When the instructor, Jax Bernard announced the beginning of the mock battle, all the students in attendance promptly prepared themselves.
Although Jax had decided it would be a close quarter combat, the participants were also allowed to use their respective abilities as well.
As evolved humans were the hope of humanity, and the ones responsible for keeping the other races at bay, developing their unique abilities was most essential for every student attending the academy.
Their abilities varied on an individual level, while some had the ability to conjure up various elemental attacks through the use of magic or elemental manipulation, others could harden their skin in layers of steel, granting them incredible physical prowess, and impervious defensive capabilities.
Evolved humans generally had incredibly strong physiques, granting them physical strength beyond the level of mortal flesh.
Furthermore, with their physically enhanced physiques they could move at insane speeds, casually reaching the speed of sound.
Depending on how high their levels were, they could even go beyond that, temporarily breaking the sound barrier. Even going beyond that wasn't outside the realm of evolved humans.
In the beginning, Carson had hated training exercises due to his overwhelmingly lack of ability. He was an unevolved human with a mortal body; he was naturally powerless against the battle prowess of an evolved human in every possible aspect.
He couldn't help but sigh as he thought back to all those times he was pitted against several evolved humans with stronger physiques and superior abilities.
It was irritating, it was frustrating, he never understood why he was the only one who couldn't evolve like everyone else. He couldn't accept it.
His mother had awakened the skill, "Thunder sovereign" which gave her complete mastery over the manipulation of lightning and thunder, allowing her to manipulate the weather.
During the Great War, several years ago, she had played a crucial role on the battlefield, wiping out the enemy forces with a flick of her finger.
Similarly, his father had awakened the ability, "Inferno manipulation" granting him complete control overheat base attacks. He had sent many mutated beasts to their graves using that ability.
Despite their humble background, his parents were revered highly. As their son, naturally a lot of people had high expectations for him in the beginning, believing he could potentially awaken a similar ability.
Or perhaps, something more extraordinary. But ultimately, he was deemed ineffective, as the only unevolved human on earth.
For some reason, he still had the physical body of a mortal. As such, mana could not assimilate with his essence, resulting in the inability to manipulate mana, an energy that was generally accessible to all evolved humans or other intelligent species.
He couldn't even inherit any of his parents' unique abilities through his bloodline.
When his parents found out, even though she did not express it out loud, and continued to embrace him with the same motherly affection as always, he couldn't help but feel as though he had let her down. As for his father—
"How worthless." Was what his father had said to him, those words had plunged deep into the depths of his heart, leaving him with a sense of loss. Indeed, he felt useless, completely useless.
After that event he had completely given up. He was no longer motivated; he was never destined to be an evolver anyway. And so, he swallowed his emotions and endured the constant looks of ridicule he received from those around him. He wasn't meant to be a part of that world.
In the beginning that was what he had thought, but now—
"Now that I have Evangeline, I can definitely do it. The heavens have not forsaken me after all." He felt elated, excitement raced through him. His lips subconsciously curled up into a slight smile.
He had originally hated partaking in the physical exercise of the academy. That was his honest feelings, but—
It was different now. Now that he had his physical body modified by Evangeline, while still nowhere near the level of an evolved human, had grown considerably stronger.
"Now in this life, I'll rise to the top of the universe once more." He muttered resolutely, recalling the battle between the god of chaos and the apocalypse beast, his burning desire for strength grew further, he yearned for that kind of battle prowess, the ability to shake the universe.
[Mm, the current master might be weak, but you have the potential to reach or even surpass that of the previous master. Do not feel discourage, there is no need for hesitation, keep moving forward and you'll reach the pinnacle eventually.]
Evangeline added, although her voice was usually robotic, as she spoke her cold voice became softer, he could tell her words were her genuine feeling.
[The highest peak is the transcendental primordial stage. From there, you could easily punch a hole through space-time, influence the flow of time, and even shake the multiverse with your presence alone.] Evangeline explained.
'Really, I could shake the multiverse? W-Wait the multiverse actually exists?' The corners of his lip's twitches at this revelation. She had just spoke about shaking the multiverse as though it was a natural thing.
However, when he thought back to the overwhelming battle prowess the god of chaos had displayed, he clenched his fist, "I'll definitely get there, I did it once before, so I can do it again."
[You have merely taken your first step onto the harsh path of evolution, even as the reincarnation of the god of chaos, whether or not you make it will be decided by your effort.]
'… At what level do I gain the abilities of the god of chaos?' Carson inquired curiously.
[All stats, including innate skills are currently within a sealed state. Unable to accurately determined what level some skills would be accessible along with the soul power required for them to become accessible.] She continued.
Cases where an evolver who have already reach the primordial stage, or higher primordial where to die, there is a possibility of reincarnating either by the use of special skills or by the influence of the akashic records, the chances of keeping their memories in their reincarnated state is extremely low.
Their incarnations could live their entire life without ever remembering who they were in their past life, in fact, throughout history there existed a large number of evolvers who had reincarnated and spent their entire lifetime without regaining their past memories.
Naturally, there is also the chance of awakening their memories by levelling up and strengthening the power of their souls. The god of chaos had taken a huge risk by going through the cycle of life and death.
If his incarnation fell before all his memories return, then it would be the end of him.
'I see…' Carson purses his lips as he frowns; in order to level up he'd have to discard his pre-existing notion; he glances down at his hands in thought. To become strong he had to kill, that was the way of the world.
'That aside, can you tell me all stages there are for the evolvers?' He asked inwardly.
[There are a total of fourteen stages for the evolvers. Mortal being the lowest, and weakest stage, and transcendental primordial being the highest. Your level and soul purity are currently too low; I do not wish to overwhelm you with too much information. I shall not go into details, but a few other tiers are Champion, grandmaster, saint, deity, lesser God, Godking, but those aren't something you need to worry about at your level.] She said bluntly.
Carson narrowed his eyes as he processes her words, aside from throwing out a bunch of unfamiliar words one after another, Evangeline did not give him any additional explanation.
He had no idea how godly any of those stages are in terms of power, he could only imagine.
[Each stage has three levels to them, early stage being the first step into one of those stage, then mid stage, the evolvers consolidating their foundation in that stage, and finally, peak stage, the pinnacle of that stage.] Evangeline explained.
'I see… Am I to assume that absorbing soul power of other evolvers or living creatures with soul power be the determining factor that consolidate their progression from either level?' He asked.
[That's right, as long as an evolver kept levelling up and absorbing high quality soul power to strengthen their soul and body they can quickly progress from the early stage to mid stage and even the peak stage.] Evangeline confirmed his question nonchalantly.
The purity of an evolver's soul power differs on an individual level, the difference between absorbing high purity and lower purity soul power differs significantly, high purity soul power could strengthen the soul of an evolver in a short time, allowing them to gain combat ability far surpassing their own realm of power.
For example, if an evolver only at the stage of a lesser God were to battle against a Godking, the battle would be overwhelmingly one sided. Difference in power between each stage were so great that it was insurmountable. The vast difference in level can also affect the outcome of a battle between the stages, in the modern world, it was no different from characters you'd normally see in video games.
However, like all rules, there are naturally exceptions for everything.
If the lesser God's soul power was of a greater purity than the Godking then the lesser God could potentially rival or even defeat the Godking, as such most evolvers would prefer targeting other evolvers who possess high quality soul power.
Furthermore, the purer the soul power absorb, the faster their growth.
[This is why I offer you a different variety of quests. Each of them was constructed to allow you to grow and improve your abilities. Currently, you are merely at the early stages of a mortal, although I modify your physical body, there are still room for further improvement. Against those of a higher level with higher soul purity, our chances of victory are nonexistence.] Evangeline said sternly. Her words reminding him not to become complacent with his current strength.
"R-Right, even though the physical strength of my body has increase significantly, I can't allow myself to remain in this stage, I'll aim for the transcendental primordial stage." He uttered to himself.
His blue eyes shone eagerly at the prospect of becoming stronger. He was brimming with fighting spirit. Watching him from the side, Luna's brow was furrowed softly in concern.
"Let us begin, each of you shall choose who shall be your sparring partner. You have ten minutes to decide." Jax stated calmly. His loud voice booming through the vast training grounds. At his words, each students bustled about and quickly went on their way.
"Lady Ella, please allow me this opportunity to be your sparring partner!"
"No, I want to spar with you instead, lady Ella." Many of the boys gathered around Ella, requesting a chance to spar with her. Her brow furrowed slightly. Although it was subtle, it was a clear look of irritation.
"… Annoying, your all so loud." She said with a fed up look on her face.
"Kuahaha! Why don't you ignore these weaklings and duel with me instead, Ella!" A loud voice suddenly boomed.
Ella turned her amethyst-like eyes onto the speaker. What reflected into those beautiful gem-like eyes of hers was a handsome youth who carried an axe as his main choice of weapon, his messy short black hair partially covering his brow.
"So, it's you, Ryker, have you still not given up?" Her eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Kukuku, why should I give up? I'll have your hand in marriage once I've bested you, wasn't that the agreement of our two families?" Ryker said, his mouth twisting into an eager smile.
"That boy, isn't he the eldest son of the Vaelion household? Said to be the pride and the most talented in his bloodline." A young beauty muttered in awe, the Vaelion family also played a crucial role during the last war, earning their reputation. Seeing all the gazes filled with either admiration or jealousy, Ryker's smile deepened.
"It seems were in for a long training session this time." Luna said as she observed the interaction between Ella and Ryker from where she stood next to Carson.
"So, it seems, but what exactly is the connection between the Elsher and Vaelion family?" He asked curiously.
"I heard both the current patriarchs have a close friendship; in fact, they have been friends since childhood." Luna responded.
"I see… In that case I guess it wouldn't be strange for the daughter of the Elsher family to know Ryker personally." Carson mused, however, whenever he glances at Ella, he couldn't help but feel an odd feeling, it was strange, yet he couldn't seem to put his thoughts into words.
'The fact that she can hid her stats from Evangeline meant she isn't to be taken lightly.' He thought, eyes narrowing, but then…
"Hey, Carson, why don't you be my sparring partner?!" Carson shifted his head to someone addressing him from behind.
The youth look to be within his own age group, yet the way he looked at him was as if he was glancing at a lower life-form instead of a fellow human. Carson's expression remained unchanging, he had already grown accustomed to those mocking eyes.
The youth who had just challenge him was in his mid-teen, his name was Darius, his blonde hair was as golden as the sun, within those green eyes there was contempt, disgust, and arrogance.
However, "Sure, why not." Carson replied, his lips curling into a cold smile.
And upon seeing that smile, Darius's expression contorted into a frown, 'What was that?' He thought confused, in the past, whenever someone sparred against Carson his expression became ashen, and his body visibly trembled in fright.
Darius had challenge him with the intention of humiliating him before the eyes of those who have gathered here while flaunting his superiority. Of course, Carson had already saw through his true intentions but accepted his challenge anyway.
And yet, those words were not what he was expecting, he glared at Carson and then, "Humph, let's see how long you can keep up that tough act." He uttered as he left.
——
Name: Darius Cross
Race: Evolver
Tier: Evolve human (Early stage)
Age: 16
Level: 3
Mana: 100
Soul power: 5
Magic: Fire
Strength: 6
Defence: 7
Dexterity: 6
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 5
Hp: 100/100
Skills:
[Beast mimic.] (level 1) (Active skill)
[Description: Beast mimic
——
"… Carson, you—?"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, you can trust me." Luna's lips parted as she was about to speak, Carson cut her off with words to reassure her.
Inside those sapphire-like eyes of his, there was confidence and strong determination. He was determined not to fall here; he wanted to grow stronger and improve himself.
"… Okay, I trust you." She sighs as she responded, though her expression still showed uneasiness. Many of the students gathered there chose their sparring partner and gathered in the training grounds.
"Good, looks like everyone is ready, we will start from the two at the back, lady Ella from the Elsher family, and Sir Ryker from the Vaelion family, step forward!" Jax instructed.
Hearing their names being called by the instructor, both Ella and Ryker headed towards the open area of the training grounds.
"You may begin!" He said to them. Ryker smirked, his hands firmly grasping his axe at the ready, in contrast, Ella stood still without a weapon.
However, white mist swirling around her body, the soil beneath her feet freezing as it came into contact with the white mist.
"Heh, I'll bring you to your knees before you can launch an attack!" Ryker yelled as he lunged forward, his axe glowing with a blue hue as he channelled his energy through his axe. With a swing of his axe, the energy was released into a wide arc, hurtling towards Ella with devastating power!
'Evangeline, do you know what that technique is?' Carson asked.
[Answer: The individual "Ryker Vaelion" Is most likely wielding a magical weapon with the capability of absorbing the wielders mana and releasing it in the form of energy.] She explained.
As the arc of energy closed in on her with incredible speed, Ella remained calm and gently extended her soft, slender hand towards the incoming attack, "Freeze." She said, allowing the white mist to swell, encasing the arc of energy in ice.
[Notice: The individual "Ella Elsher" possess the active skill
'Level 2 ice manipulation… As expected, she is really strong.' Carson smiled wryly at their difference in strength. Since birth, Ella was always regarded as a prodigy. They both started on completely different paths.
Seeing his attack easily frozen in ice didn't deter Ryker's determination at all, his body moved as though he had already expected that to happened, 'Fighting her in close range seems like a bad choice, in that case.' His lips curled upwards as he swung his axe with a sweeping motion in a horizontal slash, rising up a cloud of dirt to obstruct her vision.
Ella's beautiful gem-like eyes narrowed as she created four spears of ice and sent them shooting towards the dirt cloud. However, the ice spears merely past through empty space as the dirt dissipated.
"Hm, he is gone, did he run away?" Ella wondered dubiously.
However, her expression suddenly changes and out of pure instincts, she leaps away from the spot she stood seconds ago as the ground was gouge out, a hand came shooting upwards attempting to grab her.
"Tch, he used earth magic to hid underground, how annoying.'' Ella grumbled as she evaded the dirt and pebbles that were sent flying in all directions.
"Heh, so you even manage to evade a sneak attack, as expected." Ryker said, as he got to his feet, he used his magical energy to reinforce his physical body and closed the distance, since all his attacks ended up frozen when launched from afar, he decided to overwhelm her with pure physical strength.
Although both of them were evolved humans and their physical bodies had the same potential, their base strength were vastly different. And so, Ryker lunged towards Ella with his axe held at the ready.