Chapter 54: Ascension

Under the brightest sun, the leaves of trees and grass danced in the sway of gentle wind and the soothing music of birds and the nearby river. Everything was peaceful in this part of the forest, right in the heart of Kegali's great forest. When Eon arrived, he was gliding through the air, making no sound as he slowly descended to the ground.

Eon left the same day in the morning as a newly evolved species and returned at noon to evolve once more. Such a feat of easily reaching another advancement that he accomplished in a matter of hours—a feat that no creature in Kegali had accomplished. Normally, it would take years, but not for Eon.

From humble beginnings to becoming one of the most powerful monsters in this region.

[Deceitful Shapeshifter has been activated.]

Eon crept inside his house, which was hidden within the roots of a particular tree. While navigating the path, his Slug body could easily fit inside. He entered, positioned himself in the corner of his small chamber, and began analyzing his evolutionary choices.

***

Arcryonide Snow Barbarian.

Race Description:

[The Arcryonide species known for their battle zeal and ability to inflict the most damage on their enemies. Snowstorms will always come to answer their call and exacerbate the damage they cause. They specialize in dealing massive amounts of damage while denying the enemy the ability to mitigate the effects of their and their allies' ice elemental attacks. If they are present, all ice-type reducing buffs will be nullified. No one is safe from the chilling claws of ice as long as they are on the battlefield.]

Skill: [Snowfield.]

***

Arcryonide Resistant Barbarian.

Race Description:

[The Arcryonide species that specializes in resisting the element they embody. They are designed to withstand ice elemental attacks, rendering them ineffective against this species. They rule the tundra, survive harsh snow, and triumph over any ice field. They are the bane of most units that rely on the ice element. They can't just use ice; they can also counteract it.]

Skill: [Ice Resistance.]

***

Arcryonide Stagnant Barbarian.

Race Description:

[The Arcryonide species that specializes in controlling enemy movement speed. All enemies in their vicinity become slower, giving them an advantage. They are the weakness of all units that rely heavily on speed; chasing down faster units is not an issue for them. They don't need to be quick when their targets are slowing down.]

Skill: [Stagnant Field.]

***

Eon would be given non-damaging active skills once more. He had three choices. They were all Barbarian Class, but each had a very different battle style than the others. The first could increase Eon's damage, the second could provide Eon with immunity to Ice elemental attacks, and the third could provide crowd control by slowing his enemies.

Eon paused for a few seconds as his gaze alternated between the three options. Then he growled and pressed his next evolution with his eyes.

The status boards vanished, and Eon lay down on the ground, fully aware of what was about to happen. He didn't wait for it; instead, he lowered his head and closed his eyes.

[Initiating the evolutionary process.]

Eon's body melted and reformed into his white crystal ball form. The crystal ball flickered briefly before dying out.

Eon's evolution took the same amount of time as the previous time. It was the morning of the fifth day since he fell asleep when his body lit up again.

[The evolution process is complete.]

[You have been awarded one defense point.]

[You have increased your Strength stat by nine.]

The location remained unchanged as his gaze moved around. Eon was the only one who had changed significantly during those days.

Eon had now officially become a far superior species.

Eon was now one of the most powerful monsters in the forest. There were still monsters with higher rankings than him, monsters well-known for their destructive abilities. Some of them were so powerful that they were the subject of stories from neighboring kingdoms.

Eon would come after them next.

[Deceitful Shapeshifter has been activated.]

Eon emerged from his crystal ball form and crept toward the center of the chamber. He came to a halt and looked around for a moment before darting his gaze to his newly updated status board. Eon growled, amused by his own accomplishment.

He had progressed to a higher level of evolution...

***

Race: Arcryonide Snow Barbarian [Level: 40/50] [Exp. Points: 2.6/25].

***

HP: 760/760

MP: 400/400

Top Speed: 80 km/h

Defense: 4

***

Stats:

Strength: 76

Agility: 40

Intelligence: 40

***

Damaging Active Skills:

Lethal Augmentation [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

Icy Touch [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

Barbaric Rush [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

**

Non-damaging Active Skills:

Deceitful Shapeshifter [MP Cost: 1].

Ice Armor [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

Snowfield [MP Cost: 1] [Level: 1/20].

[Imitation] Vanguard [MP Cost: 40] [Level: 20/20].

**

Passive Skills:

World Conqueror's Perception.

[Lesser] MP Regeneration.

[Lesser] HP Regeneration.

[Lesser] Mana Absorb.

[Lesser] Life Absorb.

**

Skill Points Available: 4

***

Eon raised his eyes and began interacting with his status board. He had learned two new skills, both of which would be extremely useful in his future battles to become more powerful.

[Life Absorb.]

[Regenerate HP equal to 15% of the maximum HP of the eliminated unit. This skill will be upgraded when the user reaches level 90.]

With the exception that it regenerates HP rather than MP, this skill was nearly identical to Mana Absorb. This skill had completed all of Eon's sustain passive skills, allowing him to stay in battle for much longer without having to level up just to replenish his HP and MP.

[Snowfield.]

[Call forth the empowering snow that follows the user wherever they go. When the snow begins to fall, the user's strength-based attacks' damage increases by 1% (+1% per level). All ice elemental damage reduction and immunity of all enemy units within the range of this skill will be nullified as long as this skill is active. The radius of this skill is 2.5 meters (+2.5 meters per level). This skill does not stack with other skills that perform similar functions.]

[Snowfield has received four skill points.]

[The bonus damage and range of Snowfield have increased from level 1 (1%) (2.5 meters) to level 5 (5%) (12.5 meters).]

Eon crept out of his house. The music of the gentle morning wind and the songs of the birds on trees greeted him. Eon raised his head and took in the scenery of the forest before walking in the direction of the river.

Eon took in the scenery as he approached the river. The raging flow of the river was revealed to him. Kanundra Hell's Gate had long since closed. He drank after lowering his head into the shallow part of the river.

[Deceitful Shapeshifter has been activated.]

Eon stretched his large pure white wings and raised his Lesser Bildabear head. He assessed the situation of the monsters around him and concluded that the Bakunawa, the Warden Of The Hell's Gates, was nowhere to be found. The movement of the water dwellers, on the other hand, drew his attention. Hundreds of them, including Gerolaks and Weakanawas, were on the same path. They were rushing, preparing for something...

Another event was about to begin on the other side of the Red Island. The Peasant evolution line would attempt to cross the river once more. And, as usual, another massive war was about to erupt.

That could only mean one thing... The Warden would appear.

Eon no longer had to search for the Bakunawa...

He knew exactly where to look... And because of his new evolution, their next meeting would be different from the last. It would be significantly different.

[Ice Armor has been activated.]

[Ice Armor has 2280 HP.]

[Vanguard has been activated.]

[Vanguard has granted you 380 damage reduction.]

To begin his flight, Eon jumped and waved his wings. With such speed, Eon flew toward the Metisaya Hell's Gate, where hundreds of Gerolak Tadpoles were heading.

Now that Eon had become one of them, it was time to hunt for the most powerful monsters of this section of Kegali forest, of which there were several lurking and dominating their territories. Each of them possessed exceptional abilities that had been honed over years of survival in this forest. They had now become Eon's primary prey for furthering his own development.

Eon's first target would be the infamous Warden Of Hell's Gates.