12 Evolution
Apophis drove his motorcycle for three hours until he reached the continent called Dawn. It was a long journey that took him from the forests of his starting area, through an easy mountain pass, and then across a desert full of LvL 4 creatures.
At LvL 4, most monsters were resistant to the common firearms available to civilians and even the police.
Apophis would be able to begin combat encounters by attacking from a distance with the service weapons he'd looted from the police officers, but that would be mostly to gain a slight edge in combat.
As comical as the idea was, he'd need to finish off his enemies in hand to hand combat, relying on the armor he'd bought from Omeya and his very high Strength and Speed to finish off the monsters.
This part of the desert seemed like a good place to grind until LvL 5. According to his calculations, it would take Apophis six hours of intensive farming to reach his goal. Boring, but worth it in the end.
So he got to work attacking the first creature he saw.
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╟─╼ MONSTER
║ ╰╼[Name]: Gobi Desert Coyote
║ ╰╼[LvL]: 4
║ ╰╼[Rank]: F
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He pointed the first pistol at his target, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
Blam!
The bullet tore into the coyote's side, dealing a small amount of damage, but not much worse than a bite from one of its own species. It spun in space for a few moments, then saw Apophis and howled in fury.
The coyote sprinted towards Apophis, preparing to leap at him and tear out his throat.
Apophis smiled grimly, settling into a low stance so he wouldn't be knocked down.
The coyote hurled its body into Apophis's, claws and teeth scraping against his armor.
It did a bit of damage, but then Apophis grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and hurled it with all his strength against a nearby boulder.
The coyote lay still for a moment, whimpering, before getting back up and trying again.
This time, Apophis was ready for the attack.
Before long, the coyote lay dead at Apophis's feet.
One down.
Long hours of grinding left to go.
***
Admiral Azerof—Billions of kilometers away
Admiral Azerof of the Federation of United Planets read the planetary call for aid sent by the President of the Republic of Tyo. As he was the closest admiral to the Era Prime system, it was his responsibility to decide whether the threat was worth an official response.
Era.
A small, insignificant protectorate of the Republic.
Hardly worth considering.
Yet, it was on Era that this mysterious event was taking place.
According to his experts on staff, the manifestation of these Eternals was a phenomenon of cosmic origin. Due to the potential scale of the threat, Admiral Azerof decided that he needed to take control of the situation at once.
To fulfill this mission, Admiral Azerof had requisitioned a cruiser and three corvettes, as well as several hundred troop transports. According to his chief logistics officer, these ships would arrive within a week of subliminal hyperspace travel, at which point the travel to Era itself would be hardly worth considering.
Then they would take a closer look at this so-called cosmic phenomenon.
Who knew? Perhaps this event might even hold value for Azerof's more… private political interests.
They'd been waiting for just such an occasion for ever so long.
***
Apophis—Gobi Desert
After over five hours of fighting coyotes and other creatures in the Gobi Desert, Apophis was finally at 99% of his EXP bar!
Finally, he finished off one last creature and heard the sound he was waiting for.
System: Level 5 achieved.
Apophis's mind was heavy after all the grinding, but he smiled nonetheless. After all that work, it was finally time for him to evolve.
He rode his motorcycle up the highest hill he could find in the nearby area, far away from the interference of any monsters, then clicked on his character menu and selected the "Race" submenu.
System: Please select from the available evolutionary paths.
Evolved Human [Evolution Level 1]: Humanity has ascended, gaining the ability to use its internal cosmic energy.
Due to not having completed any quests or obtained any items which might provide other options, this was the only choice. Apophis selected it and felt a strong energy heat his blood.
The evolution process took about ten minutes and was surprisingly pleasant. At night, the desert was quite cold.
Afterwards, he inspected the character menu.
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╟─╼CHARACTER
║ ╰╼[Name] : Apophis
║ ╰╼[LvL] : 5
║ ╰╼[Tier] : E- {Ascensionist}
║ ╰╼[Class] : None {Please choose a class}
║ ╰╼[Biology] : Male Evolved Human {Evolution Level 1}
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╟─╼SOUL
║ ╰╼[Energy] : 100
║ ╰╼[Alignment] : 0 {Neutral}
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼STATS
║ ╰╼[Strength] 150 STR
║ ╰╼[Intelligence] 150 INT
║ ╰╼[Agility] 150 AGI
║ ╰╼[Dexterity] 150 DEX
║ ╰╼[Luck] 1 LUK
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼BOOK SKILLS
║ ╰╼[N/A]
╟─╼TALENT TREE SKILLS
║ ╰╼[N/A]
╟─╼PASSIVE SKILLS
║ ╰╼[ Archaeologist ]
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╟─╼EQUIPMENT
║ ╰╼[Galactic Coins] : 1,023 GC
║ ╰╼[Body Armor (Common)]
║ ╰╼[Civilian Clothing (Common)]
║ ╰╼[Service Pistols (Common)]
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼SUMMARY
You have evolved, human! But even if you are a predator on your home planet, you are still prey to the creatures of the universe… as your awakening will soon reveal.
╚═══════════════╛
Now that Apophis had evolved, it was time to choose his class.
