Chapter 104: Evolution

Kaius came to with a groan, every inch of his body aching like he had been trampled by a dozen draught horses. Everything about the last hour was hazy, as if he had witnessed it in a drunken haze. From a distance, at that.

He pushed himself up, shaking his head as his bleary eyes struggled to take in the utilitarian kitchen that sat in front of him. Porkchop wasn’t much better, groaning in discomfort as he shifted up off the brick floor.

It was strange. He could still feel him. Porkchop, that is. The way he sat. Held himself. The weight of his body on the warmed slabs of stone beneath him. It should have been mind bending, but it wasn’t. Distinctly different from his sense of his own being, it was more like a new limb. A new awareness that dominated his mind, like a leaden arm that had come to sudden, prickling, wakefulness.

Taking a deep breath, Kaius steadied himself.

His awareness shifted to the incessant blaring that had been present ever since he returned to waking. A flurry of system derived chimes that clawed at his attention. He didn’t see any reason to deny them.

**Ding! General Skill Evolved! Soulforged Covenant (Unique) has become Brotherhood of Ichor and Animus (Heroic)!**

Kaius grinned as he read the system notification. They’d done it. They’d actually gotten anotherHeroicskill. It was an impossible achievement, one that almost seemed outside of the realm of possibility. Sure, maybe nothing quite so extreme as the existence ofHonours, but he would have to be an entitled wastrel to not recognise its value.

Feeling Porkchop finish digesting his own, as one they turned their attention back to their next notifications.

**Ding! Racial Trait Obtained! Prepare For Assimilation: Greater Beastblooded!**

**Ding! Unclassed Detected! Assisting with Absorption…**

It started in his marrow, a sickening twist in the gentle flesh that lay sheltered in his bones. The fatty tissue started to boil. Kaiuswrithed, crying out as his voice cracked like dropped glass. It was all encompassing, unavoidable, potent, and enduring. Torturousheatthat burned within him. Scorching him from the inside out.

Then it started to spread. Penetrating his bones, the basal support of his body shattered in a series of sickening cracks as the foreign force changed him from within. Uncaring in its iron cruelty.

Kaius threw his head back, gasping. Wide eyes roved the room, sliding over bunks and kitchen cabinets, skipping past Porkchop’s mewling form where he underwent his own mutagenic change.

He could feel that too. Sickening claws, picking and prodding at the very weave of his friend's mind. An inversion of his own torture. It heightened his madness, giving him no corner to escape to. The two processes reflected through their link, amplifying the symphony of madness and loss of control.

From the bones it spread to the muscles. All of a sudden he went limp, unable to twitch despite every fabric of his soul telling he had tomove. To flee the source of his torment. He could not, not when it came from within. Not when it changed him inexorably, the mutation as total as it was slow.

Fibres unravelled, breaking down into a primordial ooze, before substantiating whole-cloth once more, rewoven into a tighter, denser, structure.

Then it got to his blood.

And from his blood, to everywhere.

Highways of mind-breaking pain flooded his body with potent acid. Organs dissolved, skin sloughed, and thought was forgotten. All he could do was gurgle. Swept away in a current of power and might that cared not for his mortal concerns and wants, only what He. Must. Be.

From the scattered ashes, from the sludge of genetic excess and discarded weakness, he was born anew.

Potent marrow wrapped in gleaming crystalline bones. His ribs thickened, shifting beneath his skin as they shrunk the gaps to shield vulnerable organs beneath. Cross-woven muscles stretched between them, explosive power held tight in the stout cables, anchored with ligamenture that thrummed with tension.

His heart pumped with furious intensity, each pulse sending more and more change through his body.

Nerves seared with the bright fury of the sun, scorching him with their overwhelming might. A storm that delivered the pain of his total consumption in perfect clarity, changed synapses sensing the breaking of his body with cruel and unmatched acuity.

His skin toughened. Supple, flexible, but unassailable. A barrier that protected all within.

Time blurred, meaningless in the face of dissolution, leaving him floating on a sea of agony and metamorphosis.

Yet it seemed even eternity had an end. Slowly the force that had suffused his body left him, guiding the mutagenic energy back to the confines of his final skill, sealing it inside the shard of power that orbited his soul. The system withdrew once more, yet the pain lasted far longer.

Kaius lay gasping, coated to the last hair in a thick layer of liquid, unsure if it was sweat, blood, or some organic refuse expelled by the transformation. Every hairsbreadth of his body felt wrung out, twisted and beaten.

With a groan, he lolled his head to the side, finding that Porkchop hadn’t fared much better. His friend lay on his stomach, paws pressed tight to his head as he covered his eyes and ears. Kaius knew that it was a desperate attempt to dampen his senses, feeling the overwhelming headache that threatened to rupture his friends skull from within.

He swallowed, tongue getting stuck to the roof of his bone dry mouth.

“What the fuck was that,” he croaked.

“Quieter please,”Porkchop whined.“Racial trait, be thankful that we got the system's assistance. That sort of change can easily kill you if you don’t have the stats to persevere.”

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Kaius breathed shallowly, overwhelmed by the sensation of air on his damp skin. Everything felt toomuch. Too extreme.

“But we both have theDynastictrait,” he said in a small voice.

“Born with it. Doesn’t count. Plus it only affects bonus stats, not changing us directly like whatever we got was. Though, it might also have been the skill. I’m not sure.”Porkchop groaned, slowly sliding his paws to look at him directly. His eyes were bloodshot.“You look like shit.”

Kaius snorted, as he looked at Porkchop’s sweat streaked face. He looked strung out, like he’d been up for days.

“Speak for yourself. I assume you didn’t getGreater Beastblooded?” he asked.

Porkchop shook his head, grumbling as Kaius felt his friend’s headache spike through their link.“No, I gotEnlightened Mind. It seems we might have gifted each other some of our natural advantages, thanks to the skill.”

Kaius raised his brows. “Skill first?”

Porkchop chuffed in agreement, and Kaius flickered his awareness to the waiting description of their evolved skill.

Brotherhood of Ichor and Animus:

Level 20

Heroic

Blood calls to blood, soul shines to soul. A bond is forged, and strength and wisdom is shared.

Skill that creates a bond of equals, linking your body and soul to a willing greater beast. Allows perfect mental communication, proprioception, and a sense of their location within a certain distance. Experience, achievements, and feats are shared equally between both parties. In certain situations and when favourable, both parties are treated as a single entity in the eyes of the system. Bolstered by the blood and marrow of the greater meles, your body is continually reforged and reinforced.

Grants the Racial Trait ‘Greater Beastblooded’

Each level significantly increases the distance at which you can sense and communicate with your bonded companion.

Each level minutely increases the potency of your body's baseline, empowering you physically and mentally. This change is permanent.

Kaius stared at the skill in awe, amazed at its strength. A skill that increased the power of his stats,allof his stats, was unbelievable. Even with onlyMinutescaling, it would bolster him to unimaginable heights as he grew, granting him the famed potency and power of greater beasts.

His head snapped up, turning to stare at Porkchop, though he winced as he moved with far more alacrity than he was used to and kinked his neck. His friend looked much the same, except for his eyes. Previously they had been a deep amber, now they were flecked with green. His green.

“I assume you just got something as ridiculous as I did?” He asked, absentmindedly rubbing the nape of his neck.

“Probably. I just got aMinuteboost to skill levelling and comprehension. Your eyes have bits of yellow in them now.”Porkchop whispered in a small voice.

Hi’s eyes widened. “Really? Well you got my green.” he said, nodding towards his friend “I got a physical empowerment, same scaling.” Kaius leaned forwards, rubbing his eyes, “So I just got access to the main benefit of greater beasts, and you the same with the higher races?” he asked, incredulous.

“It would seem so.”

He looked up, staring his friend dead in the face, and started to grin. “We’re going to be absolute terrors, aren’t we?”

“I certainly wouldn’t want to fight us,”Porkchop chuffed.“That ogre is as good as dead meat.”

Kaius laughed. “Hells, I sure fucking hope so. Though I’m still going to need a good bit of time to cap the rest of my skills before we do that, so we’ll have to take our time heading back. Plus, I wouldn’t mind a week or two extended rest in one of those dwarven estates on the upper tier of the city. Those kitchens were to die for,” he salivated, thinking of the stocked larders full of goods that he had never dreamed of being able to afford, let alone feast on to his heart's content. Much better than the austere fare that they had found in the laboratory kitchens, that was for damned sure.

Kaius stood up with a groan, wavering slightly as his body responded just a little too quickly with more strength than he was used to. “Going to need to get used to this, as well,” he mumbled, pulling another woollen blanket off one of the bunks to mop at his sweat soaked body. The scratchy fabric tugged uncomfortably at his skin, felt far more acutely than normal.

Thankfully, despite his worries, there was no gore, so he didn’t need another shower. With how sensitive his skin felt, he might actually die if he had to douse himself in the frigid torrent that served as a rain-room.

“I’m gonna check out the new trait, then I'll make us some more food before we rest,” he said, tossing the soiled blanket aside.

Racial traits were odd things. Incredibly rare, and only sometimes heritable. Dynastic was by far the most common, one awarded to those that merged three or more legacy skills, one of which had to be made of four skills. It was heritable, but the second generation had to meet the same requirements if they wanted to pass it on themselves. Considering the nature of legacy Dynasties, Kaius sincerely doubted that it happened often. Other than tragedy, or a forgotten misbegotten child, all but the most selfish and idiotic passed down their legacy skills. Though, for those who had joined a more organisational dynasty such as the Mystral colleges, even descendants would have to meet the requirements to join. Albeit with more… flexible entry requirements.

Still, despite everything he never expected to get another one so soon. Usually if someone got any at all, it was from high tier classes, or lucky encounters in the deep reaches of the Depths. Getting one now was invaluable, though he had yet to see how it would scale.

With that on his mind, he pulled up the description of bothGreater Beastblooded, andDynastic

Greater Beastblooded:

Racial Trait - Heritable

Marrow of might, and spine of steel.

Tempered and reborn with the vital essence of a greater meles, you contain a shred of their inexorable might.

+1 Endurance, Strength, and Willpower per Level.

Dynastic:

Racial Trait - Heritable (Conditional)

Platinum purity burns with capricious light, be thankful.

Your soul has been washed in the light of multiple legacy skills, fueling your growth.

+1 Free Stats per Level.

Kaius’s jaw went slack as he took in his latest trait. Three stats per level was incredible. In the first tier, it was the equivalent of boosting his class rarity by three whole grades. Sure, the relative benefit would quickly be outstriped by the scaling of the tiers, but that was a whole class and two-hundred levels away. Until then, it was an unbelievable advantage.

And to be able to pass it on too…

“Is yours heritable too?” he asked in a small voice. “Without conditions?”

“Yeah.”Porkchop all but whispered.

Kaius sat dumbfounded, staring at the screen that hung in his vision. No matter what happened in the future, the weight of being the last scion of Unterstern had just gotten that much heavier.