- Experiment number 3. Start.

In the middle of a huge underground complex, a man shaped creature was standing in a special arena. A homunculus. In light clothes, the homunculus was examining the surroundings without emotion. Although the arena was empty, many doors around it opened one after another, releasing shapeless monsters that furiously walked towards the only target in the sight. He only raised his hand without emotion, from which A magic missile came out.

Upstairs, a lot of scientists were watching the experiment through the glass.

- Hey. -a man standing next to the scientist, carefully looked at the homunculus, frowning, and turned to him -Can you explain the details? What is the point of these experiments? Why we ever create a homunculi?

- The fact is that the Dark Puppets have already bored everyone. - The scientist said indifferently - Magicians, the basis of society, the most powerful of us, Now are just a former shadow of their past selves. No matter how unique and useful their spells are, they'll eventually run out of mana and die in a fight against a horde. The puppets have made everything too easy, and no one wants to fight in the war. For 30 years, wars have been waged only by golems and puppets. Fewer and fewer people face each other in battles every year.

-Isn't that better?

- You're still young. The last wars were not fought for the sake of the land, the people, or anything else worthwhile. They were all in order to raise people's battle spirits. We need talents and talents require certain circumstances. After all, we don't need greenhouse flowers, we need mature ones who are ready to deal fate a blow. The dark puppets have became the salvation of humanity from bloody wars, but at the same time, they became our degradation. We are trying to overcome this.

- With what? This homunculus can only use the lowest magic missile. This is one of the weakest spells -The man said disdainfully.

-Ooh, you haven't seen anything yet. - The scientist smiled. - Look carefully.

The homunculus killed the dark puppets one by one. Formless entities of different sizes could only mindlessly go ahead. Things resembling hands constantly appearing and disappearing on their bodies when they touch the ground

Nothing surprising happened for the first few minutes, but suddenly the homunculus raised his hand and a magic circle appeared under him. At the same time, a cold wind began to swirl around him forming ice shells.

- It can't be! - The man looked at the homunculus with surprise - He was able to cast only one spell in the beginning! How did he learn the magic circle and the snowstorm?

- Yes. The fact is that they learn on the field. Thanks to the special strengthening of their bodies, they can absorb some of the mana of the killed puppets. Using this mana as replenishment, he tries to learn the spell in natural way.

- Is it possible?

- Animals do this sometimes, but what is there, magic itself appeared because individuals learned spells in this way. What am I'm talking, even we could develop by this way. However, it has its flaws. You don't control your own development. Maybe next time your fireball will get stronger, but it's also possible that you'll learn a thunder-type spell. That's too unpredictable for us.

- I see. However, progress cannot but frighten me

-You're right about that. This method is incredibly fast, under ideal conditions, of course.

A few minutes later, the homunculus began to freeze the floor, a beautiful snowflake pattern appeared for a couple of seconds, and then, as if being under the scorching sun, it immediately melted.

- The third went towards the ice spells. It looks like when learning a spell, the chances of learning a spell of the same attribute increase. So the Second homunculi wasn't just lucky, it's a pattern. - The scientists actively shared their opinions.

- It's not a fact, maybe he's just lucky too. It is necessary to conduct at least 10 more experiments to be able to assert this.

-You're right. It's a pity that so far we manage to conduct experiments only once every six months.

-We have been preparing for the first time for several years. I am sure we will be able to accelerate their growth even more.

- Tch. -The man clicked softly. He would very much like this experiment to be covered up, but the Empire saw great prospects in this, and his words could not change anything.

- Oh My God! - Looking through binoculars at the homunculus, one of the scientists exclaimed - Just 10 minutes after the experiment, but he already increased the spell's class!

- Unbelievable!

Everyone was surprised by this course of events. Each spell could grow 13 times. This is either a simple level increase, a class increase, and, most rarely, a spell evolution. There is another one, but this is such a rare event that no one thinks about such a possibility. Increasing the level usually just increases the power and reduces the cooldown of the spell. The class upgrade is rare, and in this case, it is greatly improved or acquires a secondary function.

In the case of the homunculus, his ice storm spell has improved. The cold covered his body and his limbs had a thin layer of ice. At the same time, the Storm rose high into the sky becoming clouds that follow it. With a wave of his hand, he summoned ice spears that fell from above on the puppets. A second later, the ice melted as if it had never been

- He can already give them a certain shape. There can be no mistake. He upgraded the spell class.

Gradually, at 15 minutes, kamikaze puppets began to appear. Their bodies burned red and when they were strongly impacted, they exploded. Of course, this caused more damage to the allies, but who cares about it? Their lives are almost worthless anyway.

A huge puppet 10 meters in length walked with wide steps towards the homunculus, his spells did not have power, realizing this, he summoned a magic circle that strengthened his next spell, and gathering strength attacked him with ice spears. This time their shape was smoother and the puppet impaled fell to the ground, however quickly split into two smaller puppets.

- How good that I will never fight with these creatures, - Said one of the scientists. He had a dark red beard, and his gaze seemed to burn through everyone. -They're too tenacious.

- I agree. -Another scientist replied. A woman in her 20s who didn't fit in with the old scientists. However, no one dared to look down on her. - Freeze one, as two more are coming at you.

-Ellie, isn't it better to use a death spell right away? Everyone is equal in front of her, fufufufu, - the lich grinned.

- No thanks. The life of a skeleton is the last thing that would interest me.

- Such a life has many advantages.

-Ellie shut up, you interfering with watching the experiment.

-I'm sorry.

-Wow!? Already?

The scientist's shout attracted everyone's attention.

- It can't be! What is the minute of the experiment!?

-23 minutes and 19 seconds!

The clouds turned red, and instead of ice spears, red shells fell to the ground, which exploded falling to the ground.

It was the evolution of a spell. Each person had it in their own way. It rarely happened that one spell evolved at least once. Only one out of 10,000 mages have evolved at least one spell. One in 100,000 has evolved one spell twice, and only one in a million has evolved one spell three times. Naturally, they're widely known geniuses

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The evolution of a spell is not a simple gain or gain of an additional function. This is a complete change of the spell while retaining some functions. The spell attribute itself was often changed.

For example, a spell like a fireball could become a poisonous cloud after being hit, or it could become a white ball that circled the host. Both evolution and upgrading class slightly changes the host's body, it could be a spot on the body, a protective layer of scales, an improvement of one of the 5 senses, and much more.

Evolutions have always been unpredictable, which is why they are so desirable. Right now my spell will evolve and I will become a high-ranking magician! Everyone dreams about it, but not everyone is destined for it.

- The last one took two hours! It seems that the third is the most gifted of all. -Lich said. - Listen, can I take his remains and try to revive him as an undead?

- If there's anything left of him, of course.

- I'm glad to hear that. I hope he keeps his sanity or remembers himself within a year. Oh... I'm sure I'll find a lot of use for him. Maybe I should...

- Please, be quiet. You're not letting us focus on the experiment.

- My bad.

Then everyone silently continued to follow the experiment. After 30 minutes, the homunculus learned a new spell. A fireball. At 35 minutes, it raised the class. Now when he conjured a fireball, 2 more small balls flew out.

-The devices show that they have half the power of the original. Not bad. - The man with the fiery beard said. His name was Gondo, an experienced pyromancer who had one fire spell evolved 2 times. -The power of the main fireball is enough to burn the cow into ashes when hit. Around level 6, I guess. We are betting people. For some reason, I am sure that he will be able to evolve the spell. Bets from 10 gold.

-The chances are extremely slim, so I'm betting he can't.

Most of the room was betting that he wouldn't be able to develop the spell. Their pessimism was understandable, among 40 scientists, only 15 had evolved a spell at least once.

Huge kamikaze puppets surrounded the homunculus, everyone already thought that he had come to an end as his body became transparent and he passed through the puppets. They, in turn, hit each other and exploded, scattering dark slime-like remains around.

-Ghost step? For 3 seconds, I'm sure it's level 1.

-A total of 4 spells. Good progress.

45 minutes of the experiment. Green spots began to appear on the skin of the third. A green liquid stood out from the spots, which, upon contact with the ground, melted it like an

- Acid? No, it looks like poison. Did his fireball evolve?

- It looks like he's casting

A small green ball appeared in the homunculus' hand, which slowly grew bigger and bigger. As soon as the ball was a little bigger than a basketball, he threw it toward the enemy, and at the same moment, two balls smaller than the palm appeared to the right and left of the ball. The balls hit the bodies of the puppets and exploded, forming a green cloud. The bodies of the puppets into which the balls fell began to melt as if from acid. The cloud, in turn, caused the other puppets to fall to the ground dead.

-From a fiery attribute to a poisonous one. Not bad.

- The fire type is the most powerful, its evolution has gone wrong, - Gondo said with displeasure.

- Almost any evolution is useful, who better than you to know it.

- Anyway, the power of pure fire is undeniable.

Many people grinned at this, for them his words were like a joke.

- Would you like to check? Come on, who wants to? -Gondo confidently got up and confidently looked around, however, noticing the lich's gaze, he sat down with fear on his face and quietly said - Forget about it. I didn't say anything.

After that, the experiment went on in silence. Wave after wave of puppets attacked the homunculus. The next spells were a hurricane, a touch of winter, and a tsunami.

He conjured like an experienced magician who had survived dozens of battles on the verge of life and death.

- It's already 1 hour of the experiment. Release the golems, I think he's ready. -Ellie said.

- We released them after 2 hours for the last one, isn't it too early?

- I don't think so. We have to put him in new conditions. This will accelerate his development, I'm sure. -Ellie assured the others.

After a brief discussion, they released the golems from their cells. There were 5 of them, each of them 15 meters in length.

...

PoV Third

Opponents are everywhere. Without tactics, without self-care, they attack ahead. Survive. I have to survive.

Surrounded by these puppets, it's not that difficult, but golems. They just come up to me, slow but strong. First, I need to deal with the crowd.

- Heavenly Bombardment! -Red projectiles fell to the ground and exploded, destroying many creatures, the remnants of which flew in all directions.

Without taking a breath, I cast a Poisonous Ball. Two smaller balls flew to the right and left of the main ball. The poisonous mist also caused their numbers to thin out. However, the golem went through all this as if all these spells were nothing to him.

There is not enough fighting power. To destroy it, you need to focus the damage on it. Hmm...

-Magic Circle! - A magic circle appeared under me, the next spell will be strengthened. The cooldown is 20 seconds. - Ghost step!

My body became transparent. This spell temporarily makes my body intangible. Thanks to the strengthening of the magic circle, it will last 6 seconds.

- That's enough for me!

I ran straight at the golem and started climbing it. There was just enough time for me to get to his belt. Climbing onto his shoulders, I looked down. The horde attacked the golem in an attempt to get me, and it, in turn, raised his hand and swung at me. I immediately touched its head and began to conjure.

- Freezing! - The golem's head was frozen, and the hand also stopped. Having bought myself time with this, I decided to go all-in. - Heavenly Bombardment!

Shells fell from the sky and exploded violently. After collecting mana in the area, I closed my eyes and started trying to level up. If the new spell turns out to be useless, I will die.

Armageddon.

Here it is! I immediately started casting a spell. It's will be ready in 2 minutes! It is necessary to hold out for 2 minutes!

If someone was covering for me, I could cast it in 30 seconds, but there's nobody who'd help me, so I can only rely on myself.

- Poison ball! -The ball hit the golem's hand and began to melt it at a speed noticeable to the naked eye.

During this time, the other golems had already come close enough. One of them raised its hand and swung in my direction. However, either because it is too clumsy, or because the creatures from below prevented it, the golem hit the chest of another. Wasting no time, I cast a freeze and ran along the arm to another golem.

- Magic Circle! Heavenly Bombardment! - The enhanced projectiles were still able to penetrate the golem's defense and destroy its head. The golem's body fell to the ground, flattening a lot of puppets.

- Freezing. - I froze the golem's head. Seizing the moment, I cast a poison ball into the crowd and began to collect mana again. And ... a new level of heavenly bombardment.

My stats. The information appeared in front of me as only I thought about it

*****

Name: Third

Level: 23

Spells:

Magic Projectile: 1lv

Ghost Step: 1lv

Freezing: 3lv

Sky Bombardment(Blizzard): 8lv

Poison Ball(Fireball): 7lv

Magic Circle: 2lv

Armageddon: lvr

*****

Tch, it's getting harder and harder to raise the level every time. And the amount of the spell is barely enough to survive. Protective spells are needed, but it's not up to me. What did he say there? Something like

* You have enough basics to develop. All experiments show that you are learning too slowly. On the battlefield, if you pray to the gods and maybe you can survive.*

Bastard. It's a pity he's too strong for me, otherwise, I would have already killed him.

One minute left. I'm already on the third golem.

- Heavenly Bombardment!

After destroying another crowd, I felt that I could level up. Well, it's now or never!

I received... A new level of the Magic Circle? Okay, don't panic. That's enough for me.

- Magic Circle! Poison ball!

30 seconds. It is necessary to hold out for 30 seconds.

I destroyed 3 golems and moved to 4. After destroying it, I landed on the ground and finally said

- Armageddon!

-*Boom!*

The violent explosion turned all the dark creatures into powder within a radius of 300 meters. The feeling of exhaustion was instantly swept away by the feeling of being overwhelmed by mana.

3 levels at once!

The poison ball has improved twice, as well as a new spell, Control. Can I control some of these puppets now? That's great!

However, before I was happy, I noticed that my shadow was not under me. Turning around, I saw a huge golem fist.

Is this... the end?

…

- Nooo! Third! - The Lich loudly shouting this spell broke through the protective glass and furiously attacked the golem. - The Power of Time! -

Before the golem could move, its huge body turned into dust.

- The wind! - As soon as he said that all the ashes flew away from the Lich's eyes.

All his attention was focused on the body, or rather, what was left of it.

- Noooo! The remains! Damn golem! It crushed the remains! I can't revive him! Such a talent! Such a lost talent! Damn it.

The Lich cursed the golem loudly, and then looked at Ellie with hatred.

- You! I should have waited! Give him time to develop! Then he would be able to live longer and die a less terrible death! And his remains might've been in better conditions

A light cold wind lifted Ellie and she gently descended to the lich, after examining the remains, she coldly said

- We told you if there was anything left of him. Also, he clearly could have survived if he cast ghost step. His carelessness led to his death. You have no right to blame me.

- You! You! -It seemed like the lich was about to start a battle, but suddenly, he calmed down and said in a calm voice.

-I'll get the remains next time. Just dare to object.

- I don't mind.

The Lich waved his hand and space sliced, opening a portal, which he immediately entered.

- Pheew. -Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. Wiping her cold sweat, she muttered-He's finally gone. I thought he was going to kill me.

A lich who lived for several hundred years had a level over 400. In turn, Ellie had only 49. Of course, for an 18-year-old, this is an incredible level, but against real monsters, she is like a weak lamb.

On average, magicians reached level 30. Since it becomes more difficult to get the next one after each level, many decided to just quit, because 30 levels are enough for a good life. Why would they give up the joys of life in favor of cultivating and studying 24/7? Many magicians, for obvious reasons, did not see the point in this.

- Ellie. Collect the biomaterial and send it to *Educators*. -Gondo said as he approached the bloody mess. - Take it as your punishment.

- Alright