Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

It was already evening when Rowan and his pets finally succeeded in taking down the Red-dooms. They had planned to rest for a few hours before going to get the other soldiers and then return to Winterseed to meet their people.

But this plan took a quick turn when the strange crow appeared and delivered Dragun's message.

Rowan's eyes widened after the crow finished the short message and flew away as if nothing had happened.

He stood up abruptly, staring at the departing crow with eyes still wide, processing the message once again at a measured, deliberate pace.

Dragun's message was rather short, he mentioned something about a cult called the Cult of Ember Justice and instructed Rowan to return to the village as quickly as possible, also advising him to bring as much help as he could muster.

"What the heck is happening! A cult after my village? Why? It's not as if my village possesses anything of importance to them. In the original game, evil cults only attack villages that boast a large natural supply of mana stones and other important magical artifacts," Rowan muttered aloud.

During situations like this, Rowan usually tried his best to think of a way to get through without sustaining many casualties. Yet now, he couldn't even understand the situation well enough to foresee what might happen.

After about two minutes of deep thinking, he decided to send Blaze and Black Drifter to scout the village for any threat. He could have sent only Black Drifter, but sadly, he had recently summoned Black Drifter, and it did not yet know the location of Winterseed, Blaze was accompanying him solely to show the way.

After Blaze and Black Drifter departed, Rowan retrieved a dagger from his inventory and proceeded to harvest the monster cores from the creatures they had just slain — he harvested thousands of monster cores and stored them in his inventory.

"The next time D'andre visits, I'll make sure to sell off all these monster cores in exchange for evolution points and physical currencies," he thought.

Once he finished harvesting, he set off to check on his soldiers that Black Drifter had escorted away from the battlefield.

Far away from the bloody battlefield, which was littered with monster corpses and steeped in the stench of death and blood, were the soldiers of Winterseed.

At that moment, only about half of the soldier population had regained their energies, while the others slept soundly.

Those soldiers who had been evolving had already successfully transformed. At this point, all of Rowan's soldiers had evolved!

Winston and the captains were among the first to regain their energy.

After reenergizing, their first thought was to return and join Rowan, but none of them could determine his location since they were in the midst of a vast forest, stepping away to search for Rowan in the wrong direction would only worsen their predicament.

Moreover, they could not ascertain if the area was safe enough to leave the remaining sleeping soldiers behind, so they stayed put.

At that moment, they stood back and watched the others while discussing the events.

"This is the most brutal battle I have experienced in my life," Bryce said.

"I agree with you on that," Roland concurred.

"If it wasn't for Lord Rowan's divine beast, we would have all been eaten by those monsters by now," said Bruce.

The others joined in the conversation.

"Lord Rowan and his pets are still battling against those monsters. We should be out there assisting him instead of hiding—if only we were stronger," Winston added, his voice tinged with deep disappointment.

Although he was the youngest, the battle prowess he had displayed over the last few days had boosted his reputation among the soldiers. Even though Rowan had not yet promoted him to captain, most of the soldiers already regarded him as one.

His words rendered the other captains momentarily silent.

"We all did our best and fought until we were almost out of breath. I'm sure Lord Rowan is very proud of us. You shouldn't be so down on yourself, kiddo," Bryce said, placing his hand over Winston's shoulder.

The other captains nodded their heads in agreement.@@novelbin@@

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"And we did not run from the battlefield, we were withdrawn on Lord Rowan's order, so he definitely understands," Roland added.

Despite their words of encouragement, Winston still felt a deep sense of disappointment in himself. The feeling reminded him why he needed to become even stronger.

While they discussed, more and more soldiers began to rise, leaving only a few still seated.

They were still conversing when they saw Black Drifter flash through the sky past them.

"That is Lord Rowan's pet—where is it heading?" Winston asked.

He had barely received an answer when Blaze raced past them, enveloped in a fierce, fiery aura.

When Blaze first appeared, shrouded in that intense aura, all the soldiers were struck with fear, some even collapsed to the ground.

"Something is wrong," Winston muttered loudly.

"Where are they going in such a hurry? What is happening? Is Lord Rowan okay?" Roland wondered aloud.

The soldiers grew increasingly worried.

Seeing both of Rowan's pets dash past them at such a frightening speed made it clear that something was amiss.

Some even speculated that the horde might have overpowered Rowan and were now charging toward them. Panic began to spread, and even the captains were not exempt.

Soon, a noisy chatter erupted among them.

Those who had been fast asleep were abruptly awakened by the increasing clamor.

Thankfully, Rowan arrived before the noise could escalate into utter chaos.

"Lord Rowan!"

"Ahh! Lord Rowan is okay!"

Loud sighs of relief quickly calmed the chatter as the soldiers gathered around Rowan one after the other, eager to inquire about the battle. Rowan explained that the horde had been completely vanquished, just before he shared the news he had received from Dragun.

"What? Winterseed is in danger?"

Rowan nodded.

"We need to get to them as soon as we can. I have already sent Blaze and Black Drifter to scout the village, and they'll be back soon," he explained.

The soldiers were already deeply worried, especially those with families waiting for them.

Without wasting any time, they began marching toward the village.

But it was almost already too late.