Agraz focused on the evolution section and a list of words appeared in front of him.
[The host has fulfilled the requirements for evolution.
Your current race is Zombie.
You have three evolution options. Please choose one from the following.
1. Licker
2. Skeleton Knight
3. Ghoul
Please carefully consider the options, as they will determine your future Evolution Path.]
Hmm... So I can choose from three options. It also said 'requirements' and not 'requirement'. That means there was another requirement other than Origin Points that I have fulfilled. Is it my level? Maybe I need to reach a certain level to evolve.
Agraz then focused on the evolution options to figure out their pros and cons. In the next moment, lines of text appeared in front of him explaining the options.
[Licker: The evolution of Zombies that have long and sharp claws capable of slashing metal. Despite their fast and nimble bodies, they have weak defense and small vitality. They also have great hearing but no vision.]
[Skeleton Knight: The evolution of Skeletons that are adept at using their bones as weapons. They also have strong bone armor. They have considerable strength and defense but are lacking in speed.]
[Ghoul: Rare evolution of Zombies that have long and sharp nails. They also have improved strength, agility, defense and vitality. They have a little bit of intelligence.]
Hmm... From the descriptions, it looks like Licker has the most attack power. However, it comes with low defense and vitality. Although it has excellent hearing, its lack of vision is a severe disadvantage. What meaning does power have if I can't even see? So, it is off the list.
The Skeleton Knight sounds good, but it is slow. I need speed to dodge a bullet. Another thing I noticed is that it is not the evolution path of a zombie. So that means I can jump from one evolution path to a nearby one during the evolution.
And then we have Ghoul. Ghouls seem like versatile jacks of all trades. However, it appears that its sharp nails are capable of dealing quite a bit of damage. Furthermore, it has no significant drawbacks.
After carefully considering his options, Agraz decided to choose the Ghoul.
[Would you like to evolve into a Ghoul?
Please confirm your choice.
Yes / No ]
Yes.
As soon as Agraz had this thought, he was assaulted by an intense sense of pain. He scowled as he rolled around on the ground. It was a pain from deep within, his soul, not a physical one.
While rolling around, Agraz noticed from the corner of his eyes that his body was getting thinner and turning an unhealthy grey color. In addition, his nails were growing longer and a deeper black color.
After an indefinite amount of time, which felt like an eternity, the pain finally stopped.
[Congratulations, you have evolved into a Ghoul!]
[You have obtained Skill: Mimicry!]
[You have obtained 10 Skill Points!]
Ignoring the voice inside his head, Agraz slowly stood up.
Damn... I was not prepared for that. It was a pain that I had never experienced. It felt like my soul was being torn apart and then pieced back together.
After gathering his thoughts, Agraz inspected his body. It looked excessively scrawny. He looked like he had not eaten anything for a month. His skin was also an unhealthy grey color. There were three-inch-long, pitch-black nails sticking out of his fingers.
Agraz inspected his nails for a moment. They looked sharp and hard. At this point, they were not even nails anymore. They looked like the claws of a beast. His fingers and hands had also been elongated. It looked strange and somewhat terrifying. While standing, his arms reached below his knees.
His teeth also felt different than usual. So he went to check his teeth in the side mirror of a car.
Agraz discovered that his teeth had also grown longer, especially his canines. They resembled vampire fangs. And his tongue was lengthy, just like venom. It looked disgusting.
As a test, Agraz randomly slashed at the doors of the car. It resulted in some shallow claw marks, with sparks flying around. Agraz was surprised by the sharpness of his claws.
He also found out that his body was way stronger and nimbler than before. He felt like he was at least two times stronger. It appeared as though his bones and muscles had become more densely packed, like they had been compressed.
Agraz started to twitch wildly, unable to control his delight at his newfound power. He clasped his hands over his mouth and leaned forward to hold back his laughter.
I have become powerful. In the short span of a day, I have achieved a tremendous increase in power. If only 25 zombies could make me this much powerful, what about a hundred or a thousand? What about a hundred thousand or a million zombies? What if I slaughter every single living being on this planet!
As soon as this thought came to him, Agraz could not contain his excitement and burst out laughing hysterically. His laughter was hoarse and skin crawling. With his horrifying appearance and bloodcurdling laugh, Agraz looked like a devil incarnate from the depths of hell.
After a while, Agraz calmed down and opened the system interface.
___________________________
[Host: Agraz]
[Race: Ghoul (New!)]
[Level: 01]
[Skill: Regeneration, Mimicry (New!)]
[Store (Locked)]
[Evolve (0/300 Origin Points)]
[Skill Points: 25]
[Origin Points: 0]
[Notifications (64)]
___________________________
After looking at his system interface, Agraz was a little puzzled. Because before his evolution, he was at Level 5. Now, it is showing that he is back at Level 1.
After thinking for a while, Agraz realized the reason.
There were two requirements needed for my evolution. The first one was a certain number of Origin Points and the second is probably the Level. Only after reaching the highest level of the Zombie race was I able to evolve into a Ghoul.
Before evolution, I was a Level 5 Zombie, but now I am a Level 1 Ghoul. It doesn't mean that I am weaker than before. It means that a Level 1 Ghoul is significantly stronger than a Level 5 Zombie. It's a qualitative transformation.
After sorting out his thoughts, Agraz checked his Skill Points. He had 15 Skill Points before evolution, but he now has 25. It means that he gained 10 Skill Points after evolution. He did not acquire any skills before because he was preoccupied with his evolution.
After checking his skill section, Agraz discovered that he had acquired a skill through evolution.He tried to focus on the skill.
[Mimicry: The ability to transform into any organism the host has eaten. The unique powers of said organism cannot be mimicked]
This should be some innate ability of Ghouls. That means every Ghoul has the ability to shapeshift. It looks like the myths of my previous life were pretty accurate.
Hmm... It could prove to be useful in the future. But for now, I don't need it.
Agraz then opened the skill menu.
[Skill Menu:
Slash (5 Skill Points) : Hardens and elongates nails and gives additional slash damage to the opponent.
Dash (5 Skill Points) : Increases velocity along a straight line.
Strength (5 Skill Points) : Increases physical force generation and application.
Screaming (5 Skill Points) : Your screams will always invite hordes of zombies.
Hardening (5 Skill Points) : Hardens your skin and increases the defensive ability of the body.
Intimidation (15 Skill Points) : Evokes fear in your opponents. Those with weak wills will directly faint from your aura.
Seduction (15 Skill Points) : The ability to confuse a living being. The target will view you as a trustworthy and charming individual and follow your commands.
Skill Points: 25]
Hmm... Three new skills are added; two of them now cost fifteen skill points each, while the third only cost five.
The Intimidation and Seduction skills are a little abnormal. The others are still within the realm of understanding. It means that some magical abilities will appear soon. Maybe in the next evolution...
The Intimidation skill looks good. It can stun the opponent in the middle of the battle. On a battlefield, even a moment can have catastrophic consequences.
On the other hand, I don't have any targets to use the Seduction skill on. There are only undead zombies all around, and Seduction only works on living beings.
Dash, Strength and Hardening improve my agility, strength and defense respectively. They are simple but effective skills.
Slash is also crucial since it fortifies my primary assault weapon, my claws.
The screaming skill is unnecessary, as this doesn't grant me the ability to command a horde and only summon it.
After some careful considerations, Agraz decided to acquire Slash, Strength and Intimidation.
[Congratulations, you have obtained Skill: Slash!]
[Congratulations, you have obtained Skill: Strength!]
[Congratulations, you have obtained Skill: Intimidation!]
Agraz felt his muscles twitch slightly and his bone structure changed a little. Every bone in his body made a popping sound. His claws were also enlarged. Previously, his claws were three inches long; now they have doubled in length to six inches.
With this, I am in my peak condition. Now it's time for another killing spree...