EVOLUTION

"What now..." Ossa grumbled as he noticed the former alpha baring its fangs at him.

Howl!!! It exclaimed as it walked towards Ossa, its fangs still bared at him.

Grrhh!!!. It stood a few meters in front of Ossa.

"I sense no malice from it, is it trying to act tough," Ossa thought, as the creature was still scared of what transpired the last time.

It had never lost in a fight before, due to its immunity to physical attacks in the shadowy smoke state; it thought of itself as invincible.

Never did it dream it would lose to a mere skeleton soldier.

"If you got nothing to say, get out of the way," Ossa said internally as he was still holding the sleeping Bel.

Grrhh!!! The wolf did not move as it could not understand Ossa.

"I guess it can't understand me; I need this universal language thing as soon as possible," Ossa thought.

WOLF!!! WOLF!!! WOLF!!! The wolves who had returned with Ossa barked at their former alpha, seemingly communicating with him.

The former alpha wolf backed off after listening to his pack.

They had explained to him that he was not a bad person, neither was the young girl and that the young girl had even gone out of her way to roast their meat for them.

"Thanks, guys, I don't know what you told him, but thanks," Ossa thanked them even though they could not hear him; the alpha wolf had given him way.

He slowly walked into the alpha's den and placed the girl down.

"Mors... I have a question. When I saw the wolf, I remembered my fight with it. What was that form I took?" Ossa inquired.

He had indeed remembered the fight with the alpha wolf, the fight in which he had taken the form of an arcane skeleton soldier.

He could not previously remember, as his mind was that of a toddler. But now, with increased cognition, he was able to remember it clearly.

[That was one of the stages of your evolution]

"Evolution, explain further," Ossa asked.

[Your current form is a basic skeleton soldier, the weakest of the skeleton undead race...]

The skeleton race is not a thing; we never created any skeletal race, but people decided to call them that as they were seen on most battlefields and graveyards.

"Wait, you mean to say I can be as strong as my brethren, I can one day become like Lee, our commander," he said internally, excited at the prospect.

[...Yes, may I continue my explanation.]

"Sorry for the interruption," Ossa apologized as he had rudely interrupted the system.

[You are a basic skeleton warrior; your body is too weak to one day accommodate the power and will of Master Francesco, so to make it possible, he made it possible for you to evolve from a basic skeleton to a Lich overlord.]

"Wow, that's incredible. Master is really thoughtful," Ossa said, grateful for his master's gift to him.

"So how do I do that... I mean, can I evolve?" Ossa inquired.

[That will be possible with your contractor's mana. Your contractor should have enough mana to permanently evolve you from one stage to another]

"Huh... Bel's mana," Ossa looked at Bel who sat beside her.

The green flickering light that made up his eyes glowed as he looked intently at Bel, trying to deduce the amount of mana she had.

It was one of the basic skills of a summon, to easily identify the quality, type, and quantity of mana.

"For a girl her age, she sure has a lot of mana," Ossa said as he noticed the large blue transparent pool of swirling energy in Bel's heart.

Unlike magical beasts, humans, demons, elves, and even Angels stored their mana in their hearts. Till they learn to use it, they don't form any circles around their heart, the energy laying dormant in their hearts.

"Isn't that enough," he added.

[For a temporal evolution, Yes. But for a permanent one, No]

"So how can she increase her mana?" Ossa inquired as his teenage mind was eager to evolve.

[Share your life force with her... I will be able to convert it into mana]

" Wow... You are incredible, so how much does she need " Ossa inquired.

[ To evolve you by one stage, that is from a basic skeleton soldier to a skeleton knight, she would need a hundred peak stage normal magical beasts.

From a skeleton knight to an arcane skeleton knight would require a thousand peak stage normal magical beasts.

From an arcane skeleton knight and arcane skeleton paladin would require ten thousand mid-stage mystic magical beasts.

From an arcane skeleton paladin to an arcane death knight would require ten thousand peak-tier mystic magical beasts.

From an arcane death knight to a death lord would require a thousand low-tier dragonic magical beasts.

And from a death lord to a Lich overlord would require a thousand mid-tier dragonic magical beasts.]

"What?! Isn't that practically impossible?" Ossa exclaimed, at a loss for words regarding what it required for him to evolve, and that was not even for him but for what was to be shared with Bel.

"I might get hurt,"

"I might need strength,"

"I might need skills,"

"and all of that requires life force,"

"when and how will I get enough for myself and my evolution?"

Ossa's mind raced, as he could not see a future where he could even reach an arcane paladin, not to mention a Lich overlord.

"That's unfair," he grumbled.

[Instead of grumbling, wouldn't it be better to work hard? Remember, this is a request from Master Francesco.]

The system said, using the voice of Francesco to activate the imprint of a summon.

"You are right, I just need to work hard... I should go and hunt more beasts," he resolved himself as he felt his mind cleared, a sense of motivation washing over him.

He got up and looked at the sleeping Bel.

"How can I protect her if I leave and something happens to her..."

[No need to worry, host. The shadow wolves have taken a liking to her; nothing would happen to her. For insurance, if something is to happen, you would be teleported to where she is.]

Mors, the system reassured.

"Ok, then it's time for a hunt."