Current EP: 0 / 1,000,000
I don't know how to explain it.
One minute, I was a small, scrappy Hollow flailing a rock mic at bull-headed monsters — and the next, I woke up staring down at the endless white sands of Hueco Mundo from so high up, I thought someone put me on a building.
But no.
I was the building.
Six stories tall.
Bone-white armor thicker than steel.
A long, tattered cloak trailing off my massive back.
And a mask that looked like someone combined a warlord and a skeleton lizard.
I… had become a Gillian.
"GRUUUUOOOOH…"
The guttural voice that rumbled from my throat sounded like a landslide made of doom.
I half expected the ground to split in half.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Evolution Complete — Hollow → Gillian]
[New Signature Skills Unlocked: Cero, Kūmon, Negación]
[Current EP: 0 / 1,000,000]
Wait. Wait. WHAT?!
One million?!
One million Evolution Points?!
I wanted to cry, but instead, my new colossal face let out a deep, echoing wail that scared a flock of bat-Hollows clean out of the sky.
"GRUOOOOOOOH!!!"
At least I wasn't some basic snack anymore. I was huge.
I could probably crush a small forest if we had trees here.
I took a careful step forward, feeling the sand sink beneath my gigantic foot.
A group of tiny Hollows scattered in terror.
One tripped and fell.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Accidentally caused environmental panic — +50 EP]
Current EP: 50 / 1,000,000
…Better than nothing.
Okay, okay — new skills.
I couldn't help it. I had to test at least one.
Cero.
I didn't even know how to activate it properly, but instinct kind of nudged me.
So I aimed my head at a nearby cliff wall.
Focus. Build up spiritual pressure. Release.
A red light gathered at the tip of my mouth.
It felt… tingly. Like all the static from a thousand socks rubbed together in a sandstorm.
The pressure built until my brain practically screamed "FIRE!"
And so I did.
"GRUUUUUUAAAH!!"
A huge beam of crimson energy blasted from my mouth, lighting up the eternal night sky like a second sun.
It struck the cliff, vaporizing half the wall in an explosion of dust and shattered stone.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: First successful use of Cero — +700 EP]
Current EP: 750 / 1,000,000
HAH! Now we're talkin'!
I felt stupidly proud, even as a wave of smaller Hollows scattered like cockroaches from the blast radius.
One even tripped and hit its face in the sand.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Witnessed slapstick moment — +10 EP]
Current EP: 760 / 1,000,000
Honestly, I could get used to this.
Sure, the EP grind was gonna be insane now — but I was bigger, louder, and more dangerous.
The next time some bull-headed Hollow came complaining about my noise,
I had a Cero with his name on it.
I grinned behind my mask, letting out a long, satisfied, building-rattling roar.
The dumbest Hollow in Hueco Mundo just leveled up.
And it was only the beginning.