Chapter 132: A new form (2)

Closing his eyes once again, Aiden focused his attention to navigate through the system's interface. As he was doing so, his thoughts wandered off once again, he missed Enya's constant voice and assistance. 

Navigation and access were usually handled by her, he just voiced or thought of the command and she carried it out. Now, however, there was no assistance, there was no advice, no help. Her voice was silent, she was still deep inside his soul space, regenerating for the foreseeable future.

Shaking his head, he cleared his mind, focusing on the task at hand. After a bit of stumbling, he finally got into his Evolution Path, and opened up the visible details for his newest choice. 

[Evolution Tree

Current: Ancient Dragon - Clean - Tier 3 (Mastery: ???),

Available options: Mushroom Bug - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), 

Cave Viper - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%),

Worgen - Mutated - Tier 2 (Mastery: 100%),

Goblin - Clean - Tier 1 / 2 ]

Looking at the screen, he was surprised. This was the first time he had seen a form that was counted as both a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 existence after all. Sadly, he couldn't voice his question to anybody currently, causing him to inwardly sigh.

After a brief pause, to gather his thoughts, he made the decision, and chose the new form, only to be met with another prompt.

[Warning: The form: Goblin was never used before. If initiated, the host will be forced to stay in that form for 03 hour(s) 59 minute(s) 59 second(s), before being allowed to leave. 

Do you wish to proceed?]

This was once again something that he never bothered with, this was a reminder that Enya used to warn him. Nevertheless, since he already decided to go through with it, he selected 'YES' from the available choices. 

In the next moment, he felt his consciousness fading, as the ever-engulfing darkness pulled him into his gentle caress, drifting him to the land of silent dreams.

From the outside, Lily was startled when he saw as Aiden's body suddenly flashed in bright blinding light. As the light faded, she dizzily peaked, only to be startled once again.

Where Aiden was lying previously, was now a black egg, vaguely similar, familiar to what she remembered when they first 'met'. The egg was slightly smaller than her, probably around a meter and a half in height, and had a solid outer shell.

Unable to stand up due to the fright, Lily crawled towards the strange object. She was agitated and worried, a moment ago her brother was resting and now he went back to the egg he was in when they met at the riverbank all those years ago.

Arriving at the egg, she sat up next to it, pulling herself on its hard shell. Planting her right ear on the outer layer, she nervously asked in a loud voice.

"BROTHER?! ARE YOU IN THERE? ARE YOU OKAY?"

However, there was no response. Her brother didn't respond. She was about to freak out and think of ways to break him free from his 'prison', when she suddenly felt a warm pulse from deep inside. 

"Is this you, brother?!" She asked again, feeling the familiar warmth once again flow through her.

In response, another singular pulse came from deep within, warming her heart and body and calming her mind. Feeling the response, she happily giggled.

"Ehehehe, this is fun!" 

Her smile receding, she donned a pouting expression, and gently, lightly smacked the black leathery surface of the egg.

"Stupid, mean brother! Don't scare me like that next time!" 

Again, a singular warmth pulse was the response she received, causing her pouting to vanish, and be replaced by her bright cheer. Giving a loud, hearty smack on the shell, she lovingly whispered.

"Don't worry brother! I will guard you while you do your 'thing'!"

Having said that, she jumped from the ground with newfound power. Facing her lying canine companions, she spoke with a stern expression.

"Okay! Sam, Biggy we have to do a good job of protecting brother. Go and guard him! Nothing can get close while he is resting! GO!"

As if understanding her words, the dogs nodded and barked once, and walked to the left and right side of the black egg-shaped cocoon. Taking their positions, they both lied down once again, lounging without a care for the world. 

Seeing this, Lily smiled, and readied her weapon, taking her spot closest to her beloved brother. With her vigilant guard, nothing can get by. She was sure of it.

Inside the egg, massive changes were happening to Aiden. His body seemingly melted, returning to its mass discolored viscous gelled fluidic consistency. Inside the dark void of the cocoon, the fluid was violently swirling as it floated in the air. If Lily could have seen this fluid, she wouldn't be able to tell that it had any sentience, that this grunge was her brother that sent out those warm pulses to her questions.

As time slowly passed, the swirling fluid started to glow, radiating a faint golden a hue. The shade of the fluid started to shift between white, green, blue, red, black, occasionally a mixture of these. Eventually, it halted, donning a dark green shade. A secondary, brown color spawned at its center causing the two to intermix in an incoherent swirl. 

Time passed once again, and the fluid began to writhe and expand abruptly, slowly spiraling out into the unstable foundation of a smaller humanoid shape. Bones began to form and grow out of the foundation, creating a skeletal structure with increased density. A thin membrane slowly formed over it, covering the snow-white bones. Tissue began to form, veins and arteries materialized in many intricate patterns to soon fulfill their purpose. Snaking up from the void, red flesh formed, muscle-fibers coiled and compressed into threads of muscles and spread throughout the entire foundation.

Lastly, organs and glands soon formed, followed by an array of sensitive yet controlled nerves and all other sensory networks within the body. Instead of the dark green fluid that was a trademark of the species, dark red blood cells began to fill the newly created veins and spread throughout the body. As the final touch, the juniper colored layer of highly flexible skin slowly began to form over the framework of the body, covering it up as a protective coat of armor.

As the finishing touch, long silky black hair quickly grew out from the top of the figure. As he slowly regained his consciousness, loud cracking sounds came from his jolts. It was the first time they made any movement. 

The figure reached out in the darkness, his hands reaching a dark fleshy wall. Exerting a bit of his strength, his hands slowly tore through the thin layer of barrier, letting in thing strays of sunlight. 

From the outside, Lily, Sam, and Biggy were already in full alert, watching as the resident made his first attempts to break free. Suddenly they were startled as the ebony surface tore and a small dark green pair of hands revealed themselves for the first time. 

Soon, the hands became arms, then finally as the entire surface ripped into two, a smaller yet vaguely familiar figure emerged.

The figure was at around the same height as the egg it emerged from, a bit smaller than the half-elven blonde girl. He had long, silky black hair that reached down his back. Despite its small frame, his body was toned, with just the right amount of muscles where it mattered. He had dark green, juniper colored skin. 

Opening his eyes for the first time, Lily revealed a smile seeing the golden-colored irises that he remembered and loved. Seeing her happiness, the figure smiled back. Looking down at his body, he noticed he was already wearing light brown linen pants, the same he had before changing. Thankfully the system equipped his pants otherwise their first meeting would have been a pretty embarrassing one.

Opening his mouth, a croaky, hoarse, staggering voice greeted the girl.

"Hey… Lily…"

In response, Lily shyly responded, with a questioning tone at the end.

"Hey… Aiden?"

Hearing the uncertainty in her voice, the figure smilingly nodded. His tone became increasingly clearer as he became used to his new body.

"Yes… It will take me a... bit more to get used to, but this is still me." 

Looking at himself carefully once again, he gave a nod along with a satisfied smile. He continued to move his arms, getting a feel for his muscles as they worked for the first time.

"I have to say… It feels good in a way… Being a human feels better, but strangely, I feel much more…. Agile, think? Faster? Not sure how to explain… It's a new sensation that's for sure."

Calming down, and finally accepting that the creature in front of him is still her brother, she walked closer to him and placed her delicate right hand on top of his head. Measuring their height differences, she giggled while patting the top of his head, with a bright glint in her eyes.

"Haha, you are smaller than me now, brother! Awww, so cute!"