Rosario rejoined Tormund by the fire staring at the dying embers he asked a few more questions on his mind. "Tormund, you told me about when people evolve they get stronger and get mutations but how much stronger and how do I know I will be reaching an evolution. Already I have evolved from a human to a Celestial Asura but my status still shows as Evo 0."
Tormund had a contemplating look on his face for a minute as if he was trying to formulate his thoughts.
"Do you mind me asking what level you have reached as of now?"
"I am still level 0."
"Ah that would explain it, you would have probably begun putting it together after your first level up. How leveling works is as you absorb the essence from the essence crystals or stones, your body stores the essence until you are full. That is when you hit 100% in your level progression. When that happens, you will be given status points to place in your attributes. Most humans get 5 status points per level, some other races get more, others less."
"How many did you get per level?"
"Asuras received 7, it was the same for the Divas. Not many other races got more than that. There are some beasts that get more, like the Dragons, Phoenixes, and Thunder Rocs to name a few. Unfortunately, I was never able to leave this world, but I am sure there are other powerful beings out in the universe that receive more points per level."
"Do different races have to get different amounts of essence for their level ups and that is why they get more status points?"
"No, the same amount of essence is required for all beings. The difference is how well that race can inherently utilize the essence they have absorbed. For example, humans can really only utilize about 50% of the essence they absorb, Asuras and Divas can utilize around 70% of the essence. Back when we were alive, the first time, it had already been thoroughly researched. When you go to level up you will see how many points you receive and when you have made your selections as to where you want your stats placed you will feel that part of the essence escapes your body. After repeatedly leveling up eventually you would get the feel of just how much essence you are losing each time. A gathering of hundreds of researchers from all races did this and they came to the conclusion that if a being was able to utilize 100% of the essence they should get around 10 points per level up. This conjecture has never been verified by the system, but it seemed so accurate when applied to those who received lower amounts of stats that it was taken as fact."
Nodding Rosario seemed to be lost in thought until Tormund posed a question of his own.
"How much essence do you have till you reach level 1."
"25. But how many creatures do I have to kill get that amount? I was also told I can absorb essence from the surroundings, but if reading all those web novels back on earth taught me anything it's that absorbing essence, mana, or Qi that way is really, really slow."
Tormund snorted at Rosarios last comment. "I am not sure what web novels are, but you are not wrong. Absorbing essence from your surroundings does take longer to level up than outright killing and absorbing the essence from your prey. Of course, with all things there are exceptions, but those who can absorb essence quickly are very rare to meet. For most of us as we become higher evolutions we need less nutrients and sleep, so to pass the long hours we are not active we usually meditate and absorb the surrounding essence. There are also people out there who believe using essence stones from once living beings is morally wrong, so they level up only by absorbing essence from their surroundings."
"To answer your other question, you could hunt either 1 creature or 5 creatures depending on your targets. Beings and beasts that have not yet evolved once are worth 5 essence per level they are. So, for example if you kill an Evo 0, level 3 being, when you absorb its essence you will receive 15 essence. An Evo 0, level 5 being will provide you with 25 essence."
Nodding his head Rosario thought back to the levels and Evolutions of the creatures he had killed so far and found that it did add up to what Tormund had just explained to him.
"So how do I get to the first evolution?"
"That easy, you have to reach level ten. Once you reach level ten you will be asked if you want to evolve. At that point you can say yes OR you can wait and gather some natural treasures to ingest that will be incorporated into your evolution."
"So, say I get some rare feathers before my evolution and use them, will I grow wings?"
"HA, no. There has never been a correlation between a specific material or treasure used and a mirrored trait in the evolution's outcome. What does happen is your body absorbs the extra energy and essence from the materials and it is used to temper your body."
Hearing this an image of the pool of water in the cave flashed through Rosarios' mind and he had to suppress a shudder just thinking about that pool possibly being a source that could be used during an evolution.
"So, I have to reach level 10 to go through my first evolution. Does that mean I have to reach level 20 for my second evolution?"
Tormund smiled and nodded. "You catch on quick." As Rosarios ego seemed to visibly inflate Tormund continued. "But its not the level 20 you are thinking about."
Seeing Rosario deflate at the second part of his statement, Tormund felt a small sense of satisfaction. Chuckling inwardly, he continued. "Once you evolve, your status screen will show you as an Evo 1, level 0. You will have to restart your level progression again but this time you would have to reach level 20 before evolving."
Rosario shrugged. "That doesn't sound too bad I guess."
"HA, sure its not bad until you find out that you need to absorb ten time the essence for the first level."
"Wait, wait, wait. So, to get to level 1 right now I need 100 essence, your saying after the first evolution I need 1000 essence?"
"Yep, and after the second evolution you need 10,000 essence for the first level. Also, each subsequent level is that level times the first amount. For example, when you reach level 1, to reach level 2 you will need 200 essence, level 3 300, and so on. That means after the first evolution level 2 is 2,000 essence level 11 is 11,000 essence. After your second evolution its 10,000 times the level so level 24 would be 240,000 essence for example."
Rosarios jaw was almost on the ground. "How the heck is anyone suppose to get that much essence from 5 essence per level?!"
"Well, they actively hunt higher evolved beasts in groups or beasts of the same evolutionary level. The higher the evolutionary level the more essence you will earn per level of the beasts."
Nodding after hearing Tormund explain everything Rosario turned and looked around. "So, I need to find a level 5 beast or a few lower ones to get my first level. What happens if I kill say a level 7 beast will I have the 10 essence towards the next level."
"No, it will be lost into the atmosphere, your body can only contain so much essence before leveling up. Once you decide to absorb the essence in an essence crystal you take it all or you lose what you cant fit into your body."
"Well, that's good to know, I wouldn't want to be wasting essence if I can help it."
Still looking around Rosario slapped his thighs and stood up with a jolt. "Well, now is as good time as any to reach level one let's go!"
"Hold on, hold on. Before you go running off we have a very important matter to discuss. You are a Noble of the collective now. That means you need to build your base of power, and that means we need to build your settlement and summon the remaining 9 subjects form the first vellums you were given."