“I still can’t fathom why you decided to pick him”

  “Hmm, was there another one you thought I should have chosen?”

  “No, none of them were worthy of your grace but this one is an especially baffling choice.”

  “Furthermore, why did you give him such a frail body? The Exanimus has a myriad of races, why choose such a feeble one?”

  “Hohoho, where’s the fun in that, If I were to give our little friend here everything from the start then wouldn’t it ruin the whole purpose of the c?????????????r?????????????u????????c??????????????????????????????????i??????????????????b????????????????????l?????????????????????e?????????????????????????.

  “That's a fair point but I still can’t understand your reason for choosing him”

  “Do you remember what I first said to you when the other F?????????u?????????????????????n????????????d???????????a????????????m?????????????????????e?????????????????n????????????t????????????????s?????????????? proposed this little event?”

  “You told me you had a vision of sorts, about a new legend that was about to be born, how its impact would change the…..Wait then that means!”

  “Hohhohhoo, It seems you understand now”

  “Then were the rest of them also a part of it?!”

  “Who knows, they might be or they might not be, now shush our little friend is awakening”

  “I can’t wait to see what type of story you’ll show me, oh little Cassian.”

  {Congratulations, your race has evolved into [Juvenile Blighted Eidolon]}

  {+3 Dexterity, +3 Arcane, +2 Strength, +1 Free point}

  {You have gained the [Ebony Claws] skill}

  {You have gained the [Phantomstep] skill}

  {You have gained the [Soul Sense] skill}

  {You have gained the [Half-Spectre] mutation}

  {You have gained the [Camouflaged] mutation}

  “Yaaaawn.” I slowly woke up feeling like I had the weirdest dream, I tried to recall the details of it only to come out empty-handed so I just forgot about it and started stretching my arms. Wait a darn minute ARMS, I looked down and saw two bony alabaster arms staring right back at me. “HOLY SHIT! I have arms again, hell yes!” I wave my two appendages up and down in pure glee. Savoring the feeling of regaining my hands even if they are bony now.

  Now that I had hands again, I did something that I had wanted to do from the very moment I first awoke in this world, I touched my face. Rubbing my hands all over my face was a unique experience, partly due to the fact I was touching my own skull and partly because my sense of touch felt muted. As if I were touching things through wool mittens rather than my own hands.

  Done with kneading my own face, I begin examining the rest of my body. My whole body was covered in a dark green aura of sorts, very faint but still able to be seen if you’re actively focusing on it. Checking out the rest of my body, I noticed how I had no legs, and only bony ribs as a torso. Curiosity got the best of me so I started poking it but immediately stopped when a stinging sensation emerged from where I poked.

  “Okay so even if I’m part ghost, I can still feel the pain, duly noted.” I said. Content with my new body, I finished my examination of it and went to check on my status screen.

  “Oh yeah I still have 1 more free point, now where do I put you.” I ponder for several seconds before deciding to put it into {Toughness} . After all, you can’t go wrong with having more health. Looking over my status screen I briefly wondered if there was a way to display all my skills, without warning a new screen popped up.

  “Huh, that’s nifty, now let’s see what my new skills are all about.” Pulling them all up, I read them starting with the most interesting sounding one {Ebony Claws}.

  {Ebony Claws: Lv 1}

  {Allows the user to coat their arms in flowing deathly mana, enhancing their next attack. Effectiveness of Ebony Claws is determined by Strength and Arcane}

  {Phantomstep: Lv 1}

  {Allows the user to briefly turn intangible and rapidly move to a spot within their line of sight. Duration of Intangibility as well as speed of Phantomstep is determined by Dexterity and Arcane}

  {Soul Sense: Lv 1}

  {Allows the used to passively sense the aura of creatures within their vicinity. Range of Soul Sense is determined by Intelligence}

  “Oooh that’s quite a diverse group of skills, can’t wait to try these out.” Wasting no time, I activate {Ebony Claws}. My arms started glowing a dark navy blue color before rapidly transitioning into a pitch black hue. Once the process was done my hands were the color of coal and I could almost feel the power radiating in these claws. To test it out I floated closer to a wall and scratched it as hard as I possibly could. *Shink* The results were utterly shocking, five deep furrows about 30 cm in had embedded themselves in the wall.

  “Woahohoh.” I say in pleasant surprise. If these claws are this good, I wonder how the rest of the skills will function. Scanning around the cave, I find a good spot about three meters away from me. I focused intently on using {Phantomstep} before activating it.

  I ended up a meter left of where I had originally aimed and also upside down. “Hiujujjju” I said while swiftly righting myself. “Okay, that didn’t go exactly as planned, Second time’s the charm.” Once more I used {Phantomstep} and aimed for a certain spot but this time I ended up two meters in front of it. Not to be deterred I tried over and over to land in the correct spot. Until finally on my 8th attempt I managed to do it. “Hell yeah!”

  {Phantomstep has risen to level 2}

  {Float has risen to level 5 [Max Level]}

  {Float can be upgraded}

  Satisfied that my hard work had paid off, I checked on my last skill before upgrading {Float}. Trying to gain an understanding for {Soul Sense}, it was then that I realized it had already been activated from the start. “That dark green aura surrounding me must’ve been my soul.” “Why is my soul the color of a lime?” I absentmindedly wondered. Moving on from that, I mentally signaled yes to the {Float} upgrade.

  “Hmm, only 4 options this time, well at least they all sound good.” I said internally. Spending some time reading the prompt, I soon realized that they weren’t actually that great. Leading me to my decision of playing it safe and picking {Levitate} for the simple reason of it being the only one not to have a downside. {Armored Hover} doesn’t really fit that well with my race, {Accelerate} is unnecessary since I already have {Phantomstep}, and {Wind Rider} comes across as a very situational skill.

  {Float has been upgraded to Levitate}

  {Levitate: Lv 1}

  {Allows the user to have full control of their movements in the air, Speed and maneuverability of Levitate is determined by Intelligence and Arcane}

  I activated the skill and immediately felt a difference in my movement, where before I moved rather stiffly and constrained to 6 directions. Now it felt like I could maneuver however I liked. To test this out I started doing loop de loops and moving erratically from side to side, I was honestly impressed by how different it felt than before, it wasn’t just that I could move better no it felt like I was more in control of my speed and momentum. Like I could stop and start according to my whims.

  Done and satisfied with my upgrade, I face the entrance to the cave. “Time to see how strong I’ve become.”