Four minutes this time round? Well, he wasn’t one to argue with extra time. Besides the pleasant surprise, he rushed into reading all the bloodlines which clearly developed from stronger assimilations.

His disdain for the first two bloodlines also lowered when he thought about the wafer scales protecting him now. Would they have naturally appeared in a later evolution if he selected one of the new flavours?

Perhaps, but he saw no reason to select it now that he already obtained them… although, the very real possibility of changing his teeth, claws, eyes, and other organs remained. And that concept tempted him. On the other hand, the transformations would be into other types of food, and probably sweets to make it worse. He couldn’t afford to waste time thinking about this all though!

First, he had to determine the worthless bloodlines quickly. This proved easy as he discarded the non-synergising human bloodlines, as well as those from elats and black hoofs. The ones he purposely ignored from the previous evolution also got thrown to the side, mostly because they really sucked.

Especially that Volatile mutant one… a hunch told him it’d follow him for years to come.

As for which bloodline he wanted. Far too many of this batch garnered his desire, the number of truly useful choices kind of surprised him for once.

Pure mana, Spell storing, Icy mana, Mind splitting, Swordclaw, Spell sniper, Nature’s ally, Skystepping, Nation traversing, and Overenduring… Especially those last three which originated from scarlet hoofs.

[Skystepping Ice-cream: Your body can now expend energy and mana to directly step on air below you. At the same time, the winds are easily sensed by you and may be used to accelerate beyond normal speeds, meanwhile no drag is felt from opposing winds. The bottom of your feet become soft, like cotton, but no other physical changes occur. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +20% air speed, +30% air magic resistance, -30% fall speed, +45% MP regen at high altitudes, +40% magic damage when above target]

[Nation traversing Ice-cream: With stamina raised to near critical levels, you find it a breeze to run across border to border without stopping. Your body is highly adapted to all terrains and weather, although heat still poses a problem. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +50% movement speed, -40% sleep requirements, +35% magic damage while moving, +35% digestion speed]

[Overenduring Ice-cream: Remain resolute under heavy pressure and carry weights several times greater than yourself almost indefinitely. Additionally, the weight of such things does not impact you physically although exhaustion will set in sooner. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +30% movement speed, +20% defence for every load equal to your weight, +25% mental resistance]

At a deeper glance he cared less for Overenduring, meanwhile Nation traversing wasn’t exceptional in his current situation. On the other hand, Skystepping undoubtedly allowed for a flight-like ability later on. The draw of such a bloodline appeared immediately.

He didn’t have time to think deeper as he read the better bloodlines from humans. Just rushing through them all to see the best effects.

[Mind Splitting Ice-cream: Split your mind into a core and subsidiary part, the former being your primary consciousness. The subsidiary can be controlled to perform mechanical tasks involving manipulations of your soul or mana. Slightly weakens your consciousness as a side effect. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +25 max MP, +50% magic damage, +35% mental resistance, -25% pain]

[Swordclaw Ice-cream: Replaces claws with metal and grants the innate ability ‘Swordclaw form’. Using this ability transforms the metal claws into sharp blades for any moments where the mana flow requirements are met. Additionally, when training sword techniques and skills you more easily enter a focused state. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +40% sword skill damage, +25% max MP, +50% physical strength, +40% max HP, +25% physical defence]

[Spell sniper Ice-cream: A mind of extreme precision, you subconsciously understand how and when to fire to hit distant targets with ease. You can control your body completely in the moments before firing spells and enter a state of deep focus without fail during spellcasting. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +40% max MP, +55% magic damage]

[Nature’s ally Ice-cream: All forms of nature attempt to aid you, and their power can be drawn upon at will providing conditions are met. The drawn power cannot be absorbed but may be used for spellcasting above your current abilities or temporary enhancement. Additionally, living plants will follow your commands when given mana in fair amounts. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +35% max MP, +30% earth magic damage, +X% physical defence depending on the power of nearby plants, ability to sense all plant life in 20 metres]

Honestly, it was all way too much to read carefully, so for the most part he just took sparing glances at the Nexus bonuses and focused on the text. Nature’s ally was amazing in any place with vibrant life…

Guess what a snowy mountain doesn’t have!

Sarcasm aside, he really enjoyed the idea of Mind-splitting until realising that this subsidiary part had no way to cast spells. With only one mouth, what did it matter if he had the ability to cast two spells at once? In effect, its main use had been crippled as he was a dragon!

For humans he didn’t doubt such an ability could propel one to the forefront of their species. Being able to cast a simpler spell while using the bulk of their mind for stronger ones gives excellent firepower and rhythm in a battle. Regardless, he ignored it with this realisation and looked at the other two for just a few seconds longer.

He quickly decided Spell sniper to be the only human bloodline worth keeping, taking just seconds of decision making. Actually, the choice came from a single fact regarding the Swordclaw bloodline. When he read over the Nexus’ bonuses and saw the +50% physical strength bonus, the pointlessness of a physical bloodline was laid out before him extremely clearly. Even with scales, he remained a spellcasting dragon. Weakening his magic for metal claws made no sense with that logic.

Finally, the last few bloodlines came as a result of his current bloodline and the Mutation rate points. Obviously, from the start Pure mana entered his sight, being the natural evolution to his current bloodline and all.

[Pure mana Ice-cream: Final evolution in the mana-focused ice-cream pathway. Your body becomes an incredible store of mana, at the same time acclimating to the powerful energy extremely well and improving your magical talent by a small degree. Mana sense extends further, and control over small quantities of mana feel entirely natural. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +100% max MP, +35% magic damage, +45% pure magic resistance, +45% MP regen]

Final evolution? He asked without hesitation for a clarification, “How do I evolve after taking Pure mana Ice-cream?” The Nexus replied without any wait as well.

[Endings in a pathway are not a final limit, there are ways to forcibly extend the pathway or instead merge into an entirely new one with a higher limit. This is extremely easy due to your ability to assimilate bloodlines]

Without a doubt that message was custom made for him, the Nexus’ attention during his evolution was far from small. But with that answer, he couldn’t afford to linger on this fact. He didn’t even have to compare to know that bonuses of Pure mana were two or three times better than most other bloodlines available to him.

Still he glossed over the remaining interests. Both of these also naturally occured due to his existing bloodline and physical state.

[Spell storing Ice-cream: The mana within your body re-aligns to form small gaps capable of storing spells, the form of these stored spells is restricted to seals, arrays, and inert spell rings. Each stored spell is an insignificant mental weight. The maximum number of stores may be increased manually as well, once a method is found out. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +40% max MP, +30% mental resistance, +45% magic damage, +50% spell formation speed]

[Icy mana Ice-cream: While your heart pulls on pure mana, your body automatically converts it into easily compressed Icy mana as well as providing an additional skeleton of ice. The skeleton regrows when infused with icy mana, and the mana may be released into a pseudo-domain. In addition to previous bonuses, grants +50% max MP, +60% ice magic damage, +40% MP regen, +80% ice magic resistance, -30% fire magic resistance]

“Wow… That’s good, but not as good as Pure mana. Anyone else would’ve picked another bloodline though. Nexus, what’s the magical talent increase I receive?” Although he didn’t specify from which evolution pathway he meant, the Nexus replied anyway and confirmed that spurious guess.

[Magical talent refers to the greatest spell a body can cast at maturity. Currently, your limit is casting Master true spells, the increase offered by Pure mana Ice-cream merely allows for slightly stronger Master tier spells to be used, not enough to enter the next tier]

Receiving such an answer made him take a step back and think about things better, quickly asking, “How much time remains?”

[58 seconds]

There was some time for thinking, not a lot though.

Mentally, he naturally drew to Pure mana because it amounted to what his past evolutions worked towards, the ending point of two months' work. But he found the description somewhat less impressive than Icy mana. The value of a skeleton like that could not be beaten easily, increasing his power and survivability. Not to mention he could safely traverse more dangerous areas…

“Nexus, does picking an elemental bloodline make it tougher to diversify in the future?” He asked with seconds ticking and his mind lurking once more, finally pulling up some other important notes.

[Yes, however it also makes it easier to specialise into any variants of that element as well]

“Not allowed to push me to a specific pathway… I see,” he said with defeat. A heavy conflict remained.

He had to choose. Either take the very obvious defence boost to enter more dangerous places, or the talent and detection boosting bloodline instead. He readily admitted that finding objects beneath the snow was a great priority, especially for wyrm, giant, and yeti remains. All those things would be hidden deep so that nothing else in the area found it. He felt a touch of regret knowing just how great flight or a real skeleton would be, but he also knew those two would come inevitably by growing and finding out how to mutate beasts.

But the seconds ticked away, and he had to make a choice. Either way, neither of the two options stopped a Steel ranked warrior from killing him near instantly, and only potential mattered with that factor in mind.

“I select Pure mana Ice-cream. Let’s hope it pays off,” only acceptance remained in his voice. He had no more time to choose, and both bloodlines granted the ability to gather stronger assimilations.

But Pure mana pulled ahead in one single way.

It had no inherent limitations. A normal dragon would beg to differ, seeing the final evolution in a pathway as horrific unless a new one was readily available. He just hoped that whatever he assimilated provided bloodlines better than the scarlet hoofs, which were already rather good by his standards.

Looks like flying would have to wait…

In his little hovel, the somewhat grown hatchling began another evolution. Things went slightly different this time round as well.

His wafer scales separated from his body painlessly, transforming into a shell like he experienced several times now. The tougher egg constrained him far more, but not enough to make this situation uncomfortable.

And then the process began, reminding him that evolutions not once felt good. The nausea from before was so much worse this time round, and it felt like something blended all his internals into a pasty mush before putting everything back together. Unlike the previous evolutions as well, this all went on for far longer as well, or perhaps he just thought it so due to the mind-rending sensations.

Almost fainting from the endless motions, he finally felt it all come to a slow stop and give some breathing room. Throughout the process he didn’t even check the evolution’s progress, not that his mental dexterity during it allowed for that.

Breaking out of his shell took significantly more effort than he expected, but that eased with the use of an Earth bolt from within the egg. Not that he entirely avoided damage for creating a sharp shard of rock inside such a tight space.

When it broke he easily kicked it apart to escape, he immediately noted that an ice-cream skin remained. Not for long that is.

Seconds after breathing air he felt that scream-inducing pain once more, fortunately passing moments later as a new layer of scales formed on top. While just as painful as the first time growing scales, the period to complete it was miniscule in comparison.

How his body even did that left him freaked out, but it worked and that mattered most.

The new layer of wafer scales appeared no different, being a grainy food with that identical yellow-brown colour. He still admitted that it all looked delicious, and seeing the wafer shell all around gave a solid idea.

“Waste not, want not,” he said in human tongue. While some of the letters were pronounced wrong, he could now actually speak their words!

Of course he learnt a fair bit of language, and even some idioms, but conversing with a human, even a young child, was beyond him. The wafer in question was delicious as well, crispy and sweet, he also realised that it held a secondary taste as the scent of vanilla permeated every piece.

If not for having a full mouth he might have whimpered from loving the taste so much. Why was he the most delicious thing in this mountain range?!

Not even checking the results of this sudden evolution, he scarfed down the last of the wafer shell. The moment he could enter that human city he would buy some candy and cake, that much was decided straight away.