Evolution

Ray sat in the closed-up box for several days before speaking up again. his throat was dry, eyes felt like they were not going to open no matter how much he forced them to. The words came out after all the fighting spirit was gone from him and explained what this test has been about. "I guess I would have to just live off of my mana."

Ray began converting the dark mana inside of him into light mana. it required all his concentration, so much so that his breathing got reduced to one breath every ten seconds. Soon enough, his body regained the energy that he had lost throughout the last week.

this was what they all had to do. come up with their own ways to survive in situations that may cause them to be trapped. Ray used his huge dark mana reserve to go into a low metabolic state so he can just live off the mana alone. some started absorbing mana to keep up with the energy requirement of their body.

some started absorbing the energy from their surroundings. some just shut down their body functions that didn't seem needed for the time. In the end, they all gained a new skill.

absorbing mana from surroundings, shutting down body functions on command, controlling one's metabolism, every ability was going to help them later on in case of emergency.

Ray slept for a few more hours, his heart was beating at a very low rate, his breath almost non-existent if you don't pay attention to it. At first glance, one would pronounce him dead. One function that he left working was his sense of mana movement and hearing, both senses that he was using to know what was going on around him.

every once in a while, he would sense someone approach the box and then leave after observing for some time. time went by slowly, and he lost track of how many days it had been.

"Alright, take him out." A voice commanded, and a crack was heard. The box broke open and Ray was pulled out. his body was limp but went back to active in milliseconds. he freed himself from the person who was carrying him and flipped multiple times in the air as he tried to gain balance.

landing on his feet and standing straight, he opened his eyes to see Lucian and Robert standing in front. "Hey guys, I am kind of tired."

"we know. you have been in there for weeks." Lucian said. "what kind of enlightenment did you gain from being there?"

"other than control over my body's metabolism?" Ray said sarcastically, "Yeah, I learned that time doesn't exist, and my inner voice doesn't like me very much."

"should've pulled you out earlier huh," Robert commented. He was in a casual dress, and so was Lucian. Ray's focus shifted to his surroundings, which were different from the one where he was put in the bag.

"What is this place? This isn't where I was put in the box." He took a deep breath, "There isn't much mana around here either. this is an artificial forest, isn't it?"

"Good observation." Lucian said, "I created this using my mana, that's why it's not leaking anything. Your task is to find a way out of here without resting. You are free to use your weapon. Get ready." he said and summoned Ragespike, still in its sheath.

Ray knew what to do, it was both a race and a fight. He summoned his staff, Lorekeeper. "I have rested enough, come at me, Prince."

Before Lucian could even start attacking, Ray cast a wind circle behind himself and launched at Lucian. "Sorry man, but I am out."

Just before Ray reached him, Lucian moved out of the way and attacked using the hilt of the sword, but Ray was gone.

Lucian chuckled, "Ray just disappeared in the split second, his mana signature and all. He isn't in the arena anymore."

"Spatial magic?" Robert asked, pretending to not know the answer.

"Come on teach, he erased his presence completely. show a little more excitement." a wide grin appeared on Lucian's face. "Your ideas were a success. Everyone's got some new skill while they were put into a life-threatening situation. how did you know that's gonna work?"

Robert removed the spell cast in the room, the entire forest disappeared, and revealed an open door right behind them. Ray was there, just outside the door, standing with his staff in hand. He noticed the illusion being removed and turned around. "What the hell was that? What did I do? What did you do to me? Am I gonna die? What is going on?"

"Calm down Ray." Robert lightly tapped Ray on the head. "You have unlocked the ability to erase your presence it seems. I know it might be scary at first, but it's okay. you can learn to control this power. Tell me, what were you trying to do before you came here?"

"I was…" Ray calmed down and started thinking about what he was doing. "I was trying to get past Lucian because I sensed the exit was behind you two. The first step was to lunge at him and cast an illusion to hide so that when he tries to move away, I will have a direct way to the exit. He reacted way too quickly, and I got hasty. I tried to cast the spell without authority, but I think I erased my presence completely. because none of you noticed when I opened a portal to get out of the door. I don't know how it happened. "

They didn't talk after that. Ray was led to the resting room and met up with everyone else in there. their faces were equally discomforted as he was. they all had one new skill that they had to think about, a new experience that they had to turn into growth. there was a lot on their minds to think about, it was gonna take time to process.

"Ray?" a sweet voice called for him. Ray's head turned too fast, it would have twisted off if not stopped. a smile appeared on his face and he hugged her without thinking. "I missed you a lot babe."

Rose was a little taken aback by the sudden affection but returned the gesture equally. "I missed you too. How are you?"

"Now that I have you with me, better than ever. stay here for some time." Ray stayed silent, hugging her. It was adorable, but it wasn't the right place. they got interrupted by multiple coughing sounds from around them.

"we get it, you two like each other very much." Robin commented, "If you two had enough, shall we get to discussing what we all just went through?"

"Just give me five seconds!" Ray grabbed Rose's head with both hands and kissed her. "Okay, now we can start."

a good number of people in the room cringed and promptly started discussing the main topic. Terrence started, "I was put in a water tank the whole time. Around five days ago, I stopped trying to stay afloat. and I think I learned to breathe underwater."

"That's some mental capacity. I thought I started hallucinating while they kept me in that dark room. turns out, I was actively projecting my thoughts into the space, creating illusions for myself that others could see as well." Issac added.

"So you started seeing stuff?" Rose commented, "I saw things too, but it seems like I was seeing the flow of mana around the forest."

"I saw things too, but it was more like night vision," Tom added excitedly. "I was able to see everything in high detail even at night."

"That's great. I just hope my complete camouflage is enough to hide from you two." Ray joked.

"If I mark you, I can probably summon you to myself nowhere you are hiding." Cerene shrugged, "Not sure if I can do it for everything though."

"So you summon stuff?" Aisha asked, "I create earth constructs in high detail. well, not exactly all types of constructs, I am still figuring that out, but I did create intricate traps once."

"I can't summon things exactly, but I can create a small pocket to store stuff. It's like a pocket space, but I am not sure about its size yet." Sylph showed a small cube of some sort that she can summon.

"That looks so cool. I wish I could do something that good." Anya grumbled a little, "I can manipulate a small area as I wish, but it's nothing if someone steps out of it."

"I think I can help with that." Finley patted Anya on her shoulders. "I can create a cage or boundary-like thing, but it locks me in too, so if we team up, we can do some real cool stuff."

"You all have such nice abilities, I wish I got something that nice." Evan sounded frustrated. "All I got was immunity to fire."

"Don't you use fire to fight?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, and? How does it help me with… oh!" Evan understood what Robin was trying to say.

"I got my attacks to be ranged," Robin explained his ability. "I can't explain it right now, but I can hit others without my body touching them."

"Well, I just create shields made of mana." Jin chimed in. "Kind of handy as I can't do much while using my weapons, so it helps protect my blind spots."

"that is very useful," Sarah commented. "I learned something useful as well. I started to absorb mana from my surroundings. it is a slow process for now, but it is gonna help me counter my low mana issues once I master it."

"My ability is more directed and not that useful outside combat." Seraphina moved a spoon between her fingers as she talked. "I can see people's weak points while wielding a weapon. It gets highlighted over what I see and I can see it move if they cover it. it's just distracting for now."

"I am not sharing my ability." Even announced. Everyone turned to her, not knowing what to say. Robin just asked, "What is the reason for that?"