Evolution

by A R Chen

  “That might be the reason.” Leffer nodded, agreeing with Azra. She had a good point. “Actually, it is the most likely reason. Nothing else I can think of explains why the ant army would be here, of all places. It seems that just like us, they want the Mana Lake.

  “Eventually, that Lake might attract even larger creatures. We might have to be prepared for a lot more danger. Bug armies generally won’t attack us, but other beings might.” Leffer was in a bit of a predicament. They were essentially trapped inside the village now, for fear that they might be eradicated by beings drawn to the Mana Lake. He then turned to Steve. “What should we do, god Steve?”

  “There’s a Crystal at the bottom of the Mana Lake. I think it’s supplying the Lake and the surroundings with mana. If I could get into the Lake, I could drain the Crystal to solve the problem. It’s leaking out too much energy right now,” Steve offered. He needed all the energy he could get, if he was going to have any chance of evolving to Changeling. He would just have to hope the affinity he absorbed from it wouldn’t make him less compatible with the evolution.

  Steve checked the countdown once more. It read:

  2 Days 12 Hours 35 Minutes 30 Seconds

  He still had almost half the time left to decide, anyway. For now, Vampire or Changeling looked like good options to him. After draining a lot of the Mottor, his Vampire evolution had become even better in terms of energy cost.

  Excess energy would buff up the evolution even more, Bonnie had told him. This meant that every bit of excess energy would change the outcome of the evolution. Whether that was initially or later, Steve wasn’t sure, but there had to be something he was missing. He was certain that right now he didn’t have the full picture of the situation.

  Steve considered what had happened the last few days. He needed some time to review, and this was it. The last memory had given him some more insights.

  First, he had woken up with absolutely no feelings or memories. This happened at countdown T minus five days. Every n+1 hours he would gain a feeling or a memory, alternating between the two. Then there were the pesky rules that had consequences attached to them. The ‘Greater Mind’ passive had blocked out Bonnie—somehow, she apparently counted as a tool of mind control.

  The villagers were still discussing the repercussions of this attack. They were also discussing his abilities, but even so, Steve was only half paying attention as he reconsidered his position in the world.

  Bonnie, was there anything you might’ve said during the time where you were blocked but couldn’t? Steve asked. He hadn’t considered this before, mostly because he hadn’t had enough time to think. He was either training in his spells or rushing around, ever since Bonnie came back. They hadn’t been able to truly sit down and talk, so this meeting was a good opportunity for that.

  “As part of the consequence, I can’t tell you!” Bonnie happily replied. Why was she so joyful all the time?

  What were these consequences? What were the rules for? Who had created and enforced them? And why was Bonnie considered a form of mind control?

  Countless questions flew through Steve’s mind. Someone or something had placed him here with these specific guidelines for a reason, right? It couldn’t have been random. Bonnie’s existence was proof that the situation he found himself in and the rules he was subject to, had been created by some entity, for some purpose.

  Unless he was insane…but no, Steve didn’t want to go down the rabbit hole of questioning his own sanity. He discarded the terrible thought and continued.

  So, my actions change the list. Steve went over what he knew again. The spells I learn affect the list. This means that in order to achieve the best evolution possible, I’ll need to figure out what was originally the most powerful path I could have taken. Was the list at the start truly the most powerful? If so, then it must be either Changeling, Deity, or the still-locked evolution.

  Steve regretted killing that chicken. What was he thinking? If only he hadn’t, then Bonnie might have been able to point him in the right direction, or something.

  The problem is, I wasn’t thinking…I was a blank slate, filled with endless, baseless confidence, Steve remembered. That means the others are likely in a similar state as me. There’s no reason that I should be the exception, unless there's something I'm missing.

  The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was going crazy. None of this made sense. He shouldn’t be on this world, according to his memories he…Unless the memories he had experienced weren’t memories at all. Steve considered the possibility that the experiences that he was being fed weren’t real. What if they weren’t events that had happened in his previous life, but bits and pieces of a puzzle?

  Up until the last ‘memory,’ he had just been cruising along. He hadn’t taken everything into consideration, but now he was hesitant. What did these visions mean? Steve was sure that they weren’t random; the visions showed specific bits and pieces of his life, or at least a life. But why those scenes specifically?

  There had been the chess game with Xander. Then there came the night scene with his ‘girlfriend.’ Steve paused at that. He still wanted to know who she was, even now. The feeling hadn’t gone away. But he forced himself to think beyond what he wanted. After that came the prank in the classroom. Then came the scene with his ‘father,’ showing him the stars. Last had been the despair scene where he was trapped in perpetual fear and darkness.

  The only name he had from his ‘memories’ was Xander. So, that must be the clue that bound the elements of this puzzle together—that was, assuming this really was a puzzle. If he could just meet and confer with Xander, assuming he was also in this world, then he would have a lot more information to work with.

  Steve was sure that there were others in this world. So far, Bonnie hadn’t lied to him—everything she said turned out to be true. She had told him of creatures, explained how to view the evolution listings and what affected the list, helped him learn how to absorb energy, and guided him through Ash’s Naming ceremony. That meant what Bonnie said could be trusted.

  He turned his attention back to the meeting. They were debating what to do with the Elemental Bark and their portion of the Crystals. Then, they began discussing what would happen to Ekem Village and Mottor Village. Steve tuned them out again; none of this had anything to do with him.

  If Xander was in this world with him, he could assume that his visions were really his memories. If he could confirm the nature of his experiences by speaking with his good friend, then that would be a huge weight off his mind. Instead of finding his girlfriend, Steve needed to focus on finding Xander first. It was good to sort out his priorities, even though he didn’t like the conclusion he came to.

  Of course, this was all based on the huge assumption that they were all brought here together. Steve had a hunch that they were, though. If not, then what purpose did these visions serve? There was too much he didn’t know. He hated not knowing if he could even trust his own ‘memories.’

  Steve checked his countdown again. The meeting was going longer than expected. It read:

  2 Days 12 Hours 3 Minute 2 Seconds

  Dwelling on this too much would be bad for his state of mind, so he listened as the village Elder wrapped things up.

  “So, we will need to send out squads to make sure the area is safe. We don’t think that the insect armies will directly attack us, because their target is the Lake. With that said, it doesn’t mean that they won’t attack on sight if we approach them, just because we are there. We need to make sure we avoid being spotted when they clash,” Leffer reasoned. It was true, the two insect armies would most likely fight each other and they didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

  “As to the situation of Mottor and Ekem villages, they are currently without leaders. We might be able to take their lands, if we act quickly. We need to heal our forces, conscript two hundred more men and prepare to move out as soon as possible.” Leffer saw an opportunity to increase his clan�
�s power.

  The previous Niti Village Elder, Notomen, had lost his power because he was too hesitant to act. Leffer did not wish to repeat the same mistake. “With that, this meeting is adjourned. Commands will be issued shortly. Spread the word that anyone who needs rest should take it now. God Steve, do you have any issues you would like to discuss?”

  “No, that’s all fine,” Steve calmly replied. Being addressed suddenly, he didn’t quite know how to respond. He hoped by just agreeing, they wouldn’t notice that he hadn’t been listening.

  Suddenly, Bonnie spoke in a monotone voice again, “Congratulations, everyone has survived half of the beginner period. You now have two choices: You may either specialize in one evolution or choose to have more memories unlocked!”

  ***

  I…Do I get more information? Steve sent mentally. That couldn’t be it, could it?

  “Ordinarily not. But you are a special case, because of the consequence of Greater Mind,” Bonnie replied robotically. “Specialization allows you to choose one evolution and receive tips from your helper to achieve the best route to success with it. The other option will unlock many more memories. Which will you choose?”

  Steve considered for about two seconds, then made the obvious choice. “Specialization – Changeling.” Having more memories might be helpful, but right now he wasn’t even sure that they were his memories. Bonnie hadn’t specified that they were his, and the wording didn’t even give him any hints.

  From what he’d seen though, the technology in the visions was incredibly complex. Considering all the possibilities, he couldn’t even be sure that he wouldn’t wake up one day in his own bed back home. Or maybe this was some elaborate prank. Who knew, maybe this was all a dream? One big, completely fucked-up dream.

  Steve had taken everything at face value until the despairing flashback. Only then had it really hit him how scary this world and the situation he found himself in was. Now he’d just witnessed hundreds of human beings die violently. That hadn’t improved his opinion of this place, at all.

  There were so many things he didn’t understand. He needed to get out of Niti Village and explore the world. Bonnie had said specializing would help get some answers, at least in relation to his evolution.

  “You are the second one to select Specialization,” Bonnie said, still speaking in a monotone voice. Then, she switched back to happy Bonnie. “Go to the Mana Lake, right now! Absorb the Crystal inside of it. The Water attribute will greatly benefit your Changeling evolution!”

  So, it was like that. It was nice to get such direct advice and information. Steve found it interesting that he was the second one to select Specialization, though.

  Bonnie made it sound urgent, so Steve left immediately. He had seen Ash and Azra milling about, as if they wanted to ask him a question, but they looked practically asleep on their feet, so he wasn’t going to take them with him. This was his third time heading over to the Mana Lake. He remembered the way.

  Steve checked his energy as he was heading out.

  Current Energy – 10,328

  Max Energy – 14,350

  Steve burned energy to speed himself towards the Mana Lake; after that long fight, he had gained a lot. Draining from mages and warriors seemed to be much more efficient than draining from livestock or Crystals.

  He guessed that absorbing the huge Crystal on the bottom of the lake would probably increase his energy by ten thousand or more, but he needed to be quick. Night was falling, and the creatures of the forest were probably going to be fighting for control of the Mana Lake.

  Steve wondered if the ant and centipede armies really would clash. He could probably get a lot of free energy from that, if he was careful, but it was better to focus on the task at hand. He may never have this opportunity again if truly powerful creatures arrived at the Mana Lake. Plus, it would be a good idea to figure out whether Bonnie was omniscient, or if she were just well informed, compared to himself. If he got there and saw the Mana Lake was dried up, or otherwise inaccessible to him, then he would know that Bonnie’s guidance was only based on limited knowledge.

  He was still wondering if the information about the best path to his desired evolution had come from Bonnie, or was provided by some third party. The voice had changed when it had given him the suggestion, but Steve still knew better than to trust it blindly. He eventually decided that such a detail was irrelevant at the moment. He would have to absorb that Crystal anyways, so better sooner than later, judging by the circumstances that had already arisen in the short period of time since he killed the fish in the lake.

  Steve had passed the inner village wall and kept on going. He didn’t see anything unusual in the outer village, other than tracks of the ants, who had been forced to detour around the wall. They were heading to the Mana Lake as well; that much was obvious from the direction of the tracks.

  Steve had ignored most of the conversation in the meeting, but he got the gist of it. The creatures that were now contesting the Mana Lake weren’t always this large or aggressive. They used to be several orders of magnitude smaller, but had become larger and larger due to the amount of mana they had absorbed. The amount of food they needed to survive also decreased as a result of the mana infusion making their bodies more efficient.

  Steve traveled as fast as his energy allowed him to. If he focused completely on traveling, then he would be able to get there in around twenty minutes. Just as he was about to reach the Mana Lake, he saw remnants of the bug battle between the ants and the centipedes. Judging from the bodies on the forest ground, the centipedes had won.

  It looked to have been a close battle though; they seemed to have exchanged casualties at a near one-to-one ratio. Nearby, Steve saw a scorch mark on a tree, that appeared from the shape of it to have been caused by magic.

  Steve stopped to look at the mark a little more closely. He contemplated the implications. If all, or even some of them can use magic, I need to be more careful than I had first thought. If that’s the case…then maybe I shouldn’t go in directly.

  Even as he had that thought, he saw something fly at him out of his peripheral vision. It was a fireball, streaking from the nearby underbrush. Steve couldn’t activate Blink quickly enough, so the fireball hit him straight on.

  Steve didn’t feel any pain—in fact he didn’t feel anything—but the fireball turned half of his field of view black as it went on through his side and continued on, into the forest. Steve’s vision returned slowly, as his light body recovered from having half of it blasted away. Steve could feel that his light body had become smaller. He wondered if there was a point of no return. That would be disastrous.

  The spell had come from an ant that was twice the size of the others he had seen, almost two feet long and bright red, with shiny wings on its back.

  In the time it had taken to make that observation, Steve readied his Shock spell in his mind and fired. It struck the large red ant in the thorax, the heat of the lightning making its chitin shell crack and char around the impact. Steve readied another blast, intent on killing his attacker.

  “Wait!” a distinctly female voice screeched in his mind. “Don’t!”

  Steve was confused. It sounded like someone was trying to talk to him.

  “Who’s there!” Steve shouted.

  “Queen Tolma, hive mind of the fire ants. We deeply apologize for giving offense, we just sensed a large amount of energy,” the red ant said. Steve was shocked that the ant that attacked him was speaking to him telepathically. A few other smaller, brown ants appeared and took up defensive positions around the large winged ant. “Please forgive our transgressions.”

  I think I should gather whatever information I can from this ant. It seems to be the leader of the smaller ants, Steve thought. Besides, without the element of surprise on its side…I can kill it easily if I need to.

  “I accept your apology. How are you talking to me mentally like that, though?” Steve said aloud. Even though it was communicating mentally wit
h him, he wasn’t sure how to return the message in kind.

  “We believe you should be capable of this…” Tolma replied. From the tone of the voice in his mind, it sounded like the ant didn’t believe he was asking a serious question.

  Steve tried it. He focused his attention on Tolma and tried to speak to it from his mind. It didn’t work. He then imagined a box space in his mind, labeled it Tolma, and spoke to it.

  Ah, I see, Steve sent mentally. This time, there was a definite sensation that the message had gone through, so he moved on to the important topic. Why did you attack me?

  He wouldn’t spend more than a few minutes on this and he was already near to his destination. Maybe he could get some insight on what to expect to run into at the Mana Lake.

  “We just lost the war against the centipedes. Needed energy to recuperate. You were a large source of energy passing by,” Tolma answered quite honestly. Likely it understood that if it didn’t, then Steve could kill it on the spot.

  How many races are at the Mana Lake right now? Steve asked directly. He needed to know this most of all.

  “The surviving centipedes are in combat with something, though we can’t sense what it is,” Tolma told him.

  Can you fight? How many of your number are left? Steve asked. He was planning on taking these ants and contesting the Mana Lake.

  “We number only in the tens. We will have reinforcements soon. Another of our armies is coming. We will take the Mana Lake then,” Tolma replied. That didn’t exactly answer the question, so Steve pressed on.

  Help me take the Mana Lake. I will compensate you. There’s no time to discuss it right now, figure out the details later. I just need a distraction when I go in, Steve confidently stated. He didn’t know what other race was fighting with the centipedes, but in case they could use magic, it would definitely be better to go in with an ally.

  There was a pause, the queen ant shifted its head to the side…then was motionless even longer. It seemed to be calculating something.