Yo!

As promised the next chapter of "Grimm's Evolution" is here. Earlier and better than ever... Well maybe not better as I didn't write it yet at this point, but you know what I mean. Anyway, this story won the chapter poll during the last week and I can already tell you that it also won this week's poll so you can expect another chapter quite soon. Lucky you...

With that being said, I hope you all enjoy this weird chapter. I know that some of you waited for what's inside.

PS: Links to my discord, pat-reon and original story will be available below. ALSO AN IMPORTANT NOTE. VOLUME 2 OF MY ORIGINAL WILL START ON THE 8TH OF MARCH SO PLEASE CHECK IT OUT. YOU CAN FIND IT IN THE LINKTREE LINK.

Chapter 22. Two is better than one

During my first and second evolution, I was always knocked out, sleeping as the System proceeded to upgrade my body according to my wishes. This time though, there was no dreamless sleep. It certainly knocked me out in the beginning, but not that much later a raging fire traveling in my veins woke me up from my slumber.

Why? I didn't know. There was no timer and no access to the System, only the darkness surrounding me from every side. I could see and yet I saw nothing even when my every sense screamed in fear. They wanted me to run, to get out, to stop whatever was happening. I tried, I truly tried, but my body didn't listen as if I didn't even have one.

For some reason, this occurrence didn't move me at all. No matter what I did, no matter what my senses told me, my mind remained perfectly calm. Or at least it did until the fire came back, reminding me that indeed I still had my body. It burned everywhere and only when the quiet crackling reached my ears did I realize what was happening.

The infinity core. It must be it. 'Lightning now flows in your blood'. Didn't expect it to be so literal... Fuck you System, really fuck you.

Even with the insults System refused to answer. I would have slumped if my body obeyed, but with my current situation, all I could do was listen to the crackling and try to ignore the spreading pain. If this is some bad joke from you System then I swear I will find a way to hurt you. And even if it isn't, you still could have given me some sort of a warning, I'm going insane here!

I really wasn't with the calmness forced onto my mind, but hey no one said that I couldn't be angry without the real emotion... Though I hoped that this entire thing was just a mistake in the evolution and not System's work. I thought we have been getting along late- HOLY FUCK!

Before I could finish my thought, the world around me exploded in a myriad of colors. Even with my unresponsive body, my gaze still managed to catch them all. Blue, red, white, black, every possible color in the world was there and as I watched and watched, my mind slowly began to connect the dots.

Tell me it's a joke, please? Tell me I didn't just go through the pain of being burned from the inside out because you want me to choose the color of my lightning now... Nothing? Really? Oh for fucks sake...

No answer yet again. Whatever. With the probable cause of my awakening in mind, I searched through the painter's dream for the right color, something to represent the oncoming storm that I would become in the future. I could just choose red or black, but with me being a Grimm it seemed so unoriginal, same with white. Green or yellow could also be a good choice but those didn't really inspire fear in anything alive. Well, the lightning alone certainly did, but the color? Nah.

Slowly my gaze wandered to the dark violet smudge flowing through the vast sea of colors. It definitely did the job. Dark enough to suit the whole creature of the darkness theme and unique enough to not get mistaken for anything else. Besides, it looked cool, sue me...

Alright, but how do I accept the choice now?

I tried to reach within myself, force my Aura out, only to get nothing in return. Should have expected that. My next attempt to maybe create lightning with my thoughts also didn't work and so I was left with only one choice... Glaring at the smudge until something happened. Or I can be completely wrong and I'm just making an idiot out of myself. Wouldn't be the first time...

Minutes or maybe even hours passed as I continued my staring contest with the inanimate object. I wanted to stop multiple times and maybe go to sleep again, but I couldn't. There was just something telling me that I had to continue no matter what. Although that could have been my growing madness talking...

[Dark Violet has been set as your primary elemental color. Please prepare for the disengagement.]

At once every color vanished from my sight, leaving me in the same familiar darkness. I wanted to scream, to rage at the stupidity of this entire process, but only a simple thought managed to enter my mind before the evolution once again took away my consciousness.

I really hate being right...

My next awakening was just as irritating as the last one. In a single moment, the entire cocoon surrounding me exploded like a balloon, sending dust and rocks flying in every direction. Not prepared for such a rude awakening, my body crashed against the cool stone of the cave, my deep groan echoing for miles.

I hate you System. I really do.

[Ah yes... My mistake. You went through your evolution selection so fast that I didn't have time to react. Sorry? I really didn't mean it this time.]

Another large cloud of dust rushed into the air as a deep sigh left my nostrils. For the first time in months System's massage seemed at least a bit genuine. Though the 'this time' bit didn't really fill me with much hope. This damned entity just had too strong of a personality for a game system...

[You are aware that I hear everything and can make your life very miserable, very quickly right?]

And everything is back to normal. Good to know. I grinned and finally dragged myself off the ground. A curse left my mouth when my head impacted the roof of the cavern. "Shit, how much did I grow this time," I murmured, taking a look behind me to observe my evolved body. It didn't change much in the matter of appearance, but the size? Well, I was definitely happy that I bought the size adjustment evolution.

Just a few hours ago, I still had plenty of space to walk around and only had to change into a human to leave through the entrance. But now? Well, if I could turn around I would count it as a success. Really it had been so long since the last evolution that I forgot the boost to size it gave. I was easily as large as Ruby's and Yang's home, maybe even a bit bigger...

Apart from that, my scales became even rougher, growing jagged ends as their density at least doubled. Then there was the familiar dark violet color that glowed softly from the gaps between the scales. To be honest, I expected some kind of lightning to start jumping across my body so this was definitely a better outcome.

Thank gods for small mercies... Now let's see what I got.

[Size Adjustment (Active) lvl: Max

You can now adjust the size of your Grimm form. Your physical attributes will be lowered appropriately to reflect your new size (Maximum penalty: 50%). Making yourself smaller than a cat is ill-advised.

Warning: You can't use this ability during Combat. You can't make yourself larger than your current maximum size.]

About what I expected. And why would I even want to be smaller than a cat? Shrinking myself to the size before my first evolution was definitely in my sight, but smaller? Hell, no. I wasn't going to make it easier for anyone to kill me by becoming a damned rat. I liked my life just fine, even if I had to deal with a snarky System and an ice-cream addicted brat.

Speaking of, I should probably get going...

Bringing my new skill to the front, I let it lead me through the process as my entire body shuddered. Steam rose from my every scale and I closed my eyes, hoping to focus on the transformation and not the weird occurrence. For a moment I thought that something went wrong, but then in an instant all of my muscles spasmed, a growl leaving my mouth.

As quickly as the feeling came, it disappeared just as fast. I slid one of my eyes open but the other quickly followed when I took the sight before me.

Unlike before, the cave's roof couldn't be any farther. Everything around me became gigantic, just like the day I awoke in the new world. I stretched my wings wide and chuckled at their size. I forgot how weird it felt to be as small as a large dog. Not even transforming into a human changed my perspective so much. Oh, I'm gonna have so much fun with this.

With a few swift jumps, I approached the exit of the cave and took a last look behind me. My mouth opened, only for my body to freeze when the first syllable left my throat. You have got to be kidding me.

"Testing?" I squeaked in the most high-pitched voice I heard in a long time. To make it worse, the sound echoed through the entire cave, earning a wince from me each time it bounced back. Kill me now... This wasn't in the evolution's description.

[It wasn't recognized as a change big enough to note it in the description.]

You don't say, I snarked back, not even daring to say it out loud. My transformation into a Grimm already changed my voice into something much deeper than I had in my previous life, but this? No, no, no. I had my pride as a man or rather a male Grimm.

Neo is never gonna let me live it down...

After my short period of depression, I jumped at the chance to turn into my true size again and get the hell out of the mountain range. The change in mass and size messed up a bit of my flight coordination, but after a few tries, I got it mostly under control... I would definitely need a few days after my arrival in Patch to get familiar with this new ability and size.

As for what to do with my squeaky voice in smaller form when I presented myself to Neo? Well, I could either refuse to turn smaller than I absolutely needed or take it like a man and hope that she didn't laugh. Surely after giving the girl a home, training, and food, she wouldn't make fun of her savior's misfortune. Right?

[Whatever helps you sleep at night, Umbra.]

Nobody asked you, I grumbled and cast my gaze ahead, trying to spot the small island among the waves.

[I'm the only person here so I felt obligated to answer. You really should stop asking questions when you are alone if you don't want me to reply.]

I sighed, refusing to start another argument. The system was still a bit mad from my comment after I woke from the evolution and didn't back down from any chance to make me miserable again. If it wasn't for the fact that I evolved before my comment then I might have suspected System for giving me this squeaky voice in revenge.

Wait? You can't do that after the fact, right?

[I can if I really want, but no, this wasn't my fault.]

For some reason that doesn't make me feel any better, I thought and squinted again. There, I grinned and dived straight through the small cloud blocking my path. Like the last time, my body shrunk before it wasn't bigger than an average Nevermore. With the sun still scorching everything down below, I couldn't really descend with my normal size. Though I wonder what kind of reaction I would receive apart from an army rushing towards me. A thought for another day.

I circled the area where Neo's temporary home should be, adding my thermal vision and 'Hunter Pulse' into the mix. Who knew if some idiots didn't decide to go for a walk in the area. Although considering the placement of the cave I really doubted that.

My gaze and pulse lit up a few times, but another glance confirmed that those were only some animals and smaller Grimm that lived in the area. I descended towards the cave and touched the ground, the strong wind masking any sound of my landing. With a single thought, my form stretched, before shifting into my human one.

I thought about going in as a Grimm, but after being away for so long it was better to give Neo a form she was more familiar with. Something that had to change in the coming weeks if I wanted to keep my promise...

Like a ghost, I strode into the cave and grinned when I spotted Neo sitting next to a small lamp in the back of the chamber. She paid no mind to me as her gaze remained glued to the Scroll in her hands. Even from the distance, I noticed her discolored iris moving from left to right, top to bottom. My eyebrow raised, What the hell is she reading to be so engrossed?

"Yo!" I saluted and chuckled when the girl practically jumped in her seat. Neo's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when her gaze landed on me. I opened my arms and grinned. "Come on brat. You won't leave your favorite Grimm hanging here, right?"

Like struck, the girl bolted forward, her short arms encircling my waist as she buried her head into my stomach. I glanced down and frowned at the tears flowing down Neo's cheek. "Hey there, don't cry," I murmured, hoisting her up. "Everything is alright, Neo. I told you I would come back, someone like Merlot had no chance to take me down."

Her tears didn't stop as her body shook. With a sigh, I changed my hold of the girl and walked towards one of the few chairs laying around. Plopping down, I placed Neo on my lap and hugged her again, no matter how weird it felt...

Even after all those months I still sometimes forgot that she was just a small child that probably lost her family a long time ago. With the strong front Neo always presented, I couldn't help but think of her as the woman she became in the show, a large mistake on my part. At least now, I would know better, be better. This was the second time she greeted me like this, only today her reaction was much stronger. What I'm gonna do with you Neo, I smiled as my human hand lifted the girl's chin so I could look her in the eyes.

"Better?" Neo gave a shallow nod, her hands trying to wipe the few last tears gathering in her eyes. I shook my head and grabbed the scroll that she left just a minute ago. "Here you go. We can stay like that for a bit longer, but I'm sure you have questions."

With another nod, Neo took the scroll but didn't move from her spot. I chuckled lightly and waited for her to fully calm down. We had time, quite a lot of it and if it helped her then I didn't mind becoming an overgrown teddy bear for a few more minutes. My pride as a man already took a hit after discovering my shrunk voice and this was a small sacrifice if it meant helping the only important human in my life.

I closed my eyes and waited, listening to the hum of the wind crashing against the cavern walls. At least a few minutes passed before I felt a soft touch on my shoulder. Opening one eye, I smiled when Neo pointed to the scroll's screen. "Is it over? Are you fine? The news were quite tight-lipped about the whole Atlas fiasco, but they told everyone that Merlot escaped."

A snort escaped my lips. "Oh trust me, he is gone, forever. Although I'm not surprised they think he is still alive, I only managed to get him due to one of my tricks. And I already told you I'm fine." I grimaced as a thought entered my mind, "As for it being over... Well, that's a bit complicated. Merlot might be dead, but he left behind plenty of hidden bases that can become a problem if left alone. I know where they are so it is just a matter of flying there and blowing them up, but that will again take a bit of time. Don't worry though, I won't leave for another week or two."

Evidently, Neo didn't like what I said. She just scowled and began to type on the scroll again. "You're not leaving me again! I trained hard so I wouldn't be useless anymore, and besides with Merlot gone, it should be as dangerous right? Please."

I looked into her deep mismatched eyes, her sobbing visage flashing in my mind. Should I? Neo was probably stronger than any of her peers and had some talent in fighting, but was still just a child. A child I already spent a few weeks training to live in the wild... Maybe it won't be so bad. I just can't let her fight any humans if there will be any left... Still, I need to be sure.

With a sigh, I ruffled Neo's hair. "Alright, I won't leave you again," I raised my hand when she almost jumped in joy. "But I have a few conditions ok?" Without a question, she nodded, a wide grin present on her face. "Good. One, you will listen to my every order when we are out there. Two, if you see a human, you run back to me. Never engage them in a fight, that's my job. And finally three, we aren't going just yet. First, I need to see if you are really ready, so better prepare for some very fun training for the next week."

My grin maybe grew a bit too feral when I finished, which would explain Neo's slightly widened eyes even as she gave me a slow nod and finally jumped off me.

"Excellent," I clapped and stood up. "Get packing then. We are going home."

And that's it.

Normal new length today.

As you see, today we have a bit about the new evolution and the long-awaited reunion... It's been a while. I'm pretty sure you all can imagine what is waiting in the next chapter so I won't say a thing.

Anyway thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter. Oh and don't forget to check out my original story, just like here it is about evolution (With the gamer system) and a broken world so you all might like it. You can find a link to it in my linktree under "A Universe of Bloody Evolution". Also if you want to support me, become part of my community, or vote for the next updates then consider joining my discord or pat-reon.

Pat-reon (Voting): (standard pat-reon link as you can't type it on FFN)/chaos65 | All links in one (Original here): linktr .ee/Chaos65 | Or just Discord invite: b7JaQcpuc7

Have a good day/night.