Beast Evolution Forge

They arrived at Yenna's house, and before they went inside, Vell stopped her to ask her something. 

"I have been curious about this for a while now. How did you guys find me so fast?" 

His voice dropped, and his fingers tightened, ready to attack if her answer was not to his liking. She sensed his killing intent but pretended not to, just to test him. 

"Well, we just got lucky. The association sent out many groups to search different parts of the city; we just happened to be given the area where you were. It's actually lucky you met us instead of the other groups; we are more on the listening and patient side." 

She opened the door after his killing intent vanished. "Don't worry so much. We are not going to hurt you or turn you in; if we wanted to, we would have done that by now. So come in and let's make something to eat; I am starving." 

She ran off into the house, and he followed closely behind. Her house was big and very clean; even the scent it gave off was pleasing. 

"Wow, such a nice place you have here! I'm glad I came with you." 

"Hehe, thanks. It's nothing much, but it's better than nothing." 

She took off her weapons, placing them on the table before walking into the kitchen. There was nothing ready to eat, so she checked the fridge for anything they could make that wouldn't take too much time. 

"So, what do you want: eggs with bacon or should we just cook meat instead?" 

She turned toward the living room, where she saw him holding and examining her sword. 

"It's late; eggs should be fine." 

He was fascinated; this was the first time he had held a player's weapon, and it looked high-quality, too. 

"Wow, such a nice sword! I wonder how much one costs." 

He swung it like a baseball bat before hearing her answer. 

"It's pretty cheap; just 10,000 credits." 

He froze mid-swing, glanced at the sword one last time, and gently placed it back on the table. 

"Ahem. Can I help?" 

The price shocked him so much that he didn't know how to react. She laughed a little at how panicked he looked. She agreed to let him help, and dinner was ready in less than 20 minutes. As they sat at the table, Vell saw this as a good opportunity to ask more questions, but he knew that could probably get annoying for her at some point. 

"What's it like being a player?" 

"It's good most of the time when your life is not in danger. I have met many good people since I became a player, and I also earn well, way more compared to my old job." 

"That's nice. I'm surprised you live alone; I was expecting a boyfriend or at least a roommate." 

"Meh, finding a good guy is hard these days, and it's risky, too. I don't want either of our hearts to be shattered if one of us dies in a dungeon. But you seemed really specific on the boyfriend part; do you want to shoot your shot?" 

She gave him a seductive look, hoping to see a reaction, but he just stared at her for a few seconds before returning to his food. Feeling embarrassed, Yenna began to eat slowly while stealing glances at him. 

'Shit, just kill me.' 

The embarrassment grew worse as she recalled the moment. Even the food began to taste strange in her mouth. What made it more uncomfortable was how quiet Vell was after the whole thing; she wanted to know what he was thinking but was too scared to ask. 

Finally, he stopped eating and looked at her. Panicking, she played with her food as her mind raced with thoughts. 

"I guess a girl is just a girl, huh?" 

"Huh?" 

She looked up, feeling somewhat relieved that he was finally speaking again. 

"How old are you?" 

"19. Why do you ask?" 

"Well, I guess a two year difference isn't too bad." 

"W-wait, huh? Two years? H-hold on, are you actuall—" 

"Okay, enough of that. Let's get some sleep; we have a busy day tomorrow." 

He got up and walked to the kitchen with his plate. Yenna just stared at him, her mind swirling with thoughts. 

'What the hell? He actually wants me, and he's 21? What's going on here? How should I respond? Dammit, I've never actually dated anyone. No one has ever been so direct with me like that. N-no, I'm reading too much into this. He probably just meant it as a joke... yeah, a joke; it's just a joke... right?' 

She got up, her mind a chaotic mess. Vell looked at her as she approached and smiled. 

'That will make her less cautious of me; goal achieved.' 

After that, she felt awkward around him, so she showed him to his room and quickly ran off to bed. Meanwhile, Vell was preoccupied with other thoughts, staring at his system screen. He was reviewing the weasel's stats and wondering if he should evolve her now or wait. 

[You should evolve her while you have this time alone. As you are now, you won't survive in any dungeon.] 

'So I am that weak, huh... makes sense. I only looked strong compared to normal humans, but in the player world, I am nothing but an ant.' 

He sat up and entered a meditative pose. The weasel instinctively knew what he wanted, jumping up to sit on him as if it had read his mind. He didn't question this and just closed his eyes after pressing 'yes' to allow evolution. 

[Beginning beast evolution. 

Slot: 1 

Required Mana: 300 

Estimated beast rank: EE 

Time left: 2h 39min] 

He exhaled, feeling his mana being drained slowly as he entered his beast. 

"What a strange feeling. It's warm, and it's relaxing my body. So this is beast evolution. I can feel my link with this little guy getting stronger with each passing moment. I wonder how she will look after evolution, but I can't just sit here and do nothing; I will test out some things as well." 

He entered a hibernation state where he felt nothing around him; the only thing he focused on was the mana and how it brushed against his skin. 

"I haven't had time to really assess my body and mana. The core near my heart has a lot, but the others are pretty empty. Last time, I couldn't absorb more mana because my body underwent too much change; but what if I try it now, after I've rested?" 

He began to let it in slowly, and at first, it hurt as it pushed against the mana flowing out. So, he decided to use specific pathways for different tasks. 

"This will take longer, but I have no choice. I will absorb using my left side and release using my right. This should stop the friction and pain." 

It indeed worked; the flow of mana on both sides was stable, though slower. Time blurred, and morning arrived. To him, it felt like mere seconds because of his state. He opened his eyes and looked at his hands; the power he had was much denser and more powerful now. 

"Not bad. The core is barely halfway full, but I have this much mana already. I wonder what would happen if all of them were full... hm?" 

Finally, he felt something heavy on his legs. He looked down and saw his beast fully evolved. 

"Woah." 

[evolution successful.]