Free Web NovelChapter 19: Evolution choices
Ren made it back to the cave. He landed at the mouth of the cave and turned to look at the camp again. He used Dragon Vision to check if there were any signs of them leaving, but instead he saw them going about their day as if nothing was wrong.
"Tch, they want to stay," he muttered.
"Master, did you manage to do what you wanted to?" Remu walked to his side and asked.
"No, the humans turned out to be pretty stubborn. Arghhh, there is going to be a fight tomorrow for sure," Ren said. He turned and looked at Rumi. "But we have the upper hand," he said and then turned around.
"Come with me, Rumi. I want to explain something to you."
Rumi followed without asking a single question.
"Get all the warrior lizardmen and inform Silas to do the same for his wolves. We will make a deep-seated defensive line around the swamp and the cave.
This line is for the occasion that I am not able to stop them alone. Then you can take up defense and take them down." He explained in simple, clear terms and then stopped. He looked at Rumi again. "You’ll need to ensure no one is hurt at all, no lives to be lost.
They attack tomorrow, so get the wolves and lizardmen ready for it." He used his tail and dragged it along the ground, drawing directly into the earth. He drew the cave, the swamp, and then the camp based on memory.
He drew the defensive line around it and then tapped it with his tail.
"Here, that’s how far you go and lay in wait. I would have asked you to make some traps as well, but that’s a lot to ask for, and we already have the advantage because they do not know that we are waiting for them."
After he was done with Remu, he headed deeper inside. The wolves and lizardmen bowed their heads in respect.
A small wolf that was playing ran in his direction without looking and slammed into Ren.
The mother wolf rushed forward immediately in panic and bowed her head to the ground, scared that her little wolf would be killed for hitting the master.
"Oh? You like to go fast?" Ren asked. He wrapped his tail around the waist of the wolf and hurled it into the air. Every eye in the place turned to look up, and they watched as he came down, wondering if Ren would allow him to die due to anger.
Ren caught him in the air and then threw him again before catching him. The wolf figured out that Ren was not there to hurt it and immediately started having fun. After a while, Ren dropped him on the ground, and the wolf rushed back to its mother to keep playing.
Remu stepped close to Ren from behind.
"Remu, I’ve grown fond of this new family. It might have only been a few days, but I have. So let’s not allow them to come to harm, okay?" He turned and looked at Remu. Remu nodded.
[Your current strength is good but too low to deal with the current issue. Do you wish to evolve?]
Ren saw the message and immediately dismissed it in his head. The attack was coming tomorrow. There was no way he could evolve now, or else he would be asleep while the attack was happening.
"I can’t do that, and you know it."
[I can ensure you wake up before the break of day if you evolve right now.]
The system suddenly offered an olive branch. He didn’t understand how the system planned to do this, but he was willing to give it a chance.
"Fine, but don’t mess with me," he warned before heading deeper into the cave to the same place he had woken up. He lay down there and pulled up the system screen.
[Evolution Paths Available: 4]
[Gluttony Dragon]
[Ruler Dragon]
[Poison Dragon]
[War Dragon]
He looked at the four options sitting patiently in front of him and asked for the details the same way he had before.
[Gluttony Dragon: A continuation of your current path. Devour and Inherit grow significantly stronger, allowing safe consumption of larger and more dangerous prey, with increased odds of retaining traits through Inherit.]
"More of the same, but better," Ren muttered. "Safe option. Predictable option."
[Ruler Dragon: A leadership-oriented evolution. Grants a passive aura strengthening subordinates within your territory, alongside a moderate boost to your own stats when fighting alongside allies.]
He glanced upward instinctively, even though the cave ceiling blocked any actual view of the wolves and lizardmen settling in for the night above him.
"Huh. That one’s interesting, considering I’ve apparently adopted an entire forest’s worth of monsters this week."
[Poison Dragon: A specialized branch off Venom Fang. Trades general stat growth for significantly improved toxin potency, passive resistance to poison and disease, and potential new venom-based techniques.]
"Tempting. Already got the fang for it." He turned it over for a moment longer. "But specializing this early feels like a gamble."
[War Dragon: A balanced, combat-focused path. Claws, speed, durability, and raw aggression all see solid improvement, with no specific specialization attached.]
"And the generalist option, for when you don’t know what you want yet."
He lay there in the quiet dark, turning all four over properly now, weighing them against the only thing that actually mattered tomorrow.
A straight power spike with Gluttony was safe, reliable, more of the strength he already trusted. War Dragon offered something similar, broader but shallower. Poison Dragon was narrow, clever, but untested against something as large as what was coming.
And Ruler Dragon.
Ruler Dragon was the only one that didn’t just make him stronger. It made everyone behind him stronger too. Every wolf standing in that defensive line tomorrow. Every lizardman holding the swamp’s edge.
He thought about the wolf pup he’d just been tossing into the air minutes ago, about the mother who’d panicked thinking her child would be punished for simply being playful, about Remu standing loyally at his side without ever once questioning an order.
A few days. That’s all it had been.
And somehow it already felt like something worth protecting properly, not just himself, but all of them together.
"Alright," Ren said quietly, his eyes fixed on the four glowing options hovering above him. Among the four, he finally picked. "That’s the only real choice here."
