Chapter 41: Evolve?

The man shrugged a thin shoulder. “If you can’t figure it out yourself, then forget it.”

The bird woman glared. “Have you forgotten that I have the title of advisor? How am I supposed to advise you if you don’t tell me what’s happening?”

The man seemed to be thinking about it because, in the next instant, he nodded to himself. “You are right. Hear this, the boy is touched by my master.”

The bird woman froze. Out of everything she was expecting, it wasn’t that. She shuddered as if she was remembering a memory. “That old monster… he’s back?”

The man shook his head. “No, he’s not. But he’s started a new game. That boy carries his traces.”

“What are you going to do now? Add him to your undead army? With his rank, he might lose a lot of intelligence, but you can still nurture him with that kind of Sigil.”

“Don’t be impatient. Do you think Master won’t know if I turn him into an undead? This boy, he’s bait. But who says you can’t pull on the bait to fish out the fisherman?”

“So what are you going to do?” she asked again.

“We must know why he carries Master’s traces. We must know what’s special about him. We must know why we should keep our eyes on him. Only then will I make my move.”

The bird woman grumbled. “You are always too cautious. Isn’t that why you are where you are? You should be a man and grasp with your hands! You should stop working from the shadows!”

“Those who do that had their hands cut off long ago.”

“And those who didn’t get their hands cut? Let this old one tell you! You must stick your neck out. Only then will you see farther than your head can!”

“Does it matter? In the end, it’s not the amount of what you grasp but the quality. Can you compare the mud of the heavens to the splash that lines the trees below?”

The old bird said no more, for she knew it was the truth. Her being his undead summon was proof enough of that.

The man reached out his hand into empty space, and his hand sunk as if he was reaching into a pocket. When he pulled it out, he was holding something taller than him.

It was a relic. A black coffin made of rotten wood. He placed it down on the back of the bird and opened it. Inside, countless red eyes stared back at him. “How long has it been since I used something like this? Let’s see… he’s rank two, right? This shouldn’t kill him.”

He closed the coffin again and then placed his palm atop it, sending his will and aura into it. Then he picked it up and threw it down into the Shadowwood.

“Now I wait. Maybe I will have a new piece in this place. The game will be fun this time. I can already see the traces of the others as well. Even Master joined in?” His voice ended in amusement.

The old bird shook its feathers. “At least I should start eating meat again.”

☆☆☆☆

Riven considered if he should tell Kivara that the fruits they ate back in the catacombs were actually rotting human parts. He wanted to see the horrified look on her face, but then, on the other hand, he had a second thought.

He didn’t know her that much, but from the bits he did, he knew that she might just shrug her shoulders and continue eating the roasted meat.

After they got out of the catacomb, they had turned towards where Kivara said they would be able to break out of the forest within the day or the next.

And so they kept walking. With Riven’s stomach empty, his nose seemed to go up in the air as he sniffed for monster meat or any animals.

Fortunately, they were attacked by a weak monster who saw them but couldn’t tell their ranks because Kivara was covering them with her void essence.

Food had practically walked over on its own.

Now they sat under a tree, roasting and eating. There was no water nearby, but they didn’t mind as they tore and devoured the meat.

It was after eating that Riven sighed. “Why does it seem like I’m digesting my food even as I’m eating it? I even got more energy from it!”

“That’s because you are. With ranks, everything about you will advance, even your digestive system. As this is a monster, it has its own energy trapped between its flesh and inside its bones. Your body will digest it quickly, and the energy will be used to nourish your body.”

Riven was amazed. He didn’t know that even ordinary food could help his cultivation.

Kivara continued. “And some practitioners specialize in refining monsters into pills, potions, and concoctions. Those pills will give you energy, and depending on the quality and rank of the refined monster, it can even fill your Sigil up, giving you an instant boost of energy.

“But unfortunately, once refined, the energy can’t be used to fill the stars.”

Riven listened intently. He’d never heard of such things before. Refinement? Pills? Concoctions? Indeed, the world of cultivation was big, and he wasn’t even that deep inside it yet. He was still like the toad stuck in the well of the poorest village!

But he wasn’t worried. Everything is step by step, as long as one makes sure to take the step. One foot in front of the other!

His mind went to the Death Ledger book, to the place where something was written.

[Undead Summon → Spartacus, the Chain Breaker!

Evolution → Locked. Open trait to unlock and start evolving undead summon!

Tier → C. Unlock Evolution to increase tier!]

Riven had no idea what the tier or evolution meant. What did it mean that he could evolve the undead summon? He didn’t know, but he’d lived his life in abject poverty for years, and his instincts told him that it was something great.

’…I guess my luck can’t be that bad… I might gain a little from this servitude to the Death Ledger…’

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