The darkness was not the empty, silent void Minoru had expected. It was a furnace.
Evolution was not a gentle transition or a level-up screen with fanfare. It was a biological deconstruction. Minoru felt every fiber of his being unspooling, the Magoi he had consumed from the Fangjaw Wolf acting as a volatile, burning fuel that demanded a better vessel. He felt his bones breaking and resetting, lengthening with sickening cracks that echoed in the soup of his consciousness. His muscles tore and reknitted, growing denser, the fibers weaving together like steel cables.
The pain was absolute, but distant, as if he were watching his own autopsy from behind a thick pane of glass. Amidst the roaring fire of reconstruction, a voice spoke. It wasn't the cold, robotic text he was used to. This voice had cadence. It had texture. It sounded almost… professional.
[Reconstruction of biological vessel complete. Magius capacity expanding. Anomalous Unique Factor detected. Integrating. Awakening host.]
Minoru gasped, his eyes snapping open.
The first thing he registered was the light. Sunlight, dappled and golden, was filtering through the dense canopy of the ancient forest. The air smelled of pine, damp earth, and the distinct, cloying scent of old blood.
He sat up. The movement was fluid, powerful, and frighteningly fast. There was no creaking of joints, no stiffness from the cold ground, and most shockingly, no pain.
He looked down at himself. The sealed, throbbing wounds on his flank were gone, replaced by smooth, taut skin. The corrosive burn on his shoulder, which had threatened to dissolve his arm just hours ago, had vanished without a trace. Even the old scars from his first day in the cave were erased.
But the biggest change was the canvas itself. His skin was no longer the sickly, mottled pale green of a Lesser Goblin. It was a rich, deep emerald, vibrant and healthy. He looked at his hands. The spindly, fragile fingers were gone, replaced by thick, strong digits tipped with black, obsidian-like nails that looked more like weapons than tools.
He stood up. The world seemed to shrink. He wasn't three feet tall anymore. He was easily five and a half feet, standing upright without the hunch that had plagued his previous form. He felt heavy, grounded, and incredibly strong.
He looked down at the corpse of the Fangjaw Wolf lying a few feet away. In the harsh light of day, the terrifying Alpha Beast looked… pathetic. Its massive jaw was slack, its fur matted with dried blood, and its eyes glazed over. It looked less like a legendary monster and more like oversized roadkill.
Minoru let out a snort, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
"Look at you," he muttered, his voice deeper, resonating in his chest. "You giant, furry idiot. You had seven hundred and fifty Magius. You had poison teeth and super hearing. And you let a corporate salaryman with a rock and a bone shard trick you into hugging a tree."
He kicked the wolf's paw lightly with his new, sturdy foot.
"Stupid mutt. You should have just stayed in your cave. I would have left you alone if you hadn't tried to eat me. Talk about a bad performance review."
He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. It was a defense mechanism, he knew, a way to process the sheer brutality of the night before, but it felt good to be the one standing over the monster for once.
"Analysis complete. The subject 'Fangjaw Wolf' demonstrated significant tactical incompetence. However, your victory was statistically improbable. You got lucky."
Minoru jumped, spinning around, his claws extending instinctively.
"Who's there?" he barked, scanning the clearing.
"I am here. In your head. Where I have always been."
Minoru froze. The voice was clear, gender-neutral but distinct, echoing directly in his neural pathways.
"Appraisal?" Minoru asked, feeling foolish talking to thin air.
"Correct," the voice replied. "However, due to your evolution into a Hobgoblin and the surplus Magius used during the process, I have also evolved. I am now True Appraisal. I have gained the capacity for linguistic interface and autonomous analysis. Basically, I can talk now. It is much more efficient than floating text, don't you agree?"
Minoru blinked. His skill had an attitude.
"Okay," Minoru said slowly, lowering his guard. "True Appraisal. That's… useful. Give me a status report. What happened to me?"
"You evolved," True Appraisal stated simply. "You are no longer a Goblino. You are a Hobgoblin (Variant). The variation is due to the assimilation of the Prismatic Egg bond and the massive Magoi intake from the Alpha Wolf. You skipped the standard stat distribution and hit a capacity breakthrough."
A semi-transparent blue window appeared in his vision, but it was sharper, higher resolution than before.
Name: Minoru Sato (Goblino - Evolved)
Race: Hobgoblin (Variant - High Humanoid Form)
Magius: 650 / 650 (Capacity Breakthrough)
Physique: B+
Unique Attribute: Race Hop (Locked), Devourer (New!)
"Six hundred and fifty?" Minoru stared at the number. "I thought the limit for a Hobgoblin was four hundred."
"It is," True Appraisal replied, sounding almost smug. "But you consumed the core of an Alpha Beast while your body was liquefying and rebuilding itself. The Magoi pressure forced your vessel to expand beyond standard specifications. You are, biologically speaking, a high-performance model."
Minoru clenched his fist, feeling the hum of power beneath his skin. 650 Magius. He was nearly as strong as the wolf had been, but with human intelligence.
"And the skills?" Minoru asked. "I feel different. My Gills are gone."
"Rudimentary Gills were inefficient. They required structural weakness in the neck and constant water flow. I took the liberty of upgrading your entire skill suite during the reconstruction. Please review."
The window shifted, displaying a list of skills that made Minoru's heart race.
Skills:
• True Appraisal (Unique): Advanced analysis, linguistic interface, and predictive trajectory modeling.
• Devourer (Unique): The ability to assimilate one active skill or trait from a consumed biological target. (Current Slots: 1/3).
• Magius Armament (Evolved form of Magius Skin): Can coat specific limbs or the entire body in high-density Magius armor. Duration dependent on Magius supply. No longer purely defensive; increases impact damage.
• Hunter's Sense (Evolved form of Enhanced Senses): Toggleable sensory expansion. Includes thermal vision, heartbeat detection, and focused auditory zoom.
• Void Cloak (Evolved form of Magius Shroud/Suppression): Bends light and Magoi waves around the user. Near-total invisibility to visual and magical detection. High Magius cost.
• Water Skin (Evolved form of Gills): Allows for cutaneous respiration and pressure regulation underwater. The user absorbs oxygen directly through the skin pores. Also grants increased swim speed and hydro-dynamic movement.
"Water Skin," Minoru mused. "So I breathe through my skin now? Like a frog?"
"A very dangerous, high-capacity frog," True Appraisal corrected. "It removes the weak point on your neck and allows you to function on land without drying out, unlike the Gills. Now, regarding the Devourer skill."
The window flashed red.
[Pending Action: Devourer Assimilation.]
[Source: Fangjaw Wolf (Alpha Class).]
[Available Skills for Extraction:]
1. Corrosive Fangs: Natural production of acidic toxin in saliva.
2. Hunter's Stride: Silent movement and explosive speed burst.
3. Pack Call: Ability to summon lesser canine beasts.
"You consumed the wolf," True Appraisal explained. "The Devourer skill allows you to permanently copy one of its abilities. You must choose."
Minoru looked at the list. Pack Call was useless; he had no pack. Corrosive Fangs was powerful, but he didn't relish the idea of biting his enemies. He was a corporate strategist, not a wild animal. He preferred tools he could control.
"Hunter's Stride," Minoru decided. "Speed and silence. That fits my style. With Void Cloak and Hunter's Stride, I can dictate the terms of any engagement."
"Choice confirmed," True Appraisal responded. "Assimilating Hunter's Stride. Your agility parameters have been updated."
Minoru felt a sudden twitch in his legs, a tightening of the tendons in his ankles and calves. He bounced on the balls of his feet. He felt light, like he could jump over the trees.
"There is one more thing," True Appraisal interrupted his test hop. "The Prismatic Egg. Due to your evolution and the bond, your perception of it has shifted. You can now monitor its status remotely."
A small icon appeared in the corner of his vision, a stylized egg symbol pulsing gently.
[Bonded Object: Prismatic Egg]
[Status: Incubating]
[Hatch Progress: 2%]
[Current Need: Magoi Saturation (High)]
"Two percent," Minoru sighed. "That's going to take a while."
"It is a high-dimensional being," True Appraisal noted dryly. "The earth wasn't built in a day, and dragon-gods aren't hatched in an hour. However, your proximity to it accelerates the process. We should return to the cavern eventually."
Minoru looked back toward the dark entrance of the ravine. The cavern was his base, his sanctuary. But now, standing in the sunlight, full of power, he felt a pull toward the unknown.
He walked over to a nearby tree—the same massive oak the wolf had crashed into. He placed his hand on the rough bark. Yesterday, climbing this would have been a desperate struggle.
He channeled Magius Armament.
Unlike the Magius Skin, which had been a subtle hardening, this was visible. A dark, metallic sheen coated his arm, swirling like liquid mercury before hardening into a gauntlet of pure energy. It hummed with power. He drew back his fist and punched the tree, not with desperation, but with calculated force.
CRACK!
His fist sank three inches into the solid wood. Splinters exploded outward. He pulled his hand back. Not a scratch.
"Incredible," he whispered.
He was a corporate nobody who had died on a sidewalk. Now, he was a 650 Magius Hobgoblin with a voice in his head, a dragon egg in his basement, and the ability to turn invisible.
"So," Minoru said, dusting the wood chips off his new, armored hand. "We have power. And a long term goal with this egg. So what's the immediate play, Appraisal?"
"You need resources," True Appraisal advised. "You have Magius, but you lack equipment, refined tools, and knowledge of the wider world. Also, you are naked."
Minoru looked down. True Appraisal was right. His loincloth had not survived the evolution.
"Right," Minoru sighed. "Step one: Pants. Step two: World domination. Or at least, finding out where exactly in this world I am."
He looked at the wolf carcass one last time.
"Thanks for the upgrade, stupid," he said, and with a burst of Hunter's Stride, he vanished into the forest, moving faster than the wind, a green blur seeking his next step in this chaotic new life.