Closing his eyes, Jake summoned the evolution menu. Instantly, the requirements for evolving to the next stage appeared in his mind. However, he didn’t bother rereading them. He knew he needed to reach a specific level, and his attributes along with some skills had to be increased to particular levels and ranks, respectively. He had accomplished all of that a long time ago. Being aware he had already met all the requirements, he skipped the details and focused on the last line, which asked if he wanted to initiate the evolution process. He mentally replied affirmatively and prepared to evolve into the next form.
However, contrary to what he had anticipated, something surprising happened. Instead of his body beginning to undergo the evolution process, a system message suddenly appeared in his mind.
To start the evolution process, you must choose one of the three forms—subclasses—to evolve into. This choice is final and cannot be undone. Each subclass offers a unique set of skills and abilities. Make your decision wisely! Once the selection is made, there will be no way to reverse your choice.
Proceed to the subclass selection menu: Y/N
This was definitely different from his last evolution. This time, instead of automatically evolving into a predetermined form, he needed to make a manual selection. It made him feel uneasy. He wanted to remain at the top of the food chain in this world, maintaining his status as the apex predator. How could he know which of the three subclasses would be best suited for achieving this goal?
However, there was no point in fretting about it before even looking at the choices, so he simply thought, “Yes.” Immediately, the piece of text in his mind was replaced by three new options.
Agile and fierce predator adept at quick, deadly attacks and swift evasion maneuvers, capable of outsmarting any opponent.
Inventive and transformative form. Possesses the power to alter environments and create various traps and hellish entities, shaping them at will.
Select Corruptor: Y/N
Master of destruction. An unstoppable force on the battlefield, capable of withstanding immense damage while delivering overwhelming strikes.
Select Devastator: Y/N
Jake read the descriptions and took a moment to think. Unfortunately, the descriptions didn’t reveal much. From the previous text, he had learned that each of the three forms had its own unique set of skills, which differed significantly from one another. He really wished he could take a peek at each of the subclasses to help him decide which one resonated with him the most.
He focused on the first subclass, Ravager, trying to glean some additional information about it or learn what skills and abilities it had. Instead of providing him with additional information, something else happened—a vision of sorts flooded his mind.
He saw himself from the side, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Since the action wasn’t taking place from his own eyes, it felt like watching a movie. The obsidian-black figure jumping between buildings was strikingly different from his current Stage 2 form. It was obvious that the protagonist of the vision was the subclass of Stage 3, known as Ravager.
Jake continued to watch the Ravager leap from roof to roof. It moved so quickly he had difficulty making out any details about this form. However, he could already see how vastly different the Ravager was from his current form. While his present body retained the general shape of a human, there was almost nothing human left in the genetics of the form called Ravager.
Eventually, the Ravager in the vision came to a stop on the rooftop of a high-rise building, pausing for a moment and finally granting Jake the opportunity to take a closer look at it.
It was definitely larger than his current form. The Ravager’s hunched physique was supported by powerful legs ending in curved claws. Its strong arms featured menacing talons that looked far more dangerous than his own. The creature had a long tail, and its snout was elongated, filled with rows of jagged teeth. While its body was just as black and textured as his, it was also adorned with hardened, shimmering scales, likely serving as an additional layer of protection. Overall, the mutant appeared to be a blend of human characteristics and features reminiscent of a two-legged predatory dinosaur, similar to a Raptor.
The Ravager tilted its head slightly in one direction, and Jake finally saw what had caught its attention—a couple of sleek helicopters were approaching the rooftop where the mutant stood. They were flying far above the building, but as it turned out, that was no problem for the Ravager.
The mutant hunched its back, lifting its scorpion-like, serrated tail over its body and pointing it at one of the choppers. The thick end of the tail suddenly blossomed open like a flower. In the next instant, what appeared to be a laser beam shot out, hitting the chopper with surprising accuracy. The engine sputtered, and the steady whir of the rotor blades faltered. The damaged helicopter spun out of control, quickly losing altitude and disappearing from sight beneath the rooftops.
As the second helicopter approached the rooftop, the mutant aimed the tip of his tail at it, and instead of the laser beam, some kind of projectile shot out. It struck the side of the chopper and splattered against it. The acidic substance quickly started to eat away at the metal fuselage.
The Ravager suddenly burst into a sprint. Reaching the edge of the roof, it leaped with much more power than Jake could ever muster. The Ravager easily reached the chopper hovering high above the building, slamming into its side. The mutant clung to it by thrusting the talons of one hand through the fuselage. With its other clawed hand, the Ravager tore a piece of metal from the chopper’s side as easily as if it were a piece of paper. The mutant then drove the tip of its tail into the jagged opening it had made, unleashing a powerful stream of acid into the chopper’s interior.
The helicopter spiraled out of control, rapidly losing altitude and plummeting toward the ground. The Ravager released its grip and dropped into the open space below. However, the mutant didn’t fall all the way to the streets. Instead, in a matter of two seconds, it sprouted two long bat-like wings and soared through the air like a massive prehistoric winged reptile.
Down below, a technical was racing down the street. The person in the bed of the pickup truck caught sight of the Ravager overhead and swung the barrel of the mounted machine gun toward it. High-powered bullets impacted against the Ravager’s scaled body, dealing little to no damage. The winged creature suddenly morphed its wings back into its body and rocketed down like a missile. With astonishing precision, it struck the pickup truck with tremendous force, turning it into a pile of broken and twisted metal and plastic.
The Ravager climbed out of the wreckage and surveyed its surroundings. Not a scratch marred its scaled body. Menacing-looking ex-humans that Jake had never encountered before burst from around every corner, drawn to the sound of the crash. They sprinted toward the Ravager from all directions. However, before any could reach the mutant, it emitted a bone-chilling roar that instilled fear in its foes. Suddenly, they lost interest in the Ravager and turned on one another.
The Ravager didn’t wait for them to kill each other. Instead, it executed a powerful vertical leap, effortlessly reaching the height of several stories. At the peak of its jump, it sprouted its wings once more and flapped them vigorously, pivoting in the air and flying away from the destruction and turmoil it had created in the street below.
That was where the vision concluded.
That was freaking awesome, Jake thought to himself.
It was obvious that the vision had given him a glimpse of the kind of creature he could become if he chose the Ravager subclass. Of course, he wouldn’t instantly become as powerful as the Ravager from the vision. Instead, he would gradually level up and unlock new skills and abilities, ultimately transforming into the mutant he had just witnessed.
Now that the vision had ended, a new piece of information appeared in his mind.
Do you wish to choose Ravager: Y/N
Warning: Selecting the Ravager subclass will render the following skills and abilities unavailable: Morph Disguise.
Jake remembered acquiring this ability a while back. It was an Epic ability that would become available after he evolved into Evolution Stage 3: “Apex Manifestation”. However, it appeared that this particular ability was not compatible with the Ravager evolution subclass. It was disappointing. If he chose to evolve into the Ravager form, he wouldn’t be able to use this ability altogether.
He had another Epic ability called Ground Strike, which would become available for learning after evolving into the next stage and unlocking the third section of the Genetic Development Interface. The System hadn’t indicated any issues with it, suggesting that, unlike Morph Disguise, Ground Strike was indeed compatible with the Ravager subclass.
In any case, before deciding whether to select the Ravager form or not, he wanted to learn more about the other two options. They should be very different from Ravager, and he was excited to watch the visions related to them to learn what those two subclasses were all about. So he thought “No” in response to the question, which brought him back to the subclass selection menu, where there were two additional options to check out: Corruptor and Devastator.