Chapter Three

Elysia’s eyes fluttered open, displaying a white world of endless fluffiness. The moment her mind booted up, she gave Ione a few strokes along her silky soft fur before sitting up.

Annoyance radiated through her bond with Ione, drawing her attention to the feline, only to giggle at her predicament. Like Elysia a few seconds before, Sereia curled her arms and legs around Ione large body with her face nestled deeply into her warm fur.

Despite her annoyance, she didn’t appear to be in any rush to move, though, bringing a smile to Elysia.

Her smile vanished a moment later as she inspected her sister, looking for anything wrong, but she appeared to be sleeping peacefully. If anything, she looked perfectly content, treating Ione like a hug pillow.

Not that Elysia could blame her. Ione was the perfect size and softness to be a heavenly hug pillow. She supposed one thing they had in common was their love for pillows.

That reminded her why didn’t she buy some? Not that she needed any with Ione. Though one could never have enough fluffy pillows.

An idea flashed through her mind. What if they tried to reclaim their pillow hordes? They probably needed fuel anyway and unless something changed, there were plenty of ships to steal fuel from in her hometown. She didn’t have the power to venture that far inland before, but now, especially with her sister and Ione, they could probably do it.

Was it worth the risk to stop, though? She didn’t know how long she slept but that elementals didn’t catch them yet, so what’s the harm in taking a pit stop? They could do a quick dungeon run, too. It would be awesome to crush her first dungeon. That Lich would stand no chance.

Besides, now that she had Sereia, she didn’t have a goal to accomplish. Sure, she liked to get the elementals off their back, but who knew if they were even chasing them anymore? They should have caught them by now. Maybe something else drew their attention. Whatever the reason, they could probably afford the stop. Who knew when they would have another chance? It would be nice to travel the world, so that would mean they might not be near their hometown for years.

Excitement bubbled as she hopped off the bed and trotted out of her bedroom. Despite her excitement, she made sure to close her bedroom door she left open to give her sister some peace and quiet.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she frowned. Where were they? Someone should be in the control room.

She walked out to the console and checked the navigation screen to find they were cruising southward along the western Washington state shore. Upon zooming out, she found they were only a half-hour from their hometown at their current pace.

A glance at the time on the screen clued her in on where everyone was. No wonder they set Umbra into cruise mode. It was only 6 AM. Weird how light out it was. Though she couldn’t expect the same sunrise and sunset cycle after the merge. Not that it was far off. It had to be nearing summer by now.

Now what? She could accelerate Umbra to arrive faster, but what was the point of that? She doubted anyone would drag themselves out of their caves for another hour.

Her eyes gravitated down to the pill still glued to her hand. Should she risk eating it? It seemed silly to hold on to it much longer. If she wasn’t going to eat it, she was better off stowing it in her safe, but something told her that would be a bad idea.

Curious what her instincts meant, she trotted into the kitchen and grabbed a plate just in case the lightning sparking off the pill burned something. The moment she set the pill on the plate, lightning sparked off the pill, scorching the plate. Before it ruined the plate, she scooped the pill back up and ran water over the plate, causing steam to ascend. Fortunately, after it cooled down, she managed a wipe away most of the burn mark.

Well, that explained that. Either she had to eat it or keep holding it. She didn’t want to find out what damage it could cause if she left it somewhere.

With a complicated expression, she stared down at the pill. If it was a reward, it wouldn’t be harmful to eat, could it? Though maybe it wasn’t meant to eat. Maybe she was supposed to absorb energy off of it. She seemed to be absorbing something, if the reaction the moment it left her hand was any indication. It could be some safety reaction in case someone stole it from her, though.

Would be better if she did her class evolution first? What if it gave her a bunch of levels? She might waste it if she didn’t evolve first. At the same time, what if the pill opened new evolution options?

No point in dwelling on it. She may as well eat it. If she wasted the pill, she would have to live with it. It wasn’t like she didn’t gain a ton already from the island.

Mind made up, she walked out onto the front deck and sat on the pad. After wiggling a bit to get comfortable, she popped the pill into her mouth. It sizzled on her tongue, but other than that, nothing happened.

Before she could back out, she swallowed it, then closed her eyes and focused inward, curious to see if she could sense any changes. A gasp escaped her as her senses zeroed in on the pill. It far eclipsed the brightness of her core, almost hurting her senses by even looking at it, but she persevered. The moment it hit her stomach, it exploded, sending blinding essence in all directions through her body. She braced herself for the pain, but it never came. Instead, a pleasant tingle radiated through her entire body.

Unbeknownst to her, the previously cloudless blue sky darkened.

When the lightning reached her mind, she jolted as messages appeared in her mind. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t avoid seeing them. There was no option to wave them away. They demanded to be seen.

Consumption of a tear of the storm goddess detected.

Scanning for compatibility.

A flash of warmth ran through her, causing her to shiver.

Race inadequate for a spark of divinity.

Dark storm clouds gathered above writhed in violet lightning. An earth shattering boom of thunder vibrated Umbra as the previously calm ocean water turned turbulent.

Umbra rocked precariously, water splashing onto the deck from whitecap waves. Each wave sending Umbra further sideways with building momentum.

Sereia came sprinting out onto the deck, clutching her own pill, eyes wide with panic. “Crap, Elysia, no!”

Ione followed right behind her. For once, they were of the same mind. Sereia scooped up her sister with surprising ease, then hopped on Ione, who rocketed off Umbra toward the shore a hundred meters away. In midair, Sereia planted her entranced sister on Ione before shifting into a mermaid. The moment they crashed into the water, Sereia latched onto Ione, pumping her tail as fast as she could to propel them toward shore.

Fortunately for the violently rocking Umbra, the storm followed Elysia, saving it from a watery grave. Helped by Eva turning the boat away from shore, throttle maxed out.

Within seconds, they reached the shore and scrambled up the beach, massive waves appearing seemingly out of nowhere smashed into them. Even Ione struggled to remain on her feet. With one last effort, they climbed onto a large boulder, which soon turned into an island as the waves washed away the sand and small rocks around them.

Through all of this, Elysia appeared unaware of the outside world. Her veins shining brighter than they ever had before. She was practically a beacon in the dark.

Sereia released a sigh of relief, though she steeled herself a moment later as she looked down at her own pill. Unlike her sister, she recognized what the pill really was the moment she saw it. Vague memories of her elemental evolution gave her a familiarity with the energy radiating off the pill. She had a feeling it would be a bad idea to take the gift lightly. If she was right about what it really was, this pill far out valued some random island.

Sometimes her beloved Elysia could be so stupid. She should have forced her sister to read more. There was obviously a tribulation coming. Why would she eat something like this on her boat? Was she trying to sink it? She doubted these pills were meant to be given out as rewards. Someone interfered, and she had a pretty good idea who it was.

She sent one last glance at Umbra, which was barely visible from the rock despite being only four hundred meters at most away before popping her own pill into her mouth.

The previously dry clouds darkened further as a torrential downpour bore down on them. Despite not having a pill of her own, Ione remained on the rock stalwart in protecting her family, no matter the cost.

Meanwhile, within Elysia’s mind, she split her concentration between the lightning essence flooding through her body and the system messages.

Commencing race evolution.

Warning! Body not compatible with selected evolution.

Override.

Commencing race evolution.

A violet lightning strike descended from the clouds, bathing the rock with sparks. Most of the lightning absorbed into Elysia’s body, causing the mist to waft from her body. A small fraction jumped to the other two occupants of the rock, most of which was monopolized by Ione, who greedily gulped it down.

Soon after the lightning strike, a massive wave crashed down on the rock. The trio somehow remained glued to the rock as Sereia absorbed the potent essence, unconsciously shifting into her mermaid form during the process.

Like with her mother, Ione ate a chunk for herself, purring in delight as the potent essence circulated through her body.

The storm was far from done, sending down dozens of increasingly stronger lightning strikes as waves capable of capsizing Umbra crashed onto the rock. Despite appearing unharmed, at least outwardly, the rock under them featured scars from the storm. Spider webbing burn marks littered the rock with Elysia at the epicenter while the outer edges were smooth from the turbulent waters.

A new element joined the storm as it wore on. Despite the violence of the storm, the air was deathly still until that point, but no more. The air surrounding the rock swirled ever more violent, soon leaving a deep gash is on the battered rock, but yet again the trio remained outwardly unharmed.

Inwardly, it was another story, though. Lightning burned through Elysia’s body reaching cell deep uncaring about the damage it may cause. Fortunately for Elysia, the euphoria of the essence pumping into her body overshadowed the excruciating pain almost like it was intentional.

However, as with everything, there were limits. By the twentieth lightning strike, her body twitched, unable to take it any longer. Her core creaked, filled well beyond its capacity. Even a molecule more could cause it to explode.

Disappointment seemed to radiate off the storm as if it wanted to pump more essence. The lightning let up soon after, though a couple of waves and swirling gusts of wind persisted for several more seconds before they too relented.

Just before the storm cleared, an overbearing presence far exceeding that of Urus descended onto the trio. It scanned them over for a moment, looking over its work before it disappeared.

As if it was never there to begin with, the storm vanished, revealing a cloudless blue sky.

The sun shined down on the trio, who appeared unaware of the outside world. At least on the outside they didn’t appear much different from before, though Elysia’s hair had a subtle purple tint like Sereia with her blue-green tent.

Ione probably had the most obvious change, though it wasn’t physical. A blue-green dry mist radiated off her fur, joining the violet and green lightning constantly sparking.

Evolution Successful.