Beast Evolution Forge - Chapter 74 - Battle 1

Vell’s body felt wrong, like his bones were made of jelly and his skin was too tight. He tried to move, but a sharp pain shot through his chest, making him gasp.

‘What the hell happened?’ He slowly looked down. His chest was no longer a hole. Instead, it was covered with new, smooth skin, but that was not the only change. He looked at his arms; they seemed to have grown a bit, not much but something was different. He tried to clench his fist but they felt too big, too heavy.

He sat up slowly, his head spinning as his eyes tried to adjust to the strange light of the temple. His gaze darted around the room. Yenna was lying nearby, along with the kids. They were all still, not moving but he could see them, all with a different aura coming from them. ‘They are all okay, good, what is going on with me though?’

He touched his chest, and his fingers sank slightly into the flesh; it felt so wrong. The surface was smooth, like it was new, yet the moment he pressed harder, the skin hardened and it felt like steel. He pressed down harder and his vision turned blurry, as if passing out from sheer force of his power. ‘What the hell is this all about!’

He shifted, and his eyes saw a black liquid dripping from his skin. It flowed out of him, landing on the floor, dissolving through the temple’s floor. It was like he was made from that darkness but it wasn’t coming from an outside source, it was inside him. His eyes widened in fear, as it came out, he was left with red veins that covered his skin. It was not a normal vein, they pulsed with power, almost like a red heart beat.

[Master, do not panic. I believe we have finally crossed into a new stage.] The system’s voice was calm, despite the chaos and changes around them.

‘A new stage? What the hell do you mean a new stage?! Look at me! I look like some kind of monster!’

[That is a side effect of your body changing. The more you use that power you were resisting, the more you will become similar to your true form.]

‘True form? Is that the body that I had in the past?’ He touched his chest again, this time he focused mana on it and he was right, his skin began to harden, muscles formed under his skin and he felt his power come back to him. ‘Dammit, I feel amazing. Is this what power truly feel like?’ He stretched his body, his limbs not feeling heavy anymore.

He moved again, and his body felt even lighter than before, it was almost effortless. ‘I understand now.’ He did another flip and landed perfectly, as if this was his body all this time.

“This is amazing! I feel amazing!” He said, his laughter filling the silence of the temple. He could sense the system was right, this was a new stage for him, something he needed to get used to.

[Master, calm down and let me show you what has happened.] The screen appeared again, now showing him a new section of the status display.

[System Update: New Forms Unlocked]

[Human Form: Base state, can still use all powers and skills.]

[Awakened Form: A partial transformation that greatly enhances physical stats and grants increased access to your power.]

[Corrupted Form: A dangerous transformation that pushes all your abilities to their absolute limit but at the cost of your soul and this form is very hard to maintain. (Sealed)]

“Huh, not bad, so I am finally unlocking the potential of those three cores, or is it four now?” He looked down at his chest and then back at the system, “And what’s this new sealed form, you said something about loosing my soul, that does not sound good.” He felt all of that mana flowing through him and it felt amazing, unlike before, his body has accepted it.

[To unlock that form, you will need to lose control. It’s a manifestation of the power that was sealed, so it can only be accessed once you have nothing keeping you back.]

“And you know I won’t do that, right? That power was too strong. If that state is the only way to access that power, then I will just make a new one. I will be better than my old self.” He knew he was getting too cocky. ‘I need to relax. It will take time to figure out how to use that power without going into that state, so for now, let’s focus on the new stats.’

He looked at the screen again, still with that huge smile, he was having too much fun right now, he did a backflip, just because he could and landed gracefully.

[Here is your current stats:]

Name: Vell

Rank: Low Adept

Title: Beast Tamer

Mana: 10,000/10,000

Stamina: 5000/5000

Strength: 4400/4400

Dexterity: 3000

Endurance: 5000

Intelligence: [hidden]

Charisma: 200

Forge Slots: 5/20

Magic: None

—

AVAILABLE STAT POINTS: 1000

AVAILABLE SKILL POINTS: 500
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‘Holy shit, this is too much!’ He was amazed. All his stats have increased drastically and he had finally moved up to the next rank. ‘What the hell is this even, this is such a huge jump from before.’

He looked at the new unique trait. “Dual mana physiology? That’s the name of my new body, guess I will take it.” He was impressed, his new stats were crazy but the core was still incomplete, he knew it could be better. ‘I am so pumped!’

He let out a laugh and began wandering through the temple, “let’s explore this dump, I can feel so much power lingering in here, I can not wait.”

He slowly approached the others, his hands twitching as his body was ready to explore but he calmed himself, they were still his friends, he could not be reckless. His hand gently touched Yenna’s cheek. Her eyes opened instantly and she got up, seeing Vell before her.

‘huh? hold on, was is going on here, were just awake a few seconds ago… am i hallucinating?’ She looked at him, “hey, weren’t we just awake, how are we on the floor, i am so confused.”

For a moment, he felt like his own mind was playing tricks on him. ‘now that i think about it, something is definitely off here.’

[Master, I believe this is the temple’s doing. The residual mana in this place has destabilized. The battle, combined with your transformation, triggered a reaction.]

‘A reaction?’

[Yes. The corrupted mana surrounding the temple isn’t inert—it’s alive, in a way. When your power surged, it began resonating with the ambient energy. This temple wasn’t built as just a structure; it’s a device, a trap. And your recent awakening may have triggered a failsafe.]

‘Are they safe, no side effects?’

[No, don’t worry about it too much.]

‘Okay.’

[‘Well that was a lie… master doesn’t know that his body was leaking dangerous mana that almost killed his friends… its sealed for now but if it comes back, they might actually die.’]