The scaled beast approached him and loomed over him, growling triumphantly as it stared at the boy.
The boy groaned, his body aching and screaming at him. His thoughts were muddled with pain and fear.
'Why did I think I could do this?' he wondered, 'Why in the world did I think that I could win?'
The beast raised its claws on the final blow.
The boy closed his amber eyes as he prepared himself to die again, filled with thoughts of unwillingness and self-ridicule at the fact that he got himself in this situation.
However, just as he was expecting the final blow, instead of a sudden darkness, a clear low growl sounded.
In that instant, the boy's body screamed at him to run away. He rolled to the side almost instantaneously and as he opened his eyes...
He saw that while he had been keeping the beast busy for about a minute. The feline had been recuperating itself and gathering strength and it was at that final moment where the scaled beast was about to attack him that it had put its guard down.
And in that moment, the feline attacked, appearing from right behind the beast to its front in a lunging attack as it bit down hard on the scaled beast's injured neck and with its momentum, the feline crashed into the tree that the boy had landed on.
It was clear that the feline's attack sunk deep as the beast let out an even louder ear-piercing roar of pain as it rapidly shook its neck, trying to pry off the feline but the cat's bite on the scaled beast's neck was firm and unshaking.
The boy stared at this in wonder as he had just been staring death right in the face. And yet, death had come for the victor, not the loser...
The beast slowly began to lose its strength as its resistance to the feline beast lessened and then it stopped as the body of the beast went limp and it disappeared into particles.
Having defeated the beast now, the feline immediately turned its gaze to the boy, staring at him with caution and vigilance as it prepared for any surprise attacks.
Strangely though, the boy was not able to sense much malice from the feline's gaze and if anything, it saw a small sense of gratefulness as he had saved it from certain death.
The boy then turned his gaze towards the summoning circle which was now empty but still had the same intensity of radiation.
'I don't have a chance,' he thought as fear still filled its thoughts and kept him questioning any ambition at the moment.
He then looked to the feline and gave it a bow before retreating multiple steps backwards, telling the feline that he was giving up on trying to take the summoning circle.
The feline seemed to be caught off guard by this as it stared at the boy with no malice or aggression but instead, confusion. It tilted its head curiously before it cautiously began to make its way into the summoning circle.
The boy had his gaze on the cat the whole time as he watched it arrive in the centre of the summoning circle. The runes began to glow at a brighter intensity as the wind began to blow, carrying particles of arcane energy as a small vortex appeared.
A burst of light enveloped the whole opening and in an instant, the whole summoning circle and the feline vanished.
The boy's heart sank... I failed...
Weakly lying back on the tree that he landed on, he lay on the floor, his whole body aching from his injuries.
'It hurts so much...' he whimpered.
[~System Unlock Beginning~]
[System Awakening Progress: 100%]
A series of noises rang out in the boy's head as a series of messages appeared in front of him and he found himself able to read it.
[Welcome Host, to the Boundless Evolution System]
'Huh...' the boy thought curiously, 'Boundless Evolution System'
[Yes. I am a system that will allow you to grow to unmatched strength and parallels through evolutions]
'Oh... you can read my thoughts?'
'How do you work then?'
[My job is to let you get stronger. These will grow through your skills, traits, stats, and levels. This is done through That is achieved through you gaining sufficient stats through missions and getting summoned. Alongside this, you may choose specialised evolutions that will have their own specific missions needed to be done for you to be able to evolve to them]
'Oooooo...' the boy thought, 'So if I am a dog right now, can I become a griffin if I want?'
[Yes host. You can be anything that you want but the change will have to come slowly, you will integrate slowly so that your body does not break down. It is called an evolution after all, not a transformation... Also, you are not a dog...]
[You are a hyena, host... a Shadow Hyena to be precise]
'A hyena? That explains so much...' the boy thought as his mood was instantly taken away from all those sad feelings in his head, 'I thought I was just a funky dog the whole time...'
'But system... What does a shadow hyena mean?'
[It means you are born as a hyena with a special affinity towards shadow natures. Please say 'Status' in your head]
Species: Shadow Hyena
@#$%&*!@$^ (?)[Locked]Aetheric Sensitivity (F)Shadow Affinity (D)Pack Instinct (F)
Spirit Dash (F): Short burst of speed for evasion or closing distance, granting temporary invulnerability. Range- 10m. (20MP)Shadow Bite (F): Basic melee attack infused with shadow energy. Small chance to weaken enemy defense temporarily. (30MP)
Evolution Path Progression:
- Current Form: Shadow Hyena
- Next Evolution: Not Decided]
The boy took a few seconds to truly stare in wonder at his status screen, 'So this is what a status screen looks like... wait, system, can you explain my base stats and what is this 'Aether'?'
[Host, Aether is the mystical force that flows through this world and its realms. It powers magic, summonings, and evolution. It is what you use to use your skills. And as for your base stats, here is a basic description of them:
Strength: Physical attack power and carrying capacity.
Agility: Speed, reflexes, and evasion.
Endurance: Physical and energy-based durability.
Spirit Energy: Resource for skills and abilities; governs magical aptitude.
Intelligence: Tactical awareness, ability learning speed, and skill mastery.]
'I see...' the boy subconsciously found himself nodding as his attention then dropped further, 'What is that thing in my traits list?'
[Your traits can also be called your inherent abilities. They are abilities that do not require your active input to function. Unlike your skills that need to be triggered, these ones are always active. One of them seems to be locked as of now. Please increase your rank further to be able to find out more about it.]
'Hm... okay then...' the boy replied, slightly disappointed that he wasn't able to get an answer on what it was.
'How do I use my skills?'
[In regards to that host, you will have to learn to feel your Aether first and then you will be able to simply will yourself to do this and you will execute the move. Alongside this, these skills can level up with you, increasing in skill ranks of their own.]
'Oh, I see...' the boy spoke, taking all the information eagerly, 'What about ranks then?'
[Ranks work in letter grades going from F all the way up to S and beyond S there exists the SS, and SSS rank. And particular to the system, further inside these ranks, there also exists sub-grades of low, middle, and high which are shown like E-, E, and E+.
Skills, while they also have these letter grades, do not possess the sub-grades that exist for power ranks.
Traits also work the same skills and for affinities, as your affinity with them increases, the cost of using skills of that affinity decreases.]
[Each rank upgrade comes as you level up, this is done through gaining experience through missions and kills.
As for skills, the more you use them, the higher your proficiency in them gets and once your proficiency reaches a certain level, it will level up.
In regards to your traits, having them being used will get them upgraded and they may also go up in ranks through your evolutions.]