“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Administrator Delta,” Kyle said, finding his voice worked normally inside this strange space.

A slender feminine figure appeared in front of him, chuckling softly as she floated in the air, reclining back slightly.  Long, wavy brown hair went down to her waist, while sharp green eyes regarded him.  Her skin was tan, with full lips turned up in a partial smile.  She wore a simple gown; elegant and modest, though it was fitted to show every curve of her lithe body.

“You’re quite an interesting creature, Kyle Mayhew.  To have met with an Administrator twice before reaching C Grade is unheard of, you know.  And from what I can see, I think there’s a good chance you’ll have another meeting before reaching B Grade.  Quite the specimen indeed.”

Kyle tried to raise his hand to rub the back of his head, when he realized he couldn’t move his arm at all.  Frantically, he looked down, only to see that he had no physical body at all.  He turned his head.  Is this my head?  And looked at the void around him, with Administrator Delta seeming to stay in his view, despite his turning.  He felt his unease hitting a crescendo, which stopped when she laughed again, her voice the clear ringing of bells on a winter morning.

“Don’t worry, you’re just fine.  Generally, meetings with an Administrator happen here.  Your encounter with Gamma was… non-standard, to say the least.”

Calming somewhat, he nodded.  “It wasn’t a set of circumstances that I’d like to repeat.”

“I’m not allowed to comment on that,” she replied, though the change in her expression made Kyle know that she understood more than she let on.  “And, in any event, we have plenty to discuss without digging into that unpleasant business.  Tell me, Kyle, why do you think we’re having this conversation?”

He considered the question for a long moment, his mind going back to the note with his status screen as he meditated.  Back in E Grade, he had shifted into an arthro-human chimera.  After absorbing the red essences and evolving to D Grade, that had added the “Parasite” modified to his species.  This time, however, his species showed as nothing more than a question mark.

“If I had to hazard a guess, it’s because my species changed into something that hasn’t been quantified before?”

“Exactly right!” Administrator Delta replied, beaming at him.  “We’ll get to the mechanics in a moment, but let’s take a second to really appreciate what you accomplished.  While incredibly rare, we’ve seen humans and other species integrate some of the lineage of a different Progenitor.  It usually doesn’t get much past C Grade in the cases that happen, but there’s at least precedent that can be worked on.

“It’s also true that we’ve seen people, for better or for worse, try to meld with World Trees before.  Typically it happens in later grades, with Nature Mage variants trying to unlock a very specific class evolution.  Usually it turns out poorly, with the person making the attempt either ruining the seed or dying in the process.  Once again, however, there is precedent that we can build on.

“Lastly, and in your case, more minimally, there are people who have made direct enhancements to their body via cybernetics.  Usually we would just ignore those changes, with their dominant species traits still holding the main identifier.  Though, there have been times where the sheer magnitude of the change has warranted unique modifiers for the species itself.  That typically only happens when the changes directly and meaningfully impact their mana cultivation, and it would take place directly after an evolution.”

Administrator Delta stopped talking, looking Kyle in the eye.  Or at least, where his eyes would have been, should he have actually been present.  He took a moment to digest some of what she’d said.  The pieces about the Progenitors and cybernetic enhancements were interesting, though what intrigued him the most was the bit about people trying to connect directly to World Tree Seeds, and the advantages they expected to see from it.

Before he could dwell too long, Administrator Gamma continued.  “You have managed to do something quite unprecedented here.  Ordinarily, what do you think happens to somebody who awakens a Progenitor’s power within them before they reach C Grade?”

Thinking back to Phaegos’ words, Kyle felt that he was beginning to get a pretty good sense.  “Either all at once, or slowly, the consciousness within the power would have tried to take over.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, but you’ve got the general idea,” Administrator Delta confirmed.  “I would consider them to be much more an intent than a traditional consciousness, though your case has become rather unique, given the nature of your specific Progenitor and one of the upgrades you received.  In any event, that intent would typically try to overwhelm and influence you.  If it succeeded, stepping into the next grade would have resulted in an evolution that better aligned with their intent.  If it failed, it would have been either forcibly removed or sealed away.  Given removing it would almost certainly be fatal, the only event where you’d still progress to your next evolution would be if it was sealed, which would have major negative implications, particularly if your skills and path revolved around its use.”

Kyle took that in stride – at least as much as he could.  If it hadn’t been for Pack Leader’s Instinct, and likely his overwhelming Willpower, things could have looked very different for him.  So many of his skills seemed to touch on the same concepts that Phaegos did; Parasitic Resonance and Adaptive Regeneration being the two biggest examples.  Kyle was also confident that, even if he’d managed to “seal away” the Core of the Parasitic Devourer, he would lose access to much of his Adaptive Anatomy, something that would have been crippling to him.

Administrator Delta left a little more space for Kyle to process, before she continued.  “Most beings that think to pursue a Progenitor’s power do so when they’re much farther along their paths.  The benefits tend to be marginal, but the risk is much lower.  The same for having the audacity to try and suppress a World Tree Seed at your grade.  Here again, if it hadn’t been for years of you wearing down its resistance, you wouldn’t have had a chance.”

She paused for a moment, pressing her finger to her lips as if in deep thought.  “What you’ve done is left us with a bit a conundrum.  On one hand, you’ve turned yourself into something altogether novel, which is both exciting and commendable.  On the other, you’ve managed to combine several catastrophically foolish ideas into one that works.  You can understand our trepidation in adding too much validity to that path, lest others try to replicate it.”

“Yes, because I so clearly chose this,” Kyle interrupted, his ire rising.  “I wanted my planet to get destroyed so that I could get these unique opportunities.  I wanted to get killed by a mutated C Grade from my own planet, who somehow got so powerful he was able to hurt me more than any of the other C Grades I’ve met.”

Administrator Delta let him talk, raising her hands in a placating gesture.  When he finished, she continued.  “We don’t doubt or question the path that led you here at all.  It certainly wasn’t an intentional decision, nor did you have a full understanding of its implications.  And to be clear, we have no intention of punishing you for doing what you’ve done.  That’s not our role.  What we do need to discuss with you are your intentions.”

“Wait,” Kyle said, feeling some of the wind taken out of his sails as his anger deflated.  “You want my input?  Why?”

“You created something new!  That means you get a certain amount of input when it comes to how we set your trajectory from here.  I have some ideas for us, but we can discuss them together to ensure a good fit, and alignment with your path from here.”

“What kind of input do I get?” Kyle asked, now truly curious.

Administrator Delta’s eyes sparkled as she brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face.  “Well, our first decision is a simple one, but one I feel compelled to ask.  Do you intend to progress beyond C Grade, or is it your intention to end your path here?”

The answer came to Kyle the moment she finished speaking, even though it felt incredibly arrogant.  “I intend to keep moving beyond.”

“Excellent!” Administrator Delta replied, waving her hand as an image of Kyle appeared in the void.   “Given that we want to continue to grow, it would make more sense for us to plan for progression rather immediate power.  Different evolutions have different trade-offs, so we’ll set you up with a chassis that allows for greater degrees of progress, rather than one designed to peak soon.”

“Why would anybody choose a path designed to peak in C Grade?” Kyle asked, genuinely curious.

“First of all, virtually nobody gets to make that choice at a species level,” Administrator Delta corrected.  “Individuals are stuck with what they’ve got.  That’s not to say it’s impossible to progress or break through those boundaries, either, but it’s not uncommon for species to reach their normal terminus in D or C Grade.”

Kyle stopped to consider that for a moment, and it made a lot of sense.  After all, if every creature in the universe had a path to A Grade, that would be absolutely terrifying.  He highly doubted the Collective would have been able to function as it did without their near-monopoly of A Grades, after all.

Administrator Delta gave him some time to process, and at his acknowledgement, she continued.  “In your case, we’ll plan on streamlining the power a bit for a higher ceiling.  You’ll see less than the theoretical maximum attributes on a per-level basis, but you should have an easier time progressing through the grade and into B Grade, should your class compatibility be high enough.”

“Class compatibility?” Kyle asked.

Administrator Delta’s eyes went distant for a moment, before refocusing.  “You’ve heard some of this, that you need to unify two different classes along the path in C Grade in order to advance.  The term we use for this is ‘compatibility’ as it pertains to how well they are both aligning with your path.  You’ll see it when you meditate, after your evolution is done.  Well, depending on your next decision.”

She nodded to herself, making some adjustments to the image of Kyle, making it seem more real.

“Now, we have to decide if you’re going to choose to continue down your existent path with distinct mana cultivation, or if you’d prefer to go down the path of an aligned sapient, where your class and species are all rolled into one.”

As if seeing his question forming, she clarified.  “The information you’ve learned about C Grade all comes from individuals with mana cultivation distinct from themselves.  Most wild beasts fall into the latter category, and given your exposure to the Progenitor, you do technically qualify to cultivate that way as well.  You would expect much higher attribute gain in each level, but the trade off is that you wouldn’t get much customization through the class system.”

Once again, the options were interesting, but he knew what he wanted the moment she finished speaking.  “I’d like to continue with distinct cultivation, along my existing path.”

She nodded again, waving her hand over the image.  Suddenly, Kyle got a very strong impression, and words began to form before his eyes.

KYLE MAYHEW.  UNION SYMBIOTE.  C GRADE, LEVEL 1.

UNION SYMBIOTE ATTRIBUTES:

VITALITY: 20

ENDURANCE: 20

STRENGTH: 5

DEXTERITY: 10

WILLPOWER: 25

INTELLIGENCE: 18

PERCEPTION: 17

FREE ATTRIBUTES: 25

Kyle was stunned.  He knew the evolution to C Grade would provide a meaningful boost in power, but this almost felt like too much.  Moreover, the bonuses to his attributes were in almost perfect alignment with his vision.  While he’d need to keep some modest investment in his Strength and Dexterity, it was incredible.

“Given each of the aspects I mentioned are required for the others to keep existing, your relationship felt much more symbiotic at this point, so I took it that direction.  I take it you like it?”  Administrator Delta asked, in an almost teasing voice.

“It’s incredible,” Kyle breathed, feeling something settling, deep in his Center.

“It is fine work, if I do say so myself,” Administrator Delta said with a grin.  “Now, you’ve got other decisions to make, and I’ve kept you here long enough.  Take care of yourself, and good luck!  Don’t go dying right away and wasting all this work I did!”

With that, the woman vanished from sight, though the void around him persisted.  Then, words appeared.  C GRADE CLASS EVOLUTION – REQUIREMENTS MET.  BONUS ATTRIBUTES – +100 TO EACH ATTRIBUTE.  +125 FREE ATTRIBUTES.  EVOLUTION BEGINNING.