To twist the world in his own image

It was not an easy choice. The only one I did not feel tempted to choose was "Animal Spirit". I didn't need the abilities of animals, if I had wanted them, I would have chosen Therionic at the start. Other than that, it was a long internal debate as to what I should choose. The next to quit the running was "Phantom", it just didn't seem right for a god of growth to be an undead. After even more reasoning, Elemental Sprite fell for similar reasons, thoughts along the lines of 'Why would a god of growth be fire or ice or other such based?'. That left some compelling options, "Dryad", "Corruptor", and the "Sage Spirit".

I clicked my tongue while trying to determine a good choice. The seeming limitation of forests was not favorable for Dryad, however it imbodied nature, which was kind of the vibe I was going for. On the other hand, Sage Spirit was a holy being, that surely could help in the portrayal of divinity, or perhaps it could backfire and **** me to become a more traditional god, which was not my objective. Last but not least was Corruptor, an interesting option. At first glance it sounded like some kind of mental influencing creature, but the "*Rare Unlock*" part was interesting. The HUD was quick to answer, seemingly allowed to this time.

*Rare Unlock* means that this option was gained due to the choices and traits of the User. This evolution would not be available to all members of the users race, and beings of this type are therefore more rare.

Following this logic, I realized Dryad was not a good choice. Theoretically my Spirit summons could become them, but otherwise it simply was a choice not as worthwhile as apparently "rare" options. Then came a very difficult decision. It took a lot of back in forth deliberation, but in the end, I came to a conclusion due to one major reason. I was already a priest, meaning I can already use holy powers, so it would be best to branch out elsewhere with my racial abilities. With that, I selected Corruptor.

Evolution chosen, beginning ascension.

I could not fully describe the feeling I felt. It was like something moved within my body, grabbing bits and moving them around. It stretched my bones and inflated my muscles, shifting the locations of features and changing my body plan. I collapsed, my legs no longer steady as I watched my body bend and twist before my eyes. My leathery skin was consumed by the growing mass of flesh, leaving a look of almost rotting meat as my new appearance. Bones along my joints pinched and grew, creating spikes that extruded from my flesh. My greatest new feature was when a plant grew from me, forming into a bark-like shell that covered some parts of my body.

I took a few deep breaths, regaining my composure as I examined myself. I was much less scrawny now, with a build akin to a body builder of sorts. I was not thin, but still muscled, with little mass that seemed to be fat or otherwise unhealthy, aside from my rotting appearance. I felt my face, finding its shape to be a bit different from the rest of me. It was very sharp and detailed, bones and faux wood serving as main features that accented my one main eye, though I could now tell I had more hidden in groves upon my face. After I was finished, I re-opened the menu to see the new notifications, skipping past a new Apex skill for my race with similar options to the Rite for similar reasons.

Skill Unlock

You have reached levels 11, 13, 17, & 19 in your race for the first time; you may choose 1 (4) of the following 6 (9) options:
Ethereal Form (active), Charm (active), Inspirit (active), (Spell) Minor Illusion (mental), Vengeance (passive), (Spell) Contagion (DOMAIN) (Corruption), Parasite (active) (Corruption), Syphon (passive), Tainted Tongue (passive) (Corruption)

It seemed my choice of evolution affected my options, but I was first occupied by the fact that I was at level 19. I could not believe it, I rationalized that it must have just continued after level 10 then, but the HUD decided to prove me wrong.

The level of a race or class resets whenever it evolves, however, a level 1 tier (II) is better than a level 10 tier (I).

I could not grasp how this was possible, but I moved on, seeing as there was nothing to gain by being baffled. I passed by the first four choices as I did not see them as valuable enough. The ability "Tainted Tongue" seemed to be something that could combo with my more charismatic approach, so that was my first choice. After that, it was more up in the air. My logic led me to believe that "Syphon" was an ability that would allow me to steal in some way mana or other resources, which sounded very useful after I burned it so fast in the fight against Scar. With two choices left, I decided to humor "Vengeance" after passing it by before. My last decision was to pick "Contagion", as a new spell could be useful, and "Parasite" didn't sound right. With my choices made I was shown their effects.

Skill Synergy Detected
Tainted Tongue, Sermon, Warmth, Sacred Sage
New Skill Seeded Terms will be created

Tainted Tongue (passive) (Corruption): Your words are layered with your mana, twisting the minds of those who hear them slowly to your will. Those with low mental defenses will slowly trust you more and believe you more the more you speak with them, regardless of their opinion of you. If they have moderate mental defenses, those who already trust you will become more trusting and believing. Those with high mental defenses are immune to this effect.

Seeded Terms (active) (Corruption): You implant a secret meaning within a statement. The target you intend for this statement becomes aware of the secret meaning, and if they have low mental defenses or are trusting of you, will be compelled to complete any action relating to it.

Syphon (passive): You gain the capability to take the mana from the living things around you. While in an environment with life mana prevalent, you gain a 1000% speed boost to mana recovery. While in an environment with life plentiful around, you gain a 500% speed boost to mana recovery. While in an environment with average life around, you gain a 100% speed boost to mana recovery. While in an environment with **** mana prevalent, you gain no bonus. These boosts do not stack, with priority being life mana>**** mana> life plentiful>life average.

Vengeance (passive): You grow more powerful on a quest to right a wrong against you. While fighting a being that has greatly wronged you, you gain a 50% boost to all stats. This wrong can be intentional harm, great accidental harm, intentional misfortune, or comparable things.

Contagion (DOMAIN) (Corruption): You unleash a flush of tainted mana, harming those who are exposed to it. In an area decided by the mana consumed, each creature takes damage and is weakened by a severity decided by their reliance on mana, as well as the quantity of tainted mana consumed.

These were all still somewhat situational, but still extremely useful. Vengeance was somewhat annoyingly vague, but that was fine. Contagion gave a good means of fighting a crowd aside from Aura of Growth, as well as it was a good anti-mage. Syphon wasn't exactly what I had expected, but it most certainly solved the mana problem, as long as I wasn't fighting **** beings that is. The Tainted Tongue and Seeded Terms duo was very useful, serving as a great way to further my influence and even harm other's relations. It did make me wonder though, how strong were my own mental defenses. The HUD was quick to answer.

The Users Mental Defenses are at maximum, they are incapable of being manipulated by such abilities, though they are still susceptible to abilities such as illusions or charms.

'What's the difference?'

Such abilities are capable of causing permanent changes to the thought process of the target, while charms and illusions simply apply temporary impairments upon the target.

'I see... I still don't understand why my defenses are at maximum.' Like before I evolved, a message appeared that was quickly scrambled, and another debate began.

whaT Did we jUSt talk about

The System Is Not Speaking Of-

SHUSH hE mUSt Not know

The System Does Not Understand

The System Does Not nEeD tO Understand The System wIll not Speak of maTteRs rElating to tHe ORIGIN

The System Questions The Purpose Of This Restriction

The User is Not rEaDy foR What cOmeS wIth The ORIGIN

The System Will Comply

And just like that, I was left with even more questions. 'What was that about? What is the ORIGIN? It was the only word that the Scrambler used all caps for, seemingly intentionally.'

Information on the ORIGIN is withheld by order of-

It started to spell out NA before the words were quickly jumbled.

do not maKe me SpEak aGain

The System Will Comply

I blinked a few times as the window yet again closed after reading those words. I let out a long sigh, clearly questions would not get anywhere. I decided to check my character sheet for what changed.