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After having helped his father obtain several skills to strengthen him, Ervas glanced at the System Notifications that he had been getting for a while. ??
Ding!
[The Levels of the [Spirit Magic; Level 1], and [Botanist; Level 1] have increased!]
[Experience Points have reached the required level!]
[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 85 to level 100!]
[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 1 to level 20!]
"I can evolve, or 'rank up' now… Should I explain this to my father?" thought Ervas.
"Muh, muh," said Gaia, nodding with her small, bead-like body.
"If you say so," said Ervas, caressing the little Gaia.
Jason was stretching a bit as he had been sitting on the floor for a few hours, having his Mana Veins forcefully awakened by Ervas made him feel a bit of tiredness all over his body, especially his muscles, which had become stiff.
"Ugh… Am I getting too old already?" he said.
"Regeneration Enhancement, Healing Life," said Ervas, conjuring two Life Attribute healing spells with the help of Gaia. Jason felt as his stiff muscles relaxed and became flexible once again. He not only had his muscles relaxed, but he felt as if his energy came back to his body, which would be already exhausted after over eight hours of working nonstop in the fields.
"Haah… this feels… very good… Is this a Life Attribute Spell? I cannot believe how talented my son is. I really don't deserve him" said Jason.
"Well, it is not me the one who is conjuring it, it's Gaia. Without her, I would not be able to do this" said Ervas.
"Ah! I-I see… I suppose you two do splendid teamwork. Thanks, miss Gaia" said Jason, patting Gaia, which he had become capable of seeing after acquiring the 'Spirit Magic' Skill.
"Muh, muh!" said Gaia, happy to receive the praises of her friend's father.
"Father, I have to tell you something else that I am capable of doing," said Ervas.
"Hm? W-What?" asked Jason, a bit frightened… perhaps his son had another superpower saved up the sleeve?
"I can evolve… I will be doing it right now" said Ervas.
"You can evolve, I see- wait, what?" asked Jason.
"It is part of the System given to me. In that time, even the Humans who defeated me in my previous life were capable of evolving. Though their appearance did not change much aside from gaining more muscle mass, tougher skin or bones" said Ervas.
"B-But you're a half-demon, Ervas… maybe you will get something crazy… Are you sure that you want to evolve?" asked Jason.
"I am sure. It is necessary to become stronger. I don't think that it will be anything big, in my previous life I was a demon as well, but the changes were minimal, aside from my horns growing" said Ervas.
"Your horns growing… but wouldn't that call too much attention?" asked Jason.
"It cannot be helped. We will be running away from them in a few more days anyway, so I don't care." Said Ervas, nonchalantly.
"Hmm… well, you're right." Sighed Jason.
"Just stay there, I'll do it in a second," said Ervas, with a mild smile as he selected the 'Evolution' or 'Rank Up' tab in the system.
[Evolutions Available]
[Spiritual Half Demon], [Hollow Half Demon]
"Spiritual and Hollow…? I do not remember these evolutions in my previous life. It must be new because I am a Half Demon…" thought Ervas, using his 'Appraisal' to glance at each evolution details.
[Spiritual Half Demon]
A special evolution granted to a Half-Human and Half Demon who had trained its ability to communicate and befriend Spirits, capable of channeling their powers and aid it on its daily tasks. It specializes in magic.
This evolution is capable of strengthening the 'Spirit Magic' Skill and help the individual forge a stronger bond with spirits.
This evolution specializes in Mana and Magic.
[Hollow Half Demon]
A special evolution granted to a Half-Human and Half Demon who had trained and strengthened its ability over manipulating No-Attribute Magic and its spells. Hollow of any element aside from the purest of forms of mana, without any attribute.
This evolution is capable of strengthening the 'No-Attribute Magic' Skill, helping the individual to increase his understanding of the manipulation of mana without any attribute.
This evolution specializes in Mana and Magic.
"Well, both of them seem tentative… I wish I could evolve into both… but well, I will choose Spiritual Half Demon because leveling Spirit Magic to level 3 would be very useful. I already have No-Attribute Magic at level 3, so this should even things out" said Ervas, selecting the first evolution option.
For a small moment, Jason saw as his son began to shine brighter than ever.
"Ah! Ervas?!"
"Calm down, I'm evolving." Said Ervas.
Flash!
As the light dissipated, Ervas was revealed to Jason…
"Ervas! Are you okay, my son?" asked Jason, approaching Ervas.
"Yes," said Ervas, with his expressionless face.
"Ah! Wait… you didn't change at all…" muttered Jason.
"I told you that I wouldn't… I am not a monster to undergo such drastic changes after all. Though my horn became tougher and a bit bigger… but it can still be covered with my hair." Said Ervas, trying to make a mild smile. For some reason, his face was always stiff and expressionless.
Ding!
[Congratulations! The user had successfully evolved into [Spiritual Half Demon; Rank 2]!]
[The Levels of the [Spirit Magic; Level 2] and [Mana Drain; Level 1] Skills have increased!]
"Mana Drain leveled up… I have barely used this Skill, but I suppose it could be very useful in draining Mana from my foes… Perhaps I should practice it with my father while at the same time I give him my mana through 'Mana Transfer'?"
Mana Transfer was a No-Attribute Magic Spell, capable of granting a selected individual the Mana of the caster.
Then, Ervas realized something.
??Wait… what if we practice Mana Control, with father, while I use Mana Drain on him… I can constantly refill his mana while I drain it back… both of us constantly training several skills at the same time, alongside our Mana stat. Much like a muscle, it should increase if we use a lot and then recover it constantly" said Ervas.
Jason glanced at him, without understanding anything that he had just said.
In general, intelligent races had a wide understanding of Kritias System and also knew basic mathematics to calculate their statistics and skill numbers. But Jason, who was just a farmer, only had the bare minimum of the bare minimum, what Ervas was coming out with was a bit overwhelming for his mind, which hasn't cultivated itself into anything such as magic since he was born, only using his muscles and strength to move the dirt and plant seeds.
But he trusted his son, of course.
"If you say so… but I think we should go to sleep though…" muttered Jason.
"Yes, I can do it while sleeping." Said Ervas.
"I see, well then- wait, what? Since when you can use magic while sleeping?" asked Jason, a bit bewildered.
"Since a long time ago. I can do it through my 'Memory Retention' skill, which I can set to automatically recall memories of what I've done, insert them into my nerves and muscles, and replicate them while my consciousness is sleeping." Said Ervas, talking as if what he had been doing was something completely ordinary.
"Ah… Okay, I get it, it's one of your skills… I wish I could see the status" said Jason.
"I guess you can't see mine, but I can see yours. I have the 'Appraisal' Skill" said Ervas.
"You can see my status?! Since when?" asked Jason.
"Since I was born here? What is wrong with that? You should be prouder of your status, father. You have a good Health Points and Strength stat; you make me proud" said Ervas.
"I don't know what to say…" muttered Jason.
In the world of Kritias, seeing each other status was something quite hard. Ervas probably does not realize this, as he thinks that aside from giving him information, 'Appraisal' is not a very good skill… but there would be people in Kritias that would kill to obtain such an ability.
The power to scan someone else completely, revealing every single one of their secrets… In the right hands, it was an insanely powerful tool.
There were some ways for people to reveal their status to others, such as going to a guild and touching the 'status crystal', often used to register a new adventurer's abilities and proficiencies.
However, in the middle of a small village such as the Evergreen Village, a 'status crystal' was nowhere to be found, people shared their abilities only by mouth. And most of them were nothing but ordinary villagers, the ones that could develop some kind of magic skill would have already gone to the Kingdom and registered in either the Mages Guild or the Adventurers Guild.
By just learning skills such as Mana Control, Fire Attribute Magic, and so on, Jason had already become someone remarkable in the entire Evergreen Village… and his son, Ervas, was someone even more remarkable.
If Ervas were to be born as a human, he would have the opportunity to go to the Aquaria Kingdom and register in the Mage Guild, obtain a high position due to his outstanding talent, and be taught personally by famed mages and wizards.
It would have been a nice and carefree life. His life would have resembled a slice of life magical school drama of sorts.
After evolving, Ervas felt that this connection with Gaia had become stronger and that his own soul had begun to recover… much like his split soul, which was far away from him.
However, unlike Veronica, Ervas was developing his soul differently… its components were shrouded in spiritual energies and Life Attribute mana due to Gaia's presence. His soul was golden, with a white luster, unlike Veronica's shadowy, dark, and spectral soul.
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