CHAPTER 21: Dark Forest

  It’s been about two weeks since the first phase began. To be honest, not much has happened, at least, nothing to troublesome. But the quiet was deceptive. The hunters had started venturing out more often, which sadly led to more casualties. Still, the president’s recruitment campaign had worked; we gained a decent number of new fighters to repce those we’d lost.

  Still, very few had succeeded in the evolution through the Tower. Yet, among the entire council, I was the only one who hadn’t gone through it yet. Only four other people had managed to evolve, and one of them was part of Gale’s group. More had attempted… Five had died trying. From what I’d heard, the trials inside were merciless and deadly that pushed every part of you to its limit.

  But they weren’t random. No, that’s what fascinated me most. It felt like the Tower evaluated all your talents, your strengths and your tent potential then built a challenge tailored to explore all of them.

  Take Lay, for example. Her trial had forced her to heal herself fast enough to survive while she received precise and unavoidable attacks. Dodging wasn’t an option. She also had to demonstrate a level of proficiency with daggers she’d never shown before. The trial wasn’t unfair, it was designed to push you into mastering the areas where you have potential.

  In that sense, the Tower was… guiding, teaching.

  But if you specialized in something? If you already excelled? That’s where it got brutal. The difficulty spiked in those areas. It was as if the Tower demanded more from you, made sure you were worthy to rank up.

  And me…? I couldn't stop wondering, what would my trials be like?

  What hidden potential would it try to awaken?

  But even more intriguing was the aftermath. Their stats nearly doubled, their abilities grew wider in scope, more versatile and then there was the newest mechanic: Csses.

  Meanwhile, Gale had been oddly quiet, which only made everyone more tense. We knew it was only a matter of time. The council had agreed to weaken his influence quietly, chipping away at his support from the shadows. It was working, he was growing weaker but angrier.

  As for the rest of the world, we’d finally made contact with a few other bases. The connections were faint, but enough to share locations.

  But all of that could wait.

  Because today…Today was my turn.

  I was finally ready for ranking up.

  I hadn’t wasted a single day. For the past two weeks, I’d trained relentlessly, hunting, practicing, pushing myself to the brink again and again. Real combat had sharpened my instincts, refined my swordsmanship, and taught me more than any training session could.

  Three days ago, I’d reached level 25. I could’ve entered the Tower right then.

  But I didn’t.

  I waited until I was certain I was ready. Until my hands didn’t tremble when I held my sword. Until my movements felt like an extension of my will.

  And now, I was ready.

  …Or at least, I told myself that much..

  What if I failed? What if the Tower judged me and found nothing worthy? What if my "potential" was a lie?

  I shook the thoughts away. No. Not now. I had come too far to hesitate.

  I had also tested one of my miracles. The result? Incredible, but with more limitations than I expected.

  First off, miracles are restricted by my domain. I can’t wish for someone to die or heal. The miracle has to fit within the bounds of Creation. And even then, there are strict limits to what I can actually accomplish.

  I used it on the walls surrounding the dorm, the very ones I’d built with help since the first days of the apocalypse. Why? Because of a mission I’d left untouched since everything began.

  [Mission: Create a Base]

  [Objective: In the apocalypse, nowhere is safe. As the future God of Creation, your first step should be to build a secure base.]

  [Reward: +10 Divine Essence | +3 to all attributes]

  I couldn't ignore the reward any longer.

  Through my testing, I realized something: upgrading the walls would take six miracles, not one since it was to big. Worse, I could only use one miracle every two days. And perhaps the biggest downside, I couldn’t regain Divine Essence with time. No passive regeneration.

  That made it clear: miracles were precious, more like a st resort.

  Still… I didn’t regret it.

  Because I completed the mission. And with that final enhancement, I was certain, nothing below evolution rank could breach the dorm’s defenses.

  Even now, I stood before those very walls, their reinforced structure radiating quiet strength. The energy I had poured into them pulsed subtly through the material. I could feel it.

  Now my status looked like this:

  [Status]

  Name: Elian

  Level: 25

  Titles: [Divine mortal]

  Domain: Creation

  Achievements: [First step in creation] [Create the phoenix fist step] [Giant syer] [Sword progenitor] [Fate Breaker]

  Attributes:

  Energy: 240\240

  Agility: 48

  Strength: 37

  Endurance: 37

  Intelligence: 46

  Creativity: 63

  Luck: 10

  [free point: 0]

  Ability: [Creation I]: 99%

  Sub Ability: [Phoenix I]: 99%

  Swordsmanship: [Weave of Origin style] 2,5%

  Blessing:

  Fenrir: [Fang of the Beast]

  Divinity:

  Divine Rank (1): Divine Awoken

  Divine Essence: 12/18

  Faith Points: 0

  [Mission]

  Further details accessible as level increases.

  [status end]

  My status was looking good, better than I expected, honestly. I’d even upgraded my sword mastery more than three times what I was at before. At this point, I could say I was genuinely fluent with it. My movements felt natural and efficient.

  Now, I stood at the entrance of the dorm, waiting for Lay and Will. They’d be escorting me to the tower today. Honestly, now that they’d ranked up, they were more than capable of protecting me. Their presence alone was enough to make anyone think twice about messing with us.

  While some monsters had already reached their own rank-up stage, they mostly seemed to remain confined to specific territories. I couldn't help but wonder, had their intelligence increased alongside their power? Were they evolving not just physically, but mentally too?

  I shook the thought away. What really mattered now was the trial ahead. The Tower of Evolution.

  Despite knowing how dangerous it was, I couldn’t suppress the excitement bubbling inside me. I wasn’t blind to the risks, but the potential for growth... It made my heart race. Was I reckless? Probably. But if I couldn’t feel excited about a moment like this, then what was the point?

  No, I wasn’t like Will, obsessed with battle for its own sake. But when it came to growth, yeah, that got my blood pumping.

  “Ah, here they come,” I muttered, spotting the familiar figures walking my way. Lay and Will, finally. They probably had to get clearance from the president. She’d recently implemented a rule that no one could head to the tower without official authorization. Not a bad decision, considering how many people had already died attempting the trials.

  “Hey guys, you sure took your time,” I called out with a grin.

  “Ugh, don’t even get me started,” Will groaned. “I’m just gd I went before she spped all these rules on us.”

  I chuckled. Haha… yeah, I almost get you on this. Almost.

  Lay shot him a disapproving gre. “I swear, one day you’re going to get yourself killed, you battle hungry idiot.”

  She wasn’t wrong… but who was going to stop him?

  “Alright, enough bickering,” I cut in, adjusting the grip on my weapon. “Let’s get moving. It’s already taken long enough.”

  “Tsk. See? You’re rubbing off on him,” Lay grumbled.

  We finally reached the outer edge of the forest surrounding the tower. The atmosphere changed instantly. The air was heavier, the light dimmer, even though the sun was still high in the sky. The trees stood like ancient sentinels, their branches twisted unnaturally, as if shaped by something more than time.

  While the path here wasn’t too dangerous for someone level 25 or above, the area surrounding the tower was another story. That’s where the real monsters lurked.

  No one knew exactly why they gathered here in such numbers, but a few theories had emerged. Some believed that beasts on the verge of evolution were drawn to the tower, seeking power, or perhaps the final push they needed to evolve. It made sense. After all, fighting strong opponents in this area was almost guaranteed, making you stronger… if you could survive.

  Another idea was that the tower had a hidden entrance just for monsters, and they were instinctively searching for it. Either way, one thing was clear: the closer you got, the more dangerous it became.

  But that was exactly why I was here.

  Even though Lay and Will were by my side and more than capable of defending me, I didn’t want to rely on them right away. I wanted to carve out my own path first. To prove to myself that I belonged here, that my effort weren't in vain.

  If things got bad, I knew they’d protect me without hesitation. But this early experience, fighting these creatures on my own terms... it mattered.

  Lay gave me a worried gnce, her eyes scanning the tree line.

  I offered her a reassuring nod. I’ll be fine. And besides, I trust both of them completely.

  I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

  The interesting thing about level 25 being is how much their strength can vary. For humans, the difference is usually based on combat experience, mastery of abilities, and fighting style. As for monsters, They could grow stronger by means we still didn’t fully understand, absorbing energy, consuming prey, maybe even adapting from battle. But their stats can increas outside of leveling and their experience also matters.

  “Stay sharp, Elian,” Will said from behind me, voice calm but firm. “The monsters here don’t just fight, they hunt.”

  He looked rexed, of course. Too rexed. He could at least pretend to take this seriously.

  Forget it.

  Something about this forest felt... wrong. The atmosphere was oppressive, like the trees themselves were watching us. The wind didn’t move the leaves. The light didn’t shift. Even the air felt stale, like we’d stepped into another world.

  CRACK.

  A sharp sound snapped me out of my thoughts. Something was moving.

  Right side.

  I dropped into a defensive stance, my senses immediately sharpening.

  Here we go.

  I summoned a sword into my right hand without hesitation, locking my gaze on the shadows moving in the underbrush. Whatever it was, it was coming fast.

  A fsh of white darted through the trees and then I saw it clearly.

  An ant?

  It had the rough shape of one, sure, but its body was grotesquely enrged, pale as bone, and its front limbs had mutated into long, curved scythes. Its movements were unnatural, twitchy, yet blindingly fast.

  Insect can mutate too, huh? Just great.

  I didn't have time to think more. In less than a second, it closed the distance. I barely managed to drop to the ground as one of its scythe-arms sshed where my head had just been.

  Shit. I knew the tower area would be dangerous, but this...

  I gritted my teeth and pnted my feet, shifting into a stance. The ant lunged again.

  CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

  Our weapons cshed in a flurry of sharp motion. It was faster than me. Stronger too. But speed and strength weren’t everything, not if I fought smart.

  I feinted with phantom edge, using the brief moments when my hand was weaponless to redirect momentum. My phantom sword flickered in and out of existence, allowing me to reset faster than a normal bde would ever allow.

  I twisted my torso to the right, letting its scythe ssh at air, then dissipated my sword just as its second limb came for me. My hand, now weightless, moved with inhuman reflexes as I rematerialized the bde and parried just in time.

  Everything was happening fast, brutally fast, but something deep inside me was starting to enjoy it. Every movement, every dodge, every calcuted strike reminded me just how far I’d come. This thing was trying to kill me with every blow, and still, I could keep up.

  No monster I’d fought before could compare to this. Not even the ones a few levels above me. This thing’s speed, reach, and precision were brutal.

  And I wasn’t even scared.

  I was exhirated.

  CLANG!

  Enough.

  I rushed forward, activating Phantom Edge to open a brief window. The bde shimmered in my grip, half-real, half a mirage of destruction. I angled toward its head, but I wasn’t fast enough. Its second scythe was already coming down.

  However, this time, I had something new.

  A trick I’d been working on.

  Instead of blocking, I shifted the form of my phantom sword mid-strike, extending it into a longer bde, too unwieldy for a full fight but perfect for this one instant.

  The edge sliced through the ant’s head in a clean arc.

  Its body twitched violently, then crumpled.

  [You have sin a level 25 White Mutated Ant]

  [Notice: You cannot gain experience until you rank up.]

  I exhaled slowly, steadying my breath.

  Originally, I’d considered switching weapons like Will, he used different styles like a damn weapon encyclopedia, but I realized something: I wasn’t built for that. I didn’t have the talent or time to learn five different weapons.

  So I found another way.

  Why not reshape one weapon into what I needed, exactly when I needed it?

  I began forging swords with all kinds of bizarre shapes, forms that would be terrible to use in a full fight. But if I only kept that form for a split second, at the right moment? Then it worked, beautifully at that.

  The long bde I’d just used, for example? Totally impractical in a prolonged duel. The bance was trash. But for a one-frame strike? Perfect.

  "Not bad, little guy," Will’s voice called out behind me, smirking. "If you keep that up, I might have to stop calling you suicide boy."

  This guy…

  I rolled my eyes, but didn’t get to rex.

  Because suddenly, I felt them.

  More presences. Left. Right. All around.

  Ants.

  Five of them, closing in fast.

  Two were white, like the one I’d just sin. One was red, twice the size of the others, its carapace thick and shining. Another was pitch-bck, its antennae curled in a strange shape, almost like a shield. The fifth moved with a twitchy, unpredictable rhythm.

  Damn. They weren’t just stronger, they were varied, adapted and Intelligent, maybe?

  Another white one rushed at me without hesitation.

  Well, I guess warm-up time was over.

  I tightened my grip on my bde.

  “Lay,” I called calmly, stepping forward. “Trust me,I can still handle this much.”

  Yeah… I knew Lay was about to intervene. I could practically feel her tension behind me. But I wasn’t ready to be saved, not yet. I needed to prove to myself I could handle this.

  This time, I channeled fire into my legs.

  [Phoenix].

  A surge of heat coiled around my muscles as fmes licked at my calves, not burning but propelling. I shot forward, faster than before, faster than the ant could follow. Its eyes widened as I threw my sword directly at its face. It raised its scythes to block, and that’s when I dashed to the side, slipping into its blind spot.

  Another sword formed instantly in my grip.

  I plunged it into its side, then unleashed Surging Bze directly inside its carapace.

  The bst blew it apart from the inside out.

  [You have sin a level 25 White Mutant Ant]

  Perfect.

  Controlling Phoenix had been a nightmare at first, but after countless hours of training, I finally reached a point where I could use it precisely and efficiently. It meant the drain was minimal now—sustainable.

  The white ants had weak defenses but frightening speed. Dealing with one was manageable. The problem? The rest of them weren’t just watching.

  I turned and that’s when I saw it.

  A blur of red barreling toward me from the right.

  Shit!

  I tried to dodge, but I was too te. The impact hit me like a truck, throwing my body like a ragdoll into a nearby tree. I smmed into the bark with a sickening CRACK, the air knocked from my lungs.

  Blood sprayed from my mouth.

  “Fuck,” I groaned. “That thing’s ridiculously strong.”

  I barely had time to activate a healing pulse before the next ant lunged, a white one again. I parried on instinct, but something heavier followed right after. The sound alone made my heart jolt. I dodged reflexively, just as a shadow smashed the ground where I stood.

  Another red one? No, this one had bck armor and strange antennae that twitched like radar.

  Great.

  I darted toward the white ant, aiming to finish it quickly, but the bck one blocked my path.

  Tsk. You wanna py gatekeeper?

  Fine, Try me.

  This time, I concentrated two precise fmes at the edge of my bde. I had practiced this technique for days, focusing the heat into two ignition points and just before impact, I altered my bde’s shape, heavier and denser designed for one clean blow.

  BOOM!

  The explosion erupted on contact, fire licking the edges of the bck ant’s shield-like limbs. The force of the bst blew both it and the nearby white ant backward, limbs twitching, carapaces cracked.

  Not bad. Not quite at Lay’s level from the fight against Fenrir chosen yet, she could trigger three detonations simultaneously, but I was getting there.

  [You have sin a level 25 Bck Mutant Ant]

  [You have sin a level 25 White Mutant Ant]

  Alright, only two left.

  These ones were massive, red, and slow, like living battering rams. Their movements were sluggish, but their hits would probably send me flying again if I wasn’t careful.

  They were powerhouses. But alone?

  They were just slow targets.

  I moved fast, targeting their legs, if you could call them that, with sharp, focused sshes of Surging Bze. Fmes ignited where my bdes struck, toppling them. One by one, they dropped, and I finished them without hesitation.

  [You have sin a level 25…]

  […]

  I exhaled, sweat trickling down my temple, chest rising and falling with effort.

  “Good job, Elian,” Lay’s voice called from behind me, calm but alert. “But we need to move. You made way too much noise, more are coming.”

  She was right.

  No time to rest, I turned and broke into a sprint, heading straight toward the tower’s location.

  The Tower of Evolution awaited.

  And I was ready.