203 Damn Evolution!!
[Ren Hilton POV]
"Haaa," I gasped, feeling the sensation of my wings opening and then closing.
'Hey... you... did you know this would happen from the start?' Blaze asked, his voice shaky and weak from the recent ordeal. He was caged behind the third-to-last one, still bleeding.
I tried to focus my gaze, but everything was hazy, and keeping myself upright was a challenge. This was more painful than the second-level upgrade. The stages were something like Ember Initiate and then Flame Adept. Each stage had a weird name. The upgrade was possible because I'd stacked enough experience points.
'Is that all?' Blaze questioned again, though I was sure he was on the verge of dying. Why did he keep talking?
"Because if I stop, I'm dead for sure!" Blaze explained, his voice frantic. "Haven't you seen those plays where characters die when they stop talking and the main character tells them to talk to stay alive? I'm talking to stay alive!"
I chuckled a bit despite the pain. My thoughts drifted to the upgrades, and I realized that my nails had grown a few millimeters.
Clank*
I picked up a sword from nearby, but it was caked in blood. I searched for something to clean it with, but the corpses around were too grotesque. I settled for using a piece of cloth I found as support to get up. My joints ached, and I was having trouble balancing.
"Haaa," I gasped, feeling something odd on my back. I reached back, and my fingers brushed against something scaly at the corner of my eye. My nails had grown a bit, and my eyes widened. "Wings?"
I saw massive wings sprouting from my back—two on each side. I spun around, examining them in disbelief. They were solid and real.
"Haven't I warned you that you'd be able to fly soon, hehe," Blaze laughed, and I tried to touch my wings. They were mostly numb, and I felt a strange sensation in my back.
"Haaa, man," I sighed and facepalmed. I had not expected this at all. I needed healing and recovery, not wings.
"You can retract them, I guess," Blaze said, attempting to be helpful. I had no idea how to do that, but I couldn't just let my wings hang out all the time.
"Try calming yourself and let them settle upon you," Blaze advised. "Your body is still adapting. But before that... get me a fricking HEALING POTION!!!" Blaze was desperate.
I supported my weight and made my way out of the graveyard, looking for a way to help Blaze. It took a few minutes, but I eventually found him resting on top of a barrel, with the chaos of the beasts continuing around us.
"Took you a while," Blaze teased, but he looked feeble, and I was surprised he even had the strength to joke.
I bought three healing potions: one for me and two for Blaze. I drank one, made him drink another, and poured the third one over his body. Gradually, he regained some strength.
"I'm going to need some rest before I take any further action," Blaze admitted.
"Do I look different?" I asked him.
"Obviously," Blaze replied immediately.
"No, like a lot different, haa," I closed my eyes and focused on my wings.
Flap*
"Ouch," I winced, realizing that it caused some discomfort. These new wings were forming, and it seemed that my body was slowly adjusting to them.
"Keep trying to retract them inside your back," Blaze suggested.
I nodded and closed my eyes once more, trying to focus on retracting the wings. It felt like an alien sensation, having these large appendages attached to my back. I concentrated hard, imagining the wings folding back into my body.
Flap, flap, flap*
I felt them twitch and move. The discomfort increased as the bones of the wings shifted beneath my skin. It was like a bizarre dance of anatomy. But gradually, with effort and concentration, the wings started to fold back.
Flap, flap, flap*
"Come on," I whispered to myself, trying to maintain my focus. It was a struggle, but slowly, the wings receded, returning inside my body. The sensation was odd, like trying to tuck something too big into a small space, but it worked.
Flap, flap, flap*
I took a deep breath, feeling relieved as the wings disappeared back into my back. They were no longer visible, and the pain subsided. It seemed I had the ability to retract them, which was a relief. I wasn't ready to walk around with wings all the time.
Blaze looked better, too, after the healing potion had some time to take effect. He wasn't in perfect shape, but he was no longer on the brink of death.
"You did it," Blaze said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah," I replied, still feeling the residual discomfort from the wing-retraction process," Now...system."
I kept hearing a lot of notifications again and again at back of my head.
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[STATUS WINDOW]
[Ren Chris Hilton]
Age: 16
Race: Purebred Phoenix
[Level 3: Scorchmaster]
[6 Star Mage In Human Terms.]
Current Progress.
Intelligence: 9/10
Strength: 0/100
Mana: 0/100
[Next Level:Pyroclasm Elder ]
[0/25000 Exp]
(Level up unavailable!)
Elemental Attributes: Fire
Advancements of Elements: Lightning
Unlock New Advancement: (Open)
Contracted Beast: One
Spirits: None
Skills: [30 skills.]
Learn New Skills: (Open)
Store: [Open]→[New Feature Available!]
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"Umm... how did you jump from 4 stars to 6 stars initially... it's like you skipped the whole one star," Blaze questioned, a question many might ask, and I know the answer.
A star, in terms of strength, doesn't mean just experience or power level; it's both. If I have power but not control over it, I won't be considered at that level.
But in this case, I capped the experience points. When I was killing them, I got 10x+ experience points because of the clones.
I was keeping track of it and was surprised that it was possible. Whenever they did something, I'd get experience points, even just by controlling them. My intelligence also increased because of that. So it was like finding a grinding spot and a glitch in the game to level up.
"I don't understand, but... it's like you cheated," Blaze commented.
"Well, you won't understand if you aren't a gamer," I chuckled as I turned around.
"What's the new feature?" I questioned as another slate appeared.
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New feature available!
Storage Void!
-You now have a fleeting chamber in spatial rift where you can store your stuff.
Current number of items it can hold.
[0/10]
Weight limit: 5,000 Kg
Note:
*please note that,you cannot store something that's alive yet.
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I read the notification about the new feature, "Storage Void," with interest. It seemed like a useful ability, especially considering how many items and equipment I had been collecting during my adventures.
"Storage Void, huh?" I mused aloud. "Sounds handy."
Blaze, who had been observing the notifications with curiosity, nodded. "Indeed, it could be quite useful for carrying all the loot you've been collecting. No more lugging around heavy equipment."
I thought about it for a moment and decided to give it a try. I focused on the concept of a spatial rift, imagining a place where I could store my belongings. To my surprise, a small portal opened in front of me, revealing a dark void.
"Whoa," I muttered, impressed by the visual effect. It looked like a swirling black hole suspended in mid-air. "Let's see if it works."
I reached out and placed a piece of equipment I had acquired earlier into the void. The item disappeared into the darkness, leaving no trace. I blinked, surprised by how smoothly it had worked.
"It actually works," I said, slightly amazed. "I can store items in there."
Blaze seemed equally fascinated. "That's a handy ability, Princess. It'll save you a lot of trouble when carrying gear or loot."
"True, Ughh-" I felt my eyes gouging out as I clutched my throat and heart at the same time. It was as if I was having a cardiac arrest, and one side of my body felt paralyzed as I struggled to stand up.
My vision blurred, and suddenly, I was transported to an otherworldly landscape. The sky above was an intense, vibrant yellow, almost like liquid gold, with the sun positioned directly overhead, casting a brilliant, blinding light. However, half of the sky was engulfed in an ominous darkness that seemed to creep closer.
Amidst this surreal setting, a small, fiery-haired boy appeared before me. His eyes blazed like twin suns, and he shouted something I couldn't comprehend, all while tightly clutching my arm. It was as though I had stepped into the heart of a blazing inferno.
I tried to read his lips, but his words were lost in the chaos of my senses. He appeared distraught, tears streaming down his face as if witnessing something unimaginable.
Above us, the sky was filled with magnificent, colossal Phoenixes. They soared with breathtaking grace, their wingspans so vast that they obscured my view of the strange, dual-colored sky. These majestic creatures circled ominously, as if locked in a fierce aerial battle, their feathers shimmering like molten gold and crimson flames.
It was an otherworldly spectacle, a clash between light and darkness, and I was inexplicably trapped in the midst of it all.
And then, "Haaaaaaaaaaaa," as if I had been released from an invisible grasp,
"Look!" Blaze said as I dodged a claw from a large bear-like mana beast that was waiting to catch me.
What was that? It was as if... I looked into a far-off memory.
"What happened?" Blaze asked, his voice trembling.
"Maybe a... I don't know." I wasn't entirely sure what was happening; my head hurt. Could this be because of the level-up? It felt like I had seen a dream, but it was unlike any other.
What the fuck is happening?
[A/N : Sooo my boy can't catch a break at all? Like what's the problem with y'all,why u must make him do stuff..... he's peaceful.... I mean.....fuck you!]
