When the notification appeared in my vision, I panicked slightly and got up from the bed more violently than I usually did, startling Raina, who was on the bed with me. Not paying attention to anything around me or even my current state of dress, I run out to the shrine. I ended up passing a few people in the hallway, but IO did not stop to see how they reacted to my passing. When I made it to the shrine, I stood there and opened the system, selecting to evolve, resulting in a series of messages popping up.
{Evolution Selected: Loading Sub-System}
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{Sub-System Loaded: Scanning Host}
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{Evolution Options Found}
{Number Of Choices Exceeds Maximum Limit}
{Seperating Options Into Catigories}
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{Seperation Complete}
[Would you like to Evolve]
This process only took a few seconds, but that was still shocking as it should not have even taken any time at all to load with the hardware that I was using. Still, these few seconds where I was waiting allowed me to calm down slightly and think a little more clearly. Selecting yes, I was then presented with a few options.
{Please select a category to continue.}
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[Option 1: Law bound]
{This option follows the traditional route a kitsune can take with their evolutions By binding one or more laws to your tails, giving you greater control over those laws and their respecting elements.}
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[Option 2: Profession bound]
{This option is available because your level of understanding in one or more professions reaches the level of complete mortal mastery at the time of your first evolution. By choosing this category, you will be able to bind your tail to the concepts that surround these professions and enhance your capabilities in them.}
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[Option 3: Divinity bound]
{This option is available because of your close ties to one or more figures in the divine realm. By choosing this category, you will develop the ability to channel your patron's power and even become a living vessel for them to interact with the mortal world.}
These options were interesting because this was generated by an atonimus part of the system that I had very little part in actually making. It also presented an interesting choice, as well as a shocking option I did not even consider. Thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that this could be a permanent choice for the rest of my evolutions and needed to be carefully considered. At least, that would be what I would do if I did not already have an idea of where I wanted to go with my cultivation.
I still considered all three options and their potential benefits even though I already knew which one I would choose. The third option would have been enticing if I had not just had that conversation with Elinaria, which made this option no longer viable. The second option was also a great contender since I could think of all the benefits this could bring and what I would do with it. Even if I already knew which one I would pick, this one still made me pause for a second.
In the end, I chose the first option because it was the only one that would allow me to reach the highest peak and most likely mimic some of the effects from the second option at later stages without requiring a specific set of skills.
{Option 1 Selected: Loading Evolutions}
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{#@$%!^& Found}
{Please choose an Evolution from the list}
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[Fire Kitsune (One-Tailed)]
{This type of kitsune specializes in fire-related laws and attributes. By selecting the option, your first tail will be respected to the fire law.} (focus on the option to gain more information about this sub-race)
[Earth Kitsune (One-Tailed)]
{This type of kitsune specializes in earth-related laws and attributes. By selecting the option, your first tail will be respected to the earth law.} (focus on the option to gain more information about this sub-race)
[Water Kitsune (One-Tailed)]
{This type of kitsune specializes in water-related laws and attributes. By selecting the option, your first tail will be respected to the water law.} (focus on the option to gain more information about this sub-race)
[Air Kitsune (One-Tailed)]
{This type of kitsune specializes in air-related laws and attributes. By selecting the option, your first tail will be respected to the air law.} (focus on the option to gain more information about this sub-race)
[Nature Kitsune (One-Tailed)]
{This type of kitsune specializes in nature-related laws and attributes. By selecting the option, your first tail will be respected to the nature law.} (focus on the option to gain more information about this sub-race)
[...]
These options continued on and on, with seemingly no end in sight to the number of options I was presented with.
Scrolling through the list, I did find some interesting options, like the Ice and Vulcanic kitsune, which had some interesting additional information.
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[Ice Kitsune (One-Tailed)]
{This type of kitsune specializes in ice-related laws and attributes. By selecting the option, your first tail will be respected to the ice law.}
{These Kitsune are rare and thought to be an extinct subrace that was once the most prevalent during the last Ice Age. They can generally be found in areas of extreme Ice such as the polar ice caps and around the ever galciers. They were also one of the secret hidden weapons of the kitsune during the last great racial wars, where they would use their ancestral technique to send the continent into another Ice Age.}
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[Vulcanic Kitsune (One-Tailed)]
{This type of kitsune specializes in extreme fire-related laws and attributes. By selecting the option, your first tail will be respected to the extreme fire law.}
{These Kitsune are rare and thought to be an extinct subrace that was once the most prevalent during the World's Formation Age and the Age of Ash. They can generally be found in areas of Large volcanic activity, such as Tropical island chains and around active supervolcanoes. They were also one of the secret hidden weapons of the kitsune during the last great racial wars, where they would use their ancestral technique to send the continent into another Age of Ash or the even worse Age of Brimstone.}
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While these ones sounded powerful, there were even more on the list below them. I eventually made my way to the bottom of the list, where I found some crazy options like the Null Kitsune and the Fluff Abyss Kitsune, but the strongest seemed to be the last named Ascenedent Kitsune. The only reason why I did not choose any of these options was because of their requirements.
The best example would be the Ascendent Kitsune, which required me to have a tail aspected to each element before reaching the immortal stage and have three professions at 200 as well as bring a small portion of the world up to the minimum of the modern age if not farther.
I already intended to have a tail of each element so I would be highly versatile and hopefully not have any bottlenecks in the future. I also intended to bring back some of the techs that I was using in my old life, but this was insane. You would need someone who could create new techniques to allow them to cultivate all elements with any hidden dangers, and they would need to have knowledge of a more advanced world. They would even need to evolve with each completion of a realm.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it would be possible for me to do it. I would just need to find a way to reach 200 in two professions and convince the sect to help me implement new technology. I might also need to find a way to gain some extra tails, but that one should be easy.
With a new goal set of becoming an Ascendent Kitsune, I look back at all the options available to me. The more I start looking, the more frustrated I get, and I end up saying, "I wish there was a way to filter the options to the strongest ones. It would be best if they were single elements, too."
{Request Received: Filtering}
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{Filtering Complete}
Soon, the window flashed, and only the strongest single-element options were displayed. I was going to start looking through them, but decided to make another request so I would not forget my goal. "Could you set the evolution menu to only display evolutions that fill the requirements for the Ascendent Kitsune?"
{Request Received: Filtering}
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{Filtering Complete}
When the window flashed again, the only thing that changed was a display at the top showing the requirements for Ascendent kitsune with the unfilled ones in red and filled ones in green. Curently, the only green one was that I was below the immortal realm.
Looking at the evolutions presented to me, I saw ten options. All of them were extremely powerful, but the one that caught my eye and even seemed to be calling out to me was the fire-based one.
Focusing on it, a new menu popped up.