The streets of Uladia were crowded with both civilians, mages, and warriors. The civilians looked worried as they all huddled together like flies. They were clearly terrified of the chance that there might be a beast and monster swarm. It hadn’t happened in a very long time, but almost everyone knew the degree of destruction caused by a beast swarm all by itself. Monsters rarely flock together, but when they do, they became forces to be reckoned with

Add those two together, and you get a town-destroying scenario.

However, a few miles away from the town stood an isolated house with a messenger knocking on its door.

The sound of the knocks echoed throughout the home, and even through the grass fields around it.

When the door opened, a mature woman walked out and looked at the man before her.

“What do you want? It better be urgent otherwise, I’ll beat the crap out of you and the person who sent you.” Keira warned, making the man before her gulp.

“Mrs. Keira Relier, the chief sent me here to ask you to help with an incoming beast-monster horde that has been forming for the last 2 days. We believe there is a chance that the creatures of the forest might attack Uladia tonight, so we need as much back up as possible to stop that from happening. The chief is creating a powerful team that will assassinate the strongest beasts and monsters in order to disperse the horde. He’d like you to join it as its main mage.” The man explained.

A complicated expression appeared on Keira’s face as she glanced back at everyone coming out of their rooms. Even Syra came out of her room exhausted.

“I’ll join.” She muttered before looking at Lochras.

“You’ll come with us too. Rhea, I swear to god, if you leave this house, I will kill you myself if Lochras doesn’t kill you first. Of course, only after your baby is born.”

“Y-Yes…” Rhea looked down in shame. However, due to her swollen belly, she was unable to look directly at the ground.

“Where are you going granny?” Syra asked.

“Some beasts are acting up in the forest. We’re planning to calm them down and come back.” Keira smiled, making sure not to use the word “kill” in front of her granddaughter.

However, despite her caution, she saw Syra suddenly pale before stuttering-

“T-T-The forest?!” She yelped.

“Yes… Don’t worry, your grandmother is strong. She’ll come back without a scratch on her.” Keira smiled, but the situation didn’t improve at all.

“Are they dangerous?” Syra asked with a quiver in her voice.

“A little. Are you okay, Syra? Why are you rubbing your foot on the ground like that? And where’s your brother?”

*RUMBLE*

A low rumble sounded from the distance as enormous earth pillars shot into the air. They turned into earth drills that shot in a certain direction.

It caught all their eyes, even Syra’s, who had become even paler. She looked like she would have fainted if not for her mother holding her hand.

“Syra?” Rhea looked down.

*Swish*

It didn’t make much of a sound and didn’t catch nearly as much attention, especially in the town. However, anyone with experience of monster hunting knew what it was.

Black tendrils shot into the air. They blended with the dark sky, but since the sky was glowing with dark blue twilight, they were a lot easier to see.

“A shadowswarm… They were right. The reports were right!” The man shouted while stepping back. His heart raced with fear.

“We have to move now! Lochras, wear your armor. We’ll meet with the rest of the team on the way there!” Keira activated the enchantment on her boots, but before she could leave, she heard Syra scream out a set of words that made everyone’s hearts drop.

“Silas goes hunting in the forest every night! He’s there right now… He told me not to tell-“

*SMACK*

Keira looked back, but her face wasn’t turned to Syra. It was turned toward her daughter.

Rhea had already looked into Silas’ room. She felt like he wasn’t there, but it looked like there was someone under the blanket, so she didn’t give it much thought.

However, when she heard Syra speak, her hand moved independently. Her actions shocked even her. But, just like her hand, her mouth opened, and she spoke without thinking.

“How could you… HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR BROTHER LEAVE ON HIS OWN? YOU’RE HIS OLDER SISTER!” Lochras grabbed his wife and covered her mouth. She looked like she was about to beat Syra senselessly, but even though he was angry as well, he knew that it could wait.

They didn’t waste any more time, quickly running toward the forest while the messenger headed to the chief in order to tell him the plan.

***

*BOOM*

Silas smashed into the ground with so much force that a crater formed under him. However, his momentum carried him upwards before slamming into a significantly large tree.

He let out a flurry of coughs, causing him to puke out blood. Every cough sent excruciating pain through his body.

His vision had become red from the blood that had dyed his eyes.

As he looked down, he let out of a bloody gasp for air when he saw the holes going through his chest and abdomen. They weren’t significantly large, but they one of them barely missed his heart.

[You are evolving]

[You are evolving]

[You are evolving]

‘My spine is most likely shattered. I can’t feel the pain in my body, but that’s probably because I’m paralyzed. Damnit… GOD DAMNIT! I’m probably going to heal just fine, but I don’t know if I even have enough time to heal. I might just die of blood loss before I can even come close to healing. FUCK!’ Silas wanted to grit his teeth, yet even the tears coming out of his eyes were excruciatingly painful.

They burned. His entire body felt like it was being burnt. He was in so much pain that he could have just burst out crying like a child, but he didn’t. Silent tears flowed as he tried his best to heal.

Replacing earth fusion for life fusion, Silas watched as the holes in his body slowly healed. He could see a few holes in his arms and legs, but he couldn’t see most of them since he couldn’t move his neck.

He could even see his guts flowing out the hole in his abdomen. They weren’t healing. No… He wasn’t healing at all.

It looked like he was healing, but the blood was no longer leaving his body.

He had been placed into an excruciating cycle of pain. The only thing that was currently keeping him alive was the healing energy coursing through his body. The life equation seemed to flare at every chance it got, telling him that he was evolving over and over again.

‘Ugh… Who cares about them… I need to survive… for myself. If I die, they’ll be unhappy for a few weeks and leave me behind. It’s normal. It’s natural. They don’t depend on me. I’m depending on them. They must think of me as nothing but a burden… I’m not even their real son. I’m just a guy who took over their son’s body. So, if I’m going to survive, I’m going to survive for myself.’

The green energy coursing through his body suddenly became faster. He felt like he wasn’t capable of breathing… Well, he felt like half of his breath was wasted since there was a hole through one of his lungs.

The green energy was quickly accompanied by golden energy.

His pupils were slowly becoming golden as they pulsed with the power of the life equation.

‘I won’t survive for anyone else. I won’t base my main motivations on grudges for others. I’ll survive because I want to, no matter how long it takes.’