Evolution

by A R Chen

  They had tried to steal his Crystals. To be fair, he didn’t know if the Crystals were his to begin with, but they certainly didn’t belong to the villagers. Steve still wasn’t sure of their exact value, but he was sure of one thing: If he was to survive, he needed a form of currency.

  Without something to trade, he would be reduced to relying on his personal strength. That would be a problem, because battling his way through everything in the vicinity sounded like a great way to advertise his presence to every being in the region. Considering his luck so far, he didn’t believe for one second that they would all be friendly. Also, as he had learned from fighting the beast earlier, any battle that wasn’t a one-sided victory for him would end up draining his energy reserves. Steve couldn’t afford that right now; he needed to build up his energy levels in preparation for whatever was coming when the countdown reached zero. At that thought, he checked the time remaining again.

  4 Days 18 Hours 30 Minutes 20 Seconds

  Damnit. If I don’t finish this fast, I’ll probably fall unconscious in front of those guys, Steve thought to himself. I’ll need to be as intimidating as possible, right from the start. In a few moments, he had thought up a plan, but he needed to make a detour first.

  ***

  “Hey, Leeroy! Where should we put this?” Jenkins grinned as he and another man held up a huge green rock.

  The men were in high spirits, already imagining the money, power, and glory this night would bring to both the Nitians as a whole, and especially themselves. It was no exaggeration to say that these Crystals would be the start of a new era for the village. With this kind of wealth, it was entirely possible they could reverse their long misfortune and grow into a prosperous town.

  That wasn’t even considering the trees; Elemental Bark was an essential component of many potions and magical staffs. Wizards would flock to serve their village or pay the exorbitant price for some of the wood from these blue trees. The wealth concentrated in this clearing was frankly astounding. Lemoy had certainly done them a huge service this time.

  “Anywhere on that wagon.” Leeroy gestured. “I think it can bear the weight.” He then turned to Lemoy, who had anxiety mixed with guilt written plainly on his face. “You’ve done us a great service, my boy,” Leeroy said proudly, clapping his son on the back. “We’ll make you a full member of the Squad after this. As well as making sure you receive some benefits from these Crystals, of course.” If there was one aspect of leadership Leeroy was an expert in, it was rewarding loyalty. After all, that was key in gathering subordinates under your banner.

  His small faction within the village was known as the Squad of Scoundrels; it had started with four key members: Leeroy, Jenkins, and two other men. The others had left the village long ago due to dismal prospects. The two men had said their goodbyes and promised to return; they never did, though nobody had expected them to anyway.

  Lemoy, unlike the others, was filled with guilt and more than a little fear. He had never done anything like this and thus never felt this way before. Part of him still didn’t want to believe that they had gone directly against the Elder’s orders.

  On one hand, he knew what a benefit these resources would be to Niti. Further, there was his loyalty to his father; the man had raised him and never really asked anything of him in return. This was the only thing he had asked for Loop to accomplish, if he couldn’t even oblige this request…

  On the other hand, they were stealing from a god! Okay, maybe not a god, but even so, the powers behind Steve or even Steve himself might be powerful enough to take them all down. This was an incredibly risky operation. They were almost done, but until they were, it was all Loop could do to keep his hands from visibly shaking.

  Suddenly, there was a flash of light from among the trees that struck one of the men’s legs. He cried out loudly and fell to the ground with a moan. Everyone froze; nobody dared make a sound, other than the injured man, whose piteous moans dominated the otherwise silent clearing.

  ***

  The thing was, everything Steve did cost energy. So the most important aspect of his plan was to harvest as much energy as possible before confronting these thieves. He had accomplished this by finding small animals and large insects nearby.

  Most of that energy had been expended acquiring a new spell in the hope that he could win this ‘fight’ without ever really fighting. Once he had done that and made sure that he had some energy in reserve, the men had been easy to find. They were working by lantern light, making themselves beacons in the night, and hopefully at least partially masking Steve’s luminescence as he snuck up.

  When he was in position, Steve focused in on a guy carrying a Crystal, striking him in the leg with a Shock spell from twenty feet away.

  ***

  Sard! Jenkins thought the moment his guy went down. There is a hidden mage! We are sarded.

  Mages filled something of a specialist role on the battlefield. The pros of having magical support far outweighed the cons, however. They could cause devastating damage if let loose on an enemy group. However, they required more care and supplies than the average warrior, in addition to being easily overwhelmed, if caught unprepared. One way around this glaring weakness was to hide them. Having a few hidden mages in a forest or mountain battle would put immense pressure on the enemy and likely turn the battle in their favor if left unchecked.

  In short, Jenkins was terrified of magic. Having been a poor student, especially when it came to such matters, the only thing that had stuck was how dangerous a mage was.

  Knowing it was their only hope, he was about to order the men to run towards the area where the spell came from. There was a small window of opportunity while the mage gathered the mana and performed the chant to cast another spell; they had to hope they could take advantage of it. Of course, if there were more than one caster hiding, they were doomed anyway.

  Before Jenkins could move, or even issue a command, he felt an immense magical energy in the air, or rather, it felt like something was sucking the energy out of the atmosphere itself. It was an unfortunately familiar feeling. When he’d been a teenager, the air had filled with energy like this once. Back then, the previous Left had cast a massive area-of-effect earthquake spell at the cost of his life, which saved the entire village. Jenkins immediately knew they had no hope; they were at the mercy of this unseen foe.

  Then, a voice rang out; it sounded just like a certain god they had recently met.

  ***

  "If you don't want to die where you stand," Steve began flatly, "put down anything you're carrying and lie down on the ground. If you want to try your luck, just know that I have no qualms with destroying a few lesser creatures that have offended me. Though I need not have, I give you this warning now, as a sign of my mercy.”

  A few of the men looked like they wanted to say something but didn’t dare in the face of such a threat. Steve watched as they carefully put down the Crystals they were carrying and lay prone on the ground. Leeroy and Jenkins beat everyone else to it, immediately dropping to sprawl in the dirt. The man who had been shocked was still moaning, though it had mostly died down as he curled into a fetal position and clutched his charred leg. It looked like a nasty injury; it was almost enough to make Steve pity the man.

  Almost.

  As the last man lay down, Steve prepared to withdraw his presence from the vicinity. Lesser Area Energy Drain hadn’t seemed like much when he first came across it in the list of spells, earlier that day. It was right next to incredibly powerful-looking fire or ice bombardment spells that had a massive area of effect. They had been tempting at first glance, but the cost was too high.

  One cast would have left him with negative energy, something that he still feared would be very harmful, if not fatal, so they weren’t suitable for his current purposes. Also, the utility of such spells wasn't that great. Sure, one cast would destroy everything, but what would that accomplish? If he lost rather than gained energy from his battles, wasn’t it a wast
e of time? Especially in this case, it was better to instill fear, rather than cause massive casualties.

  With this Lesser Area Energy Drain spell, after spending a little bit to get the effect started, he could intimidate enemies and gain energy! As he’d expected, just extending his magical control over an area made it so that most lesser creatures were too afraid to move.

  Steve watched his energy go up some more, quite satisfied with this result already. His max energy had also improved a few times over the last minute. Deciding they’d had enough, Steve let go of his drain on all of them. Really, there was no reason to continue, as he’d finally reached his max energy for the first time. Excitedly he read:

  Current Energy - 70

  Max Energy - 70

  How much for the human evolution? Steve wondered, mentally communicating with Bonnie. It was only the tenth-most powerful evolution listed, so he figured that it couldn't be that expensive.

  “If you paid up front, 20,000 energy should do it. Of course, it would be better to have more as any excess will allow you to start out stronger after you evolve,” Bonnie replied. “Energy cost is dependent on your current skills and compatibility, of course. So you can expect it to change from time to time.”

  Steve was shocked. He had expected the price to be steep, but to this much, he could only react one way. What?

  ***

  Leffer and Ash led the way to the clearing. They brought along the Left and Right, five other casters, and two other warriors. Fearing the worst, they traveled as fast as they dared, only to find everyone on the ground and a familiar ball of light floating above them all in the middle of the clearing. Near the two large wagons, they saw one man clutching his leg as he rocked back and forth in apparent misery.

  What happened here? was the thought on everyone’s mind as they came to a halt.

  ***

  Steve pondered his options for what to do with these would-be thieves for a few minutes before he spotted several lanterns headed toward the clearing.

  Well, it's not like I could hold them here forever. If they came any later, I'd have had to think of an excuse to let them go. Steve was well-aware that if all these men attacked at once, his only option would be to outrun them in the forest.

  He turned his focus to the man on the ground, who was still occasionally whimpering and wondered if he should just put him out of his misery. Steve decided against it, on the basis that it might put his relations with the other villagers at risk, and he really didn’t stand to gain anything from it. The villagers might turn against a vengeful god, especially if they cared for that man and he had no way to tell if that were the case. On the other hand, if he played the part of a powerful but merciful god for the people of Niti, he should be able to enlist their aid in achieving his goal of evolution. The steep price of 20,000 energy Bonnie had quoted to him seemed to be well out of his reach if he didn’t get some kind of help.

  4 Days 18 Hours 0 Minutes 0 Seconds

  As if a light flashed in his mind, Steve addressed the villagers lying on the ground to offer them a deal. "I shall grant you a chance to repent and be forgiven. Serve me for the next five days and it shall be as if these unpleasant events never happened.” There was no response, and Steve assumed they may still be too frightened to speak.

  Steve then turned his focus to the Crystals; two hours ago when his intellect returned, he had realized that they must be energy sources as well and this fact was probably what made them valuable to the humans. He needed some way to evaluate how much energy they contained, even though he probably wouldn’t be able to make any use of them at the moment. He had just witnessed the depth of the humans’ desire for the Crystals, but there was no time like the present to determine their true value for himself, before he made any more, possibly foolish bargains.

  Bonnie, help me scan these Crystals’ energy contents as I direct my focus at each one, Steve commanded, then started with the largest Crystal he saw.

  “One thousand energy and will also give an attribute,” Bonnie replied. Steve wondered what attributes were but set that aside for now.

  Steve shifted his focus quickly between all the stones. All of them came up short of the 1,000 of the first Crystal, with the lowest being 50. The wealth of energy in this clearing was substantial, though Steve knew it wouldn’t be enough.

  Bonnie. Same thing with the trees, alright? Steve requested once more, then focused his attention on a single part of the tree, the trunk.

  “Fifty.” Bonnie gave a single number. Steve shifted his vision to the top of the tree and all around it whilst searching for the numbers. All of them were well below 50, each large batch of leaves combining to make 1 energy.

  By then the village Elder had arrived, coming to stand quietly before him. Turning his full attention to the Elder, the man’s deference and respect was clear. Steve decided it was time to capitalize on that.

  “I had struck a bargain to give some of these Crystals to you in good faith, but now I see that generosity was misplaced and must reconsider,” Steve began. “However, I will still not deal with you unfairly. I’ve recently regained some of my old memories, which have allowed me to formulate a clearer strategy. In return for some of these Crystals, I want full command of this village for one week. Of course, I won’t do anything to harm the village or its people. I just need a base and assistance to begin my preparations. I will also require a lot of livestock and criminals.”

  Steve felt that this was a good enough deal for both parties involved. If they agreed, he would have a stronger foothold in this world to help prepare for his evolution. He would have a safe place to stay and a military force at his disposal. All that in addition to the energy he would gain.

  Leffer was hesitant, this sounded like a good deal; in fact it was too good, there must be a catch. A god would never offer to give something of greater value than what they received in a trade. There had to be some hidden downside for the village that he just wasn’t seeing; the Crystals really were too valuable. Who would ever pay even a single Crystal to hire a village for a week? Hell, he could have asked for two weeks of work with no problem. Any work they had to set aside could be made up later, but Crystals? There would be no way to acquire them if Steve took them and left.

  “Is that the whole of the deal?” Leffer asked.

  “Of course not. I want to see how you handle the beast I encountered near the village first, before deciding if you’re worth what I’ll be paying,” Steve said nonchalantly.

  “Alright then, that won’t be a…Wait a moment, what kind of ‘beast’ are you talking about?” Leffer inquired. When Steve had described it, Leffer’s eyes went wide. “That sounds like a dire wolf! There are have been no dire wolves sighted in these parts for thirty years.” Realizing that such a dangerous creature would be a serious threat, and most of the fighters were here in this clearing, he quickly began to issue commands. “We must return to defend the village immediately! If there is a dire wolf nearby, then lives are at stake.

  “Leeroy, Jenkins! I’m assigning you and the men who followed you to be god Steve’s personal attendants for the next few days. If you do well, the penalty for acting in defiance of my commands will not be as severe.” After saying this, he signaled to his Left and Right and the Elder’s group set out.

  Leffer had no use for thieves in his village and hoped that with the newfound competency he’d just displayed, Steve might save him the trouble of dealing with them and reform the so-called ‘Squad of Scoundrels’ for him. At the very least, it seemed Steve had the means to force their compliance, and anything the god did to them couldn’t be held against the Elder.

  Steve turned to his new servants and commanded them to load every Crystal they could find onto the wagons. Seeing that the man with the scorched leg couldn’t rise, he asked that someone treat him, and someone who apparently knew a little healing magic stepped forward to do so. All the while, Steve hovered above them doing his best to appear ominous and illuminating the clearing wh
ile they worked.

  I hadn’t even realized some of them might have magic, now I’m even less certain I could have won in open combat, Steve thought. It took so much focus to maintain Lesser Area Energy Drain over this whole clearing…Combine that with what it would have cost to cast so many consecutive Shocks and I think I might’ve failed. Luckily, intimidation was so effective and the Elder arrived soon after.

  Bonnie, pull up current descriptions and energy costs of the top twenty evolutions, in terms of overall power level, Steve commanded.

  Chapter 7

  “Let’s run through the plan one more time, alright?” a man with a mask obscuring his face said. He and the two men he was speaking to, all had the same dual markings on the back of their black clothes.

  “What’s there to talk about, Remley?” one of them replied. “We just control the dire wolves and send them in the direction of the village. We watch what happens and we leave. That’s it.” The third man nodded but remained silent. They all understood the plan, but it was customary to review immediately before putting it into action.

  “Lord Mottor won’t tolerate any mistakes because of carelessness,” Remley hissed. “Let’s run through the specifics once more.”

  “It’s a good idea, the payment is too good to risk losing. Actually, it makes me wonder if there’s anything we might’ve missed when we surveyed the village yesterday,” the silent one spoke this time. “A whole Crystal…just for this?”

  “Overthinking won’t accomplish anything. If you’re both dead set on wasting our time, let’s just get this review over with, get out of here and get paid,” the second one said impatiently.

  “Alright, let’s start from the beginning,” Remley said.

  ***

  Steve viewed the top twenty list, sorted by their current overall power. Though he understood that gaining new skills and improving his aptitudes and possibly even his actions would alter which race was ultimately the best option, when it was time for evolution. As if to illustrate that point, the current list already looked different than the last time.