36 Chapter 36: Surprised

The evolutions were as good as, or even better than, Mordred had expected.

The rank of a creature was a large qualitative leap in not only their combat prowess but also their expected increase in abilities all around.

Just take Nyx for example. As a dark spirit, she could barely have any thoughts and only did exactly what Mordred commanded her.

Even if something was wrong with the command or different than Mordred had expected, she would do exactly as she was told and nothing more. The commands had to be very precise.

But after her evolution to a Banshee, she was able to have her own thoughts and personality as well as contribute more in battle and tactical planning.

This was why many demons preferred to battle lower rank but higher-level creatures. It was not the danger that came with their abilities but instead the danger of their intelligence.

A single demon could easily wipe out an entire colony of goblins. It was more difficult to wipe out a smaller number of hobgoblins. But when dealing with trolls, dealing with 3 or more at once was nearly impossible if they were the same level.

And for sentient creatures, it was almost impossible to evolve. That was the main difference between how the living beings of the world were divided into creatures and into people.

If something had sentience and could not evolve, it was a person. If it had sentience and could not evolve, it was considered a creature. If something did not have sentience and could evolve, it was a creature.

That was why it was so shocking for Mordred when he first read that he could evolve. That would change the entire concept of 'people' as the world knew it.

'And I just have to be the one to discover it? I wonder if Mother or Hades would receive the same races as me.

It seems like the first two are automatic for Oni while the last seems custom for me because of my elements.

Or maybe it is something else. I am the first to evolve so I don't have all the answers.

Hell, I don't have any of the answers. Let's just focus on what race to evolve into.

The Mazoku Oni seems the most stable but also the weakest when it comes to the ability and bonuses it gains compared to the other two.

While having one less weak spot and being immune to mental attacks is all well and good, it does not seem as useful as natural magic or being a literal being bred for war.

The Asura would be my next pick, but it does not seem like me at all. Being mentally unhinged and a combat addict seems that it would contradict my whole 'Blue Oni' thing.

The additional faces and arms are also very obvious. If I come across powerful members of the other races during my time in the academy, I might just get hunted and dissected.

The Giant is the one I find the least appealing. I prefer using my mobility and speed over raw strength. The huge size also makes me one obvious, and very easy to hit, target.

But the natural magic ability it provides is amazing. That almost makes up for all the weaknesses of it in my eyes. Almost.

These things also do not seem to give al the information on the races. How much strength and constitution stats will I gain for choosing a giant?

Will I lose Mind stat gains if I choose Asura? Simply too little information.'

Mordred read over the different races he could evolve into several more times trying to make his decision when it finally hit him.

'Who says these are my only evolution options and I have to evolve now?

I learned I was able to evolve after I took the first serum and it seems like one of my evolutions is based on my magical talent. Maybe I can unlock other evolutions if I use the other serums.

I've gotten Nyx simply because of my theory and studies that creatures can gain other evolutions based on skills they have.

Aren't serums just permanent skills?

If the Mk 2 gives me greater magic talent, I could possibly unlock a smaller or more agile race with natural magic.

With the Mk 3, I could get an evolution that increases the creature traits I gain or even remove all the useless ones I might gain.

And combining all of them, I could even unlock new evolutions based on mixing the results of the different serums.

It doesn't really cost me anything to hold off on evolving. I will still get the stats from evolving and I only risk a bit more danger when hunting.

In fact, I will benefit. I can now experiment on more than just Nyx but I also have myself and anyone else I feel like giving these to.

The amount of studies I can do are endless.

I can just hunt lower ranked, higher-leveled creatures though in order to grind my way to a few hundred million. Pretty sure I will be done with at least 3 months before the term starts.'

With his mind made up, Mordred no longer focused on his evolution but instead pulled up Nyx's status page. She had gained several levels in her skills and some had even upgraded.

[

Name: Nyx

Level: 50/100

Rank: C-Rank

Potential: Mid

Type: Banshee

Current Abilities:

-Tier 3 Skill: Telepathy (Max (Can Upgrade)), Tier 3 Skill: Telekinesis (Max(Can be Upgraded)), Tier 2 Spell: Stealth (Max (Can Upgrade)), Tier3 Skill: Sonicbolt (Lv 7), Tier 2 Spell: Thorn Armor (Lv 4), Tier 3 (Passive) Skill: Toxic Stinger, Tier 7 Spell: Thunder Rush

]

[

Telepathy is able to be upgraded into:

Tier 5 Skill: Familiar Mind Link: User and contracted partner can form a link between their minds where they can share thoughts, senses, feelings, and memories.

]

[

Telekinesis is able to be upgraded into:

Tier 5 Skill: Powerful Telekinesis: User can lift objects (3 * X) times their contracted partner's weight. X equal to level of the skill.

Tier 5 Skill: Vector Telekinesis: User can lift objects X * their contracted partners weight using tendrils or appendages made out of pure will and mana. Useful for more precise control of telekinesis. X equal to level of the skill.

]

[

Stealth is able to be upgraded into:

Tier 4 Skill: Camouflage: User is able to blend into their surroundings. The higher the level of the skill, the less likely they are to be noticed.

]

With [Telepathy] and [Stealth] only having one option each to be upgraded into, Mordred did not even have to think before confirming their upgrades. It was [Telekinesis] which needed some thought.

'[Powerful Telekinesis] iss more useful for taking on larger creatures or moving large amounts of objects at once but [Vector Telekinesis] is better for precision.

Honestly, how often will I be hunting dragonoids, trolls, and other large creatures? And there are many more and more efficient methods of hunting them down than just trying to have Nyx lift them and hold them in place.

[Vector] will most likely not have as great of range as [Powerful] but I will not need too much long of range for now. It can also be used for multiple purposes.'

Having made up his mind, Mordred upgraded [Telekinesis] into [Vector Telekinesis].