Will couldn’t remember how long she had been living as a mutated snake. Her mind was muddled by the thought of killing. She and her brethren went to human civilizations and feast on human meats they had killed.

One time, she reached her limit as an oddity and underwent her first evolution. She gained limbs with claws. Her mouth grew sharp teeth. Scales covered her whole body.

Even though she got stronger, life as an eldritch oddity was difficult. Her brethren were killed by humans or other kinds of oddities. Only those who had evolved got a higher chance to survive.

Out of her brethren, only she was alive. Will was lucky enough to evolve for the second time. She could stand on her feet and her right forearm transformed into a long barrel with a hole at the tip. She could shoot enemies from afar.

As she kept slaughtering people, she had gone past third and fourth evolutions. In her third evolution, her intelligence came back again. In her fourth evolution, her body grew over four-meter tall.

She didn’t know how many times or possibly an epoch had passed. But, she had gained many followers from her journey. Under dark clouds that shed the heavy rain and the drumming of lightning strikes, she led them through high cliffs to the peak where he could look down to a human city in the middle of the forest.

Skyscrapers stood tall behind the circling great wall with the ever-active turrets on it. Defensive towers stayed prepared in several corners of the city, emitting an electricity orb.

Will opened her jaws and roared to the sky. Her barrel-like hand pointed at the city. Her followers charged forward from the sky and through the forest.

Will rolled her lizard tail. Her bent-over legs kicked the ground. She leaped through the entire forest and the wall, landing on the top of a tower in the middle of the city.

Her claw ripped the lightning orb apart as she shot a beam to the roof. Then, she went on a rampage and destroyed the nearby buildings with beam shots. She was intoxicated in slaughtering acts as she thought about her fifth evolution.

What will I get from the fifth evolution? Will I get my memory back?

Several planes and flying humans came over. Defense towers that were stationed inside the city attempted to shot her down. Will didn’t bother. No attack could penetrate her hard scales.

Her sky followers finally arrived and dealt with the planes and flying humans while her land followers were busy destroying the wall. She continued to shoot down buildings from the center tower. As time passed, the city was destroyed.

Will got bored and decided to rest on the rooftop of a skyscraper that still stood. The rain had long since stopped. The sky became clear again, revealing a crimson moon on the sky.

As she looked at the moon, she roared in rage. She didn’t like that round thing in the sky. Her right arm pointed at it as she prepared her stronger shot. Her act came to stop when the sky suddenly turned gray. She couldn’t move and even think.

When she blinked her eyes, meteors of light descended upon her followers. They were obliterated in one attack, leaving her alone on the skyscraper.

Will saw a man in the sky. He wore a gray coat and a silk top hat. A monocle hung on his right eye. He had a pair of white wings and a pair of gray wings on his back.

The man adjusted his monocle and looked directly into her eyes. For some reason, Will felt nervous. It was like the feeling when she faced the chaos lord. The pressure of being under someone.

Will was annoyed. She was a mighty intelligent oddity. She had many followers. She shouldn’t be treated like this!

Will shot the man, but the beam stopped in the air. She was about to leap toward him, but her body stopped moving.

Three layers of translucent clock circle trapped her body from the neck to the legs, preventing her to move. A message suddenly rang out in her mind.

You are affected by Time Cuffs for three minutes.

Will was annoyed to hear that voice. It always appeared whenever she took damages or affected by harming abilities. She shook her thick neck wildly. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move her lower body.

The man flew slowly toward her. He put a sad expression when he looked at her. “Look what have you become, Will. It was my father’s fault. Father was weak. But, I am strong now. I can help you. You have to endure this.”

The man reloaded his magnum revolver and pointed it to her chest. “This bullet I will shoot to you is the accumulation of pains of the people you have killed. I—I don’t have any way to save you. You must endure. No, if you get killed by this, you are still counted as an innocent human. Father wishes you well.”

Boom.

Will clutched her chest and rolled over as the pain seared to her entire body. Her breath was choked and she couldn’t let out a scream. Her body started shrinking from four-meter, three-meter, and finally stopped at her human height.

Inside her mind, any creature she had killed appeared in front of her. Humans, animals, and even mosquitoes. They grabbed every part of her body and ripped her body to pieces.

Her body regenerated from those pieces. New people came and took turns to kill her clones. She kept multiplying until she came back to her female human form.

“H—help me,” Will uttered her first word for the first time in a long time.

Her oddity form peeled off from her human body as though she was wearing a costume. The peeled oddity skin crawled to her right hand and turned into a magnum revolver.

Will blinked her eyes and realized she was on her father’s laps. She reached his cheek, but her arm was too weak.

His father grabbed her hand and put in on his cheek. Tears flowed from his eyes. “I am sorry. I am sorry, Will.”

Will’s lips curled up into a thin smile. “You are okay, Dad. You know. I was fine with our out to date lifestyle. People thought we were weird. I sometimes envy my friends when they played games on their smartphones. But, I was satisfied.

“I hope you find a new wife and start a new family.”

Dad shook his head. “I will make sure you will alive. In the future, when we meet again, I promise I will find a new wife.”

Dad summoned two tablets from the thin air. The first one was scorching in flame. The latter emitted a dim light; branches spread on its surface.

“These are Questar tablets. If you absorb this, you can become a dual-class Questar with dual races. Your body is weak. There is no time. You were attending a sheriff college in the past. So, you must have a general knowledge of Questars. We will meet again in the future, Will.”

Dad’s hands passed through her body as he put those tablets inside her.

“D—dad, how can I meet you in the future?”

Dad smiled wryly. “I have no idea. Before this, I offended a strong organization by stealing these Questar tablets for you.”

He suddenly looked at the revolver in her right hand. “Ah, it turned into a strong magic artifact. Alas, it is too dangerous. Let me seal it, so you can use it in the future.”

When dad touched her revolver, it emanated light. Then, he carried her body and flew to the ground.

As soon as her feet touched the soil, veins bulged all over her body. “Dad, what happens to me?”

A mysterious voice in her head answered her instead.

Quest: cultivates a wisdom fruit as a Tree of Full Moon.

Reward: mythical creature form; the right to keep the wisdom fruit.

Dad sighed. “I have the power to manipulate time, but I can’t assist you in this. At least, I can support you to speed up your growth process. This is a farewell, my son. Please remember this, acting following your class, race, and even gender will help you to maintain your sanity. I can make you asleep until the time you can transform into a human again.”

Dad’s body emanated light and became translucent. He put his monocle onto her right eye and vanished into the thin air. Will could see his smile until the end.

A clock circle appeared above her. The needles moved so fast. Her legs transformed into roots and penetrated the ground. Her skin stiffened and turned into a wood-like. In a few hours, she completely transformed into a giant tree with glowing leaves.

Her awareness blurred. It was like the time when she turned into an oddity. However, she felt calm now. After all, she had made a promise to search for her dad in the future. She fell asleep peacefully.