Alesha stirred slightly, feeling groggy and uncomfortable all over.
A growling in her stomach and a slowly appearing sense of unease caused her to wake up a little more, until she eventually opened her eyes.
[Welcome back!] Rogork said.
[Evolution Complete!] A purple screen announced in front of her eyes.
Alesha yawned, mouth stretching wide. She dimly noticed that her mouth had extended into a snout.
And that dim recognition shocked her fully awake.
Standing in a rush, Alesha breathed heavily, eyes shaking slightly with fear. She looked around, realizing that, even standing, she was now on all fours.
With a feeling of dread, she turned her head to look at herself, finding her neck much longer than it had ever been.
The first thing that registered was how brightly colored she was. Scales of sunflower yellow, pale yellow-green, faded electric blue and grape purple covered her dragon-shaped body, with a few red feather accents. Looking at herself, she remembered a certain dream she'd had a while back -- she looked exactly like the dragon from that dream now.
[Welcome to being a dragon!] Rogork enthused. [Specifically, a first-class Chaos Dragon!]
"What does that mean?" Alesha asked, still examining herself. Somehow, this new form felt incredibly natural, as if she'd always been meant to be in it.
[There are three classes of Chaos Dragon, with the first class being the least powerful and third the most. By the way, if there was a fourth class, Krogor would be class five. He's just that overpowered.]
"Hm," Alesha hummed.
She looked around and found Collin's corpse nearby -- which was now much smaller in relation to her than it had been before. Looking at it, she now estimated she was the same size Orochi had been, about 1.5 meters at the shoulder.
She nuzzled the corpse as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Why do I know how to behave like a dragon? She wondered.
[Oh please,] Rogork mocked. [You're just imitating what you've seen or heard. You're not necessarily behaving like a dragon yet.]
Alesha sighed, then decided to check if the evolution had really unlocked the functions of the 'Seed of Chaos' System, like they'd theorized it would.
As soon as she tried to summon it, her character window appeared. Unlike with a previous evolution, things that had changed were not highlighted. Was it because the System as a whole had had its functions locked down for a while?
*****
Alesha Jane Williams
Age: 23 [Sol years]
Species: 1st-Class Chaos Dragon
Racial traits: (5)
Level: 33
XP: 390/400
HP: 331/331
Strength: 18
Agility: 19
Vitality: 18
Intelligence: 14
Psychic: 13
Chaos Energy: 24/40
Mana: 200/200
Free Stat Points: 0
*****
Still, everything had skyrocketed. From her level to her vitality to her chaos energy, and most especially her strength, everything was on an entirely new level since she'd last seen it. Considering that a "fit adult human" had stats of 5 all across the board, she had seriously powered up.
The only thing that looked like it hadn't changed was her mana.
"What use is mana anyways?" She mumbled.
[No use, really,] Rogork admitted. [Not without magic spells. Your skills don't depend on it, and you didn't learn any magic while on Avalon, so it's pretty much useless.]
"Then why'd I even get it?" She complained. "Whatever."
While looking to see if anything else had changed, she noticed that her skills from the Hero Summoning Story were present and described in detail. In addition, she found a few new skills she didn't recognize.
*****
Battle Foresight (Oracle Deer) Lvl 8
--The possessor of this skill has an uncanny ability to perceive the intentions of an attacker in the form of visions of their future actions overlaid on top of the present.
--The possessor of this skill instinctively understands how to use these future visions to their benefit, even in the midst of battle.
--Can perceive a maximum of around 2 seconds into the future at once.
Troll's Regeneration Lvl 17
--Unless beheaded, the possessor of this skill will be able to regenerate any injury.
Mistress's Monstrous Reproduction (Silky Mistress) Lvl 8
--Allows the possessor of this skill to reproduce by eating a male's heart and creating eggs fertilized with the heart's DNA in the empty cavity where the heart would have been.
--After two weeks of germination, these eggs will hatch as infants of the species of the skill possessor, while also inheriting any skills of the father.
--The sight of particularly strong males will activate the skill possessor's desire to reproduce in this fashion.
Gluttony (Han/Friedrich) Lvl 1
--Allows the possessor of this skill to inherit part of a single, random status value of a killed opponent.
Phase Shift (Crimson Displacer Beast) Lvl 11
--Allows the possessor of the skill to teleport up to 20 meters away in any direction, leaving behind a tangible, sound-producing illusion that does not dissipate until attacked. The illusion behaves exactly as the skill possessor would have had they not teleported. The illusion lasts for up to five hours.
--Up to 2 illusions can exist simultaneously.
--Can be used up to 4 times in 20 minutes.
Spearmanship Lvl 20
--Grants the skill holder the equivalent of 15 years' experience wielding a spear.
Polymorph Lvl 17
--Allows the user to polymorph into another form for up to a month at a time (24 hours between uses)
--Cannot polymorph into a form with significantly more mass than the user -- only less (as little as 5% but no less)
Spirit Summoning Lvl 10
--Ability to summon and interact with spirits from the spirit realm
Kalszoth's Blade Lvl MAX
--Grants the ability to summon Kalszoth's body in the form of a Fauchard
--It's made of blessed mithril -- burns unholy beings like vampires werewolves and other undead, counts as a magic attack and is thus able to slash spiritual bodies/ghosts
*****
"... No way," Alesha muttered, staring in disbelief at one particular skill. "Really?"
She felt like tears would leak from her eyes at any moment. Polymorph was exactly the skill she needed most now that she had evolved into a full dragon. Was this fate? Was it a trick? Why would Rogork let her have this skill?
[It wasn't my choice, and it wasn't from your evolution,] Rogork grumbled. [That skill was one of Kalszoth's gifts to you, part of the inheritance of his power.]
Alesha activated the skill, transforming into her human self.
The sensation was surprisingly unpleasant.
She felt itchy all over, as if her skin was ill-fitted for her, even though looking at herself, it was clear her skin was the right size.
Nausea started to rise in her stomach, but before she lost her breakfast, she reverted to her dragon form.
"Well that was unpleasant," she murmured. "Why, though?"
Even in her dragon form, she found herself feeling restless and anxious, as if something was out of place; but at least she wasn't itchy or nauseous anymore.
It was as if something crucial was missing, and the need for it was only growing.
It wasn't long before Alesha found herself stumbling around in search of it, frothing at the mouth and hissing like a beast.