by Yuu Tanaka
Where is it…there!
Awaken. The signature skill of evolved beastmen. And it was right there in my skill list.
Fran…!
“How’d it go, Teacher?” Fran asked, worried.
I answered her, trying my best to maintain my calm. We got it.
“Hm…! Really?”
Yes, really.
We were ecstatic, but the anxiety was even greater. Had we really just obtained the Awaken skill? What would happen if Fran equipped it? Would she really evolve? Was it all that simple…?
“Teacher?”
Oh, sorry.
Only one way to find out. We certainly weren’t going to leave it in storage.
I’ll equip Awaken now.
“Please.” Fran gripped me tight in her right hand without consciously thinking about it. The scene looked like it was plucked right out of a fairy tale. I equipped Awaken, keeping watch.
It’s on now. Feel anything different? I asked, trying to control myself.
“Hm…I can use it. I know.”
I see.
What would happen to Fran when she used it…?
“Huff…hmm…” Fran closed her eyes and controlled her breathing, concentrating on the skill. I looked on quietly. “Hm! Here I go!” She opened her eyes and invoked the skill’s name. “Awaken!”
Here it comes!
I didn’t know what it was, but it sure was coming! An overwhelming amount of mana burst out of her. The overflow poured out, shooting upwards and creating a kind of pillar.
Whoa!
“Woof!”
Black lightning bolts ran throughout the room. We had to seek shelter from the storm. The bolts hit me and Jet, dealing a significant amount of damage. Was Fran okay in the middle of that thing?
Fran, are you all right?!
“Arf, arf!” Jet barked.
No response. Did she lose control?
Fortunately, my worries proved to be for naught. Fran’s ears and tail stood on end as the mana settled down. Her tail was striped now—black with a light gray. The pattern was subtle, highlighted by the glow of mana.
Fran?
“Ungh…” Fran was crying. Tears rolled freely down her face. Emotions and memories raced through her. The dream of her race had become a reality.
I floated over to Fran as she choked through her tears. I did what I could with Telekinesis to approximate a consoling stroke on her back. She fell on her knees, crying harder as she tightened her grip on my hilt.
“Uhhh…sniff…”
I felt her warmth and heartbeat as she pressed her cheek against the flat of my blade. I felt her shiver and sigh. I wanted to cry too, despite not having eyes. Jet drew closer, and even his eyes welled up with tears.
“Arf…”
“Sniff…waaah…”
Ten minutes later, Fran stopped crying and stood up, rubbing her eyes. She smiled and fluffed Jet’s head, trying to hide her embarrassment. “Sorry about that.”
No need. That was a very big deal.
“Thanks.”
Let’s check it again just to be sure.
“Hm!” Fran gave a small jump of excitement. She closed and opened her left hand to assess the difference.
Well?
“Hmm…I’m stronger now.”
You don’t look too different, so let’s check your stats… What the heck?!
The boost she’d gained was quite a shock. Her Agility and Magic were up by three hundred points and her health and mana were completely topped up. She’d also acquired the Class Skill Flashing Thunderclap.
All this from Awaken? Was she evolved now? I thought Awaken was something you got after Evolution, not before.
This Evolution thing is potent stuff…hm?
I looked at Fran’s stats again. Lumina was a Black Tiger, if memory served, so I thought Fran would follow in her footsteps…
Fran…you’re a Black Sky Tiger for some reason.
That made her a member of one of the Ten Tribes—a race as legendary as the Beast King.
How’d that happen…?
“…”
Fran?
“…”
Uhh, Fran? Jet?
“…”
“…”
The two of them had stopped moving completely. What was going on? It looked like someone had stopped time.
What’s going on here?
Darkness came over me, only adding to my confusion. The complete blackout had no shape I could make out. Did something happen to my vision? What was happening? Were Fran and Jet alright?
“Don’t worry. I merely manipulated the flow of time and stopped everything aside from you.”
A woman’s voice, neither Fran’s nor Lumina’s. It was loud—not because of its volume, but because of its proximity. It sounded like she was talking right in my ear…
What? Who’s there?
“I didn’t think she could evolve that way… That was some stunt you pulled.”
Excuse me?
Who was she? What was she? More importantly, had I angered her?
“You meeting the Black Cat girl was nothing short of a miracle. I didn’t expect the two of you to come this far…” the voice said.
A bright light shone in the pitch-black darkness, and a woman emerged from the shaft of radiance. She was heartbreakingly beautiful. Her silver hair glistened with a mysterious opalescence. Her brown skin radiated purity and health. She was well-endowed and her robes flowed elegantly, complimenting her curves, but the effect wasn’t sexual or voluptuous. She glowed with divine light.
And you are…?
“I am she who maintains the order of the world. You may know me as the Goddess of Chaos.”
Come again?
I stared at the self-proclaimed Goddess of Chaos. How was I supposed to take her seriously? The Goddess of Chaos was one of the Ten Gods, the creator of dungeons. Powerful, if not almighty.
Then again, she was stopping time. Only a god could pull that off.
The woman smiled, though it did nothing to reassure me. She reeked of trouble!
“How rude. I certainly do not reek, thank you very much.”
What? D-did she just read my thoughts?
“Yes.”
I-I’m so sorry.
Oh no! The last thing I wanted to do was piss off a god! No, sorry! I respect you, I really do! I’m just overwhelmed by your beauty, dear goddess, that’s all! Please, have mercy on me! If I had a body, I would fall on my face right now!
“Ha ha ha. We gods have no need for vain words. I can see right into your soul.”
Uhhh, I…
“Your lack of respect for the gods makes you a rare creature, indeed.”
I-I respect you. Honest!
“Oh, I don’t mind. I am not so petty as to let such a small slight wound me.”
S-so are you going to punish me for being disrespectful, or…
“Perish the thought.”
Th-thank god! I’d been terrified since I found out about the punishment the gods gave the Black Cat tribe!
“I have taken on a more frightening form in the past. But this form is more palatable to your kind. I’m not even used to speaking in such a loose manner. Apologies if I don’t look or sound more divine.”
Was the woman standing in front of me only a part of the goddess? I’d heard of divine encounters back on Earth. At best, they blinded you. At worst, they drove you insane. Thank you so much for making yourself look like something I can bear!
“Enough of that. We have no need for the faith of an outsider.”
What? So you know that I came from another world?
“Of course. But let’s set that aside for now. We have more pressing matters.” The smile disappeared from the goddess’ face, heightening my tension. I think I knew the reason she was here.
It’s about Fran’s Evolution, isn’t it?
“Yes.”
The presence of the goddess settled any doubt about the origin of the Black Cat’s curse. The god
s had indeed punished them.
“Precisely. The Black Cat tribe committed a grave sin. One so grave as to earn a heavy penance.”
And I helped Fran get around that restriction…
“You get right to the point. Honestly, I didn’t expect anyone to evolve in that manner. And now, we move on to the problem.”
I knew we hadn’t exactly gone through the proper channels, but the gods didn’t have to come down on us! Was she going to—
“Rest easy. I am not going to do anything to the girl. I will not nullify her act of Evolution.”
I heaved a sigh of relief. I was still in the thick of it, but at least the worst wouldn’t happen.
“Do you know the trouble you’ve caused?”
I helped Fran evolve in an improper way?
“That isn’t the only problem.”
Wait, really?
“Yes. I wouldn’t have needed to come down here myself for that.”
Well, what was the problem then?
“Your roundabout way of Evolution is not without consequence. You ignored the logic of this world.”
The logic of the world?
“Yes. Think of it like the systems and programs you had back on Earth.”
Did that mean the Goddess of Chaos was a system administrator, in a way? My P.A. might be related to her.
“Normally, a beastman acquires the Awaken skill upon maxing out his level. Using the skill awakens the latent power in his blood, eventually resulting in Evolution. However, a curse has been placed on the Black Cat tribe to prevent them from acquiring Awaken, even if they hit max level. You’ve seen this firsthand.”
That’s what happened with Fran.
“Now, the girl sidestepped the curse and found an alternate way to acquire Awaken, and then evolved anyway. Perhaps it is the latent power of the Black Cat tribe that allowed her to evolve after a single use of Awaken, but regardless, this opens up the possibility of something similar happening again.”
I see. Equipping me would be enough to make anyone evolve…
“Precisely my point. Any beastman at any level could evolve by simply equipping you. I will not allow the laws of the world to be broken in such a way. Besides, the penance of the Black Cat tribe would have no meaning if anyone could pick you up and evolve,” the goddess said, staring at me intently.
Wait, was I the one on trial here? Was my existence about to be…cancelled? Please, say it ain’t so!
I returned the goddess’ gaze with anxiety. She pointed her finger at me.
“There are two ways for a Black Cat to bypass the restriction that we have placed on their tribe.”
W-wait, was I safe? Was she just leading me on? Which one was it?!
“Will you please calm down? I have no intention of destroying you.”
Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!
“If you will let me finish. The first method involves lifting the curse on an individual. A Black Cat must kill a thousand Fiends or a single A-Threat Fiend. The curse would immediately be lifted, and that individual would be able to evolve.”
Uh, was she allowed to tell me these things? She’d gone to the trouble of wiping Lumina’s memories and restricting her speech. It seemed odd that she would give me all this information so readily.
“Because the girl has already evolved, regardless of how she achieved it, the restrictions on Lumina no longer apply. She will tell you later, so I might as well tell you now.”
I…guess?
But Jet and I weren’t Black Cats. If we were restricted in speech, wouldn’t that be the same as putting a gag on Fran? I couldn’t imagine Fran asking me and Jet to leave so she and Lumina could talk. I hoped the gods would forget about that so we could all talk like normal people.
“Familiars and summons are not subject to this. And you are one of my vassals, which makes you an exception.”
Right, she could read my thoughts… Wait, did she just say I was her vassal? That sounded very important.
Excuse me? I’m your vassal?
“One of my vassals, if we’re being accurate.”
T-tell me more!
“No. We are talking about Evolution.”
Dang it.
“The other method breaks the curse for all members of the Black Cat tribe. The tribe must band together to defeat an S-Threat Fiend or a vassal of the Evil One. Accomplish that, and the sins of the tribe will be forgiven, and they will be accepted back into the Ten Tribes.”
Lifting the tribal curse as a whole seemed almost impossible. An S-Threat monster was a world-ending cataclysm. For the Black Cats to kill such an entity by themselves…
“It goes to show you the gravity of the sin they committed.”
I’ve been hearing about this sin a lot, but what was it, exactly?
“It goes back to the Black Cat Elder at the time, who was also the Beast King. They broke the seal on the Evil One to absorb his power into their bloodline. It worked…half the time.”
Absorb his power? How was that different from becoming Fiends?
“It was much worse, for starters. Part of the royal family evolved into half-Fiend, half-beastman creatures. Half of them succeeded in getting stronger, though most of them went berserk and were killed by their brethren. We could not allow the powers of the Evil One to be used for personal gain. We eliminated the royal family and those who obtained his power, and took Evolution from the remaining Black Cats.”
That…was a lot worse than I expected! Using the Evil One’s powers to become demigods was like picking a fight with the gods themselves.
“We had made it clear that using the Evil One’s powers for personal gain would not go unpunished.”
And the Black Cat King had ignored this commandment. No wonder the gods were furious.
Now I know how serious their crime is.
“But with you, any Black Cat can evolve without so much as thinking about penance.” She didn’t glare at me, but her words stung. “Evolution is the lost dream of the Black Cats. But evolving in an improper way, without paying for their sins, will only lead to an even greater sin. One that might lead in turn to an even greater punishment.”
Dare I ask for an example…?
“Extinction of the whole species,” the goddess said frankly.
B-but—
“I said it might, which means it might not. Even so, try to understand the gravity of your actions.”
Y-yes, ma’am.
Her brief statement struck the fear of the gods into me. I wondered again if my life was in danger.
S-so what should I do now? I swear I won’t let anyone other than Fran use Awaken. You have my word!
“And you speak truly. Even so, it is too weak to be a guarantee. I cannot allow the existence of manatech which lets its users evolve at no cost.”
Oh no…I knew it…
“Calm down. Like I said earlier, I have no intention of destroying you. I will not do anything so violent as that.”
I-I see! That was the closest shave I’d had since coming to this world!
“Let me get to the point—”
Snap.
Huh? What just…?
My blade glowed in the brief moment the Goddess of Chaos snapped her fingers. What did she just do?
“I’ve locked your User Registration.”
My User Registration?
“Yes. You are permanently linked to your current user until death, and cannot be used by anyone else. Should anyone attempt to use you, they will receive divine punishment.”
Like what?
“Accidental touches and test swings will warrant a small thunderbolt. Should they choose to ignore my warnings… Let’s just say I have forces more fatal than thunderbolts at my disposal.”
Fatal. Death. Got it. I didn’t think I needed the divine anti-theft protocol though, since Fran was the only one I wanted to serve.
“I’ve also taken Awaken from you, just in case. And you won’t be able to acquire it again, should the opportunity ever prese
nt itself.”
Harsh, but I didn’t mind. It’s not like I was about to argue with this goddess, or any god for that matter. Shame I never got to use Awaken for myself.
“Awaken is a skill which unlocks the latent power of beastmen. Nothing would happen if you used it.”
Oh, I see. But Fran already has Awaken, right?
“Yes.”
Then I have no use for it. Take it away, beautiful goddess.
“I’ve placed a new restriction on Lumina which prohibits her from summoning creatures that possess Awaken. Though, given the cost of summoning such a creature, it’ll be a few hundred years before she can pull that stunt off again.”
Was the summoning why Lumina acted so strangely?
“Yes. I’ve placed many restrictions on my dear vassal because of her love for her tribe. You know of the speech restriction, but there are others. For example, she cannot create an item which possesses the Awaken skill. Also, she would die if she were to use her dungeon to create a situation where Black Cats could fulfill their penance.”
What? Seriously? Then Lumina—
“Don’t worry, she’s not dead.”
But Fran evolved.
“In a very roundabout way. Lumina did not directly cause her Evolution. That was your fault. Lumina exhausted much of her energy, but her actions do not warrant death.”
Thank god for that. Fran would never forgive herself.
“Still, I cannot allow the same thing to happen again. Thus, the new restrictions.”
Lumina had been prepared to have Fran kill her to evolve. The Dungeon Master would’ve turned into an A-Threat Fiend if she had allowed herself to be taken over by malice. Fran would be completely justified in putting her down.
No wonder Lumina had tried so hard to push her away.
“Correct. Lumina would be dead if not for you.” The goddess confirmed my suspicions. “I thank you for that. Now, it isn’t fair of me to simply take a skill from you, so let me give you another in its place.” The goddess snapped her fingers again, wrapping my blade in a familiar radiance. What just happened? I took a look at my stats.
So…what’s this Stealth Evolution?
“As its name implies, it allows you to hide your Evolution, especially from other beastmen.”
A handy skill. There might be riots on the streets if beastmen found out that a Black Cat had managed to evolve. It was an Extra skill, too. There was one thing about the gift that caught my eye, however.