I Can See Evolution Paths

Chapter 70: Preparing for the Unknown

Arthur was awake before his alarm, which wasn’t something that happened often. In three days, he and his friends would be heading to the Ruins of Evolution.

Their first expedition, and the start of him figuring out the Goblin King inheritance and the vision he’d had before.

He could still recall it.

A battlefield under dark clouds cracking with lightning. Below, Vedas clashed with a black wolf wrapped in lightning. Now that he thought about it, the wolf looked like the beast the female Goblin Commander had fought before.

What interested him most, though, was the vision itself. The soft voice echoing from the sphere of light floating behind Vedas.

"Every vision I’ve had has always led to something amazing. I’m sure this one’s the same." He clenched his fist with a grin, then chuckled. "Although the clash with the beast does look troubling."

Arthur looked toward the western horizon through his bedroom window. Somewhere beyond those mountains, the Ruins of Evolution waited.

His first expedition. His second journey into a secret realm.

His grin widened. "Three more days. I really can’t wait."

...

Earlier that week.

Roland walked through the Academy with several professors.

One looked toward the King’s Arena. "I’ve never seen first-years perform like that."

"They’re exceptional Student Council candidates."

Roland smiled. "No."

The professors looked at him.

"Student Council is something the Academy gives." He watched Arthur across the courtyard. "But trust?" His smile widened. "That’s earned. They followed him because they believed in him. No title can give someone that."

Nobody argued.

...

When he got to the meeting spot, everyone else was already there.

Sun had a list, organized by category and color-coded like he’d been thinking about this since before this morning. Kong sat on his shoulder, studying the list like he’d already contributed several items to it.

Athena had books, several open at once. Athy sat on the back of her chair, apparently reading over her shoulder.

Mithra had medical supplies sorted by use type on the table, adding to a second bag with the focus of someone who’d already decided what kinds of trouble they were preparing for.

Vedas had his spear across his knees and a cloth in his hands, working it with the ease of someone who’d done this many times.

Arthur looked at all of them.

"We’re getting good at this," he said.

He checked the table once more, then his own backpack, then Vedas’s spear, then his backpack again.

Sun watched him. "You’ve checked that bag three times."

Arthur blinked. "...Have I?"

"You’re excited."

Arthur smiled. "...A little."

Sun smiled. "That’s exactly what worries me," he said.

As they left the dormitory, conversations followed them. "...That’s Arthur."

"The one who went back."

"I would’ve left."

Arthur looked around. "...They’re talking about us."

Sun didn’t even look up. "They’ve been doing that for a while."

Arthur blinked. "...Really?"

...

Arthur’s attention drifted while the others were busy, and he opened the Recent Developments notification that had been waiting since early morning.

To anyone watching, he looked like he was staring at nothing.

The Cornwall Tribe had been busy.

Six Goblin Hunters had coordinated an ambush on an Orc patrol the night before, well-positioned, eliminating four Orcs and pulling back before the main Orc group could respond.

Arthur grinned. "They’re getting smarter," he said.

Sun looked up. "Who is?"

"The hunters," Arthur said.

Sun looked at Athena. Athena looked at Mithra. Mithra looked unsurprised. Sun decided this wasn’t worth pursuing and went back to his list.

Arthur kept reading.

Gruk had apparently decided an Orc settlement needed several of its huts set on fire. The operation had gone off without casualties on the Cornwall Tribe’s side and with considerable property damage on the Orc side. The log entry read like it was written by someone proud of himself.

Arthur laughed. "Gruk really likes fire," he said.

Sun looked at him slowly, choosing his words. "Who is Gruk?"

"Our Goblin," Arthur said.

Several seconds passed.

"I’ve stopped asking," Sun said.

The last items in the log: the Dire Wolf shelters were finished, and the fruit fields had been planted in the newly cleared ground. Arthur had specifically been waiting for the wolf shelters.

"They finally built the wolf houses," he said, pleased.

Athena looked at Mithra. "He’s still going," she said.

"I know," Mithra said.

Arthur closed the notification. "They’re doing great," he said.

Sun patted his shoulder once. "Whatever imaginary village exists in your head, I’m glad they’re doing well."

Arthur looked at him. "Imaginary?" he said.

Nobody answered.

"I believe you," Vedas said with a smile.

Everyone looked at him.

Arthur smiled. "See?"

Sun sighed. "Great. Now there are two of you."

...

The group eventually laid out their expedition bags together.

Sun opened his first.

"Emergency food."

"Medical supplies."

"Repair kits."

"Extra rope."

Athena nodded. "Efficient."

Then she opened hers.

Books. Maps. Measuring tools. Spare ink.

Arthur looked impressed. "...You packed a library."

Athena looked confused. "Only the important ones."

Mithra opened hers.

Bandages. Medicine. Blankets. Extra water.

Arthur smiled. "You packed enough for everyone."

Mithra laughed. "Someone has to."

Sun looked at Arthur. "...Your turn."

Arthur proudly opened his backpack.

Snacks. More snacks. Even more snacks. A shiny rock.

Silence.

Athena blinked. "...Why is there a rock?"

Arthur picked it up. "...It looked interesting."

Sun slowly closed Arthur’s backpack. "...We’ll check it again later."

...

Arthur and Vedas spent part of the morning in the Evolution Archive at a crystal they’d picked out the previous week: the memory of a veteran Beast Tamer on a long, difficult journey that had needed more observation than combat.

Tracking. Reading terrain. Making decisions on incomplete information that turned out right, not from luck, but from sound analysis.

Vedas watched, as he always did, but this time it felt different. The memory connected to things he’d been thinking about since the Beast Bond chamber, reading situations before they fully formed.

The notification arrived when they came out.

[Experience Successfully Inherited]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Goblin Commander]

[Level 12 → Level 14]

"I understood a lot more this time," Vedas said.

Arthur smiled. "So did I," he said.

...

Athena and Athy went through every Ruins of Evolution memory the Archive held. Not combat records or species documentation, but environment records: the ruins’ geography as it existed at each preservation point, the pathways and their conditions, which areas had been accessible and which hadn’t.

Athy flew through each memory from above, the way she processed everything, building spatial awareness with her wings. By the time they finished the last crystal, Athena had a sketch of the ruins pieced together from seventeen separate memories, the most complete picture of the environment any first-year student currently had.

[Level Up!]

[Level 18]

"...This should help," Athena said.

Sun spent the morning organizing supplies, a longer job than it looked once you applied the standards they’d built up over the tournament. Emergency rations for full redundancy. Medical supplies sorted by situation instead of type. Rope in three lengths for three uses. Kong, who had opinions about throwing distances, contributed to the projectile section in a way Sun found reasonable.

They spent the afternoon in the Archive, and the memory Kong experienced sharpened his sense of territory and approach angles considerably.

[Kong: Level 18]

"Prepared," Sun said, looking at his list and everything added to it.

Kong pounded his chest once.

Mithra took Melo to the Beast Bond chambers to work specifically on healing, not the sustained kind they’d practiced before, but faster application, the kind that needed to arrive the same second as the injury instead of the second after. Melo’s precision improved through the morning and her range extended in the afternoon, and by the time they stopped she was producing results that would’ve seemed impossible at the start of the year.

[Melo: Level 19]

Mithra put a hand gently on Melo’s head. "We’ll protect everyone," she said.

Melo pressed against her.

...

The Iron Hall gave Vedas two sessions.

Ivan stood beside the new forge station, mostly watching, correcting with the same economy he brought to everything.

"Again." Wrong angle.

"Too shallow." Needed more follow-through.

"Strike." Better.

"Good." Move on.

No long explanations. Just the work, the correction, the work again.

The armor that came out of it improved on what went in. Not a redesign, an evolution.

[Body Successfully Tempered]

[Level Up!]

[Goblin Commander]

[Level 14 → Level 15]

The dark armor settled naturally over Vedas’s body. He rolled one shoulder, twirled the spear once, and felt the movement was smoother than before.

Arthur’s eyes widened. "You got even stronger."

Sun whistled. "...That’s fast."

Athena adjusted her glasses, looking over the armor. "The balance improved."

Mithra smiled. "It really suits you."

Vedas looked down at the armor a moment, then nodded quietly. "...I like it."

Arthur grinned. "There it is."

The expedition uniforms came next. Ivan had prepared them the day before: Academy standard, reinforced where combat and terrain caused the most wear. Arthur put his on, moved in it, and noticed the weight right away.

"It’s heavier," he said.

Ivan looked at him. "It’ll keep you alive," he said.

Arthur nodded. "Worth it," he said.

As they left Iron Hall:

"It’s him!"

"The guy who insulted Ira!"

Arthur waved. "Hello. I hope all of you become as strong as my team."

Silence fell over the area.

Ivan laughed.

Arthur blinked. "...Did I say something?"

...

The others had already gone in by the time Arthur was still sitting outside with a piece of paper and a pen, clearly stuck longer than the task required.

Mithra sat down beside him.

"You’ve been looking at that paper for ten minutes," she said.

"Writing home is harder than I expected," Arthur said.

"Do you want help?"

"Yes," Arthur said, immediately, relieved, like he’d been waiting for someone to ask.

She took the pen and paper, and they started, and the letter turned into everything that had happened, and everything that had happened was the entire year, and the year was a long story out loud. The convoy. The crash landing. The Evolution Archive and the Commander’s memory. The desert and the clown. The throne.

Mithra laughed partway through the throne section. "You really caused trouble everywhere," she said.

"Did I?" Arthur said.

"You absolutely did."

"It worked out, though."

"It somehow always does," she said. "That’s the maddening part."

The letter was getting long. Arthur looked at it.

"Thanks," he said.

Mithra tilted her head. "For what?"

"For going along with the ideas," Arthur said. "Even when they were—" he thought for a second, "—a little unusual."

Mithra looked at him. "A little?" she said.

"A lot," Arthur amended.

She smiled, the warm, genuine version. "That’s the whole job description," she said. "Best friend. Mandatory."

Arthur was quiet a moment.

"I’m really glad we’re friends," he said.

Mithra’s smile softened. "...Me too."

Neither of them spoke for a few moments. They just watched the Academy settle into evening around them, comfortable, unhurried, no need to fill the quiet.

Then Mithra nudged him.

"Finish the letter," she said.

Arthur picked up the pen. "Writing is difficult," he said.

"No," Mithra said. "Thinking is difficult."

Arthur pointed at the paper. "Exactly," he said.

She laughed again and helped him finish it.

Arthur read over the last line once more, then smiled.

"Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll come home with even more stories next time."

He carefully folded the letter.

Mithra nodded. "...Much better."

...

The morning before departure.

Food packed. Water packed. Weapons checked. Armor on. The group arrived at the meeting point quietly, the way people arrive when the preparing is done and only the thing itself remains.

Nobody said much. They didn’t need to.

Crossing the Academy grounds, students stepped aside quietly.

Arthur noticed several first-years whispering.

He looked over at Sun. "They’re talking about us."

Sun nodded. "...You’ll have to get used to that."

They passed the Iron Hall’s first sounds, the Evolution Archive’s early light, the particular quiet of the Beast Bond chambers, and the Expedition Hall appeared at the end of the path, its enormous doors standing open.

Arthur looked at his team. "Ready?" he said.

Athena nodded. "Of course."

Mithra smiled. "We’ve been ready."

Sun adjusted his backpack. "As ready as we’ll ever be."

The Expedition Hall stood before them, doors already open.

Beyond the doors.

A roar echoed through the Expedition Hall.

Arthur smiled. "...Now this looks fun."