I Can See Evolution Paths

The group continued deeper into the forest, following the direction Arthur had determined from the roots.

The compass remained useful, but only as a general guide. It pointed toward the Broken Mirror somewhere beyond the ancient forest, while the information preserved within the roots allowed Arthur to determine which paths had once existed and which routes were now completely blocked by fallen trees, collapsed ruins, and thick vegetation.

It made the journey considerably easier. Instead of forcing their way through whatever happened to be in front of them, Arthur occasionally stopped beside one of the enormous roots and placed his hand against it.

Searching for another fragment of environmental information. Sometimes he saw an ancient road. Sometimes an area that had once been flooded. Sometimes nothing useful at all. The fragments weren’t consistent, but they were enough to give him a rough understanding of the terrain.

"This way," he said, pointing toward a narrow passage between two trees.

"You’re sure?" Sun asked.

"No."

Sun stared at him.

"But the roots say it used to be a road."

"You could have led with that."

"I thought saying I wasn’t sure was more honest."

Sun sighed. "I don’t know why I keep asking."

"Because somehow he’s usually right," Mithra laughed, following Arthur through the trees.

"That’s exactly why I keep asking," Sun replied.

They had only traveled a short distance when Arthur suddenly stopped, everyone halting behind him. Something moved in the vegetation, a low growl rolling through the forest. Kong shifted his stance, Vedas lowered his spear, Sun raised Long.

"Beast," Mithra said, her expression sharpening.

The bushes ahead exploded outward. Three creatures charged through, enormous lizards with dark green scales that blended almost perfectly with the forest floor, thick moss along their backs, long jaws lined with curved teeth.

Athena analyzed them immediately. "Forest Mossfangs. Their scales provide natural camouflage, and they appear to have strong bite force."

"Finally. Something normal," Sun grinned.

The largest lunged, and Vedas moved first, his golden spear flashing forward to strike it beneath the jaw and send it crashing into the roots of a tree. The second attacked from the side, and Mithra vanished, a red-black blur cutting across the forest, her blade striking it several times before it could turn its head. The third charged toward Arthur, and he planted Dusk into the ground, golden light erupting as the Guardian spirit flickered behind him for an instant, the shockwave from his thrust launching the Mossfang backward through the vegetation, where it crashed down and struggled to stand.

Kong was already there, grabbing it by the tail and swinging it into the undergrowth.

"...You know, I was going to help," Sun said, staring.

Kong beat his chest proudly.

"Don’t look so pleased with yourself." Kong looked even more pleased, and Arthur laughed.

The first battle had ended almost as quickly as it began. Vedas lowered his spear. "These Beasts are weaker than Rokkaku’s creatures."

"Thankfully."

Arthur looked toward the fallen Mossfangs. "They’re probably adapted to this environment."

"That would explain their coloration," Athena said.

He crouched beside one of them. "I wonder what else lives here."

"Don’t," Sun said immediately.

"What?"

"You have that expression again."

"I’m just curious."

"That’s worse."

Mithra laughed, and they continued deeper into the forest. The Beasts became more frequent, the ancient forest not empty at all, simply quiet about its inhabitants until something disturbed them.

A group of Vineclaw Stalkers attacked from above, bodies covered in leaf-like plates that let them blend into the canopy. Athy spotted them first and warned the group, giving Athena time to position everyone before the Beasts dropped. Vedas intercepted the first, Mithra took the second, Sun swung Long upward and knocked another out of the air with a shockwave. Kong caught one that leapt past him, and it snapped its jaws at his arm. He looked down at it, then squeezed. It stopped struggling instantly.

"Kong," Sun said. "You can’t just crush everything."

Kong tilted his head.

"Actually, never mind."

Arthur laughed as they continued.

Further along the route, they hit a group of Azurewing Raptors, birdlike Beasts with long blue feathers and sharp talons, diving through gaps in the canopy before vanishing again. Athy took the lead, soaring above and tracking their movements. "Left!" Vedas turned and blocked the descending talons. "Above you!" Sun raised Long just in time. Mithra used the trees as stepping points, launching between branches to cut across two more. Arthur raised Guardian Shield when three attacked at once, the golden barrier throwing them back.

Eden floated higher, startled. "That was close!"

"You’re getting better at spotting them," Arthur said.

"I know," she smiled proudly.

"She learned that from Athena," Sun said.

"Her perception is improving," Athena confirmed.

"I can hear you," Eden puffed.

Sun laughed as another Raptor swooped toward her, and before Arthur could react, a small celestial shape bounced upward, Star stretching into a long elastic form and catching the Beast around one leg. It flapped wildly, and Star stretched farther.

"Star," Arthur stared. "Don’t let go yet."

"You’re encouraging it," Sun said.

"I’m supervising."

Mithra laughed as Star finally released the Raptor, sending it tumbling safely into the undergrowth. When the group cleared the area, Arthur looked down at his slime. "That was good." Star bounced hard enough to wobble its tiny crown, and he caught it before it fell.

"That slime is going to become a menace," Sun said, shaking his head, and Star bounced even harder. "I think it agrees," Arthur laughed.

With each battle, the group moved more naturally together. The fights weren’t difficult enough to threaten them individually, but the forest kept them alert, Beasts attacking from trees, from underground tunnels, from behind ruined structures, some relying on camouflage, others on speed, others simply using the dense vegetation to restrict movement.

By the time they reached another clearing, several of them had gained noticeable experience. Vedas stopped suddenly, a faint golden light surrounding him.

"Vedas?"

He looked at his hands as the light faded, then smiled. "Level twenty-four."

"One step closer," Sun grinned.

"I will not stop there."

"Seven more," Arthur said.

"Then I will reach them."

"You’re getting closer," Mithra said.

"For now." Vedas smiled, and Melo’s tails swayed smugly beside her.

"She’s still ahead of you," Sun pointed out.

"...For now," Vedas said, glancing at her, and Mithra laughed while Melo’s tails swayed even more proudly.

"You two are taking this seriously," Arthur shook his head.

"Apparently," Sun said, then pointed at Kong. "And don’t get any ideas. You’re still behind me." Kong immediately pointed back at him. "You are absolutely not challenging me right now." Kong pointed again, and Arthur laughed.

The forest kept changing around them, and eventually Arthur noticed something beneath the vegetation. He stopped. "Wait."

Everyone slowed as he crouched and brushed aside several layers of leaves and moss. Stone appeared beneath them, not a small fragment, but a road, continuing beneath the plants farther than he could see.

He stood. "Everyone, look."

They gathered around him, and Athena’s eyes widened. The ancient road had been buried for centuries, but enough of it remained intact to reveal its original design, huge stone slabs forming a broad path wide enough for several people to walk side by side. Larger structures stood along its edges, broken pillars, statues, stone markers, all of them pointing in the same direction.

Toward the Broken Mirror.

Athena walked forward slowly. "This isn’t a simple road."

"What do you mean?"

"The construction." She pointed toward the stone beneath their feet. "The individual slabs are aligned almost perfectly, despite the age of the road. Whoever built this intended it to remain functional for a very long time."

"And it’s going toward the Mirror," Luna said, looking ahead.

"So we’re going the right way."

"More importantly," Athena said, "this confirms that the structure was connected to the civilization that built these ruins."

"That’s a pretty big clue."

"It is." Her excitement was becoming increasingly hard to hide.

"You really like this place," Sun noticed.

"There is more historical information here than I have ever encountered in one location."

Athy landed on her shoulder, looking down at the carvings along the road. "These symbols are strange."

Athena crouched beside them immediately. "Yes."

The stones were covered in inscriptions, some carved directly into the road, others across the pillars, several resembling the strange circular patterns Arthur had already seen associated with the Mirrors.

"That looks familiar," he said, pointing.

"It does."

Luna approached and stared at the carving for several seconds. "I’ve seen that symbol before."

Everyone turned toward her. "You have?"

"My grandfather used to describe something similar in the old stories." She pointed toward another symbol. "And that one too."

"What did they mean?"

She frowned, looking embarrassed. "I’m not sure. I only recognize them because of the stories. The meanings weren’t always explained."

"So your family preserved fragments of the language, but not enough to translate it," Athena said.

"Most of the stories were passed down orally. Even my grandfather didn’t know where some of them came from."

"Then maybe we’re looking at something your family was remembering without understanding," Arthur said.

"Maybe."

Athena pulled out her notes. "We need to record all of this," and Athy immediately began helping, using her own observations to identify and compare repeated symbols.

"Write that one down," Athena said, pointing, and Athy chirped and began recording.

"You two are really taking this seriously," Sun watched them.

"If we return to the Academy with enough examples, someone may be able to compare the inscriptions with existing records," Athena said, not even looking up.

"Good idea," Arthur nodded.

"We should document everything. Symbols, carvings, statues, road construction, and the locations where we found them."

"You’re going to fill an entire notebook."

"Probably several."

"I knew it," Sun sighed, and Arthur laughed.

They continued along the road, the ruins growing more elaborate the further they went. It wasn’t simply leading toward the Broken Mirror. It seemed to have been built specifically for people approaching it, large stone markers appearing at regular intervals, several statues facing the road directly.

Then Arthur noticed something unusual. A small object lay beside one of the markers. He stopped. "What’s that?"

The others gathered around. It wasn’t ancient stone. It was metal, a small expedition marker driven into the ground beside the road.

Athena crouched beside it immediately. "This is much newer."

"Someone else has been here," Luna said, surprised.

"Could it be the robed people?" Sun frowned.

"Or another expedition," Mithra offered, looking toward the forest.

Arthur examined the marker. No obvious symbol he recognized, and nothing from their own group.

Athena turned it over. "There may be writing underneath." She brushed away some dirt. Nothing.

"Could the professors have come this far?" Sun asked, looking toward the direction of the Broken Mirror.

"Maybe," Arthur considered.

"If the professors reached this region before us, then why haven’t we seen them?" Luna asked, uneasy.

Nobody had an answer.

Arthur looked at the marker again, then simply pulled it from the ground.

"What are you doing?" Sun stared.

"Taking it."

"You can’t just take someone else’s expedition marker."

"Why not?"

"Because... it’s an expedition marker."

"Exactly."

Sun opened his mouth, then closed it.

He tucked the marker away. "We can figure out who left it later."

"That is surprisingly practical," Athena said, giving him a look.

"I thought so."

"I don’t think that’s what she meant," Sun shook his head, and Mithra laughed.

They continued along the ancient road, the compass still pointing ahead and the Broken Mirror occasionally appearing above the trees. But now they had something they hadn’t possessed before, a road built by the ancient civilization, inscriptions connected to the Mirrors, and evidence that someone else had entered the forest before them.

Arthur looked down at the expedition marker in his hand, wondering who had placed it there. The professors? Another group of Agents? The mysterious robed figures? Or someone else entirely?

Whatever the answer was, one thing was becoming clear.

They weren’t the first ones searching for the Broken Mirror, and they might not even be the most recent.

The ancient road disappeared into the forest ahead of them, the enormous Mirror rising far beyond it above the trees.

The group continued forward.

They were getting closer.

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