It started with a tingle.
Then a hum.
Then something that felt like static crawling under your skin — if he had skin. Which he didn't. He was still a dot. A dot with ambition and mild anxiety.
[Progress: 100/100]
[Evolution Ready.]
He'd done it. Absorbed everything from algae to magical leftovers to the soul juice of a particularly confused river snail.
Now, it was time.
"Seek," he whispered, "am I going to explode?"
[Technically? Yes. But in a positive, transformative way.]
"That's not comforting."
[Would you prefer sparkles? I can simulate sparkles.]
"…Just get it over with."
[Commencing Evolution.]
The world paused.
Or maybe it didn't. But it felt like it. Every molecule, every current, every little tick of mana in the water slowed as the tiniest creature in the entire river began to change.
He didn't scream. Mostly because he didn't have lungs. But if he could, he probably would've been howling like a kettle with issues.
It hurt. Not in a "stub your toe" kind of way. More like being torn apart and remade by a cosmic spaghetti chef.
The edges of his existence stretched. Twisted. Broke. Reformed.
Light pulsed from him — not visible light, but mana. Magic light. The kind that tickled the water and made nearby bugs do a little dance of confusion.
Then it ended.
And he was… new.
[Evolution Complete.]
[You are now: Proto-Core Lifeform – Tier 1]
[New Traits Gained: Structure | Limited Form Shift | Energy Storage]
[New Skills: Absorb Lv.2 | Compress Lv.1 | Sense Pulse Lv.1]
He took a moment to breathe, even though he still didn't need to. It just felt right.
For the first time, he had a shape. Not a proper body, but something better than a speck.
A core. Like a smooth marble made of light and weird feelings. He could shift a little. Ripple. Compress. React.
"Holy crap," he whispered in awe. "I have… jiggle physics."
[Yes. But respectfully.]
He laughed — in his head, of course. This was it. Progress. He was no longer an invisible nothing. He was a visible something. Kind of.
The creatures around him noticed too.
A fish swam by, paused, and then zipped away.
He had a presence now. A little weight in the world.
And more importantly… more options.
The next few days — or hours, or whatever time was in riverland — were spent testing his new powers.
He could move now. Not fast. But enough to choose his direction. Drift left instead of just going where the current said.
He could pulse, sending out a mana wave to sense things nearby. Trees, fish, bugs, a rock shaped like a potato. Everything lit up in his awareness like a sonar map in a cheap game.
[Skill Leveled Up: Sense Pulse Lv.2]
He also figured out how to compress himself into a dense little ball of doom and slam into things.
It wasn't much, but he got real good at bullying crustaceans.
Shrimp? Slammed.
Water spiders? Crushed.
One overly brave fish? Let's just say it ended up very digested.
[Progress Toward Next Evolution: 14/300]
The numbers were climbing again.
And so was his confidence.
"I'm not just a dot anymore," he whispered one day, drifting dramatically past a rock. "I'm a dot with goals."
[You are technically now a sphere.]
"Let me have this, Seek."
[Fine. You are a very threatening sphere.]
Later, he discovered a cave. Well, a crack in the riverbed, but it felt like a cave. Dark. Mysterious. Definitely full of things that wanted to bite or explode.
He hesitated.
Then rolled inside.
Inside, the mana was thicker. Heavy, like soup made of stars. It buzzed in his core. Tasted like danger.
He absorbed a cluster of glowing spores. Got high off it for three minutes. Not proud.
Then — he found something new.
A shard.
Floating. Humming. Glowing green like an ancient glowstick of destiny.
[Object Identified: Mana Core Fragment]
[Origin: Unknown. Potential Use: Absorption | Crafting | ???]
"Wait… crafting?"
[Yes. Core Lifeforms can build. If they evolve enough.]
He froze.
"You're telling me I can craft things? Like a base? A fortress? A kingdom?"
[Eventually.]
"Like SimCity, but with magic and me as mayor?"
[More or less.]
He trembled slightly with pure, chaotic joy.
"Seek."
[Yes?]
"I'm going to build a kingdom."
[Out of what?]
"I dunno. Bones. Mana. Friendship. Whatever I find lying around."
[...Noted.]
He absorbed the shard.
And something clicked.
Not evolution. Not a skill. Just… potential.
A path forming. A future waiting.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
He was becoming.