Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

It was morning in Winterseed village — the early sun had already begun casting its cool, radiant glow upon the village as they continued with their daily activities.

At the southern part of the village, the farmers could be seen working diligently — some tended to the creeping crops, some pulled the hose pipe from the windmill and watered the fields, while others harvested the matured produce. Not too far away, Elara and other farmers cared for the livestock, which had grown fatter and larger.

Although the farmers labored tirelessly, a truly strong sense of harmony existed among them, making their work remarkably comfortable and enjoyable.

Inside the village, mothers tended to their children, and the tailors gathered at the tailor house for yet another productive day.

Usually, villagers always worry sick when Rowan and his soldiers fail to return on time.

But thanks to the efforts of Dragun and Riela over the past two days, they managed to go about their day without worrying too much about Rowan and his men — they believed he was fine and would return very soon.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

And, sadly, the people weren't aware of the evil lurking within their village.

"Lady Riela is taking her time today." One of the tailors at the tailor house remarked to her colleague.

"Maybe she is busy." Her colleagues responded.

"Definitely, she said she focuses more on her enchanted embroidery when she is alone, I guess she is working on a new one and needs some alone time to perfect it." Another added.

Soon, a discussion began about Riela and her magical abilities to use water magic as well as imbue extraordinary properties into clothes with mere embroidery.

They talked about how creative and hardworking she was and how she and Rowan were a perfect match, as they were extraordinary individuals.

They talked for roughly one hour while waiting for Riela, but she never arrived, making them somewhat worried.

"I think one of us should go and check on Lady Riela to find out why she's late." One of them suggested.

The others agreed. Two members from the group volunteered to go and check on her. They departed at once.

Dragun and Riela stayed in the same position — Dragun continued pleading helplessly with Xandros, while Riela silently prayed and wished for a miracle.

Xandros, on the other hand, held a scroll in his hands, which he studied. He truly didn't even seem to notice the two in the room, as he was wholly focused on the scroll's content.

Nevertheless, his strong and potent dark aura still lingered, making the room extremely uncomfortable.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Lady Riela, are you in there?"

At that moment, knocks sounded at the door, accompanied by voices Riela instantly recognized, causing her to panic right away. Even Dragun panicked.

'No, you shouldn't have come here, to this place!' Riela thought, watching Xandros, awaiting his response.

But she already knew her apprentice's fate had taken a turn for the worse the moment they arrived.

The women kept knocking — although Riela wished to respond, she did not have the courage.

"Annoying pests!" Xandros scoffed, irritated by the frantic knocking on the door, "Respond to your minions and send them away and do not try to be clever by warning them, it would only make everything worse."

Hearing that, Dragun turned to Riela and offered her a gentle nod of encouragement, as he could plainly see exactly how very intensely frightened she was at that moment.

Riela nodded as well, spending about ten seconds carefully trying to steady her rapidly beating heart, so her voice would not sound at all troubled to the women outside.

"She's not answering, we should go in and check on her." She heard one of them say.

Out of nowhere, Riela summoned the courage and replied, "I am very busy now, I'll be with you in a few hours, take care of yesterday's remaining task before I get back."

Her voice was steady, though that couldn't be said of her trembling body.

"Oh, right, we will do as you say. Please take care of yourself, Lady Riela."

Luckily, her tone was convincing to assure the ladies she was all right, and they left.

Riela and Dragun let out a sigh of relief once they left.

'If they had entered, Xandros would've tortured and killed them in order to keep his presence hidden from the people. Thank heavens they left,' thought Dragun.

On the other hand, Xandros quietly continued his intense study of the scroll.

The mood in the room lingered.

---

Bruce's house

Bruce's wife and her friends could be seen cleaning the bodies of Ren and Liara as usual.

Unfortunately, the condition of both had remained unchanged. Since Rowan left the village, there had been no response from either, not even a movement as simple as a flick of the eyebrow.

Bruce's wife stood and stared at her sister for a few minutes, then shook her head pitifully.

Her friends noticed the solemn look in her eyes.

"Liara will be fine very soon, do not worry yourself."

"Yes, Lord Rowan said she would be fine, so we should pray it happens sooner. We know you miss her very greatly, and we do too."

They consoled her.

She slowly nodded her head in response, even though her heart remained as troubled as ever.

She could only pray that her sister would recover, for only that could truly cleanse the deep pain in her heart.

She moved closer to Liara and touched her forehead gently while whispering, "At least say something to me, Liara."

As though nature responded to her prayers, Liara's lip parted. Ren's too.

"Their lips, they're parting."

One of the women drew the others' attention as soon as she noticed this.

"What?" The others reacted immediately.

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Bruce's wife, who was whispering to Liara, suddenly noticed this.

"Her lips are really parting, she is trying to say something." She muttered with wide eyes.

Not just Liara, but Ren's lips were moving simultaneously as though they were being remote controlled.

However, no actual sound emerged as they moved.

Even when the women brought their ears closer, they couldn't hear anything at all, and this confused them.

Ren and Liara continued moving their lips for about a minute before their voices finally became very slightly audible, and they repeated the same three words.

"Winterseed is doomed."

"Winterseed is doomed."