I Can See Evolution Paths

Arthur was still moving with the group when the final notification appeared.

[Evolution Path Vision — Evolution]

He stopped, and another line followed.

[Evolutionary Traits]

His eyes widened, and for a moment he didn’t understand what he was even looking at. Then a faint tugging sensation pulled at him, coming from somewhere near Vedas.

"Arthur?" Vedas noticed him staring.

"Can I touch you?"

Vedas blinked, and Sun looked over immediately. "That’s a strange question."

"Very strange," Mithra said, arms crossed.

"Why?" Arthur asked.

"Because you’re Arthur," Mithra said, like that explained everything.

"...Fair," he admitted.

Vedas laughed. "Go ahead."

Arthur reached out and touched him, and golden light bloomed above Vedas’s shoulder, words forming inside it.

[Evolutionary Trait: Kingly Physique]

He stared. Something he’d never been able to see before was suddenly visible, not a skill, not mana, but a physical quality built into Vedas’s body itself. Before he could fully process it, the light rushed toward him, and his whole frame stiffened as strength flooded through, muscles denser, bones harder, like his entire body had just been reinforced from the inside out.

He clenched a fist slowly. Physical strength roughly tripled, and underneath that, something else, a faint pressure radiating outward. A kingly, demonic weight to it.

"Arthur?" Vedas said again.

"Hmm?"

"Did something happen?"

"Your presence changed," Athena said, stepping closer.

"You definitely feel stronger," Sun added.

"And more intimidating," Mithra said, narrowing her eyes.

Arthur looked down at the King Mark, and it clicked. "I think it evolved."

Everyone went quiet.

"The mark itself?" Athena’s eyes went wide.

"Seems like I can see physical traits now," he said. "Not skills. Something deeper. Whatever’s built into a body naturally."

"So it’s developed another function," Athena said, already fascinated.

"Looks like it."

"Halburn really left you something incredible," Luna said, looking at the mark.

"Yeah." He looked at it a second longer. "He really was."

"You don’t usually praise people like that," Vedas said, amused.

"I’m starting to understand why he had this thing."

"It’s amazing!" Eden said, and Arthur smiled. "Apparently it’s still got surprises."

That was all any of them learned. They believed the King Mark had picked up a new way of seeing. He didn’t tell them Evolution Path Vision itself had evolved.

He looked at Vedas again, the golden light still resting somewhere inside him, and realized something. It hadn’t just shown him the trait. He’d gained it. Quietly, he tried releasing it back, and the light rose out of him and dispersed, the kingly pressure fading with it.

I can control it.

He didn’t say anything out loud.

"You seem happy," Vedas said, watching him.

"Found something interesting."

"What?"

"I’ll figure it out first."

"That answer’s never reassuring," Mithra said, suspicious already.

They kept moving deeper, and Arthur started testing it on his own, walking beside Melo and touching her gently, another glow rising.

[Evolutionary Trait: Dreamborn Soul]

He took it in, and his perception shifted, mind harder to intrude on, illusions and dreams easier to spot, spiritual disturbances suddenly clearer at the edges.

"Did you find another one?" Mithra asked, catching him staring off.

"Yeah."

"What’s it do?"

"Something useful."

"You’re impossible," she sighed, while Melo wrapped her tails proudly around him.

He tried Kong next, who eyed him warily. "What?"

Arthur patted his head, and Kong froze. "Why?"

"Research."

Kong looked at Sun. "Again?"

"Again," Sun confirmed.

[Evolutionary Trait: Titan’s Frame]

This one hit different, his whole body settling heavier and denser, raw strength climbing further, and he felt the shift immediately.

"You’re stronger," Kong grinned.

"Looks like your trait’s pretty impressive."

"Because I’m strong," Kong said, puffing up.

"He’s never going to stop saying that," Sun laughed.

Athy tilted her head when he approached her, and the light rose a fourth time.

[Evolutionary Trait: Celestial Sight]

His vision sharpened, details that had always been just out of reach suddenly clear, hidden movement, tiny shifts, subtle distortions all coming into focus.

Then something unexpected happened. The oldest trait vanished. He froze, checking internally, still three traits total, but Kingly Physique was gone. Only three. He tested it again, pulling Vedas’s trait back, and the order shuffled, Titan’s Frame, Celestial Sight, Kingly Physique.

So he could only hold three at once. He kept that to himself too.

They pushed deeper, the ruins going quiet around them, no beasts, no traps, just the remains of a civilization abandoned for longer than anyone could guess. Enormous beast statues lined the passage, some of creatures they recognized, others of things nobody had ever seen.

"I’ve never seen this species in any record," Athena said, stopping beside one.

"Maybe it went extinct," Arthur offered.

"Or maybe it never existed outside this place," Luna said, touching the stone.

"That’s possible too." He reached out and touched it himself. Nothing happened, and he pulled his hand back.

"Were you expecting something?" Mithra asked.

"Maybe."

They reached a broken bridge next, half of it collapsed into a chasm, and Sun took one look and shook his head. "That’s not happening."

Arthur glanced at Vedas. Vedas glanced back. Both of them smiled.

"No," Sun said immediately.

"Magic Burst," Arthur said, raising Dusk.

"Of course," Sun sighed.

"Boom," Kong said, raising a fist.

"Exactly."

"You people are ridiculous," Athena muttered, but Vedas already had the barrier up, and one burst later the whole group cleared the gap and landed safely on the other side.

"You know, one day that won’t work," Mithra said.

"Then I’ll find another way," Arthur smiled.

They found old camps further in, broken equipment, stone fire pits, ancient containers, scraps of fabric still intact after however long. Luna knelt beside one, her expression softening. "People really lived here."

"These aren’t temporary expedition camps," Athena said, examining the remains.

"You think they lived here permanently?" Arthur asked.

"Yes." Luna touched the edge of an old shelter frame. "This was someone’s home."

Nobody said much after that. The place had stopped feeling like a dungeon and started feeling like the remains of something that had actually been alive once.

Deeper in, they found enormous chambers, broken platforms scattered through some, strange circular formations built into others. Athena knelt beside one of the markings almost immediately.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"These are similar to the formations around the Mirror."

His expression sharpened. "So the Mirrors were connected to this place."

"It appears so."

"Why build all this under the Everglades?" Luna asked, looking around.

"Maybe it wasn’t under the Everglades," Arthur said, and every head turned toward him. "Maybe the Everglades grew around it."

Athena’s eyes widened slightly. "That’s... possible."

"How do you come up with this stuff?" Mithra asked.

"I look around."

Further on, Athena found writing carved into a wall and wiped the dust away, ancient script emerging beneath her hand. Everyone gathered close.

"Water remembers what stone forgets," Luna read slowly.

Nobody spoke for a moment.

"What does that mean?" Arthur asked, looking from the wall to the ocean far behind them.

"I’m not sure," Athena admitted.

"Water remembers?" Sun repeated, confused.

"Maybe something happened in the water," Mithra offered.

"The memory we saw," Luna said slowly, and Arthur looked at her. "It came from the Mirror."

"And the Mirror was connected to this place," Athena said.

He looked back at the inscription. Water remembers what stone forgets. Could the ocean itself be holding memories, some trace of whatever had happened down here buried in the current instead of the stone? He didn’t know. That was exactly what made it interesting.

They kept moving, and then the ground trembled. Everyone stopped.

Another tremor followed. Arthur raised his spear. "Something’s ahead."

They moved carefully into a massive chamber, and there it was. The Guardian, the same one they’d fought before, except now it lay in ruins, its water-spiral mask cracked in half, armor torn apart, water energy leaking freely from its collapsed frame.

Nobody moved.

"The Guardian," Athena breathed.

Athy’s eyes went wide. Mithra’s hand tightened around Kusa. Sun’s face went serious.

"Someone defeated it," Luna said, stepping back.

"Recently," Vedas said, studying the damage.

"Rokkaku," Kong said, jaw tight, and everyone turned toward him.

"He really did come through here," Luna said grimly.

"There’s no doubt," Athena agreed.

Arthur walked closer, examining the wreckage before looking past it, toward the path that continued into the next chamber, and slowly a smile crossed his face.

"Arthur?" Mithra said, watching him.

He laughed, sudden and sharp. "Hahaha!"

"Why are you laughing?" Sun asked, blinking.

He pointed at the ruined Guardian. "Because this means he made it through."

Athena understood before he even finished. "The Mirror."

"Exactly."

"If he beat the Guardian..." Vedas started.

"Then Rokkaku’s dealing with it right now," Arthur said.

Nobody spoke for a second. They’d spent all this time chasing his trail. Now they’d finally caught up.

Arthur tightened his grip on Dusk, eyes bright. "Let’s go."

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