Chapter 9: Skill Evolution Available
Gray drifted toward the crack in the boulder where the colony had vanished. His body still tingled with the residual warmth of the level-up, his wounds sealed, his HP full, his tentacles restored. He should have felt triumphant.
Instead, he felt nothing but a cold, gnawing hunger for more.
The sentinel’s corpse was gone, absorbed into his body. Its sacrifice had bought the colony maybe five minutes. Now there was nothing standing between Gray and the rest of them.
He peered into the crack. The glow of his bioluminescence spilled through the narrow opening, illuminating dozens of tiny red eyes huddled in the dark. The shrimp were packed tightly together, their carapaces clicking softly as they trembled. Some were missing limbs from the chaos of the retreat. Others were barely larger than specks—juveniles, barely hatched.
’They’re terrified,’ Gray thought. ’They know I’m here. They know what I did to their protector.’
The sentinel’s red eyes flashed in his memory. The way it had stood alone on that boulder, pincers spread, buying time for its family with its life. The way the light had guttered out of those eyes when he killed it.
’It was brave. Braver than I ever was.’
He hovered at the entrance to the crack.
’But I’m not here to be brave. I’m here to get stronger.’
His MP bar sat at 22 out of 30. Static Discharge cost 15. That left enough for one good blast and a little left over.
’One blast should be enough. They’re just Level 1 shrimp. HP 8. My Static Discharge does 8-12 damage. This isn’t even a fight. It’s an execution.’
He positioned himself at the mouth of the crack, blocking the only exit. The shrimp sensed what was coming. Their clicking intensified, a frantic chorus of terror that vibrated through the narrow space.
’I’m sorry,’ Gray thought. ’But I have to get stronger. I refuse to be weak again. I refuse to be the man who freezes and watches while others die. Even if it means... I have to become the one doing the killing.’
He activated Static Discharge.
The lightning erupted from his body in a concentrated cone, funneled by the narrow walls of the crack. Blue-white electricity arced through the water, through the shrimp, through everything. The crack lit up like a camera flash, and for one frozen moment, Gray saw every single shrimp in perfect clarity—their bodies seizing, their eyes flaring bright, their tiny pincers locking open in silent screams.
Then the notifications started.
[GLOWCARAPACE SHRIMP DEFEATED — 5 EXP]
[GLOWCARAPACE SHRIMP DEFEATED — 5 EXP]
[GLOWCARAPACE SHRIMP DEFEATED — 5 EXP]
[GLOWCARAPACE SHRIMP DEFEATED — 5 EXP]
They cascaded down his vision in an endless scroll, too many to count. EXP poured into him like a flood, and the system chimed again and again.
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
The warmth of each level-up washed through him, but this time it brought no comfort. It felt like fever heat. Like something burning beneath his skin that he couldn’t put out.
[LEVEL UP!]
His bell pulsed brighter than it ever had before. The bioluminescence wasn’t just pink and blue anymore—threads of pale violet crept into the glow, subtle but unmistakable.
[LEVEL UP!]
He had done it. Level 7.
And all it had cost was the lives of thirty terrified creatures who had done nothing to deserve it.
His vision blurred. For a moment he thought it was a system notification, but no text appeared. Just the dark water and the crack and the silence where the clicking used to be. The crack was empty now. Nothing moved inside except the faint drift of ash-like particles swirling in the dying remnants of his electrical charge.
Gray stared at the empty crack.
’...I went too far.’
The words echoed through his mind, hollow and small.
’I killed them. All of them. Even the tiny ones. They couldn’t even fight bac—’
He cut the thought off before it could finish. He couldn’t afford to finish it. If he let himself feel the full weight of what he’d just done, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep moving. And if he stopped moving, he’d die. Something out here would kill him, and this whole horrible massacre would have been for nothing.
’So make it count. I can’t let it be for nothing.’
He forced himself to turn away from the crack. Forced himself to focus on the notifications still blinking in his peripheral vision.
[You are now Level 7.]
[Stat Points Available: 40]
[Skill Points Available: 6]
[Skill Evolution: AVAILABLE]
[New Title Unlocked: "Colony Killer" — EXP gain increased by 10% when fighting groups of enemies.]
Gray stared at the title for a long moment.
"Colony Killer." The system isn’t even trying to be subtle about this.
’Ten percent bonus EXP against groups. That’s... actually incredible. If I can find more swarms, more colonies, I could level twice as fast. Maybe faster if I combine it with efficient grinding routes.’
He paused.
’...And now I’m thinking about the most efficient way to commit mass murder. Great. I’m turning into a min-maxing sociopath.’
But the title was there, and it wasn’t going away. He couldn’t reject it. The system had given it to him, and the system didn’t care about morality. It only cared about results.
He pushed the guilt down and turned his attention to the stat points. Forty of them. More than he’d ever had at once. If he allocated them right, he could dramatically change his capabilities.
’Status.’
STATUS MENU
Name: Gray Ashford
Species: Aurelia aurita — Common Moon Jellyfish (Bioluminescent Variant)
Level: 7
Title: Colony Killer
Stats:
· HP: 70 / 70
· MP: 70 / 70
· ATK: 1
· DEF: 1
· SPD: 2
· INT: 15
· LUK: -10
Stat Points: 40
Skill Points: 6
’Forty points. This is the biggest power spike I’ll get until Level 10. I can’t waste it.’
He hovered in the quiet water outside his crevice, the empty crack still gaping behind him like an open wound. The ash-like particles had dispersed now, scattered by the current. Nothing remained of the colony except the EXP sitting in his status bar and the title that still made his stomach turn.
’Alright. Focus. What do I actually need?’
He ran through his recent fights in his head. The nightmare lamprey had almost killed him because he couldn’t dodge. The glass minnow had almost killed him because he couldn’t take a hit. The sentinel shrimp had almost killed him because he couldn’t finish it fast enough.
’So I need everything. Great start.’
He looked at DEF first.
’DEF increases HP. That sentinel hit me for twelve damage when it went berserk. If I’d had more HP, I wouldn’t have dropped to four. Surviving one more hit is the difference between winning and being dead.’
He started to allocate points, then stopped.
’But if I go full tank, I’ll survive longer but kill nothing. I’ll just be a punching bag that takes longer to digest. I need to actually hurt things.’
His eyes moved to ATK.
’ATK is at one. ONE. That’s embarrassing. Nematocyst Sting’s base damage went up when it leveled, but my physical attacks are still pathetic. If ATK boosts sting damage, every point there makes every tentacle hit count for more.’
He mentally allocated ten points to ATK, then hesitated again.
’But what about SPD? I’m still a jellyfish. My base speed is two. Even with better damage, if I can’t reach the target or dodge its attacks, I’m just a floating target with sharper needles.’
His tentacles twitched with frustration.
’And INT. INT increases MP and skill damage. Static Discharge is my best skill, and it scales with INT. More MP means more discharges. More discharges mean more dead enemies before I run out of juice.’
He circled through the same arguments over and over, each stat pulling him in a different direction. Tank versus damage dealer. Speed versus power. Survivability versus clear speed.
’And then there’s LUK. Negative ten. What does that even mean in practice? Do I randomly explode? Does lightning strike me from nowhere? Do I trip over a rock and impale myself on coral?’
He remembered his human life in fragments. The job interview where the interviewer forgot his name. The date who left halfway through dinner. The promotion that went to someone else. Small failures, stacked like bricks, building a wall between him and everyone else.
’Actually... maybe my luck has always been negative ten. That would explain a lot.’
He shook the thought away. Metaphysical complaints about his karmic balance wouldn’t help him allocate stat points.
’Okay. Think systematically. What’s my biggest weakness right now?’
He reviewed his deaths. Both of them.
’First death: couldn’t run, couldn’t fight, got shot. Second near-death: couldn’t dodge the sentinel’s charge, couldn’t take the hit, survived by a thread.’
The pattern was clear. He wasn’t dying because he lacked damage. He was dying because he was fragile and slow.
’Survivability first. Damage second.’
He put ten points into DEF.
[DEF: 1 → 11]
[HP: 70 → 170]
’One-seventy HP. That’s more than double. I can actually take a hit now without going critical.’
He put ten points into SPD.
[SPD: 2 → 12]
[Movement speed and reaction time significantly increased]
’Twelve SPD. I don’t know how fast that is relative to everything else in this ocean, but it’s six times faster than I was. That has to count for something.’
He paused. Twenty points spent. Twenty remaining.
’Now damage. ATK or INT?’
He pulled up his skills and studied the descriptions again. Nematocyst Sting was physical contact. Static Discharge was magical electricity. Two different damage types. Two different scaling stats.
’If I go all-in on INT, my Static Discharge becomes a nuke. But I can only use it a few times per fight, and it has a cooldown. If I go all-in on ATK, my sting gets stronger, and I can use that as much as I want.’
He thought about the sentinel fight. The sting had done work, but Static Discharge had been the real threat. Without it, the lamprey would have eaten him in the first five minutes.
’INT gives me MP too. More MP means more discharges. More discharges means more dead things.’
Ten points into INT.
[INT: 15 → 25]
[MP: 70 → 170]
[Skill damage modifier increased: +15%]
’One-seventy HP, one-seventy MP. That’s satisfying symmetry.’
Ten points left. He looked at ATK, still sitting at a pathetic 1, and LUK, still negative ten.
’I should put everything into ATK. Get my physical damage up. But...’
He stared at the negative number beside LUK.
’Negative luck has been actively trying to kill me since I got here. If I leave it at negative ten, something worse is going to happen.’
Five points into ATK.
[ATK: 1 → 6]
[Physical damage modifier increased]
’Not great. But better than one.’
Five points into LUK.
[LUK: -10 → -5]
[Critical failure chance moderately reduced. Highly improbable disasters are now merely unlikely disasters.]
’The system’s description isn’t exactly reassuring, but I’ll take it.’
He allocated the last point and pulled up his full status.
STATUS MENU
Name: Gray Ashford
Species: Aurelia aurita — Common Moon Jellyfish (Bioluminescent Variant)
Level: 7
Title: Colony Killer
Stats:
· HP: 170 / 170
· MP: 170 / 170
· ATK: 6
· DEF: 11
· SPD: 12
· INT: 25
· LUK: -5
Stat Points: 0
Skill Points: 6
’Balanced. Leaning toward mage with that INT, but not helpless up close. One-seventy in both HP and MP. SPD at twelve so I’m not a complete slug. ATK at six so my stings actually matter. LUK at negative five so maybe the universe hates me slightly less.’
He closed the status screen.
’This is a foundation. Once I see my evolution paths, I can specialize. For now, being decent at everything is better than being great at one thing and dead to everything else.’
He allowed himself a small pulse of satisfaction. Then he turned to the notification blinking in the corner of his vision.
[Skill Evolution: AVAILABLE]
’Finally.’
He opened the menu.
[SKILL EVOLUTION MENU]
Your skills have reached the threshold for evolution. Evolved skills gain enhanced effects, new properties, and in some cases, entirely new functionalities.
Available for Evolution:
· [Nematocyst Sting] Lv. 2 → Evolve?
· [Static Discharge] Lv. 1 → Evolve?
· [Bioluminescent Pulse] Lv. 1 → Evolve?
[Skill Points Available: 6]
[WARNING: Skill evolution requires 2 Skill Points per skill. Choose carefully.]
’Two points each. I have six. That’s three evolutions if I want them. But... should I?’
He selected [Nematocyst Sting] and chose "Preview Evolution."
[NEMATOCYST STING — EVOLUTION PREVIEW]
Evolution Paths Available:
Path 1: [Paralytic Barbs]
Requirement: 2 Skill Points
« Effect »
Your nematocysts develop reinforced barbs that lodge in the target’s flesh. Upon detaching, the barbs continue to discharge venom for an additional 5 seconds.
· Damage: 5-8 per sting
· Paralyze chance: 30%
· Bleed effect: 3 damage per second for 5 seconds (total 15)
· Range: Contact
Path 2: [Toxin Cloud]
Requirement: 2 Skill Points
« Effect »
Instead of contact-based stings, you release a cloud of free-floating nematocysts into the water around you. Any creature entering the cloud suffers venom damage and potential paralysis.
· Damage: 4-6 per second while inside cloud
· Paralyze chance: 15%
· Cloud duration: 10 seconds
· Range: 2-meter radius around user
Gray read both paths twice.
’Paralytic Barbs is a direct upgrade. More damage, bleed effect, better paralyze chance. Makes me deadlier at close range. But Toxin Cloud... that’s area denial. I can drop it and retreat, or use it to control the battlefield. And it synergizes with Static Discharge because enemies that get stunned inside the cloud will just keep taking damage.’
He moved to the next skill.
[STATIC DISCHARGE — EVOLUTION PREVIEW]
Evolution Paths Available:
Path 1: [Chain Lightning]
Requirement: 2 Skill Points
« Effect »
Your electrical discharge jumps from the initial target to nearby enemies, dealing reduced damage with each jump.
· Initial damage: 15-20
· Chain targets: Up to 4 additional enemies
· Damage reduction per jump: -25%
· Range: 1.5-meter radius, chains up to 2 meters beyond
· Stun chance: 25%
Path 2: [Overcharge]
Requirement: 2 Skill Points
« Effect »
You overcharge your body with bioelectric energy, becoming a living conduit. Contact with you during Overcharge deals massive electrical damage to a single target.
· Damage: 25-35
· Stun chance: 50%
· Duration: 5 seconds (or until contact is made)
· Self-damage: 5% of max HP on activation
· Range: Contact
’Chain Lightning turns me into crowd control. With Colony Killer’s 10% bonus, I could farm groups even faster. But Overcharge... thirty-five damage to a single target with a fifty percent stun chance? That’s a boss-killer. That’s a "delete this specific enemy" button.’
He paused.
’But it also damages me. Five percent of my HP is about 8 points. Not terrible, but not nothing either.’
Finally, he opened the evolution preview for Bioluminescent Pulse.
[BIOLUMINESCENT PULSE — EVOLUTION PREVIEW]
Evolution Paths Available:
Path 1: [Hypnotic Lure]
Requirement: 2 Skill Points
« Effect »
Your bioluminescence gains a hypnotic quality, mesmerizing creatures that look directly at it. Mesmerized targets drift toward you slowly and suffer reduced reaction speed.
· Mesmerize duration: 5 seconds
· Mesmerize chance: 40% on creatures that can see light
· Speed reduction: -30%
· Attraction range: 3 meters
· Warning: Also attracts larger predators more effectively
Path 2: [Flash Pulse]
Requirement: 2 Skill Points
« Effect »
You release a sudden, blinding flash of light that disorients nearby creatures and briefly illuminates a large area.
· Blind duration: 3 seconds
· Range: 5-meter radius
· Cooldown: 20 seconds
· MP Cost: 10
· Effect: Reduces enemy accuracy by 50% while blinded
’Hypnotic Lure is a trap-setter. I could pull things in and then hit them with Static Discharge or my sting. But it also attracts bigger predators. I’ve already had one nightmare lamprey chase me. I don’t need more of that. Flash Pulse, though... that’s an escape tool. A "get out of jail free" card. Three seconds of blindness could save my life.’
He closed all the previews and sat with the information.
’Six paths. Six skill points. I can take three evolutions right now. But I still don’t know what Level 10 brings. What if there’s a skill that costs all six points? What if evolving now locks me out of something better?’
He drifted back toward his shelter, his mind churning with possibilities.
’No. The system said Skill Evolution is how I grow stronger. It’s not a trap. It’s a feature. I should use it.’
He pulled up the evolution menu again.
’I’ll take one evolution now. Just one. See how it feels, then decide on the rest later.’
He looked at his three skills and the six possible paths.
’Which one...?’