After breakfast, I was left thinking if it was her curse that somehow influenced me as well. She had said that there was at least something going on between wild creatures and her. The thing was, I wasn’t wild… and I wasn’t just any creature.

And I couldn’t ignore her…

“Take care out there, Kealyna...” She paused for a moment before continuing, “I guess now you know why I’m worried when you go out.”

I gestured yes before making my way down.

We parted ways for the time being. I went off into the forest again while Cellestra continued her work on the wolf furs.

As I skittered through the forest I started wondering about how I would get the sniper achievement that I needed for the Blue Kizerain evolution. I would also still need one boar, maybe I could combine the two?

If I could find a boar that wasn’t terribly big, I imagined I could immobilize it with my paralytic venom before using a fireball from a large distance. The problem was that this fireball spell didn’t seem to be the most accurate. It would, however, pretty much ensure a kill if it hit.

I looked through the other achievements that I would need to unlock the other evolutions and decided to ask how big something would need to be in order to be considered “Titan”.

An immense variant of its most commonly occurring counterpart.

That was… less than useless.

I shrugged it off as I looked at the other achievements again. I imagine a deer wouldn’t be too much of an issue and neither would a scorpion.

A creature that can use spells, hmmm…

Cellestra mentioned those lizards earlier. I had decent magic resistance now and a magical barrier that would absorb damage from spells. I should be able to take those on without issues too.

I cast both my barriers after reflecting on that.

I shifted my focus back to my mission at hand; find a boar.

Unfortunately, the first thing I ran into was a wolf. I quickly ran up a nearby tree when I noticed it and remained there until it had left the area. Fortunately, it hadn’t spotted me.

I would have taken the fight to the wolf any other time, but right now, my focus was on finding a boar. I wanted to make sure that I had all my paralytic venom available for one, as I planned to take it out from range. I could not be wasting anything on something else.

I wondered if a boar alone would be enough to bump me up the level cap. I saw that I was level 8 and close to 9. It might just be enough.

That would truly be three birds with one stone.

I continued my trip and time went by. I ran into snakes, squirrels, mice, woodpeckers, but no boars. After what felt like hours, I finally spotted one rooting in the dirt for food. It was one of the medium-sized ones too, which was perfect.

I slowly sneaked my way towards the creature until I was near its flank. Hitting my venom bolt there would guarantee a large portion of the venom would enter its body.

I got in range and made sure a tree was nearby. These boars hadn’t shown me the capability to climb trees and I couldn’t imagine them doing so, unlike wolves. I didn’t think wolves were capable, but for their body structure, it seemed a lot more feasible than for a boar.

I fired my paralytic venom bolt three times in quick succession before hurrying my way up the tree. As I had hoped, this boar seemed to be afflicted by Cellestra’s bloodlust curse and it just smashed its head into the tree.

The tree shook from the impact and I waited until it remained still before I fired my venom bolts again, hitting the creature’s back. When I was completely out of paralytic venom I simply waited…

And hoped…

Eventually, the beast’s bloodlust seemed to fade as the venom took hold. The creature dropped to the dirt and I climbed down, looking for a spot to fire from.

I didn’t know how much time I had, so I was quick about it. There was too much vegetation in the area to get a clear view of the creature from the minimum required distance, so I settled on climbing a tree that I thought was easily far enough away for the achievement to count.

I climbed the tree and settled on a branch while taking a good look at where the boar lay.

Fortunately, these weren’t the smallest creatures that roamed this forest. I could even miss a few times with my current reserves and regeneration. With the power that my spell had, one hit was plenty.

I lined up my spell, aimed as best as I could, and let loose.

I watched the charged fireball fly in the direction of the boar and miss. I had aimed too high.

Instead of getting frustrated over my apparent failure, I had counted on this and tried to adjust my aim by aiming exactly where I had aimed before, and then aiming a bit lower.

Another miss. This time, I had missed it by only a foot, maybe two. My next cast would be a hit.

I cast my spell again after slightly adjusting my aim, and watched the spell fly in the direction of the paralyzed boar once more. This time, it hit home and it engulfed the immobilized boar in flames within seconds.

The fires ate away at the boar which squealed in pain until the beast died and a delicious smell filled the air.

You have killed a Forest Boar: EXP+586

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 9!

You have been awarded 35 EP.

Achievement earned: Boar Buster

Kill 3 Boars

You have been awarded 70 EP

You have been awarded 130 EXP

Requirements for future evolution complete.

Achievement earned: Sniper

Kill a creature that awards experience with a spell from at least 50 feet away.

You have been awarded 70 EP

You have been awarded 0 EXP

Requirements for future evolution complete.

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 10!

You have been awarded 35 EP.

Level Cap Reached

Evolutions Available!

A series of messages popped up before me after the boar stopped moving as the flames continued to lick away at the carcass.

I was happy to know that I had been successful in getting both achievements and the level cap at the same time. I hadn’t even planned for it. This also meant that I could save the other achievements for later and get more evolution points and, quite possibly, also experience from them.

I noticed that the last achievement I got didn’t reward any experience, which was slightly unfortunate but not the worst thing that could have happened. I needed the achievement to unlock the evolution either way.

I cheered in my mind as I was about to climb down to get to Cellestra’s home to undergo my evolution when something came to mind.

When I had taken the purple evolution the second time, more spells became available.

Would I get penalized if I took the blue evolution early on?

Elysa, does the blue evolution offer more spells if I take it later?

Negative. All evolution choices from now on offer the same number of skills no matter at what point you choose the specific evolution.

That was a relief at least. That meant that I could take the blue evolution first to unlock additional spells. After that, I could take the yellow one to combine the new spells into new spells that could possibly pack quite the punch. Finally, I could take the red evolution to acquire defensive skills to round out my arsenal. These spells could then also be combined to create new spells.

Correct, Elysa?

Affirmative.

I couldn’t wait to see what new spells I could get. As much as the spider part was frustrating, these spells were something else. The feeling of being pretty powerful and the promise of even more power… it was intoxicating to be quite honest.

This was the power I yearned for. The power to protect those I held dear.

It was a damn shame that I didn’t have many people that were dear to me.

If only I had had this power back then…

I snapped myself out of it. I couldn’t keep wandering off to that. With this power and, eventually, the ability to speak again, I would have the strength that I didn’t have back then. I wouldn’t allow anything like that to happen again.

I looked around to see if any danger had appeared. When it didn’t, I climbed down and started making my way back to the elf’s abode, all while looking forward to what my new evolution had in store for me.