Isaac accepted the potion before placing it inside his spatial ring. A satisfied smile spread across his face as he looked at the bottle one last time. Even before reaching the Overlord rank, they now possessed a chance to evolve their souls ahead of schedule.
There was no doubt that this was one of the greatest rewards they could have hoped for. Isaac looked around the silent chamber before turning back toward Catherine.
"Drink it here. I’ll keep watch while you absorb it," he said.
Catherine nodded without another word. She uncorked the bottle, drank the silvery liquid in one gulp, and sat down cross-legged on the ground. Within moments, her brows furrowed as waves of Aura rippled outward from her body in steady pulses.
Isaac remained a short distance away, quietly watching the surroundings while keeping an eye on Catherine.
The Aura fluctuations were gentle at first, but they gradually became stronger as the potion continued to work. He stayed alert the entire time, making sure nothing interrupted her while she focused on absorbing its effects.
Nearly half an hour passed before Catherine finally opened her eyes. A powerful wave of Aura burst from her body before quickly settling back down. She slowly stood up with a small smile, and Isaac could immediately tell that something about her had fundamentally changed.
"Let’s test it," Catherine said as she rolled her shoulders.
There was a faint excitement in her eyes that she made no effort to hide.
She had been stuck at the Champion rank for a long time because her Class Advancement Quest was far beyond her current ability, but now she finally had a chance to ’become’ an Overlord without actually becoming one.
"Alright," Isaac replied as he stepped back.
Catherine gave a small nod before activating one of her concealment skills. Her figure disappeared so completely that it was as though she had never been standing there.
Isaac immediately activated Emily’s Demonic Eyes together with Catherine’s Celestial Truth Seeking Eyes.
Thanks to his Warthrone Physique, he could sustain both SSS+ rank eye abilities at the same time while enhancing their performance.
Those eyes specialized in seeing through illusions, camouflage, and hidden enemies, so together they should have been more than enough to detect Catherine.
He searched the entire area several times but found absolutely nothing. There wasn’t even the slightest distortion in the air or mana that could reveal her location. It was as though she had vanished from reality instead of simply hiding herself.
Without hesitating, Isaac activated another method. He activated Sovereign of Land, allowing his senses to merge with the earth beneath his feet as his perception expanded in every direction. He could sense trees, rocks, grass, and every creature connected to the ground within a vast radius.
Even with that ability, Catherine remained completely absent from his perception. He couldn’t sense footsteps, breathing, or even the slightest disturbance in the surrounding environment. For the first time in a long while, Isaac genuinely failed to locate someone.
"This is much better than before. I was only using Perception Lock Disrupt, and you still couldn’t find me."
She appeared behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin comfortably on his shoulder.
She was breathing a little harder than usual after maintaining the skill, and a thin layer of sweat covered her forehead. Isaac didn’t mind it in the slightest because the two of them had long grown accustomed to much closer contact during their nightly ’training’ sessions. Something as minor as sweat was hardly worth noticing anymore.
He casually activated Solar Dominion, producing gentle flames that instantly evaporated the sweat from both of them without causing any discomfort. Once they were dry again, he turned around to face Catherine with a curious expression.
"So, how does your Aura feel now?" he asked.
"It’s... different. Master used to say that Aura after Soul Evolution couldn’t really be explained, and I always thought she was exaggerating. Now I understand exactly what she meant. I can strengthen my skills with Aura now, but it consumes far more than I expected. The higher the rank of the skill, the more Aura it drains, so I can’t maintain strengthened skills for very long."
Isaac nodded thoughtfully while considering what she had said. A new thought soon crossed his mind, making him look at the second Soul Evolution Potion resting safely inside his spatial ring.
"What do you think would happen if you drank another Soul Evolution Potion? Would your soul evolve a second time?" he asked.
"Nobody knows. As far as I’m aware, there are no records of someone experiencing a second Soul Evolution. It might strengthen the soul further, but it could just as easily damage it or cause it to mutate in unpredictable ways," she replied.
"I feel like it should be safe. If this reward can appear for Overlords, whose souls have already evolved once, then the System probably expects someone with an evolved soul to receive it eventually," he said after a moment.
"Maybe. But that’s still only speculation, and we’re talking about something as important as the soul. Let’s investigate it properly before either of us even thinks about drinking another one," Catherine replied.
"That’s fair. Then I’ll evolve my soul now. Keep watch while I absorb the shared effect, and after that we’ll deal with the Special Monster," Isaac said with a smile.
"I’ll keep an eye on everything," Catherine replied.
She stepped back and silently watched the surroundings while Isaac sat down on the ground.
Taking a slow breath, Isaac spoke inside his mind. ’System, share the effects of the Soul Evolution Potion Catherine consumed!’
The System responded immediately, and a powerful heat began rising from deep within his body.
Isaac quickly realized that the sensation wasn’t affecting his physical body at all. His soul itself was changing, and the transformation was far more intense than he had expected. The pressure continued to build until an overwhelming wave of Aura erupted outward, forcing even Catherine to take an unconscious step backward.
Several minutes later, the Aura gradually calmed down. Isaac slowly opened his eyes and instinctively examined himself, but there wasn’t a single visible change to his appearance. Even so, everything felt different in a way that was difficult to describe.
The closest comparison he could think of was finally wearing perfectly fitted clothes after spending years in uncomfortable ones. Nothing had changed on the outside, yet every movement felt smoother and more natural than before. It was as though his soul had finally become complete.
Without wasting time, Isaac activated Alice’s Daybreak Incarnate skill. His physical abilities immediately increased by one hundred and twenty percent, just as they always had.
This time, however, he carefully guided a small amount of Aura into the skill.
The sensation was unlike anything he had experienced before.
Aura behaved almost like a catalyst that mixed with mana, strengthening the skill as long as the balance remained perfect.
He could also tell that using too much Aura would destabilize the skill while placing tremendous strain on his soul.
Isaac patiently adjusted the amount of Aura until it flowed smoothly through the skill.
A stronger surge of power spread throughout his body as his muscles tightened and energy filled every part of him. The increase wasn’t difficult to notice even without measuring it.
He slowly opened and closed his fist several times before looking toward Catherine with a satisfied smile.
"One hundred and fifty percent," he said.