While all the evolutions have some sort of benefit, they also all have downsides.

  The Fire Dragonling compounds on what I have right now, making my current skills stronger and giving me more stats per level.

  The Nature Dragonling lets me use nature skills, which could be really useful right now. I assume that it would be a large boost in power in the forest. But if I leave the forest, I might be significantly weaker.

  The Arcane Dragonling could be really advantageous, but it could also be really harmful for me. I don’t have any sources of knowledge that can teach me this, and while learning magic—magic!-–would be really cool, I might not be able to do it. If that happens, I’m pretty sure my advancement would stall. After all, if something is important enough to be mentioned in the description, it must be related to the advancement.

  So that really narrows it down to two options. But which one should I choose? A large boost to what I already have or a change that could benefit me significantly? It has to be the change, right?

  I guess that decides it then. I turn away from the pillar of clear light and stroll towards the green one. Now… How do I do this? Maybe I poke it like I did before? I extend a foretalon into the light and am met with a notification.

  Would you like to evolve into a Nature Dragonling? Yes/No

  Yes. The moment I decide, I black out.

  …

  I open my eyes and am met with a blindingly bright light. I blink rapidly as my eyes adjust. I turn my head, examining my surroundings. I thought I evolved in a log. Why am I out in the middle of the forest? Did something move me?! Wait… did my parents finally come and get me? I search for any sign of them, but I see nothing that would mark this clearing different than the dozens of others I’ve seen.

  Why am I out here then? I look down, and to my surprise, I see that I’m covered in green scales. Beneath them lie bits of red scales, shards of wood and pieces of the hardened black substance that was all over me before. Is that… the log I was in? And the bits of my hardened blood from before? Those scales must be mine then. I didn’t realize that evolution would change my scale color… although I suppose it makes sense, since I ostensibly changed my race.

  Everything looks so much smaller… The evolution must've also changed my size then. Maybe I broke the log from getting bigger? I send a glance towards the shards of wood beneath me. Yeah, that’s definitely what happened… Maybe I should get moving. I don’t think I can fit in those little hollows anymore, so unless I get to the mountain today, I probably won’t have any shelter.

  I push myself to my feet, and almost stumble from just how high I go. Luckily I catch myself, and it takes a surprisingly small amount of time to acclimate to the increased size of my, well, everything. I’m walking towards the mountain within seconds of getting up. Every step feels like two or three steps more than what I was doing before… I wonder just how quick I’ll be when I’m running? I start to run, my feet pounding into the ground.

  I run for at least a quarter of an hour before slowing down. And I’m barely even winded! This is amazing! The evolution didn’t say that I would be so much stronger… Speaking of, I wonder what’s changed in my Status? [Status].

  Razag

  Level: 10

  Species: Nature Dragonling

  General Skills:

  [Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 3

  [Passive - Danger Sense] lvl 2

  Skills:

  [Plant Control - Minor] lvl 4

  [Slash] lvl 3

  Unused Skill Slots x 3

  Skill Bank:

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  [Flora Camouflage] lvl 1

  Stats:

  STR: 32

  END: 46

  VIT: 32

  WIS: 44

  INT: 40

  A new skill? I suppose it makes sense that I would get one from evolving. I wonder what it does? Assign [Flora Camouflage].

  Skills:

  [Flora Camouflage] lvl 1

  Now I just have to test it. [Flora Camouflage]. The expected rush of information comes and recedes quite quickly, leaving behind the knowledge of how to use the skill. Ok… so I just have to do this… I activate it and feel a small amount of energy leaving me.

  …What happened? Nothing feels any different. I look down at my claws and see nothing. What?! I recoil and a distortion appears, shaped like my claws. I move my claw more and it distorts further, looking like a specific pattern being moved just a few inches to the side and making its whole shape easy to see. Strange… Anyway, I should probably try out the replacement skill for Spark. What was it called again? Oh, yeah, it was Plant Control.

  I will the skill to activate and am immediately bombarded with information. The flood of information is significantly more intense than anything I’ve experienced before, including the first time I used Status. Luckily it’s gone in seconds. Owww! Why did that hurt?! Do you know anything about this?

  The guiding instinct stays quiet. This thing never answers when I need it to! Ugh. I let out a small sigh. Well the skill’s already activated, so I might as well test it out… Hopefully it won’t hurt this time.

  [Plant Control]. I feel my mind reach out and present me options for which plants I can control. So I can control blades of grass, flowers, the roots of bushes, and vines… I’ll just do a blade of grass for now. I take control of the nearest piece of grass. It suddenly feels like I have a third limb. I can control it instinctively and it feels completely natural, kind of like how it felt when I first walked. However, unlike back then, I don’t receive any sensory inputs from it.

  This is… disconcerting. I wiggle the blade of grass. I wonder if I can do anything else with it? I force the tip to poke the ground. Contrary to what I expect to happen, it goes through without any resistance. I didn’t realize that grass was so sharp… I guess that’s why they call it a blade. I chuckle at the bad joke.

  Anyways, it seems that there’s only a one-time cost to activate the skill, then I can control the plant for however long I want. I give the sky a quick glance. It’s already midday?! I guess I better get going. I let the blade of grass leave my control and it almost instantly tears in half. Oh… I guess the skill was also increasing its durability. That’s good to know.

  I turn back towards the mountain, putting the blade of grass out of my mind. Then I begin to run.

  …

  After almost a full day of running, with only a few breaks, I reach the base of the mountain. It’s huge! There’s no way I’m getting anywhere near the top without being able to fly. Luckily I don’t need to get to the top, but I would still need to fly to find a good cave… I probably should learn, huh? Well, I guess I can start trying right now.

  Looking around, I realize that this location is a pretty good testing area. I have just enough room for my wings to fully extend, which should be enough for a small bit of practice. Now… How do I do this? Maybe I can copy how my father flew? I try to remember how my father launched up into the air, but the memory comes back blurry. That’s useless… What else can I do? Maybe I can try emulating a bird? All I know about them is that they flap their wings really quickly… Hopefully that’s enough.

  I flap my wings. This is so hard! Why does it feel like I’m wading through water? I bring them up as quickly as I can and flap down again. I keep trying, flapping as quickly as I can, but I only get a small boost off the ground and by the time I’ve lifted my wings to beat again, I’m already back on it. Trying to move my wings so fast is also making me really tired, since it feels like dragging a net through mud.

  This clearly isn’t working… Are there any other options? Maybe I can try what that massive bird did? Which was what…? Oh, right! It did one really powerful flap, then beat its wings pretty slowly after that. That should work… The feeling agrees despite its silence during my previous failure. That’s good. Wait a second, why didn’t you tell me the other method would fail? The feeling doesn’t respond. Ugh. This thing is so inconsistent.

  Time to try the new method, then. Extending my wings once more, I lift them as high as I can. I push them towards the ground as powerfully as I can, and the strange energy starts cycling through my body. I shoot a few feet off the ground. Woah! I quickly lose control of the flight and crash to the ground. Thankfully, the fall doesn’t hurt me at all.

  That was crazy! It actually worked! Next time I just need to control it better…

  …

  I land on the ground, sparing myself a tumble. I’m definitely getting better at this. It’s already way easier to catch myself and I can consistently get into the air. However, I need more space… I don’t have any room to maneuver in this tiny clearing; I need something much larger. Maybe there’ll be somewhere suitable near the base of the mountain?

  I turn and consider the mountain. Yeah, and I should probably get as close to it as I can. It’s my final destination anyway. I begin to run towards it, occasionally flexing my wings to make sure they don’t get too sore from the earlier practice.