moon. I ended up surprised, however. In the distance, a large blue moon had already risen, and a second one, pale yellow this time, was creeping up behind it. It was an amazing scene, all together, and I wish I had a camera to capture it forever.
Not one to squander an opportunity, I of course used [Snatch] to gain a few skills, which were then synthesized into my Compound Skill.
[New skills acquired!
Dark Magic High Affinity & Resistance
Star Magic High Affinity & Resistance
Spatial Magic High Affinity & Resistance
Spirit Magic High Affinity & Resistance
Dark Magic
Star Magic
Spatial Magic
Spirit Magic]
Es excited as ever, I decided to keep going, since I wasn't tired. I made it to the foot of the volcano by the time the Blue Moon was at it's apex and quickly slumped over to take a quick nap. A nap which, sadly, turned into a coma, as I woke up when the sun was nearing it's own peak.