Having slotted the Aspect, hands still trembling, Derek pushed the mental button that would pull up the Evolution menu, a mere thought filtering out everything he’d already seen … and was confronted with two options.

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was cool and all, but not what he was after, because this was what he’d wanted:

  Derek grinned and mashed the “accept” button, then pulled up the [Skill] list.

  So … same exact one he’d found in the library. As powerful and rare as it was, the [Chimera] was shockingly well researched.

  Five [Skill] points each, except Central [Skills] cost double, and General [Skills] always required only one, so he could grab [Inspect] right now, though it would be pretty much useless against anyone with [Privacy] unless he was at a much higher Level than them, and there wasn’t anyone weaker than him who could, in fact, have that [Skill]. As such, he’d need the [Class]-specific upgrade.

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  [Innumerable Mysteries] was the upgrade to the [Privacy] [Skill] that was unlocked at the 1st Evolution, but had been rendered unobtainable by the fact that he’d already had a version of its protection from his Bloodline, though that had also resulted in him being unable to get it now.

  C’est la vie, and all that.

  As for the [Skills] … the Central [Skills] were obvious, he’d grab them. Same for the [Inspect] upgrade.

  Beyond that, there were a couple of obvious picks, a handful of [Skills] that looked meh but were overpowered if one looked beneath the surface, and the rest … Derek was pretty sure that no matter what he’d picked, he’d eventually find himself longing for what he hadn’t.

  Except [Inner Beast]. It was a berserking [Skill], and as someone going for a mage build, that kind of threat to his concentration wouldn’t fly.

  So yes, a whole lot of [Skills] … precisely none of which he could buy right now. Though that would be fixable, considering how many Levels the XP he’d gotten from the golems would buy him.

  Level 15, fifty Stat points and nineteen [Skill] points, counting the four he’d had left over. Enough for [Inspect], one Central and one normal [Skill]. Or three normal ones, but that felt like the worse idea.

  [Aspect Integration] was the stronger [Skill], no doubt about it, but [Aspect Integration] was not just the one that created the greatest degree of long-term benefit, but would also let him easily shuffle things around again, get back the dragon Aspect, and take the Aspects he’d need for FTL.

  What the [System] wasn’t saying was that being able to freely extract and preserve Aspects meant he could freely change the [Skills] he obtained from Aspects, simply by taking them out and putting them back in, but taking other [Skills]. Beyond that, the extra Stat points were, well, free stat points.

  Derek also quickly replaced the golem Aspect stack with a spare Acid Drake Aspect, just so that he had it at the ready.

  As for the other [Skill] … [Lifesurge] was a healing [Skill] boosted by Aspects, and because one of Derek’s Aspects belonged to a Caladrius, he could use it on others, in all its overpowered glory, as proven by quickly scanning it.

  But for right now, ranged offense was likely a better option, he felt, something with a proper oomph seemed like something desperately lacking after his fight with the Lesser Rock Titan.

  Beyond that, [Predator’s Force] was a mental attack slash intimidation [Skill] he also wanted to get, but wasn’t as urgent, as a berserking [Skill], [Inner Beast] was incompatible with his build, and all other [Skills] were also not immediately needed. So he settled on [Anima Bolt].

  Yeah … nasty. And something he could use even when out of mana, or while his spellcasting was unavailable for another reason.

  Most of the benefits of magic, none of the weaknesses, not even counterspell, and with the genuinely absurd growth potential of most [Chimera] [Skills].

  Now, what could he test this out on?

  As he gazed around the mess that had once been a summoning room (even if the mess would probably be undone with a wave of the hand once he was done), Derek could feel the weariness creep into his bones.

  Honestly?

  If shit hit the fan, he’d probably be able to fight, but in his current state, purposefully picking a fight with anything would be grossly irresponsible. And that was coming from the guy who’d spent the past few days picking fights with creatures three times his Level.

  In the end, a tired wave of his hand sent a bolt of power into the wall, invisible to even his eyes but he could nevertheless feel where it was, and then it hit the wall and its location was suddenly obvious, as the mixture of acid and flame burned in the hole it had left, where the beam had detonated inside the magically reinforced concrete.

  Holy … yeah, that was cool.

  But at the same time, Derek felt like he’d drop the instant there was any place even remotely soft to land on.

  Yep, time to pretend to be a responsible adult, and go to bed. Though he did wind up grabbing [Inspect] on the way there.

  It was mostly useless without the [Class]-specific upgrade, but he’d have to get it at some point anyway.