I will admit that I am a lot less worried about them than I used to be. They have explored the shadow plane enough that they should be able to handle most threats. I still worry about them, but now I have logic to reassure myself with.

  I am even starting to think that they could handle a single demon lord if they worked together. Maybe two by the time the war starts, if they continue to grow at the current rate. I would feel bad asking them to fight in the war, but knowing them they are going to volunteer.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 60%

  In fact, I would probably have a really hard time keeping them out of the war. Although if possible, I would prefer to keep them from having to fight a demon lord. I want to be strong enough that my angel and I can handle all five of them.

  That would leave the kids, Lin, and Myria free to help the troops against the demons. That would help to reduce the casualties among the soldiers and be safer for them. It will depend on how things go and how long we have before the war starts.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 75%

  Now that I think about it, there might be a problem with me staying here too long. I have no idea what would happen if I evolve based one hundred percent on lightning. Not that it is an immediate concern considering how many points I need to evolve.

  I think if I stay here long enough to rank up, that shouldn't cause me any problems. Maybe I can rank up twice, but more than that would probably get a bit risky. Since I don't need to do anything but get hit by lightning, I try to spread my senses out.

  This plane is even smaller than the plane of air and there are no life forms here. However, that is not what I am trying to do, I want to see if I can reach the other planes. They are all connected, so it should be possible, I just don't know if I am strong enough.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 90%

  Spreading my senses out doesn't work, but when I focus I can just barely reach the plane of air. It isn't enough to scan the plane, but it is enough to get a feel for where Kechara is. She seems to be doing fine and she is one of the kids I worry about the least.

  So, I switch directions and attempt to reach the plane of fire. It works and I am able to sense Mulan, Mushu, and Nala. They are all together and are not moving, they are probably meditating to gain as much as they can from the plane.

  Unfortunately, that is the absolute limit that I can reach, so I can't check on the rest of the kids. I would have to move to closer planes to check on Asuna and Albion. I already know that I can't check on Ekard and Haku, the shadow plane is too far away.

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  It is also way too large, even if I was on the shadow plane I might not be able to find them. At least not without using the remote to track them, but even that wouldn't be easy. I am fairly sure that they will be fine, but I can't help worrying about them.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 100%

  Core Upgrade Complete!

  Core Rank: 17 -> 18! HP +2,000, DP +1,000, MP +3,000, Strength +100, Intelligence +100, Evolution Points +50!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 5%

  'Great! Evolution?'

  Evolution Points: 140/400 Evolution Level: 2/5

  'Alright, I can only stay here for sixty more points. I don't want to go over halfway without getting some dragon into the evolution. Ideally, I would want to fill the remaining half with dragon. That should ensure that I am on the dragon evolution path.'

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 15%

  It looks like my core progress from the lightning has slowed down, but I was expecting that. It has happened every time that I have found something that helps my core to improve. However, from the looks of it I should be able to get another rank before I have to leave.

  That will put me only one rank from twenty and I am curious what will happen when I hit it. I am expecting either an evolution of my race, or that I will be maxed out and unable to continue. Being maxed out would be rather disappointing, but it would also be one less thing to worry about.

  Considering how many ways I have to improve my strength, losing one won't be too bad. Especially considering how often I get distracted by other things and forget to work on them. Besides, it might also lead to something interesting, I just don't know yet.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 25%

  It looks like I am now only getting ten percent at a time, which should work. I should hit rank nineteen before going over the halfway point to my evolution. If that is the case, then I will use my next rank up as the time to leave the lightning plane.

  Now the only problem is fighting off the boredom long enough to rank up. Because while flying around in lightning feels good, it isn't very entertaining. Unfortunately, I can't enter into meditation while I am flying or I would build my soul palace while waiting.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 35%

  That means that I have to find something to think about to keep myself distracted. When nothing immediately comes to mind, I spread my senses out to look around. I am hoping to find something interesting to occupy my mind and surprisingly I go find an anomaly.

  There is another connection to the subplane besides the ones to the fire and air planes. It is much weaker than the other connections, but it triggers my curiosity. So, I spend some time studying it and try to figure out what it connects to.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 45%

  Unfortunately, the connection is too weak for me to send my senses through it. That means I am only able to study this side of the connection, but that is enough. After studying it for a while I figure out that it is different from the other connections.

  It doesn't connect to another plane, in fact it isn't naturally formed like the others. The main key is that I manage to figure out that it was made using Divine power. That means that it was made by a god or some other kind of divine being.

  I can't tell what it is connected to, but I can tell that it is slowly absorbing power. It is absorbing about a lightning bolt's worth of power every couple of minutes. That is not a very fast rate of absorption, but the connection feels ancient.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  Core Upgrade Progress: 55%