Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

The gathering at the village square concluded after Rowan delivered his usual speech and the corpses of the dead were burned to ash. Rowan's speech was brief but carried immense emotion.

When he spoke, the entire village square fell eerily silent—so silent that the sound of insects flying could be heard.

The villagers gazed at their leader; they could sense his fury and thirst for revenge more than they had ever seen before.

They could tell that the death had truly taken a toll on their Lord, but he refused to show it.

No one uttered a single word, despite having questions, until Rowan personally ended his speech.

On their way home, they couldn't stop discussing Rowan's seriousness.

Meanwhile, Rowan was making a deal with Dragun and Vishirk.

"I will be taking the soldiers on a week-long hunting adventure. I want you two to take care of the village during that period, but do not worry, you will be paid handsomely—enough to acquire some interesting magic artifacts," Rowan told Dragun and Vishirk.

Dragun and Vishirk exchanged glances before looking back at Rowan.

"Why do you take the soldiers out to hunt monsters so often?" Dragun couldn't help but ask.

If Rowan and his soldiers were hunting game to feed the village, it would be more understandable. But they were hunting monsters, which held no value aside from the monster cores, and none of the villagers could actually use the monster cores, making it even more confusing.

Even if they were able to slay all the monsters near the village, in a week or two, other monsters would reclaim the territory and wreak havoc again. Dragun was aware that Rowan knew about this, which made the whole situation more perplexing.

Rowan looked at Dragun after the question. Sadly, he couldn't reveal the main reason. He explained that he wanted his soldiers to test their techniques on real targets, hence the hunting trips.

"That is understandable," Dragun nodded.

"But do you really have to pay us? We are members of the village, and protecting the villagers is a task we shouldn't be paid for," he followed up.

"I know. You would do better work if there's a benefit ahead. I want you to take good care of the people, alright?"

Dragun pondered the matter—he knew he couldn't change Rowan's mind, so he agreed.

Vishirk agreed too, naturally.

Rowan nodded.

He brought out ten sewing machines from his inventory and handed them to Dragun, who stored them in his spatial pouch.

Rowan then informed him that merchants from other villages would be arriving to patronize them. He gave Dragun a brief on how to encourage the merchants to pay more for the sewing machines.

After finishing his explanation, Rowan summoned Blaze, and both of them strolled down to the southern border where the soldiers were already waiting.

On their way, Rowan couldn't stop thinking about the Divine Beast summoning card he had failed to activate while he was too busy cultivating water magic.

"After the hunting trip, I will do that," he thought.

Then he turned to Blaze and said, "Very soon, you will have a companion. If you want to dominate your new companion, then try your best to grow stronger faster."

As he spoke, he observed Blaze's cultivation.

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[ BLAZE ]

Race: Ashfire Wolf

Advanced Realm (Mid-stage - 66%)

Unlocked Skills: Fireball (Lv 4), Flame Synchronization (Lv 2), Fire Disk (Lv 1)

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"He is doing pretty well considering I haven't fed him any monster cores for a very long time," he noted.

"After this hunt, I won't hold back feeding Blaze monster cores to make him grow stronger quickly. I hope the new beast also has the ability to rapidly absorb monster cores and grow stronger. I need all the strong soldiers and companions I can get my hands on before then," Rowan thought.

"This week's hunt will be brutal and more tiring. I plan to have the soldiers go through four to five monster raids per day. This way, even the least active soldier would gain at least five thousand evolution points, while the average captain would earn at least three thousand based on my calculations," Rowan calculated inwardly.

"On the third day or later, one of the captains would most likely evolve," Rowan predicted.

With these analyses and predictions in mind, Rowan did not slow down and sped up to meet his soldiers.

He arrived to see them waiting with fierce, battle-ready expressions on their faces.

One of Rowan's most active soldiers—Winston—sat on a small rocky boulder with his head bowed.

He wore his sword on his back, the makeshift cloth shaft crafted by his mother.

From his posture, it was easy to tell that a lot was weighing on his mind.

Rowan felt the same way and, after checking his character status…

[ Winston ]

Occupation: Warrior

Power: N/A (8950/100000)

Special Skill: Sword Master

Status: Vengeful, Bloodthirsty

His suspicions were confirmed.

Rowan quickly recalled that Winston was among the people crying over the corpses that early morning.

Rowan did not know who he had lost, exactly.

But he could tell Winston cherished that person so much that it had made him so vengeful.

"At least, he didn't succumb to depression and become lazy and weak," Rowan thought. "With this vengeful and bloodthirsty feeling, he will be able to slay more monsters than usual and, in turn, get closer to evolving faster."

Rowan walked to the front of the crowd.

He didn't need to discuss a new strategy or formation with them, as they had already mastered his strategies from the last hunt.

Without wasting a second, they began their march into the forest to start their week-long adventure.

…..

Winterseed.

It had been almost three hours since Rowan and his men left for their hunt, and a few minutes before noon.

At that moment, more than ten villagers gathered outside Bryce House, whispering among themselves with sadness and confusion.

"What is happening now?" one asked her friend.

"I don't know. I don't. I just pray those two survive. This village has lost so much in a short time. We do not want any more additions," her friend replied.

"They haven't reacted for a long time, so why are they suddenly responding on the day Lord Rowan and the soldiers are away? This doesn't feel like a coincidence to me," another added.

The two friends turned to the new speaker, nodded, and continued their discussion.

At that moment, Dragun and Vishirk arrived.

Stay updated through empire

The villagers greeted them.

Dragun and Vishirk responded before entering the house.

Inside, they saw Bryce's wife, Elara, and two other women standing close to Ren and Liara.

Elara could be heard crying and calling Liara as though her calls would wake her up.

Bryce's wife did the same, while the other two women tried their hardest to calm them.

As for Liara and Ren, both remained in their usual sleepy states.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What happened?" Dragun asked, drawing their attention.

Bryce's wife turned to Dragun and reported.

According to her explanation, both of them were sleeping as usual when, all of a sudden, they began shivering uncontrollably.

"We rushed and tried our best to understand why and stop them from shivering. But we failed," she continued.

She described how both of them suddenly erupted in loud, soulless, and painful screams, as though they were being tortured.

She explained their growing worry and what they had tried.

"Please, Dragun, do what you can to save them. I do not want to lose my sister again," she concluded, tears in her eyes as she pleaded with Dragun.

"I will do my best to save them. I don't need to be told," Dragun consoled her, though his mind was deep in thought, imagining her stories in his head.

"While screaming, did they say anything?" he asked after thirty seconds.

"Not really," she replied.

Dragun nodded and fell into deep thought once again.

He considered the dark creatures he knew that could do such a thing, as well as the symbols that appeared on their victims, trying to match them with the current situation.

Each time he recalled any major ones, he proceeded to ask the women in the room, and most answers were negative.

For the first time, Dragun felt as though his understanding of dark creatures was useless.

Blaming himself, he suddenly remembered something and walked toward the two.

He lifted the clothes covering them, and his eyes landed on something that immediately caught his interest—tattoos!