Chapter 43: Congrats! Your Toddler evolved into a Child!
[Sophia's POV]
It took us the whole day to reach the foot of the volcano, mostly because of the injured ones, but it was also because of the distance. Anyway as you would expect, a place riddled with fire-type monsters will have a very small amount of trees, it is even more obvious to me who sees the trees of different layers in different colors depending on the characteristics of the layer, so in this case, I can see very little amount of red-colored trees.
I ignored the scarcity of trees for now and looked at the volcano, It has a perfect cone shape, making it extraordinarily steep yet also making it majestic.
_Who teleported Mayon* here?_
I thought so as I observed the façade of the volcanoes, several holes can be seen around it about the same size as a normal gateway, though it did not eat away at the beauty of the volcano at all, still, I finally understood how in the world the monkeys can sprint at full speed for two whole days with only dinner as their rest time.
_This is a good training spot._
For some reason, every one of my soon-to-be soldiers and even the goats shuddered and grunted a little as if an unknown source of fear shrouded their hearts, I wonder what that source of fear is.
As I and my new group of subordinates entered the tribe settlement, curious glances were seen all over the place, especially for me, Eleanor, and my subordinates, but because their (former) leader was accompanying us, they did not say anything.
"Kneel before the queen."
The former tribe leader said and all of the monkeys obeyed, though some are reluctant they could see their battered and bruised brothers of theirs and can also hear the large explosions that they presumed I made with my power (I mean, I did do it technically), so they decided in all of their wisdom to kneel before me for the safety of their lives and protection of their tribe. Anyway, all of the people here are wise people and not like the rebels, so there are no bumps in earning their oath of loyalty.
As this scene transpired, I asked [Guide], of course still smiling on the outside.
So, how do I conquer the conquer point?
[Oh, you already met the requirements, that is to receive the loyalty of the master or kill the master of that point yourself, so any moment from now... oh, there it is.]
Notice [ Requirements for the conquering of the second point have been completed.
Hero's test progress has been recorded. Three more conquer points and you will officially become the hero of the god of the undead.
Reward: Evolution.
Note: When the prospect evolves during the hero's test, it will only be considered a single level up because the point will "evolve" the taker of the test and not level him or her until she evolved.]
I looked at the last note, so basically if by any chance I got a chance to get the loyalty of the other monster leaders at level one of my next evolution, then I will evolve, but that evolution will only be considered as a single level up because the system will ignore the Exp. requirement of the evolution, wait so does that mean that I am encouraged to kill the leaders and wage war against all of them? I mean, if I just became the diplomat here, aren't I just skipping the grind and go for a new template with meager strength to back up my new appearance? good thing I am already one level away from evolving, if not then that will be a huge waste.
Well, I am already at level 29 so I am not worried about that, Also I took a mental note of that and made sure that only the monkey tribe leader will be the last point leader that will be alive upon contact with me.
"You can stand up now."
All of the monkeys simultaneously stood up, As they did so, the monkey tribe leader bent his back into my eye level, talking about flexibility.
"Mater, it seems like my remaining children are yet to arrive from their hunt."
He looked a little apologetic, but I didn't mind because its not like I did not saw their faces yet, actually my favorite child of his is a girl with a strong character, it seems like she is a person too serious too, I bet her and Kabuto will be quite a good match with each other, but that's not why I am here so I replied into him with my ever so cute smile.
"Well, I did some scouting work when I was still planning for the invasion of this place (Though the invasion became smoother than I thought) so it is not like I am oblivious of how they act, though my subordinate cannot go too near you because of certain risks."
The monkey tribe leader sighed, probably thinking "So that's why the rebels got beaten up so bad they cried when they saw me." and nodded his head. The fact that Kabuto cannot come near him is also the reason why I cannot foresee the actions of the spider queen, but now I am pretty confident of my grasp on her personality, though I need face-to-face encounters to affirm my analysis.
"Anyway, do you have an empty room?"
The tribe leader got startled for a moment before replying, seems like he is yet to adapt to himself being lower than someone, well he has to from now on.
"I have emptied a room for you, my lady."
He started to once again lead the way towards the room, The monkeys gave way whilst my subordinates also assimilated into the group, mostly because that's what I want them to do and not out of pure will to socialize, but progress is gradual and not instant, okay? While I was thinking of such things, we reached the room and yeah it had a huge slab of rock for bed, as expected from a settlement inside a volcano, even Eleanor who was following us the whole time smiled an awkward one, surely she missed the soft bed in her homeland.
_I shall strive so that she can sleep comfortably again._
While I just found a new motivation to do my best, I replied.
"Well, this should suffice."
I nodded in satisfaction, The monkey then squinted his eyes and then suddenly made it so wide that he looked like a tarsier who was trying hard to hide his buck teeth.
"I see! Then I shall leave, The room might not be much but please enjoy your pleasurable time with your spouse!"
He then immediately made all of the servants in the area leave the premises quickly.
"Spouse..."
Me and Eleanor stared at the leaving figures of the maids, I looked at Eleanor who was looking at the ground with her face being beet red as she muttered the word spouse again and again.
"Ellie?"
I tugged at her priest robe but she continued to mumble those words, I got a little bit fed up by this and then made a bubble in front of her face and let it burst, she snapped back at reality with this but turned red once again and began running at full speed while shouting "Spouse!" all over the corridor. I stared at that scene blankly and a little trace of redness appeared in my cheeks.
[Well, I know you are probably happy right now but you have to evolve.]
I did not reply and just entered the room, ascertained by one thing.
_My height might not be a hindrance after all._
_________
After a while of being giddy, I started to seriously evolve.
[A while? We arrived here at six and you were laughing with the 'uhehehe' sound until eight! You're fantasizing for two whole hours and all of your fantasy is laid bare in front of my fucking eyes!]
Shut up, I never really loved someone to the point of wanting her to be my partner, so all of this is new to me. Anyway, as you said a couple of hours ago, let's evolve.
As I thought of that the usual irresistible drive of sleeping attacked me, making me slump into the ground as if my soul had left my body so suddenly, A cocoon then engulfed my now peacefully sleeping figure and a notification appeared.
Notice[Evolution tree did not find...
God of the Undead: ??? employed evolution tree available, using the employed evolution tree...
Evolving...]
The evolution right now is quite long unlike before, I can tell because it's already sunrise when I got out of that cocoon, I looked at my somehow dried-up hair in the pool of liquid and could see it was long enough that I had to tuck the forelocks into my ears so that it will not hinder my vision, I can also quite see where my face will go.
_I'm handsome._
Well androgynous is the right word but yeah, it's handsome alright, anyway here are my new stats.
Name: Sophia Demiurge
HP: 87/87
Race: Human (Child)
Mana: 1,473
Stamina: Unlimited
[Level: 1/40
EXP: 0/5,050
Stats:
STR: 48
INT: 120
VIT: 23
AGI: 56
DEX: 63
LUK: -1
As you can see my race name over there already have the "Child" on it, so it signifies that I evolved even though it looks like I am the second evolution of a white-colored Pokemon or something, well anyway because of me being already at the 29th level when I evolved, some skills evolved alongside the three that are supposed to be randomly picked by Siri.
They are the following:
[Range]: Anything that is thrown or shot by the user will hit its target without fail in a 50-meter radius.
[Mid Regeneration]: Regenerates HP, speed: 2 for .05 second.
Boulder Magic: This magic skill can now be used in the offense, defense, and debuff without the restriction of its speed. Furthermore, with enough control a boulder shower is possible.
[Martial Arts Master]: An evolved form of Martial Arts apprentice, uses fists and feet to fight and move precisely and effectively with every name change. The next evolution is what every taker of the path of the martial desires.
Fountain Magic: Magic evolved from the most dangerous one, It can be a good companion or a destructive monster, it all depends on the one who wields the said magic skill.
That's all of the skill that evolved, by the way, the description of my two title skills are here
[Fear LVL.3]: Let an individual enslave a whole community by killing their leader. (Neutralized)
[Monarch]: Anyone who pledged their loyalty towards you will have increased stats. They will live according to your will and die if you desire. Cannot be evolved.
As you can see the [Fear] title skill has the neutralized word after it, which means I will not have to put up with the pale faces of the people under my wing and they will serve me with just little (or no) fear in their hearts.
_Yes, of course, all of this is a good thing, at least most of it. So why? _
WHY AM I STILL SMALL?
[Master congrats you once again barely grew! BWAHAHAHAHAHHA!]
Ş̶̨̨̫̹̱̣͔͔̭͈̞̗͍͕̰̳̜̼͈͖̲̠̟̎̂̀̇̈́͋̽͗̂̉̔̇̈́̑̐̈́̌̈́̀͠͠ͅḨ̸̧̧̺̼̼̳͍̞̳̝̜̟̙̱̠̺͔̪͚͚͖̘͔̦̘͓̩̙͙͇̳̬̬͕́̓̾̎̽̿̀̅̀̅͌̈̃̾͗́̓̔́͒̋̄̆̒͂̆̽̈́͐̑̀̅̽͆͊̊̑̚͘̚͜͝͠ͅỮ̷̖͉̗̳͚̬̜̠̝̠̘̺͚̟͚̥͕̩̗̆̅͂͋͒̆͛͂̑̌͊̔̒̅͆̽̓̚͠͝ͅT̷̨̧̨̡̛̰͙̟̮͇̪̰̘̯͚̭̯̥̲̝̱̰͓̘̯̟̜̗̣̖̪̙̲̆̍͛̾̎̊̉̑̈́ ̸̛̲̘͔̥̝̱̖̲̅̏͌̅͛̆̃̿̍̊͊̍̃̓̇͒̅̀͂̾̅̑̉͋͆̈́̓̿͗͒̿̈́͐̑̋͐̐̎̚̕T̵̢̨̨̨̛̥͔͔̮̮͖̘̙̩̫̖̘̝͖̠͙͍̖̟̩̭̯͉̖͇̈͗̐͑ͅH̷̛̖̯̟̱̠͉̼̗̬̮͔̦̠͗̈́́̒͌̈͑̑̂̃̈̈͋̈̿̈́͆͌̎͑̾́̀̂̓̌͋̓̒̃̄͘̚̕͜͠͝͝͝͝͠E̷̢̛̛̱͙͎͕̣̻̟̖̩̲͍̲̺̥̞̭̲̥̳̦̫̰̣̮͙̘̭̮͖̐̄̀́̇̇͗̿̈́̽̋̇̂̈́͑́̍͑̐̎̄̽̓̑͐̒̈́̏͐͂̀̀̈́̋͑͘̕̚͝͝ͅ ̷̰̙̦͇͕̈́̊̉͐̈́͂͗͆͋͊͊̈́̈̃͌̀̑̽̂̈́͘͠F̴̧̛̛̼̖̬͓̮͎̘̊͊̓̈́̀͌͐̉̉̈̀̀̎͗̊̂̋̉̓̉̑́̚̕̚̚̕̚͜Ư̸̡̧̨͉̦̟̞̯͇͓̘̗̤̬͉͇͎̜̱̭̘̬̻̠̪̙̫̥̜̫͍͕̱̗̼̭͈̝̫̜̼̬̯̞͐́̃̃̈̌͂̾̏́͛̓̈́̀̽̂̅͋̇̍̆̈́̍̋̆̉͛̚̕͠C̸̨̡̢̛̛͙̦̜̺̯̘̜͚̟̯̻̲̫͔̺̗̬̦͕̒͊̑̀̀̽̆̎͛̈́͐̿̋̓̇̀̾͛̚͘K̶̡̨̢̹̘̻̻̼̫̺̠̟̻̬͚̻͍͍̼̠͔̲͎̘͇̞͖͙̟̹͎̙͉̫̖͇̟̋̋̔͌̿̅͆͐̀̔̓̊̌̀́͐̾͂̍̌͐̈́̄́͌̂̅̄̋͆̆͑̉͆̇͘̕͜͜ͅ ̸̛̘̘͓̗̺̗̫̰̘̈́̽̂̏̑̂͌̑̅͝ͅU̸̢̨̺̰͖͉͋̃̏́͛̾͌̈́̏̂̐̄̐̑̈́̈́́̄̀̋̔͘͝P̴̢̛̛̪̣̺̙̰̗͙̟̩̊̐̈́͗̑̆̆̆̇̉̾̍̏̓́̊̒͆̾̏̏́̑̏̽͋̅̍̚̚͝͠͠ͅ.̶̧̧̛͉͕̱͍̣͉̗͎̳͖̠͔̞͚̗̹̤̟̫̳̠͓͖̙̦̼͂̉͂̓̀͒͌͌̔̀͗̽̃́̄̀̈́̊̓͑͋̒͂̑̔̂̆̀̆̾̊̚̕͠͝͝͠͝ (Shut the fuck up)
[Epp... S-sorry.]
As we were having this mental conversation, two monkeys suddenly entered the room, one was a man and one was a woman, I immediately recognized them because of their striking resemblance with their father all monkeys resemble each other but I can remember them one by one.
"Woah, she's more handsome than you brother..."
"Shut up..."
They conversed as such as they knelt in front of me whilst saying "We are at your command, Hara Sophia."
I just nodded and gestured them to rise as I saw quite the commotion happening right outside my room. I went out of the place in which I just evolved and outside I saw Philo being sprawled upside down, he seemed defeated and just submitted to his fate.
"I told you, it's undead!"
"That can't be! How can an undead suddenly appear in the first layer!?"
"Well, Lady Sophia is the god of the undead's hero prospect after all! So he must teleported some of his stronger spawns!"
I wanted to watch on in amusement but Philo's eyes looked at me as if he was pleading so I made an "Ahem" sound and immediately, all of the commotion stopped.
"Well, I can see that you have doubts about the race of my subordinates huh? Well I have pioneered a new concept that brings individuals I killed back alive, and he is one such person."
All of their eyes suddenly brightened as if their doubts had been cleared but an expression of reverence changed it, I do not mind being revered but I have a bad...
_Here it goes..._
They suddenly kneeled in front of me and started bowing again and again, their foreheads planted to the ground as they did so.
I wanted to make them stop, but a certain spider stopped me from doing so.
"Okay okay, this is no time to be banging your head stand up, stand up!"
The monkeys, recognizing the authority of the spider queen stood up slowly. The giant spider in front of me ignored them and then suddenly made gut-wrenching sounds, Suddenly he started to vomit and a naked woman of immense beauty came out of its mouth.
_So this is her... Talk about a horrendous debut._
The spider queen drove the slimy substance out of her body, her bare breasts especially getting attention from her, and after a while, she spoke.
"Master, I have news."
________
Author's Note : Mayon: A perfect cone active volcano of the Philippines and part of the Mayon Volcano National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site.