Chapter 118 - Veronica's New Evolution!
-----
Ervas and Veronica walked out of the tent where they were talking with the chiefs of both Raccoon Tribes and then went inside a small and unoccupied house that was given to them by Riann to pass on the night.
However, the smell of roasted pork and lizard was making them extremely hungry, and they didn't make here to sleep but to evolve and change Jobs in peace, as if they were to do it outside, there would be too many people interrupting them… of course, they weren't alone.
At Veronica's side, there was a giant and phantasmagoric dark blue-colored eyeball with tentacles and a large smile, with sharp fangs poking out of it from left to right, Ozgeth, who had recently been converted into a Ghost after being killed by Aqua, and was now Veronica's loyal ghost, accompanying her even more than Aqua who was usually equipped inside of Veronica's body.
And at Ervas's side, there was an even larger and creepier ghost, a large and aberrant lump of dozens of eyes and fleshy tentacles, Legion, a ghost created by the combination of most of the Gazers dead spirits… and even more, it seems that Legion had developed some kind of skill that let it assimilate dead spirits, and many other dead spirits, those of the fallen orcs, goblins, kobolds and lizardmen joined him into a single and whole being.
"Ah, our queen and our prince will evolve, what a wonderful event this is! Isn't it, Legion?" asked Ozgeth with a creepy yet sincere smile, showcasing his sharp phantasmal fangs.
"Yes… it is delightful to see our lords evolve," said Legion with a voice that seemed to be an amalgamation of dozens of different-pitched voices.
"We should evolve first, I suppose… what should be my next evolution? Will, I truly become a Vampire someday?" wondered Ervas.
"It would be a welcomed surprise if the Samsara System truly had the properties of awakening the inner talents and lineages within your bloodline, Ervas! Lucky you, I am only a living scrap of iron…" said Veronica.
"I think that your abilities are already incredible… you can pretty much upgrade your body, divide yourself almost endlessly, bounce back external effects, and-"
"Okay, okay, I get it, let's get to it," said Veronica as she glanced at her status window, showcasing her available evolutions.
[Available Evolutions]
[High Phantasmal Dark Nether Tartarus Living Armor Magic Knight]
[Death Acheron Living Armor Executioner]
Two available evolution options appeared on Veronica's sight, one seemed to be an upgrade from her current rank and the other was similar to the option she didn't choose in her previous evolution, but instead of 'Warrior' it was 'Executioner'.
"These two options… the first one will give me the same upgrades as my current one, but that's already pretty good… and the second one has a similar effect than the one with a similar name that I didn't choose in my previous evolution… meaning that I can still get to 'awaken' that power that the description talks about… the power to guide others like Acheron… Well, the option is obvious" thought Veronica, choosing her next evolution.
Ding!
[You Ranked up to Rank 7: [Death Acheron Living Armor Executioner]!]
Veronica's body was suddenly shrouded in darkness and shadows, as her consciousness was transported elsewhere for a split second.
She found herself sitting in a boat, in the middle of a seemingly endless river of what seemed to be green and dark blue water, where countless souls dived in, showing her strange faces of suffering and torment.
Veronica glanced at her own body, she was a skeleton, wearing dark robes.
"What the-"
The, her body moved on its own as she used her boat to travel through this river, reaching the shores made out of countless bones, where various souls greeted her… these people were familiar to her, they were those that were rescued from Oggoth's lair.
They seemed sad and desperate, and she accepted them on her boat, they paid her with silver coins as she led them through the river.
As Veronica led them, the people slowly stopped crying and suffering, and slowly became more peaceful and tranquil.
"This is like… in the Acheron myth, Charon led the souls of the recently fallen through this boat… this trip was not to judge their sins or anything of the sort, it was meant to purify them…" thought Veronica, as her mind was slightly enlightened… she was purifying these people… but what was she living now?
"Could this be a prophetic dream?" wondered Veronica, but just as she finally managed to move all the people offshore, darkness engulfed her vision as she was brought back to reality.
"AH!"
"Hm? Oh, you evolved… I like your look… oh, are those skulls?" asked Ervas with interest.
Veronica seemingly spent much more than a split second in that dream, it happened so slow and so peaceful that it seemed like hours and hours for her.
"I… I think I had a strange prophetic dream" said Veronica.
"…you what?" asked Ervas.
Veronica quickly resumed what happened to her and told it to Ervas… the little half-demon boy nodded.
"I see… could it be some power related to your new evolution?" asked Ervas.
"Most likely, I remember that the description was about 'leading people'… so it is most likely related to the future awakening of a guider job or something similar," said Veronica.
"We were guiders twice as Anastacia… but never as soon as now. Although we didn't transfer our skills, we transferred our knowledge and ability to guide, I suppose, we will soon or later reawaken this ability" said Ervas.
"Indeed… Oh? my armor looks a bit more frightening now!" said Veronica as she glanced at her own body, which had changed slightly…
Her body became a bit thinner this time, the sharp dark crystals seemed to have been merged into her body and now she had her shoulder pads in the appearance of human skulls, while her helmet was also skull-shaped, with two glowing blue flames as her eyes, whenever she didn't materialize her phantom form to show her scarlet human-like eyes. Aside from this, she also discovered that her body became exceptional at storing mana.
Veronica checked her system window back to see the upgrades she received on her skills.
[The Levels of the [Death Attribute Charm; Level 2], [Strengthen Followers; Level 4], [Commanding; Level 4], [Abyssal Soul; Level 4], and [Soul Break; Level 3] Skills have increased!]
Veronica saw a bit more strengthening on some very useful skills such as Soul Break, while also Abyssal Soul became stronger, meaning that her own soul had expanded and became a greater existence.
"Oooh… our Lady! Your aura… it is so great… so fascinating… it is welcoming!" said Ozgeth and Legion at the same time, flying around her like bees around a flower.
Alongside these ghosts, Veronica felt that most of the dead spirits that were already flying around her became even more fascinated with her existence… this was perhaps due to 'Death Attribute Charm' leveling up.
"It seems that you became even more popular now," said Ervas with a mild smile.
"I guess so… and even more dead spirits are coming as we talk…" said Veronica.
"Ah… it seems that we will never be alone anymore," said Shade with sadness in his voice.
"Don't worry, you're still my favorite, Shade. After all, you're a Light Attribute Spirit!" said Veronica.
"Ah… w-well, I wasn't asking for your approbation or anything…" muttered Shade while being a tad bit flustered.
After relieving Shade, Veronica glanced at her available Job Options.
-----
<Skill Explanations>
[Death Attribute Charm]
A Skill granted to those who have a natural charm effect against anyone closer to death. This closeness can be both physical, as in an Undead, or metaphorical such as the mental state.
Those that would desire death over all else might be charmed by the user of this Skill.
It is yet unknown of any user of such Skill other than Veronica and Ervas, and its origin might be related to Veronica's evolutions changing her soul to become closer to death over all else, while also connecting her soul with Ervas and letting him inherit such qualities until he managed to learn the Skill for himself.
The greater the level of the skill, the easier the death is charmed, to the point that Veronica and Ervas were able to instantly convert those Gazers they killed into allies.
[Strengthen Followers]
A Skill often acquired by someone of higher authority over a large group of people or beings that follow it. This Skill represents the ability of a leader in strengthening those that follow him through his path, both in life… and death.
This Skill can increase those that follow the user of this Skill, increasing all of their stats by a set percentage, which increases accordingly to the user's skill level and the followers 'Following' Skill.
The Following Skill also makes those that follow the use of this skill to be slowly fascinated.
[Commanding]
This Skill is similar to Strengthen Followers. This Skill can be acquired by those of high authority and strength that command a certain group of followers or even allies.
As long as the commanding user holds some authority over the group, such as subleaders, it is possible to strengthen and also make cooperation and teamwork smoother than it would originally be. This Skill is always paired with Coordination, in those that take the commands, a group where everyone has the Coordination Skill will always have stupendous teamwork.