The war of the sparrow and the frog went on for days.
Sometime the bird would win. Sometimes the frog would win. Both sides get to eat their meal everyday.
But on their 6th day of the war, the ants suddenly stopped appearing outside their nest. It looked like they stopped finding their foods and went into hibernation early.
Ji Yen also thought so.
Looking at the incomplete energy points, Ji Yen felt depress.
He opened the system energy storage to look.
[Energy stored: 45.]
He was just one meal away from his first evolution. 'It was all because of that stupid frog. If he had just stopped eating after a meal, I would not have to fight him. Instead he just kept eating like there is no tomorrow for him. Humph...' Ji Yen scolded the frog in his mind.
Suddenly, something clicked on his mind.
"Wait a minute, the ants would never go into hibernation so early. I am not even feeling the winter wind yet. They must have opened another exit." Ji Yen felt enlighten at the moment. Then he continued. "How can I be so stupid. It must be this tiny brain restricting my intelligent."
Then he flew up from his nest and started circling above the ant nest area.
Even after searching for more than 10 minutes, he still could not determine the secret exit of the ants.
So he started thinking maybe they really went into hibernation earlier.
Just as he was about to descend from the air, he spotted tiny dots moving. He squinted his eyes to get a better look. There just below a huge a tree many small ants were moving.
"I knew it. There was really another exit." Ji Yen let out a happy chirp chirp sound in the air.
The sound caught the attention of the frog waiting nearby.
It grabbed some small pebbles threw them at Ji Yen.
Ji Yen dodged the pebbles and let out an angry chirp at the frog.
On his mind he cursing the frog. 'Just you wait. When I evolve, I will kill you first.'
He flew straight towards the ants below the huge tree.
But when he get near the ants, he realized that they are not the same ants. Those ants were bigger than the one he usually ate.
He did not care much about it and started eating them as soon as he landed.
Surprisingly, the energy provided by each ant was 1 for 1.
That means he can just eat 5 to reach the energy points he need for evolving.
Unlike the other ants he ate usually, those new ants started fighting back when Ji Yen started eating them.
They bit his legs and some even bit on his thigh. But ultimately Ji Yen left there after earning more than 10 energy points.
He needed more than 5 energy points. Not just for completing the threshold for evolving but also for his daily body functions.
The ant bites did not seriously harm Ji Yen, only some mild sting toxins.
After returning to his nest, Ji Yen could not wait to start the evolution process.
But he knew being excited would not help him. So he adjusted his mind and calmed down.
After sitting inside his nest for more than 5 minutes, he opened his eyes and called the system. "System. You there?"
[Ding.
Yes..?host.]
"Proceed the evolution process." Ji Yen ordered.
[Starting the evolution process.
It will take 50 energy points for the first option.
Do you want to start it now?]
"Yes." He replied instantly.
[Starting evolution in 3 seconds..
1...2....3....]
As soon as the count down ended, Ji Yen felt pain all over his body.
His felt his bones expanding and his muscles and fat stretching and stiffening.
From the tree nest, the sound of desperate chirping sounds echoed the little surrounding.
Even the frog felt chill in his spine, hearing the chirping sound.
After what felt like an eternity, Ji Yen finally done evolving.
During the process, due to the intense pain, he was in a subconscious state. He felt the pain and changes to his body. But he could tell how much time it took.
When he saw his surrounding clearly, his nest was destroyed due to his more larger body.
"Open my data." He said.
Ding!.
[Data.
Identity: Wind Chasing Sparrow.
Name: Ji Yen.
Rank: Low Grade 2.
State: Stable state, normal.
Realm: Half Grade 1.
Bloodline: None.]
Seeing that his rank and realm was different. Ji Yen asked his doubt. "What are rank and realm. Why are they different."
[Host, the realm is your strength. And rank is just the potential Grade of the species. For example, like your grade says Low Grade 2, you have a chance to reach Grade 2 in your mature state. Although the chances are slim for low grades.]
[For a deeper answer. Please upgrade the system or evolve further.]
"OK.ok. Then what about the Bloodline? Is that some kind of potential too?." He asked further.
[Yes, Bloodline is also a type of potential. If you have both Bloodline and rank of same level or if the Bloodline is stronger than your rank. Your chance of reaching the potential Grade is guaranteed.
But the main property of bloodline is to awaken secret skills or innate ability. It is not guaranteed though.
The higher the grade of the bloodline, higher the chances of awakening a skill or ability.]
[Hope that helps you.]
"I see... So the chances of my Realm reaching Grade 2 is low. But if I have Bloodline of same level, I can reach it for sure." Ji Yen murmured to himself.
Then he continued asking. "What if the Bloodline is weaker. I mean what if the level of bloodline is lower than the rank? What happens then?"
[Of course, you will only be able to try to awaken a skill or ability. But the chances is too slime for low grades.]
As he was reading the system message, Ji Yen felt a wave of informations pouring into his mind like a bucket of icy water pouring on to his head by someone.