Reinvigorated, Evelyn quickly returns to the Draco’s nest. Her eyes widen at the sight of carnage and arson. The Draco’s nest was situated inside a mountain so it was mostly made out of dirt and stone which made it mostly immune to fire. Unfortunately, its surroundings were still mostly trees and shrubbery.
Going up the mountain, Evelyn notices that the path leading downward back to the forest was burning. Evelyn looks in the distance and sees a raging forest fire.
Woah, Michael really let his arsonist out huh?
Eager to praise Michael, Evelyn quickly realizes that something was off.
Wait… if the fire spread that far that means, Michael either made a mistake or… he’s still fighting the Draco.
If it was the former, then Evelyn simply needed to scold Michael but if it was the latter, then that meant that she failed to deal enough damage to the Draco. Aware of how dangerous Michael is when he’s in kill mode, Evelyn knew for a fact that it was most likely the latter. Because if Michael managed to kill the Draco, he would have been here, waiting for her.
While Evelyn was thinking of the worst scenario, Bob screeches and points at the distance. Evelyn turns to what her monkey friend was pointing at.
A plume of fire suddenly climbs up the sky. It was coming directly from the forest.
Wait… that can’t be from Michael.
“Tsk.”
Evelyn clicks her tongue when she realizes that the problem might have become worse.
“Bob, let’s go.”
Steeling her resolve, Evelyn runs down the Draco’s nest to follow the burned-down path.
Wait for me, Michael!
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Michael hid behind a rock. He was starting to turn dizzy from all the smoke and heat. Shaking his head, Michael clears his mind. He couldn’t risk losing focus now.
Peeking out of his hiding spot, Michael saw the Draco’s silhouette in the thick smoke. It was moving quicker than before and it looked healthier.
Unfair piece of shit…
After the Draco’s sudden evolution, its regeneration has considerably slowed down but its initial regeneration managed to heal most of its superficial wounds and turned its lethal wounds into ones that it could momentarily ignore.
But that wasn’t the main issue. The Draco’s new evolution allowed it to slowly regenerate its wounds. Despite being slow enough that it’s not noticeable, they’re still fast enough to pose a threat. A week’s worth of wounds now only requires a few hours.
It means that Michael couldn’t defeat the Draco in a battle of attrition.
And unlike the Draco, Michael hasn’t evolved and has been suffering from the Draco’s constant attacks.
Doesn’t this beast feel tired? Its regeneration consumes its stamina but no amount of eating can allow a creature to generate that amount of fire. If it doesn’t come from its own body, does that mean it can breathe fire forever?
Michael grits his teeth. He had to figure out how the Draco’s evolution worked.
If… if I can figure out his source of power, maybe I can find a way to stop it from breathing fire. The log said the soul. It’s a soul evolution… Goddess… what have you made? And what type of evolution is this??
Michael internally groans. Opening his bag, he still had a few supplies. As a last-ditch effort, he’d be able to go out with a bang using the copious amounts of drugs and enhancers in his bag. But even then, he wasn’t sure if he could deal enough damage to kill the Draco.
Soul evolutions don’t make sense but what if they existed on Earth as well?
Then he heard the Draco’s heavy footsteps.
It was getting nearer.
Well, that’s enough thinking for now. I’ve gotta move again.
Michael lightly stretches his body again to try and access any remaining energy reserves, no matter how little.
The Draco was a few meters away from Michael’s hiding spot. It snorted and a small plume of smoke escapes its nostrils.
It knew that its prey was weakened and would eventually fall to its newfound power.
But the Draco didn’t want it to be so quick. It wanted Michael to suffer as long as possible.
Curiously, the Draco wanted to try something else. It slowly opened its mouth, generating a small but stable ball of fire. It started to manipulate the fire created by its soul. While it wasn’t fully aware of the inner workings of its soul, the Draco intrinsically knew how to use the fire generated by its soul.
Using this intrinsic knowledge, the Draco transforms the small but stable ball of fire in its mouth into a large mass of pure heat but before its size becomes too big for the Draco’s maws, it suddenly stops. The Draco was elated. It then continued to pour power into the ball, making it denser.
The Draco gained this idea from the explosive clay pots that Michael kept throwing at it. It didn’t understand how the clay pots worked but it got the idea that if there was a lot of fire in a small space, it can explode.
Michael noticed that there was a sudden lull in the chaos and peeked out. He sees the dense ball of fire in the Draco’s mouth.
What the?
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The ball of fire changed color from bright orange to bright blue. The light projected by the ball of fire bathed the creature in a terrifying majesty.
Seeing the bright blue ball of fire in the Draco’s mouth, Michael immediately runs away. His senses screamed at him to run at full speed. Somehow, he knew that the rock covering him would be obliterated.
The Draco releases the explosive ball toward Michael’s hiding spot.
Time seems to slow down for Michael as the attack flew toward him.
Evelyn… Bob… I hope you two are safe.
Then the ball of fire collides with the rock and it explodes.
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Evelyn continued to run at full speed.
She looked around and saw that the surroundings were ruined. Most of the nearby trees were either burning or darkened due to the spreading of the fire. The general area was lacking its vibrant greenery.
Nature was slowly getting removed from the landscape by the all-consuming fire but Evelyn didn’t have the luxury of thinking about the forest for now. She promised to plant trees later but right now, she needed to go to Michael.
Fortunately, she knew that she was getting closer to Michael because, with each step, there was more nature. After all, the fire hasn’t had the chance to spread.
Bob held on to Evelyn’s body. Due to the fire, he couldn’t swing from tree to tree to scout ahead for the two of them. It annoyed the little monkey that he couldn’t give his best due to some pesky and annoying fire.
Evelyn felt immensely strong. The goros adrenaline was truly a miracle worker. Despite running at full speed in the middle of a burning forest full of smoke, Evelyn felt fine. Her almost superhuman body paired with the evolved drug made her feel invincible.
She gripped the steel dagger by her side. It helped reduce some of her anxiety. Recalling how she stabbed the Draco, she knew that she had a way to wound the monster. If not for her weapon, it would be like fighting herself using only her fists. Michael told her that striking her body with his bare fists felt a lot like striking a very sturdy tree. When she activated her divine gift, Michael mentioned that it was like striking a solid block of metal.
She strengthened her resolve. If she couldn’t kill the Draco, at the very least, she can take its attacks so that Michael can deal the killing blow.
Then an explosion occurs in the distance, shocking Evelyn and scaring Bob. For a moment, the surroundings become hotter as the explosion pushes the hot air and fire around it. There was a small quake that caused many insects and animals to run for their lives. But that wasn’t enough. Looking up, Evelyn sees a mushroom-shaped ball of fire climb up past the tree line.
Wha-?
Bob screeched as loud as he can while Evelyn was shell-shocked.
The explosion was large and Evelyn knew that an explosion like that would immediately kill her. She wasn’t sure if her evolved gift could survive such an attack. If she couldn’t survive it, it meant that Michael couldn’t as well.
Evelyn felt a cold chill go down her spine and she ran forward.
She needed to find Michael. She had to make sure he was still alive.
Please. Please. Please, be fine.
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Michael always believed that he would live a good and long life. He got a job in the library and he had fun doing what he was good at. He had regrets but they weren’t many. His life was average. He didn’t have an exciting life nor did he do any exciting things.
It was not because he didn’t have any opportunities but rather, he didn’t take any risks at all.
When he died, an event he doesn’t fully remember, he was suddenly given a 2nd chance. Because of that, he promised himself that he would survive and build a new life in Teremarae, even if he was alone. No matter his situation, Michael would find a way to enjoy this life.
Those were Michael’s initial thoughts in his first few weeks in Teremarae.
While the beginning was a bit rocky, he managed to create a safe place to call home. He even found a pet, something that he didn’t have in his previous life, except maybe a cat that he occasionally fed when he was going home from work. Compared to the cat, it was more apt to call Bob his child because Bob’s mental abilities were evolving. Soon, he would have the mental capacity of a small child.
Given enough time, Bob might evolve into something similar to a human.
Before Evelyn, Michael found solace in the company of Bob. At first, Bob was like any animal. He responded to cuddles, food, and play. Michael gave those out like candy and Bob ate it up, causing them to become extremely close. Bob treated Michael as more than just a caretaker and best friend. By the time they met Evelyn, Michael and Bob were family.
Eventually, Michael lost the ability to speak. Whether he lost it before, during, or after he met Bob, Michael wasn’t sure. Once Michael lost the ability to speak, he used the log to teach himself sign language which he then taught to Bob. This helped stave off the insanity of a lack of human interaction.
Humans aren’t meant to be alone. Even with Bob’s almost human-like ability to communicate, Michael started to feel the strain of being the only human on a planet that had creatures that could turn into mythical monsters at a single coin flip.
Eventually, Michael started to go insane as well but things changed.
Evelyn appeared.
Michael first saw her when he was on top of a super reptile. He wanted to call out to her but he knew nothing would come out anyway. Despite looking calm and collected, Michael was not only stumbling in his mind but he was also panicking.
In his previous life, Michael has met a variety of women and had his fair share of relationships. He remembers breaking up with his ex a week before his death. He couldn’t help but miss her once he was feeling lonesome in Teremarae.
But even the most beautiful of women he’s seen on the net paled in comparison to Evelyn.
Seeing her was like watching Goddess’ actions through her every movement. She was supernaturally graceful without effort. Her proportions accentuated every part of her with no excess or lacking. She would have been completely perfectly marble-like if not for her own free will and personality. Her divine perfection was made more beautiful by her mortal inclinations. She had a strong appearance that would intimidate weaker-willed individuals. Her ginger to almost red hair reminded Michael of the setting sun. She could easily drive any normal human being mad with desire.
Michael was aware of the many effects of evolution. He knew for a fact that Evelyn was just going to get more beautiful from here on out. After all, when he evolved to the next stage, he also gained some changes that made him different compared to when he first transferred here.
He was lucky enough to have met Evelyn. In fact, it would be better to term it as him winning the lottery.
But there was no such thing as a free lunch.
When they started interacting, Michael had a horrible thought. Was she put there for him? Did Goddess put her in Teremarae for him?
No, Michael didn’t believe that. He adamantly refused to think that was the case. That was an extremely narcissistic thing to believe in and he liked to think that he was better than that.
But for some insane stroke of luck, Evelyn liked him just as much as he liked her.
He initially thought that maybe it was because of a lack of options but she told him that her previous partners weren’t anything to write home about. She also emphasized that she had a keen dislike of men but their interactions so far were friendly. Maybe it was because didn’t hold back when it came to her.
There was also that kissing part. Michael really liked that part.
If there was anything that could confirm that she liked him, it was definitely the kiss.
Michael frowned as he thought of the things that he could lose if he died now.
Leaning on a large rock while seated on the ground, Michael saw the Draco slowly approach him with a triumphant appearance. Earlier, Michael ran before the explosion could occur. His brain worked over time and he immediately took note of every single object in his surroundings. He looked for trees and large rocks, anything to protect him. Pushing his body again, Michael manages to hide behind a giant tree near a large boulder.
The explosion rocked the ground and shattered the boulder and splintered the tree, knocking Michael off his feet. His body struck the large rock he was currently leaning on. He managed to avoid the fire and explosion itself.
Michael felt tired and weak. His body was burnt in many places and if not for his superhuman constitution, he would already be dead. He was so tired and wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep.
Maybe… it would be fine… if I close my eyes for just a few seconds. It’s been a tiring year… after all. No one will get angry if I close my eyes…
But he knew he couldn’t do that. Michael forces his eyes to open. He looks at his right hand still holding onto the spear. He uses it to push himself upward so he could stand.
I can’t sleep now…. Not yet.
Once he manages to stand up, Michael felt a bit wobbly but he quickly recovers. He silently thanks his immense vitality. Despite being able to move again, Michael knew that he was in no condition to continue the fight. One wrong move and he dies.
He opens his bag and thanks Goddess that his items were still intact. He looks at the Draco and noticed it stopped moving.
The monstrous beast knew that Michael kept his tools inside his bag but it has become so confident in its evolution that it allows Michael to take whatever tool he has. After all, no matter how ingenious Michael was, the Draco knew that everything burns under fire.
The Draco condescendingly looks at Michael. Michael, on the other hand, ignores the Draco and pulls out five vials.
I gave Evelyn one because that’s the maximum amount her body can take… I’ve got three. If I take one, I’ll be slightly stronger. I can drink the 2nd and 3rd one when I feel the drugs wearing off so I can extend the duration.
Michael frowns. It wasn’t enough.
I really have to use this one then.
Michael pulls out another vial from the bag. Unlike the other vials, this small vial was secured in a small pouch inside the bag.
This is going to ruin my body and it’s still a gamble if I’m going to be able to kill the Draco but this is the only option left for me.
He then looks at the liquid in his left hand.
Purified ulatron fluid… Michael Michael Michael… this thing is such a curse.
Looking at the Draco, Michael strengthens his resolve.
I’m killing you today.
The Draco felt Michael’s resolve and it growled.
Michael smiles at the Draco and he uncorks one vial of each drug.
He then downs the two super drugs.