Race conformity detected. Requirements met: Vampire and Empath. Calculating…

Race achieved: Psychic Vampire

Psychic Vampire: A race of Vampires who feed on life force and emotion. They often cause negative emotions in order to devour them. Unlike their more traditional relatives, Psychic Vampires do not adhere to clans but are lone wanderers instead.

Rarity: Rare

Stat Bonuses:

Initial Bonus: +3 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence

Level Bonus: +1.5 Wisdom, +1 Intelligence

Error. Two holds found.

Subject not Undead.

Monster variation does not compute.

Recalculating…

Race achieved: Lesser Tyrant Empathia

Lesser Tyrant Empathia: Descendants of the legendary Tyrant race, Lesser Tyrant Empathia were known as conquerors who manipulated emotion to rule their subjects. They are infamous for influencing emotions on a large scale.

Rarity: Ultra-rare

Stat Bonuses:

Initial Bonus: +4 Strength, +4 Wisdom

Level Bonus: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom

Monster Core has transformed into Lesser Tyrant Core due to becoming a specific monster race.

Consolidating Level Bonuses:

Monster: +1 Strength, +1 Stamina

Vampire: N/A

Bloodline: N/A

Lesser Empath: +1 Wisdom, +1 Intelligence

Lesser Tyrant Empathia: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom

Class: +1 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence

Familiar: +0.5 Dexterity, +0.5 Intelligence, +0.5 Wisdom

Monster and Lesser Empath Racial traits consumed. Bonuses no longer apply.

Error. Vampire and Bloodline Racial traits unable to be consolidated.

Level Bonus Total: +2 Strength, +1.5 Dexterity, +1.5 Intelligence, +2.5 Wisdom (+1 all stats per level)

Stat Bonus Corrections will be applied upon next level up.

Reboot complete.

Reviewing Current Status

Name: Snowflake von Vordaray *(Bodyrk)

Race: Lesser Tyrant Empathia

Title: *Snowflake

Class: Spellspear

Subclass: None

Job: Floor Master (Pending)

Level: 25 (+7)

Health: 189/495

Energy: 105/257.5

Strength: 51 (+16)

Stamina: 51 (+14)

Dexterity: 63 (+17.5)

Intelligence: 62 (+17.5)

Wisdom: 41 (+10.5)

*Adaptability: 10 (+2)

***

Dammit! I hate that it fucking does that! What happens if I evolve in the middle of a fight? I could die! I want to file a formal complaint. Later though, I don’t know how long I was out for. I need to check up on my party.

Hmmm, it looks like Legion is smarter than I gave him credit for. He must have commanded the Floor Masters to stop fighting while I was knocked out. I don’t know how I feel about him doing things without permission though. Well, that’s not true. I know how I feel. I don’t like. I mean, it REALLY irritates me. More than it should, honestly.

The Floor Masters are standing around with blank looks on their faces. Black flame still covers their bodies, indicating that they are under control. Something strange is going on though. Around them I can see a plethora of swirling colors. The shades and brightness vary, but they are all coated in a film of red. It looks like a field of flowers on a windy day, but through a pair of red-tinted glasses.

Quinn’s ample chest heaves as she tries to catch her breathe. Her top is so soaked in sweat, it is almost translucent. Her wings, indicative of her mood, droop with exhaustion. Although her body is facing the slime woman, she is looking my direction. She is probably worried about me. No, she is definitely worried. She has colors swirling around her too, albeit without the red film. The dominant color is a sickly pale green, which is what makes me so sure she is worried.

I give her a smile and a small wave, and the colors change. The sickly green fades into the background and an orangish yellow surges forth. If I had to guess I’d say… optimism? The emotions associated with the colors come to me slowly, like remembering something I’ve always known. Hmmm.

Mordai, surrounded by tones of yellow and green, is healing a peeved Honey between bouts of teasing. A dusky pink aura swirls around Honey, indicating her annoyance. From the way she is looking at the lion-like Floor Master, I’d say she is mad that it stopped fighting? Classic Honey.

The duo throw me a couple of strange looks. Is there something wrong with me? I pat my chest and look down at my body. Yuck! I’m covered in a film of gross black filth. Ugh, this isn’t a new racial trait, is it? I’m not okay with this! I’m not the vainest guy around, but that doesn’t mean I’ll submit to being a slime covered freak! I have a hard time seeing myself submit to anything right now, actually.

With desperate hands, I try to scrape away the filth. Thankfully it comes off with ease and doesn’t reform. I heave a sigh of relief while peeling off my armor. With a thought, I form a great globe of water above my head. I turn my back to my fellow party members before stripping my pants off. I’m not ashamed of my body, but I don’t want to give anyone any ideas. I’m looking at you Mordai.

The flow of Source seems so much easier to manipulate now, not only that but I can see it more clearly. Before it was just vague impressions of what was happening, but now it is more vivid. The benefits of all those stats, maybe? I can see the energy value of the air around the water globe drop as I transfer it into the globe. Cold baths aren't my thing.

Complicated tasks are much easier now, or it so it seems. The heated water inside the globe thrashes around violently, but the outer layer remains calm and still. Contrasting visual differences of fierce movement and stubborn stillness, give the orb a mesmerizing appearance.

The water globe traverses the length of my body, with methodic precision. Hot, rushing water batters my body and feels glorious as it cleanses me. The globe expels the filth, keeping the water perpetually clean.

During the process of cleaning off the gear Henry gifted me, it happens. My chest feels empty as the energy in my Core rushes into my body. Every fiber of my being thrums with power. My muscles contain much more energy than it ever could before. I feel amazing. Like I could crush any obstacle in my way with the pure force of my will. Is it because my race is better? Does it have something to do with that black filth?

The void left by my new Core depleting, along with its increased capacity, creates a vortex of Source. A similar thing happened when I gained my first Core. It’s like the sun peeking through the clouds on an overcast day. A moment of semi-clarity connects dots I hadn't even considered.

The black filth, along with increased power, reminds of something I read once. I read it in a library? A special library. The book was about some sort of Cultivation technique… But Cultivation requires… It requires… Um, something other than magic. Ghost something or other. The point is why did it happen?

No, wait. That makes sense. They don’t call ‘Source’ magic here. They call it Source. Maybe because it is just an energy source. An adaptable source that can be used for things other than magic. Things like Cultivation. I’ll have to keep an eye on that. If that is a system that was purposefully put in place, it means there will be many varied opponents in my future. Things with cultivation techniques may be just the tip of the iceberg. We are, after all, beings created from the minds of many authors. The potential is limitless.

If I remember correctly, Cultivation has something to do with expelling impurities from your body? Is that what Henry meant when he said purity is power? Or did he mean that the purity of Source is power? As in, Source itself is impure and purifying it brings out its potential.

Both maybe? I’m gonna shelf that thought process for now. If memory serves me, I have a limited amount of time.

First, I’m progressing at a decent pace. My magic is not outstanding, but this new race should make up for that. Like a conductor, I wave my hands at the Goblin Floor master. In accordance to my will, the colors that swirl around him swell and recede. The applications for this are many and varied. I’ll just down a little note for myself, real quick…

Second, with each subsequent evolution my emotions and personality are changing. After the Monster evolution, I felt a lot of aggression. With this evolution, I feel domineering. I hate to say it, but I feel like a tyrant. Apt naming choice perhaps? Or a bad sense of humor. Channeling emotion into Wisp was an imperfect solution. I need to accept these changes as part of who I am and adopt. Take the good, but leave the bad, so to say.

Before coming to this World, I was so cemented in my personality I was boring. I mean, for hundreds of years all I did was.. I-I’m not sure what I did. Hundreds of years? Ugh. I don’t have time for this! Long story short, if I'm aware that my actions are being altered by my personality change, but willfully act anyway, it should be fine. The import thing is to acknowledge my actions as my own and not as being influenced.

I quickly scribble down another note for myself and turn to the most immediate issue. What do I do with the Floor Masters? They are too dangerous to release. I can sense vast amounts of power being suppressed inside of them. I’m not sure how Legion did it, but it looks like he sealed their power and mental functions by putting them in a state of mindless rage. Clever, but again, not a long-term solution.

I could just kill them in their weakened state, but wouldn’t they re-spawn? We’re in the Dungeon after all.

I wonder what Nevasca thinks?

I look at my partner in crime for the first time since waking up. She is on the back of the Chimera, her claws and teeth digging deeply into its flesh. At some point, she grew two extra tails. Part of the new evolution, or part of the evolutionary energy she saved up? Each of the tails wraps around a different head of the Chimera.

Sensing my attention, Nevasca releases her teeth’s grip on the Chimera. She shoots me a bloody grin, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. She sends me an image along the lines of ‘watch this.’ Her whole-body strains as she wraps her tails around the heads with greater vigor. She pushes against the beast with her paws, corded muscle bulging through her skin. With a pop, the heads go flying in different directions spraying blood everywhere.

Colors of pride roll off her as she trots over to my side. On her way over she takes extra care to shred the remaining pieces of the snake tail, a sentiment I can fully agree to. Fuck snakes. That aside, having a powerful familiar is awfully useful. Actually, that’s not a bad idea.

“Good girl, Nevasca,” I ruffle my companion’s fur and feathers, eliciting a content rumble from her. Unlike me, a black film of filth does not coat her body. I wonder how the evolution changed her, but I ask a different question instead. “How would you feel about having a sibling of sorts?”

Her colors betray signs of unease and jealousy, but not complete rejection. Ah yes, I felt the same way when my mother and father approached me about having another sibling. This is, perhaps, a different situation, but I understand how she feels. With images and words, I reassure her.

“With an extra familiar we would have another asset that is completely loyal to us,” I send images of someone that would help us slaughter our enemies, but without the potential betrayal that Ra’hel showed us was out there. I make no promises of her getting along with the new familiar. I have no intentions of making a promise I cannot keep.

Nevasca begrudgingly agrees, but insist that I rub her belly every day. I chuckle wryly at that. My parents had to bribe me as well. I assure her that no matter what happens, the love and affection I have for her will never change. We share a brief moment, but there is work to be done.

I can feel that my time of clarity is running short, so I carve a few last notes for myself into the ground. Nevasca gives me a quizzical look, but I don’t explain. The others, who were reluctant to turn their backs on their opponents, are backing up in my direction. They must’ve decided that our best bet is to regroup for now. Normally, I would agree, but I have other plans.

The sun disappears back behind the cover of clouds, but not before I put some pants on.

***

I study the list carved into the ground in familiar handwriting. I wrote myself a set of notes again.

Source- more than magic? Purity: body vs. source You can influence the emotions of others. Experiment. With each evolution, your personality changes. Be self-aware. Make one of the Floor Masters your familiar. You promised to rub Nevasca’s belly every day. Find out how this evolution changed Nevasca.

Being told what to do seriously irks me. Even if I’m commanding myself, I really don’t like it. What is worse, is that I have a lot of good points and ideas. Still, I don’t like it. This probably has to do with point three. My new evolution may have ‘blessed’ me with control issues. Ugh, as if I didn't have enough problems. An aggressive control freak with a taste for blood and manipulating emotions. What a stand-up guy I'm shaping into.

For now, I will choose a new familiar. This has a dual purpose of eliminating a series of threats as well adding to my own personal power. I guess the question is, which one? It would be too troublesome to soul-bind them all.

I control the color scheme of the Floor Masters to bend them to my will. I push the red down, not enough to give them free will, but enough to bring back some clarity. With a gesture, I increase their levels of pale orange and neon green. Their interest and acceptance peaked, I issue a command.

“Come speak to me, I have a proposition for you,” I smile at the three remaining Floor Masters, lambs for the slaughter. Is this how the Guildmaster felt when he met me?

A smaller voice echoes inside of me, asking me a question I don’t want to consider. The voice says, ‘Is this who you really are? Is it who you want to be?’