First Evolution - Red Salamander

Dorian stared at the salamander, this time taking a closer mental look at it. It was around a meter and a half long, with clawed feet and beady green eyes. Each claw was around half a foot long, and looked to be dangerously sharp. The salamander was currently studying him while munching on a fish.

"How do I absorb this creature?" Dorian asked Ausra, curious.

"In your present state, it is extremely unlikely you will be able to absorb any creature without the aid of your Soul Spell Matrix. Thanks to the work of His Worship, your Soul Spell Matrix will aid you in Absorption exactly 3 times. If you wish to absorb this creature, simply command me and I will assist you." Ausra's cool voice responded in Dorian's head.

"What happens when I absorb it?" He asked back.

"Because this is your first Absorption, your current unset body will take on many of the characteristics of your first Absorption." Ausra replied.

"Is there any way you can list those characteristics to me?" Dorian said, starting to plan ahead. He felt excited as he considered the possibilities.

The shock of dying and being reborn in this strange new world, in a strange new body, wasn't something Dorian had overcome yet. He was, however, adapting. Dealing with unexpected situations and problems was something he was good at. As long as he could distance himself from the issue and focus on the present, he could deal with his shock later.

He would figure out how to get back home, if he could at all, later.

"No, not presently. Your Soul Spell Matrix is too low a level, your Soul wouldn't be able to bear the strain." A cool response back.

"So it's hit or miss, eh?" He muttered, taking another look at the salamander. He mentally shrugged, "Well, it's better than a fish, and the sooner I'm not a blob, the better." His own personal safety was of paramount importance now. He could innately tell that his present form was extremely weak.

"Ausra, assist me in absorbing that salamander." He commanded.

"Acknowledged." Ausra's cool voice replied. Immediately, the golden bead within Dorian flashed brightly. The symbols intricately connected to each other began to whirr and vibrated, and a powerful beam of white light flashed out from Dorian's body.

WHOOOSH

In less than a second the light burnt through the air and slammed into the chest of the green scaled salamander. Before the creature even had time to register the attack, it was already dead. The beam of light vanished into the salamanders chest as it fell to the ground, its eyes lifeless.

A mere moment later the salamander's corpse suddenly flung itself towards Dorian. It moved through the air like a ship cutting through water, slamming into Dorian's body with a resounding thud.

Dorian took it all in in a split second, shocked at the speed of the attack radiating in him. In the split second he commanded Ausra to help him, the salamander was already dead.

"Target returned. Beginning Absorption." The voice of Ausra broke Dorian from his stupor as white light once more began to emit from the golden bead. A crescendo of light flashed out covering both Dorian and the body of the Salamander, and all of a sudden, the world around Dorian transformed into a misty white landscape.

"This is your Evolution Space." A small ball of light appeared in the misty white landscape, floating in front of Dorian. He looked at it for a moment, and then around the landscape, slightly confused.

"Ausra? That's you?" He asked. The area around him felt like a cool, misty sea. He felt himself relaxing and comfortable just by floating here. He strangely couldn't sense his body, not even the blobbish form he had presently.

"Yes." The ball of light replied, and then continued, "You have successfully absorbed a type of Red Salamander. It's blood origins return as:

-Bloodline Origins-

74% Red Salamander

18% Forested Ancient Snake

6% Hollow Lizard (Degraded)

1% Myyr Dragon (Degraded)

1% various undetermined bloodlines too small to currently measure

"It's mostly a Red Salamander? Then why were its scales green?" He queried. The numbers the ball of light read off had appeared in his mind, alongside a chart that listed various attributes about the salamander he had just absorbed.

"The Myyr Dragon is a creature renowned for it's lustrous green scales. This salamander had a very degraded version of the Myyr Dragon bloodline running through its veins, just enough to allow it to gain some extremely minor Draconic attributes. In this case, the Myyr Dragon's green scales."

"I see. So what now?" Dorian asked, unsure.

"After you absorb a creature, you have the ability to combine, isolate, and withdraw its bloodlines. To Evolve into a specific creature, you will need a sufficient amount of its bloodline for your Soul Spell Matrix to work with. As you Evolve, it is possible to mix bloodlines, or absorb abilities from other bloodlines to create a more perfect bloodline." Ausra continued,

"You can also absorb the latent energy from any dead creature's Soul Spell Matrix, and use it to further your own, hastening your evolutions."

"His Worship's only goal was to create the perfect organism. Of the billions of beasts and creatures he has researched, His Worship was unsure which was truly the most powerful. The mission of all of his Children is to grow and Evolve, and prove through sheer strength what the perfect organism is."

"Okay, okay. So I can absorb the Red Salamander's bloodline, right? What do you mean by isolate bloodlines?" He returned back.

"There are a countless number of bloodlines for living creatures in the 30,000 worlds. A creature's strength and future growth is chiefly determined by a creature's bloodline. Most creatures are limited in their growth or strength by their bloodlines, an aspect called bloodline shackles. Breaking past these require one to evolve their bloodline, which is prohibitively difficult for normal beings." Ausra continued,

"You have the ability to absorb all of the target's bloodline, or just a part of it. Absorbing different bloodlines will grant you different abilities and strengths, and change the makeup of your physical form."

Dorian looked back over the screen in his mind, looking at the statistics for the salamander. White fog flowed about in the background, giving the area an ethereal feel.

"What bloodline on here is the strongest? Is it the Myyr Dragon?" Anything with Dragon in its name had to be strong by his reasoning.

"In terms of overall potential, yes. However, this bloodline is very degraded." Ausra responded.

"Oh. Does that mean you can't absorb it? Or, rather, I can't absorb it?" Dorian returned.

"No, it is possible using your Soul Spell Matrix to correct the damaged portion of the degraded bloodline. However, you will need a much larger amount of the Myyr Dragon's bloodline if you wish to Evolve using it. Your Soul Spell Matrix has all of His Worship's research recorded in it, but it cannot create something from nothing." Ausra's response was detailed, helping him understand.

"Alright. So what do you recommend I do now, then, Ausra?" He asked, think this through.

"His Worship believes that creating the perfect organism will require a mix of bloodlines, creating hybrid beasts that even His Worship may not know. The bloodlines you have available to you right now, however, are far too weak to sustain a powerful hybrid. In addition, your Soul is far too weak to sustain the physical form of any type of powerful hybrid beast, let alone a normal powerful beast."

Dorian nodded, mentally rubbing his chin. This was complex. He continued, asking a question that had been bothering him,

"Aren't there any bloodlines already stored in my matrix? If you have all this information, why didn't the Godking Kelly or whomever store bloodlines within it as well?" He frowned.

"Godking Yukeli is His Worship's name," The Matrix Genie's voice was very slightly reproachful, "And His Worship lived in the Divine Realm, above the 30,000 worlds. When He created the Children, His only desire was for the perfect organism to arise. The Firstborn of His flock, He decided, would stand on its own, Evolving by chance."

Dorian considered Ausra's words for a moment. His origins for being here seemed a bit more complicated than he had earlier thought. Regardless, he needed to focus on the present first.

"Alright. Then let's start with the Red Salamander bloodline, since we have the most of it."

"Acknowledge." Ausra replied.

Immediately, the misty world around Dorian began to flash red. Several words appeared in his mind.

-Absorbing Red Salamander bloodline-

In just a few moments, the bloodline was completely absorbed. A new set of words appeared before Dorian replacing the previous set.

-Red Salamander bloodline successfully absorbed-

- Growth Stage: (3/5) Young Adult -

Dorian looked at the numbers, asking,

"Growth Stage? What does that mean, specifically?"

"The amount of Red Salamander blood you absorbed, combined with the energy in your Soul Spell Matrix, was not enough to allow you to reach full maturity. Absorb the energy of other beings to develop the maturity of your physical form."

As Ausra spoke, a new set of words appeared in front of Dorian.

-Body Reconstruction in progress-

-Body Reconstruction complete. Transferring from Evolution Space-

A split second later, the misty world around Dorian vanished, and he found himself back outside, in the middle of the rocky clearing. The world around him wavered briefly as his vision stabilized.

Dorian blinked, surprised by the abrupt change.

"Wait a moment. I blinked!" Dorian yelped mentally as he looked down. Two red scaled claws greeted him, several inches long. A pair of stubby red arms connected to the claws, up to his powerful looking torso. His blob like existence had been completely replaced by a little more than a meter long Red Salamander.

"It worked!" He smiled, or tried to. His lizard face didn't fit human expressions well.

Dorian took a step forward, relishing the feeling of movement. He felt a strong sense of comfort as he moved, surprising him for a few seconds. It took him a moment to recognize the strange feeling was coming from the sunlight above. He flexed his arms, feeling the muscles ripple under his scales.

It was an odd feeling, almost disconcerting to control an animal. It also felt incredibly natural, however, the movements and control coming to him as a matter of course.

"It's warm…Ausra, what are the attributes or special aspects of a Red Salamander?" He queried.

"Red Salamander's are omnivores, with a diet of both meat and plants or berries. They have a minor affinity for fire. Gathering energy from sunlight is a unique method Red Salamanders can use as a substitute for food. They possess no innate abilities. They possess enhanced vision useful in catching prey." Ausra's voice was cool in his head.

"Alright." He muttered, turning his attention to his surroundings. He could now see the world in much more detail than he could as a blob.

The rocky outcropping he was on actually appeared to be the side of a rather large, stony mountain. The Red Salamander had crystal clear vision, allowing him to see all the way to the top of the jagged peak. The forested areas off to the side surrounded the mountain, creating a dense treeline. Dorian was right next to the treeline, what he had mistaken for a clearing.

In the background, he heard faint growls and roars of animals and beasts moving through the forest. A particularly loud roar had him snap his head back towards the top of the mountain peak.

A huge, black and white spotted panther had just appeared on the top of the peak, letting loose an extremely loud roar. The panther was easily a dozen meters long and several meters tall, a massive creature that practically radiated danger. As it roared, a large bird like creature suddenly swooped down from the sky far above, moving so fast it was a blur even in Dorian's enhanced vision. The two gargantuan beings collided on top of the mountain, sending out an explosion of rock and dust.

"Where the hell am I…" He muttered as he took a few steps backwards. The shower of rocks from the mountain peak began to tumble down, some towards Dorian.

"Oh dear." Without a second thought, Dorian turned around and scampered off into the treeline.