I collapsed on the bed at the inn, completely exhausted in both mind and body. Ah, so soooooooft...

Hey, now's not the time to go into a coma!!

It's been three days since the "liberation" of Tir na Nog. We spent the first night at the capital before heading back to Tree Sea Isle through the tunnel. It only took half a day since there were no monsters there, but Regina held one heck of a party when we arrived at the hideout. It turned into a "hell of fire, darkness, and liqueur", according to the testaments of Mira and the others. Turns out I got into a fight with Regina while we were drunk... I lost. And I'm still feeling like my body's broken all over. Ouch...

The next day, around midday, meaning when we first woke up after that hellish party, we boarded the ships and went back to Velantas. Regina's knocked out cold for another week at the hideout.

After recollecting my tired brain and forcing my weakened body up off the bed and making sure of the evolutions before I'm sent off to snooze-land.

Kur Kigal is among the options, yes, but who knows if I haven't unlocked any other jackpots of an evolution? I better look at them all. I'll do these from the top to the bottom. Now, what can I evolve into again?

...Yup, there are still more Ex options than the regular ones. Even if Ogre Lord evolution would be classified as an Ex race as well. 

Hmm, pretty much spot on. Are the D-rank Lords all attribute-based? Dawn and Venom are... the same to a fault! Just with Light and Poison. Light requires SPD instead of DEX.

There are some small differences between them all though. The Dawn Ogre sounds more like a paragon that fights with its subordinate at the front line. Sounds like an evolution for Mira. The Venom Ogre on the other hand is more trap-specialized from the description.

So, there's a schemey tactician, a brave warrior, and a trapper. Quite the variety they have, the ogre-species.

...My past is haunting me. And Spider-related, ain't that only [Spider Lord's Thread]!? Or is [Poison Bite] and the various other Bites also counting? Rather, while it's not... common, for ogres to have spider-related skills, just having a total skill level of 100? Sounds a little too easy. 

Kinda expected that. I could evolve into that Darkness Globe thing, but this is a notch better. Would I get the direct evolution of the Globe if I evolved [Darkness Element]? It's possible, but I was the one who suggested refraining from using the Skill Points to after everyone evolved. Can't break my own rules like that.

Hmm? A Light-based race without any connection to my current one. That's unexpected. Quite refreshing after all the Darkness here, there, and everywhere. Not to mention it has three attributes... 

Is this the only way to evolve into this species, or can someone with, let's say, [Heretic Technique User] title and having used some "Essence of Light" item also evolve into it? Probably, but how can I prove that? Let's move on.

And here's the star of the show!! But man, that stupid goddess completely forgot to tell me about the status value requirements! Not to mention they're bigger than that of the other races... ah! Is it because having an Advance-tier class is part of the requirements? Still doesn't explain the MP-related requirement, as the "Advance class-boost" can't increase the MP stat.

Still, the description of the class is way different from what the Kigal-Note mentioned. This smells of the work of a certain goddess... 

Wow! Just having that skill alone unlocked this option? Maybe it's more awesome than what I've given it credit for.

Still... this guy's completely an Assassin. The fighting style, the titles, the stats, it all screams of Assassin. 

Why's something like that among my evolution options!? And who added this species to the System? Alvatria?

...I'm kinda happy for having obtained this, but those descriptions of the requirements... especially the last one...

ANYWAY! Let's go through them all with the process of elimination. 

First, I'll toss away Living Plague. If I had to live alone, this one would be perfect when thinking only about combat abilities. Heck, I bet that some of its evolutions are called "Black Plague" even. But as I am a General of a large organization, that's a no-go.

The second one I can remove is Retaract Ogre. It's simply too weak. Especially when compared to the Ogre Lords.

The third one out is Darklight Sphere. That goddess once controlled a Darkness Globe to converse with me. No way I'm jumping on an evolution line with the potential of being taken control over by that woman.

After that, I'll throw... Dawn Ogre Lord. It's strong, but I'm an Assassin. Going for the Warrior-path by now's a fool's choice. The same goes for Mirage Majin. Even if I've got a magician-line class, having the species being Light-based won't help the undeads I make.

After thinking about it, I decided to eliminate... Venom Ogre Lord. It's strong, and it works well with my webs and tactics, but I'm still relatively a newbie with the Poison attribute. Focusing on Darkness for now's the safer choice.

I'm left with the Dusk Ogre Lord, the Kur Kigal, the Sinister Shade, and the Demonia Dragon. The schemer, the assassin, the assassin-shadow, and the dragon.

......The dragon's not possible. Those guys are damn big, right? The undead dragons were like that, and Revi's practically an exception to the rule. I can't see for me that a dragon is a master hider, so there go the effects of my stealth skills. It will be harder than before, at least. Or so I think. And there's this nasty feeling I got that says to me that this guy's status growth will be that of a jack-of-all, ace-of-none. At least, I think so based on the evolution requirement. 

Then, I stand left with the schemer and the two assassins. But, I can rule out Sinister Shade, right? It feels like I'll go damn weak against the Light attribute with this guy.

Also, there's a question about the Royal Monster trait. It says in the description that it is possible for some evolutions to inherit this trait, even if they don't have it trait from the start. The key point here is "some evolutions". And I bet my breakfast that someone classified to be a demonic noble is a better candidate for this than some random shadow.

Then, I'm left with Dusk Ogre Lord, a direct evolution that improves my Darkness abilities, or the self-designed Kur Kigal, which is specialized in tricks and assassinations.

Both options are not bad... but I'll take Kur Kigal.

The greatest difference between the two options is that the Kur Kigal has the High Demon trait, while the Dusk Ogre Lord only has the Demon trait. And since High Demon is the same for Demon as Dragon is for Half-Dragon, there's no reason for me to take the one with the highest gains here.

Huh. My choice turned to be Kur Kigal after all. Well, with it being the goal I've been aiming for from the start, it's obvious it would fit my style the best. Then, without further ado:

Yes please~.

Huh? "Rebuild"? What's that?

Hmm? Wait, ain't this a jackpot? No, no, no! I gotta have a grip on myself here.

What is the cause of getting this "Rebuild" again? Having a skill that doesn't match the new race? ......Think I'm safe there. And the System Message told me it is possible to take this Rebuild. If some skills don't match, doesn't that mean one has to get rid of the skills with a Rebuild?

Then, it's the second case: the Kur Kigal race is too different compared to Rasetsu Ogre Lord... I think. They're both sounding seriously similar. If that's enough to trigger a Rebuild, why didn't I get it when I evolved from a Reha Zera to a Rasetsu Ogre Lord?

Or... is it that "High Demon" thing? Because I'm evolving from a "commoner" to a "noble"? That sounds probable...

In any case, I think I can conclude that the fear of "Kur Kigal being a monster worthy of being called an honorary Outer One" is just my imagination. I hope it is, at least... the one who accepted that design was that goddess after all...

ARGH! A man gotta have courage! I'm no longer a man, nor a human though!

*BEEP!*

The usual sense of drowsiness... didn't come? Ah, [Sleep Nullification]! To think that one works-, urgh!? What was... my head's...

---

...T-that hurt... M-my poor head...

Just as I had resisted the sleep attack that comes with evolution, I was attacked by the headache of the century. Is that the reason why you go asleep when evolving? ...I'll remember to turn off [Sleep Nullification] from now on when I evolve...

More importantly, where am I? The place looks like some game-stage, but with no background or items. Calling the place a "grid-room" would be the closest to the truth. It's a damn colorless and boring place...

Then, a System Message appeared in front of me.

? Even the Message window's colorless. Is it someplace inside the World System? Or is this place the inside of my head... or my soul? 

Whatever it is, there's no reason not to make use of it.

A beat later, and my Skill List appeared in front of me.

Hmm, it seems... no skills are going bye-bye. That's good. Hmm? The Status-Ailemt Bite skills can be upgraded... to the Attack Variants!? Didn't I need another status-ailment-related skill to get those? Like [Poison Claw] or something, then combine it with [Poison Bite] to gain [Poison Attack]?

But... it only works for [Poison Bite]... wait! If I remove [Bite]...

---

...*Yawn*, I slept like a log...

...Bodycheck, NOW! Arms, good. Legs, nice-looking. The rest... pretty white even now, but still the same. If anything, I felt like I grew a little over the night, but nothing more than a slight growth spurt.

I looked into the full-body mirror that was in the room-!? This is... a downgrade?

The current me didn't look that different from before. Still albino with some black stripes on the bangs. The thing that had changed was the horns. They had grown larger and curved backward, but they still kept a slim shape. It looked kinda like the horns of some dragons. The color is still jet-black with some purple lines across it.

However, some stuff's missing. The tear-like, black lines on my face have disappeared, and the sclera in my eyes has turned white. The color of the pupils is still the same wine-red that leans more towards purple, but the pupils have turned slit, showing their demonic nature. The markings of the Evil Eye are still there.

I've turned more human in appearance? Or maybe the skin- and hair colors of the Kur Kigal are something crazy, but the Albino trait is canceling that out. If I find a way to hide the horns and the slit pupils, can't I pass as a normal human?

...Oh yeah. Assassination-specialized. 

- Hey, Original-Mind?

What is it, Magic-Parallel Mind?

-- No, that's me. It was Clone-Mind who talked just now.

Damn, so confusing. What is it? Rather, why're you here?

- The clone body expired.

What?

- When you evolved. It felt like a magic spell fizzled out due to a lack of MP.

Urgh... that's bad. Should I make a new Chaotic Bullet?

-- Focus on the healing-type bullets first. We've got quite the stock of attack-type skills now, but close to no healing types.

- Speaking of bullets, didn't I get some [Enfeeblement Magic] with the evolution?

That's another idea... we'll focus on support- and disrupt-type bullets for now. Speaking of, what's the status page looking like now?

Hmm... when your stats are already superior to a D-rank, I guess the increase has nothing much to say.

...I couldn't get rid of any more skills! I mean, I've worked hard for them all! And they all have some kinda use, right? I did get rid of [Bite]... even if it's only that...

Let's spare the excuses and focus on the titles instead. I'll need some real testing rather than just reading the skill descriptions.

Hmm... nothing too strange here...

I take it back. This thing looks damn weird...

This part that's talking about "strengthening the soul", does it mean I can take even more skills without worrying about going Waning? The problem is that there are no definite numbers here. It could be one extra skill slot, or ten, or maybe only a half even.

In any case, it's safe to say I can take Alchemist now~. Onward to the-*groooowl*-... onward to the kitchen!