Arpious of the Planes

"Are you a fan of… death?"

It was an old, raspy voice that seemed to come from an old man. The voice didn't make me jump in the slightest but I did take a relaxed fighting stance and kept my guard up.

"Where are you? If you wanted to kill me then you should've taken the chance where I wasn't paying attention," I say.

"... How could I ever do that. Plus I'm trapped behind these glass walls," the raspy voice says.

"Glass... walls? I don't understand,"

I slowly back towards the entrance of the treasure room. I wasn't in the greatest of shape and I don't even have my sword. The last resort that I had to use was the hand-to-hand combat that I mastered before trying out the longsword.

"Where are you going…? I won't harm you, I'm just a helpless grey orb,"

Grey orb? The one talking is the grey orb in the glass cage? I have to be careful since it might be dangerous and potentially go after the citizens. If it breaks out of the glass pillar, then I'll try and stop it. But I can't die before this baby leaves my belly.

Also, The ruckus from our fight should alert the maids.

"What are you?" I ask, slowly creeping towards the grey orb.

"You don't have to know yet…"

"Yet?"

"Do you want power?" The grey orb asks.

"... Are you fucking kidding me? Do you think I'm a dumbass? Whoever gives away power always has ulterior motives. I'm leaving, this is dumb, I bet you can't even leave so you're trying to get me to come close to the pillar and then suck away my life… right?"

"Of course not. I can't do much in my current form, but if you swallow me, then you can gain the power of death. I will not disappear but I can help you utilize your skills to the maximum efficiency…" The grey orb suggests.

"Death… like necromancy? I'm not interested," I say, walking away.

As I turn my back towards the entrance, I hear the crack of glass. It then turned into a shattering sound where the old man's voice got much louder and closer. A grey mist crept next to my ears and said,

"Now hand over your body…"

Before I could run or swing at the mist, I felt it enter my ears and a splitting headache appeared. I screamed in pain and my vision slowly faded.

…

("Old Man" POV)

"HAHAHAHA! That damned bear's body was so useless, urk- here come the memories!" I shout after entering my new body.

As I grip my head in pain, a maid runs into the throne room and since she saw me like this, I had to get rid of her. This body's transformation into a vessel for necromancy hasn't been completed yet and the death mist is still assimilating.

I kick off the ground and blast towards the maid. I gripped her neck and saw her struggling to get out of my grasp but then,

"Get out of my body," My new body says.

My grip on the maid's throat loosens as she falls to the ground gasping for air.

"H-how did you keep your consciousness… Status!"

『Status』

[Name: Aika]

[Race: Elf]

[Status: Direct Subordinate]

[Level: 48/50]

[HP: 80/80  MP: 100/100  SP: 40/40]

[Strength: 10 (+25)]

[Defense: 10]

[Magic: 30 (+25)]

[Speed: 25 (+25)]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 10]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Wind Magic] [Concentration] [Slash] [Wind Blade] [Earth Shattering Swing] [Sword Enhancement]

[Mastered Weapons: [Longsword (Partial)]

[Equipment: [Green Ring of Twilight]

[Titles: [Direct Subordinate] [Hard Worker] [Persistent] [Surpassed Limits]

…

"What! You have nothing special about yourself! How are you able to resist!" I shout but feel my consciousness slightly waver.

…

(Aika POV)

I was in a dark room but I still remembered what happened before. I feel sleepy and my eyelids become heavier and heavier, before,

SLAP

I slap my cheek so hard that even my hand was stinging.

This is probably that old man's trick. If I fall asleep I'll probably lose consciousness forever. How do I get out of here fast, I'm about to fall asleep once again.

Out of desperation, I punch the black abyss in front of me and surprisingly collide with a wall. White glowing cracks appear, so I continuously punch and punch and punch until the wall finally crumbles.

"Get out of my body," I say.

I saw that my body was gripping a maid's throat on its own, so I forced my way in and slightly released the grip, letting her fall to the ground.

The old man who was in my body, panicked and tried to figure out the cause as to why I could resist but ended up with nothing. I forced my way back into my body like I was stepping into one of my heels that Aimi made for me.

The old man tried to resist but it was useless since this was almost all mental. I had trained through many near-death experiences so my mental fortitude has become extremely strong.

"Y-YOU BITCH! GIVE ME YOUR BODY AND YOU'LL HAVE ENDLESS POWER-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

I had taken over half of my body while the remaining half was close to finishing. The maid below me looked in fear as she saw me fighting with myself. Half of my body moved on its own while the other was under my control.

Grey mist starts to surround me and a splitting headache appears again, but this time I stand my ground. I push even farther and a vein pops out of my head as my vision was now gone.

All I could see was grey and the appearance of a skull right in front of me. It closed in and fear sunk into me…

tsk

Piss off…

I swing my hand at the skull, cracking it and returning my vision to normal.

[245000 XP gained]

[You have leveled up (x2)]

[Discarding extra XP]

[Evolution Available]

…

[Gained the following titles]

[Slayer of Deaths Disciple]

[Conqueror of Deaths Disciple]

…

[Gained the following skills]

[Necromancy]

[Bone Spear]

[Bone Spikes]

"M-miss Aika, are you okay?" I hear the maid below me say.

"Yes, but are you okay? I wasn't in control of my body at that time so please forgive me,"

"P-please don't apologize!" The maid says, standing up straight and bowing deeply.

"Please pay no mind to this lowly maid,"

"Lowly? I think you're pretty strong. You might even be stronger than me," I respond, gesturing for her to rise.

"I do not deserve such praise," The maid says, standing straight up and slightly bowing her head.

"Well, whatever. Please get somebody to clean up the mess in the treasure room. One of the  glass pillars has shattered and the… wait where is the grey orb…?"

I search around me but find nothing. I even searched my body as well since the old man said I had to swallow it but found nothing.

*cough* *cough*

I cough up black blood and feel my body vibrate slightly.

"Try to look for the grey orb but first help me to my room… what time is it?" I ask the maid.

"It is nearing the evening," The maid responds, after helping me up and we start walking down the hallway.

"I'll just go to sleep then. Tell Kumo and Homura that I'm evolving tonight so I won't be having dinner. I want to surprise Arpious so please keep it a secret," I say with a smile.

"As you wish,"

…

I've coughed up so much blood that I felt weaker by the second and the maid even told me that the white part of my eyes is turning pitch black.

The maid helps me lay down as I immediately close my eyes. Taking deep breaths in and out, I soon fell asleep.

Suddenly I wake up and I couldn't move my body at all, besides my eyes. In front of me was a panel that said,

[Would you like to evolve?]

'... Yes,' I confirm mentally.

[Select evolution]

…

[High Fairy Elf]

[High Swordswoman Elf]

[Death Elf]

…

Let's see, last time I didn't get much choice, it was just elf. But now, I have 3 more choices and I think I know which one I'm going to pick.

[High Fairy Elf]

[A common evolution path for any elf that evolves]

[Specializes in Holy Magic]

[Gain the blue wings of a fairy unlike the normal high elf wings which are light green]

[You become a master of Holy Magic but the rest of your stats will be average]

[Your physical capabilities will fall drastically even though your other stats are average]

[Average chance of future evolutions]

That's not that special. Plus I want something other than just a common path that most elves get… I want something that can help me protect what I want and destroy what I want.

[High Swordswoman Elf]

[An evolution path for any elf that has gained partial or full mastery of any type of sword]

[Specializes in Sword Skills]

[Your body becomes much denser and all your senses are heightened]

[You become a master with the sword but you will suck at using magic]

[High chance of future evolutions]

This is pretty good since it has a high chance for future evolutions and I become much skilled with the sword. The denser body and heightened senses are also great since they will compliment my swordsmanship...or swordswomanship? I don't know… I'll probably pick this one but I'll check the last one just in case… the last one just gives me a really bad feeling.

[Death Elf]

[A species that already exists but no species has ever reached before]

[Specializes in Necromancy and Bone Manipulation]

[Gain the undead body of a perfected necromancer and also gain the wings of a perfected necromancer]

[Grants a skill allowing you to use your own domain]

[Health, stamina, and mana are replaced with Soul]

[You become a master at magic and due to your perfected undead body, you can also become a master with a weapon of your choice]

Looks like I might have to change my choice. This last evolution is too powerful… maybe this appeared because of my titles? I should've checked my status before I went to sleep.

So with the weapon category, I become much better with the sword if I pick swordswoman, but if I pick the death elf, then I can become a master with the sword. So swordswoman is instant power… with the sword of course. While the death elf doesn't change my sword skills at all and not lose my potential with the sword… I basically just have to keep training with the sword.

...Yeah, Death Elf seems like the right choice.

[Death Elf selected]

[Would you like to evolve?]

[Yes] [No]

Yes…