As Aren sat there, he recalled something. The system had stated that he had gained evolution paths. He was not too sure what it was, but it sounded pretty good.
Immediately after thinking about it, the system screen lit up, showcasing three options before him.
[Class Evolution Paths]
[Shadow Mage]
[Shadow Warrior]
[Shadow Shifter]
As he read through the options, something immediately stuck with him, the fact that each of these paths looked like one of the classes the awakened could get. He could see warrior, mage, and even shifter.
The three of them were part of the six classes that awakened could get, the only difference was the Shadow slapped behind it.
"Is this for real?" he muttered to himself. Curious, he accessed each path to see what their descriptions were.
[Shadow Mage: Faster growth in Soul Energy, more skills attuned to casting and summoning. Benefits: massive energy pool]
[Shadow Warrior: Faster growth in physical attributes, more skills attuned to close-quarter combat. Benefits: massive physical stats]
[Shadow Shifter: Faster growth in Soul Energy, more skills attuned to transforming into shadowy beings. Benefits: massive energy pool]
Aren read through the three with a blank expression, but he was already deep in thought. The three looked honestly good, he could not lie. Excluding the warrior and mage, as for the shifter, he did not really know what it was here.
He looked at the two for a solid ten seconds. "Hmmmm, warrior or mage. If I become a mage, I forsake the physical skills that I could get, but then again, I will get enough Soul Energy to use all my summons properly."
He pondered on it for a bit more, but it did not take long before he came to a conclusion, and that was the mage. He wanted to be able to fight by himself as well, but his greatest strength right now was his summons, and he had to lean into that.
"System, I want you to evolve with Shadow Mage," he calmly said.
[Evolution beginning,]
Immediately after that, everything went blank. He panicked. He did not know he would be knocked out for it, but before he could say or try to do anything, he was already out, eyes shut.
The evolution began. Changes started occurring within his body. The person that he was before was no longer who he was at all, and when his eyes would open again, the world he saw would be different.
[.....]
At the same time, while Aren was evolving, several of the awakened all around the trial were stunned by a sudden message that had popped up on their screens.
The content shocked them and caused most of them to get angry.
[Shadow is the first Awakened to reach level 10]
It was like a blow to all of them. They all remembered when the first notification came that Shadow was the first to level up, and now he was the first to also reach level ten in such a short time frame.
It made their blood boil. Who was this mysterious figure that was leading the trial this time, and what was the system doing its best to ensure that his name was kept hidden?
While their anger burned and all of them were lost in thought, another notification followed.
[Shadow is the first Awakened to Evolve]
That was just low. It was as if the system saw them at their low point and then said, hold up, let me sucker punch you now.
The notification bred hatred for a person that none of them had ever seen. Most of them were now at level five. For the S-tiers, they were seven and eight, some nine, still far away from ten, and yet someone was already at ten and evolved.
As for the target of this hatred, his eyes slowly flickered open, the light of the cave entering slowly.
"Urghhhh," he groaned, rubbing his eyes to see clearer.
"Next time warn me before knocking me out, what if some monster came here," Aren said, but the system ignored his complaints and went straight to business.
[Congratulations on Evolving]
[Current Class: Shadow Mage]
[Increased Soul Energy: 5000]
[+4 stats to all attributes]
[All skills leveled up]
[New skills unlocked]
[All Shadows evolved]
As Aren read the contents of the system, his eyes dropped to the floor along with his jaw. Calling it an increase would be an insult to the sheer quality of what he had just gained.
"This... this is incredible," he said. He was already eager to check everything out.
Rumble. Rumble.
His stomach suddenly interrupted him, speaking the ancient language and telling him that he was hungry. His gut was biting itself. His adrenaline had caused him to forget about hunger, but now that he was calm, he felt it, and it was really bad.
"I should find a way back to camp," he muttered, pushing himself off the ground and to his feet. He would check everything properly when he settled down.
He looked around the cave, his gaze sweeping through. There was no way out except the way he had come through, so he had an idea. He summoned the millipede. Its massive body showed up, also oozing with a stronger aura.
"The level up on Shadows actually worked. I can tell it is much stronger," he said as he approached it. "I will make sure I check on its stats later, if that is possible."
He got on the back of the millipede, but before asking it to move, he needed to be safe, so he summoned the armor he had gained. He was yet to even read the specs about it, but he would do it later.
A slim, beautiful black armor with red accents covered his body in an instant, gleaming under the light. It was like an advanced bodysuit that stopped at the neck, covering all his clothes. Despite being armor, it felt incredibly comfortable, and he could move easily in it.
"This is crazy," he muttered in excitement as he looked at it. He tried to summon Wolf Guard over it and it worked, which meant he could stack soul weapons. With a wide grin on his face, he instructed the millipede to move, and immediately, it dug upward, entering the hole it had brought them down through before.