Aster ran. Her lungs heaved with the strain of emotion as she came to a realization. I’ve been living in a labyrinth like this for far too long. Stranded in darkness, alone, a clock chasing her down like a guillotine as she fought off the ‘monsters’ of being terminally sick.

  It made her smile. If she could survive it once before, she could do it again. And up ahead of her was the next monster to kill. Identifying the creature had failed for some reason, but not in the same way as trying to use Identify on the tapejara outside had. It wasn’t that the creature was beyond her in power or Grade. It felt like the information was being hidden by something else, instead.

  It was humanoid, tall and lanky with too-long arms. She hadn’t seen its face yet, just a pair of reflections where its eyes would be.

  She held her spear at her side, tip pointed down as she slid to a stop at the next corner. Her momentum gave her the option to roll out of the way if she didn’t like what she saw around the wall, but she only saw a twenty-foot corridor with a dead end. At the end of the corridor was… nothing.

  Aster squinted and thought about her vambraces, willing more energy to them and causing them to light up the area around her.

  It was the only reason she survived what came for her.

  Among the nothing of the corridor was something too dark to see. Her Starlight Vambraces shed light that seemed to simply absorb into the humanoid being that swung a claw of pitch blackness at her face.

  Aster raised her spear in two hands, barely getting it up between herself and the beast in time, though the movement put her off balance and she stumbled backwards into the wall behind her.

  “Fuck!” She gasped the word out through grit teeth. This thing was strong! While its initial attack hadn’t struck home, it had still been a harder hit than anything she’d felt before. Prior to the System she might have compared the force to getting hit by a car, and while she held relatively superhuman strength and speed now, she still only weighed about as much as before. Hitting the wall behind her hurt.

  The monster opened its mouth—something she could only tell by the feeling the movement of its head gave off— and… didn’t roar. It seemed to eradicate every noise around, like a black hole’s effect but with sound.

  It was the most deafening silence she’d ever heard, leaving her ears ringing as she felt the power behind what it had done. It wasn’t quite discombobulating, but it really, really wasn’t fun, either.

  Aster flooded more intent into her vambraces, resulting in a pull on something inside her she could only half-feel as well as a flare of light from her forearms.

  The light struck the creature like a hammer blow, revealing its beady eyes to her again as it fell backward. Aster waisted no time, pushing off the wall behind her with one booted foot and activating Flicker Spear while swinging her spear down and across in an arc that met the monster’s skin. Her spear broke off into three copies as it swung down, and she almost found the sight of it disorienting. A small glimmer of something dark appeared where she’d managed to cut it with her spear, as if it had erased the void-like, supernatural darkness in that one spot.

  Camouflage? That made her smile. “Gotcha, bitch.”

  Aster swung again—relatively slow swings it could easily evade, driving the monster a few steps into the corridor it had been hiding in before. The corridor was narrow without a high ceiling. If it wanted to get past her now it was going to have to get close, and she wasn’t going to let that happen.

  The monster swung at her again, but couldn’t repeat its earlier strike without risking getting impaled on her spear. She was careful not to pressure it too quickly, as its speed and strength were still dangerous if it were to get in close enough. So long as she let the moment breathe, she was going to be alright.

  Her thought process had resonated with her profession and her Environmental Insight skill. This was an ambush animal—monster? Doesn’t matter—and that gave her a great idea of its capabilities and strategies.

  Whether or not it usually hid in the dark before striking or used its supernatural darkness to blend into dark environments as it stalked its prey was a moot point at this point of the fight. There were a handful of key traits shared by animals that hunted with camouflage—if you managed to survive the initial strike, they were fucked.

  There wasn’t a snake on pre-System Earth that could survive a run in with a human who wanted to kill it. The human might die from envenomation later on, but no cobra, viper, or mamba was going to “win” that fight, and if you were lucky enough to avoid that first strike any kid with a stick could defeat a venomous snake.

  Ambush predators like wobbegongs put all their “stat points” into hiding, and stalking predators universally avoided dangerous prey in favor of easier kills. The rare exception was something like a tiger, which was just broken by all measurables, and a tiger this thing was not.

  This was something that hid in the darkness and struck quickly. It was a spider, and she’d evaded both its web and its fangs. It was a glass cannon, and it had already shot its shot.

  A notification pinged in the corner of her vision, but she ignored it. She’d celebrate the level later. Right now she needed to—

  Information sparked in her mind as a portion of the description from her Environmental Insight skill made more sense now:

  [Environmental Insight (Uncommon)] - You’ve developed an attunement to the rhythms of nature. Passively grants bonuses to Perception and Toughness while in natural environments. With time and focus, you may intuit subtle changes in terrain, weather, or creature behavior. Studying an environment or lifeform may unlock unique insights.

  Unique insights, huh? That explained how she suddenly felt like she could see it better now, even in the shadows. Aster’s grin threatened to split her face. Scientia potentia est.

  Not only could the monster no longer hide, but its movements no longer seemed as janky and wild as before. If anything, they seemed projected and obvious.

  That was the end for the creature, even if it hadn’t died yet.

  Within moments she’d driven it backwards and off its feet. It spun, righting itself and striking out wildly with another claw, but it wasn’t fast enough.

  As it spun back around, Aster saw the swipe coming from miles off and stepped back out of reach. She tossed the spear to her off hand and grabbed one of the tomahawks at her waist. A flick of her wrist had the hatchet’s blade inside the creature’s gut, and then with an entirely unnecessary flourish of her spear, she ran it through the chest and neck in two quick jabs.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  It fell to the ground a moment later, inky blood splashing against her legs. Her sense of hearing that had been gone ever since its first attack came rushing back all at once. She realized she was breathing heavily and fought to gain control of herself.

  That had been different than any of her other opponents before. It hadn’t been an animal, but rather some sort of actual monster. She wasn’t sure exactly what the feelings were that she was experiencing, but… she felt good.

  Aster stretched her jaw, trying to pop her ears as the notifications came in.

  *You have slain [Labyrinthine Shadow Beast - Level 24] - Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. TP Earned.*

  *’DING!’ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 12 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*

  *’DING!’ Race Human - G has reached Level 9 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*

  *’DING!’ Profession [Novice Naturalist] has reached Level 7 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*

  *’DING!’ Profession [Novice Naturalist] has reached Level 8 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*

  *’DING!’ Race Human - G has reached Level 10 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*

  The Shadow Beast dropped the usual potion, but also something else she’d only seen once before— a small key tied around the health potion bottle.

  [Labyrinthine Lootbox Key (Unique)] - A key that unlocks a lootbox within the confines of the Bloodforged Labyrinth.

  But then there was something else.

  It was a buildup of energy that came from nowhere and everywhere.

  *Race Evolution Requirements Met*

  Your body and soul have become accustomed to the energies found in the multiverse, allowing you to truly become a being of the new world. Evolution is a natural step for all multiversal entites, with nature and benefits associated with evolution dependent on all Records.

  Begin Evolution now?

  Y/N

  WARNING: Postponing evolution may have adverse effects, and no further race experience can be earned before the evolution is completed.

  Bloodline Detected

  Processing…

  …

  ERROR

  WARNING: Bloodline Awakening postponed until after Race Evolution is completed.

  Aster looked down at herself, her chest still heaving, the blood on her legs glimmering in the light of her vambraces. She smiled as she processed the new notifications.

  This race evolution must be what I was hoping for. It made sense in an arbitrary sort of way that it would happen at level 10. She wondered if that trend would continue, but she doubted it. Her intuition told her to expect any future racial evolutions much further down the road.

  She stepped away from the dead shadow beast and looked down behind her in the dark corridor, checking for danger. Seeing she was alone for the moment, she decided to figure out what the hell these new notifications were all about.

  After all, what was a Bloodline? It sounded like something… inherited? But that wasn’t possible. None of this had existed until just this last week, right?

  Or had all of this been here the whole time? The System definitely seemed like an established entity. Could there be other factors, passive outside of the System’s influence or the universe’s integration?

  One way to find out. She mentally selected, “Y”, and disappeared.

  --

  The vastness of space enveloped her like a blanket, which was weird as hell considering she was looking at herself from the outside.

  Unintentionally, she either moved her body around or moved her position in space to view it from a different angle. She wasn’t quite certain there was a difference.

  One thing felt different, for sure. There was a presence around her, not unlike static. It wasn’t quite a weight, but it was definitely… tangible? It’s almost like a new sense…

  Wait. Was it? Could this be… mana? Unfiltered magic? It felt like what happened when she used her intent to run mana to her vambraces, but also entirely different. It was the difference between smelling the ocean and getting tossed around by the surf.

  How was she even sensing this? It wasn’t a matter of sight, hearing, or any other familiar sense. It was like static, but somehow inside her, like a resonating frequency that connected with that sliver of her that flared up whenever she’d use one of her new abilities.

  She struggled to make sense of it, like a person opening their eyes for the first time. Everything was blurry and mixed, like she was looking at a dough and trying to see the individual ingredients comprising it.

  As she observed, the unseen force filled her, sending ripples throughout her existence. Though she stood outside her body, she still felt it change.

  Tears filled her eyes, but thankfully not this weird, externalized vision, so she was still able to see her body became her body again.

  Around her bare scalp the energy coalesced, materializing into hair. It grew, long and vibrantly red, extending far past her shoulders. A thought later, and it wove itself into a braid, like it was meant to be that way. A swelling sensation ran along her limbs, like a deep inhalation. She saw her legs thicken and her arms become more toned. Curves she hadn’t had in months suddenly reappeared, but… more.

  Everything about her was more. It was as if she’d been distilled down to what made her Aster and not… just a girl named Aster. Her freckles darkened as her skin cleared up. A mole she’d never liked disappeared without a trace from her hip. The way her pinkie toe was bent from when she’d broken it as a teenager was gone. Every little thing about her that wasn’t part of her identity changed and left her.

  After that, parts of her identity reinforced themselves. She’d always thought her ass was amazing— a benefit of attending college on a volleyball scholarship— but the way it filled out as the loose mana in the void entered her would have left her speechless, had she needed to breathe here.

  Her breasts grew, shaping themselves the way she’d always wanted. They were full and round, feminine and strong. They were larger than she remembered them being, but even as she thought of it the muscles in her back grew denser, and she realized in this world of magic she’d never need a bra again.

  Fuck yeah!

  Before the cancer she’d been shapely, but it had always come with a cost. It had made volleyball harder— both to play and to suffer the stares. It had cost her respect from men and women alike in her professional spaces. Her body had gotten her looks and leers, had made her uncomfortable. But now it did not feel that way. She knew without a doubt that regardless of what she looked like, she was more than just her body. Especially in this new world.

  As she had that thought, things changed… internally. Parts of her body simply weren’t there anymore. It was as if having access to mana, having it reform her this way, had let her body replace non-essential functions.

  Knowledge came to her. Instinctively, Aster knew she’d rarely ever need to eat again. She knew that pregnancy was off the table unless she willed it to happen. Periods were a thing of the past. She knew she still needed to breathe… for now. Her lungs worked with an increased efficiency that let her rival whales for how long she could hold her breath.

  Three hundred thousand years of human evolution had created for her a body that thrived on the resources available to her— a body that was made all but superfluous by mana. Now, she truly felt like she was a part of this new world.

  And then just like that she was done and the world went black again, the Race Evolution complete.

  The next thing she saw, against the darkness of the maze, was a notification that would change everything.

  Bloodline Detected

  Processing…

  …

  Bloodline analyzed.

  *Bloodline Awakened*: [Bloodline of the Genesis Flame (Bloodline Ability - Unique)] -Dormant power lies in the very essence of your being. A unique, innate ability awakened in the Bloodline of the newly initiated human, Aster Rose. Enhances awareness of nature. Enhances relationships with nature. Enables the consumption and processing of natural treasures. The fire burns within you.