Michael woke up. He looked around and found himself in the familiar cave that he now calls his home. Standing up, he starts to stretch his body. After waking his body up, Michael goes to the river to get a drink.
After a quick drink, Michael removes the leaves covering his body and starts to clean himself. Fortunately, the top of the waterfall didn’t have the monstrous water serpents and Michael could safely clean himself. After going through his usual morning routines, Michael goes to check on the plants he’s currently cultivating.
The aniotubes are doing fine… Hmmm… That’s really weird… Why are they growing so fast?
Michael was never a farmer. He barely knew anything about farming so this should have been an almost impossible task for him but for some reason, he could access information about tasks he wasn’t familiar with the help of the log. Michael was thankful for the gift that Goddess gave him. And after perusing the information he gained from his log, Michael knew that no natural fruit grew this fast.
Even if they aren’t normal fruits, they shouldn’t be growing this fast…
Once done tending to his makeshift garden, Michael started cleaning his home.
Disgusting.
After getting rid of the feces and urine, Michael promised himself he’d make some basic form of plumbing. It was a way of regaining some of the privilege and leisure of his previous life.
Yeah, a bath would be nice too… A heated one would be amazing…
Michael smiled to himself as he imagined himself relaxing inside a bathtub. It was a far-away thought but it was small dreams like these that helped motivate Michael’s everyday life. Once done cleaning his house, Michael cleans himself one last time. Drying himself off, Michael recalls the events a week ago.
After the gruesome fight with the saberwolves, Michael recovered his bone spear and club. Unfortunately, he lost his stone knife when the last saberwolf dragged him off the cliff. Wherever that stone knife is, it’s with the serpents now.
He was lucky enough to survive but not lucky enough to keep the dagger.
Oh well… I can just make another one… takes a long time though.
Collecting large and long stones, Michael starts to sharpen them again to create another stone knife. It would be useful for everyday situations.
So far, none of the rocks have been successfully turned into a knife.
I should start drying those animal pelts.
While monotonously sharpening the stones, Michael’s mind went to the dead saberwolves. He already finished bleeding them dry so he just needs to skin them. He didn’t feel the need to immediately do that because he lacked a place to hang the pelts and he didn’t have a knife sharp enough to carve through flesh and fur.
I’m so uncomfortable…
Looking at his leaf-covered body, Michael frowns. He really wanted to wear something that could effectively cover his body and maybe, something a bit more comfortable. Even a loincloth was better than the itchy leaf skirt that Michael was wearing.
Michael puts his spear on a strap behind him and the club by his side. He stores some fruit in his leaf bag just in case he doesn’t find any food outside his home.
Once done with his usual preparations, Michael checks to see if he needs anything. He also checks if his food stores are enough in case he can’t leave his home. After a quick check, he finds that there’s a large amount of food stored in his home so Michael felt that there’s no need to hunt today.
But having more food isn’t really a problem… I don’t have the tools for my future goals… I really need to go down…
After making a decision, Michael starts to make his way down the waterfall. While it was hard the first time, Michael got used to making the climb down and up when he needed to leave or enter his home. So far, no creature has managed to harass Michael on top of the waterfalls. The saberwolves were just an extreme case of wandering animals.
Once Michael touches the ground, he pulls out his spear. He didn’t really need it now but it was better to be safe than not. Michael surveys the immediate area around him. Seeing that he’s alone, Michael heaves a sigh of relief.
“Alone. Okay… what is today’s agenda?”
Summoning his log, Michael looks at today’s goal.
Create tools…Yeah, that sounds about right.
For Michael’s prolonged survival, he would need better tools. Michael imagined using metal tools but that was so far from his current level of skill, that it would be better for him to find another way of making tools.
“For now, could some form of stone tools work? A dagger… at least 2 just in case. After that, a hammer? Yeah, a hammer is important. But before that… an axe.”
Michael left the waterfalls as he entered the forest. He followed a path to his usual hunting grounds when he realized that some less dangerous animals preferred specific areas, so he diverted his path. Michael internally smiled as he thought of the log.
So useful.
While traveling towards his usual hunting grounds, Michael thinks of the things he would need for tools.
“I can create a wooden hammer but to get something like that, I’d need to make an axe to cut the wood then a carving knife to shave the wood… So I need to make an axe first… but to do that, I’d need a handle and an axehead. For the handle, I need to carve a branch and with the axehead, I’d need a thick carved stone. I guess my tools require me to create a stone knife.”
Storing his spear behind him, Michael takes out one of the long stones he has in his leaf bag.
Michael felt anxious. This is his 3rd rock since he lost his first successful stone knife to the saberwolf. If he lost this one, he’d need to find another suitably long rock and those were relatively rare.
“Let’s just be a bit careful this time.”
Using a smaller but naturally sharper rock, Michael starts to carve the long rock while walking toward his hunting grounds. He continues this mundane repetitive task. Michael focused so that he doesn’t lose his 3rd rock.
After finishing one side of the stone, Michael tucks it away for a bit. Looking up, Michael sees the familiar area of his hunting grounds.
“Here already?”
To stave off any insanity due to social isolation, Michael made a habit of talking to himself. It wasn’t the best but he did it every once in a while. Fortunately, Michael has always been an introvert. This situation is just an extreme form of dysfunctional introversion. At least, that’s how Michael is rationalizing his current situation.
“It’d be nice if I can get a non-murderous and adorable pet.”
Pushing away the loneliness to the back of his mind, Michael looks at the huge plains in front of him. Usually, Michael would immediately see dozens of animals grazing on the healthy and lush fields.
“Huh… that’s weird.”
Michael cautiously approached the plains with the intention of looking for the animals he considered to be cattle.
Looking around, Michael couldn’t find the fat cow-like creatures that he was hunting for the past few days. Michael eventually finds some tracks that lead to some tall grass.
Unslinging his spear, Michael follows the tracks.
As he approaches the tall grass, Michael hears a familiar sound.
Hmmm…
Focusing on the sound, Michael could hear the sound of something being chewed then it stops.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Michael grips his spear tightly as he focuses.
Then the long grass was pushed aside as a bull-like creature with multiple horns on its head charges forward.
Michael reacts immediately and he rolls to the side to avoid the charge. The bullish creature’s charge propels it to a large distance. Without stopping its momentum, it makes a u-turn and charges toward Michael again. Seeing the quick and sudden movement of the creature, Michael was surprised.
What?!
Michael dodges again as the bull creature skewers a tree with its powerful horns.
How did it move so fast?
Michael has seen a large variety of creatures in his time in Teremarae ranging from bone spiders to super reptiles. All of them elicited surprise in Michael but none of them as much as this bull creature did now.
Michael dodges the bull creature once again.
It’s getting closer and closer!
The bull creature quickly u-turns in a manner that doesn’t befit its size. It then rages towards Michael as it tramples all the vegetation underneath its powerful hooves.
There was only one reason why Michael was so affected and frightened by this bull creature, which isn’t even that dangerous when compared to some of the creatures Michael has fought and escaped from.
It was because this bull creature previously didn't have horns.
The bull charges again, intent on skewering Michael with its powerful horns.
This time, Michael is prepared. Once the bull was near, Michael stabs his spear into the ground and pole-vaulted himself atop the bull. Michael lands on the bull’s back and the creature starts to thrash around. Michael grabs the bull’s horns and holds on for dear life.
The bull continues to rampage but Michael holds on. With his extremely strong body, Michael barely hangs on. When the bull starts to slow down, Michael immediately lets go of one of the horns. Using one hand to hold on and another to grab an item, Michael pulls out the incomplete stone knife from the leaf bag. Holding the part that wasn’t sharpened yet, Michael then brings down the sharpened edge on the bull’s head.
Michael heard the sound of flesh being struck with something tough as the incomplete dagger connected with the bull’s head. It roars in pain as Michael pushes down the semi-sharpened dagger.
Determined to not prolong the situation, Michael proceeds to stab the bull’s head over and over. The bull’s rampage becomes desperate as it starts to thrash around with every ounce of strength it has. Michael uses the bull’s thrashing to push the knife deeper into its skull.
As the knife goes deeper, the bull starts to almost roar in pain but eventually, the bull’s rampage stops and it drops dead. Michael pushes the knife one more time into its skull to make sure that creature is dead.
Panting, Michael lets go of the bull and stands up. Wiping some of his sweat away, Michael frowns as he looks at the dead bull.
“What the hell…”
Remembering the cattle of the plains, Michael notes that the creature in front of him is something else entirely but at the same time, very similar. Michael shakes his head.
“No… it must be another animal… One that I’ve never seen in the plains before. It’s impossible that this thing is the same as the cattle… Or is it…”
Michael felt a pit in his stomach as he closely observed the body.
Despite the creature’s vast difference from the cattle he usually hunted, Michael somehow knew that this was the same creature he hunted on the plains but he wanted to make sure. It was the only way he could calm himself.
Michael summons his log and goes to the page regarding the cattle.
Log. I need to know.
After flipping through his log, Michael lands on the azure-striped cow page. Despite being physically and mentally capable, Michael was not good at making names. Unfortunately, Michael is unaware of this grave weakness of his.
Azure Striped Cows
Classification: Animal
Description: Similar to Earth’s Holstein cows, Teremarae’s azure-striped cows have tougher meat that provides more protein to the one that eats it.
Possible Effects: Continuous consumption of meat can lead to quick and apparent muscle growth
Evolution Number - 2nd Iteration: Developed powerful and large horns, which it uses to protect its less-evolved cousins. It is very aggressive against other creatures.
Michael stared at the words “evolution number”.
That wasn’t there before…
Starting to feel fear seep into his body, Michael turns to a different page.
Bone Spider
Classification: Animal (Arachnid)
Description: A monstrous spider-like creature with a size similar to a medium dog. Unlike the spider species present on Earth, the bone spider has a large mouth filled with rows and rows of teeth instead of mandibles. They have the ability to shoot spikes from their mouths made out of quickly formed calcium.
Possible Effects: Organs that store a large amount of calcium.
Possible Evolution Number - 3rd iteration: ???
What the… This wasn’t here before!
Michael had records of the different animals he’s seen, escaped from, and killed but the log never showed the concept of evolution numbers.
Why did it just show up now?
As much as he can, Michael does his best to update the information about the animals if he finds out something new but this was the first time the log updated something without Michael’s approval.
The log must think that this is an extremely important event to add it without my consent… but are they all evolving? And why only now? Is it because this is the first time I’ve seen its unevolved form and now its evolved form?
Turning the log to another page, Michael finds himself looking at one of the creatures he personally finds terrifying, the super reptile.
Super Reptile
Classification: Animal (Apex Predator)
Description: A large four-legged reptile with thick scales adorning its muscle-bound body. Its claws are capable of ripping and rending flesh apart with ease. Its mouth is similar to that of an alligator, in which it can make a biting motion with enough force to shatter bone.
Possible Effects: NA
Possible Evolution Number - 1st iteration: ???
Oh… It hasn’t evolved yet? Hmmm… I guess if you can’t die or aren’t threatened by the environment, you wouldn’t need to evolve huh?
Michael was sure that the creatures here evolved, and they evolved at speeds that should be impossible. While Michael isn’t a biologist or scientist, he knew that animals adapt to their environments but these changes could take up to millions of years, not days. Everything about it doesn’t make sense.
But somehow they still evolve…
Scratching his head, Michael stores the log back into the void. Looking at the bull carcass, Michael sighs. He then ties the bull and starts the long trek home.
During the trek back home with the azure-stripped cow behind him, Michael frowns, as his thoughts are filled with the concept of evolution. Not even a quarter of the way, a chilling thought enters Michael’s mind, one that he’s afraid to even consider.
What if… they evolve to a point I can no longer kill them?
Michael shakes his head.
That’s impossible.
He tries to push the dark thought away but Michael remembers the super reptile. Its body was huge but it was capable of moving at breakneck speeds. It had claws that could rip apart flesh and armor that could block spears.
Michael hasn’t even tried to kill that creature because of how terrifying it is. How terrifying would it be if it evolved?
Michael subconsciously grabbed his spear in fear.
Would I be able to kill it, if it came down to it? No.
No was Michael’s answer.
At least, not now.
If he couldn’t kill the unevolved super reptile, could the other less dangerous creatures of the world evolve to the point that Michael could no longer kill them?
He sighs as his grip on his spear loosens.
Removing that thought from his mind, Michael starts to check the log of every creature he’s seen. With each page done, Michael starts to feel less and less optimistic. Almost every creature he’s killed has evolved at least once. Michael’s eyes widen when he sees the log of one of the most harmless creatures he’s ever seen.
Muckat
Classification: Animal
Description: A small quadrupedal creature covered with soft brown fur. Naturally friendly and does not run from predators. It is also a good source of meat if needed but due to their focused diet of aniotubes which, due to the nature of anti-biotics, is slowly killing them.
Possible Effect: Due to their diet, a muckat’s body might have metabolized some form of anti-biotic.
Possible Evolution Number: 11th iteration: ???
11 times?! That useless ferret thingy has evolved 11 times?
Calming himself, Michael breathes in and out.
“It evolved 11 times… but what could the use of its evolutions be? Last time I checked, it was still an animal that was being eaten for sport. Yeah, they multiply faster than rabbits but that shouldn’t warrant 11 evolutions… Why am I acting like I know anything about evolution?”
Michael groans. Still annoyed with the new information, Michael decided to mentally prepare for the inevitability of evolution.
“I need to find out how these things evolve… What are the requirements for evolution? Better yet, what triggers them? Was it because I regularly hunted the cows?”
Michael felt exasperated.
God…
Stopping for a moment, Michael closes his eyes and breathes in and breathes out.
“Let’s organize our thoughts.”
Michael sits on the carcass of the azure-striped cow. After taking a long breath, Michael calms down for a bit. Without the panic to stop his thoughts, a steady stream of information enters his mind.
“First, I know that the creatures here evolve… but what causes that evolution? Hmmm, let’s go with common sense. The ones that are always dying or are regularly at risk of dying are the ones who evolve. The Muckat is a vulnerable creature with almost no defense mechanisms. Of course, it’s going to try and evolve multiple times to survive.”
Michael tries to remember the muckat’s many useless traits that made it a regular snack for Teremarae’s dangerous denizens.
First, It was slow. Second, it was fat and full of juicy meat. Third, it doesn’t run from its predators. Fourth, it makes a habit of attempting to befriend every other creature it sees. Fifth, most of the time it fails and gets eaten.
What a useless animal…
When Michael finished eating a mucket, he remembered how cute it looked. Michael remembered the guilt of killing such an adorable creature but at the time, he was too hungry to care. At the time, it’s been days since he was able to eat meat. Since the Muckat was also full of anti-biotics, Michael had a massive stomach ache that day. Fortunately, he recovered the next day.
“They have at least one defense mechanism but it only works when they’re eaten.”
Then Michael receives an epiphany.
“Ah, I see… Their species is going for long-term survival.”
Looking down, Michael notes down the powerful build of the newly-evolved azure-striped cow. This creature was strong and with its newly evolved body and horns, it was stronger than most of its natural predators.
Evolution’s great…
Yet, Michael killed the newly-evolved creature. It wasn’t unstoppable nor was it able to succeed in its evolution’s goal of surviving.
Does that mean that this thing’s evolution was a failure?... No.
While Michael was able to kill the azure-striped cow now, it didn’t mean that the creature couldn’t evolve anymore. If it evolved a 3rd or 4th time with the same level of drastic changes it did now, Michael wasn’t sure he’d be able to kill it. Michael’s thoughts return to the muckat.
They’re sacrificing themselves now so their future descendants will not have to suffer as much. Interesting… I can see millions of years’ worth of evolution in the time it would take me to blink… This place is dangerous… I can’t even imagine the 1000th iteration of the muckats… but… it’s kinda absurd.
For the first time in a while, Michael laughs.
“Wow, this is… so scary and stupid… An evolutionary scientist would love this place… minus the deadly predators. Well, if they do evolve in response to danger or in the Muckat’s case, desire for long-term survival, then that means I have no way of stopping or preventing their evolution.”
Michael laughs again. It was the laughter of a man faced with an impossible problem.
“Well… it’s not really impossible. Just another problem I have to deal with, like the lack of tools, lack of plumbing, and absence of good food…”
Michael sighs.
“I wish I had alcohol.”
Michael takes out his log and adds alcohol to the list of things he needs to create in the future. While updating his list, Michael had a sudden thought.
“WAIT!”
Michael quickly covers his mouth and surveys the area. After making sure that the area was clear, Michael opens his log and turns to a blank page.
Why have I never thought of this?
Michael imagined a page that had information about himself.
Michael Laurent
Classification: Animal (Proto-Superhuman)
Description: A human at the peak of the human condition and more, Michael Laurent was sent to Teremarae as the first human being. Due to his stay here, Michael Laurent has been evolving, becoming stronger and tougher. It would be correct to say that he is individually stronger than all of the natural human beings in his previous world.
Divine Gift: Librarian - The ability to log any information in the world.
Possible Effect: NA
Evolution Number: 1st Iteration: Still at the peak of the human condition but close to breaking through.
Michael smiles to himself as he observes his record.
Maybe that problem wasn’t so big after all.