Flare's heart burned with sadness and pain when he heard what had happened. The Patriarch had tried to keep it from him, but he had overheard him when he was yelling at Brian.

Mian was missing.

Flare refused to talk to anyone, not even Kira, the Patriarch's mate. He had avoided everyone like a plague for the past half day, and intended on doing so. The Patriarch was about to leave the cave, along with a full complement of powerful dominant demi-humans. Flare hoped to be a dominant when he grew up, so that he could protect Mian from the bullying he was always subjected to.

Flare sulked his way back to his small chamber. A small, self contained space that he had been given by the Patriarch. That was one of the few places where he could really be on his own, aside from when he was in Mian's arms. He didn't know why, but whenever he was with Mian, no one came to bother them.

He pushed the thought back as he stepped through the hides covering the entrance to his room. He didn't expect someone to be there.

"Flare, where have you been?" Kira, the Patriarch's mate asked as she stood up from the small pile of soft furs that served as Flare's bed.

"Outside. I wanted to be alone." He shrugged, folding his hands behind him so she couldn't see him fidgeting.

"Oh, Flare. My baby boy. Come here." Kira swept forward, enveloping Flare in her arms. She pressed his head to her shoulder as he slender arms wrapped around him. "I didn't want you to find out this way. It's alright. Daven will find him."

"Why?" Flare held onto her as his tears finally slipped from his eyes. "Mian isn't even a dominant. He shouldn't have gone on such a dangerous mission."

"I don't know. I don't know. But it's alright. Daven will handle it. He's already organizing a team to go out and look for the boys." Kira whispered into the young boy's ear. She held his shaking form until he passed out from exhaustion. Carefully, she set him down on his pile of furs before slipping out of his room and hurrying through the cave.

Upon getting to the main chamber, she found her mate, along with ten other strong dominants. There were eight males and two females in the team, aside from her mate.

"Daven." She walked up to him. His hardened eyes turned soft upon seeing her. She stopped by his side and gripped onto his large bicep. "Bring back Mian, no matter what it takes. Flare is taking it hard. He isn't himself. I don't want him to break, Daven. He's the closest thing I can have to a son of my own." She peered up into his eyes with her crystal blue ones.

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"Don't worry, Kira. I'll find the boys, and I'll bring them back. No matter what." She nodded firmly at his words and stepped back, going to stand by the side of the room while he finished up his preparations.

The dominants were very intimidating, each of them reaching above two and a half meters in height. The Patriarch himself was close to three meters himself. Each of them were kitted out in strong but lightweight metal armor that perfectly fit their contours, each molded to fit their body so well that they might as well have been wearing light clothing.

"Let's head out." Daven nodded his head at Kira once more before leading the dominants out of the cave. A small crowd of demi-humans had gathered around to see them off, standing at the mouth of the cave until the group of eleven had disappeared into the distance.

Kira stood inside the cave, her hand placed over her heart. She hoped that it would be well with her mate, with Dion, and also, with Mian.

...

"Status." Mian called out, the way Hana had instructed him to. A mental wave of information streamed into his mind's eye. Before him, an almost see through illusion that didn't get in the way of his vision appeared.

[Status]

Name: Mian.

Race: Demi-human - Feline

Age: Nineteen

Health: Perfect

Energy: 100

Stamina: 50

Evolution Points: 0

---

Mian examined the information that was provided for him critically. He knew how to get Evolution Points, but he had no idea how to find creatures that had a chance at evolution.

"Hana, please how do I find creatures that have a chance at evolution? It would be troublesome if I had to kill every creature I see only to get a small amount of points." He was quite concerned about this point.

[The host can use the Evolution System to scan nearby creatures and identify their chances at evolution. Please, take note that not all creatures will provide the same amount of natural energy that can be transformed into Evolution Points. Creatures with a greater chance at evolution will always provide more energy than those with a lower chance.]

"I see." Mian nodded his head sagely when he heard the System's response. "Oh well, I guess I should start on my way back." He got up from his seat. He was currently in the center of the large boulder which had been the source of all that water from before. He had learned that the water he had swam in was not ordinary water, but a manifestation of condensed natural energy. Other creatures had tried to enter it, but had all perished, but Mian was lucky, and that was why he was now the wielder of the Evolution System.

Night had come and gone, and Mian had used the boulder as a resting place to hide from the dangers of the night. Now, with the sun high up in the sky, and the day well underway, he was ready to return home.

Climbing out from the top of the boulder, Mian was momentarily blinded by the bright light that flashed over his face from the sun. He shielded his eyes and looked away from the sun before drawing away his arm.

Yup, the sun was up.