Dan, Hidden behind another cottage observed hesta carefully. Dan is a very clever and observant person. While talking with Hesta he noticed something. There are no fresh blood stains on his clothes or his shoes. If he didn't kill any dread spawn then what is that in his bag? If that thing really, is a dread spawn corpse then, why it isn't stinky? A thing that smells..ah..um.. good? A thing that smells good in this God forsaken place. He is really curious about it now. So, he stayed and observed Hesta.
Darkness is approaching, and he should return to his safe shelter. Just as he was about go home for real, Dan saw Hesta leaving home without the leather bag. His curiosity is overwhelming him, unable to hold it in he entered the house. As for the lock on the door, he used to be a thief before his boss gave him this job. Entering Hesta's house he searched for that bag. He also searched for that good smell. He have to be quick about it, Hesta will return soon.
After some time he found the source of that smell. He opened a barrel and inside it was another wooden barrel. He took the leather bag and poured whatever was in it on the floor. He saw something unexpected. 'Is this the Arut fruit I heard so much about' He thought. Last year someone from 27th settlement found a fruit like this and became rich over night. He sold every thing he owned and moved to 1st settlement. No wonder Hesta was so extravagant today. Well.. What should Dan do now?
Dan contemplated pros and cons of this situation. If he steals this fruit now, he could sell it and become rich overnight but, at the same time he will became the mortal enemy of Hesta. Most important thing is he don't have what it requires to keep that money safe. He will either die or disappear someday without anyone knowing anything? He needs to be strong, and he needs this thing to become strong.
Dan is a weakling who barely completed his 1st transformation. Fighting Hesta, who completed his 4th transformation, is like a rabbit going against a tiger. He won't even know how he died.
Suddenly Dan started talking to himself, " you know what? Its not like Hesta will find anything, anytime soon? And even if he did find out about it, I will be long gone to 1st settlement. There I will purchase a 2nd transformation script and become strong enough to fight Hesta. A opportunity like this will not present itself again?" Reasoning with himself he picked the leather bag and started running towards his home. As I said before, HUMANS ARE INTERESTING CREATURES. Even though they knew they were gonna regret it, they will still do it.
In this world, strength rules over everything. If you are strong enough, nobody will dare to mess with you. There are these beings called 'evokers'. The strength they possess is beyond human limits. And to reach that level, all humans have to go through six transformations.
The six transformations are steps.. steps that ultimately lead to breaking past human limits and achieving the level of "evoker". Those steps are,
1st Transformation: Blood metamorphosis; by refining the blood system, you clear your body of any kind of impurities. It will make you stronger, healthier, and give you a slight resistance to poison. Dan is on this level.
2nd Transformation: Bone metamorphosis; by restructuring and consolidating your bones you make yourself hard to break. It will make you stronger, resilient and flexible.
3rd Transformation: Flesh Metamorphosis; by modifying your muscles and internal organs you make yourself thougher. Most people in the settlement are on this level. A person on this level can resist the black fog for few seconds and not die instantly.
4th Transformation: Sense Enhancement; by enhancing all your senses you can precieve this world even more accurately. It will help you Sense danger and give you slight awareness of your surroundings like a radar. Hesta is on this level.
5th Transformation: Mind Enhancement; by enhancing your mind you can make decisions quicker and more rationally. It will help you precieve others level and condition to some extent. Very few can reach this level and those who can are called 'half-evokers'.
6th Transformation: Trait Evolution; this is the deciding line between a Human and a Evoker. Most people can't overcome this last hurdle. That's because this transformation is unique to everyone and will differ from person to person. That's why only 1 in a 10000 can complete this transformation. Those who succeed will attain a special ability representing their Trait.
Every year, othersiders come and distribute the first transformation script. The odd thing is, nobody knows how they come and go. They appear in the 1st settlement and trade things like vegetables, alcohols, medicine and udra coins for black woods from Marus forest. They will pay you handsomely if you can give them things like 'Arut Fruit' or 'Tors lotus'.
They distribute the first transformation script for free. Everyone in the settlement is required to learn this. Those who fail to complete their first transformation by the age of 15, let's just say that their end will not be good. By completing 1st transformation they will gain resistance to the elemental poison in the atmosphere. Scripts for 2nd to 6th transformation can be bought from othersiders. And that is the only way to become strong in this place.
If they don't Trade with those othersiders they will die of starvation or disease. Even though those othersiders exploit them, they have to grit their teeth and agree. little did they know that, someone is going to change this Norm.
While Dan is busy running towards his home, Hesta is reporting something important to lord Morita.
Dan doesn't know what fate has decided for him, so for now, he is going to focus on achieving his dream. He is going to become the best chef the whole Marus forest has ever seen.