Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

"Accept," Cassius said as he watched his vision warp, bringing him to Challenge 100,000's Inner Dimension.

His eyes widened as soon as his vision returned to normal. What he saw in front of him was a woman whom he only ever knew as a blurry silhouette.

Yet, there she was—the woman who gave birth to him—his mother.

She had a shapely, motherly figure, long cascading black hair, and slightly slanted green eyes—the trademark of the Sisters of Yggdrasil. Her bearing was refined and modest, yet still retained her alluring nature—the nature that charmed one of the most promiscuous men in the Ascension Tower.

Cassius's mother was sitting up on her bed. And though sweat beads trickled down her face, that, along with her ragged breath, did little to erase the adoring smile plastered on her mesmerizing facial features. This affection was entirely spawned because of the little person being cradled in her arms—a baby—baby Cassius.

*Tap, Tap, Tap.*

Standing at her bedside—uncharacteristically worrying—was a familiar figure: Cassius's father. His real, non-illusory father. He nervously paced back and forth, biting his nails and murmuring nonsense to himself.

As one of the strongest figures in the Ascension Tower, this behavior was certainly unusual, especially after a joyous occasion such as this one. However, he had good reason to be so on edge.

The World Tree's Sanctuary—the Holy Place of Yggdrasil—the Dimension widely recognized as the most mysterious and illustrious in all of the Ascension Tower. This very Dimension's people were on the trail of Adam Steele and the Eldest Yggdrasil Princess from the previous generation.

They were close… Too close…

"We don't have much time now!" Cassius heard Adam say as anger occasionally flared within his pupils. "Damnit all! If only those old tree bastards hadn't blocked off the Path to Immortality! If they had left it open, then I would've been able to succeed where they could not…! But no!! Those uselessly prideful idiots screwed all of us over because of their incompetence!! And because of that… because of that…"

"It's okay, my dear, it's okay." A sweet, heavenly voice dripped into Adam's ears like the most divine honey. "Just knowing that the proof of our love is left to discover his place in this world is enough for me. Getting to see him even once has been a blessing I never thought I'd receive."

Adam's expression became even more complicated as he knelt down next to his wife. Softly whispered apologies escaped his bleeding lips, his eyes filled with hate. He hated himself for being so weak, for blaming the blockage of the Path to Immortality for his inability to save the day.

"Your sister…" Adam spoke up in a louder, still stifled voice. "If she harms even a single hair on your head, then I'll… I swear I'll…"

Sensing his overwhelming amount of killing intent, Cassius's mother hugged her baby with one hand and placed the other against Adam's head, pulling him into her embrace. Tears began streaming down her peach-blossom cheeks, yet her warm, happy smile never faded.

"It's okay, my dear," she said, her eyes creasing up. "Everything will be okay. And even if my sister does enact her revenge, I wouldn't be capable of finding it in myself to blame her. I stole her from you—from your marriage. Her hatred for me is understandable."

"B…But that's…" Adam's teeth gnashed together as he closed his eyes. Sometimes, he hated himself for just… being himself. "I don't love her; I love you!" he declared, his voice still strained. "I told her this, and she promised to give the idea of me up… But then she… All this…"

"Please, my love," Cassius's mother said while lovingly staring at both of her most priceless treasures. "Promise me that you won't blame my sister for this. If anyone, blame me for yearning for something that never should've been mine to begin with."

"I-I don't know if—"

"Promise me this, Adam Steele, the love of my life. Promise me that you'll lay low and take care of our boy; promise me that you'll forget about me and your grudge with my only sister."

Adam Steele roughly bit down on his lips. He averted his shaky gaze, struggling to nod. "I… I promise, Lilia… But I only promise to force down my hatred for your sister. Forgetting you…That's simply impossible. And one day… one day, I'll barge into Yggdrasil and take you back into my arms."

Lilia Eldrine lovingly cupped Adam's cheeks. Swirling within her clear, dark green eyes was a level of love that would've appeared so foreign to her old self.

"Adam, there's one more thing I must tell you," she said hurriedly. "It's about our son, about why the Ancestors are so fervently against his birth. It's the real reason why they're so relentless in their pursuit; my younger sister is merely an excuse because they can't reveal the truth to the public. But our baby—our Cassius—the Prophecies, they speak of…"

"???"

The scene suddenly cut off, with Cassius's vision switching positions. Less than a nanosecond later, he found himself looking at a mountain that stretched beyond the Heavens. The location was unknown, but on this unfathomably vast mountain, there lay graves; they numbered in the dozens, and each one was lavishly decorated.

'My parents, the World Tree's Sanctuary… Where did it all go?' Cassius thought while shifting his eyes in bewilderment. 'And where am I now? Is everything I'm seeing really a part of the Class Change Quest's final Challenge?'

He had so many questions and so few answers.

However, without caring about his confusion, the scene before him continued playing out.

FWIP!

An old man suddenly appeared in front of the various graves. He had long white hair, a lengthy white beard, and eyebrows that embodied the essence of the sword. This old man's presence was overwhelming—more so than any being Cassius had ever seen before. It was to the point where even Vampire Duke Crestmore and the Mistalore King would be instantly erased with just a single thought from this unfathomable old man.

Yet, there was something about his aura and the sight of his back that gave Cassius a sense of melancholy—of a sadness that he couldn't quite comprehend. And when the old man slowly walked up to the grave heads and knelt down, that sense of sadness became even greater.

'Why does he seem so sad?'