Chapter 73: Evolution Town
The convoy touched down and Arthur stepped out and looked at the people, not the buildings.
Beast Tamers coming in from the forest with materials, carrying themselves like people who’d been somewhere and were now back. Others loading up efficiently, the way people move when they know what they need and have done this before.
A group celebrating near one of the inns, loud and genuine. Two people sitting outside a repair shop, cleaning weapons quietly.
One Beast Tamer sat alone on a step with her head down, not celebrating, not preparing, not doing anything in particular.
"They’re all preparing," Arthur said.
The driver nodded beside him. "Everyone in this town is," he said. "In one direction or another."
...
Evolution Town hadn’t been planned. It had just become itself, building by building, as the Secret Realms to the west turned into destinations and the people going to them needed things before and after.
Equipment repair shops took up three streets.
Map merchants traded on two more.
Potion sellers, beast healers, evolution researchers, monster material processors, courier bird stations, portable camping gear, rune carvers. Each trade had settled in because someone needed it and paid for it enough times to make a permanent shop worthwhile.
Nearby, two Beast Tamers were arguing with the kind of energy that comes from arguing the same argument for hours.
"I told you we shouldn’t have gone in!"
"You agreed to it!"
"I panicked!"
"You panicked after agreeing!"
Arthur had drifted over before the argument finished.
"So," he said. "You panicked together?"
Both Beast Tamers looked at him.
"...Yes," one said.
Arthur nodded. "That’s good," he said.
They looked at each other.
"If everyone panics together," Arthur said, "nobody gets left behind. You came out at the same time because you were in the same state. That’s actually the ideal outcome."
The argument went quiet.
One scratched the back of his neck. "I hadn’t thought of it that way," he said.
"Neither had I until just now," Arthur said, and walked away.
Sun watched him go.
"How did that become motivational?" he said.
Mithra smiled. "Arthur magic," she said.
...
A merchant had set up a small grill near the market’s eastern edge, producing something that smelled excellent and was of uncertain origin. The sign read: ROASTED CRYSTAL LIZARD. FRESH TODAY.
Arthur bought one immediately.
"You don’t even know what it is," Sun said.
Arthur bit into it. "It’s good," he said.
Mithra looked at the sign, then the grill, then the remaining skewers.
"I’ll take one," she said.
Athena had her notebook out, wrote something, then put it away and bought one without a word.
Sun watched all this. "Traitors," he said.
He bought one thirty seconds later.
The merchant handed Arthur the skewer, then paused. "...Wait." He leaned forward. "Aren’t you that crazy first-year from Pathfinder Academy?"
Arthur blinked. "...Maybe?"
The merchant laughed. "I heard you insulted the Great Salamander, challenged Master Ivan, then somehow got invited onto the Student Council."
Arthur scratched his cheek. "When you say it like that, it sounds strange."
Sun looked at him. "It was strange."
Mithra smiled. "I think you skipped several strange parts."
Athena added quietly, "Quite a few."
The merchant laughed. "I knew it was you."
...
Two older Beast Tamers occupied a table near one of the inns like they’d sat there many times before and planned to again.
"I punched a Troll once," one of them said.
"No you didn’t," said the other.
"I thought very seriously about punching a Troll."
"That’s closer."
"The distinction is smaller than you’re making it."
Arthur had stopped nearby to listen.
The first old man noticed. "I definitely thought about it," he said, defending it to a third party.
"The thought counts," Arthur said.
The old man pointed at Arthur. "See," he said.
...
Two other Beast Tamers were still riding an adrenaline high.
"The Silver Fang Bear chased us for three hours," one said, three hours having become exactly the right length for the story.
"We barely survived," the other confirmed.
"We survived because we were faster," the first said.
Arthur drifted over, uninvited and unbothered by that fact.
"So you ran," he said, "because it was stronger."
"Of course," said the first Beast Tamer.
"That makes sense," Arthur said. "Two really strong things scared me recently too."
The Beast Tamers relaxed. This felt relatable.
"Oh?" said the first.
"One turned the whole sky into lightning," Arthur said. "The convoy I was in fell out of the sky. The other one walked out of lava and the pressure made it hard to breathe."
Silence.
"You..." the first said. "You fought them?"
"Not really," Arthur said. "They were both pretty terrifying. They left eventually though."
"..."
"..."
Arthur added, "The situations were different, obviously. Not really comparable."
He waved politely. "Nice talking to you," he said.
The older Beast Tamer watched Arthur disappear into the crowd.
"..."
"...That’s the Mad Beast Tamer?"
His friend nodded slowly. "I thought the rumors were exaggerated."
A long silence.
"..."
"...I don’t think they were."
...
Sun arrived at his shoulder before he’d taken three steps.
"We’re leaving," Sun said.
Arthur looked at him. "Why?" he said.
Mithra glanced back at the two veterans, deep in the specific silence of people reconsidering their entire career.
"They need a moment," she said.
Athena walked beside them. "You accidentally made two experienced Beast Tamers question their achievements," she said.
"I thought I was being encouraging," Arthur said. "I told them I was scared too."
"That’s worse," Sun said.
They kept walking until they reached the Notice Board at the center of town.
Not hundreds of requests, not the color-coded system from the Academy’s Mission Hall. Just one large board, heavily marked: the names of the western Secret Realms, each with a status, a recommended rank, and a number beside the word CASUALTIES.
Arthur read through them.
Crimson Marsh: CLOSED. Frost Caverns: GOLD RANK RECOMMENDED. Ancient Battlefield: TEMPORARILY SEALED.
Ruins of Evolution: OPEN. BRONZE RECOMMENDED. RECENT CASUALTIES: 4.
He stopped. "People died," he said.
"They always have," the driver said.
Arthur looked at the number, then at the Beast Tamers around him, the ones celebrating, the ones sharpening weapons, the ones already packed and waiting for clearance.
They all knew this number existed.
They were all here anyway.
Three Beast Tamers were studying the board near him.
"Four casualties this month," one said. "Maybe we should give it another week."
Arthur looked at them. "You’re not sure you’re ready?" he said.
One nodded. "We need more preparation."
"That’s responsible," Arthur said. "Knowing you’re not ready is important."
They relaxed.
Arthur continued. "I usually figure out I wasn’t ready after I’ve already gone in."
Athena’s eyes widened.
Sun’s hand covered Arthur’s mouth before the sentence finished landing.
"We’re leaving," Sun said.
"Mmmph," Arthur said.
Mithra laughed so hard she had to put a hand on the wall for support.
...
A group of Beast Tamers came back through the western gate while they stood near the inn.
The ones at the front got the welcome returning people get: someone ran over, someone was already hugging them before the person had stopped walking, someone else’s excited words got cut off by the first two.
Then one Beast Tamer walked in behind them.
Same pace, same posture as someone who’d been walking a long time and meant to finish the last of it the same way. Nobody ran toward him. The Beast Tamers near the gate, the ones who’d already been standing around, quietly removed their hats.
Arthur watched this.
He didn’t ask the driver what had happened.
He already understood.
They kept walking until they reached the western gate, where a stone monument stood taller than any nearby building. Thousands of names were carved into it. Some letters worn smooth. Others still looked recent.
Arthur slowed. "...What’s this?"
The driver followed his gaze. "The Memorial Stone."
Arthur looked at the endless names.
"..."
The driver spoke quietly. "Every Beast Tamer carved there never came back. You’ll see something like this in most towns near Secret Realms."
Silence settled over the street.
Nearby Beast Tamers walked past without stopping. Some touched the stone. Others just bowed their heads and kept going.
Arthur looked at the names one last time, then walked on quietly.
In the meantime, he checked the Recent Developments while the others were occupied.
Population: 108, with the added Direwolves.
Four new births in the settlement.
The Goblin Hunters had eliminated another Orc patrol.
The fruit harvest had succeeded, more than enough for current consumption plus storage. The watchtower on the northern edge was complete.
Suri had started teaching the settlement’s younger goblins.
Gruk had accidentally started a fire.
Arthur smiled. "Good work," he said, to the notification.
Sun looked up. "Imaginary tribe again?" he said.
"They’re doing really well," Arthur said.
"They’re always doing well," Sun said.
Mithra read over Arthur’s shoulder, which he hadn’t objected to. "Gruk starting a fire sounds exactly right," she said.
Athena adjusted her glasses. "That’s somehow the most believable item in whatever you’re reading," she said.
Vedas, who’d been watching quietly: "I believe Arthur."
Sun covered his face. "Of course you do," he said.
...
A group of younger Beast Tamers had been watching from across the market for several minutes, until the distance stopped feeling safe enough.
"That’s him," one said to the others, and Arthur turned and smiled and crossed the gap.
"Hi," he said.
All four jumped.
"Senior!" one said.
Arthur scratched his cheek. "You don’t need to call me that," he said. He looked at the youngest, who’d been staring at the ground. "And don’t compare yourself to people on different paths. Put in the work and you’ll get there."
He flicked her lightly on the forehead. She looked up, somewhere between surprised and pleased.
"Really?" she said.
"Of course," Arthur said.
Mithra crossed her arms behind him. Athena sighed. Sun studied a point above the conversation. Vedas found something interesting on the ground.
"How do you get strong?" one of them asked.
Arthur thought about it. "I mostly just say yes," he said. "When something looks interesting, I go toward it."
Sun said immediately, "Don’t."
Arthur looked at him. "Why?"
Athena sighed again. "Context matters enormously," she said.
"I think it’s good advice," Mithra said.
Sun looked at her. "You’re impossible," he said.
Vedas nodded. "It worked," he said.
The younger Beast Tamers were writing things down.
Arthur looked at the papers. "I don’t think that was worth writing," he said.
...
One of the nearby Beast Tamers watched Arthur walk away.
"...That’s him."
"The Monster?"
Another nodded. "I can see why."
"Yeah, he somehow makes impossible things sound normal."
A third laughed. "No, the scary part is I don’t think he’s trying."
...
The driver found them near the gate with a map.
Not new. The edges had the worn texture of something handled many times, some paths crossed out over the years and redrawn in different directions. Arthur could see routes changed and updated in different handwriting, evidence of different people returning with different information.
"The forest doesn’t move," the driver said, spreading it across a nearby table. "The beasts do. These routes were viable last month." He tapped three marked paths. "These ones weren’t." Another mark. "And this path no longer exists."
Athena leaned over the map. "They update these after every expedition?"
"Every expedition leaves something," the driver said. "Knowledge or a warning. Both are useful."
Arthur looked at the routes, the crossed-out ones and the new lines over them, the edges where the forest trails ran out of markings.
"That’s incredible," he said.
The driver rolled the map and handed it to Athena. "You’ll need it," he said. She accepted it with both hands.
The driver looked toward the western gate. "Time to go," he said.
Arthur looked at him. "Now?" he said, hoping for exactly that answer.
"Were you planning to wait?" the driver said.
"Not really," Arthur said.
The driver smiled. "I had a feeling," he said.
Sun stood up from the bench. Kong jumped to his shoulder. Melo landed on Arthur’s. Athy spread her wings and settled back onto Athena’s shoulder. Vedas fell into step beside Arthur like it was nothing.
They walked through the western gate.
The buildings disappeared behind them one by one as the road narrowed into a path and the path narrowed further, and the sounds of merchants and returning Beast Tamers and the smell of grilled Crystal Lizard gave way to wind moving through trees that got taller the further west they went.
Arthur looked ahead.
Somewhere in that direction, the Ruins of Evolution waited.
His grin, building since they’d left the gate, was now fully lit.
"I can’t wait," he said.
"I had a feeling you’d say that too," the driver said, without turning around.
The trees closed in around them.
Far ahead, beyond countless ancient trees, space quietly rippled.
Beneath Arthur’s sleeve, the golden mark on the back of his hand pulsed once.
And deep within the Ruins of Evolution, something answered.
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