Chapter 3
...….
With around half a minute having passed, Astaroth had already teleported to and absorbed another 9 Amino Acids, prompting a level-up for the core of his existence.
[Ding! You have leveled up your Energy to Level 2!]
[Ding! You have fulfilled the necessary requirements to reach the next stage in the chain of evolution!]
'Oh… It does appear that the energy I gain is somehow used for both my energy level and evolution stage, meaning that I won't have to worry about distribution. This is good, I think…'
Astaroth wasn't exactly sure that this was a good thing for him, but his innate level of logic told him that it was.
As a few curious thoughts entered his mind, his body once again underwent a dramatic evolution. From a size roughly ten times that of a small Amino Acid, his body expanded to dozens of times that!
At the end of this slime expansion-like evolution process, a system interface screen automatically appeared for Astaroth.
BLING!
—-------
{[Infinite Energy System]}
[Host: Astaroth]
[Evolution Stage: Large Amino Acid] - [0.9/100,000]
[Evolution Area: Molecular Void Sphere]
[Energy Level: 2] - [0.9/1000]
[Energy Storage: 1,550/100,000] (Rapidly restoring)
{[Current Energy Abilities:]}
[Level 0 Ability: (Minor Spatial Movement), (Minor Energy Absorption)]
[Level 1 Ability: (Minor Spatial Displacement), (Minor Energy Flow)]
[Level 2 Ability: (Omni-Directional Movement), (Greater Energy Flow)]
—-------
OOOM!
As Astaroth's body finished its full transformation, he blinked his eyes and saw a whole new world appear before him. Similar to the last one but far bigger and filled with more diversity, it was still the Molecular Void Sphere.
But instead of the smallest of Amino Acids, it was populated by Large Amino Acids and Nucleotides!
'A new area has presented itself to me… I don't really know what this term means, but isn't it almost like I'm stuck in a Xianxia game…?'
Astaroth scratched what he believed to be his chin, curiously thinking over this question he asked no one in particular. Considering that it was really just him in the microverse, the only person he really had to talk to was himself.
However, seeing as the previous him was quite a loner, it didn't really bother him all that much. Plus, for some reason, Astaroth found this whole evolving process quite fun.
Curious as to see what he would become next, he activated |Omni-Directional Movement| and virtually teleported next to one of the many Large Amino Acids.
As he reached out and touched the Large Amino Acid with his hard-to-describe body, he activated |Minor Energy Absorption| and also tried out |Greater Energy Flow|.
Contrary to the last time Astaroth used the lower version of this ability, this time he was able to do something with it. In fact, its first noticeable usage was that it was capable of speeding up the energy absorption process by a few notches.
Seeing this as nothing less than a major boon, Astaroth calculated exactly how much the improvement in energy absorption affected his absorption speed. And after a few quick calculations, he approximated it to be around twice as fast as before.
With such a vast improvement to his energy absorption speed, Astaroth got right down to the act of making use of it.
Upon fully absorbing his first Large Amino Acid, a number of satisfying system notifications appeared in front of him.
BLING!
[Ding! You have absorbed 0.2 Energy!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 0.3 Energy!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 0.2 Energy!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 0.2 Energy!]
Even though it took a few minutes to see any noticeable results, Astaroth watched his energy requirement indicator shoot from [0.9/100,000] to [9,450/100,000].
Although it wasn't as much as was expected, it was still enough to show that his evolution would remain inevitable, and he would use the purest forms of energy in order to achieve stellar results!
|Omni-directional Movement|
Astaroth used this ability to take him into another one of the Large Amino Acids. After all, the last one had been completely dried up, meaning that he was now twice the size that he was before.
By now, he had long since figured out that the energy absorption features were capable of sucking in and retaining 100% of everything he absorbed. In other words, he would obtain all of what his target once possessed.
It was unknown if this worked the same way with mammals and other higher lifeforms, but Astaroth was willing to bet that it did. And he was also inclined to believe that he would soon become rather…
'Uhmm… What was the word again?'
Confusion overtook Astaroth's slimy expression as he sucked up a Large Amino Acid like a smoothie.
As system notifications rang off inside his head, a sudden flash of realization came to him.
"Overpowered," he uttered.
This was the term he had been racking his mind for, and when it finally came to him, he couldn't help but feel a certain level of synergy with the very essence that this word represented.
'Overpowered… I like the sound of that…'
If Astaroth had a human face, one would surely see a wide grin plastered across it. But since that was not the case, it just looked like a funny-looking slime was having a hard time dealing with extreme constipation.
—--------
Inside the Molecular Void Sphere, time passed like a fever dream, and before the tangible could become tangible, a half hour passed for Astaroth.
[Ding! You have absorbed 0.3 Energy!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 0.3 Energy!]
[Ding! Your Energy has reached a point of overflow; thus, your Evolution Stage and Energy Level will increase appropriately!]
'Energy Overflow…? That is a good name for the rank-up process… nice…'
As Astaroth was thousands of times bigger than a Large Amino Acid, his thoughts had also become louder. Even so, it still wasn't possible for him to absorb multiple Large Amino Acids at once, which was quite odd, especially when considering his immense size.
'Well, maybe this rank up will enable me to do just that…?'
With this thought at the forefront of his mind, Astaroth closed his eyes and felt as his slimy body conflagrated and expanded at rapid speeds. It eventually reached a point where he had become far larger than a Large Amino Acid. To be precise, they now looked like nothing more than small dots to him.
However, when he looked up, he saw organisms that likely saw him in the same way as he saw the Large Amino Acids. Insurmountable and grandiose, it was unknown just how far they extended into the limitless heavens above.
'Ahh...'
To get his mind away from that topic of focus, Astaroth focused on the organisms that were around his size. He also opened up his system interface to see what both him and these things were.
BLING!
—-------
{[Infinite Energy System]}
[Host: Astaroth]
[Evolution Stage: RNA Molecule] - [0/10,000 (G-2)]
[Evolution Area: Molecular Void Sphere]
[Energy Level: 3] - [0/10,000 (G-2)]
[Energy Storage: 0/10,000 (G-2)] (Rapidly restoring)
{[Current Energy Abilities:]}
[Level 0 Ability: (Minor Spatial Movement), (Minor Energy Absorption)]
[Level 1 Ability: (Minor Spatial Displacement), (Minor Energy Flow)]
[Level 2 Ability: (Omni-Directional Movement), (Greater Energy Flow)]
[Level 3 Ability: (Magnetic Levitation), (Multi-Target Energy Absorption), (Super Energy Flow)]
—-------
'An RNA Molecule, huh…? Sounds like a tasty snack, but I guess it's way better than being a Large Amino Acid? And then there's the reset to my Energy counter... What is that all about?'
[Ding! The values for Energy acquisition have grown too large, and if left unchecked, will spiral past any known mortal numerical values. Therefore, the system has superimposed a Grading system for Energy.]
[The previous Energy was termed 'Grade 1 Universal Energy' or 'Grade 1 Energy' for short. Now it has evolved into Grade 2 Energy.]
[Everything is capable of evolution, even the very Energy particles in the air. Keep that in mind while moving forward.]
"I see," Astaroth nodded in understand.
He didn't actually understand all that the system had said, but keeping things simple was for the best.
Getting back to the matter of whether an Amino Acid was a positive Evolution or not. As an amnesia patient, Astaroth didn't remember much, but he was certain that he didn't like or care for biology class in his past life.
However, more than that, he was more than a little interested in figuring out what his new abilities did.
Firstly, he went to activate |Magnetic Levitation| and almost immediately, he realized something that could change the playing field if paired up with the right abilities.
This devasting alteration was the fact that Astaroth could now levitate and move around as if he were a hummingbird over a flower!
While using this ability in quick succession, he felt like he had become truly free! No longer restricted or limited by the very body that contained him!
It was an invigorating feeling, to say the least!
Even so, after a few minutes of playing around with it in the colorful dimension that surrounded him and the other microorganisms, Astaroth stopped the games. Instead, he put his full focus on the continued research of his abilities.
|Multi-Target Energy Absorption| was exactly what he wanted, as it was able to allow him to absorb the energy from up to 3 things at the same time!
Then there was |Super Energy Flow|, which was just another better version of |Greater Energy Flow|. Instead of the x2 effect that Greater Energy Flow gave, Super Energy Flow gave a x6 increase to all energy absorption!
Add that to the 3 organisms that he could absorb at the same time, and he had effectively improved his energy absorption rate by x18!
And that was excluding the original x2 that he already had, which was to say that his total energy absorption boost totaled in at x36!
Putting this to the test with post-haste, Astaroth magnetically levitated over to an RNA molecule of similar stature. Immediately sticking up his 'hand', he activated all related abilities and watched the system notifications swarm him from all directions!
...….