Chapter 189

  Closing his eyes, Jake summohe evolution menu. Instantly, the requirements for evolving to the stage appeared in his mind. However, he didn’t bother rereading them. He knew he o reach a specific level, and his attributes along with some skills had to be increased to particur levels and ranks, respectively. He had aplished all of that a long time ago. Being aware he had already met all the requirements, he skipped the details and focused o line, which asked if he wao initiate the evolution process. He mentally replied affirmatively and prepared to evolve into the form.

  However, trary to what he had anticipated, something surprising happened. Instead of his body beginning to undergo the evolution process, a system message suddenly appeared in his mind.

  To start the evolution process, you must choose one of the three forms—subcsses—to evolve into. This choice is final and ot be undone. Each subcss offers a u of skills and abilities. Make your decision wisely! Ohe sele is made, there will be no way to reverse your choice.

  Proceed to the subcss seleenu: Y/N

  This was definitely different from his st evolution. This time, instead of automatically evolving into a predetermined form, he o make a manual sele. It made him feel uneasy. He wao remain at the top of the food in this world, maintaining his status as the apex predator. How could he know which of the three subcsses would be best suited for achieving this goal?

  However, there was no point iing about it before even looking at the choices, so he simply thought, “Yes.” Immediately, the piece of text in his mind was repced by three new options.

  >>>Ravager<<<

  Agile and fierce predator adept at quick, deadly attacks and swift evasion maneuvers, capable of outsmarting any oppo.

  Select Ravager: Y/N

  >>>Corruptor<<<

  Iive and transformative form. Possesses the power to alter enviros and create various traps and hellish entities, shaping them at will.

  Select Corruptor: Y/N

  >>>Devastator<<<

  Master of destru. An unstoppable for the battlefield, capable of withstanding immense damage while delivering overwhelming strikes.

  Select Devastator: Y/N

  Jake read the descriptions and took a moment to think. Unfortunately, the descriptions didn’t reveal much. From the previous text, he had learhat each of the three forms had its own u of skills, which differed signifitly from one another. He really wished he could take a peek at each of the subcsses to help him decide whie resonated with him the most.

  He focused on the first subcss, Ravager, trying to glean some additional information about it or learn what skills and abilities it had. Instead of providing him with additional information, something else happened—a vision of sorts flooded his mind.

  He saw himself from the side, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Sihe a wasn’t taking pce from his own eyes, it felt like watg a movie. The obsidian-bck figure jumpiween buildings was strikingly different from his current Stage 2 form. It was obvious that the protagonist of the vision was the subcss of Stage 3, known as Ravager.

  Jake tio watch the Ravager leap from roof to roof. It moved so quickly he had difficulty making out aails about this form. However, he could already see how vastly different the Ravager was from his current form. While his present body retaihe general shape of a human, there was almost nothing huma in the geics of the form called Ravager.

  Eventually, the Ravager in the vision came to a stop on the rooftop of a high-rise building, pausing for a moment and finally granting Jake the opportunity to take a closer look at it.

  It was definitely rger than his current form. The Ravager’s hunched physique was supported by powerful legs ending in curved cws. Its strong arms featured menag talons that looked far more dangerous than his own. The creature had a long tail, and its snout was elongated, filled with rows of jagged teeth. While its body was just as bd textured as his, it was also adorned with hardened, shimmering scales, likely serving as an additional yer of prote. Overall, the mutant appeared to be a blend of human characteristid features remi of a two-legged predatory dinosaur, simir to a Raptor.

  The Ravager tilted its head slightly in one dire, and Jake finally saw what had caught its attention—a couple of sleek helicopters were approag the rooftop where the mutant stood. They were flying far above the building, but as it turned out, that was no problem for the Ravager.

  The mutant hus back, lifting its scorpion-like, serrated tail over its body and pointing it at one of the choppers. The thid of the tail suddenly blossomed open like a flower. In the instant, peared to be a ser beam shot out, hitting the chopper with surprising accuracy. The engine sputtered, and the steady whir of the rotor bdes faltered. The damaged helicopter spun out of trol, quickly losing altitude and disappearing from sight beh the rooftops.

  As the sed helicopter approached the rooftop, the mutant aimed the tip of his tail at it, and instead of the ser beam, some kind of projectile shot out. It struck the side of the chopper and spttered against it. The acidic substance quickly started to eat away at the metal fusege.

  The Ravager suddenly burst into a sprint. Reag the edge of the roof, it leaped with much more power than Jake could ever muster. The Ravager easily reached the chopper h high above the building, smming into its side. The mutant g to it by thrusting the talons of one hand through the fusege. With its other cwed hand, the Ravager tore a pieetal from the chopper’s side as easily as if it were a piece of paper. The mutant then drove the tip of its tail into the jagged opening it had made, unleashing a powerful stream of acid into the chopper’s interior.

  The helicopter spiraled out of trol, rapidly losing altitude and plummeting toward the ground. The Ravager released its grip and dropped into the open space below. However, the mutant didn’t fall all the way to the streets. Instead, in a matter of two seds, it sprouted two long bat-like wings and soared through the air like a massive prehistoriged reptile.

  Down below, a teical was rag dowreet. The person in the bed of the pickup truck caught sight of the Ravager overhead and swung the barrel of the mounted mae gun toward it. High-powered bullets impacted against the Ravager’s scaled body, dealing little to no damage. The winged creature suddenly morphed its wings bato its body and rocketed down like a missile. With astonishing precision, it struck the pickup truck with tremendous force, turning it into a pile of broken and twisted metal and pstic.

  The Ravager climbed out of the wreckage and surveyed its surroundings. Not a scratch marred its scaled body. Menag-looking ex-humans that Jake had never entered before burst from around every er, drawn to the sound of the crash. They sprioward the Ravager from all dires. However, before any could reach the mutant, it emitted a bone-chilling roar that instilled fear in its foes. Suddenly, they lost i in the Ravager and turned on one another.

  The Ravager didn’t wait for them to kill each other. Instead, it executed a powerful vertical leap, effortlessly reag the height of several stories. At the peak of its jump, it sprouted its wings once more and fpped them vigorously, pivoting in the air and flying away from the destru and turmoil it had created ireet below.

  That was where the vision cluded.

  That was freaking awesome, Jake thought to himself.

  It was obvious that the vision had given him a glimpse of the kind of creature he could bee if he chose the Ravager subcss. Of course, he wouldn’t instantly bee as powerful as the Ravager from the vision. Instead, he would gradually level up and unloew skills and abilities, ultimately transf into the mutant he had just witnessed.

  Now that the vision had ended, a new piece of information appeared in his mind.

  Do you wish to choer: Y/N

  Warning: Seleg the Ravager subcss will rehe following skills and abilities unavaible: Morph Disguise.

  Jake remembered acquiring this ability a while back. It ic ability that would bee avaible after he evolved into Evolution Stage 3: “Apex Maion”. However, it appeared that this particur ability was not patible with the Ravager evolution subcss. It was disappointing. If he chose to evolve into the Ravager form, he wouldn’t be able to use this ability altogether.

  He had another Epic ability called Ground Strike, which would bee avaible for learning after evolving into the stage and unlog the third se of the Geic Development Interface. The System hadn’t indicated any issues with it, suggesting that, unlike Morph Disguise, Ground Strike was indeed patible with the Ravager subcss.

  In any case, before deg whether to select the Ravager form or not, he wao learn more about the other two options. They should be very different frer, and he was excited to watch the visioed to them to learn what those two subcsses were all about. So he thought “No” in respoo the question, which brought him back to the subcss seleenu, where there were two additional options to check out: Corruptor aator.