“I thought you said you knew this place like the back of your hand!”
Jasmine’s voice echoed in the empty tomb. Both she and Seiko sat across each other, a camp fire separating them as Seiko drank water from his can.
“Obviously something weird happened.”
He said and grabbed a plate from his sac. The metal plate vibrated, creating a sort of relaxing hum. This managed to catch Jasmine’s eye.
“And what’s that? You’ve been playing around with it all this time.”
“It’s a [Teleport Identifier]. It can tell when there’s some sort of spatial distortion in the surrounding.”
Jasmine closed the distance between herself and him and gazed at the metal with excitement.
“A paladin’s magical tool? That’s so, like, lit!”
She said as she tried to snatch it out of Seiko’s grasp. The latter was faster, managing to easily move it out of the way.
“Lit? What does that mean?”
“Hmm, like, cool, dope, awesome, excellent, badass, fun, amazing, totally lit! You understand?”
She said so many words at a time Seiko felt his eardrums were failing him at a point. He simply shook his head and sighed.
“Yes. I understand. Now back off.”
He kicked her back to create some space between them. It was starting to get really uncomfortable with their proximity and all. Seiko actually managed to cup a gaze at her cleavage, even if her chest wasn’t something to boast about. Had she no pride?
“Ow! What’d ya kick me for?”
“Shut it. You are starting to annoy me.”
“Meanie!”
She stuck her tongue out.
“How are you even a paladin? Are the gods so desperate to fill in the empty seats? Even that brat from who’s never even seen the sky, too hot headed, and a downright buffoon. At this rate you will actually get yourself killed before we make it to the Dhijan Nation.”
Seiko closed his eyes and just ranted out. He expected some sort of cute attempt at defense, but instead all he got were sniffs. When he opened his eyes he saw tears snaking down her cheeks. Feeling a tad built guilty, he looked away.
“Seriously? Making a girl cry? I’m disappointed.”
CLICK!
Seiko’s gun was already pointed at the source of the voice. Jasmine cleared a face almost instantly and readied her blades.
“I thought I taught you better.”
A knock came for behind, forcing Seiko into the ground.
‘When?!’
“Have you already forgotten me, my dear student?”
His worse fears had come to pass. He met his teacher out of class.
Jasmine, unable to process what had just happened simply saw dark eyes merely inches away from her face. The new head was tilted in a curious way, causing the person’s bangs to fall to one side.
“Veronica, this one was only pretending to cry. Probably to tease Seiko.”
The person stood up straight, the pure overbearing pressure she gave off forced Jasmine to collapse on her knees.
‘W-When?’
“T-Teacher! I apologise!”
Seiko’s voice came out as a high pitched scream. Jasmine couldn’t believe what had just happened. The ever unfazed, cool Seiko Sotomura was screaming like some kind of wimp, before a woman.
The woman’s features were not properly illuminated due to the dark environment, but Jasmine could make out some features. She had knee-length hair with a sort of braid around her head and a black ribbon tied to it. She wore a uniform that seemed oddly familiar to Jasmine; A sea blue coat with golden knots over her heart, a white shirt underneath and a sea blue skirt over white trousers, and black boots. A rapier was strapped to her waist as she offered her gloved hands to Seiko.
The one towering over Jasmine was a woman in light armor. She had wild flowing hair that reached down to her mid-back and a dark purple tiara on it. To her side, were two rapiers, both of curious unorthodox designs that made Jasmine almost forget her earlier fear.
“What were you two doing in here?”
Veronica asked, her voice was welcoming and gentle. It almost made Jasmine forget about how monstrous she truly was.
“W-We were on our way to the meeting.”
“Is that so? Why did you come here then? The kingdom is in the opposite direction of this place, you know?”
Seiko took out his map.
“We came here to use the Scerendia Teleport Gate, but it wasn’t active when we came here. The trip back would have taken us at least a month if we were going at our fastest pace, so we decided to search for the other Teleport Gates in the tomb. We’ve been here for the past week though.”
“Seriously? Sometimes even Seiko can be careless?”
Veronica said with a giggle, causing the male to blush. Jasmine took notice of this and pouted, of which Veronica took notice and grinned.
“W-What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What your teacher means, Seiko, is that there have been suspicious activities happening here for the past few months. Mummies have gotten restless. The sand storms have been way more dangerous than ever before. The teleport gates aren’t functioning and then there is the occasional “Seasonal drift” as it has been termed, that occurs at the end of every month.”
The other person responded. She rose her hand and a black portal opened up before her.
“Come on, Neburis. You didn’t have to tell him all of that at a go. He might have a brain freeze or something.”
“Uwa! That was when I was a kid, damn it!”
Neburis looked at all of them. Her gaze was fixed on Jasmine though. Something was off about that girl. Her instincts screamed that there was more about her than meets the eye. Maybe a bit of investigation was needed. That is, if interrogation proved useless.
“Like master like student. Veronica is lucky I was exploring the tombs. Or else she would have been in the same situation as you two. Jump into my portal and it’ll take you right to the Dhijan Hero Nation.”
‘I ended up doing something boring in the end~’
_________________________________________
[Racial LvL Climax Achieved]
[Opening Evolution Window]
'Huh? What's happening, now?'
[The Goddess of Endless Darkness has suggested one more evolution path]
'She did what now?'
[Loading Evolution options]
'Evolution? Ah, that's right I'm supposed to evolve. Evolution options? I guess I remember the system saying something like that.'
[Evolution Tree]
[High Crimson Demon Roc]
[Ancient Aura Rainbow Bird]
[Sacred Pamola Demon Spirit]
[High Shadow Devil Bird]
These choices though… how am I supposed to know which is the better choice?
[Loading Evolution Database]
[High Crimson Demon Roc]
[A very powerful fire demon from the demon realm. Very proficient in Fire Based abilities and is very dangerous in a fight]
|PROS|
Possesses High amount of stamina
Very strong and very fast
Insanely high fire affinity
|CONS|
Low Magical Power
Low Mana Pool
'Ah… living in a world of magic, being incapable of using magic… I know others have adapted to this lifestyle, but it doesn't sit right with me. There'll definitely be a moment when I need a lot of magic power. Next!'
[Ancient Aura Rainbow Bird]
[An extinct race that used to roam the world hundreds of years in the past, spreading beautiful rainbows around the world. Their feathers were multi-coloured, each colour representing one of the seven virtues.]
|PROS|
High Affinity for exactly seven elements
Highly Loved by Higher Beings
Excellent Aura control
|CONS|
Low Defense, Strength and Health Points
Average Speed
'Ok, this one sounds like a good deal… but the physical aspect is not enough to motivate me. And I don't see further evolutions… possibly some sort of phoenix evolution after it? That prospect does have me interested, but let's check the others out first.'
[Sacred Pamola Demon Spirit]
[Also known as the Storm or Chaos Bringer. The Sacred Pamola Demon Spirit is an extremely rare creature that roams stormy and icy mountains. A natural predator at the top of its food chain. Legends have it a Sacred Pamola Demon Spirit is capable of killing even dragons.]
|PROS|
Physical Attacks are negligible
Insanely High Mana Pool
High Magic Power
Storm Magic and Ice Magic
|CONS|
Physical attributes are null
'This one sounds very powerful and dangerous… but it's already at the top of the food chain. Can I ever evolve from that? Also, what's with its physical attributes being null!? How the hell am I supposed to do anything then? And there's the fact that it's only proficient in Storm Magic and Ice Magic. What about the other forms of magic? Will I suddenly lose the ability to perform all the magics I do? Next form!'
[High Shadow Devil Bird]
[A creature from the Realm of Endless Darkness. It is capable of using its feathers to summon [Lesser Shadow Beings] or possibly [Greater Shadow Demons], depending on its strength. They are one of the dominant species in the Realm of Endless Darkness]
|PROS|
Insanely High Mana pool
Masterful Control over several shadows and shadow beings
|CONS|
Low strength, speed and defense
Weakened under sunlight
'WAIT! Is this because of the Goddess of Endless Darkness' blessings? Why do I feel like she's trying to plan out my life like mom used to? Hmmm, I see. So far, the one that seems most logical is actually this one, but… the problem is I don't see any further evolution choices after it. And won't it sort of limit me since I'm not really nocturnal… anymore. And why is it so physically weak?
'Well then which one should I pick? I feel like there should be more or something. What do you think, system master?'
[System Master ##### has heard your request]
[A new Evolutionary path has been suggested]
'A new Evolutionary path? Wait… are you trying to say that if I hadn't asked you wouldn't have checked through to see if there was another form?'
[Arcane Demonic Twilight Fire Bird]
'And she ignore me… Anyway this sounds interesting. Let's see what this can do.'
[Arcane Demonic Twilight Fire Bird]
[First of its kind. A race that not much is known of.]
|PROS|
All stats seem average
Fairly good amounts of mana and stamina
|CONS|
I don’t know. Take it or leave it
'For real? You aren’t even acting like a proper system master at this point! Nothing is known of it? Then how am I supposed to choose this one just like that. Wait… let's go by manga logic here. The new race is usually the most special one and definitely has a lot of evolutions after it, but then again, this could go all wrong and everything would just flip on its head and I'll be doomed. Hmhmhmhm…'
[Awaiting user's selection…]
'Relax! I'm thinking over this thing! Hmmm. I want both the shadow bird and arcane demonic twilight whatever…'
======================================
While Hinotori was thinking about what evolution she would prefer, there was an ongoing debate between superior beings that she was completely unaware off and she could see, she would probably curse them.
"She is going to choose the shadow bird without a doubt."
"What? No way. She will choose the new form I gave her."
"Pfft, she is not stupid enough to take an unknown."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because she is my princess. She obviously has the smarts to know why that's a bad choice."
"Tch, look at it, she's picking something. What!? Not that one!"
"T-that's stupid. Change it!"
"Um, I will change it, but then I will make it my option."
"No… Let's come to an agreement. How about we fuse both options, then?"
"Fuse both options? Hmm, interesting idea, but I'm not sure she can- Oh? She can? Woah! When did she? This is... I guess she will also be getting 'that' then."
"Then the choice has been made!"
“Oi, before I do this, I have a question.”
“Ask away.”
“How long do you plan on staying here?”
“As long as you continue to monitor my new child… pervert.”
“Ah! WHAT?!”
===============================================
[Certain conditions necessary for this action have been completed]
'Huh?'
[Choice made… Closing Evolution Window]
'W-what!? What do you mean choice made!? I haven't even picked!'
===============================================
[Evolution has begun]
[Race: Golden Demonic Hen evolves into Race: Arcane Demonic Twilight Shadow Bird]
[Updating humanoid sub form… Successful]
[All processes complete]
[All your stats have been increased]
[You have acquired the skill [Twilight Energy Manipulation]]
[You have acquired the skill [Twilight Generation]]
[You have acquired the skill [Basic Twilight Magic]]
[Due to your demonic origins you have acquired the skill [Demonic Twilight Manipulation]]
[You have acquired the skill [Demonic Light Manipulation]]
[The [Goddess of Endless Darkness, Zatana] has blessed you with the unique skill [Sacred] (Unawakened)]
===============================================
'What now? Huh? What's happening? Ugh, whatever.. We do this tomorrow.'
