Free Web NovelChapter 7: Chapter 7: Volcan
Time moved differently when you had nothing to do but watch.
Roman had learned this in the orphanage—the particular weight of hours that belonged to no one, that simply passed over you without leaving anything behind.
He had hated it back then.
Always left alone by the other children around his age, Roman never had any meaningful interaction that could grant him solace or peace of mind. His only regular contact was the nanny responsible for looking after dozens of children at once.
With nowhere to spend his time and nobody to play with, Roman often sat beneath the shade of the largest tree in the orphanage. There, he would occasionally smear beads of sweet syrup onto the ground and watch the ants discover them.
It was strangely intoxicating.
Watching them struggle. Watching them strategize. Watching entire trails reorganize themselves around a single opportunity.
The ants were happy with the little they had, yet they never stopped working for more.
Roman would study them for hours.
Analyzing their next move.
Predicting where they would build next.
Watching was not nothing.
Watching was data to someone like Roman.
The acceleration of one God hour to a billion planetary years was still in effect, but Roman had long since stopped experiencing time that way.
Instead, he divided himself into two conscious states.
The first involved merging his consciousness with the world itself. In that state, he monitored the lifeforms, noted unusual behavioral patterns, and kept watch for extinction-level threats.
The second was his normal consciousness.
While in it, he browsed the Universal Chat, collected information, and amused himself with the naivety displayed by many of the lesser gods. More importantly, he occasionally analyzed behavioral patterns and writing habits in an attempt to identify Olive or Alice.
"Judging by the chat patterns and linguistic habits, I don’t see either Olive or Alice in here."
He continued scrolling through messages he had missed while occupied with his creations.
"They both have True Gods in their families. Maybe they were warned beforehand. Or maybe they already knew the basics and didn’t need to entertain themselves like I do."
He shifted between both conscious states whenever he felt like it.
In the grand scheme of time, the Magnari had not remained arthropods for very long.
As Roman merged his awareness with the world once more, he witnessed the slow crawl of continental shifts, the gradual cooling of lava seas along their edges, and the formation of new landmasses where molten terrain gave way to solid ground.
The silicon-based species Volcano had named the Silicari spread steadily across these cooler regions, adapting to lower temperatures with each successive generation.
The Magnari, meanwhile, remained within the heat.
That was simply their nature.
Magnesium ran hotter than silicon.
Burned brighter.
Metabolized faster.
Where the Silicari were slow and methodical, the Magnari evolved in bursts.
Rapid, almost violent diversification whenever environmental pressure demanded it.
A sudden spike in heat.
A shift in mineral concentration.
Competition over territory.
Any challenge severe enough to threaten their survival often became fuel for adaptation.
After observing the Silicari, Roman turned his attention toward the Magnari.
Finding them proved effortless.
His divine gaze was naturally drawn toward them, pulled by the faint traces of his own influence embedded within their foundation.
They had migrated since his last observation.
Their populations had expanded further along the ridge of a cooling lava shelf toward a region where heat zones were narrower and mineral density had begun to decline.
’If this continues... they’ll encounter the Silicari sooner rather than later.’
Following the boundaries of Magnari territory, Roman quickly discovered the reason.
The Silicari population was expanding.
Dense clusters of them pressed steadily inward from the wider cooled plains. They needed space.
And space, unfortunately, was finite.
The Magnari happened to occupy part of it.
The Magnari had noticed as well.
Roman observed a cluster of them gathered near the territorial boundary.
A dozen organisms roughly the size of a human fist moved restlessly along the border. Their magnesium-lattice bodies radiated a faint amber glow, causing the surrounding air to shimmer from the heat they emitted.
Then one crossed the boundary.
A nearby Silicari immediately responded.
At this stage of evolution, the Magnari were physically weaker. Yet the creature held its ground for nearly three seconds—a surprisingly long time for something still operating primarily on instinct.
Then both struck.
The encounter lasted less than a moment.
The Silicari recoiled.
The Magnari retreated.
Both survived.
Yet the boundary had been crossed.
And on a world where two species shared finite geography, such moments rarely ended there.
’It won’t be long before they’re forced to share the same territory.’
Roman watched them separate.
’The diversity. The evolutionary possibilities. Two entirely different races influencing each other’s development...’
A smile formed on his face.
’That will be worth watching.’
Roman withdrew from the world’s consciousness.
Meanwhile, through Volcano’s perspective, things had never looked better.
He had been observing his Silicari with the satisfaction of someone whose gamble had paid off. They had developed into exactly what he envisioned—thick-bodied, deliberate creatures steadily spreading across the cooled continental shelves.
His world.
His creation.
Everything proceeding exactly as Nox had described.
Then he noticed movement within the heat zones.
Curious, Volcano merged deeper with the world.
And looked.
Smaller organisms moved among the lava ridges.
Denser than the Silicari. freёwebnovel.com
Their bodies radiated faint amber heat from the edges of their lattice structures.
They moved differently too.
Faster.
More erratic.
More energetic.
Volcano watched one of them approach a Silicari at the edge of a heat zone.
A brief confrontation followed.
Neither creature truly attacked.
Neither creature truly retreated.
Then both withdrew.
Volcano stared for several moments.
Slowly, a grin spread across his face.
’The Silicari adapted to the heat and transformed into an entirely different species.’
His lizards had diversified.
The individuals that had wandered too close to the lava ridges hadn’t perished.
They had changed.
Adapted.
Become something better suited to their environment.
Exactly the kind of evolutionary pressure Nox had described.
And Volcano hadn’t even spent a single Faith Point.
It had happened naturally.
Pulling away from the world, Volcano immediately opened the Universal Chat.
Volcano: Guys. My species just diversified into the heat zones on their own. Without any Faith Points or nudging. They just did it.
Kyubbiii: Wait, seriously?
Volcano: I’m looking at them right now. The ones near the lava ridges look completely different from my main lizards. Smaller, denser. They even glow a little. I think the heat changed them.
Tripido: That’s actually insane. Natural adaptation without divine intervention? Godcraft rarely lets that happen.
Volcano: RIGHT?? Nox, you said pressure drives evolution—you weren’t joking.
Nox: Indeed. Though I must say, two populations diverging that significantly in base chemistry while still retaining an arthropodal foundation is quite remarkable. Are you certain they originated from the same species?
Volcano: I mean... what else would they be? It’s my world.
Nox: Of course. Congratulations, Volcano. Your world is thriving.
Roman read the exchange and couldn’t help but chuckle.
"Cheeky little bastard."
Nox already suspected something.
He just lacked certainty.
Godcraft rarely allowed natural evolution to progress unchecked. Doing so could create long periods of stagnation that negatively affected gameplay.
As a result, Lesser Gods were expected to actively manage their worlds until intelligent life emerged.
After all, the real game only began at that point.
If Roman’s assessment of Nox was correct, he wouldn’t go out of his way to investigate a problem that wasn’t his.
At least not without some form of benefit.
Satisfied with that conclusion, Roman submerged his consciousness into the world once more.
Just as he expected, both species had already begun sharing portions of the same territory.
Side by side. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Competing.
Adapting.
And evolving at their own pace.
