I settled into my room after an eventful few days. The tournament was followed up by a solid three days of festivities, the asphons celebrating their next step towards their goal with fervor. The streets had been filled with asphons partying it up constantly, like a big festival. There were even visitors from the freshly integrated Kurra settlement coming to see the capital of the newly founded country. I had thankfully managed to sidestep Lophan's idea of giving a speech, the mere thought of stepping in front of thousands of people hanging on my every word sending a shiver down my proverbial spine.

Just as Lophan had promised, he footed my bill for the entirety of this shindig. It got to the point where I jumped the gun on mutating myself a new mouth. Sure, I'd wanted to save my mutation points until after I evolved, but I was reasonably certain that I wouldn't get a free extra mouth with my next evolution and I wanted to be able to properly taste again. Thankfully, evolving an extra mouth was a relatively cheap affair, since all it needed to do was extremely basic. A single point for a small mouth, attached just below my regular mouth, with an upgrade that allowed me to completely seal it up when not in use, similar to my ears. All in all, I had to only spend three points to get it done.

And, oh boy, did I take advantage.

The fact that I could finally properly enjoy food again, combined with not having to pay for anything and an infinite stomach capacity due to gluttony resulted in me absolutely going out of control. I had consumed an ungodly amount of food over the past three days. Lophan didn't even bat an eye at the bill, telling me to not worry about it, and that I deserved it.

It made me wonder why I hadn't done this earlier. I did have a few mutation points saved up for a long time now but always kept pushing using them back until after evolving. Which was definitely the smart thing to do, but seriously, the extra mouth was basically free and provided so much joy. Well, what was done was done, and I was able to enjoy food again, so why complain?

I also got the chance to talk to a few of the tournament competitors from Kurra, which was fun. Rollo wasn't exactly the talkative kind, as I'd come to find out. He preferred to let his fists do the talking for him and didn't much enjoy the big crowds. This led to Rollo and Redax standing around near each other in silence whenever we changed bar, which was a pretty funny sight.

I managed to track down Gering as well, the mage that focused on spells that changed the size of things. A short conversation revealed that the spell he used to make himself smaller was called reduction and was a B-tier spell. I'd have to look into getting that for myself since it would most likely allow me to use giant spike whenever the size requirement wasn't met naturally. Another thing I had cleared up for me was stances, forms, and techniques for mages.

Turns out that there definitely were ways to elevate spell-slinging, the problem was that these techniques usually needed to be extremely customized unless the mage followed a pre-determined build. A mage focusing on fire spells, consciously picking specific spells as dictated in a manual, would be able to follow a guide with no problem. But, since I was treading my own, incredibly unique path, I would need to either find a basic guide for something similar and then expand on it, or just come up with my own style. I'd gotten offers to help me out, but ultimately decided to wait until I left this planet and joined the travelers proper. Surely they'd have vastly more experience with stuff like this, compared to a race that had been locked up for millennia, right?

I'd enjoyed the party to its fullest, got some conversations in about fighting, and even sparred with people every now and again. All in all, this party was right up my alley. Alas, after three days things were starting to calm down. And while I did enjoy myself, the fact that I had an evolution waiting for me was a constant buzz in my head. It was finally time to evolve!

Welcome to the Evolution Menu, traveler.

Congratulations on earning yourself the right to evolve into a Tier 8 monster!

You will have the following options available to you:

Choosing a new species from the available options. (Depending on current species, stats, and actions taken during leveling up, more options become available.)

14 mutation points.

40 attribute points.

Due to you completing both bonus objectives, the following will apply:

Complete five village-tier quests:

- B-Tier upgrade token

Complete three city-tier quests:

Choose between:

- A-Tier upgrade token

- 90 mutation points

- 300 attribute points

I brushed past the usual messages, mostly ignoring them and only checking if anything changed. What I was interested in was the bonus objective rewards. First up was a B-Tier upgrade token, and I couldn't help but notice that didn't specify that it was for a passive skill. That probably meant that I could use it for any kind of skill I possessed. Still, I could train my skills and spells by using them and upgrade them that way, which meant I was probably going to use it on a passive anyway.

The reward for the city quests allowed me to choose my own reward, which was quite a rarity. Usually, the system just slapped on an appropriate reward and moved on. As for the choices, they were pretty nice. I disregarded the attribute points, even though this would be a monumental amount for somebody else. Not for me though, I had gluttony for that. Which left me with either another upgrade token or a hefty amount of mutation points. Again, the best use for the token would be for upgrading a passive to S-tier. My eyes briefly lingered on my subordination contract skill, which I'd use in the future to bring other voidlings under my umbrella.

It was at A-tier, and I hadn't had a chance to use it even once. What would the S-tier version of this look like, and would it bring enough advantages to justify spending the token on it? I had no idea how hard it was to improve the skill, so I could either strike gold by upgrading it or completely waste the token. I spent a lot of time considering different angles but eventually decided to get the mutation points instead. Sure, upgrading a skill to S-rank was a big opportunity, but with me about to evolve, I had an odd feeling that I was going to need a lot of mutation points. And, mutations could bring amazing benefits of their own, not to mention that I planned to spend a lot after talking to the mutation expert.

With my choice locked in, the next screen appeared.

Possible Tier 8 Evolutions:

Royal Mutator Voidling (S)

Royal Growth Voidling (S)

Royal Resonance Voidling (S)

Emperor Voidling (SS)

Royal Mutator Voidling (S)

Just like a regular voidling, a royal voidling must eventually decide on the path they want to walk. The Royal Mutator Voidling walks the path of mutations. They see the path to the top in evolving and mutating without end, eventually becoming a true eldritch being unmatched by anyone. This is the path that most voidlings choose.

Passive: Mutation Discount (S)

Passive: Mutation Reward (S)

Passive: Endless Growth (SS)

Active: Adult Form (?)

300 mutation points

Royal Growth Voidling (S)

Just like a regular voidling, a royal voidling must eventually decide on the path they want to walk. The Royal Growth Voidling walks the path of infinite attributes. They see the path to the top in accumulating an infinite amount of attributes, eventually becoming an existence that cannot be touched by anyone.

Passive: Attribute Bonus (S)

Passive: Extra Attribute Slots (SS)

Active: Attribute Theft (S)

Active: Adult Form (?)

1'000 attribute points

Royal Resonance Voidling (S)

Just like a regular voidling, a royal voidling must eventually decide on the path they want to walk. The Royal Resonance Voidling walks the path of the void. They see the path to the top in achieving perfect resonance with the void and gaining control over it. Eventually becoming an absolute existence within the void.

Passive: Void Resonance (S)

Passive: Void Influence (S)

Active: Void Harvest (SS)

Active: Adult Form (?)

Unlock the Void Attribute

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Emperor Voidling (SS)

Unlike a regular voidling, a select few royal voidlings emerge that are just a cut above the others. Possessing both a great affinity for the void and natural talent, these voidlings walk the path of supremacy. They see the path to the top in absolute strength. They rule with an iron will and will stop at nothing to prove they are above the common rabble. Eventually becoming an existence above even the royals.

Passive: Extra Attribute Slot (S)

Passive: Endless Growth (SS)

Passive: Void Resonance (S)

Passive Upgrade: Royal Void Aura (S) → Void Emperor Aura (SS)

Passive Upgrade: Royal Court (S) → Royal Court (SSS)

Active: Adult Form (?)

My jaw was open the entire time I read through my options. There was not a single skill to be seen below S-tier, which was crazy. Interestingly enough, I once again learned some more about voidling society through the descriptions. While they were pretty similar to each other, it was clear that voidlings took on some kind of specialization at this stage in their life. It also explained why most voidlings were eldritch abominations. I of course wouldn't pick that one myself. Sure, mutations were amazing, but I had decided against becoming a fucked up eldritch being a long time ago.

If I had to pick, I would probably go with the resonance voidling over the growth voidling. Sure, growth would probably synergize amazingly with my gluttony skill and I had learned how important it was to specialize after talking with several experts on the matter. But I was simply a lot more interested in the void when compared to amassing ridiculous amounts of attributes. That, of course, was all irrelevant due to the last option.

The emperor voidling option was a bit odd. The text for it was almost see-through and had an ethereal quality to it. It was the first time I had encountered something like this, but I could somewhat intuit that it wasn't a matter of presentation. I was getting this odd feeling from the system that this was not normal. Like if I didn't pick this option right here, right now, I'd lose this path forever. Like with all my achievements and my recent passive upgrade to evolution potential, I just barely managed to qualify for this choice.

And what a choice it was.

It borrowed a bit from all the other choices while upgrading some stuff I already had. All in all, it would give me two S-tier, two SS-tier skills, and even an SSS-tier skill, which was just beyond my wildest imagination. Then there was the flavor text. It was almost annoying how well this evolution path fit me, to the point where I suspected my disposition also contributed to the option appearing. Absolute strength was definitely the path I was currently pursuing, although I didn't entirely agree with the tyrannical vibe the description gave. I would just need to see to it that I never became some sort of evil emperor and I should be fine.

Not wanting to waste any more time with an obvious choice in front of me, I selected the Emperor Voidling evolution.

Emperor Voidling has been selected.

Attribute points will be distributed upon completing the evolution process.

Extra Attribute Slot (Passive) (S)

Gain a seventh attribute slot. Any attribute S-tier or below may be selected at any time after acquiring this passive. !WARNING! The decision is final. !WARNING!

Endless Growth (Passive) (SS)

Your body is ever-growing, ever-changing, and ever-evolving. Generate a small amount of mutation points over time.

Void Resonance (Passive) (S)

By making your skills and spells resonate with the void, they will display greater power than usual. Effect amplified in the void.

Royal Void Aura (S) → Void Emperor Aura (SS)

A step above the royal, an Emperor demands even more respect. Other voidlings can feel your status and will act accordingly.

Royal Court (SS) → Royal Court (SSS)

You may enter subordination contracts with an unlimited amount of normal voidlings. You may also enter into subordination contracts with up to six noble voidlings and two royal voidlings. As long as a normal voidling is in a contract with you, they will gain the skill <Emperor's Support>. Noble voidlings under your rule will gain the skill <Emperor's Knight>. Royal voidlings under your rule will gain the skills <Emperor's Decree> and <Void Symbiosis>.

Adult Form (Active) (?)

Allows you to revert to the same size you were when your adult form was saved.

I truly loved evolving. There were just so many goodies every time I did it. This time was no exception, the evolution veritably showering me with high-tier skills. Getting any kind of S-tier skill was usually hard-fought, but here I was getting tons of them for free!

The extra attribute passive did just about exactly what I thought it would. Opening up a new slot for an attribute. Although, getting to freely choose what attribute I wanted was a welcome choice. There was no rush, so I'd decide on what I wanted later, maybe I'd even consult some experts on good things to get. The void attribute I saw in the resonance voidling evolution was definitely interesting and was currently on the top of my list of potential picks.

Endless growth looked deceptively simple at first glance, but knowing how hard mutation points were to get and how many benefits they provided made me think that the rating was deserved. Considering that voidlings could live for thousands of years? It was crazy to think about. I was interested in just how much it generated, but there was little to do except keep an eye out and see.

Now, void resonance was also interesting. The description was just vague enough to tickle my interest, making me want to do some research. Would it simply provide a straight power boost? Or would my spells gain extra effects, like when I cast them with infused mana? What did it mean by resonating with the void? And how much more pronounced would the effect be in the void? I was giddy to experiment, but for now, I'd have to be patient and finish up my evolution.

The upgrades to my void aura and my royal court skill were pretty straightforward. Although, it was interesting that I could now also make contracts with royals. With this evolution, I had truly become something unusual, even for the void. I couldn't wait for the system to lift the restrictions so I could visit once again. I really wanted to see Tim again to thank him for all he'd done. My visit should also play out differently from last time, although I had a feeling like I'd still be pretty popular, if for completely different reasons. As for the final skill, it finally solved the mystery of the adult form. I suppose a skill like that was necessary, considering how big some voidlings got. Not fitting into Tim's bar was a nightmare, which was thankfully solved by this skill.

With my choice of evolution out of the way, it was time to pick some mutations. While I didn't get any from the evolution choice, I still got a respectable amount from the regular reward combined with the bonus quest reward. With the leftovers, I ended up at a more than respectable 134 points. I could get myself some good stuff with that. Now, I did have a meeting with the mutation expert for just an occasion like this. So, instead of just grabbing what I felt was best, I actually had a plan this time around.

For starters, I chose to follow the advice of the expert and picked the high-resolution upgrade for my eyes, upgrading it once again for good measure. For now, this would simply make my eyes better, but by continuing down this road I would be able to reap all kinds of benefits. Next, the crystal symbiotes. At their current tier, they cleaned my body and protected me against extreme heat and cold. The heat protection had become somewhat irrelevant since I'd gotten heat immunity, so upgrading them should make them relevant again.

Sifting through the upgrade options revealed that they could indeed do all kinds of things. It almost felt like a small civilization that I could steer like a management sim. I took some time to consider what my current weaknesses were to figure out what I would like them to do. Thinking back on my previous battles, my weakness was definitely opponents that hit hard and fast. Shield could become an incredible mana sink, and even though I had tons of mana, it could get drained pretty fast if I continued to tank hits with the spell. Best case scenario, I wouldn't need to use the spell at all.

I eventually picked an upgrade that would protect against all the elements, followed by an upgrade to protect against physical damage, and then went further with the defense against physical attacks. Like this, the symbiotes should act almost like armor would for a human. I'd have to observe how effective this was before investing more, but I had high hopes since the expert said they were often overlooked simply because they were a bit creepy.

For my ears, I simply got the upgrade that would close them off automatically whenever a damaging auditory attack was detected. I wasn't sure how it all worked, but hey, I didn't have to know as long as it did its job. Which lead me to the expert's suggestion of getting a mutation for my nerves. There were quite a few esoteric options for their mutation, stuff like replacing them with literal plants, whatever that achieved. As for myself, I had decided on my path long ago. Ignoring the fancy stuff, I went straight for the basic upgrade, high-speed nerves.

Considering that I possessed a highly evolved brain, my nerves were woefully unequipped to handle the reaction speeds my brain demanded. The lower the latency between decision and execution, the better. Plus, I had been told that things could get pretty crazy at higher tiers of the basic mutation, so that was something to forward to. For now, I pushed my nerves all the way up to tier seven.

Then, I decided to push all of my high-tier mutations that were previously capped at the ninth tier to the tenth. Namely, poison mucus, magic-infused brain, void body, and void core. Poison mucus would keep scaling with my poison magic, making it a no-brainer, just like mutating my brain further was. Void body and void core would enhance essentially everything void-related, coming together to give me an overall boost. Sadly, the system still capped my mutations at two tiers above my current tier, so that's where they'll remain for now.

Still having some points left over, I was left with a choice. Pull something up to a high tier, or get something completely new. I was already getting a bunch of new stuff that I would need to get used to, so I leaned more toward pushing something further up. Scanning over the list I eventually landed on void feelers. As they were currently they had limited use. At best, they were an early warning system, able to detect monsters even through walls or through a certain amount of stealth. But there was potential there. I suspected that at higher tiers there would be nothing that could hide from me, while potentially bringing more benefits on the side. So, without further ado, I pushed the mutation all the way to tier nine before running out of points.

Well, not exactly. I still had four points, just not enough to push the feelers to tier ten. Looking over the list, I eventually decided to throw the points into my "more teeth" mutation, pushing it to tier four. This would allow me to eat my kills a bit faster, which was starting to take quite a bit of time, considering how big some of my opponents were getting. Just remembering Prince Tempus and how long it took me to eat that giant worm annoyed me.

As for the forty attribute points I got for evolving, I decided to pump them into constitution. Usually, I'd just slap all of it into intelligence and wisdom, but in the spirit of beefing myself up a bit with the crystal symbiotes, I wanted to get myself a bit more health as a buffer. Shield was not an unbeatable option, as I'd learned, and when it happened next time, I'd be glad that I invested in the attribute here. After this, though, it would be back to the regularly scheduled pumping of magic-related attributes.

I couldn't help but sigh, since I knew what was coming next. My stupidity hadn't paid out so far, but by god, at this point, I was determined to see it through. I do believe that this was what they called a sunk cost fallacy, but whatever. I was an adult, capable of making my own decisions. There had to be a reason the option existed, there just had to be. So, with a groan, I once again selected no when prompted.

All necessary selections have been made. The evolution into new species will now commence.

Evolution is an incredibly painful process since complete reconstruction is necessary. You may choose to be put to sleep.

Y/N

Name Gary Traveler Tier 1 Type Monster(P2W) Species Emperor Voidling (T8) Level 1 Max HP 27'250 Max MP 423'230 Max VMP 279'332 Strength 462 Agility 543 Intelligence 1110 Wisdom (C) 1190 Constitution 500 Luck 532 Attribute Points 0 Skill Points 9 Data Points 134'556 Skill Trees 2/2 Poison Magical Truth Mutations 3

Skills: Poison Mucus Armor Lv.6 (C), Compress Lv.6 (C), Hunter Radar Lv.2 (C), Powerful Leap Lv.5 (B), Rush Lv.3 (B), Maximum Fortification Lv.8 (B), Meditation Lv.9 (C), Subordination Contract Lv.1 (A), Void Pressure Lv.1 (SS), MP Drain Lv.7 (B), Adult Form(?)

Magic: Poison Shot Lv.10 (E), Poison Ballista Lv.2 (C), Poison Mist Lv. 10 (D), Poison Needle Lv. 10 (D), Poison Bomb Lv.10 (C), Poison Assassination Lv.10 (C), Poison Aura Lv.9 (C), Poison Explosion Lv.3 (B), Poison Caltrops Lv.2 (B), Giant Spike Lv.10 (SS), Void Javelin Lv.10 (B), Void Cloak Lv.10 (C), Void Jump Lv.10 (B), Void Teleport Lv.3 (A), Void Laser Lv.10 (A), Void Rend Lv.2 (S), Magical Bolt (?), Guardian Summon (C)(0/100), Shield Lv.10 (C), Elemental Shield Lv.2 (B), Grass Walk Lv.10(C), Ghost Walk Lv.3 (B), Restoration Lv.10 (C), Heal Lv.3 (B)

Passive Skills: Bottomless Inventory (S)(T3), Stealth (B), Turret (B), Giant Hunter (S), Gluttony (SSS), Elevated Evolution Potential (S), Toxin and Poison Immunity (B), Increased Passive Void Mana Regeneration (A), Crystalized Poison (C), Fast Learner: Poison (A), Poison Master (A), Wisdom King (B), Polonic Chance (A), Void Guidance (S), Void Synchronisation (A), Apex Hunter (C), Magical Singularity (EX), Archive of Asphon (EX), Infuser (B), Greater Lightning Resistance (B), Heat Immunity (S), Mind Protection (B), Void Emperor Aura (SS), Royal Court (SSS), Hidden Radar (B), Spell Flow Recognition (S), Extra Attribute Slot (S), Endless Growth (SS), Void Resonance (S)

Mutations: Poison Mucus (T10), Mana Gland (T2), Mana Concentration Gland (T1), Mana Absorbent Skin (T2), Magic Infused Brain (T10), High Resolution Monster Eyes (T4), Stable Void Connection (T4), Void Mana Conversion Gland (T4), Movement Tentacles (T2), Hand Tentacles (T2), Wing Tentacles (T2), Bigger Mouth (T3), More Teeth (T4), Auto-Sealable Ears (T4), Mana Infusion Gland (T4), Gills (T2), Crystal Symbiote (T6), Void Body (T10), Void Core (T10), Void Feelers (T9), Void Crown (?), High-Speed Nerves (T7), Sealable Tasting Mouth (T2)

Skill Trees: Poison Magic, Magical Truth (2/2)

Languages: English, Void Language, Spell Runes, Rudimentary Asphon

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