’Mimicry.’

Killian cleared his throat, then lightly massaged it. The last time he had anything to do with Mimicry, he nearly cried from the pain.

His last save was keeping the Void Womb (Crystal) stale for long, and the Void Reborn at only 0.1%.

He tapped [Yes] and felt a familiar surge of his mana, pooling towards his throat.

He clutched his chest, folding his knees as pain shot through his torso leading to his neck. Regret. For a likely upgrade of the Sound Bead, he would have to suffer the drawbacks of Mimicry.

However it didn’t last very long as his breathing stabilized, just when he swallowed a gulp of his own saliva. He breathed out, leaning on a tree.

"I hate it. What is that about—" He paused, and reached for his throat. His voice sounded deeper.

He touched his ears. "Or is it my ears playing tricks on me..."

He trailed off when the tone coming from his voice was scarily not his. Or at least, not the one he had taken the last fifteen years to grow into.

With a thought, he checked the Void Reborn column.

[Skill: Void Womb] [Skill: Void Reborn]

[Void Womb 1: Crystal] [Void Womb 2: Sound]

[Unlock Void Reborn: 0.1%]

[Get To 50% To Unlock Void Reborn]

He tapped the drop-down beside the Void Womb 2.

It didn’t budge, and instead revealed a warning.

[Unlock 300% Capacity To Evolve Host]

Killian stepped away from his interface like it was a foreign creature. He touched his face again, making sure that his body and features were like he used to know.

"What is that? Evolve me to what?" Worry was evident in Killian’s tone, and he couldn’t help but think the Void’s silence showed he enjoyed it.

"The tendrils only ate beasts like they used to, so why the hell does evolution come into play?"

"Get 300% and then, you’d find out."

"No, I’d rather know now, before I turn into a beast of some sort." He held onto a tree’s branch, as if showing he wouldn’t be moving an inch. "What evolutionary pathways are open for me?"

"None. Yet."

Killian frowned, glaring at the interface warning still blinking.

The Void wasn’t saying anything, and he knew that he had to reach 300% capacity to adequately exert his revenge on the Knight who hurt his sister.

He had kept her in there too long to just let her go. She would be in full health to hunt him down and complete her mission.

Killian sighed, resigning to whatever happened. He let go of the branch and continued towards the large tree.

"Can you tell me how the Sound became a second Void Womb then?"

"The tendrils have learned to break down important components of the ones you eat. If they find something related to an element that is deemed useful, they’ll transfer it to you."

Killian said nothing while wondering how the tendrils learnt to do something so intricate. The tendrils must’ve made his Sound Bead stronger to rival the panthers’ Sound Resistance capacity hence the burn in his throat.

Or simply transferred their Sound Resistance to him, and made his body ache. Either would be useful for him during the academy trials.

After a ten minute walk, he found the tree of great ambient mana, towering over all other mangroves in its cluster. Killian’s eyes swept through the other mangroves, noticing their difference.

He returned his eyes to the largest mangrove, and smiled faintly. "You are a mana-eater, aren’t you? You steal ambient mana and that’s why you’re so scared to hide yourself."

’Correct?’

"My vessel is thoroughly impressive. Now, go ahead and consume it"

Killian sighed. "I still cannot figure out what you’re pushing me to evolve into. If it is really bad, we’ll have problems."

"You’d manage it."

Those words didn’t encourage Killian at all, but he moved forward, lightly tapping the tree.

There was an energy inside the tree that reached for his hand. The tug wasn’t sharp but felt like it wanted to go inside of him.

Almost as if the mana was living and breathing and had a say in what would be happening to it soon.

"Would my evolution hurt?" Killian couldn’t help but ask. "It is easier to handle pain when you know it’s coming."

"It wouldn’t. I will take all of the pain like last time if it does, and I won’t leave either."

With that assurance, Killian gripped a branch of the tree, and flipped himself over it.

"Start from the top and go down," he ordered his tendrils, as they slithered away from him eagerly.

"We will draw attention if we start from the bottom and it topples over. And be quick about it," he added to their retreating form.

"Un..."

He looked up, staring at nothing but the wide canopy of the tree. "Something just spoke now. In my head."

The Void said nothing and Killian hummed. He placed his hand gently on the tree again. There was nothing.

A question popped into his mind, on whether he should be taking a huge amount of ambient mana protected by the forest for himself.

And what good it could’ve done for any other warden that finds it.

"They probably wouldn’t be able to reach it, since apart from a rare skill, Absorption, only the Void can eat ambient mana and reuse it."

"Not only the Void, but definitely a few limited Elements can. That’s why it was kept here, where no one should be able to reach it. Until you came."

Killian felt like the Void said something really important, but the notification that came into his WLog took his focus.

[Capacity: 225 → 275]

[Void Reborn: 0.2%]

"T-That is a horrendous jump. You said it was just worth twenty B-tier panthers, so why are just a few leaves adding that much Capacity?" ’

And the Void Reborn finally moved another inch. Killian whipped his head up.

"They just started eating so—" He swallowed his words back.

The leaves were gone, not even a single leaf could be found attached to the branches. He hadn’t even noticed a drop touch him.

And the darkness of the tendrils, as they grew larger, made him not notice the sunrays filtering in.

"They are hungry and excited."

The Void sounded like a parent trying to defend their children’s erratic behaviour.

Killian narrowed his eyes at the tendrils curling around branches, and stabbing into the tree’s bark.

’"Don’t you think... that they are too excited?"