[Do you wish to consume 1 Evolution Point to evolve "Fireball"?]
"Yes!"
He didn't hesitate for even a single second and instantly allowed it.
Aura began to surround him and the skill panel in front of him, swirling gently at first before it intensified.
He felt a wave of heat building up inside his body, and a sudden burst of power rushed through him like a surge of molten energy.
His veins burned with that strange warmth, and his body trembled slightly from the intensity.
Ding!
---
[You have evolved "Fireball" (Common) to "Strong Fireball" (Uncommon)]
[Current Evolution Points: 3.]
---
The light around him faded, and Karl immediately opened his panel to check the result.
His eyes scanned the new description carefully.
---
[Strong Fireball (Uncommon): Conjure a strong fireball that deals 100% → 200% of Spirit. 30 → 25 (12.5)-seconds cooldown.]
---
"Perfect," Karl grinned.
Not only had the damage doubled, since it now dealt 200% of his Spirit attribute, but even the cooldown had decreased.
The spell would now recharge faster, allowing him to cast more often in combat.
But as he looked at it, another thought crept into his mind.
What if he did it again? He still had some Evolution Points left, right?
Karl quickly opened the panel again, his curiosity pushing him forward.
His heart beat faster when he saw that the option to evolve was still there.
[Do you wish to consume 3 Evolution Points to evolve "Strong Fireball"?]
This time, it required 3 points, exactly the number he had left.
'No wonder I got 4 EP,' Karl thought to himself, a faint smile appearing on his face, 'It's the perfect number to let me evolve a skill twice and properly test this talent.'
He didn't waste any time.
"Yes!"
Ding!
[You have evolved "Strong Fireball" (Uncommon) to "Powerful Fireball" (Rare)]
[Current Evolution Points: 0.]
---
[Powerful Fireball (Rare): Conjure a powerful fireball that deals 200% → 300% of Spirit. 25 → 20 (10)-seconds cooldown.]
---
"Even better," Karl laughed quietly to himself.
Once again, his spell's damage had gone up, and its cooldown had gone down.
Each upgrade wasn't just a number change, it was a huge boost in actual battle capability.
And the best part of all? He didn't have to use any mana to cast it.
Normally, spells had mana costs listed next to them, sometimes small, sometimes enormous.
The stronger the skill, the more mana it required.
Some of the high-ranked ones could drain entire mana pools in a single use.
But this? Nothing. No cost.
Karl smiled to himself as he looked at the panel again.
"That's the power of [Heir of Oblivion]."
He knew for a fact that if his unique class didn't remove mana requirements, there was no chance he could have cast this skill.
Especially now that it had reached rare-rank.
'Makes it feel like the [Heir of Oblivion] class and the [Infinite Evolution] talent were made to work together,' he thought.
It couldn't just be coincidence.
But since he had no other information to confirm it, there wasn't much point thinking about it right now.
The monsters in [Eternal Soul] were strong, terrifyingly strong.
Having a spell like this right from the start would give him a huge advantage.
He would be able to overwhelm most early opponents with ease.
Still, there was a downside.
He had no more [Evolution Points] left.
'It says I need to defeat strong monsters to get more,' Karl thought, scrolling through his menu again.
There wasn't any passive gain, no daily regeneration.
He actually needed to earn them through combat.
'It says I need to defeat monsters to get more,' Karl thought.
Even so, he was satisfied. More than satisfied, in fact.
He'd just evolved his weakest, most basic skill from [Common] all the way to [Rare] rank.
That was an enormous leap.
Items, skills and monsters in [Gods Ascension] were divided into thirteen ranks: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Elite, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, Ancient, Ascendant, Divine, Immortal, Eternal, and Transcendent.
Thirteen whole levels of growth.
Karl stared at the list for a moment.
It was overwhelming at first glance, but he knew it would all make sense as he progressed.
Each stage represented an entirely different level of power, and even moving up once was a big achievement.
For now, though, he had done everything he needed to prepare for his new beginning.
Everything except one thing.
Ding!
[Player "Karl Hollow" identified.]
[Please enter your game ID.]
In [Gods Ascension], every player was required to choose a permanent ID, a name that would represent them across the entire realm.
Once chosen, it could never be changed.
Karl's old in-game name had been [HollowBerserker], a compromise he'd chosen back then because both [Hollow] and [Berserker] were already taken.
But this time, he wanted something different.
Something that reflected what he truly was now.
He looked at the floating panel and spoke calmly.
"Oblivion."
The name fit perfectly.
He wasn't sure it would be available, though.
A name like that sounded like something people would rush to take immediately.
But then—
Ding!
[You have selected "Oblivion" as your ID.]
"Oh wow," Karl muttered, surprised.
It had actually worked. The name was his.
[You have finished the process of initiation to "Gods Ascension."]
[You will be transported into this new realm now.]
Ding!
[Entering the "Novice Continent."]
The space around him began to distort.
The black void twisted and blurred as light started to form around him.
Then, all at once, he felt his body shift.
His vision darkened for a moment, and when it returned, he was standing on solid ground.
The air felt heavy. The smell of dust and ash filled his lungs.
'Here we go again,' Karl mumbled with a faint grin.
He looked around and found himself standing in the middle of what looked like the ruins of a town.
The buildings were broken and half-collapsed, stone and wood scattered across the streets.
The sky above was gray and thick with clouds that completely hid the sun.
It was gloomy. Silent.
The feeling of desolation was strong here.
This was the starting area, the initial zone of [Gods Ascension] where all new players spawned.
Karl saw several players around him.
Most of them were busy talking, some forming groups, others checking their panels or testing out their basic abilities.
"Alright, we should keep moving then."
"Dude, did you not see that boss? I'm not risking it."
"My lives have been getting dangerously low. I need to be careful."
Their voices filled the square.
Karl watched them for a bit, quietly observing.
Judging by their appearance, most of them were around level 4 to 8.
That meant they'd already been "playing" for a few hours.
Then, as Karl's surroundings stabilized completely, a new panel appeared before him.
---
[Welcome to "Gods Ascension"]
[This is an extremely dangerous realm, where countless monsters and dangers await.]
[But be careful, or you may be lost to the darkness forever.]
[Leave this town and explore this realm to gain opportunities, but make sure not to lose all of your "Lives."]
---
Karl nodded slightly.
He already knew all of this from his previous life.
But as soon as that introduction vanished, another message followed.
---
[You have entered "Novice Town #482."]
[A broken town destroyed by monsters. No monsters are allowed within the initial square.]
[Lives loss rate: 1.]
---
Lives, the most important system in [Gods Ascension].
Every player started with ten.
Each time you died, you would lose a number of lives depending on where you were.
The safer the area, the lower the loss.
In the [Novice Towns], the loss rate was only one, meaning one death equaled one lost life.
But the deeper you went into the world, the harsher it became.
Lives were also the main currency of this realm.
Players and NPCs both used them to trade.
After the descent of [Gods Ascension], people quickly realized that lives were the most valuable thing that existed.
Money became practically worthless, and instead, Lives became the norm.
You could earn more by killing monsters, but if your lives ever reached zero, that was it, you would immediately die.
That was exactly what had happened to Karl's parents. And to countless others.
He clenched his fists slightly, his expression darkening for a brief moment.
This time, it would be different.
Karl knew he needed to gain tons of them to gain an advantage over others, especially if he wanted to catch up.
Too many pushed their lucks and died even in the [Novice Town], which was the easiest zone by far.
Karl in his previous life had many lives.
But of course, the reason why he was able to die in his previous life, like all the other players like him, was simple: it said that Earth had become an "Instant Death" zone.
That meant that lives were ignored, and anyone killed inside of this zone wouldn't come back.
It was... terrifying.
But still, Karl was ready now, and he wouldn't back away from anything.
He looked around again, at the ruined buildings and faint outlines of players moving between the debris.
Karl took a deep breath.
The air was heavy, but it felt familiar.
'Alright, I'll check my status window I guess,' he thought.