As I gathered the skarpans, the elves came over naturally.

I'm sure Servante has been curious about how I would speed up the evolution of the skarpans, so he's come to take a look, and Lenore seems to just enjoy participating in things.

Neither can leave the kids alone, so here they are watching, with the two kids in tow.

The kids don't really seem interested, since there's not much visual for them, though more fruits should keep them put for now.

After making a bowl of fruits for them to quietly munch on, I guide the skarpans over to the magic circle so they can sit inside of it.

As I enter the array, I can feel the lick of mana entering my body.

It feels warm and invigorating, but I do have to push it down for now. I don't want to take too much from the others who have to use it after all, and I can still gather mana on my own time.

As they followed into the array, their eyes widened as they marveled in the flow of energy.

"What is this?" Redgar asked, getting down to inspect the leaves and covering before I stop him.

'Sorry, trade secret. Can't share that.' I declare, warning the goblin off.

"Oh, ok." Redgar accepted easily enough, merely choosing to indulge in the array's plentiful energy, though Damil did try to get a pick before getting his hand slapped by Redgar and Borsch looked really curious, though he managed not to give in to temptation.

Servante chose to directly ask me. "What is it that you're hiding?" he asked, curious but also slightly suspicious, which was fair, given that I chose to hide it from him.

I explained the general concepts behind it, of qi and the way this array converted that which existed qi wise into mana.

Hearing this, Servante's eyes flickered with interest.

"This array is that rare?" he asked, as a bit of sadness seeped into his voice, disappointment that he couldn't take a look.

He even pleaded me to allow him a look, to see if he could grasp any of the intention behind the array.

Sorry, I promised the old man.

And so, they just sat there.

Not in meditative stances of course, since there's nothing I can really share in that area. I do have something, but that's my family's secret technique, so I can't really share that.

This should be fine anyway. Within the next few days, they should be close to evolving or evolving. We should also probably send them out to hunt as well, so they can speed up the process.

And over the next few days I did exactly that.

Thankfully, they are adept hunters, and coming to a forest with weaker monsters has been a boon to them, allowing them to increase their rate of growth.

In fact, it took less than a week for them to evolve.

----------------------------------------

It was a rather explosive event, with the change being a radical change.

I had never witnessed my own evolution, merely accepting it hurt like hell.

Watching it was quite the sight.

They were hunched over, screeching painfully as their bodies painfully morphed, warping in unusual form. Their body was exploding from within, as the uncomfortable change was undertaken.

You hear about it from the rare beast tamer or two who manage to evolve their familiars, but seeing is believing.

i could believe they were in pain, and could practically taste it as well. There was also a sense of revulsion, as if witnessing the evolution was unpleasant. Supposedly this was a thing all monsters felt, theoretically meant to scare off predators that would prey on this opportunity. As a rational monster, I could ignore it, though I've heard creatures with great fear or paranoia could do the same as well.

Leon was next to them, dabbing their head as he tried to ease their pain. A commendable effort, if not a little dangerous depending on if they were to lash out or not.

I suspect that Willow would've been doing something similar were it not for the fact that she was stopped by Servante and Lenore, which was more difficult than you would imagine stopping a child could be.

She was a high elf child after all, and in times like these, it was obvious.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The presence of the magic blowing off her was easily C, maybe B-rank magic. Raw, unfiltered magic.

It was wild, and random, with it mostly taking the form of growth, vines, and even small plant like monsters, harassing the two elves clearly trying to stop the child from running over without doing anything drastic. A small jungle was growing around them, as she tried to run over to them.

I didn't think the child had a particularly strong bond with the skarpans, and yet she's desperate to help them. She hadn't teleported, something I suspect that she had merely not thought of in her franticness.

Thank goodness she wasn't particularly trained in magic, or she might've done something more strategic and intelligent.

It was a very stressful situation, thankfully one that ended quickly with the evolutions being relatively quick.

With the evolution finishing, and the group of skarpans getting back up exhausted, Willow finally calmed down as she saw them get better, paying no heed to their changes.

And surprisingly, they had not all evolved into the same thing.

Fenil and Redgar had all become hobgoblins, with their bodies now large enough that they could be accounted for as a small human, rather than an average sized human. Their magic had clearly increased from their previous forms, and their noses became less prominent, and their skin became a shade darker compared to their light green skin earlier on.

Damil had remained the same size, but his body had become less scrunched, less goblin like in that regard. His ears had become more prominent, larger, though his nose had shrunk much like the hobgoblins. I believe he is a dwarfgoblin, though those are quite rare from what I recall amongst the skarpans.

His skin had actually lightened a bit, turning less green.

The one who stood out the most was Borsch.

Borsch had been described as big boned before, but now he was just big, towering over even the elves, for now he was an orc. He still had fat of course, but his body was more of a "dad bod" as some would describe it.

The words of famous hero Michaelangelo. He was a strange man with a way with words.

Borsch, much like Damil, had undergone a rather radical change.

His body now rippled with muscle, and his mouth now had two protruding fangs emerging from his mouth.

Both Fenil and Redgar had better, well defined faces, but Borsch's was more chiseled, like comparing a sharp-edged rock to a round pebble. A side effect of evolution was always that monsters improved upon their weaknesses, often resulting in them becoming more handsome by the races definition.

Borsch's skin, like the other two, had gotten darker, and his too, was a shade darker than theirs, a dark olive green compared to the more leaf green of the hobgoblins.

Seeing that they were better, Leon's demeanor changed quickly.

"Wow, you're so cool!" He shouted as he eagerly started touching their ears, arms, and even clambering onto their bodies to investigate, specifically Borsch, who was now an orc.

He didn't do that to me, if I recall. It might have something to do with Borsch's less impressive aura. Despite evolving and having gained quite the large form, he still had the awkward, introverted aura, and he was slouched over a bit, clearly trying to hide his presence, even as his body worked against him.

The group of skarpans were clearly celebrating as well, happy over their new forms, even humoring Leon.

"Look at that, it wasn't all fat after all." commented Damil, as he patted Borsch's stomach, getting promptly slapped over the head by his sister. "What?!" he complained after rubbing his head. "It's true! He did jump over the hoskar stage! He's become an ostan!"

Borsch took it in stride, clearly having a thick skin. "I see you have become a duskar Damil. Congratulations, you seem to have been blessed by good luck! Once we get back you'll likely be personally taught by senior Waylin."

"Thanks Borsch." Damil said shortly, but not rudely.

And Leon hadn't stopped clambering, specifically on the noow very large Borsch.

No, I don't think he should be doing that.

Grabbing Leon with a vine, I scolded him.

'Leon, it's rude to climb all over someone, especially without permission.'

Leon grumbled but didn't fight me as he got down.

Servante and Lenore walked over with Willow, seeing that they were finished.

"Congratulations!" said Lenore cheerfully as she observed their new forms. "Now that you've evolved, I guess you can work on that new feratol spell!"

Servante looked at Borsch in particular. "Is the orc form an alternative for the hobgoblins amongst the, um, skarpans?" he asked, trying to be polite but his curiosity getting the best of him.

Redgar stepped in to explain. "Well, Borsch has always been a chubby fellow. Most people thought he was fat, but the elder said that Borsch was merely storing excess energy." Looking at his friend, he looked a little awkward. "I guess he was right after all. Even I didn't believe him." the skarpan sheepishly admitted.

"So he's skipped a stage?" Servante said earnestly, scanning the orc. He already suspected this to be the case but pushed to confirm it earnestly.

"Yes, he's skipped a stage. As of now, he's what you would consider a B rank in pure strength." Redgar confirmed, understanding what Servante was looking for.

I would've responded, but now, Stolidus was prodding me. He rarely took such initiative.

[Hey, hey, use the appraisal!]

He said, and I internally rolled my eyes. I don't need it; I can tell that he's become an orc already.

[Yes, you do! Just look!]

I did it, just to shut him up, but to my surprise:

[ostan sage apprentice]

...Huh.

[Yeah! See?! Told you!]

All right, I get it.

Can't tell them that though. How would I know after all? I could bluff, but there's really no reason, since he's already been learning magic. No reason to interfere.

[No need to anyway. He'll know soon enough.] He said nonchalantly.

What do you mean by that?

Borsch paused, as if realizing something.

"Guys, I'm not an ostan."

He said, as his face twitched, reflecting revelation.

"What did he say!" Redgar said excitedly as he shook his friends arms.

Even Damil and Fenil looked invested.

"He?" Servante asked, eyebrow raised.

Redgar looked to him excitedly. "We all hear The Great Father when we evolve. He whispers in our ear and guides us on how best to use our new bodies he has given us."

"Ah." Said Servante, though he seemed unconvinced.

They didn't care, as they talked amongst themselves eagerly.

"You're a sage!" Damil exclaimed, surprise leaking into his voice.

"That's great." Said Redgar warmly as he congratulated Borsch.

They continued talking for a bit excitedly, sharing what the voice told them, before I think they've had enough time to themselves.

Clap Clap

Using my vines, I get them to focus. We have a village to head to, and work to do.

'I'm glad to see you guys are happy with your new forms. However, we're on a time clock. So how about we start working on your transformations?'

Now that we're here, it's time to see how they'll fare transforming.