"North?" Her query had a tinge of curiosity and confusion. "How did they appear in the Southern Forest? They are supposed to be inside the limits of the Alliance."
Adam shook his head as he heard Celestina. "Not a pack, but one. A loner."
The tension on her face faded away as Adam recalled the lonely beast fleeing for its life.
"No worries then." Patting her chest in relief, the lady walked to the desk with Adam in tow. She quickly proceeded through the necessary procedures and gave the piece of paper to him.
Celestina wanted to warn him about the potential threats in dealing with a pack of such unyielding threats. But witnessing his determination, she kept the words to herself.
[Adam, The fusion of your existence with the Deity Of Doom is taking a step further. I shall explain the matters to you later. You should take some rest. It's almost midnight and a good sleep won't hurt.]
Departing and exiting the Guild building, Endevil spoke as the earthling skimmed his sight across the streets. The voice conveyed with a faint solemnness dispersing any attempts of counter questioning. Thus the earthling could only nod.
The lanterns were not showing signs of distress and there were yet people on the pavements. Despite the shivering cold, there were a few leisurely walking and chatting.
Catching the glimpse of an inn nearby, Adam directed his pace to the building. Within a minute, he walked through the main door of the establishment and proceeded to the reception.
The interior was rather spacious and neatly organised. There were tables still bustling with people but there was a peculiar silence in the air. Those drinking and having fun even at midnight kept their code of conduct clean.
"Welcome to The Siesta!" The young boy standing behind the desk climbed onto the stool and chirped delightedly.
A smirk crept up Adam's lips upon seeing the sleepy boy suppressing his sluggishness and putting forward a warm demeanour.
"I would like to rent a room for tonight." He conveyed directly.
"Can you show me some sort of identity proof?" The boy probed. Adam thought for a moment before pulling out his guild card. "Will this do?"
Adam's eyes saw the boy skimming through the lines with a keenness unseen in a 10-years-old.
"Ok, that will be... 2 silver pieces." The boy was fluent in talking but slightly immature as to the memory. Adam came to this evaluation as he saw the boy suddenly stop midway to scratch his chin and speak a second later, after recollecting.
Without any delay, the earthling pulled out two silver coins and slid them to the boy. In return, the boy gave a key which had a number engraved on its handle.
'12.'
After reading the figure in his mind, he heard the boy speaking. "Please take those stairs and go to the first floor. You'll see the room number above the door."
Watching the boy's tender forefinger pointing to his right, Adam turned at walked in the direction. Catching the sight of stairs, he thanked the boy before proceeding towards the steps.
Ascending the stairs and reaching the appropriate door for the key was swift. Pushing open the door, Adam was welcomed by a simple room with a bed, a table and a chair. There were a few miscellaneous pieces of furniture for different purposes and a lantern for illumination.
"Yawn~ Why the hell am I feeling very tired?" As soon as the bed entered his sight, Adam felt his consciousness being summoned by the bed. Posing a futile resistance, he walked around the room but eventually fell into the bed's embrace.
***
Kyu~ kyu~ kyu~
Contrary to the expectations, the twittering of birds had an unusual refreshing vibe. Their faint cries of the morning birds were revitalising.
On the bed was a figure lying on his back, staring at the wooden ceiling. The hazel eyes were open wide and unblinking.
[... how long are you going to stare at the ceiling? I mean, it's a good ceiling, crafted with sturdy wood and polished and painted-]
'Shh~'
The mechanical voice was shushed by Adam as he reclined like a corpse.
After a few seconds, Adam sat up like a released spring and let out a mouthful of air.
'You mentioned fusion last night. What was it?'
[Ah, that... allow me to explain.
Once the bond between the armour and the master deepens, fusion proceeds to the next stage. This phase is unpredictable as it depends upon the character, race and peculiarities of the person. The phase you have unlocked is evolution.]
Adam gave a nod before commanding, 'Explain.'
[Through the intake of beast cores, you have previously acquired the heat-sensing ability of the Blade Python and the reforged physique of Werewolf. This trait of adaptability was taken into consideration.]
Adam scanned the street below and the pedestrians walking. The daylight was yet to brighten but the stalls were opening.
'How does this evolution works?'
[No idea. I'm just the consciousness of the armour, not the Deity Of Doom itself. How the phase functions can only be known through the trial and error method.]
While Endevil was explaining, Adam had already walked out of the room and was descending the stairs. Within a few moments, the reception came into sight.
The young boy was seated on the chair and a tall young lady was standing next to him. Her hand was running through the boy's hair.
Listening to the footsteps, the duo turned their heads and saw Adam. The lady immediately glanced at the boy who was smiling at the earthling.
"Here's the key."
Approaching the desk, Adam slid the key of the room to the duo. The boy gave a pleasant smile and accepted it. Without exchanging pleasantries, Adam turned around and walked to the door and disappeared.
'Should I head to the Guild or the mission location?'
[I won't recommend selling the crystals yet. We still have to figure out the function of Evolution.]
'Then the mission location, it is.'
Skimming over the myriad of stalls and shops set on the sides of the road, Adam walked in the southern direction. There were frequent groups of royal knights scouting around for the safety and order of the public. Just like the commoners, Adam too stepped aside and gave them the way to pass.
Walking about for two or three minutes, it was then he remembered something.
The communication token!
Quickly taking a sharp turn, Adam disappeared into the nearest alley.
With a flick of the wrist, the stone appeared.
Buzz~
After imbuing a bit of mana into it, the stone began to vibrate with an odd hum. A few seconds later, a face appeared on the stone.
"Hello Adam, glad to see you soon. What's the matter?"
The sage's voice was distorted and inaudibly faint. But that was enough for Adam to perceive.
"The armour's fusion entered the next phase. It called Evolution. Do you have any information on it?"
The vague visage of the old man nodded before disappearing. A few seconds later, the elder reappeared.
"The notes left by the previous sages are detailed. But there's nothing that says about evolution. Umm... can you explain what happened in detail?"
Heeding the request, the earthling immediately narrated the incident.
"Hmm... I don't think I have a solution. But I can only suggest what that is in my mind.
Since your trait of absorbing skill was taken into consideration, then you'll know what Evolution is if you collect enough beast cores and expose them to the armour. I could also be the beast's body or blood or anything related to the beasts. I strongly believe that the phase is similar to how you assimilated the beast cores and the skills to your body by consuming-"
Before the sage could speak anymore, Adam's mana reserve had depleted completely. This caused the transmission to cut off abruptly.
Comprehending what happened, he could only heave a sigh and store the stone away.
[Maybe we could try what the sage suggested.]
Endevil voiced its opinion in agreement with the sage's words.
But, Adam wasn't ready to go with the flow. He stood there leaning his back to a wall and pondered for a minute.
'...okay.'
Concluding that he has no alternate ideas, Adam walked out of the alley and paced at the city walls.
Since neither he nor Endevil was unsure of what will happen when Evolution kicks in, it was better to find a barren and isolated area to experiment.
...
It did take long for Adam to reach his mission destination. The sun had exited its hiding spot and was smiling with bliss.
"Looks like this is the main source of food grains for the kingdom."
Beyond the city defence walls were an expanse of farmlands. Extending beyond 6 or 7 hectares, Adam couldn't help but be in awe of the magnitude of agriculture employed.
It was then the earthling took note of a group of people working in the field.
"Adventurers?"