A Universe of Bloody Evolution

So I pretty much became a humanoid dragon, Leo commented as he took another look at himself through Nyx's eyes.

Though calling him humanoid might be stretching it a bit. Yes, he possessed two legs, two arms, and a head, but aside from that, there was nothing human about him. Hell, comparing him to Collectors had more merit at this point.

And ain't that a sad thought. He snorted, disconnecting his vision from the feline. He had enough of his own violet, cat-like eyes staring back at him.

"Any issues when I was out of commission?" He asked, just to make sure. Considering what the System told him before awakening, there could be more people or Voidlings around them.

Lily shook her head. "Nah. A few stragglers, nothing more."

Leo frowned. "Holden didn't send anyone out to find us? That's... surprising."

"Maybe he did, and they just haven't come here yet. Not everyone can cross the entire city in a matter of minutes like us."

"True." He nodded and took another survey of the area around him.

The Void had already covered every single window in the room, and there was no way he would fit through the doorways. Brute force really was the only way out for him.

"I'm gonna need you two to get out. This place might not survive what I do next."

Lily instantly caught on. "You will bulldozer your way out?"

He grinned as well as someone with the face of a dragon could. "That's the plan. Now, get a move on."

"Aye, aye!" She saluted and turned on her heel.

'Just don't bring the entire house down on your head, okay? I really don't want to spend the next hour digging you out,' Nyx said on her way out, her voice filled with mirth.

Very funny. He scoffed, rolling his eyes. Let me know when you are outside.

He didn't have to wait long for the feline to call him back. 'Go on. We're waiting in front of the house.'

As their link went silent, Leo took a deep breath and let Essence fill his body. The river of energy answered almost as well as it did before the evolution. Yet, now he could feel even more power hiding beneath the facade of calmness.

Makes sense. My connection to the Void is even stronger now.

He melded the Essence in his veins and muscles, very slowly activating a weak Reinforcement. With that done, he eyed the arch leading into the kitchen and dashed forward, making the floor tremble with each step.

The entrance to the kitchen didn't stand a chance against his charge, and he easily made his way inside as debris exploded around him. The wall leading outside was his next enemy, and just like the arch, it crumbled under his strength, letting him taste the evening air.

Leo stopped a few steps away from his sister and Nyx and glanced over his shoulder. His old home still stood strong, covered from head to toe in the Void's living matter. However now, it also had one large hole leading inside.

Sorry mom. He winced.

Lily whistled. "That's one way to make an exit. I could never. At least not with my body alone."

"Not yet," he said, turning away from the house. "A few more levels and no wall will stand in your way too."

"Maybe." She shrugged. "Did it even hurt at all?"

Leo glanced down at his body and shook his head. "Not really. It was almost like going through a wall of paper. Guess those scales are useful for something."

"Yeah..." Lily muttered, giving him a weird look. "Do you need some clothes? That loincloth of yours is barely hanging on, and I don't want to be here when it falls off."

Right... Forgot about that. He grimaced, quickly reaching into his soul and summoning his latest acquisition. However, instead of putting it into his hands, he forced it to appear over his legs.

It worked right away, and the Pants of Protective Comfort materialized on the bottom half of his body. The black fabric stretched down to his knees, easily hiding anything above it from sight.

Leo took a few experimental steps and nodded. As the name suggested, those pants were neither too tight nor too baggy. They fitted him perfectly and didn't restrict his movement at all.

"Huh, not bad," Lily said, stopping him from testing the pants further. "You should have done that before we came in."

"Yeah, yeah, my bad." He waved her off. "Give me a moment. I want to check my status and see if anything happened within my soulscape."

"Adam?"

He nodded. "I didn't feel anything weird, but it's better to make sure."

"Got it. Be quick, please. We've lingered long enough."

'What she said,' Nyx added. 'We have at most two or three hours before night. If one of you wants to get back to London today, we need to move.'

I know. Two minutes is all I need, Leo promised and summoned his status window.

Name: Leonardo Brown
Title: Void's Heir
Evolution Stage: III - Prime Indomitus Venax
Class: Nightblade | LVL. 38
Job: Hunter
Rank: E+

Might Tier II (164) | LB: 99
Grace: Tier II (321) | LB: 98
Vision: Tier II (121) | LB: 96
Mind: Tier II (121) | LB: 5
Soul: Tier II (174) | LB: 82

Ether: 10303

Traits: Void's Embrace (Epic), Night Terror (Rare), True Affinity: Shadow (Rare), Basic Akirian Physiology (Epic), True Bond (Unique), True Minor Affinity: Ruination (Void), Venax Wings (Unique)

Mutations: Heart of the Void (Beta)

Racial Skills: Universal Linguist (Unique), Identify (Unique), Soul Arts (Rare), Devour (Epic+), Night Hunter's Blade Mastery (Rare), Relentless Hunger (Radiant), Prime Legacy (Unique)

General Skills: Stealth Shroud (Epic), Vital Strike (Common), Reinforcement (Uncommon), Kiss of Death (Uncommon), Hunter's Pulse (Epic), Decoy (Uncommon), Soulscape (Radiant), Phantom Erasure (Rare), Blink (Epic)

Damn, that's a long list. Leo blinked. Rank E+... Now that's something. Not that I should be surprised with those attributes. Like three hundred Grace? Holy shit, I wonder how fast I can go now. Can't wait to test that.

There was a bunch of other stuff he wanted to try out now; he just had to get some time to do that. Which might not be too easy. He still had to deal with the Void Gate in Wolford and then the mess in London. His schedule for the next two weeks was pretty packed.

I will figure something out once I close the gate here, he decided and closed his eyes. His soulscape was waiting.

With a sharp tug on his Essence, he pulled his entire being into his soul and gasped. While most of his soulscape remained the same, the Void's living matter growing everywhere was new. Even the sky gained a few new additions in the form of black sparks racing across the air.

"Weird," Leo muttered, slowly walking towards Adam's prison. "Vetilim and Corcera I get, but the sparks?" He shook his head. "No idea..."

Aside from that, the representation of his body had also changed a bit due to his Ruination affinity. Red and black liquid now flowed between the shadows of his form, seamlessly connecting everything together.

With a shrug, he sped up, gliding across the empty planes until the shadow prison appeared in his sight. He stopped a few steps away, extending his senses to search for any issues.

"Still sleeping," he mumbled, glancing at the boy inside. "Identify."

Apex Night Stalker (Voidling) | LVL: 19

"Of course..." Leo ran a hand across his face. "Five levels from just sitting around and taking in my power."

Even with the adjustments he had made the last time, it seemed like his Essence was just too powerful for Adam to stay the same. It wasn't an issue now, not with the vast power gap between them, but if it continued like this...

Need to figure out something. Soon.

After a few more adjustments to his Essence flow into the prison, Leo closed his eyes and left the soulscape. He did what he could for the time being.

"Leo?" Lily's voice greeted him when I returned to the real world. "How did it go? How's Adam?"

"Still sleeping," he answered and stood up. "His is level nineteen now. Once we deal with Payne and his cult, we must focus on Adam. I can't keep him inside my soul forever."

The woman gulped and nodded. "We will. We definitely will."

'It might be time for you to learn more about rituals and healing arts soon. I don't know much about them, but it's a start. We can even ask Naz'Tor about it.'

We will see, Leo answered through the link. He then looked at his sister. "Alright, let's go. I bet they are still waiting for us."

That said, they left his old neighborhood and traveled back toward Eden. True to his words, a large group of people waited at the edge of the safe zone. He quickly identified Frank, Dylan, and Clara among them. Holden was nowhere to be seen, but as a leader with a bunch of survivors to command, that wasn't surprising.

"Well, well, well," Leo said once they got into the hearing distance. "What a nice welcoming committee. Were you that worried?"

Before anybody could say anything, Clara exploded. "Motherfucker! Hale, you turned into a bloody dragon. I don't care anymore. I call dibs on the first flight!"

As Lily and Nyx snorted next to him, Leo sighed, palming his snout.

Ah, for fuck's sake. Where did I go wrong in life?