Goblin scholar

"The goblin cannibal is a terrible creature. Cannibal type monsters feed on their own species to gain power. You will gain only a small percentage of the experience of a kill but eating another goblin will allow you to level up instead. Coupled with your instructing skill you could raise stronger goblins to then eat them and speed up your growth. A subsequent evolution can potentially allow you to expand from eating goblins to eating… other species. Being Y strongly recommends taking this path. Everyone else strongly recommends not doing that."

Navi looks like she ate something bad, her body wants to gag but she is forcing it down. Whatever file one of your other bodies is holding contains a lot of pictures, doesn't it.

Navi nods weakly and clearly just wants to move on. And I agree. Apologies to Being Y but eating goblins to get stronger… I already have secret reservations eating meat that was harvested from goblins, this would be way worse.

"Lastly the goblin exemplary. Exemplaries also lead groups of monsters of the same species. However, the longer the underlings stay near an exemplary the more they will grow to be like the exemplary. Basically, they will grow to become carbon copies of your status."

Wouldn't that mean…

"Yes, at first we believed that this could be a way to cheat duplicate your instructing skill. However, after looking into the changes exemplaries went through during their evolution we discovered that all of them lost the skill that we believe to be catalyst for this evolution. None of them managed to regain the skill."

So basically, if I keep my instructing we hit the jackpot but if I lose it my entire build collapses and I turn into trash.

"I wouldn't be that harsh but we concur that the risk far outweighs the benefits. Especially since the chance that your instructing skill remains is close to zero."

Well, that makes this an easy choice. Goblin disaster and goblin cannibal are out for obvious reasons, goblin exemplary is too risky and I'm not willing to give up on the carriers for goblin faith, goblin guide or goblin drill instructor.

"Ptorimea, I'd like to choose the goblin scholar as my next evolution."

I think Ptorimea is saying something but her voice is blurry, even my vision is strange, as if I were looking through fogged up glass. My body initially feels normal but then a warmth permeates it and I feel light, almost cloud like. This is all very weird. Navi!

…

No response. Either she doesn't want to talk or she can't hear me. My vision is still to fogged up to make out anything more than Navi's general position. I try to move but as I thought, there is no reaction to my mental command.

I try to open my status but all I see before me is a garbled mess of ever changing letters and numbers…

Could it be…

Yes, perhaps…

I must be going through evolution right now! However, for some odd reason, I have retained full consciousness during this transformation.

I know that monsters will keep fighting when evolving during battle but Navi said that was because of the threat to their lives. There's no threat here, is there?

Well, even if there is, I am conscious but nothing more. Is there anything I can do?

Perhaps I can influence my evolution?

Just like magic, conjure a mental image and focus. Come on Guy, just do it!

I want to be able to give people skills more easily. That's not an image. What image does giving a skill have? The skill popping up in their status?

A book! Yes, it's like giving them a book so they can learn. Mental image, giving them a book to give them a skill! Mental image, giving them a book to give them a skill!

But wait, where the heck am I going to get those books from? Do I have to write them myself? What would I even write? Please, no. Abort! This was a stupid idea! I don't want special treatment, knock me out!

Unfortunately, things rarely go exactly as we want them to. I remain conscious and the image of me handing over books has been burnt into my mind. Then, ever so slowly, my vision clears, my hearing returns and my body responds to my commands.

I seem to have finished my evolution without anymore incidents. Navi meanwhile looks like she is suffering from a bad case of migraine.

<I AM!>

No need to shout. I didn't do anything.

Going by the way Navi grits her teeth and clenches her fists, I did do something. But what?

"You thought! A lot. And since you were evolving, it was all bottled up and shoved into my mind the moment you finished. You are lucky that I have capacity to take that kind of information overflow without serious consequences."

"Sorry about that. I was a bit panicky."

"A bit? You were tripping so bad you wanted to get the ability to make skill books. Do you know how rare monsters that can make skill books are? Most of those thing have lived for centuries and spent the better part of that time neck deep in the study of the most complex subjects."

"Now, now. I didn't know that and honestly I was hoping to level up my instructing skill that way. The whole book thing just came along when I was thinking of mental images for giving skills. I never expected to get a new skill out of it."

"That's good. Because as I said, the difficulty of obtaining that skill is extreme."

As we are talking, a stone slab gently floats next to Navi and ever so gently prods her shoulder. We both turn to look at Ptorimea. She seems a bit embarrassed and her main body floats backwards.

"I do not mean to interrupt but perhaps you should take a look at friend Guy's status."

"You are kidding?"

"I'm afraid I am not."

Navi seems mad and Ptorimea is speaking in riddles.

"Guy, open your status, now!"

Is this going to be a repeat of Darwin when I got the instructing skill?

<It will be if you don't open your status>