Chapter 227: Runic Eyes

This option was surprising. It seemed to have been created from the Gene Potentials of Titan Reef Crabs and Wild Orcs, with the former possessing a powerful body and the latter having strong attunement to Life affinity regardless of whether they were giants or mages.

It was a very good option. Alex’s physical stats were lagging behind his other abilities, so this evolution could help solve that problem while also giving him stronger instincts.

The increased attunement to Life affinity was another advantage. It should theoretically allow him to use Nature Mana more easily, and perhaps even reduce the chances of harming himself when using it.

Alex then checked the final option.

[Homo Vitalis (Mid-rank Species)]

[Humans with exceptional energy control and strong attunement to life affinity, with a minor attunement to fire affinity.]

Alex was pleasantly surprised by this option. The phrase "exceptional energy control" immediately caught his attention. For Warriors, it should improve Aura control, while Mages would benefit from better Mana control and Priests from better Faith control.

The strong attunement to Life affinity was already extremely useful, but the additional Fire affinity made the option even better for Alex.

This evolution seemed almost tailor-made for Mages like him, and Alex suspected it had come from the Kraken and the Wild Orc Mages he had defeated. He had previously thought the Wild Orc Leader could only use Fire Magic through its wand, but it seemed that the creature actually possessed a natural Fire affinity in addition to its Life affinity.

The Kraken was also a Mage-type monster, and Alex suspected that its enormous body required a powerful Life affinity to support its energy needs. At the same time, it clearly possessed a Water affinity, so it made sense that some of those traits had contributed to the evolution.

The three options were all so good that Alex immediately wanted to choose one. However, he held himself back because Species Evolution was an important decision, and he did not want to blindly select an option simply because it looked useful.

There was another, more important problem. Alex had no idea how long Species Evolution would take.

Would it happen instantly like an Ascendant rank-up, or would his body require some time to completely transform? Logic told him that evolving his entire species should take time, but the System had already shown him enough strange things that he could not rule out the possibility of an instant evolution.

Before returning, Alex had also seen a post on Dwitter where someone claimed that, according to their Guide, the stronger the species evolution was, the longer the evolution process would take. There was a possibility that the person had simply been trolling, but it could also be true, and Alex did not want to risk finding out while they were surrounded by monsters.

If Species Evolution took several hours, evolving while they were inside an unsecured area would be extremely dangerous. They could be attacked at any moment, and Alex would be unable to do anything while his own body was undergoing a major transformation.

Because of that, Alex decided to clear the dungeon first and evolve his species afterward. He was still excited about the evolution. Would it change how many stat points he gained per species’ level up? He also couldn’t help wondering whether his appearance would change once it happened. He hoped he would still look like a human.

The fact that all three options had "Homo" in their names gave him some confidence. His current species was Homo Sapien, so perhaps the System was allowing him to evolve into a related branch of humanity rather than turning him into something completely different.

As for worrying about changing his species, Alex did not feel particularly concerned. No matter what species he became, he would still be Alex, and becoming stronger was far more important than keeping his current species.

He did wonder whether his Advanced Battle Instinct Spell was affecting his thinking and making him too logical about the situation. Even without the spell, however, he believed he would still choose to evolve because the monsters were becoming stronger, and he could not afford to remain weak simply because he was afraid of change.

After making that decision, Alex shifted his attention toward his remaining Reward Boxes on his Status. He had already delayed opening them long enough, and there was no reason to keep the rewards waiting.

As soon as he thought about opening them, four chests appeared in front of him. Three golden chests floated above him, while a single silver chest floated slightly below.

By now, Alex knew that only he could see these Reward Boxes, and nobody, including himself, could actually touch the chests. However, the rewards that appeared after they opened could be picked up normally.

The light produced by the Reward Boxes also illuminated the surrounding area. This reminded Alex of something he had read on Dwitter, where someone had explained that the light from a Reward Box was only visible to the person who opened it, but if someone tried to use the light without opening the box, the chest would automatically open after five minutes.

Alex had no intention of waiting that long. He focused on the silver chest, and it opened immediately.

[Mana Training Methods for Kids (Trash Rank) gained.]

A book appeared near Alex’s feet, so he picked it up and opened it. He was surprised to discover that it was written in English, which made him wonder whether the System had somehow created the reward specifically for him.

He had another possibility. Was there English language in the Land of Origin already? After thinking about it for a moment, Alex chuckled and dismissed the possibility. There should not have been any English books in the Land of Origin because Earth had only recently gained access to this strange dimension, so there was no reasonable way for natives of the Land of Origin to know and write books in English. So the System probably created it.

Alex quickly flipped through the pages. He found that the English was old-English and that the book was surprisingly useful. It explained several training methods for improving mana control, and although it was only Trash Rank, the techniques were much better than blindly trying to force his Mana into becoming more controlled through repeated practice.

Until now, Alex had mostly been brute-forcing his mana control improvements. With an actual training method, he should be able to improve more efficiently, and he could potentially teach the same techniques to the others as well.

He stored the book inside his inventory before focusing on his injuries. While training his Minor Heal Spell to repair his remaining injuries and broken bones, Alex thought about opening the three golden chests.

The three chests opened together.

[Runic Eye Talent Orb (D Rank) gained.]

[Protection Amulet (C Rank) gained.]

[Mind Soothing Potion (E Rank) gained.]

A white orb, a pendant, and a small glass vial filled with silver liquid and sealed with a cork appeared near Alex’s feet. His teammates did not say anything, and continued resting. He picked up each of the rewards and examined them.

..

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