~SKYLAR AMBERLY VITALIS

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Pitch black and dew-drop shaped, the evolution gem sat innocently in my right hand.

If I didn’t know any better about its magical nature, then I would have assumed that it was just a cheap plastic gem that people would buy or make just for decorations.

It was certainly light enough to be passed as one.

The gem felt more like a feather than having the weight of an actual rock crystal.

Yet, for some reason, a feeling of absolute certainty that this was an evolution gem washed over me the second I took hold of it.

“Isn’t this a little bit too big to eat?” I pointed out the obvious.

“You don’t have to chew or swallow it, silly.” Chuckled Gaia, “You just place it on your tongue and wait a few seconds.” she said. “Be patient though, let the registration complete first.”

I looked over at my left hand – which was placed upon a milky, glowing orb, upon a velvet cushion in the metal box she had brought in.

A moment later, the milky glow faded and the orb became a clear glass sphere.

“Now state your name – not your true one mind you! – and your age according to your planet’s cycle so that your debt can be calculated.” She urged.

“Nocturna. Twenty-one-year-old from Earth.”

I flinched my hand away as a sting of static shocked my fingers.

>AETHER LINK ESTABLISHED!

A calm, emotionless female voice – that was rather on the more mature side in tone – inducted me to the aether system.

I had to admit that it was more pleasant than those multitude of voices.

‘What were those voices anyways?!’

>WELCOME USER [NOCTURNA].

>NOTIFICATION SYSTEM FINALISED.

>INQUERY INDEX MANUAL LOADED.

>DEBT INCURED: 624 MANDATORY SUMMONS

‘Damn it!’ I ran a quick calculation in my head, ‘It’s four years’ worth of missed summons! And it will take me just as long to complete!’

“That’s it, you can use the gem now.” Gaia told me as I was thinking hard.

“You don’t want to know about my debt?” I arched a brow.

“That’s confidential to you.” she waved my question away.

“What will this… evo gem do actually?” I eyed it suspiciously in my hand.

“Give you access to the wall of providence and the ability to evolve without having to painfully turn into a pile of goo.” she eyed me. “Which, to my knowledge must have happened to you when you awakened… and I’m sure you’d rather avoid that unpleasantness.

“In fact, let me warn you right now. Never ever push for an evolution without the required number of gems! It requires more gems as you ascend to more powerful evolutions, but also in some cases… it may reconstruct you in the wrong way or not at all if your body disintegrates too severely during a metamorphosis.” she explained pointedly.

I nodded. Remembering clearly the horror and pain of what I had gone through merely hours earlier.

“Also. Never evolve anywhere you’re not safe! The process can sometimes be very long, and no matter how strong you are, you’re super vulnerable during the change.” Gaia finished and waited for me to take the gem.

I took a deep breath and quickly popped it in my mouth.

The gem didn’t taste like anything, and after a second it just disappeared in my mouth.

> 1 GEM CONSUMED.

>PROVIDENCE UNLOCKED.

“Uhm… Nothing happened.” I pointed out.

“Oh, you’ll need your artifact to be able to manage your evolution. Otherwise, it takes seventy-two hours to automatically choose and complete it for you – if you didn’t register and had access to the aether system that is.” Gaia said.

‘Ahh…! So that what it means that it’s difficult for rogue demons.’

She pulled what looked to be a tablet that was besides the orb in the metal box. “This aether slate has been registered to you and only you. It’s pretty robust, but not indestructible. Take good care of it! However, if it does happen to break, we will fine you for the fees before giving you a new one.” Gaia warned. “It gives you access to choose and manage your evolution and assets. It also keeps tracks of things, like your experience points and achievements, as well as summoning contracts and logs.” She handed the flat tablet over to me.

>ARTIFACT DETECTED

>CONTROL-PANEL FEATURE IMPLIMENTED

> 10 INVENTORY SLOTS ADDED

Chimed the system the moment I had the slate in hand.

“Now imagine putting it away in a pocket and then summoning it again.” Gaia directed, “We need to test if it works properly.”

I obliged. Imagining the slate disappearing as I loosened my grip on it a little.

It blinked out of existence from my fingertips.

‘Wow! So cool!’ I geeked-out internally while I kept a straight face on the outside.

I didn’t even have to fully imagine the tablet back. It seemed to hover in some sort of limbo space which I was fully aware of, and just the thought of needing it back in my hands caused it to appear there.

“Due to it’s nature, it doesn’t take up any inventory slots.” Said Gaia, “Only you can see what’s written on it too. Nobody else can, not even if you intentionally show it to them. There is a shop feature included on it, as well as many things you’ll find very handy. I’ll leave the rest for you to explore later, but I’d like for you to choose your base evolution now.”

“How do I do that?” I asked while scrolling through the things on the tablet.

It handled just like a modern touch screen, and I could use it with the same ease I did my phone.

Although the interface was much simpler and there weren’t too many settings to fiddle with.

“Well first you have to go to the shop and you’ll see that you’ve been awarded five rolls from the gacha. And since you’re a late chimera initiate, an Ultra rare item should have already been sent to your inventory.”

I arched a brow. “A gacha system? Seriously?!”

“It would have been a normal shop, but the gacha system is the only way to circumvent a troublesome clause in the Alpha Contract. So, we had to make an award system based on luck rather than just directly selling things.” She explained. “There are advantages though. You get five daily pulls – although you can’t stack them, since it resets daily. However, there are no blank pulls, and every single object is something useful – we’ve endeavoured to make sure of that!

“You will also see a ticket system. That one was there since before, and it has been optimised over the centuries. I personally love the combination of the gacha and ticket system. The evolution is also well complimented by them. And if all else fails your fancy, your experience points can also be converted to luxury coins that you can spend in the shop to buy things that other demons put on sale.”

Gaia sounded very enthusiastic as she spoke about the complexity of the entire thing.

And I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to digest everything if she piled in any more information.

“By the way?” I asked as I tapped into the shop option on the aether slate, “I meant to ask – if it isn’t too rude. You look human, so, is there a way to do that or…?”

“Well, as you evolve you gain attributes, and you can choose to keep some of them.” she replied, “You can get an illusion spell or temporary potion from the shop, but a more permanent way to control it at will is to gain an attribute from evolving. There are many attributes from many different races that allow you to appear like almost anything really. Mine though, comes with my chosen species of dragon and it took me eight-hundred years to acquire it… give or take a few decades.”

‘Looks like I have no choice but to tell Fumiko.’

I wasn’t planning to hide this from my family in the first place.

I had seen how stupid it was to do so in various media, and how fast the situation could go downhill the longer I would try to keep all of this to myself.

They would be better prepared if anything happened.

And if after trusting them, my own family decided to betray me, then I would deal with that bridge with the full knowledge that telling them was my choice.

Besides. If the CEO of a biotech conglomerate couldn’t support me, then I doubt many people could.

I found the daily gacha and chose the option to make all five pulls at once.

>LEVEL 2: ITEM UPGRADE TOKEN

> LEVEL 2: ITEM UPGRADE TOKEN

>1 UNBREAKABLE ALLOY

>EVOLUTION+ TICKET

>WORLD ENTRY TICKET

When I relayed what I had got, Gaia sat back in her chair in clear surprise before she started explaining.

“Upgrade tokens aren’t that uncommon, but getting two of them is pretty nice. And they can be used on anything considered to be an item of yours. Unbreakable alloy is actually a super-rare pull! Despite the name, you can set it on anything like weapons or items. It won’t protect the item from damage, since the durability of anything decreases over time. But what it does do is prevent anything from breaking past the point of being repaired. Evolution-plus ticket is super nice too! After choosing your base evolution to start with it adds 1 sub-evolution slot to any evolution levels. That path still needs to be unlocked, but it allows you do things like gaining an ability or attribute that lies outside of your race’s evolutionary line. For example, if you’re choosing to evolve into a phoenix, you can still choose a wraith’s ice attribute and completely flip your powers on it’s head. Finally, the world entry ticket is exactly what it says. With it you may choose to enter any world you haven’t been summoned to yet – based on your level of course.”

“You said I get five gacha pulls per day?” I double-checked.

“Yes, but this was a once in a lifetime unique pull because you just started. The other daily gacha will be filled with common items, like health potions or food rations or utility tools. And you’ll have to gather the funds to pull more expensive gacha on your own time.” Gaia smiled widely. “There is a cut-off daily limit so that you don’t jeopardise yourself, so be mindful not to get addicted to pulls.”

“How do I use the inventory?” I asked.

“Just click on the inventory. It’s easier if you set it to auxiliary mode. That way you can mentally access it via the aether connection, and you won’t have to pull out your aether slate all the time.”

I followed her advice and did just that.

>INVENTORY REMOTE ACCESS GRANTED

And suddenly – like the aether slate – the slots and content of my inventory were made know to me in their entirety, and seemed to stay there in limbo.

Five out of ten slots were full.

‘So, same type of item stacks…’ I noticed that the upgrade tokens both occupied the same space.

Then there was a slot that demanded my attention.

I directed my mental focus to that slot, and my inventory scrolled to accommodate.

‘Wait! Is this really my Ultra-rare item?’

>ETERNITY ITEM: CHAINS OF LUCIFER (Level 1)

I tapped into the info.

>>Eternity Items cannot be Unequipped, Changed or Broken once Equipped. A once in a lifetime powerful item. (Will degrade over time and use and effectiveness will drop without proper repairs and maintenance)

The item was a pair of bracelets that when put on, would encompass half of my forearm from my wrist.

They looked like plain stainless-steel manacles.

“I would suggest using one of the upgrade tokens on your inventory.” Said Gaia, “Aside from that, you can choose how you start your evolution based on your unique item, or take a completely unorthodox route. It’s completely up to you.”

“How do I-?”

“Simply think of it, since your inventory management is connected to you directly now though the aether.”

“Convenient.” I noted, already forming a plan in my mind.

‘Use one upgrade token on Inventory, and the other on the Chains of Lucifer.’

>DOES USER NOCTURNA CONFIRM THIS?

‘Yes!’

>INVENTORY UGRADED [LEVEL 2]: 5 days = 1 hr inside inventory.

>CHAINS OF LUCIFER UPGRADED [LEVEL 2]: Length extended [5metres (x2)] + weak telekinetic control.

Also, their appearance in my inventory changed.

The plain bracelets gaining ornate carvings and a feral look with swirling designs of black and silver.

‘Apply Eternal Alloy to aether slate.’

>DOES USER NOCTURNA CONFIRM THIS?

‘Yup.’

>ETERNAL AETHER SLATE ADDED!

The tablet in my hand suddenly gained a dark, brushed-metal look that encompassed the back of it.

All that was left was the World Entry and the Evolution-Plus Tickets.

Well… that wasn’t entirely true…

I was contemplating about wearing the chains, but figured there was still time to choose whether or not to wear them later.

After all, wearing something for the rest of eternity wasn’t a simple choice.

“Have you made a choice for your base?” Gaia asked after I hadn’t talked for a bit.

I mentally checked the Wall of Providence and the numerous evolutionary paths available to me.

“I think I’ve found something I’m ready to settle on, but I’d rather do it at home.” I told her.

Gaia smiled wildly, “Then that concludes your time here.” she gestured behind me – to where I was sure the portal had reopened. “I look forward to your exploits, Nocturna.”