Ding!
[Conditions met]
[Host can now trigger a Soul Mutation Evolution!]
[Would you like to proceed?]
A brief flicker of surprise crossed Zuke's face, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared.
"Finally... After a long time," Zuke murmured under his breath as he stared at the blue screen hovering in front of him.
"Hey, brat, you can go now, and remember to keep your words in check; otherwise, we will really kill you in the upcoming sessions."
Zuke snapped his head towards Kris, who allowed him to leave the yard, but for confirmation, to avoid any ambushes, he confirmed again.
"—Can I really go now?"
Kris's face curled into anger as he said frustratingly, his eyes about to pop out of his sockets, "Are you going or not!?"
A chill ran down Zuke's spine as he heard those words. He quickly stood up and, within a moment, vanished from there, not before showing him the middle finger.
"You bastard..." Kris grumbled and tried to catch him, but Daniel and Devisha quickly stopped him from doing so.
"Don't worry; why waste your time on that useless bastard?" Devisha urged him to let go of his anger.
"Yeah, the hand-to-hand combat session is just coming in twenty days," Daniel added.
•••
Zuke arrived at his room, which was situated in a secluded area, and quickly entered the room, a tinge of excitement visible on his face despite being covered with injuries all over.
It was as if he didn't care about them right now.
He quickly locked his eyes on the system screen.
[Would you like to proceed?]
"Yes!" he exclaimed, his voice barely a whisper.
L Preparing for mutation...
L Cellular adaptation underway...
L Genetic restructuring in progress...
L Neural pathways realigning...
L Essence stabilizing. Power recalibrated...
As the mutation process began, he felt an intense tingling coursing through his body, a warm energy igniting his veins, and a sharp pulse radiated as if his very DNA were being rewritten.
"Kaa~"
His bones began to crackle and shift beneath his skin, muscles rippling and twisting like the sound of a branch breaking under immense pressure, feeling as if they were reshaping.
Crackle.
His heart raced as he struggled to breathe, and a new sense of energy surged through him, creating a tumultuous blend of pain on his already broken body.
"Kaa-k."
He could sense his essence expanding, transforming, as if every cell was being replaced.
[Mutation Complete: New stage achieved:
[CATALYST]
---
L Name: Zuke Arcane [61%] Entity 2 [39%]
L Mutation stage: Catalyst
L EXP points: 0.21%/1%
---
Attributes:
STR: Grade 8
AGI: Grade 8
RSL: Grade 8
FOCUS: Grade 9
---
Unique feature: Upon reaching a certain threshold, the host can trigger a Soul Mutation evolution.
L Effect: Choose one of the following mutation rewards:
• Soul fusion [Success rate: 5%]
• Skill synthesis [Success rate: 15%]
• Skill assimilation [Success rate: 20%]
---
Resources:
• Essence pool: 1.4%/5%
• Evolution points: 5
---
Despite the immense pain coursing through Zuke's body, he made a desperate effort, his breath ragged and shallow, and glanced at the interface.
'Whoa... Really! Just one mutation and all my stats are upgraded by one grade... but still, it took fuckin' eight years.'
Zuke exclaimed in astonishment, but his interest quickly faded as he glanced downwards.
[• Skill assimilation: Allow the user to copy ability from the opponent for permanent use at 200% effectiveness [Success rate: 20%]
A wide grin etched across his face, drops of crimson liquid seeping through his mouth as he let out a weary sigh.
"It's been almost three years... I can finally hope to use it now; at least it would be better than before."
For the past three years, when his training began, Zuke desperately tried to use his unique skill to copy any of the skills of his siblings as he couldn't use one.
Initially, he was able to select one of the mutation effects for free without any evolution because it was his first time as a welcome reward.
But the main problem was the success rate, which was a mere 5%.
Whenever he tried to copy a skill, it always failed, which resulted in a cooldown of one month or sometimes more.
He failed for three years straight.
So he read the info provided by the system to increase his chance of success with skill assimilation.
What was the answer?
The info basically stated he had to mutate once in order to increase his success rate with the skill.
But... the main problem lay there.
Because to mutate, he needed evolution points, and according to the system, they were gained by leveling up and one other method that was not mentioned.
In order to level up, he needed to kill.
To kill either demons or humans.
But he didn't have the strength for those feats, as he didn't inherit his clan's innate technique and he had almost little to no Soul essence reserves.
That was also the reason he was much physically weaker than his siblings, as they could use strength training equipment with hundreds of kilos of weight with the help of their soul essence reinforcing them.
Whereas he didn't have enough Soul essence to reinforce him in physical training, resulting in not a single increase in grade in any of his attributes.
So he only had one option:
To endure.
Despite it being late, he noticed that by getting beaten up by his siblings and drinking the healing potion given by Nyra right after training, his experience points were increasing, but at a snail's pace.
And finally, after three years, he accomplished his milestone, increasing his level, ultimately giving him Evolution points and increasing his success rate with every skill—not to mention his attributes, which got raised by one whole grade and Soul essence reserves a bit also.
After a few minutes of suffering, the pain settled in, as if indicating that his body had completely adjusted to his new mutated form.
Zuke lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling with his amethyst eyes lost in thought.
'Should I go now... it's already past seven A.M. and most of the clan is on guard or patrolling right now to spot any threats from outside or out in the clan market for entertainment?'
For the past few minutes, Zuke was thinking of a way to get out of his room without anyone noticing, go to the central area of the clan.
And to top it off, he was planning to meet Cyrus, who was probably with their mother and supreme elders right now in the main building of their family estate, which was surrounded by tall houses with important people of the clan residing there.
Sigh...
After all... I should go...
---
Hello, guys, what about the story? Getting any ideas?