The Price of Evolution

The moment the light hit him, Rahz heard a voice that shook him to the very core of his being. Every word carried a mighty strength that was very difficult to resist and incite him to kneel down and bow his head.

Rahz did the best he could to resist the force and stand his ground. Rahz main goal was to one day stand on his own two feet and be able to control his own fate without the influence of the gods.

It was a little contradictory to think that way since he followed the God of War but he believed that he was his own person with the dignity of a warrior.

Hoh! seeing the struggle of the young warrior filled Fadall with reminisce as he saw a little of himself on Rahz.

" Do you think you have what it takes to reach the Apex of strength? "

" I am not sure if I have what it takes but I know that no matter what the challenge is, me and my Axe will meet it head on"

"HAHAHA!!! The path of strength is paved by thousands of corpses and as such you have the opportunity to show me if you are a general or a mere soldier. I will help you advanced in your class once you have defeated 50 Level 9 opponents without the help of another person. It does not matter if is in a 1 versus 1 fight or 1 versus many situation, you will advance once the number has been cleared. However, If you are able to defeat 10 first evolution creatures without the help of another person, I will give you a special reward to help you on your path to greatness"

The light dissipated and Rahz came back from his day dream.

Etta was eager to hear what the task her son need it to accomplished was and quickly walk towards him.

Rahz looked at his mother and smiled, " I need to kill 10 first evolution creatures without the help of another person in order to evolve".

The first elder heard the task and almost choke on his own saliva, it was the first time he heard of such a dangerous task in all the history of Helgahvall.

Rahz turned to look towards his parents to see their reaction and found out that his mom display deep concerned but his father was handling the situation rather well. It was almost to the point that he was not surprise at all.

Rahz's parents came from Silverwing city and managed to see children of some of the real powerhouses and it was very common to see them defeat opponents several levels above them. There was always a difference between fighters at any level. There were many first evolution fighters that got to where they were with the help of their doting parents and others managed to grow with their own sweat and tears.

The fact that the God of War requested Rahz to kill his opponents on his own showed that he had some expectation for his son. There could be better skills that would be awarded for his class if he could surpassed the challenge.

The oracle also stated that he could not received the help of a person but it didn't mean that he could not use better weapons and equipment. Everything seemed to be working out in Rahz's favor as they had just found a nice supply of iron and the carcass of the Kobold could be use to create a few armor pieces to help him resist some attacks.

"Did he give you a time limit to get the quest done" asked Rhaen.

" Nope he just said to kill 10 first evolution creatures"

" It is not an easy task but is not impossible. From now until the trip, I am going to spar with you in the mornings and help you improved your fighting ability but don't think because I am your father that I will go easy on you. There is an underground Arena in Willowdale town and it would be the perfect time for you to complete it"

Rahz was in cloud nine the moment he heard his dad was training him until his trip. In the 4 years since his awakening, his dad had never taken the initiative to teach him anything except for the time he taught him how to do maintenance on his equipment. There was no doubt in his mind that he would be a completely different fighter once the special training was finished.

"Let's go home and rest, it will be hell for you starting tomorrow. How much you can get out of the training depends on you"

Rahz nodded at his father's comment and headed home along his family. Once he got home he saw his new necklace on top of the dinner table and it looked pretty awesome and he was quite impressed at the fact that his father had taken the time to wrap it in copper. Rahz was expecting to see just a chain through a hole in the tooth but the fact it was super fancy was a pleasant surprise.

Little did Rahz know that his dad's original intention was precisely to drill a hole for the chain but the material was so hard that the other materials in the shop couldn't even scratch it.

Rahz put on the necklace and hugged his father before heading to bed.

The next morning Rhaen and Rahz square off in the backyard of the house using weapons from the training grounds but even if they were made out of wood in the hands of an expert they could be very lethal.

"There are only 3 more weeks for the trip to the village and even if it is a weak Level 10, the current you can not defeat a first evolution fighter. Your mom will be healing your injuries so we can continue. Let's start!!"

Rahz heard the words his father was speaking and thought ' Heal the injuries? What the ....' Before he could finish his train of thought, he felt that he couldn't breathe and right after a wave of pain assailed him dropping him to the floor in the fetal position.

Rahz looked in his dad direction and he didn't see any changes in position whatsoever, "Wh.. What happened?". Realizing that he was not going to get any information from his dad, Rahz looked in the direction of his mother that was staring daggers at his dad.

Etta threw a minor heal on Rahz and very quickly he was back on his feet. it was very easy to guess what happen as his mother wore her feelings on her sleeves but the real question was how did his dad do it, he didn't even feel the attack.

Rahz shook it off and calm himself down, this was exactly what he wanted so he psyched himself up and assumed a defensive position.

Thud!!

Rahz felt on the ground gasping for air once more and was perplex. All he saw was a shadow and next second he was on the floor. There was no indication of the attack and there was no indication that his father had moved, it was truly an ass whooping.

Rhaen wanted to proof a point to his son and there was no way to really ingrained it onto his mind except by beating it into his bones.

Up to this point Rahz had been very lucky to survive what he had survived and in the eyes of many they were great accomplishments but they were great in a lower Level pool. If you put a 7 among 5's it is logical that the 7 is going to shine but if you put a 7 in between 10s and 9s he might get his ass whoop to say the least.

It was important to start by showing his son how helpless he would be if he was not careful when he was out in the world. It was a painful lesson but it had to be done.

The Third time Rhaen decreased his speed but he still managed to hit Rahz in exactly the same way as before. Rahz realized that even if his mind could followed the movements, his body couldn't keep up with the speed.

"The first was the speed of a first evolution assassin of the dark elf race, the second was the speed of a first evolution warrior, and the third was the speed of any Level 9 in the city of Silverwing. What do you think? can you complete your task?"