RE: Reality Smuggler (R-18)

{Evolution successful}

By the time I woke up, it was sunset again.

The moment I did, I felt unprecedented clarity in my mind. Many things I didn't understand before seemed so easy. I could think so fast that it was frightening, and I could remember every word of my 47-page thesis.

"So that's how it feels to be a super genius..." - I muttered.

I raised my hand. The previously sand-colored skin turned paper-white.

Reaching to my head, I touched my hair. It was long and smooth. Bringing a few strands in front of me, I found that they are platinum-green.

And then, I reached out to touch my forehead. I felt a hard gem-like thing stuck on it. I could feel the gem as if it was part of my body.

"I am an Ascended now. And, I feel something..." - I continued to mutter.

Through the gem, I felt something akin to a sixth sense. It was like a closed eye. If I so choose, I can open it.

And so, I did.

Immediately after, I felt an image enter my mind, filled with dots. Through lightning-quick calculations, I found a total of 29,866 specks. I instinctively knew they were all Kin.

Among them, I also knew their identities. There were 29,799 Minions, 25 Soldiers, 25 Stalkers, 17 evolving Minions, and one young female Ascended. I also knew I could command the Minions, Soldiers, and Stalkers, but not the other Ascended.

It seems like, during this time, the Minion that ate the Leader and the other 16 Minions entered the evolutionary phase, and it will take time until they finish evolving, as they are not infused with energy. Also, over two thousand Minions were born and gathered in the hotel.

Out of curiosity, I tried connecting to one of the Minions.

The moment I did, I had an additional perspective. I could hear and see through its eyes as it stared blankly forward.

However, the moment I did, I also sensed the link between the Minion and the young Ascended, and I felt that it was marked by her, not unlike cattle. And, since I connected to the Minion, the owner could also feel it.

And sure enough...

Moments later, I felt someone connect to me as I received a message in my mind.

"Please identify yourself, Sir."

The message was simple, and its contents lukewarm, and yet I felt the rich emotions inside it.

There was intrigue, excitement, and a hint of vigilance. Perhaps she guessed my identity or was excited to meet another of her kind.

Disconnecting from the Minion, I sent back a message containing warmth.

"Primrose, it's me." - I replied.

"So it is you, Lord?! You became an Ascended?!" - She sent a message packed with excitement and happiness.

"Yes, Primrose. I just woke up." - I replied.

"Wonderful! I will head over right now!" - She messaged excitedly.

"Sure. I am here." - I replied.

And then, the connection went silent. It wasn't cut off but merely went dormant. It was like an ethernet cable connected to a port but not using it.

I then refocused on myself.

After carefully getting up from bed, I sensed the power of my body. If I compare it to my previous peak body, I felt around 25% stronger in all aspects at the minimum. And I am an untrained Ascended. It could only be imagined just how powerful the Ascended are.

Looking down, I saw that my previously fitting shirt was now a tad loose. I am shorter than I was as a Stalker, so it was natural.

"Damn, should have gotten some spare clothes in that clothing shop." - I thought.

Luckily, I wore elastic underwear and had a belt for my pants, so it wasn't that bad. But my shoe size changed again, making my shoes too big now.

"Hah... Next stop, shoe shop, and clothing shop." - I sighed and said, putting on my oversized boots.

However, as I leaned forward, my waist-long platinum-green hair blocked my view.

"And I should also get a haircut. Oh, right. I should also give Primrose a haircut." - I mumbled.

After putting on the boots, I walked to a nearby mirror and checked my reflection.

Surprisingly, I looked similar to my pre-strengthening body, minus the acne. My muscle mass decreased to untrained levels, and I looked like a broad-shouldered and somewhat handsome guy with little muscle to boast about.

Honestly, if it weren't for having paper-colored skin, golden eyes, yellowish lips, platinum-green hair, and a black rounded gem on my forehead, I would look no different than an average untrained human.

The description wasn't lying. I did inherit my previous looks.

Of course, my appearance is incredibly deceiving, as I didn't doubt I could burst with power exceeding all humans but a few exceptions.

While looking at myself in the mirror, I heard the door open.

Looking over, I saw Primrose wearing tight-fit clothes caked in crusted yellowish-dark blood, walking to me with glowing eyes.

"Lord!" - She spoke excitedly, an unconcealed smile on her lips.

"Hi, Primrose." - I smiled back.

Primrose looked at me up and down and spoke in admiration.

"As expected of the Lord, you skipped the Minion and child phases and directly evolved an adult body."

"Yes, but unfortunately, it came at a price. Regardless, I am now an Ascended like you. It is quite the experience." - I said with a smile.

"Ah, right. What happened during my sleep?" - I asked and checked the remaining energy inside her.

I discovered that all the energy was already absorbed.

"Lord, after you slept, everything has been peaceful. Aside from bringing newly born Minions, I also had the Kin to eat the remaining carcasses to prevent rot and feed them. Specifically, I ate the 16 evolved cadavers and five dogs before your blessing faded." - Primrose reported.

This time, she didn't give me exact numbers, likely trusting I could sense everything within seconds.

"Mm." - I nodded and looked at Primrose.

I could tell through her tight-fit clothes she gained some muscle, but not excessively. At least, it was far less apparent than in my case. It is likely because she is in a 6-year-old body, and a peak body is less about strength and more about overall functionality and health.

However, this also reminded me of another thing.

She can evolve now.

I looked over at my remaining points.

 

Basic Energy: 7,617

Evolution Energy A: 1,088

Enhancement Energy A: 350

 

I still have many evolution points left. I can likely evolve her if I want.

However, I didn't immediately check those paths.

I looked outside and saw that there was still around an hour before night falls, just enough to get some clothes and the computer from the library.

Nodding to myself, I looked at Primrose.

"Primrose, I need you to go to the library and retrieve the main computer in the back room. This is delicate work, so I need you to do it personally, alright?" - I instructed.

"Yes, Lord. It will be done." - She replied, not questioning my weird request.

We then went out of the hotel and walked our separate ways.

 

...

 

Ten minutes later, I was trying some shoes in a shop when a thought occurred to me.

"Why can't I just store everything I want and try them later?"

With that in mind, I started chugging shoe boxes with shoes my size inside the Storage until I noticed a problem.

I was running out of space.

"Time to enhance it, I guess." - I muttered.

And then, I opened the relevant enhancement.

 

Increase Storage Size 2: Increase the size of the Storage space from 8m^3 to 64m^3. Cost: 100 Enhancement Energy A

 

The total size is multiplied by eight times, but the price is multiplied by ten.

"I guess different enhancements operate differently." - I muttered and decided to pick it.

 

{Enhancement Complete.}

Enhancement Energy A: 350 -> 250

 

And now, with eight times the Storage size, I happily continued tossing shoes inside.

I then went to a clothing shop and did a shopping spree, taking around three times the clothes I keep in my closet.

By the time I returned, it was already dark. Although thanks to my night vision, it looked almost as bright as day.

At the hotel, Primrose waited with a desktop computer, a computer screen, and cables left neatly in the corner.

"Lord, I finished your task." - Primrose straightened her back and reported.

"Good." - I nodded and placed the equipment inside my Storage.

"Has there been any animal movement?" - I asked.

"No, Lord. But I noticed that the animals hunted around a thousand Minions during daylight. I suspect they switched to daylight-hunting stray Minions." - Primrose reported.

"Hm... Alright. Let's go back to the room first. We need to get a haircut." - I said, touching my freely-flowing waist-long hair.

"Thank you, Lord. This long hair has been bothering me for some time now." - Primrose said while touching her ankle-long ponytail.

She gathered her hair at some point, likely because it restricted her movement.

 

Around fifteen minutes later...

 

I made the final cut on Primrose's hair.

"Done." - I smiled in satisfaction.

Primrose's hair was cut to ear length at her request.

Although I am not at the level of a professional barber, I did give my sister's hair some adjustments from time to time, so I knew how to cut hair.

Overall, it was passable as a stopgap.

"Thank you, Lord." - Primrose thanked while patting away remnant hair.

"No problem. Can you give me a haircut now?" - I asked.

"Yes, Lord. Please take a seat." - Primrose said and brought a stool to stand on.

"How long do you want it, my Lord?" - She asked while holding a pair of scissors.

"Please cut it short." - I said.

"Yes, Lord." - She replied and started cutting.

While she was busy, I examined the Ascended evolutionary paths available to Primrose.

 

Stable Evolutionary Branches: Ascended Psi-Warrior, Ascended Shapeshifter, Ascended Relicsmith, Ascended Biomancer, Ascended Technomancer, Ascended Pathfinder, Ascended Mindweaver

 

Currently available evolutionary routes:

1. Ascended Psi-Warrior. Cost: 301.5 Evolution Energy A. 3,015 Basic Energy. Estimated Time: 10 hours
2. Ascended Shapeshifter. Cost: 301.5 Evolution Energy A. 3,015 Basic Energy. Estimated Time: 10 hours
3. Ascended Relicsmith. Cost: 301.5 Evolution Energy A. 3,015 Basic Energy. Estimated Time: 10 hours
4. Ascended Biomancer. Cost: 301.5 Evolution Energy A. 3,015 Basic Energy. Estimated Time: 10 hours
5. Ascended Technomancer. Cost: 301.5 Evolution Energy A. 3,015 Basic Energy. Estimated Time: 10 hours
6. Ascended Pathfinder. Cost: 402 Evolution Energy A. 4,020 Basic Energy. Estimated Time: 13.6 hours
7. Ascended Mindweaver. Cost: 402 Evolution Energy A. 4,020 Basic Energy. Estimated Time: 13.6 hours

 

I noticed two things. First, most of these evolutions are equal in value except for Pathfinder and Mindweaver. And second, the price is rising along with Primrose's growth.

The more I wait, the more expensive it will be to evolve her. This gave me an incentive to focus on her growth first.

I then viewed the details of each evolution.

 

Ascended Psi-Warrior: An Ascended who walks the path of psionic combat. They gain an affinity for infusing their body or objects with mental energies, granting increased strength, agility, and toughness, and minor in telekinetic abilities, elemental control, and short-distance teleportation, making them the elite soldiers of the Ascended. Although they are strong in their own right, they truly shine when supported by comprehensive logistics and equipment.

 

Welp, this one is straight-out a warrior template... psionic warrior template, that is. The idea of them being able to reinforce themselves with psychic energies is good, but they are reliant on logistics... which I don't have. For now, it is shelved.

 

Ascended Shapeshifter: An Ascended who walks the path of psionic espionage and serves as the agent of the Ascendant. They gain an affinity to change their body shape, odor, sound, color, pheromones, and mind wavelength at their will and minor in mental energy infusion, short-distance telekinetic abilities, and mind-reading, allowing them powerful espionage and assassination abilities on other humanoid races. They also have decent fighting ability, able to conjure claws and additional limbs to assist them in battle.

 

This one is something to consider if there are other humans alive. As strong as the Ascended are, bullets and bombs can kill them, and looking like a human can boost Primrose's survivability in such encounters. At least, I don't think many people would shoot a 6-year-old girl for shits and giggles, especially since humanity is likely declining. Of course, I might be wrong, and this world is like Fall**t or M*d M*x with drugged-up raiders.

 

Ascended Relicsmith: An Ascended who walks the path of rune-forging. They gain an affinity for rune-grafting, enabling them to place runes on items, giving the objects artificial souls and pseudo-sentience, turning them into relics, or on living entities, giving them various advantages. Relicsmiths are logistical types and are poor fighters compared to other paths, so they are usually protected while they enhance the Ascendent forces with runes.

 

Well, this is an interesting one. Grafting runes on objects can create relics with souls while grafting runes on people can buff them. The only weakness is the lack of combat ability... which isn't a problem. In my opinion, this one is worth more than the psi-warrior because it can reinforce my evolved Kin and even myself. It is worth considering.

 

Ascended Biomancer: An Ascended who walks the path of Biomancy. They gain an affinity for manipulating biological matter, enabling them to create and manipulate life, alter genes, permanently distort biological matter, and augment biological functions. They can induce increased or decreased biological functions, cure or create viruses, induce appearance alterations, manipulate pheromones, and even increase or decrease cell maturity if they are skillful enough. They serve as biological engineers and doctors, and their main purpose is to create biological technologies, both for industrial purposes and for war. In combat, aside from being efficient field medics, they use biological armor and weaponry and can induce many debilitating and often deadly effects on biomatter-based enemies.

 

One word: YIKES!

No, seriously, I DO NOT want to mess with someone like that. If you make someone like this angry, you probably have only a month or two to live, because the incurable cancer he gave you will kill you in a slow and horrible death. On the other hand, having someone like this on your side is an incredible boon, akin to having a divine doctor. That aside, they can augment and heal others, so they are a force to be reckoned with.

 

Ascended Technomancer: An Ascended who walks the path of Technomancy. They gain an affinity for electric-based devices, allowing them a deeper grasp on the inner working of devices, communicate with them, and manipulate them, and they minor in electric, metal, and magnetic manipulation. Technomancers are the tinkerers of the Ascended, producing mechanical constructs and equipment for the Ascended forces, and are an indispensable part of their industries and war machines. In war, they act as field engineers and either repair damaged equipment on the spot or sabotage enemy equipment, and remotely control mechanical constructs to attack the enemy.

 

One word: Yes.

It is 10/10, with no arguments. At least, in modern times and with enough resources, this is likely the best out of these options. Even in this apocalyptic world, it can play a significant role. This one rivals the shapeshifter.

 

Ascended Pathfinder: An Ascended who walks the rare path of divination. They gain an affinity to Probability, granting them abilities that even they hardly understand. Shallow use can include precognition and danger sense, while more masterful use can include the divination of possible future events, foreseeing the best paths, and the perception and even manipulation of probability which they perceive as luck. Out of battle, they aid in starfaring fleets, acting as guides when they are lost, and in battle, they use their abilities to miraculously avoid disadvantageous situations and even manipulate probability itself to make bullets and bombs miss them.

 

I was prepared for something like clairvoyance, but never imagined something broken like this!

Precognition, danger sensing, divination, and probability manipulation. Good fucking Trod, this is broken. It is one of those powers that would get you super rich if you decide to abuse it in a casino... if the casinos don't suspect you, that is.

Anyways, although it looks great, it seems a bit impractical right now, so it is honestly on the level of the Psi Warrior on priority.

And now, last but not least, the Mindweaver.

 

Ascended Mindweaver: An Ascended who walks the rare path of mind weaving. They gain an affinity with mental power, enabling them to exhibit many powers relating to the mind, including mind reading, telekinesis, pain inducement, creating psychic constructs, and mind control among other things, and possess great mental fortitude. Among the Ascended, the Mindweavers have a special status. First, they act as the central neural links in the Kin hivemind, enabling the connection of tens of thousands of intelligent Ascended without overloading their brain. Second, they protect the Ascended under them from enemy mental power users. And third, they are the ones who usually control gargantuan class relics since they can withstand the powerful artificial soul. Although they have decent fighting abilities, they rarely show them since they are heavily protected at all times.

 

And yet another cheat existence. Seriously, with this, I can probably take over the world by mind-reading and brainwashing people... Okay, maybe not. Still, I can manipulate rich people into buying my products for a high price, or if I feel like a total asshat, I can manipulate poor and defenseless women into having sex with me... which I won't do since I am not that desperate.

If someone in my world were ever found to possess such power, he would get his ass assassinated.

 

Anyways...

Looking at all of these evolutions, I started analyzing them.

"All of these are psychic paths, and they each give different affinities, but they don't include mastery over the said affinities. In other words, it will take time and effort to master those powers. It can take days, weeks, months, or even years to master any of these paths. However, to the long-living and intelligent Ascended, this isn't a demerit, as they have ridiculous lifespans and intelligence. Also, to them as a race, being a master of one instead of a jack of all is more efficient."

"However, I am different. I don't need to economize. I want to have the potential to master everything, the strongest evolution available. These so-called paths limit my future potential."

"So, how do I overcome this demerit?" - I asked myself.

A moment later, I remembered something I shelved yesterday.

 

Synthesize. The host can synthesize multiple genetic chains, creating a different evolution path. Price: 1,000 Enhancement Energy A

 

With this, I can probably solve the problem.

Of course, that means I need to butcher another 10,000 Minions. But looking at the rate we are gathering Minions, we can get 10,000 of them in four or five days, so it isn't that much of a problem.

However, I am in no hurry to evolve yet, which leaves Primrose up to debate.

While thinking about it, I heard Primrose's voice.

"Lord, I'm done." - She said.

"Ah..." - I woke up and stared at the mirror.

It was a classic short haircut. It was a bit rough, but it would do.

"Thanks, Primrose." - I turned around and thanked her.

"It is my honor, my Lord." - She bowed politely.

"Hm..." - I nodded and then stared at her youthful face.

"My Lord?" - Primrose tilted her head in question.

Looking at her for another moment, I opened my mouth and asked.

"Primrose, would you like to become stronger?"