Evolution

Liam was going through the book Alisha gave him. Ever since the previous day's challenge, he received mixed responses from the soldiers. Some of them praised his talent and skill, while others hated his guts.

After Nora declared his victory, every participant called foul and accused him of cheating. The group included Ella, who had previously been amiable towards him. They accepted the result after he performed the same feat a second time. Unable to stomach it, a lot of them glared at him. He didn't care about them but wondered if he overdid it.

Leo's reaction forced Nora to physically restrained him before Blake carried him out of the field. Deaf to her declaration, he kept challenging Liam forcing her to intervene.

In the chaos, Liam never got the chance to ask her about the personal spell.

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange sensation within his body. Mana was gathering inside him.

"Guard the tent and make sure no one interferes. I am about to evolve."

His friends became serious. Jade removed her shield and stood close to him while Dunn guarded the entrance.

Liam focused his mind on the changes happening to him. Initially, the process caused a little discomfort. It felt like an itch he couldn't scratch. Slowly, the uncomfortable feeling intensified into pain. It didn't last long and subsided after some time.

When he thought the evolution was over, an intense pain assaulted him. The agony was unbearable. His back reflexively arched, and he opened his mouth in a silent scream. Black spots mixed with red dotted his vision.

His sudden actions startled Jade. "Are you okay?"

When he didn't respond, she turned to Dunn. He stared back with a wrinkled brow and shook his head.

Blood vessels burst in Liam's eyes, turning them red. All over his body, cracks appeared. They healed the instant they formed, and new tears took their place. Blood seeped out of the pores, coating him red.

Having no idea if Liam was undergoing a normal process of evolution, Jade paid attention to his actions and stood guard over him.

Liam felt himself break down and reform. It caused the altered body to be in tune with mana, but it wasn't enjoyable. He suffered the agony for what felt like hours.

When the evolution was done, the pain vanished. It was too sudden, and he collapsed to the ground breathing hard.

Jade stood over him with a weird expression on her face.

Having no energy to figure out her thoughts, he directly asked her. "What is it?"

"The number of women aiming for you will increase. You hit the threshold of what I call the elven beauty."

Hearing that, Liam knew he would never understand Jade. No longer paying attention to her, he sensed the changes in his body. The obvious one was his ability to sense mana. It was present all around him, and he could absorb it when he wanted to.

Getting up, he didn't notice an improvement in strength. He expected it as Alisha mentioned evolution wouldn't increase his stats. It removed the previous limit.

Liam did various exercises, trying to identify his evolved ability. To his surprise, he didn't discern any changes.

"You won't find it that way." Alisha stood outside watching his actions. "The activities will help you understand muscular transformations, but if evolution modified your organs, it will take time to figure it out."

"So we won't know our ability immediately after evolution?" Jade asked.

"If no one told you, would you know you had a liver?" Nora retorted.

"Fair enough."

"Take the spellbooks and go to the training ground," Alisha ordered. "You need to understand the limits of your power."

She left after saying her piece.

"Won't people notice your unnatural mana capacity?"

Jade's remembered Alisha's explanation about stats being related to the size of mana pool.

"I will use a quarter of my mana during practice. The remaining part will have the same efficiency giving me a reasonable estimate."

Picking up the books, he rushed towards the training area and chose an empty spot. For as long as he could remember, he saw people using amazing spells and felt a yearning for them. Fighting an evolved was similar to entering a battle with a crutch.

After so many years, he achieved one of his goals. He didn't try to control the smile spreading on his face.

"Don't get cocky." Liam saw one of the previous day's contestants glaring at him. "There is always someone stronger than you."

He didn't waste any time on the taunt.

Casting his thoughts to the spellbook, he remembered the first paragraph.

'In nature, mana stays isolated and in equilibrium. Beings with consciousness can change the state and manipulate it to do their bidding. The actions of any living being, whether conscious or subconscious, affect mana. In return, mana also affects the person, leading to evolution. Due to its strange nature, evolution itself can never be perfect, causing the body to offer resistance. It is a hurdle limiting the potential of any living being in a variety of ways.'

Liam's first challenge in testing his limits was letting mana flow to his fingertips. He succeeded on the first try. To the evolved, mana was similar to an arm. Swinging an arm came naturally, but using it skillfully took practice. Similarly, moving mana was the same as breathing while becoming proficient required training.

Liam didn't feel any resistance to mana. After trying it a few times, he was sure of the assumption. The result excited and worried him, making him wonder how long his list of secrets would get.

The book mentioned spells had five levels, with the first one being release. Anticipating the day, he repeatedly practiced the hand signs till he perfected them. His first attempt only produced a spark before cutting off. The second try was no better.

During the nineteenth attempt, flames spewed out of all ten of his fingertips. They spread for an inch before dissipating into the air.

Unable to contain his happiness, he burst into laughter.

"FINALLY, I CAN USE MAGIC!"

The shout and public display of emotions were uncharacteristic of Liam. A few soldiers glared at him and passed nasty comments between themselves.

Paying no attention to them, he reveled at the sight of his flames. With his heart bursting in happiness, he let loose. Unhindered, mana flowed into his fingers, and his flames reached a meter around him.

Laughing like a maniac, he spread the fire all around him. When he used one-fourth of his mana pool, he reluctantly stopped. Honestly speaking, his mana pool hadn't changed as the rate at which he replenished mana was the same as the rate at which he used it.

Still, people would get suspicious if he spewed flames all day.

The soldiers threw weird looks, but he disregarded them. They couldn't comprehend how difficult survival in the Rift was, especially for those who couldn't use magic.

He stared at his clenched fist remembering Sera's death and the helplessness he felt. Back then, he had been powerless. With his evolution, it was time for revenge.

His friends arrived beside him, interrupting his thoughts.

"I want to do that too." Jade stared at his fists with a jealous look on her face.

"Wait for a day, and you will also be able to do it."

"How does it feel?" Dunn couldn't contain his excitement either.

"Normal?"

All of them laughed at his weird response.

During his mad display, Liam tested two of his limits. The first one was his mana replenishment rate, and if the book was anything to go by, it was insane. Transfer loss was the second point. It measured the loss of mana when it traveled through the body. Since his body didn't obstruct its flow, transfer loss was zero.

There was one last thing he had to test, and it was the range at which he could cast spells.