by A R Chen
1) ??? - ???
2) ??? - ???
3) Vampire – Cost: 15,000 Energy. End evolution is the Legendary Vampire or Undetermined. Evolution starts out extremely low-powered. Will receive help from the current Vampire clan.
4) Dragon – Cost: 50,000 Energy. End evolution is the Dragon God. Evolution starts out medium-powered but gaining energy and consolidating it is difficult. Will receive help from the current Dragon race.
5) ??? - ???
6) Undead – Cost: 45,000 Energy. End evolution is the Undead Emperor. Evolution starts out low-powered, however amassing undead is easy. Gaining power is easy, however keeping it might prove difficult. Almost all other races will join forces against you if your nature is discovered.
7) Elf – Cost: 20,000 Energy. End evolution is the Greater Elven Magister. Evolution starts out low-powered. Gaining energy is medium difficulty while keeping energy is easy. Races will tend to trust you, making interacting with most of them easy.
8) Slime – Cost: 15,000 Energy. End evolution is Undetermined. Evolution starts out medium-powered. Gaining power is easy, just absorb! Monster-class being, other beings will want to hunt you.
9) Turtle – Cost: 100,000 Energy. End evolutions are the World Turtle or Undetermined. Evolution starts out low-powered. Gaining power is easy, just eat! Monster-class being, however, other beings will help you.
10) Goblin – Cost: 25,000 Energy. End evolutions are Greater Goblin King, Greater Goblin Magister, or Undetermined. Evolution starts out with a clan. The growth of the Goblin Clan will determine your evolution path.
11) Human – Cost: 20,000 Energy. End evolution is Undetermined. Evolution starts out extremely low-powered. Evolution path will be determined by training.
12) Beast-man – Cost: 10,000 Energy. End evolution is the Beast King. Evolution starts out high-powered. Evolution path will be determined by choices.
13) Dwarf – Cost: 8,500 Energy. End evolutions are the Dwarven Magister or Undetermined. Evolution starts out medium-powered. Evolution path will be determined by lifestyle. Can absorb minerals to increase strength.
14) Orc – 7,500 Energy. End evolutions are Orc General or Undetermined. Evolution starts out high-powered. Evolution path will be determined by leadership ability. Will receive the help of all Orc tribes.
15) Troll – 5,000 Energy. End evolution is Undetermined. Evolution starts out high-powered. Evolution path will be determined by leadership ability. Will receive the help of all Troll tribes.
16) Naga – 3,500 Energy. End evolution is Undetermined. Evolution starts out high-powered in bodies of water and low-powered on land. Evolution path will be determined by choices. Will receive help from the oceans and seas.
17) Ogre – 1,000 Energy. End evolution is Ogre King. Evolution starts out extremely high-powered. Evolution path is determined by power level. Will receive assistance from the current Ogre clan.
18) Kobold – 1,500 Energy. End evolution is Undetermined. Evolution starts out medium-powered. Evolution path is determined by lifestyle. Will not receive assistance from any race until special conditions are met.
19) Treant – 1,000 Energy. End evolution is Undetermined. Evolution starts out low-powered. Evolution path is determined by spells learned. Will not receive assistance from any race until special conditions are met.
20) Rock Being – 0 Energy. End evolution is Undetermined. Evolution starts out with low power. Evolution path is determined by lifestyle. Will receive assistance from the Greater Rock Forefathers.
Steve noted that Vampire had shot up toward the top of the list in terms of power. He had learned Lesser Area Energy Drain, which seemed like a spell suited to Vampires, so it made sense that the Vampire evolution’s overall rating had gone up.
The thing was, Steve wanted the very best. Vampire was only sitting at number three right now because of his recent decisions. In order to meet his future objectives, he needed the best evolution possible. He couldn’t even be sure that learning Lesser Area Energy Drain had caused much of an increase to the Vampire evolution’s relative power, as opposed to making the question-marked option’s rating go down, because it was incompatible with the spells he had learned.
He idly watched Loop as he thought. The poor kid looked worn out from hauling Crystals to the wagons. It had only been a few hours since Ash, Loop, and Azra first found him in that clearing, but the three youngsters’ paths had already diverged. Loop had made a bad choice, but Steve didn’t really blame him. There were apparently many adults in the village who were a bad influence on him.
Steve thought of what kinds of things he could do to unlock those first two evolutions. He didn’t really have any brilliant insight, but he did have a lot of time left. He checked the countdown again:
4 Days 17 Hours 50 Minutes 20 Seconds
I have almost 4 hours until the next change, Steve thought. I need to have the village under my control by then.
He watched as the last of the Crystals were loaded into the wagons. Then, a few of the men got onto the wagons and began getting them turned back towards town. Still, nobody had made any attempt to speak to him.
Just when he was beginning to think that they were too afraid to even communicate, Leeroy turned to Steve, eyes downcast. “We got everything loaded just fine, god Steve.” His tone was meek, devoid of the force from before. Even if he could defy Steve without being killed, that would only ensure that he was banished. Leeroy knew his father, Leffer, well. If he fucked this situation up even more, he could forget about coming back to the village. A life of banditry at best, or even dying alone in the wilderness would be all he had to look forward to. “We’re ready to go.”
“Alright, let’s set out,” Steve responded brusquely.
Steve took one look back at the blue trees; they would have to come back for those later. He had to exploit all of his resources to the utmost, but if he were too greedy, too hasty, he might do himself more harm than good. If he absorbed the largest Crystal in the clearing, he imagined he may just blow up in a flash of heat. Perhaps if he absorbed the energy from one of the blue trees, Treant, which was currently at number nineteen on the list, may suddenly became his most-suited evolution. Steve needed more information and time to analyze his situation. There was no reason to take such big risks, just yet.
***
Ash followed the Elder in their frenzied dash back to the village. His father Amon, the Left, had cast a wind spell to help them all run faster. It was a pleasant feeling, running with the wind at his back, assisting him. His father’s spellwork was still somewhat better than he could manage, but Ash expected that to change after his awakening. After all, the powers manifested in childhood were only a fraction of what they could be after their Naming ceremony.
The Elder would soon personally Name him, bringing out his full potential. Ash couldn’t deny that he was excited, this was the biggest milestone of his life. He was even a bit nervous because although he knew that he was the best of their village’s younger generation, he still feared some kind of complication. After all, he'd always heard his Elder say that there are very few sure things in this world.
In moments, they were out of the region of the Elemental Bark trees and onto one of the better paths through the forest. There they could truly move as fast as possible, the Right adding his own speed-enhancing spell to Amon’s efforts. They had already prepared for the possibility that they would need to use these spells earlier, picking up the catalysts from their homes before they set out. The appropriate catalysts could be used to instant-cast spells when the proper technique was used.
The group arrived at the village in record time. There were no dire wolves, or any other threat to be seen. The village was quiet, the sun long gone, and most residents probably preparing to sleep. The village, lit by two moons high in the sky, was a beautiful sight. Most of the buildings were also illuminated by one or more lanterns, set along the main paths, for any villagers that may have responsibilities that kept them out past dus
k. Seeing this all from his current vantage, Ash felt the village was already a small town. Why it was still called a village, he had never understood. Maybe it was some kind of Empire regulation; he’d need to ask the Elder about it later.
In spite of the apparent peace, Ash knew they were far from safe. Dire wolves didn't travel alone—if god Steve had encountered one nearby, then there had to be more. The last time the village had suffered a dire wolf attack, the previous Left had sacrificed himself to ensure the safety of his fellow Nitians. He had intentionally overspent his mana and concentration to case a massive earthquake spell near the village entrance, just before the wolves could get in. Then Ash's father had taken over for the deceased Left, hence the age difference between the Elder and his Right, and his Left.
Of course, the weak, fleshy bodies of human beings as a race were only capable of so much. They were incapable of withstanding too much mana running through them. Maintaining enough energy to stay alive was even more of an issue—go too long without eating or drinking and humans would drop dead. If a human managed to survive until the age of sixty, let alone seventy, they were better off than most. They were a race with massive, inherent weakness, that had still somehow managed to build up an Empire in what the other races considered the middle of nowhere.
The Empire’s predominant race was human, meaning that almost all those who held power, whether political or magical, were human. It was a more distributed system than many other nations, where the whole country was ruled by an elite, powerful being and their immediate family. Niti Village was situated somewhere in the East of a normally peaceful country called Turkey. Being a minor, far-off village, they held almost no power in the Empire and knew their place in the food chain. Ash’s hope was that once his latent potential was unlocked, he would be able to change that within his lifetime.
***
At Leffer’s signal, the Left and Right fanned out with their men and began searching around the village. They would collect volunteers they could count on from some of the houses as they passed. Most men would jump at the opportunity to be useful to the Elder. His word was law here, as the most powerful being in Niti. Although, Steve’s arrival had called that title into question.
If he were to fight Steve now, based on what he had seen, Steve would definitely lose—very badly in fact. Leffer apparently had decades more experience wielding magic than him and was a skilled warrior to boot. However, one did not survive that many years and eventually become the Elder of a large village, without realizing the risk of acting immediately. If he were to make a move against Steve, he needed to wait for the right opportunity.
If Steve did turn out to be a god-class being, then even fifty Leffers working together at the maximum output couldn’t hope to stop him. If they offended a god, the village may be destroyed, perhaps even nearby villages as well, if his wrath was great enough. To make it even worse, the Empire would never come to their defense but instead send offerings to appease the god and make amends for the village’s wrongdoings. Leffer couldn’t allow that to happen.
That was the other half of the reason that he had no qualms leaving his son, Leeroy, to any fate less than death for what he had done. Although it did pain him personally, that outcome was still far better than hurting the whole village.
While Steve appeared weak, there was also evidence which seemed to indicate he was some sort of being of power, even if not a god, as well. Ash had reported that Steve had drained a chicken and later the rabbits of their energy, not mana. There was an important distinction; draining mana was something that any mage with a bit of training could do to a target that didn’t resist. An ordinary animal wouldn’t have much mana, but would easily survive the process of having it drained away.
But that wasn’t what happened. From examining the bodies and hearing Ash’s description of what happened to the rabbits, Steve had used something akin to a Greater Energy Drain to literally suck the life energy out of the animals. This was something on the level of High Magisters in the capital. It was impossible for any mage’s construct to do this, no matter how skilled the mage. Thus the only safe assumption was that Steve was the real deal. An honest to gods god had appeared within their village.
***
Steve arrived back in the village with his group of attendants. He ordered them to drop off the wagons near his residence, then go help the Elder in the search for dire wolves. It would be a serious impediment to his plans if the village were destroyed by beasts.
“Bonnie, can you give me any hints that could lead to unlocking the question-marked evolutions?” Steve asked directly. He knew Bonnie was unlikely to volunteer any such information as nearly all the important things he’d learned from her were the result of direct questioning.
“Nope! Good luck with that, though,” Bonnie replied, cheerfully as ever.
Well, I guess everything has calmed down now, Steve thought. I think I should focus on understanding my energy and spells. I’m going to absorb some of those Crystals sooner or later, so I could get started now.
Steve’s current energy level was still near max, so he shot a few Shocks onto the ground just to make room to absorb more. I will first check the effects of one red Crystal, Steve thought as he hovered above one of the smallest Crystals on the wagon and started slowly absorbing from it. I’m pretty sure red means fire-attribute, which could be good news for some of my evolution paths. It’ll probably re-arrange the whole list.
The Crystal’s deep-red hue slowly faded to a lighter shade, then began to flicker between that and grey. Soon, the Crystal had no color at all, appearing to be nothing but an ordinary rock.
My energy level has gone up so much from that one Crystal! Steve thought. The effects really were amazing. He had started with around 30 in Current Energy and 70 Max Energy. Now he had been brought up to 80 in Current Energy and 90 Max Energy. His use of spells had expanded his max energy while the Crystal replenished him.
Steve then checked his evolution paths again. The power ranking hadn’t changed, but the energy required for each evolution had moved around a bit. As there were no major changes, Steve wasn’t concerned at all. Even if there had been, he hadn’t figured out a way to guide his evolution path and lower the cost of evolving into the things he was most interested in.
Whatever he evolved into, he needed to make sure he would retain his Blink skill. It was too important to his strategy; he could lose Shock—it was just a mild attack—but Blink was his instantaneous travel. With it, he could survive most situations easily, if not avoid them altogether.
Steve turned his focus back to the Crystals covetously. He hesitated about consuming them to increase his energy levels for a split second, before he made up his mind. It’ll be fine as long as I leave the few I promised as payment…right?
***
A few hours of work later, the next change hit:
4 Days 14 Hours 0 Minutes 0 Seconds
Steve’s vision swam and he blacked out for a split second. When he came to, he was in a room. Feeling the comfortable mattress beneath himself, he realized it was a darkened bedroom. He stirred and tried to sit up but found his arm pinned beneath something.
My bedroom? What am I doing here? Steve thought. This is so weir—
“Steve! What are you doing?” a soft, distinctly female voice asked him in the darkness.
“Uh…” Steve couldn’t find the words, his mind going blank. Then memories came flooding back; this was his girlfriend. “I…” He was suddenly overcome with emotion. The girl lying with him on his bed startled as he suddenly grabbed her in an awkward, desperate embrace.
“Hey…hey! What are you doing, Steve?” she exclaimed. “How can you already want another round? That would be our third tonight…you shouldn’t be ready again that quickly! Though, I have to say, the attention is flattering.”
What was her name? Steve tried desperately to think as they cuddled together. He remembered everything, her face, her laughter, all the things that he loved about h
er. As his recollections continued, he found a fool’s grin spreading across his face. He basked in the moment, as he remembered all that they had shared together.
Steve then remembered the other world: his new, dangerous life as a ball of light. His thoughts gradually darkened as he hugged her closer. Why had he been taken away from this and brought there? What had happened to her when he was taken away? He couldn’t remember anything apart from memories of his time with Xander and this girl.
The feeling of warm breath on his bare skin snapped him out of his dark musing. Her body was warming up, and his was starting to respond. He didn’t know how long this vision would last, nor did he care.
In that moment, the two of them were the only reality.
Chapter 8
“Remley, what the fuck is that!” the normally mute member of the trio spat out in surprise. “How the fuck did it get there?” They had just checked last night with their Looking Mirror and seen no complications. Today, the three stared open-mouthed as they made a final check, which should have been a mere formality before they launched the attack.
“I don’t know, Ronnie! I swear to the fucking gods it wasn’t there yesterday, I double checked.” Remley was as shocked as any of them. “Reagan, can you identify it?”
“Sure thing, boss! Looks like a ball of light floating in mid-fucking-air. Good enough for you? How the fuck did you actually expect me to ID something like that?” Reagan spat sarcastically. Deep down, he was still bitter that Remley had authority over him. “I’ve never seen something like that, I don’t think anyone has. Look at the way it moves, it can even cast spells! What the fuck?”
“Hold on, it’s going somewhere,” Ronnie stated. “Please, be quiet. I’m going to clarify the picture.”