Extra's Fate
Chapter 44: Evolve

Chapter 44: Evolve

Tilting my head back, I drank the entire concoction in one swift motion.

The taste was bitter, almost metallic, but I forced it down.

"It’s not as bad as I thought..."

From what I knew, in the game, the description of this potion described it to be the most disgusting liquid imaginable. On the contrary, this just tasted like poorly-brewed tea.

It was a welcome deviation from the original plot, in my eyes.

At first, nothing happened.

Then, a burning sensation bloomed in my stomach. It spread quickly, searing its way through my body like wildfire.

"Ughhh..."

A groan escaped my lips as the heat intensified.

Soon, my limbs began to grow numb. Then, my vision blurred and I swayed on my feet.

’Oh.’

Panic shot through me as I realized I could barely feel my fingers.

’This wasn’t mentioned in the game...’

Cursing, I stumbled towards my bedroom. My legs gave out just as I reached the bed and I crashed down, hitting my head hard against the wooden frame.

A sharp pain exploded across my forehead and warm liquid trickled down my face.

But I couldn’t care less.

My body was being forcefully shut down.

Gritting my teeth, I gripped the sheets, dragging myself onto the bed.

Then, the smell hit me.

Something was burning.

However, it couldn’t be food, as I didn’t cook anything myself today.

Tilting my head slightly, I caught a glimpse of my body.

’Curses...’

My skin had turned bright red. Steam rose from my body and thick, glowing veins protruded from my arms and legs.

It turns out it was my own flesh that was burning.

I bit down on the blanket, trying to muffle my screams.

The pain was unbearable. It felt like thousands of needles were tearing through my veins, searing me from the inside out.

Even the bloody emblem was helpless against it.

Every second felt like an eternity. My body convulsed, writhing against the mattress as the fiery agony consumed me. Sweat, tears and blood soaked the sheets beneath me.

Half an hour passed.

Then, finally, the pain began to fade.

It didn’t disappear all at once, but it dulled, little by little, until only a faint burning sensation remained.

Then, something else happened.

A wave of comfortable warmth, unlike anything before, washed over me.

It wasn’t fire. It wasn’t pain.

It was euphoria.

Every inch of my body tingled, as if it had been reforged, made anew.

My limbs felt stronger, my chest lighter.

Overall, I felt more... alive?

It was akin to having a completely new sense awakened inside me.

Even the colors looked more vivid, though that was expected since blood vessels run through eyes and strengthening them would also improve vision tremendously.

However, that wasn’t all.

This procedure I just underwent wouldn’t be worth it if it only provided better vision and other miniscule benefits.

Its most important feature was building a solid foundation for my body’s further enhancements.

As I’ve mentioned previously, without the ability to level up, to create a vessel able to withstand my ever growing attributes, I had to take drastic measures.

To do that, I had to... evolve.

No, that sounds too cringey. However, it is truly the best way to describe what I had to do.

Basically, I had to become something that wasn’t exactly a human anymore.

One way to do that was to undergo Dragonification, but it took a lot of time, resources and effort. Although becoming a dragon sounds cool, I unfortunately didn’t have the luxury to go through that process.

Another option was to become a Demon, which was actually quite simple, however, I had no interest in becoming an entity, whose instincts are too strong to control and might compromise my situation. Plus, I despised them, so no way!

Lastly, there was the third option.

To become a God.

Okay, not a literal deity, but something similar.

It was by far the most difficult path, but also the least dangerous one. If we overlook the pain each step requires, it was almost perfect.

That’s why I chose it.

However, I was still far away from ’ascending’.

Even so, I can comfortably say that with the first step done, I had become something more than just a normal human being.

"Uhhh..."

Exhaling, turbid air escaped from my mouth.

I was very tempted to test out my new body, but I somehow refrained from doing so. Glancing around, I noticed stains of blood, sweat and other... fluids everywhere.

It looked like a crime scene from a horror movie. Somebody could easily mistake it as a murder.

"I should definitely clean this up."

Pressing my lips tightly together, I slowly got up and carefully made my way towards the bathroom.

After showering and cleaning up the mess, I collapsed onto the couch and quickly opened my status screen.

I wanted to check something

"Status..."

⌜Status⌝

User: Ash Morningstar

Level: 1 [ I Star Knight ] | Locked |

Profession: Knight

﹂ Type: Swordsman

Attributes:

﹂ Strength: [ 34 ]

﹂ Agility: [ 30 ]

﹂ Perception: [ 28 ]

﹂ Endurance: [ 38 ]

Traits:

◈ Curses:『 Mana disease 』,『 Damned 』

◈ Blessings:『 Sword Genius 』,『 Devourer 』,『 Ascendant 』

Skills/Spells:

◈ Shadow Manipulation [ Mastery - Lv. 2]

﹂ Shadow Step - the user can teleport short distances through shadows.

﹂ Shadow Control - the user can manipulate shadows to a limited degree.

Weapon Arts:

◈ Shadow Sword ★★★★★ [ Mastery - Beginner ]

﹂ Shadow Current - the user is able to execute a deadly strike that cuts through foes before they can react.

⌞The End⌟

First things first, the system had recognized my Weapon Art and added it to its interface.

It also assigned a Five Star rating to it, which was considered the pinnacle of Weapon Arts.

Such manuals would sell for millions if not for billions of gold as they were extremely rare and powerful. It is said that a five star Weapon Art user is able to take on an army by themselves.

However, I wasn’t surprised, as I already knew Shadow Blade would get a high grade evaluation. I killed Void Demon, the final boss of this game, with it, after all.

It’d be a scam if it wasn’t rated as such.

Apart from the star rating, the system also assigned my mastery over the art a value.

The mastery ranking went like this:

Beginner → Practitioner → Proficient → Expert → Perfect

Currently, I was at the beginner level, which meant that I could only bring out about 10% of its overall power.

Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about this updated interface.

Although it wasn’t necessary, it simplified the process of tracking my progress, which was... good.

However, that is enough about the Weapon Art.

Next and the most important change in my status was the new trait I gained.

『 Ascendant 』

Clicking on it, a small description appeared.

『 Ascendant 』- the user has completed the first step of accession [ I/VI ]

It was surprisingly undetailed.

It was more of a statement than a trait. If not for the knowledge I had, I wouldn’t understand what it meant.

In any case, this was a sign that I was on the right track.

All that was left was to wait until the story progressed and I could move on to the next step.

’I wonder how long it’ll take...’

***

"..."

Sitting in her room, Aveline looked at the page of the book she was reading. No matter how much she tried to focus, her mind kept drifting elsewhere. She hadn’t read a single word in the last five minutes.

Closing the book with a sigh, she got up and walked towards the window.

The sun was setting, bathing the land in a warm, golden glow.

The view was... more or less alright.

The sunset itself didn’t interest her much. It was just there, like everything else. She didn’t care for such things. They were pointless.

Her mind wandered elsewhere, drawn to a strange sight from earlier that day.

One peculiar thing was stuck in her head.

A boy. She didn’t know his name.

During training, he stood in the open field, swinging his sword, again and again on repeat.

It was weird.

He wasn’t practicing forms. He wasn’t sparring. He was just... cutting at his own shadow over and over again.

It looked stupid. Pathetic, even.

But something about it made her pause.

She didn’t know why. It wasn’t impressive. It wasn’t flashy. It was just... odd.

"..."

Observing the sky, Aveline frowned, deep in thought.

Since when did she grow so interested in other people’s business?

Whatever he was doing, it wasn’t her concern. He was a student just like her, so he had every right to use the training grounds however he pleased.

Aveline turned away from the window.

She sat back down and opened her book again.

This time the words on the page finally made sense.

Within minutes she forgot even why she got distracted in the first place

Being a princess, Aveline didn’t have much free time, so she developed a habit of fully immersing herself into whatever task she was doing, leaving no room for unnecessary thoughts or actions.

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