Chapter 368: Inferno

{The host has exchanged Evolutionary Shards for a B Rank Race Crystal.}

{11,000 Evolutionary Shards have been expended, including the mandatory 10% exchange fee.}

{Evolutionary Shards: 10,894}

That left Ethan with just enough shards to perform the next evolution. Ten thousand are required to evolve his beast to B Rank, assuming the Race Crystal was successful.

And this time, Ethan was going with Spark.

’It’s only fair that I go with it. And it’s never had a Race Crystal used on it before.’

The Cinder Wisp was as excited and childish as always, zooming around Ethan in small, erratic circles. However, it seemed to sense its master’s intentions through their bond.

Slowly, Spark settled down.

It hovered directly in front of Ethan, its tiny flames flickering eagerly as though it were telling him it was ready. Talon, meanwhile, had barely touched the beast corpses Ethan had left behind. Ethan intentionally kept the Griffling summoned anyway, allowing it to watch from nearby. If Spark succeeded, Talon could witness the process as well.

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

He activated the Race Crystal.

As soon as he did, everything changed.

The space in front of him distorted.

The familiar system interface expanded outward, but this time it felt different. It wasn’t simply a notification appearing before his eyes. The entire world seemed to respond to the change.

Light gathered around Spark.

Then energy began condensing around its tiny body.

’This is a good sign...’

Ethan had only witnessed something like this during successful Race Crystal evolutions.

His heart raced as he watched.

Light, heat, and flames exploded outward in a blinding flash, completely swallowing Spark.

The energy was violent and unstable.

It surged and twisted around the Cinder Wisp, spiralling into a massive vortex of fire that looked almost like a miniature flaming storm made from pure power. The ground beneath Ethan’s feet trembled, and the air itself vibrated from the sheer intensity of the energy.

Ethan instinctively jumped backwards, raising an arm to shield his face as the temperature suddenly spiked.

Talon reacted even faster.

The Griffling burst into the air, its wings beating furiously as it gained distance. Yet its hawk-like eyes remained fixed on the inferno below. Wind gathered around its body, shielding it from the torrents of scorching air being thrown outward.

This was far more dramatic than Ethan had expected.

The flames continued expanding.

A raging inferno now occupied the space where Spark had been, scorching the ground and sending waves of heat through the Ashen Wasteland.

Ethan continued backing away.

The further the flames spread, the hotter they became.

’What’s going on?’

It felt exaggerated, dangerous, even.

But then again, Spark wasn’t simply becoming stronger.

It was literally changing its race in real time.

Talon could see what was happening much more clearly than Ethan could. Within the blazing inferno, the tiny, firefly-like insect that had once been Spark was being consumed by its own flames.

But it wasn’t in pain or being destroyed.

It was ascending.

The small physical form that had contained Spark’s existence was breaking apart, no longer capable of restricting what was inside it. Its body began to disappear piece by piece, starting with its tiny wings, its limbs, then the rest of its insect-like form was consumed by the flames.

What remained wasn’t a creature with a physical body.

It was a flame of pure mana.

A miniature star floating within the inferno.

The transformation continued as the last remnants of Spark’s old corporeal form dissolved completely, leaving behind nothing but an intensely concentrated mass of fire and energy.

Ethan could feel it through their bond.

Spark was still there.

In fact, Ethan could feel it more clearly than ever before.

That’s when the system’s notifications resounded through his mind.

{Race Crystal Successful.}

{Potential Increased to B Rank.}

The blazing inferno slowly began to fade, the violent winds subsided, and the heat diminished. When the last of the flames disappeared, Ethan was left staring at what looked, at first glance, exactly the same as before.

A small ball of fire floated peacefully in the air.

Ethan stared.

"What the fuck did you turn into?"

The system responded.

{New Race: Ember Wraith}

Ethan stared at the name.

After looking at Spark for another moment, it actually made sense.

The tiny Cinder Wisp was gone.

There was no insect-like body hidden inside the flames anymore; it was now simply a floating sphere of concentrated flame and mana.

’How does that even make sense?’

It was alive, and was still Spark, yet it didn’t have a body or a brain, for that matter. Ethan couldn’t fathom it, but he definitely wasn’t complaining since it had a lot of mana. And it was about to become a lot more powerful.

Ethan had no reason to hesitate.

{10,000 Evolutionary Shards have been expended to evolve Spark to B Rank.}

{Evolutionary Shards: 894}

The moment the notification appeared, another surge of energy travelled through the invisible bond between Ethan and Spark.

This time, there was no physical body to reshape.

Instead, the fire itself began to change.

The flames compressed inward, and for a moment, Spark became smaller, its fiery form shrinking into a brilliant point of concentrated energy.

Then it expanded again.

The flame changed colour, becoming a deeper and more vibrant orange as waves of heat rolled outward.

Ethan could feel the difference immediately.

Spark’s presence had grown, not simply in size or power, but in density. The mana contained within that tiny flame was vastly greater than before. It was like staring at a miniature sun, one with a cheeky personality.

Talon watched from above, its feathers ruffling from the waves of heat.

Ethan couldn’t look away.

The little creature that had once been a tiny firefly-like Cinder Wisp was gone, and in its place floated something that felt much closer to a fire spirit. A scorching heat surrounded Spark, causing the air around it to shimmer.

Yet despite the transformation, Ethan could still sense the same childish excitement coming through their bond.

It was still Spark, just stronger.

Much stronger...

Ethan grinned.

"Now that’s more like it."

After so many failed attempts, a successful evolution felt amazing.

Ethan immediately opened his status interface, wanting to see exactly how much Spark had changed. And more importantly, he wanted to know what new skills his newly evolved B Rank beast had gained.