Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Each of these options had something that made Skullius pretend to salivate. Juicy abilities that would be incredibly useful and fun to play with especially when Skullius looked to the future, where he was beginning to think of lawlessly diving into Clusters.

However, as with his and Red Rage’s evolutions, the flaws were atrocious!

Skullius could wager that the flaws on Red Rage’s possible evolutions were actually somewhat more lenient compared to these.

Another problem that arose when he looked at these evolutions was the fact that even though he had been garnering towards an Apostle with outstanding speed, the available speed type evolution wasn’t as perfect as he wanted it to be.

The Six-legged Flash Dipper had a rather troublesome flaw.

‘Indefinite detainment? Bonus my Pelvis!’

The speed aspect was pretty good though and the upside to this variant was that the description seemed to imply that its flaw responded to the variant’s use of its dimension diving powers, which in themselves were pretty darn cool.

So, if he chose to limit its use of this ability, it was likely that he wouldn’t have to deal with the flaw altogether.

‘I could be wrong though,’ Skullius thought as this was thing that hindered him from choosing this one.

The beast was notably weaker in all other aspects and it seemed this Dimensional ability was meant to supplement for its weakness but…

GAAH!

What if it was detained for a week? Or a year? Or ten years? This was ridiculous!

As he re-read through the floating screen before him, he found that another one of these evolutions was likely to be out of the running as per his preference.

“This Blood-Risen Emperor’s Keeper… its abilities are incredible…undoubtedly even more unique than those of the other two. That is if we take away that ridiculous flaw!” Skullius exclaimed.

This thing had the most ridiculous drawback of all.

How on earth was he supposed to call this thing his Apostle if it had a shaky level of submission?!

Would he have to evolve into the Blood-Risen Emperor himself to attain its loyalty?!

Was that even possible?!_.

Furthermore, this meant that the bonus he could acquire by having the Apostle reach 100 favourability with him would be gone too!

That could do more harm that good!

“Ugh… flesh this….” Skullius muttered as he scratched his skull.

The abilities were really good though!

This thing would punish you for harming it and produce other creatures like itself!

The last option, which seemed to be the more balanced was also rather unique.

The Limitless Body Null Demon Hound.

This thing was said to be pretty smart on its own and with its ability to morph the Unliving Thread that it could produce as well as its own body, Skullius was sure that this was a good option.

However, the first thing that ticked him off was how this would deviate from his goal of having a speed type Apostle.

That was out of necessity!

That had been the plan originally.

BAH!

The second thing that ticked him off was the flaw.

World-ending Terror, the Full Deck BoneTender was it?

For obvious reasons Skullius was pretty scared of this. It made him hesitate greatly.

If this thing could really destroy the world…

What was with this flaw to begin with?!

At the moment, it seemed like the Six-legged Flash Dipper was going to be his choice.

But still, he couldn’t come to a decision on the fly.

“Hmmm… wait. Does this guy has a class? If he does I might as well see what’s in store for that side first,” Skullius said.

As he twiddled with the guidance field, he found to his surprise that things weren’t as simple. Or rather they were, but he just hadn’t put two and two together.

[Apostle ‘…’ is now legible to obtain a mutation. Do you accept?]

“That’s right! Mutations.”

As the Penetrator had done his fair share of studying on this world, he had learned about mutations, the beasts’ way of attaining additional forms of more refined strength.

Skullius had formally learned that the distinction applied according to which natural evolution a beast had followed.

For instance, the goblins he had faced before had classes because they took to the humanoid route that was attuned with classes.

The Darewolves he had fought back in the Tremur had mutations because of the fact that they had a different evolutionary path was more geared towards attaining powers that were relevant to their body structures.

In this case, he found that his new Apostle was obviously more attuned to the latter.

“Hmm. Why did Red Rage transform into a human-like form then?” Skullius asked himself while turning to the gifted Pelvis-Boar-Man.

The Apostle merely shrugged.

“Whatever. It must have been because of your blessing. Or is it because you just wanted to kill more efficiently, you bastard?”

Red Rage fidgeted which made Skullius suspicious.

Skullius shook his head and he focused on the task at hand, looking through the mutations which had shorter descriptions.

~~~

[Available classes for ‘Null Lifeform’ Bone Wolf:-]

———-

[Inorganic Null-Burst Engine]

An amalgamation of burst type Null lifeforms’ parts that create a part bone, part flesh organ which can continuously boost the physical stats of any Null lifeform by way of two Pistons.

<Effects>

• Affects all aspects of the user including skills

–

-Stat bonuses apply-

–

-Main Piston-

Passively grants the user a 350% boost to selected stat. Selection is permanent.

(Caution: If selected stat is already high proportionately, boost will be deducted)

–

-Secondary Piston-

Temporarily boosts a stat of the user’s choice by 100%. Usable thrice a day.

———-

[Pseudo Spirit Walker’s Hide]

A shawl-like hide that possesses a portion of the Class, Spirit Walker. It dwells over the body of the beast that acquires.

<Effects>

•Erases the presence of the user as well as their appearance with their consent, doing the same with all other aspects of the user.

–

-Stat bonuses apply-

–

[Spirit Walk]

The hide assimilates with the user’s body to allow them to ‘walk’ within the soul of a target. Usable once a day.

(Caution: Level of the target determines effect)

–

[Spirit Touch]

The hide assimilates with the user to allow the swift manipulation of the target’s body. A parasitic effect is attached which allows for 2% stat retention after use. Usable thrice a day.

(Caution: Level of the target determines effect)

——–

[Stern Bone Multi-Carapace]

A partially realised hardened shell from one of the infamous Null Badubs of ‘^#&%#’.

???

<Effects>

-Information acquisition possible after the mutation is chosen-

~~~

Hmmm…

Skullius scratched his skull for a moment.

Incredible options were laid before him though it was clear that some of the information was not shown. This probably meant that some kind of process of assimilation had to happen especially when considering that the race and mutation were separate.

‘Kek…’ Skullius cackled in his mind before his sockets flared.

This was truly profound.

A path was opened by these mutations!

While the decision wasn’t going to be any easier, mostly because of Skullius’ growing caution and choosy nature, the Penetrator grew excited nonetheless.

Interlinking paths for a satisfactory Apostle connected in his mind and soon, he quickly came to a decision.

He had to make concessions in some places but he couldn’t win it all.

***

Present time.

The tall armoured man with chains that twisted around his armour disembarked from the large beast he rode.

The beast itself had a bulky appearance which was constantly shifting as if made of countless squirming ribbons in a dark blue hue, its front legs looking as beefy as could be while the hind two were as sturdy as they could look.

Its deep sockets glowed with a blue light that was different from the flame, much like torches lit in its sockets while below its belly where swaths of squirming mass constantly wriggled, masking its skeleton structure, a dull golden-red pulse could be seen, contracting and expanding through the length of the entire beast with the same rhythm as a heart beat!

Two horns that grew from the beast’s head, curving backwards resonated with this golden-red pulse as they too would get tinged in the vibrant colour.

As the rider who wore a terrifying helm dropped off from this beast, he slapped its shoulder before giving it an order.

“Let’s get killing,” Skullius said, to which the large beast that had initially stood on all fours, rose up to stand on its hind legs, its body shifting to bulk out in a humanly manner…!