Evelyn ran as fast as she could.
~BARK!!!~
~GROWL!!!~
~AWOOO!!!~
Running at full speed, Evelyn heard the sounds of the monstrous creatures chasing her. She momentarily looked at the dagger in her hand and he contemplated stabbing Michael with it.
That bastard! How am I going to kill these things with only this?! At least, give me a spear!
As Evelyn continues to run, she turns her head and sees the creatures chasing her emerge out of the foliage.
The creatures that emerged resembled large wolves. They had thick black fur and sharp yellowish teeth meant to rend flesh and crush bone. Their powerful legs pushed them onwards, quickly closing the gap between them and Evelyn.
Fuck, those teeth are terrifying.
Evelyn knew she could withstand a lot of damage but she also knew that with enough force, her body would take damage. This was the case with the super reptiles.
She felt a whiff of danger as a wolf beast that was hiding almost bit her legs. Jumping up, Evelyn somersaults over the monstrous creature.
~SNAP!!!~
The beast misses with its jaws and Evelyn takes advantage of that. As she’s jumping over the creature, Evelyn swings her dagger in a forward motion.
The creature yelped as its nape was sliced.
Evelyn lands on the ground and continues to run forward. Looking back, she saw that the creature was barely wounded but it would feel more cautious when making an attack like that again.
Rules rules… Michael told me that I must kill these things. If I don’t, they’ll evolve. If that happens, problems occur. And if problems occur, we’re both gonna have to deal with it.
Running forward, Evelyn quickly leans downward and picks up a rock. With a small leap, just enough to raise her body off the ground, Evelyn quickly spins. Using the momentum of her spinning body, along with her physical strength, Evelyn throws the rock toward the creature’s head.
~Thud~
It howls in pain as the rock hits its head. It falls to the ground. With Evelyn’s strength and technique, it wouldn’t be a wonder if that creature died immediately.
“Heh, Michael can’t do that one.”
Evelyn didn’t stop running. The wolf beasts continue to chase Evelyn despite one of their kin falling behind.
Once Evelyn and her hunters leave the area, a man jumps down from a nearby large tree and lands beside the fallen wolf beast.
It was Michael. On top of his shoulder was Bob, who had a small rock pouch just in case any creature attacked Michael.
Michael kneels and checks to see if the creature was still breathing. Michael frowns when he feels the creature’s body inhale and exhale, albeit weakly. He pulls out his stone knife.
Before Michael could end the wounded creature’s life, Bob lightly taps Michael’s shoulder. Michael looks at his monkey companion. Bob points at a nearby tree.
Michael frowns as he sees eight small animals. It was the wounded creature’s small and adorable offspring. They watched as their parent started to bleed out. They also saw Michael standing over it.
Pursing his lips, Michael felt his heart wrench. Bob looks at him with pitiful eyes.
+Bob, cover your eyes.+
Bob reluctantly does as he is told.
Michael goes to the weakly breathing wolf beast. He then plunges the knife into its throat. It makes a weak sound as it tries to resist but Michael quickly rips its throat apart.
Its children watch in horror as Michael slowly approaches them with a bloody knife in his hand.
Michael gives them an apologetic nod.
Then he walks towards them.
----------------------------------------
Evelyn continued to run. She had way too many close calls since the wolf beasts were faster than her. She could only maintain a distance because the forest had a lot of obstacles.
But now, she just exited the forest.
Looking in front of her, Evelyn saw the large expanse of the plains.
Shit.
~Growl~
~Growl~
~Growl~
Evelyn doesn’t look back and she quickly enters the tall grass. She was at a disadvantage there but she had no choice. If she turned back, her hunters would pounce on her.
Once inside the tall grass, Evelyn crouches and starts to practice the ability Michael told her about.
Evelyn slows her breathing. She momentarily closes her eyes, removing her eyesight. Then she blocks out the noise around her. She then ignores the sensations on her skin and the scents that enter her nose. As she withdraws all of her sensations, Evelyn’s presence almost disappears.
~Rustle~
Hidden in the long grass, Evelyn finds herself absent of the usual senses she uses to become aware of the physical world. Despite the absence of her senses, Evelyn was made aware of an almost supernatural sense present in her and Michael. With this, she doesn’t need to see, smell, feel, or hear where they are.
She already knows where they are.
Crushed grass…
Evelyn grips the stone knife’s handle.
One.
Two..
Three…
~Rustle~
Closer.
~Rustle~
Evelyn leaps forward. With a knife in hand, Evelyn opens her eyes and information comes flooding in. She sees her target.
The wolf beast’s eyes widen in surprise as it sees Evelyn appear in front of it.
First, the eye!
Evelyn used the momentum of her body to drive her stone knife directly into the wolf beast’s eye, piercing its skull. The wolf beast instantly dies when the stone knife goes through its brain.
The wolf beast’s body spasms for a bit but Evelyn still had use for it. Using the knife as a handle, Evelyn carries its body then she spins her body.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Screaming while using her body’s momentum, Evelyn throws the dead wolf beast towards one of its kind. She makes sure to grab the knife before she lets go.
Evelyn’s knife slides out of the dead wolf beast’s skull as its body is sent toward one of the wolf beasts. The struck wolf beast falls to the ground as its dead family member pins it with its weight.
The free non-pinned wolf beast snarls at Evelyn. It showcased its large teeth, trying to threaten Evelyn.
~Snarl~
Evelyn replies with a snarl of her own which surprises the wolf beast, causing it to hesitate. Evelyn then charges. She didn’t bother to wait.
The wolf beast’s hesitation was a blunder and Evelyn quickly closed the gap. It tried to leap away but Evelyn was already in front of it.
Having no choice, it bites forward instead.
Expecting the desperate bite, Evelyn deftly backs away, then she stabs the creature on the center of the top of its head. The creature didn’t even have time to whimper as it immediately died from its head wound.
The beast wolf falls and Evelyn pulls the knife out from its head. Looking towards the pinned beast wolf, Evelyn starts to walk.
The creature seems to panic. It’s moving erratically, trying to escape the body pinning it down. The wolf beast manages to get out halfway. It sees Evelyn and instead of snarling, it yelps in fear. It was already panicking but now it was almost delirious.
Seeing the extremely desperate wolf beast, Evelyn feels a bit of pity.
That was enough. The wolf beast manages to escape but instead of attempting to take revenge, like what Michael warned her about, the black beast runs away at full speed.
“Wait, no!”
Evelyn runs forward but this wolf beast’s speed was on par with the well-known Earth variant, the grey wolf. Grey wolves could run in small bursts ranging from 50 to 60 kilometers per hour.
As of now, even with all her strength, Evelyn couldn’t achieve even half that speed.
Evelyn had the stamina and endurance but if she lost sight of the beast wolf in the tall grass, it would be over.
Goddammit, Michael! Why didn’t you teach me how to track?
Evelyn kept running forward but with each second, the distance between her and the wolf beast was getting wider.
The wolf beast desperately wanted to escape and it looks like it is about to until a spear impales its side, sending it to the ground with considerable force. It whines and tries to move its legs but the spear not only hits its side, but it also pierces its lungs. It quickly loses air and dies.
Looking around, Evelyn sees Michael exit the tall grass.
Oh no… he looks angry. Gotta be peppy!
“Michael! Thank you! That one almost escaped!”
Michael stares at Evelyn.
Ugh… not gonna work huh?
“Ummm… so I’m glad you were there to back me up!”
Michael is unreactive.
“The same way I’d back you up if you were in a pinch!”
Michael frowns.
Shit.
“O-okay… maybe I did let it go… and without you, I’d probably have never been able to capture it… but! I knew you were there! So it was a trust exercise."
Michael rolls his eyes then he signs.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
+Evelyn, you almost left two of the creatures alive.+
“Two? There was only one.”
+The one you knocked out with the rock.+
“Oh… Didn’t the stone cave its skull?”
Evelyn looked a bit sheepish.
+No.+
~Angry monkey noises.~
Bob angrily scolds Evelyn while Michael expresses his disappointment.
Michael lightly pats Bob. He soothes his monkey companion.
+It’s okay, don’t shout.+
Bob frowns but he listens.
“I’m sorry, okay? I’ve seen you throw a rock like that before. I thought I could do what you did but you know with some added skill and technique.”
+Our strength levels aren’t close. It’s not me being a man but rather a different class of humans.+
Evelyn frowns.
“So, what if we have different levels? I can do what you can. You said so yourself.”
Michael squints his eyes.
+In time. Not now. You haven’t reached my stage yet.+
Evelyn rolls her eyes.
“And what if I leave a few creatures alive? It doesn’t impact anyone and I haven’t even seen a single evolved creature yet.”
Michael sighs.
It was the truth. In her time here, Michael has shown his proficiency in killing and murdering the animals they hunt. So far, none has had the chance to evolve. The only creature that Evelyn saw evolving was the super reptile but since it was hunched over, it simply looked in pain.
She has never really seen a creature evolve.
+So, that’s why.+
Evelyn noticed that Michael was a bit perplexed since he failed to properly teach her how evolution works in Teremarae so she mellows down.
I’m the one who made the mistake, why the hell am I getting angry?
“Umm… So yeah, how can I know they actually evolve?”
Michael closes his eyes for a bit. He then nods.
+Okay. I’ll show you an ________ evolution later on.+
Evelyn tilts her head. Michael writes ISOLATED on the dirt.
Realizing what he said, Evelyn lights up. Then she remembers that she was angry. Now, she feels a bit embarrassed.
“Okay… You better… Sorry… So… did you kill it?”
Michael nods.
“Where’s the body?”
Michael points to an open area outside of the field.
~Light monkey noise~
“Yes, Bob. Shall we get it?”
Bob jumps onto Evelyn’s shoulder.
“What about these ones Michael?”
Michael observes the wolf beast’s carcasses. He notices that the dead creatures had clean and non-brutalized wounds. Unlike him, Evelyn is far more graceful than he is.
After all, Michael prefers brutal deathmatches. It draws the monstrous instinct in his enemies and makes them stay in combat despite taking immense damage. The chance of killing Michael is usually too good to pass up for the pain-addled monsters of Teremarae.
Once satisfied studying Evelyn’s work, Michael ties them up with hemp rope and carries them on his back.
Evelyn comes back with Bob. She has a single dead wolf beast on her back.
“You done? Let’s go?”
Michael nods.
The three of them travel back home. On the way back, Michael threw some of the wolf beast meat in the river. The serpents gobbled the meat up.
Evelyn watched in thought.
Wonder what he’s planning.
Michael gives Bob a hunk of meat to throw at the serpents. The monkey reluctantly threw the slab of meat toward the monstrous river snakes. Michael pats Bob’s head. He then offers a piece of meat to Evelyn.
She takes it, knowing what Michael wants her to do. She throws it into the river and the serpents devour it as well. Returning to their walk, Evelyn asks Michael a question.
“So… when are we going to do that isolated evolution?”
+Later. I’m still figuring out how to incorporate it into your training.+
“Oooh… that’s cool. Am I going to fight an evolved creature?”
+You’ve already been fighting evolved creatures.+
“What do you mean? They’re so weak. Give me a challenge!”
She chuckles which causes Michael to smile. At least, Evelyn was enjoying herself.
“I have to admit though while I am enjoying my new body and the great food, I do miss youtube.”
+Agreed.+
“You think you can create an instrument?”
+No, at least not yet. I don’t have the time to learn it either. I’m too busy trying to figure out how to make a furnace.+
“Oh is that the stone structure you haven’t finished yet?”
+Yeah. The log says that I need some way to insulate it so that the heat stays in the forge. Other than that, I also need to find a way to pump air into it while keeping it enclosed. The log gives me instructions but it’s not exactly easy.+
Michael continues on a tirade about how complicated creating a forge is for someone who is not familiar with blacksmithing. Evelyn, on the other hand, is spacing out since she isn’t familiar with whatever Michael is talking about.
“Umm… yes. Heat in the forge. Air…”
Michael smirks.
“Hey! Don’t smirk. That’s not my forte okay? Tell me to punch something and I’ll do it every day but don’t ask me to do stuff like this.”
Evelyn gestures.
Michael just nods.
Evelyn punches his shoulder, annoyed. Michael is unharmed which annoys Evelyn even more.
“Tsk, you’ll see… I’ll find a task that I’m good at that you’re not good at.”
Michael nods.
+That would be good. We can specialize.+
Not able to tell if someone signing is sarcastic, Evelyn nods.
“Yeah, then you can rely on me more.”
With that, Michael nods approvingly.
They reach their home base which has become familiar to Evelyn.
Once on the elevator, Evelyn sits on its edge and watches the forest. Looking up, she notices that the sun is slowly going down.
~Humming~
Evelyn starts to hum with a light tune as she enjoys watching nature. Bob takes a seat beside her. He makes a crude sign but Evelyn could recognize it.
+Rest?+
Knowing that Bob has a hard time understanding verbal speech, Evelyn signs back.
+Yes.+
Bob stretches, relaxing as well.
+No help Michael?+
Evelyn looks back and sees Michael continuing to move the elevator upward.
+Michael’s pretty strong. We can relax+
Michael shakes his head in amusement as Evelyn and Bob watch the sunset. When Evelyn looks away, Michael looks at her.
Despite losing most of the privileges of modern life, Michael and Evelyn did their best to keep a fraction of it.
Hygiene? Michael already learned how to create soap and other cleaning tools.
Clothes? Both of them started learning how to sew due to Evelyn’s preference for cloth or fur over leaves.
Hair? Evelyn used the knives to cut Michael’s hair.
Baths? They made sure to always use clean water through boiling.
Beds? The combination of soft fur and gathered cotton gave them a semblance of soft beds.
Despite the lack of modern tools, Evelyn and Michael were both beautiful and handsome, an effect of their new bodies. If the two of them were returned to Earth, they would easily be one of the most beautiful people in the entire world.
They both know this but they choose not to bring up the topic.
For now, Michael was satisfied observing Evelyn every once in a while and so was she.
Michael and Evelyn reach the top.
“Umm… why don’t you go bathe first?”
+Oh, really?+
Michael tilted his head.
“Yeah, I’ll clean up the meat today.”
Michael thinks then he nods.
+Thank you.+
Evelyn nods as well.
Michael walks away while Evelyn stares at his back.
~Sigh~
Now, what do I do?
Evelyn feels someone tug her clothes and she looks down. Bob gives her a smug monkey smile.
“Oh piss off, you little shit.”
Bob laughs and then cartwheels away.
Evelyn rolls her eyes and goes to the butchering area while Bob follows Michael to the bath.
They finish their business and tasks. Eventually, night comes and Michael starts to prepare dinner.
Evelyn comes out of the bath refreshed. She watches Michael's work.
“So… What’s for dinner tonight? More dried meat? We’re running out of salt so I’m guessing that’s a no?”
She sits on one of the dinner table’s stone chairs. She pulls out an expertly carved wooden comb and uses it to straighten her hair. She tries her best to remove any remaining dirt in her hair.
Michael turns to Evelyn and he sets the wooden plates on the table.
Looking at the table, Evelyn sees only fruits, mushrooms, and vegetables.
“Oh… Ummm… very healthy… No meat, I guess?”
Evelyn feels her saliva build up as she thinks of the thick slab of meat that Michael has been marinating for the past few days. She curses that they’re not yet ready.
I wonder why they don’t spoil. Maybe Michael followed some secret Earth shaman technique I don’t know of… or maybe it’s something here that prevents spoilage?
Evelyn takes a fruit, removes its skin, and starts to eat. With a bite, Evelyn tastes the sweet juices of the fruit.
They’re not domesticated but they have so much fruity flesh…
Michael starts eating as well.
Bob eats the banana-like fruits with vigor. Looking at their very vegan meal, Michael signs toward Evelyn.
+We’re running out of salt.+
“Yeah, you told me before.”
+And if we run out of salt, these are the meals we’ll have to look forward to.+
“... No… more… meat?”
Michael nods.
“No…we can’t allow that.”
Michael nods again.
+We have at most, a handful of salt.+
“That’s bad.”
+I’m going to use the remaining salt to dry some of the meat which we’ll be using to travel underground.+
“Okay! So that means we’ll be going?”
Michael shakes his head.
+Not yet.+
“Awww… why?”
+Training not yet done.+
Evelyn frowns.
“Not good enough?”
Michael shrugs.
+Yeah. Still very killable.+
Evelyn frowns but she shrugs.
“Can’t help it. Have you thought of a way for me to train? You know, while showing me the evolution?”
Michael smiles.
+Yeah.+
----------------------------------------
Once Evelyn and Bob were asleep, Michael quietly stood up from his bed. He covered Bob with a mini fur blanket which the monkey quickly hugged, then he lightly pats Bob’s head.
Michael goes to his equipment closet and instead of taking his usual hunting gear, he takes a bola, a net, and a small clay bottle full of purified tranquilizer fluid. He also takes a small pouch of wooden darts and a blowpipe. After a quick check of his equipment, he adds climbing tools to his pack.
His current mission wasn’t meant to be violent but just in case, Michael brought along a stone knife. The last one was shattered after a training session with Evelyn.
Fortunately, Michael knew the importance of this crude weapon so he made sure to have backups. He also started teaching Evelyn how to create her own stone knives. Although usable, Evelyn’s knives lacked a certain sharpness that Michael had.
He waved it off as needing more practice. After all, Evelyn needs to learn what he does, or else she won’t be able to survive in the worst-case scenario.
Once geared up, Michael quietly makes his way to the elevator.
He steps on it and quickly lowers himself down.
Once his feet hit the forest floor, Michael turns toward a direction and lightly jogs toward it. He remembers that the south contained a specific species that he felt was similar to the monsters of the deep.
----------------------------------------
Evelyn had a peaceful sleep.
Waking up, she doesn’t hear the usual noise of Michael creating some weird contraption for their training sessions.
It was the first quiet sleep she had in the past few days. Whatever dread she would usually feel is currently absent.
Ahh… this is the best.
~Light monkey noise.~
Well, it was nice while it lasted.
“Bob?”
Lying down on the bed, Evelyn tilts her head and sees Bob on her bed. He seemed afraid.
“You okay little buddy?”
Bob wasn’t responding but the little monkey was shivering.
“Oh, yeah I forgot.”
+You okay, little buddy?+
Finally understanding Evelyn, Bob signs back.
+Michael gone.+
“What?!”
Evelyn sits up and quickly wears her clothes.
+Lead the way.+
Bob walks outside the room and they enter Michael’s room. Michael was indeed missing.
Evelyn then goes to their storage and finds a few items missing.
She heaves a sigh of relief.
Okay good… he must’ve woken up early for a hunt… or something else… weird though… he didn’t bring any of the usual hunting gear.
Then she heard the elevator creaking. Quickly going out of the cave, Evelyn sees Michael coming up.
She heaves a sigh of relief when she notices that Michael was fine.
Bob quickly runs to Michael and jumps at him. Michael smiles and catches the adorable monkey mid-air.
"Hey, you were gone. Why didn't you wake me up?"
+Sorry, I took longer than expected. I was supposed to be back before you two were awake.+
"What did you do? Hunting?"
Michael shakes his head.
+Prepare, you have training.+
“Oh, so early but sure. I’ll just get a snack…”
Michael shakes his head.
+You know the rules.+
“Yeah yeah, I have to feel desperate so I can quickly evolve… Tsk, this evolution mechanics suck. It’s preventing me from eating.”
Michael smiles which cause Evelyn to slightly scowl.
Evelyn leaves to prepare. Michael sits down while Bob eats a fruit beside him.
Now that he’s back, Michael feels exhausted. He had to capture a creature without causing it harm, or triggering an evolution.
Evelyn quickly returns and notices that Michael is asleep on one of his chairs.
Aww… he’s tired…
Evelyn silently approaches Michael but his eyes immediately open.
Fudge!
"Oh! You're awake."
Michael nods. He stands up to stretch.
"Light sleeper huh?"
Michael stops moving for a moment then he replies.
+In here, you have to be.+
She nods. Fortunately for her, Evelyn never needed to be a light sleeper since Michael did it for her. She couldn’t imagine being forced to sleep that way every day.
“So, shall we?”
Michael nods. He leads her and Bob to the elevator.
“So training? What did you do?”
Michael puts a shushing sign on his mouth.
“Yes, boss.”
Evelyn rolls her eyes as she chuckles.
Once in the forest, the trio travel towards an area that Evelyn remembers having a large natural basin.
When they visited it before, Evelyn saw that Michael already put some type of structure in the basin that prevented trapped creatures from easily escaping.
Once they reach the basin, Evelyn sees that the pit was open. There were some wooden planks installed on the edges of the pit. Then she hears a familiar but different noise from the hole.
~Angry ape noises~
“What?”
Evelyn looks at Bob and the small monkey shakes his head.
She then looks at the pit. Slowly moving forward, Evelyn looks down and sees a large ape in the pit.
It looked absolutely livid. When it sees Evelyn, it screams and throws something at her.
Evelyn quickly dodges and sees the projectile land nearby.
Ew…
The object was the ape’s feces.
“Ugh, disgusting. Michael, what am I go-”
Before she could ask Michael, he kicked her toward the pit. Evelyn feels the ground under her disappear as she falls into the pit.
“Michael YOU ASSHOLE!”
~Thud.~
“Oof.”
That basta-
Before Evelyn could curse Michael, she feels a powerful fist strike her back.
~ANGRY APE NOISES!~
Fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Evelyn tries to stand up but each time she does, she feels a balled fist strike her body multiple times.
Eventually, she stopped resisting and opted to store her rage instead.
After venting out its anger, the monstrous ape stops. It backs away a bit to take a breather. Almost menacingly, Evelyn growls.
“You done?”
The tired ape looks at Evelyn. Its face was full of confusion. It used a large amount of strength to try to kill Evelyn. She should be dead.
“Good… cause I’m angry.”
Evelyn raises her face to glare at the monstrous ape.
The ape flinches and for a moment it hesitates but it was only for a moment. It roars and charges forward.
Smiling, Evelyn jumps forward. Using her momentum, Evelyn punches the creature’s face.
It roars in pain as Evelyn’s full-powered fist connects with the creature’s jaw.
It immediately braces itself, expecting a flurry of blows like the ones it delivered but when nothing comes, it looks up and sees Evelyn a few meters away in a stance. The ape felt surprised. Its species never waited. They only delivered an endless amount of attacks until the target was either dead or they were too tired.
But the ape didn’t care. It charged forward with a loud roar.
Evelyn waited for it.
The ape throws a powerful strike toward Evelyn that would probably fracture a normal person’s head.
Fortunately, Evelyn wasn’t a normal person.
She quickly ducks and immediately goes into the ape’s blind spot. With her fist, Evelyn strikes the ape’s throat, causing it to gasp for air.
It then tries to slap Evelyn away but she easily dodges it. Evelyn smirks as she delivers another strike toward the ape’s chest, specifically its soft part.
Please, you’re strong but you’re no Michael.
Evelyn continues to dodge the creature while continuing to deliver humanly lethal strikes at the ape’s weak points.
Its roars were loud but with each strike, it became weaker.
Eventually, its anger towards Evelyn slowly turned into fear.
It thought to itself, how could this small thing dodge all of my attacks? It tried to retaliate but none of its strikes would connect. It only wasted strength.
Slowly but surely, the ape was becoming more sluggish due to Evelyn’s barrage of attacks.
It backed away but Evelyn moved forward. The ape lets loose a desperate attack but Evelyn dodges it then she jumps with a spin. With powerful momentum, Evelyn’s flying spin kick fractures the ape’s jaw.
The ape falls to the ground with a powerful thud. It pukes out blood. It felt like it was about to die. It couldn’t scream with its broken jaw without suffering pain. Not content to die here, it tries to stand up but it falls to the floor weak and lethargic.
It hated whatever it was feeling. It hated the paralyzing pain. It hated the hairless monkey that did this to him.
It wanted it dead.
Evelyn waited for the ape to stand up but she found it slumped on the floor unmoving.
It’s dead? Wait, that’s impossible. I didn’t hit it that hard.
Then its body started to tremble.
What’s… what’s happening?
Evelyn’s thoughts go to the super reptile.
Wasn’t it trembling just like this?
Then she started to hear the sound of bone snapping.