Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

The soldiers' morale and motivation plummeted after Captain George's tragic demise; not only were they truly grieving Captain George, but they also felt a deep worry that they might soon be the next to fall.

They had now spent the past five days haltingly battling fearsome monsters, repeatedly coming face-to-face with formidable horrors, yet they somehow pulled through unscathed.

The sheer power of these monsters was beyond anything they could have envisioned—their demise firmly seemed assured whenever they engaged them, yet they still emerged alive.

However, they truly dreaded that whatever had slain George could surely end their lives, too. Worse yet, they would be entirely unable to see this foe, making it impossible to flee or even protect themselves.

Rowan observed the soldiers with an unruffled expression.

'If that incident with the dark creature in the village hadn't happened, they'd have assumed George's death was truly completely peaceful and painless, without any hint of an unseen foe at all,' he silently thought.

'Right now, they all truly believe it's the same bastard, and that their lives are on the line,' Rowan sighed.

He felt truly compelled to track down and seize whoever was behind it all, torturing them to atone for each of their crimes.

However, he refocused and addressed his men directly, recognizing that he needed them in the proper frame of mind for the hunt.

'I don't intend to delay the conclusion of this trip,' he sighed and summoned all the soldiers.

He conferred with them and did his utmost to raise their morale and motivation. This deliberate approach worked somewhat.

"Grow stronger, and you'll manage to exist without ever the slightest fear of being killed by unseen foes!"

He concluded his words with that line, which worked marvelously as they all clenched their fists and agreed.

Rowan confirmed that they were mentally ready before boldly employing Hunter Call to lure out the monsters, and thus the day's first raid commenced.

…

Meanwhile, in Winterseed.

The townsfolk grew more anxious with each passing day, fretting over their Lord's welfare and that of his men.

Some believed Lord Rowan and the soldiers had already been devoured by monsters. A few among them had vivid nightmares in which their own relatives perished, while only a very small number continued to trust that Rowan and his companions remained completely safe.

Thanks to Dragun's steadfast presence, peace and order consistently persisted throughout the entire village.

Riela likewise gave her utmost as leader of the womenfolk, guiding them carefully. She managed to instill calm among the ladies, effectively relieving their anxieties.

She capitalized on the opportunity presented to her to recruit more women to join her.

Two days prior, she conducted a recruitment test and accepted ten new women, each possessing a particular level of experience.

The ten new apprentices were entrusted to two of Riela's senior apprentices, who taught them what they had learned from Riela and instructed them on operating the sewing machine.

While these novice apprentices diligently acquired the necessary skills to join the group, Riela and the others concentrated on mass-producing garments for the local population.

She had fully mastered the enchanted embroidery that resists both heat and cold, and she could reproduce it perfectly on other robes.

Aside from advancing her tailoring craft, Riela's prowess in magic cultivation had likewise undergone remarkably significant progress and development.

Thanks to Dragun and Vishirk's invaluable tutelage, she had learned to draw mana from mana stones, employing them to significantly strengthen her mana core and refine her spells even further.

However, as she made all these strides, her mind never forgot the conversation with Laverena few days ago.

She truly pondered what a goddess like Laverena had intended by calling Rowan extraordinary and even feeling envy toward what he owned.

She still recalled the test Laverena had proposed to learn more about Rowan, and she could hardly wait for his return to try it.

Aside from Riela, notable villagers had advanced their crafts, with Elara standing out in particular.

At present, Elara and a few young farmers were visible at the animal shelter, actively feeding the livestock.

Elara stood intently within the spacious shelter, watching the chickens constantly devour their feed at high speed, as though something were relentlessly chasing them.

She found their behavior utterly adorable, a smile adorning her face as she strolled about, keeping an eye on them.

"Miss Elara, over here."

A farmer inside the shelter beckoned urgently to her, and she hurried right away toward him.

"Miss Elara, this one looks sick."

The young man gestured toward a chicken which tucked its head in a corner of the shelter.

Elara walked over and touched the body of the chick gently.

A perfectly healthy chick would dash away immediately her hand came in contact, but this one did not.

It did not even seem to have the strength to do so.

A frown appeared on Elara's face as she observed it more closely.

She patted the hair on its body softly and she discovered a few swollen rashes on its body.

"Hmmm.." she hummed as she checked it closely.

'This one is really sick. These rashes are not natural and they could be transmitted easily to the other healthy chicks. We need to separate them as soon as possible before it spreads and affect the others.' She thought.

"Take this one to the empty space on the right side of the shelter. Call Yuna and Craig for me."

She stood up and handed the sick chick over to the young man.

The young man nodded and rushed out of the shelter.

Elara stood up and observed the other chicks for traces of the condition of the previous one.

Sadly, she could not find any because it was difficult to focus attention on the chicks as they were moving around randomly from one place to another to eat and drink.

Almost at that moment, the two young farmers she asked for arrived and she gave the order.

Both of them filtered through the shelter for half a hour — they were able to filter out more than twenty chickens with the same condition as the first.

Seeing this, Elara could only thank her stars that she was able to discover it so soon, if it was two days later, at least 30% of the birds population might have contacted the strange disease.

Now standing in front of the small shelter where the twenty plus sick chicken were kept, Elara and the other farmers discussed about their conditions.

"Elara, you are amazing, we would never be able to detect this if you weren't around." One of them turned to Elara with a smile.

"And even if we were able to detect this, we wouldn't be knowledgeable enough to think of separating them in order to stop the disease from spreading." Another added.

The others did not forget to voice out how she had been of great help since the livestock arrived.

The farmers had no idea how to take care of the animals in the beginning — heck, a handful of them didn't even know what to feed the birds as some even suggested feeding them grass. Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

Aside feeding, without Elara, a large percentage of the livestock would have died to diseases.

Elara received all the compliments with a smile on her face.

'It is only thanks to Lord Rowan handing that skill book to me that I am able to understand this. Anywhere you are Lord Rowan, thank you!' She placed her hands on her chest and swore inwardly.

---

Bruce's House

Bruce's wife and three other women could be seen cleaning the body of Ren and Liara lying immobile on the bed.

For the past six days, there has been no movement from these two. Some of the villagers already tagged both of them dead, while a few believed they would arise one day.

Most of the villagers lost hope majorly because Rowan was not around, as they still could not believe the judgment of Dragun in the situation.

On the other hand, Dragun tried his best to make everyone aware that Ren and Liara are as okay as they could be.

Every morning after completing his night patrol of the village, he always ensured to pay the family a visit and check up on the two. Afterwards, he goes to tutor Riela for about an hour before focusing on his personal magic cultivation.

Dragun still moves around freely with Vishirk, his view the same as he could not recall any of his meeting with the real Vishirk.@@novelbin@@

Vishirk on the other hand maintained his pretentious role perfectly.

Currently standing beside Dragun who strolled around the village, Vishirk could not stop thinking about the next phase of the plan discussed with Alister.

"Just few days remaining, I can't wait to deal with all these fleas." Vishirk muttered inaudibly with a smirk.