NoveLight ™
You can evolve from 【Komodo】 into:
Let’s exclude the options I’ve already considered.
The only ones left are choices 4 and 5.
Let’s start by checking out the Salamander.
【Salamander】
A massive lizard covered in scales resembling flames. It possesses complete immunity to fire and can manipulate flames. It is a divine beast with the potential to become a dragon.
This was even better than I had expected.
A divine beast like the Komodo.
And on top of that, it has the potential to become a dragon.
A lizard engulfed in flames.
It could even be seen as a mythical creature, like a fire spirit.
Of course, blindly trusting the status screen’s description isn’t the wisest decision.
It says it’s “massive,” but there’s no exact size mentioned.
In the worst-case scenario, I could end up as small as a gecko.
Still, the potential to become a dragon and the ability to control fire are incredible advantages.
It doesn’t seem like one of those misleading creatures with a grand name but little substance, like a Bearded Dragon or Green Basilisk.
Even if I set aside the dragon potential, the ability to manipulate fire is an enormous advantage.
I could work around size or other physical traits if necessary.
But special abilities like that are irreplaceable.
And it’s not just any ability—it’s the power to manipulate flames.
The benefits of fire are immense.
Even if I were stranded in the jungle with nothing but a torch, my chances of survival would increase exponentially.
Beyond maintaining body heat and lighting up the darkness, fire itself is a powerful force.
Animals instinctively fear and avoid fire.
While this might not work as well on spirit beasts, no creature can entirely erase its primal fear of fire.
The Salamander, which can freely control such flames, is an incredibly tempting choice.
If I become a Salamander, I could sleep out in the open, scratching my belly on the plains, and no one would dare bother me. And if they did, they'd end up roasted.
So far, so good.
There’s really no reason not to choose the Salamander.
But there’s a significant downside.
The problem is that by choosing this, I would lose my faith and religion.
I haven’t actively used faith and religion up to this point.
But I’m well aware that these aren’t ordinary abilities.
Even the Dilophosaurus that used the Ten-Thousand-Year Flower didn’t have faith.
The faith I’ve seen includes the Dog God Faith and the Snake Queen’s faith.
Only two in total.
It takes someone on the level of the Snake Queen to possess faith.
Even she couldn’t reach the level of religion. It was clear that Dog God Faith and Dog God Cult were highly unusual.
Only four people, if we include someone like Jang Bong, believed in it.
So, is my faith and religion useless?
Not at all.
It’s thanks to faith that I accumulated divinity.
And with that divinity, I gained the skill Dog God Death Beam.
It’s not a skill I can use freely, of course.
Dog God Death Beam is an imitation of the destruction ray, amplified by divine power.
Though I can’t use it often, its destructive power is immense.
It’s an advanced version of the destruction ray.
And the reason I can use such a powerful technique is thanks to the divinity I’ve gathered.
The divinity I’ve accumulated, combined with the faith Jang Bong brought in, allowed me to wield this technique. Despite the limited amount of faith, the power I could unleash was that immense.
So, what would happen if I accumulated more divinity?
The thought is tantalizing.
As much as I want the power of the Salamander, giving up faith and religion would be a painful loss.
The potential of faith and religion is vast.
I haven’t been actively recruiting followers, but once Jang Bong leaves the Ten-Thousand Mountain, the number of people who believe in the Dog God could increase dramatically.
Word of my feats could spread, and people might flock to the Ten-Thousand Mountain just to see me.
…Of course, they’d probably end up getting knocked into the afterlife by a punch from Yeon-Yeong.
But a faction that worships me could naturally form.
In other words, I could accumulate divinity and experience points just by sitting still.
I couldn’t give that up.
The Salamander was tempting, but it had to be set aside for now.
Let’s move on to the next choice.
Given that the name “Komodo” is still part of it, this must be an evolution of a higher species.
【Komodo-Rania】
The tailed death of old. It is both a wanderer and a butcher. A higher species of Komodo.
Another vague description from the status screen.
It’s hard to glean much from this alone.
But there is a clue.
The word “Rania” added to “Komodo.”
It’s likely derived from the Megalania, the largest land lizard known to have existed.
Comparable in size to the Saltwater Crocodile I looked at earlier.
Megalania was an incredibly powerful creature.
There’s even research suggesting it once fought with Komodo dragons over territory, eventually driving them out.
The fact that Komodo dragons fled from it says a lot.
If the “Rania” here indeed refers to Megalania, then this choice is an excellent one.
But this is just my assumption.
In the worst case, “Rania” could be a completely different species, and I could end up evolving into a weird lizard with an extra head.
It’s an exaggerated worry, but with so little information, I have to be extremely cautious.
If it weren’t for the faith issue, I’d have chosen the Salamander already.
Honestly, even if I lost my faith right now, it might not cause any major problems.
Even if I lost faith, Shik Shik would still be looking at my flame-covered scales with hearts in its eyes.
Tus and Pus would likely feel the same.
Tang So-Yeong would probably declare me to be the legendary spirit beast Salamander recorded in ancient texts.
I could even create a new religion.
Something cooler than “Dog God.”
But the problem is, that wouldn’t happen overnight.
Let’s assume Shik Shik stays by my side, so that’s not an issue.
Tus and Pus, however, are different.
To them, it would be as if faith and religion disappeared overnight.
They’ve been relying on me, and if they thought I was gone, they’d be devastated.
I couldn’t allow that.
No matter how I calculated it, the conclusion was that I had to maintain my faith and religion.
Still, the fact that this was a higher evolution of Komodo reassured me that it wouldn’t be anything bad.
I had done well as a Komodo so far, so this should work out too.
Komodo.
I trust you.
[Are you sure you want to evolve into 【Komodo-Rania】?]
It was time to evolve.
Thud-thud-thud.
A massive cocoon enveloped me, far larger than any I had seen before.
As soon as my vision was obscured, the transformation of my body began.
Crunch-crack.
There was no sign of a mind-invading demon this time.
I simply felt the strange sensation of my body changing.
Crack-crunch.
I could definitely feel myself getting bigger.
Snap.
My body became covered in the familiar scales of a lizard.
Sssssshhhaaah!
Black scales spread over them.
These were the Dragon Scales.
Crackle-crackle-crack!
[Congratulations! 【Komodo】 has evolved into 【Komodo-Rania】!]
【Komodo-Rania LV1】 HP: 4112/4112 MP: 910/910 【Titles】 「Beloved by Spiders」 「Master of the Silver Dragon Cave」 「Master of the Lower Swampland」
What?
I was stunned by my new HP and MP.
They had more than doubled since I was just a Komodo.
Compared to my days as a gecko, this was a 500-fold increase.
Was sticking with the Komodo the right choice all along?
I mean, was it even fair to become this strong after just one evolution?
Enough admiration. Time to get to work.
Graaahh!
Chomp.
I quickly gobbled up the massive cocoon that had encased me.
After devouring it in an instant, I saw a blood-soaked hunk of meat before me.
Of course, it was the Snake Queen’s doing.
She was always thorough.
Graaahh!
Crunch.
After sating my ravenous hunger, I noticed the messages from my status screen.
[Dragon Scales’ level has increased.] [Dragon Scales’ level has increased.] [Dragon Scales’ level has increased.] ...
The Dragon Scales had leveled up five times!
[「Cold Blood LV1」 has evolved into 「Dragon Blood LV1」.]
Dragon Blood?
I need to check that right away.
「Dragon Blood LV1」 The blood of a dragon flows within you. It helps you maintain composure at all times and grants high resistance to mental attacks. At your will, your blood can become either poison or medicine. You can infuse your inner energy into your blood to change its properties.
I had gained an advanced skill from Cold Blood.
The ability to maintain composure remained the same as before.
But the real focus was on the role of my blood.
It could become either poison or medicine.
Depending on how I infused my energy into it, I could change its nature.
It didn’t take long for me to understand what this meant.
The Thousand-Year Fire Root and the Thousand-Year Frost Ginseng Wine I had consumed.
It meant I could now infuse both the fire and frost energy into my blood.
This was an incredibly flexible skill.
A skill that perfectly complemented my fighting style by allowing me to create variables in battle.
【Skills】 「Dragon Claw」「Minor Dragon Ascension」「Small Heaven Circuit」「Hundred Poisons Immunity」「Hundred Orchid Mental Technique」「Jade Tiger Step」「Ancient Dragon Kick」 「Dragon Scales LV10」「Reverse Scale LV1」「Poison Creation LV7」「Poison Gathering LV4」 「Dragon Blood LV1」...
My skill list was quickly becoming dragon-themed. At this rate, would I actually turn into a dragon?
While I was lost in those wild thoughts…
Thump.
Something bumped into my body.
I looked up to see a familiar, adorable creature.
“Hiiieeeeeek!”
Little Shik Shik was wiggling about.
…Wait, was Shik Shik always this small?
“Huh. You’ve changed more than I expected.”
The Snake Queen had shrunk too.
…No, that’s not right.
They hadn’t shrunk.
I had grown.
And grown a lot.
I was so large now that I couldn’t leave the temple on my own.
If I had to guess, I was around 8 meters long now?
I had really become a creature close in size to the Megalania.
Shik Shik tried to measure my size diligently, but with its tiny body, it couldn’t even come close.
“Princess, with that size, it would be difficult to handle you unless I used my true form.”
“Piiiiiiaaaaak!”
Right.
To measure me properly, I’d need something as big as a basilisk—
…Wait, did she just say something really dangerous?
“Gegegegegek!”
No true form!
“I might be able to manage like this…”
But that form isn’t fine either!
Though, when I look at her upper body, it doesn’t seem too bad...
No, what am I even thinking?
This is driving me nuts.
Is there no way to shrink back down?