Evolution

"Evolve?" Ian asked. "What does it mean to evolve?"

The system gave no context or reply to his question as the screen remained in front of him with the question.

"Whoever made this system is a really shitty person?" he said out loud in frustration. "Evolution is supposed to be a good thing, right? I heard only beasts evolve to become stronger. I've never heard of a human evolving."

"When I think of it?" he thought. "Am I even human?"

The question lingered in his mind as he pondered it for about thirty minutes, ignoring the system screen in front of him.

"Argh, I don't know anymore!" he yelled in frustration. "If it says I can evolve then it's because I can. It doesn't matter if I'm human or not as long as it makes me stronger."

Before he accepted though, he still had one lingering thought that troubled him a lot more.

'I hope I don't evolve into a mindless beast.'

The system dinged once as if to remind him that he had to answer the question.

"You don't give me any information and you still have the guts to be impatient, huh?" Ian hissed at the system which as usual, gave no reply or reaction to his words. "I hate this thing. It's frustrating to be mad at something that seems clueless about my emotions."

He stared at the screen one last time before steeling his heart and giving his reply.

"As long as it makes me stronger, yes."

An indescribable pain invaded his senses the second he accepted. It was so intense that he unintentionally bit down on his tongue as he attempted to grit his teeth, but the pain he felt right now made his bleeding tongue feel like a tickle.

[Body reconstruction initiated. Grit your teeth as you would experience a slight pain.]

Ian glared at the notification with hatred in his eyes as he felt like his bones were being broken and reconstructed continuously all around his body. The pain was excruciating and persistent as it seemed to intensify the longer it took.

The pain eventually reduced until it was almost non-existent, leaving Ian breathless as he huffed and panted.

[Host's vessel has been optimized to perceive the breath of nature.]

[Qi has been obtained.]

[Connecting Innate Core to Energy Core.]

"What?" Ian could barely say before a new painful sensation invaded his senses. This one was different from the first as instead of his bones breaking, he felt like his insides would melt from the tremendous heat that was rising within him. His lower abdomen and the middle of his chest felt especially hotter than the rest of his body, and he couldn't help but yell in pain as he felt a blazing line being drawn from his abdomen up to the middle of his chest. It felt like his insides were being headed with a forger's hot iron, and for some reason, it took an awfully long time for the two to connect.

[Innate Core has been connected to Energy Core successfully.]

[Would host please meditate immediately to maintain connection?]

[Failure to maintain connection may lead to critical consequences.]

Ian gritted his teeth, careful not to bite his tongue this time and sat with great difficulty in the lotus position as he tried to meditate.

From his continuous practice spanning several hours every day, meditation came easy for Ian as he shut off his other senses and cleared his mind completely.

This helped him connect with himself and the energy raging inside of him. It felt like an uncontrolled inferno, raging like wildfire and engulfing anything in his path.

[Host must contain the overflowing energy in the Energy Core.]

Since his eyes were closed, this time the image was projected into his mind. The problem was that Ian knew nothing about containing or controlling energy. This was his first time experiencing something like this. He couldn't even complain as the pain was extremely overbearing.

[Energy is rampaging wildly. Host's energy core might rupture if this continues.]

"Ugh!" Ian groaned as he decided to focus and do whatever he can to end this excruciating pain.

"I would need a container to contain the energy," he thought as he noticed the hollow area in his lower abdomen. "That should do."

He did his best to create a mental image of controlling and directing the wild energy towards the space in his abdomen and it surprisingly worked until it was full.

[Energy Core is filled. Excess qi will be dispersed throughout the body.]

With that, the burning sensation spread from his chest and abdomen where it was concentrated to his arms, legs, head, and then the rest of his body.

A refreshing and warm feeling filled his body and senses like he was just reborn and every single muscle in his body relaxed.

"What just happened?" he said as he laid on the floor. "Status."

[Host: Ian Yaeger]

[Race: Chimera (Failed)]

[Sub Race: Human(Evolved)]

[Level: 7]

[Exp: 320/1600]

[Energy: 67/100%]

[VD: 60/100]

[Health: 30/30]

[Strength: 15]

[Agility: 17]

[Stamina: 20]

[SE: 60/100%]

[LE: 5 years]

[Free stat points: 6]

"Wow," Ian breathed as he saw his stats. "An additional 10 on both VD and SE, LE increased to five years and a 5 point increase on all stats. This isn't so bad after all. It wasn't worth the pain though."

As he said that, he could feel his consciousness slipping, but it wasn't like when he was forced into hibernation or passing out. This time it was a peaceful transition as he let his eyelids close and embraced the soothing darkness of sleep.

★★★★★★★★

Small shoves and a few incoherent voices slowly revived Ian's consciousness as he slowly regained his senses.

"Ian Yaeger!" a concerned voice said as he shoved him again.

"What?!" Ian yelled in shock as he sprung up. "What?!"

"What do you mean what?" Max asked with concern in his voice. "What happened to you?!"

"Nothing," Ian replied calmly as he confirmed that he wasn't in any danger or trouble. "I think I just slept."

"Just slept?" Max cocked an eyebrow. "Do you usually sleep like a corpse?"

"Huh?"

"I've been trying to wake you up for about an hour."

"I'm a deep sleeper," Ian shrugged it off. "What time is it?"

"Time to go for the raid," Max replied. "Everyone is already gathering at the assembly hall. "You have just fifteen minutes to get there or you'll be penalized even more."