Dirthaven city, once the very famous capital of the Keimen Kingdom, used to be a city where most people wanted to be. The city was welcome to almost an endless amount of traders, which earned it a lot of tourists and trade from roaming merchants and people looking to enjoy themselves.

All this was in the past though. Six years ago to be exact. Now it was simply a husk of its former glory. On the once bustling streets, all one would find were homeless beggars and drunkards. At night, the entire city turned into the biggest red light district in the kingdom, harlots of different sentient races would roam, looking for their targets. There were even rumours of succubi having suck the life forces of some men.

Children were being raised to become thieves and only the rich thrived in the upper echelons. The royal family had shut themselves away from the people, leaving them to rot. The adventurer’s guild lost most of the mercenaries in one hit and the kingdom lost all its good relations with the Dhijan Hero Nation, causing it to crumble in the faces of other power nations such as the New Kyoto Empire and the Sundane Kingdom. It was truly in a pitiful state as compared to before.

And if you asked anybody why any of this happened, they would say only one thing.

It was all because they angered the Mad Witch of the West.

What that meant, most people who didn’t live in the kingdom wouldn’t understand.

Seiko looked around the city for a bit, then took a gulp from his water can. The trip had been a long one, and he hadn’t managed to get any transport because he forgot all his money back in the place he termed home.

It wasn’t as much as him forgetting, as it was a matter of the fact that he couldn’t remember exactly what happened. He was certain he packed it, but was scared that some bandits may have robbed him while he slept. He didn’t have his 1 Ban and 4 Ban with him, which meant they had most likely been taken away from him. His pride wouldn’t allow for that to be the case, so he would assume that he left it.

The young man lifted the scroll in his hands and took a look at it. He had already memorized the contents of the scroll, but just to make sure he wouldn’t miss anything he had to check again. That was just how meticulous he was. He hated to fail a task.

The scroll contained a drawing of a person. She was a beauty with large ghastly eyes that would surely kill any with a weak will. Her hair was short and wavy, with a tiny hair band of curious design on it. Her nose was tiny, same for her mouth and she possessed puffy cheeks and cute lips that fit her face.

In all honesty, he didn’t see why they called her beautiful. If anything she was frightening in his eyes and he didn’t want to have to deal with someone like that, but she was his target. She was also in search of him, so she should have possessed a drawing of him as well.

He put his hand to his chin as he drowned himself in his thoughts.

‘Hmm, how do we meet though? They didn’t tell us anything except that we should come to Dirthaven. And when I tried to inquire for more, the Clan Head said I should just go and that he wouldn’t tell me more. This person too, I’ve never met with her before so I wouldn’t know where she would most likely go. Whenever I asked about her, all they told me was that she was a skilled fighter who used weird magic and techniques and something else about her character… she was jumpy…? I can’t remember.’

BOOM!

There was an explosion up ahead which shook the ground lightly. He looked towards where he could feel it from and put his hand to his back to take out his rifle out. He then checked it to see if it was loaded.

The people around who were startled just looked in the direction of the source of the sound, confused. They were nothing more than drunkards or mere beggars without homes to go to. The children were all startled and ran the other way, shouting.

Seiko began to approach the scene, checking his armory to make sure everything was alright. He checked the barrel to see if it was loaded. It was a shotgun, about 60 cm long, with a silver barrel and intricately designed golden kanji lined on the handle. He looked into the barrel to ensure the safety was on. He wasn’t going to outright kill the people causing the commotion because he felt that it was his obligation to simply stop the dispute as safely as possible.

After confirming that the gun was safe for simply paralyzing his opponents, he put it back. His hood was still on to ensure no one would identify him, and just to be extra careful, his black half face mask covered up his mouth.

It was a bar and there seemed to be quite a few people around. A man was quivering on the ground as he stared at the smoking door, unable to run away. Someone else came flying out of the bar, landing on the guy on the ground. They didn’t look like much, although they seemed better off than the people he had seen on the streets. They wore low grade armor, meaning they were simple mercenaries or adventurers.

Even if they were low class mercenaries, flying them out so easily was bothersome. This person was probably some guy who wanted to assert his dominance as the strongest in the city, or so Seiko thought.

However the person found the wrong time to do that, seeing as Seiko was in town. If there was one thing he hated the most, it was noise and discord, so he would end this quickly and disappear to go search for his target.

He proceeded through the door and a body came flying at him. He easily ducked and avoided the body, but when he looked up he saw about five mercenaries surrounding somebody – his target.

He didn’t want to get tangled up in their mess, so to break it up, he shot one round into the roof, producing a powerful boom that caught the attentions of everyone present in the room. All the mercenaries turned their heads to see him, but that was their worst mistake.

There was a purple shimmer that sent all of them blasting away in different directions with their bodies smoking, and a lone figure stood cockily. With a proud, arrogant and excited voice, the figure shouted.

“Come on! That can’t possibly be all of you! You call yourselves this city’s best yet you can’t even put up a good fight? Pathetic! Bring on the heavy hitters.”

Her voice was wild, almost threatening. Seiko pointed his shotgun - 6-Ban - at her then put his hand on the trigger.

The lone figure looked up at him then dropped her hands. Her hood fell down and Seiko was taken aback. She had wild dark purple hair with a unique hair band fixed in it. Her olive oil skin strangely complemented her large cerulean blue eyes. Those eyes that looked at him as one would look at someone familiar.

“Hey you, have I seen you somewhere before?”

She asked, but he was too busy observing her to listen to her. He sometimes did that, a lot of the time. She had a tiny frame, almost like a 14 year old’s and carried a curved blade at her back. She wore a short dress with black knee length boots and had a similar pair of arm-length fingerless gloves lined with a golden lace.

She looked genuinely confused and tilted her head, observing him – The bangs of her hair falling to the side. Still, she wouldn’t have been able to see anything due to his disguise. At least that was how it was supposed to be.

“Seiko Sotomura? Where have I heard that name before?”

He was surprised when she mentioned his name and was even more with the question after that – Although he didn’t show it. She put her finger to her lip, thinking about the name seriously, and the teen decided to drop his hood and mask respectively to aid her in her search for the answer.

“Ah!”

She yelled then pointed at him with vigor.

“You’re the Paladin I was supposed to meet!”

Everyone turned to look at him, and he could hear murmuring amongst the crowd. He let out a depressed sigh.

***

[Racial Level Climax Achieved]

[Evolution will now begin]

[Error! Species Golden Demonic Chick not found in System Database]

[Searching for solution…]

[Solution not found… Prompting System Master #####]

[… Problem solution: New Evolution Tree must be inserted into database]

DING!

[System Master has provided new Evolution Tree]

DING!

[Error! New Evolution Tree functions are unstable. Insertion might affect current system functions]

[Will System Master ##### still insert it?]

• [YES]/[NO]

DING!

[Booting Down system to insert new Evolution Tree… 3… 2… 1…]

(Powers down)

BEEP! BEEP!

[System Booting Up… 3… 2… 1…]

[System successfully booted up]

[Notification: System is currently unstable due to presence of new Evolution Tree. System is prone to random crashes.]

[System Master ##### commented: I will handle it]

[System Analysis shall continuously be performed and system shall constantly update]

DING!

[Evolution process shall resume…]

[Golden Demonic Chick evolves into Golden Demonic Hen]

[All general stats have increased]

[The target will acquire the skill [Mana Perception]]

[The target will acquire the skill [Magic Perception]]

[The target will acquire the skill [Dark Vision]]

[The target will acquire the skill [Flight]]

[All skills have been inserted]

[The King of Hell Ozvaloth will be notified of target’s existence]

[… System Master ##### has blocked any form of notification to the King of Hell Ozvaloth]

[All processes complete]

[Evolution… complete]

***

Day 9

[You have evolved into a [Golden Demonic Hen]]

[Your base stats have increased]

[You have acquired the skill [Mana Perception]]

[You have acquired the skill [Magic Perception]]

[You have acquired the skill [Dark Vision]]

[You have acquired the skill [Flight]]

                                                                  

‘Wah… huh?’

The screens flooded my eyes, giving me headaches with the several dings that came up. I slowly sat up, rubbing my head with my wings.

‘Hmm, that’s so soft and nice. It’s like a nice fluffy pillow. Wait a minute… since when did I have such nice feathers?’

My feathers were always rough, messy and uncomfortable, so how the hell were they suddenly enjoyable? That was when I saw my body.

I had gotten a bit taller, as well as fatter. My feathers had gotten darker and seemed sharper and smoother. The tips were black though, same for my belly and feet. I had some form of antennae on my head, almost like a replacement for my original cowlick.

‘I-… did I evolve? Woohoo! Evolution! Muahaha! Come! Face me!’

STATUS

[Name: Hinotori

[Species: Golden Demonic Hen Level 1/30           

[Status: [Hungry]

[Age: 9 days                         

[Rank: E+

[Race Rank: Tier 2

[Titles: |Newborn in a New World|, |Rare Species|, |Survivor|, |Named Beast|, |New Species|

[Blessings: |Blessings of the Ancient Goddess ****|, |Blessings of|

[Level: 15      Exp: 120/1,030 

[Health: 700/700      Stamina: 1000/1000     Strength: 110      Speed: 450    Defense: 100      Dexterity: 105    Intelligence: 25        Luck: 40

[Skills: [Evolver], [Analyst], [God's voice] [Lustful Gaze], [Imprint], [Golden Demonic Hen Cry], [Peck], [Black Wayne Caw], [Auto Mapping], [Poison Generation], [White Viper Scales], [Sprint], [Acrobatics], [Blood Sucking], [Soul Consumption], [Terror], [Prey Instinct], [Fire Breath], [Black Thread Creation], [Thread Control], [Stealth], [Mana Perception], [Magic Perception], [Dark Vision], [Flight], [Spore Generation], [Sap spores], [Poison Gas Creation], [Spawn spores], [Co-ordination] [Poison Resistance], [Pain Resistance]

‘Huh? Oi, oi… doesn’t the status screen look kinda different now? What happened? Is it because I’m now part demon?’

I wanted to ask, but I wouldn’t get any answers. However, I noticed there was a cool breeze that made me kind of happy. It came from above and when I checked, I saw weird leaves with their veins glowing faintly.

[Name: Blue Winowa

[Description: A type of tree that usually grows in the summer period. Its leaves are capable of producing a cool breeze that can cool down anything. They are usually used for making cold foods, or keeping items fresh.

‘Ah… That’s nice. Finally, something that isn’t life threatening.’

“Grrr, waba rak!” I heard some weird growling sounds to my side.

“Waaaa!” Surprisingly, there was a little plant monster flying at me with a vicious grin on its face.

‘Eh? What the heck is this? Let’s go, [Tori Kick]…’

I simply kicked the monster on instinct, ripping right through it and sending its body flying.

[You have killed a Mushroo spawn]

[One of your Mushroo spawns has died]

‘Eh? One of my what? Oh, that’s right, I used that new skill I got yesterday before I decided to evolve.’

I then remembered that the night before, I killed a certain creature called a Larm Mushroo. That thing was so scary my stomach hurt remembering it and how I almost died. Yeah, anyway I managed to kill it and acquire enough experience points to evolve, I guess. But before, I planted these guys to protect me, just in case I didn’t make it to the cave.

‘So why the hell did that one attack me?’

<<Notice: That last order given to the mushroo before evolution was your temporary protection. Post evolution, the mushroos have no orders>>

Agent explained the situation to me in simple terms. Still didn’t make sense for it to understand me though, but I wouldn’t asked. This thing had already proven too stupid to understand some of my questions. Stupid, sometimes useless cheat.

I looked forward and there were three mushroos looking at me with fear in their eyes. I didn’t know that plant monsters could feel fear. I guess even plants have emotions. Two of the mushroos hid behind one, who was probably the bravest of them all. He was also biggest when I looked at him well.

‘I guess, I’m your parent since I created you. However, I won’t treat you like a parent would. Take me to be your boss, you little twigs! I guess I shall name you Ichi.’

I told the one the others were hiding behind, because well, he seemed to be the oldest.

[Would you like to name this creature?]

[This would require mana to be transferred]

[Would you still like to name this creature?]

‘Eh? Mana? B-But… I’ll die if I use mana. So no! I won’t be naming them. I’ll just do so in my head. I’ll call the first one Ichi, second, Ni and the third, San.’

DING!                                                        

[You have successfully named the spawns, Ichi, Ni and San]

[They are now members of your familia]

DING!

[ERROR! @#%! [Familia] function still locked!]

‘Oi, oi… what the hell just happened. I just named them? I thought I couldn’t do so without mana. Also, what is this Familia function thing? Agent?’

I got no response from the agent yet again. I just decided to shrug it off. I’d probably just find out a while later.

I looked at the creatures once again. They looked kind of weak. I doubted they could be worth anything. I probably didn’t get killed the previous night because no monster found me. In that case, I would need to make them strong enough to protect me whenever I slept. I wanted to test out their abilities, but we were in the open, so I would need to go back to my nest.

With [Auto Mapping], going back wasn’t too much of a problem. Also, I scanned them and this is what I got.

STATUS

[Name: Ichi

[Species: Mushroo spawn Level 1/10           

[Status: Scared

[Age: 1 day                         

[Rank: F

[Race Rank: Tier 0

[Titles: |Of World|

[Blessings: ||

[Level: 1     Exp: 0/50

[Health: 40/40      Stamina: 100/100      Mana: 10/10        Strength: 23      Speed: 45    Defense: 20      Dexterity: 75        Intelligence: 5        Luck: 40         Magic: 05

[Skills: [Rooting], [Whip Lash], [Sap spores], [Co-ordination], [Mana Absorption]

‘Tch, damned brats have better stats than I did when I first started out.’

Finally, it was time to test out their fighting potential.

Hahaha! Now ladies and gentlemen! I present to you, the ultimate, Twig Tournament! Who shall be my twig!

I had come up with the idea of a tournament where the twig brothers fight amongst themselves to determine who the best was considering they all had the same stats.

Ichi was the first to attack, extending his twig like arms to whip his brothers. Ni managed to dodge it, but San took the blow then bit his older brother’s hand. Ni got angry at the sight then whipped his little brother. Ichi dragged San in close, then scratched the little one’s face with his claw like hands.

“Awaa! Grrr!”

San didn’t like that very much it would seem. He stopped biting his brother then extended one of his root like legs to grab Ni, who dodged easily. However, Ni jumped right into Ichi, causing Ichi to be disoriented. Without wasting time, San jumped in with his hands forming a giant net like structure, probably to capture them.

‘Did San plan that? Nice. But… isn’t Ichi’s adaptability too insane?’

I thought this because Ichi just acquired a new ability on the go. It was called [Polymorph]. It changed its hands to form large blades that cut through the net like structure. The blade was about to cut right through San, but Ni grabbed San with a whip and flung him into a wall of the nest and essentially making me end the tournament, although it was sort of underwhelming.

All of them had already reach 1 hp. So I would need to find a way to raise them back up to full health.

‘Oh, that’s right. How do I get back to hundred percent, when I lose some health? Do I just eat? Or sleep?’

<<Notice: Consumption of Renosue herbs help recover vitality>>

‘What? What is this? Could it be that my cheat skill that knows everything in this world is actually quite useful? Oh my… Where could I find such goodies?’

<<Notice: Renosue herbs are mostly found in the West of Larm forest>>

‘Hehehe, and I’m currently located in the West of Larm forest? Muahaha! I shall find these herbs and amass them! But now… I need to fix my home.’

I looked up at my broken roof and saw a few cracks in my walls. I really needed to do some home repairs. I unconsciously let out a groan and lie on my back, thinking about how I will alter this.

‘Maybe I could live without a roof. You know, bask in glorious sunlight during the day time and absorb that sweet fantasy moonlight at night. It’ll be dope.’

BOOM!

Just then, thunder boomed and thunder clouds gathered in the sky.

‘Seriously? Tch.’

I got off the ground and decided to scroll through my skill set to see if I had anything useful. Luckily I had acquired [Black Thread Creation] from the Black Weaver yesterday and it seemed quite useful. My use of it the first time was quite horrible. The black sticky substance just fell on the floor every time I tried shooting it out of my feather tip.

The clouds were gathering and I didn’t have time to come up with something better, so I just picked up the falling pieces and attached them to the ends of the top of my home, trying to form some sort of net with them.

Soon enough, I managed to cover the top completely. It started raining and I could feel a little bit safe, that is until my ceiling started leaking. It would seem that my threads still weren’t strong enough, so I needed to be more creative if I didn’t want to get my feathers wet.

After a bit of looking around and thinking, I decided to leave the comforts of my dry cave to go search for tree branches, which I cut down with my claws and dragged back into the nest. It was hard to do without hands, but I managed to fix the tree branches to the ceiling like a roof and tie them together using [Black Thread Creation]. Coincidentally, the tree branches I took were from a Winowa tree and still had some of the leaves present, dropping the room’s temperature and helping me dry off.

Still, given the fact that it was already cold out, more cold air was not necessary. Ah to hell with it.

After time, my body was naturally adapting to it. This was due to the effects of [Evolver] giving me the skill [Cold Resistance] while I relaxed. After the rain died out, the mushroos came bothering me and I remembered that they had almost died because of me. So I made them man the fort while I went out in search of Renosue herbs for them.

On my way out, I tested out the [Flight] skill and it allowed me to fly for the price of 10 stamina per minute or so. That was a good deal, I guess. It simply meant I wouldn’t be flying much. Still, I decided to go up into the sky to simply enjoy the view.

It was fantastic. There was an endless mass of trees wherever I looked, but the sunset was beautiful. Behind me I could see a massive mountain range with dark clouds and storms brewing. According to the agent that was the Northern part of Larm. It possessed the truly dangerous monsters of Larm, so I would never have to go there!

While I was enjoying my time in the sky, I was suddenly attacked by a creature called a [Bronzeed]. It was like an owl with shiny golden feathers and beaks and claws made of bronze. It was quite the slim creature with a sort of automatic feel to it, but also very violent. It attacked me viciously, but I managed to beat it. It didn’t give me enough points to level up though.

At least I acquired a meal after evolution.

DAILY ACHIEVEMENTS

[Hinotori Evolved]

[Hinotori acquired 3x [Mushroo Spawns]]

[Hinotori acquired the skill [Cold Resistance]]

[Hinotori acquired the skill [Goggles]]

[Hinotori acquired the skill [Heat Sense]]

[Hinotori acquired [Renosue Herbs]]