The pressure vanished, and the soul aura that had been leaking from the stone was retracted, leaving it as a simple Opal that was practically vibrating with power.
“You really did it. I can see the system message that the reward is calculating.” Karl gave Lord Nacht a weak thumbs-up as he sat down on the gemstone gravel to catch his breath and let [Void Body] overcome the damage that had been done to his soul.
[Reward Calculated]
[Evolution Stone] Awarded
[Error: Some Functions unavailable]
[Randomizing]
Nacht began to laugh as they both saw the message at the same time.
“I will see you shortly, friend. Good luck on remaining a Dragon.” Karl laughed.
They had gone through all that, only to get a glitched reward that didn’t even work properly.
The Totem Rank Black Dragon seemed to think that this was the funniest thing that had ever happened to him, and his laughter echoed through the city as Karl waited to find out his fate.
[Optimal Advancement Skill Selected]
[Iron Within Rank 3: The Flesh Is Weak]
Remi giggled. [Well, it’s not wrong. Your flesh is weak. That was the real issue here.]
Karl mentally rolled his eyes at her. [And what are we going to do if it changes me into something strange?]
[Then you get to be the Monster Man for realsies! We can just keep doing fun stuff forever instead of going back to work.]
[Passive Skill Active] {Iron Within 3}, beginning transformation.
Pain shot through Karl’s body, worse than the side effects caused by any of the experimental treatments that the Bureau agents at the Academy had provided for him, and he felt his bones shattering then regrowing.
[Error Encountered: Incompatible Skill Active]
[Adjusting]
No, adjusting wasn’t necessary. Karl was thrilled with whatever it had come up with, as long as it wasn’t planning to make this process worse.
It had to be [Void Body] that was messing with the skill implementation, but in his current condition, Karl couldn’t change any of his skills, not even to turn it off.
[Adjustments Completed]
[Continuing]
The pain resumed, but this time it was fading to numbness, and Karl could see parts of his body turning to mist before reforming to look like they originally had.
Once the wave had crossed his entire body, and Karl was fairly certain the process was complete, he slowly got to his feet and tested his body.
It felt the same as it had before, but his footsteps felt heavier on the gravel than they had before.
[Status] He thought.
Everything looked similar to how it had before, but with one notable change.
[Name] Karl
[Class] Beast Master Packmaster
[Rank] Pending
[Constitution] Void Iron Body
[Bonded Beasts] 5
[…]
There had never been a line there for a special constitution before. Karl had feared that it was going to make him something other than human, as the description of the reward had said Evolution, and that tended to make his beasts something other than what they were.
But once he got through the miscellaneous details, Karl looked back up at the top.
[Rank] Pending
Did that mean he was in the middle of the transition from Royal to Monarch? If the change in his body had triggered a promotion, this reward would be considered one of the highest tier rewards ever encountered.
Nacht was distracted with whatever reward he had gotten from the trial, so Karl waited for him to finish with his progression.
[You’re really the Monster Man now. I can feel the difference. You smell like Cara and metal.] Remi informed him as they waited for the Black Dragon.
Nacht slowly recovered his senses and smiled at Karl, then pushed a bit of energy to him.
The power filled Karl with a lingering warm glow that seeped into his bones and remained, driving away the strangeness of his remade body.
“It appears that your luck is infallible, young friend. I have officially reached the status of an Ancient Black Dragon, and with it, I gained the gift of potential.
However, the gift is not for me, but for a successor. Normally, the advancement is made in one’s own nest, surrounded by family and Clan, and the most promising of the youngest generation is given the gift because it can only be granted at that very moment.
Today, you are the only one here that I might grant it to.
So, you have been given the gift of potential, ordained by the God of Death, The Great Black Dragon. May you rise forever to the skies, and taste the aura of divinity long denied to your ancestors.”
The last bit felt like a ritual, and Karl could feel the dragon’s resignation and dismay that such a gift couldn’t be given to his own offspring.
“I will do your legacy proud.” Karl assured the transformed dragon with what he hoped was an understanding smile.
Nacht sighed again, then turned his head to the sky and closed his eyes for a moment. But when he looked back down again, there was mischief in his smile.
“I wonder what nation has the strongest claim on you now?
I daresay nobody would mistake you for a human anymore, and you’ve got the blessing of a Dragon God that isn’t the World Dragon now.
Perhaps you should come back with me and get to know some of the Beast Nation’s leadership?” He suggested.
Karl chuckled. “I will have to come back and visit soon. But I suspect that I will be expected to return home first, at least to check in. However, I really do need to stop at Whiton Temple before I get there. There might be a chance to evolve Thor, who has reached the end of his natural progression path.
If we can increase his potential to Monarch Rank with a resource, then I can use the skills of my Class to increase it from there.”
Nacht shook his head. “You’re not going to find anything stronger than whatever holy resource he has been using. If they had the ability to elevate clerics and holy beings to the Monarch Rank with any sort of reliability, the Beastkin would be among the strongest forces on the planet.
Unfortunately for you, they will be more interested in how you managed to get Thor to Royal Rank than they are likely to be able to help.”
Karl frowned. “I guess that settles it, then. I’ll have to force an evolution, and then I can work on finding a way to get through his next bottleneck.
Rae likely won’t be that far behind him. She hasn’t evolved at all, and I don’t know how far a Bloodbath Spider can go on their own.” freewёbnoνel.com
Nacht smiled. “Further than you might think. They’re very instinctive, and with a safe spot to advance, plus plenty of blood, her evolutions will be subtle, but powerful. The Spider Goddess is kind to her children, and they often have more adaptability than any other species would consider reasonable.”
Karl chuckled. “Like allowing them to learn Earth Magic because they bathed in Hill Giant blood when they advanced to Royal Rank? I can see how other species would find that somewhat unreasonable. If humans could adapt like that, the whole species would be nightmare fuel.”
Nacht laughed. “Humans are already a pain in everyone’s ass with their excessive breeding rate and magic use. If they could evolve, we would likely have quarantined them.”