Sanguine Paradise

∼ Day 211 ∼

Eyes fluttering open as the light reseeded, I was met with the familiar sight of the cavern I had sat down and initiated my evolution in.

Although the surroundings hadn't changed from what I remembered before I shut my eyes, there was one startling change that was immediately noticeable.

My body was brimming with power.

I lifted my arms, flexing my hands experimentally as my muscles had become noticeably larger. I also touched my body and chest, finding that my entire body had put on a surprising amount of muscle.

From my previous near-perfect athlete's and bordering on pretty boy body, I now sported what quite literally could be described as a greek god physique. From the hard v-shape and bulky muscles lining my arms, chest, and back, it was like it had been sculpted.

However, I felt undecidedly awkward with this new body as I had barely even gotten used to my previously pretty boy body. Especially since I had only had a decently trained figure to show off in my old life before coming to this world, nothing really to talk home about. But now that I had what would be the envy of most, it felt out of place on someone like me.

I just sighed and got to my feet in an attempt to forget. Or at least, I tried to.

Almost stumbling back onto the ground, my full attention was drawn to the large black things attached to my back. And there they were, half splayed out on the ground behind me. It took me a moment to really register, but the large, abyssal black, and smooth wings were without a doubt, attached to my back.

Getting to my feet hastily and without really meaning to, the wings, like limbs I've always had, suddenly unfolded to their full spans with a swoosh of air as they displaced the wind and dirt around with great force.

I let out a nervous chuckle.

I had expected some change, but definitely not this. Although a bit awkward at first, it didn't take long before I had the new but somehow familiar limbs under control, folding back into themselves to settle on my back like some cloak. Deep down, my inner dude instincts were yelling; this shit cool. But the more rational and experienced part of myself was contemplating whether or not this change was a hassle rather than a boon.

I mean, I already had my shadow wings which I could conjure and dispel at will, and it wasn't like I could just stow these huge wings away anytime I.. liked... it?

Or could I?

Trailing off in thought, I tapped into Eldritch-Touched Body, essentially the super-charged version of my previous Lesser Eldritch Vitality and Blood Born. And as I had thought, the ease with how I could change the physical appearance of my body was eerie. With but a thought, the wings on my back retracted into my body, leaving only untouched and unmarred skin on my back. Like they had never been.

I let out a small and unconscious sigh of relief.

This also added a small but potentially important benefit. As my shadow wings depended solely on my magic to function, they essentially also made them vulnerable to anything specifically targeting magic, and with actual physical wings, I needed not worry in either situation. Also, my shadow wings weren't entirely that great at doing what they were made for as they after all were constructs of shadow. Not really something known for its particularly sturdy physical presence or power to interact with solids.

As for other changes to my body, I found that besides the increase in muscle mass and the wings, both my height and hair had grown. A few inches taller from my already considerable height, I would now be towering over almost any human with my stature at somewhere around six foot five or seven feet. My hair too had decided to go for a growth spurt as the shoulder-length platinum lock now rolled down to the small of my back.

Quite a bit too long for me, so I simply shortened it back to around my shoulders as that was what I had generally gotten used to. Also, Mia seemed to have grown a hobby of stylizing and playing with my hair whenever she got the opportunity, and this length had been pointedly suggested as the best by the capricious drow.

The brief thought of the pregnant girl waiting for me back home sent a surge of both urgency and determination through me, recentering my mind back on getting home as fast as feasibly possible.

Done with the little inspection of my new body, I moved on.

-Status!-

[Status]

Name: "Xavier Tal'chor"

Race: Stragúl (Eldritch Avatar)

Sex: Male

Rank: C-

Level: 1/75

Health: 2398/2398

Stamina: 501/501

Mana: 612/612

[Attributes]

STR - 55 ⇒ 68

VIT - 215 ⇒ 286

AGI - 132 ⇒ 143

DEX - 52 ⇒ 65

INT - 55 ⇒ 72

CHR - 42 ⇒ 61

WILL - 70 ⇒ 82

MAG - 182 ⇒ 234

[Trait, Titles, and Skills].

Skills - 20

Traits - 9 ⇒ 10

Titles - 4 ⇒ 5

Skill Points - 39 ⇒ 3

[Resistances]

Phy. Resistance - 55 ⇒ 60

Mag. Resistance - 56 ⇒ 71

Men. Resistance - 52 ⇒ 55

Brows raised, a whistle of appreciation escaped my lips.

All my stats had gotten quite the impressive boost, and even with that, I knew this was the least of the things I had gained since stepping foot inside this cavern.

Besides just the raw physical aspect of my form, I could feel the roiling sea of my magic give off surges of power, unlike anything I had felt it give off before. It was like an entirely different beast, but this time even more ferocious and savage. Powerful, but chaotic.

Curious, I pulled up what I thought might have something to do with this.

-Title, Eldritch Harbinger!-

Beware, for he who brings chaos and change, the unknown, the terrible - the truth. Also brings death ∼ Bringer of change, your magic is no longer that of diluted and unpure power. Touching upon the very source of change and chaos, the eldritch has embraced your will, in through you - your magic.

I had to take a few long moments just staring at that description, definitely not sure if I should be excited or downright terrified.

While you could never know what those words truly mean or entail, one thing is generally always for sure.

"The system does not throw its words around lightly."

Turning my attention inwards, to my core, I found a great change like the description had described. My mana really did seem to no longer follow the common notions that it once did, as if it was an entirely new type of energy. Playing by entirely new rules - or rather, no rules at all.

Worried, I tried to do a simple spell of stagnation and found my worry spiking as it completely failed to take hold. It wasn't my mana acting up, or if it even was mana anymore, but rather it seemed like the glyphs that usually constructed the formations of my spells were utterly failing to contain this new energy within my core.

It was kinda like trying to make a car engine power a bicycle.

The vessel was essentially either downright incompatible or entirely outside its league to be fueled by this kind of power.

Finding myself unable to produce any formulated spells, I forsook trying to get my magic to work for now. I still had access to most of my unguided magic, such as simply conjuring blood and shadows without a frame or spell behind it.

Despite my apprehension of being stripped of a part of my power due to lacking knowledge of how exactly I was to operate this new energy, there was something else wrong, bugging me.

I felt like... something was... missing. As if a certain part or more of me was empty - hollow.

Following this feeling, I found myself looking up my latest trait.

-Trait, Summon Familiar!-

[Trait]

-Summon Familiar-

From the soul, an entity, an extension of oneself - the soul can take many forms ∼ Awaken a piece of your soul.

"That was rather uninformative..." I grumbled despite already latching onto the instinctive knowledge embedded in my mind.

For some time, I just stood there in the darkness, attempting to feel my way through whatever it was I was supposed to do. It took me a bit, but I finally found something as I touched upon the shadows at my command and found them surprisingly... empty.

From my [Ring of Holding] I pulled out a few items and fashioned myself a torch which I quickly had gotten lit. I placed the burning torch into the ground as it cast its light and dispelled some of the darkness that filled the cavern. My shadow danced in the light cast by the torch and I crouched down to touch it, not just with my body but also with my soul.

There was no response at first, but as I poured my consciousness into the darkness, a flicker caught my attention. Not a flicker caused by the fire on me commanding the shadow, but something else entirely. Something... else.

Before I knew it, my soul was sucked into the shadow as it began roiling on its own, like a living creature. I could almost feel as if a piece of my soul was parting with me and entering my very own shadow. But neither was it agonizing nor uncomfortable - rather, it was warming and gave me a strange sense of fulfillment. Filling that empty hole within a part of me.

Then it suddenly stopped and my shadow returned to normal.

I got back to my full height, peering into the still shadow cast by the light behind me. A moment stretched by as I tried to find whatever it was I was feeling that hid in my shadow. My curiosity needed to wait no longer as something dark, fast, and small practically sprung from my shadow.

Wait no, it was my shadow.

Jumping into my arms, what looked to be a small dragon or wyvern of sorts squawked at me. Eyes wide and unable to really comprehend the small creature prancing around and squawking excitedly at me, I stood there for a good long moment - stunned.

The small wyvern seemed to pick up on my state of emotions as it quickly calmed down and quirked its head to give a worried squeak.

"I-uh, hi there?" I tried weakly.

Instantly returning to its excited and energetic behavior as I broke out of my stupor, it continued to prance and flap its wings with the occasional squawk of what came off as joy.

"So... you're my soul familiar - huh?" I muttered, lifting the small creature closer to my face so I could inspect it further.

Pitch black, sleek and smooth scales that were so fine they almost came off as skin, winged arms that extended into hooked claws that were mirrored on its hind legs, a long and slender neck, ending in the rounded snout-like head with beady black eyes that were slit and a maw full of small sharp teeth.

Oddly enough, the tiny creature came off as both terrifying and adorably cute.

In answer to my mutterings, the wyvern let out a squawk that surprisingly enough, came extremely clear off as; yes!

I just chalked it down to being something related to a bond between us rather than me having just learned dragon-speak. I wasn't entirely sure where to go from here, but before I really got to do anything else, it struck me that while the feeling of emptiness was lessened considerably, it was not actually all gone yet.

"Seems we're not done yet..." I asked the prancing wyvern. "What do you say for a sister or a brother?"