“Fuck, was there a need for such a commotion. “ Leo cursed too as he looked at the mana storm that started and surrounded him as soon as he initiated his evolution.

As he was still baffled by the unexpected situation, the enormous amount of mana gathered within the storm rushed toward him like a flock of piranhas drawn to blood and violently entered his body. While he was a little afraid by the behavior of the mana, he wasn't too afraid and was waiting for the usual soothing feeling he felt when leveling up. However, unlike the refreshing and soothing feeling he was used to, he was assaulted by an intense and violent pain as the mana wreaked havoc inside his body and tore it apart. It was like each of his cells was stuffed with mana before being blasted apart. The pain was so much that after some seconds he became numb to it and he started to lose all sensation from his body. However, that didn't comfort Leo, as the moment he lost his senses, he was gripped by a visceral fear, a fear born from his experience of death. It was because, at that moment, the state he was slipping in was no different from the state he was in when he died.    

Thankfully, before he could think too much about it, he was assaulted by drowsiness and he was put to sleep by the system. Leo didn’t know how lucky he was to have the system protection as it was this pain of having their body completely broken and rebuilt that made most of the beast that tried to evolve fall. Most of the time, the pain from evolution would be so intense that the beast's conscience would be unable to hold onto it and would be wiped before it could be completed. 

Slowly, time passed and inside, his cocoon, Leo body was slowly rebuilt by the mana. Each of his old cells was wiped out and was replaced by a new, stronger, and sturdier one. Three hours later the mana cocoon that surrounded Leo broke and a changed and more powerful Leo fell on the ground. 

“Hmmm, did it end already?” Leo asked as he opened his amber-colored eyes and felt his body that was filled to the brim with power. A feeling of satisfaction welled up in his heart as he felt how powerful he was now, and he couldn't help but feel like the insane amount of pain he felt at the start of the evolution process was worth it. He was so engrossed by his new power that he unconsciously opened his now-massive jaws and let out a deafening roar. This simple roar was filled with so much power that the room they were in shook a little.

Before opening the system to look at the upgrades he received and to confirm what he learned about his new race, Leo looked around him and couldn’t help but sigh a little when he saw the devastated storehouse with items scattered everywhere. As he was looking at the now ruined storehouse, his gaze fell on Celia who was sitting against the door frame with a tired look on her face. 

Sighing lightly Leo started talking to Celia “Sorry for the commotion, I didn’t expect for things to get so out of hand.“ said, feeling a little embarrassed. This time he wasn't using his telepathy but he was talking normally with his mouth.

However, Celia didn't answer Leo and just sat there silent. She was looking in front of her and her expression was hard to understand.

“Are you sure you are alright? Nothing happened to you, right? Or, are you so upset that you don’t want to talk to me?” Leo said nervously as he neared Celia, the ground shaking slightly under the weight of his monstrous body. He was feeling guilty for creating such a mess and could understand if Celia was upset. However, what Leo didn’t expect was that when he tried to get near Celia, the latter instinctively backed off. Furrowing his brows, Leo couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. He could understand if Celia was upset but there was no reason for her to be afraid of him. 

After pondering a little, Leo could easily infer that the something in question should have to do with the result of his evolution or something Celia witnessed during its process. After all, that was all that had changed since the last time he saw and talked to Celia, and since Celia didn’t seem to be going to tell what it was, Leo would have to check it by himself. 

Opening the system, Leo’s vision was immediately filled with countless notifications windows followed by numerous and irritating [Ding]. 

“Ah, damn it, we should think of a better way to display the system alert. I hate how it assaults me when there are too many. Luxia, you can create an Alerts tab like the status and shop one, right? Like that it’ll be more comfortable to see the missed alerts.” 

[Yes, Leo, it’ll be ready, for the next time. ]

“Thank you, you are an Angel.” Leo said as he finally focused on the system notifications.

[Congratulations on your successful evolution. You are now a Rank D beast.]

[Ranking bonus: Physical attributes effects are enhanced by 150%, Magic attributes effects are enhanced by 100%.]

[Damage from rank E skills are decreased by 30%]

[Ding… Congratulations, you have successfully evolved into a Winged Atlas Lion.]

[You have received 45 CONS, 40 STR, 30 AGI, 30 INT, 30 SPI, 20 CHA, 3 LUK.]

[Attributes conversion value upgraded. 1 CONS = 50 HP, 1CONS = 40 STA, 1INT = 40 MP ]

[+50% stamina and health recovery, +30% mana recovery, +30% elemental damage,  +50% physical damage, +30% Physical damage resistance, +20% elemental damage resistance.]

[You have awakened the Sand element.]

[You received the following skills: Dominating Presence, Earth Shattering Stomp, Intermediate health regeneration, Mighty Bite, Basic sand manipulation, Sand summoning, Cursed Riddle, Spirit Tongue.]

[The skill Scratch has evolved. You have acquired Iron Claws.]

 

[You awakened the racial talent Passive Growth, Wise Spirit, Resilience.]

[Passive Growth: As a being favored by nature and possessing a near-limitless potential, the speed of your passive growth is tremendously increased. Each time you level up you will be passively granted +4 CONS, +4 STR, +3 AGI, +3 INT, +2SPI.]

[Wise Spirit: 

-Grant a 20% bonus to your INT and SPI stats.

- No matter what situation you are facing, you can keep calm and remain focused. 

-You receive the skill 'Focus.'

[Focus: All your Int based offensive and defensive skills receive a 300% bonus for 3 minutes. After the skill's duration ends you enter a weakened state for 1hr, -50% to all your attributes. 

Cooldown:12 hr] ]

[A similar talent to Resilience has been detected.

Combining Resilience and Sturdy.

You have acquired the talent Intermediate Physical Enhancement.]

[Intermediate Physical Enhancement: A talent developed after surviving and living in harsh conditions for countless years.

-Grant a 15% bonus to CONS and STR.

-Stamina consumption is reduced by 25%. 

-Your resistance to hunger and thirst has increased.

-Your defense is improved and you can recover from the most gruesome injuries, but you can't regenerate a lost limb.]

[ You are granted the title: Pride Leader

Pride leader: When fighting alongside members of your pride you receive a 10% increase to your power and all members of your pride receive a 5% buff to their power.] 

[The title Forest King has been upgraded.

Forest King: You are a ruler of the forest. When fighting in a forest all stats are raised by 30% and all regeneration speeds are doubled. 

You can control any feline type beasts weaker than you. 

You passively emit a dominating aura that puts all those weaker than you under fear status.]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up. You are now Level 1. You have received 10 AP, 4 SP.]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up. You are now Level 3. You have received 10 AP, 4 SP.] 

Sss, Leo sucked a bit of cold air as he read through those notifications.