I Can See Evolution Paths

Arthur was already on the ancient vessel by the time Athena worked up the nerve to step aboard, and the rest of the group filed on behind her. The boat felt older than it had any right to still be standing, dark wood reinforced with strange metal ribs, faint blue runes tracing its sides, no engine anywhere and no obvious way to steer it.

Athena ran her fingers over one of the runes. "Probably thousands of years old."

"So?"

"...You trust it?"

"No," Arthur said, "but it looks like our only way across."

"Not exactly reassuring," Sun muttered, eyeing the black water stretching out ahead of them.

"We can swim if it breaks." Everyone looked at him at once. He held up a hand. "Actually, maybe don’t do that."

Mithra laughed under her breath while Athena just closed her eyes for a second.

"I guess the barriers are out if something attacks underwater," Melo said, tilting her head toward the surface.

"Don’t know if my Barrier Generation even holds against whatever’s down there," Vedas admitted, leaning over the side. "And I’m not sure I could keep it up long even if it does."

"And that’s before we know what’s actually living in it," Arthur added, staring into the dark.

Star wriggled against his arm, craning to see over the edge, and he pulled it back without looking. "Stay away from the water."

"No."

"Still no."

"Star wants to see," Eden giggled from above.

"Star can see from here."

The runes flickered faintly when Arthur pressed his palm against the hull, but nothing else happened. "There was probably a mechanism that controlled this thing," Athena said.

"Which we don’t know how to use," Sun added.

Arthur looked to the back of the boat. "Then we make our own." He nodded at Vedas and Sun. "Push."

"You’re serious?"

"Very."

Vedas was already moving into position. Sun sighed and followed. Between Magic Burst from Arthur and Vedas and Sun’s shockwaves from Long, with Athena using Aegis to redirect the wake and keep the boat balanced, the vessel lurched forward and started to glide.

"It actually works," Mithra said, watching the water slide past.

"See?"

"That doesn’t mean it was safe."

"It worked."

"Different things."

"Not very different."

The cavern darkened the further they went, and the water began to slow.

"It’s happening again," Athena said first, and a thin skin of ice spread across the surface fast enough to freeze the whole river solid before the boat had finished sliding to a stop.

"It really does happen every minute," Luna said, gripping the rail.

"Almost exactly," Athena murmured, watching it.

Cracks split the ice a moment later and the surface gave way all at once, the boat lurching forward as the water returned. "I’m starting to hate this river," Sun said, steadying himself.

"At least we’re learning how it works," Mithra offered.

"Arthur, look!" Eden pointed down, and for a second several enormous shapes moved beneath them before the shadows dissolved into the dark. Nobody said anything for a moment.

"Please tell me those were fish," Sun said finally.

"Probably not."

Something about the cold didn’t sit right either. Luna rubbed her arms. "Shouldn’t it be colder?"

Athena touched the rail, then the ice. "The air temperature hasn’t moved at all." Athy landed beside her a second later. "But the water still freezes."

"Exactly." She studied it a moment longer. "It’s not affecting the cavern, just the river itself. Like the fire mirror chamber, whoever built this designed each section differently." Arthur smiled at that, filing it away.

The boat rocked hard. Vedas had his spear up before anyone else moved. "Something’s below us."

The water tore open and a serpentine shape launched itself onto the deck, dark blue scales, crystalline ridges along its spine, jaws lined with translucent teeth trailing frost. Arthur was already moving, Dusk driving up under its jaw and sending it back into the river before it fully landed.

"That’s one," Sun said, and the water broke again, twice, three more shapes surfacing at once.

"We’re surrounded!" Athena planted Aegis against the deck as one slammed into the hull, absorbing the shock with a grunt.

She pushed against the impact and watched the creature disappear beneath the water. For a moment she expected it to surface again immediately, but nothing happened. The river settled, leaving only a few ripples behind the boat.

"Where did it go?" Luna asked.

Athena kept her shield raised as she scanned the water. "It’s still beneath us."

A shadow passed underneath the vessel, moving much faster than before. Another shadow joined it, then a third, and soon several of the creatures were circling the boat instead of attacking directly.

Arthur watched them carefully. "They’re waiting."

Vedas frowned. "For what?"

Arthur glanced toward the river. "I don’t know yet."

Before anyone could say anything else, one of the Glaciermaws suddenly emerged from the water and lunged toward the rear of the boat. Vedas intercepted it with his spear, driving the creature away, but another Beast immediately appeared on the opposite side.

Athena’s eyes narrowed. "They’re trying to split us apart."

Arthur looked toward her and smiled slightly. "Then we should stay together."

Mithra moved beside him, Kusa already in her hand. "That sounds simple."

Arthur glanced at the number of creatures surrounding them. "It probably won’t be."

Mithra laughed softly. "I was afraid you’d say that."

Arthur turned in time to catch one lunging straight at him and drove it back with a single strike. Mithra was somewhere else entirely a second later, afterimages scattering around another beast while Melo’s dream mist spread across the deck and the creature lunged at nothing. Mithra appeared behind it instead. It didn’t get back up.

Sun called for Kong, who grabbed the nearest beast by the jaw and hurled it into a second one before Sun finished them both with a shockwave that sent them crashing back under the surface. "That worked," Sun said, and Kong raised both fists for more.

One of the Glaciermaws suddenly pulled away from the boat, its enormous body sinking beneath the surface. When it emerged again, its jaws were already open, and a pale blue light was gathering deep inside its throat.

Athena’s expression changed. "Arthur!"

The warning came just as the Beast released the attack. A concentrated stream of freezing energy tore across the river, heading directly toward the center of the boat. Arthur moved to intercept it, but before he could raise Dusk, something small suddenly stretched out from his arms.

Star threw itself into the path.

The freezing energy struck the little Slime head-on.

"Star!" Arthur’s heart lurched as Star’s body immediately hardened beneath the impact, frost spreading across its translucent surface, covering it almost completely while the force of the attack pushed it backward through the air.

He caught it against his chest. For several seconds, Star didn’t move.

Eden flew down beside him, her expression filled with concern. "Star..."

Arthur held it carefully in both hands. "Come on."

A faint tremor passed through Star’s body. Then the frost began disappearing, not melting so much as sinking beneath the surface, absorbed into its translucent body as a faint blue glow traveled through it. The Slime slowly expanded before settling back into its normal shape.

He stared at it. "You absorbed it."

Star gave a small bounce against his hands.

"Star helped!" Eden’s expression brightened.

He smiled. "You really did."

Star bounced again, seemingly proud of itself.

Athena had been watching the whole exchange. "Its adaptation is accelerating."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked.

She considered it. "If it can keep adapting without taking real damage, then probably."

Star immediately stretched a tiny limb toward the river, and Arthur pulled it back. "No."

Star wiggled.

"Absolutely not."

Eden covered her mouth, laughing. "Star wants more."

"You’re not eating the entire river," Arthur told it, and Star bounced again. He sighed. "We’ll discuss this later."

Then he noticed something else. Another Glaciermaw circled the boat, approaching before suddenly pulling away and vanishing beneath the water again. His gaze shifted to the surface. It was beginning to slow.

He looked at the creatures. Then at the ice forming along the distant edge. Then back at the Beasts.

A small smile crossed his face.

Mithra caught it immediately. "What did you figure out?"

He pointed toward the river. "They know when it’s about to freeze."

Athena followed his gaze and understood fast. "The creatures have adapted to the cycle."

"And that means we can use it against them."

Vedas tightened his grip on his spear. "How?"

"We put them where we want them before the river changes."

Sun’s expression slowly brightened. "You’re going to use the river as a trap."

"Exactly."

Vedas used War Shout long enough for Arthur to knock the beasts back into the water. Sun and Kong picked up the same trick, Mithra and Melo herding more toward the edge, and then the river started to freeze again.

"Everyone move!" Athena shouted, and the beasts still in the water froze solid mid-thrash, glowing faintly blue and completely still.

Two notifications lit up for Vedas.

[Level Up!] [Level Up!]

[Goblin King] — Level 20 → Level 22

He glanced at his spear without much reaction, eyes staying on the river instead. "Something’s wrong with this place."

"I think so too."

Eden lit up next, blinking down at her own hands.

[Level Up!] [Level Up!]

[Time Fairy] — Level 25 → Level 27

"I leveled up," she said, half to herself, and then spotted more movement below. "There’s more."

Athena watched another group of Beasts emerge farther ahead, their bodies cutting through the dark water as more shapes appeared behind them. The number was growing too quickly, and the farther they traveled, the more creatures seemed to rise from the river. "There are even more coming."

Arthur looked toward the endless stretch of water ahead. Fighting through every group would only slow them down, and there was no telling how many more Beasts were waiting somewhere beyond the darkness.

Athena lowered Aegis slightly. "We’re spending too much time here. If this river really is part of the mountain’s defenses, we don’t know what else might be waiting for us."

Arthur nodded as he watched another cluster of Beasts approaching. "Then we stop fighting."

Sun glanced at him. "We’re running?"

"Exactly." He turned toward Vedas. "We need speed."

Vedas understood immediately and moved toward the rear of the vessel. "Magic Burst."

Arthur followed him and planted Dusk toward the water behind them. "Magic Burst."

The two spears began glowing with golden energy before their attacks erupted simultaneously, blasting into the river behind the vessel. The force sent a tremendous wave rolling across the water, and the ancient boat surged forward so violently that Sun had to grab the railing to keep from being thrown overboard.

"A warning would’ve been nice!"

Arthur glanced back at him with a grin. "You would’ve complained either way."

"That’s not the point!"

Mithra laughed as she steadied herself against the side of the vessel. "You two are going to argue until we reach the other side, aren’t you?"

Sun opened his mouth to answer, but another explosion from Arthur and Vedas sent the boat surging forward again, leaving him with little choice but to hold on.

"Apparently."

Behind them, Melo spread her five tails and released a thick layer of dream mist across the river. Dozens of false boats appeared in the darkness, each moving in a different direction. The pursuing Glaciermaws immediately scattered after them, some crashing into the illusions while others turned on one another when their attacks struck false targets.

Eden flew ahead of the vessel, keeping watch over the river as Arthur and Vedas continued propelling the boat forward.

"There’s an opening on the right!"

Arthur adjusted their course. "Show me."

Eden pointed toward a narrow stretch of open water between two groups of Beasts. "There!"

Arthur shifted the vessel toward it, and the boat narrowly slipped between the creatures as several massive jaws snapped down behind them. A moment later, the river began to slow.

Athena looked toward the surface. "It’s freezing again."

The change happened almost instantly. Ice spread across the river, trapping the pursuing Beasts in their frozen state as the ancient vessel slid across the newly formed surface. Arthur and Vedas used another Magic Burst, the explosions driving the boat across the ice before cracks began racing beneath them.

Then the water returned.

The vessel dropped back into the river and surged forward once more, carrying them farther into the darkness while the remaining Beasts gradually disappeared behind them.

Sun finally released the railing and let out a long breath. "I think we actually lost them."

Athena kept Aegis raised as she watched the darkness ahead. "Don’t celebrate yet."

Arthur’s expression had already changed. He was staring at the water beneath them, where something large had just moved beneath the hull. "Something is moving under us."

"What is it?" Vedas asked.

"I don’t know."

"Everyone hold on," Mithra said, gripping Kusa.

A shadow passed beneath them, too large to be another glaciermaw, and Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "That’s not one of the ones we were fighting."

"Then what is it?"

He didn’t get a chance to answer. The shadow vanished, and for one full second the water went completely still.

Then something came up through the hull from beneath, and the boat wasn’t a boat anymore, wood and metal and ice going in every direction at once, and Arthur was in the water and then he wasn’t in the water, he was in the air, and then he wasn’t anywhere he recognized.

"Arthur!" Mithra reached for him and missed. Vedas went under. Sun and Kong were somewhere else entirely. Athena was thrown sideways. Eden dove after him with Star stretching desperately in the same direction, and then everything went dark at once.

...

Arthur woke up.

He groaned before pushing himself up. "Everyone?"

Nothing. No river anywhere in sight, and no one else either. His hand found Dusk still in his grip, and he let out a breath. "At least I’ve still got this."

An enormous hallway stretched out ahead of him, coated in ice, spikes hanging from the ceiling and rising from the floor close enough together in places that getting through would take real care. He took one step.

Click.

He stopped. Another click answered from somewhere deeper in the corridor.

Click. Click.

He raised Dusk, its light bleeding blue through the ice, and looked into the dark. Something enormous shifted just past where the light reached.

"Looks like the mountain isn’t done with us yet," he said, and a deep rumble rolled back down the hallway in answer.

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