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Chapter 3: Growing

Dorian stepped forward ever so slowly,the tree branch he was perched upon His instincts and ability to rained with his transforular human couldn’t hope to have in the same form

After a few more careful steps, Dorian was now perched a few feet over a s stream that was around two or so feet deep Dozens of blue-scaled fish were visible e, bluish white fin Several small waves crossed over the surface of the strearass bordered it, but for the most part this area of the forest was currently deserted

A few tense

Then, abruptly, Dorian’s instincts fired and he leapt directly doithout hesitation, dropping towards the stream

SPLASH

Dorian fell into the river and i one of the blue-scaled fish The rest of the fish in the river scattered i of red blood dripped out of the blue-scaled fish as it struggled in his teeth, dyeing the nearby water red

The taste of the blood in his mouth, the frothy flesh of the small fish, was almost euphoric to Dorian

In his mind, a small notification from the Soul Spell Matrix appeared

-White Riverfin bloodline successfully stored-

&8211; Growth Stage: (2/2) Mature Fish &8211;

"Not bad That one is finished up&8221; Dorianit down

His palate after beco food raas soht he would atte food was simply an unnecessary extra step

It had been three days since Dorian first came to this world In that ti from the rockslide caused by the clash of the two one warily exploring in the depths of the forest He took to the treetops as he moved, careful to avoid the attention of any other creatures if he could avoid it He had fully adapted to oal had been toaround for most of the first day, Dorian had found a tall tree that had been hollowed out at the top For lack of any other places, he had ht

Night in the forest, Dorian found, was terrifying Strange creatures moved about in the darkness, and constant howls and clashes of beasts rang out, coating the world in fear Dorian was secretly horrified when he observed all of this, staying hidden in his treetop till dawn

Dorian was noorking on his second goal Becoe land

According to Ausra, the er that creature would be He could develop his bloodline by absorbing energy frotheir bloodlines He could also develop it naturally by aging, but that would take far more time

Some creatures, like Red salamanders, naturally had the ability to Evolve

Thus, Dorian had set off hunting

"Ausra, how close ae for the Red Sala to hi letters appeared in hisAdult-

&8211; Growth Progress – 97/100 &8211;

"Almost there&8221; He muttered

Over the past few days, he hadn’t found any other Red Salamanders, and had been forced to instead prey on other creatures and absorb energy from theained several weak bloodlines that he could use in the future, like the fully matured White Riverfin he had just successfully coh of the bloodline of any creature, he could obtain a fully mature bloodline he could use later, to experiment or transform with

Thankfully, due to his unique Soul Spell Matrix, he didn’t need to fight anything strong to grow stronger Siy would advance his bloodline, albeit a little slower than if he killed stronger beasts But in the long run, the results would be the sae world was parah&8221; He muttered as he looked around the area around hirass, the rest of the area was obscured with very tall, leafy green trees, covered in branches He didn’t sense and other large creatures nearby, and felt relatively safe He glanced upward, noting that it was only around noon A large, yellow sun si overhead in a sky almost devoid of clouds He had plenty of time left

Dorian crept over to the side of the strea swuet away from him The blood from earlier had already been washed away, but Dorian kneould be several er, before any fish returned to this area

As he was just about to turn away, a glint of gold abruptly caught Dorian’s eye He paused, licking his lips in a decidedly Salaht

Sitting at the bottoht on so, with a s a few steps to the side to get closer He was soon parallel to the ring, on the side of the strea itself was in als exist?&8221; For a ring to randomly be found in a river, especially so deep in this unknown forest, it couldn’t help but to rouse his suspicions

"Any being with a powerful enough Soul can imbue certain objects with abilities from their Soul Spell Matrix Additionally, talented craftsmen can use their own abilities to create unique objects with unique powers I suppose these qualify as ‘Magic Rings’ However, these types of objects are typically only found on bipedal creatures like Humans, Vampires, Boromers, Titans, or those of a similar nature&8221; Ausra helpfully replied

Dorian felt a sudden desire to have the ring in front of hi, the only real downside was that he would get a little wet

Dorian dived into the river, launching hi the ring as he fell into the streah the water

Just as he was about to scoop the ring up, however, the brown rock it was resting on suddenly shook A split second later, it flipped upward, transfor from a si down on Dorian’s right ar teeth

Dorian didn’t panic despite being surprised As soon as his ar the pain of the sharp teeth start to dig into the scales of his ar his contained enough force to break in half a sle juh the air, Dorian twisted and brought his right ar at the clam like creature that was latched onto hied to dig in far, the tough Red Salae

CRASH

Dorian slaround near the strea to directly crash into a pile of rocks As he did so, he felt several cracks appear in the shell of the brown claht as he sla just around a th of Dorian’s current body was far greater than his physical strength as a hu the clam into the rock a half dozen times, Dorian felt its hold on his ar the creature away fro it splash into the river

He stu several led tooth marks The small wounds each leaked a small drizzle of blood He shook for a fewhard

"Daht I’ His ar Water strea a s hi to cal here tries to killhis head It was his own fault for being careless He had never seen a creature like that, however, and had no idea it even existed

"Should I go try to absorb it?&8221; He thought, turning to face the river He glanced up and down the streans of the odd brown clam

"Ausra, as that?&8221; He asked

"While I can’t be sure of the bloodline of that creature, it had the appearance and pattern of a Brown Treasure Clae interactions with fate It’s appearance in this area isfate to send you into this world&8221; Ausra continued,

"Brown Treasure Clams adore objects that are heavily connected to fate, and are constantly searching for new, fated treasures As for their norin by injecting any beast that is foolish enough to touch the victi in death&8221; Ausra coolly replied

"What? They’re poisonous?&8221; Dorian turned to look at his wounded arm in alarm He didn’t feel any odd effects

"The Spell Matrix in your Soul was designed to give you the power to control bloodlines Many types of bloodlines are poisonous in nature His Worship foresaw issues like this, and thus added safeguards Poison of alh your bloodline is truly that of a Red Salan substances to that bloodline will automatically be sampled and stored by your Soul Spell Matrix&8221;

"Oh? Can you shohat the poison was?&8221; Ausra replied, curious

-Brown Treasure Clae 2/2) Venom-

Stored Amount: 30 mL

"Hmm, not a lot Still, it could be useful for later&8221; Heit fade, before he responded, "Ausra, could you warnlike that, a creature you recognize?&8221;

Ausra didn’t respond

"Alright&8221; Dorian frowned The Genie in his Spell Matrix seemed to only answer questions when it was convenient for it Still, the assistance Ausra gave hiht to coht ared a lizard like s a s the Brown Treasure Clae he had suffered was inconsequential Red Sala to Ausra, and small wounds like this would heal in a few hours Already they had stopped bleeding

"No do I use you?&8221; He

"Ausra, any ideas?&8221;

Silence again

"I guess I’ll try putting it on&8221; After thinking for a few htmost claw He was prepared at a e

A fewFaint roars in the background indicated the presence of ferocious beasts h the forest A s over the streaan to appear frorew in the air, fluttering around briefly It then slowly flowed towards Dorian

He watched as the light er As it did so, a wary flooded into his chest He also felt a se

&8212;

"To whomever receives this, know that Fate has decided you to be the bearer of e Horhavil, reduced to death’s door After elic Stage of the Soul, I sought to break past the shackles that held me to the 30,000 Worlds and achieve Godhood&8221;

"Alas I have failed At the lastallies, the Golden Kingdom, betrayed me, and struck me dohen I was ed to escape, striking doo of their Pariah Mages in the process and tearing a hole in the void, ending up here&8221;

"The site of my death lies here, deep within this beast infested forest Between two shattered mountains, in the darkest pit of this valley, I breathe , I only ask that you one day inform Holy Duke Archel, of the Elector Edom betrayed me&8221;

"Thank you The Cycle continues&8221;

&8212;

TheDorian with a sense of wonder Achieving Godhood? Mastering a ‘Dao’ of light? Such foreign concepts made no sense, yet held such fantastic promise he couldn’t help but wonder He needed to know more of the world around hi, however, Ausra’s voice appeared in his y sufficient to be absorbed has entered your body Would you like to absorb this energy to further the development of your Red Salaht&8221; Dorian iht on, "Yes, absolutely&8221; He was so close to achieving the next stage, if the warh it should be no issue increasing his strength here

"Acknowledge&8221; Dorian felt the wary within him faded as it was voraciously sucked into his Soul Spell Matrix, drawing away As it did so, a pale blue screen riting on it appeared in hisAdult-

&8211; Growth Progress – 786/100 &8211;

Before he could react, a second screen iress Exceeded li to Evolution Space…If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible