The Evolution Chronicles

Mohawk and Mian ended up discussing several matters for quite a while. Mian had a lot of questions for the foreign demi-human, and Mohawk was quite happy to answer his questions.

After some time, Mian bid Mohawk goodbye before leaving. He was going to absorb the source of the drug and purify the water source of the town.

Just after he left the room, he ran into Dion.

"Oh, Mian! Where are you off to in such a hurry?" The black furred dominant asked when he saw Mian.

"I'm going to cleanse the water source of the city. Do you want to come?" Mian asked. Although things had been a bit funny between them ever since Mian told Dion about his possession of the Greater Strength Gift, the two remained as close friends.

"Sure, I can tag along." Dion agreed and fell into step beside Mian. The two left the Seat of Power through one of the underground paths that was connected to their underground source of water. According to what Hana had told Mian, the source of the drug was rooted there.

Dion picked up a lit torch at the entrance of the underground pathway and led the way through the darkness. A comfortable silence settled over them while they made turns and twists, heading deeper and deeper underground. The two boys were surprised at how deep it went, wondering how long it must have taken to construct this in its entirety.

"Pff, our pack is like a backwards society compared to this." Dion snorted after some time, and Mian only laughed. He had to agree with the dominant.

The Zelan pack was living in the mountains until just recently, when they beat back the Henshaw Dynasty's forces and began expanding into the forest nearby. Compared to this level of development, their pack was quite far behind.

"By the way, Dion." Mian suddenly spoke up.

"Hmm?" Dion asked without turning around. The sound of rushing water reached his ears, so he was keeping an eye out on what might be ahead of them.

"I was just wondering... You take fighting lessons as part of your training, right?" Mian nervously asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I was, um, wondering if you could teach me how to fight. It's quite embarrassing when you think about it. Technically, I'm supposed to be a powerful demi-human, but I'm a middle rank who can barely take care of himself." Mian sighed deeply.

Dion raised a brow at Mian, but didn't let the older boy see it. He was still quite aware of Mian's lacking confidence, and while he thought that someone like Mian should have much more confidence in himself, there was little he could do to directly remedy the matter. Instead, he would remain at Mian's side in case the boy needed a shoulder to lean on.

"You know, you should have more confidence in yourself. After all, it's not everyday that someone gets to whoop the ass of a human Pillar." Dion grinned at Mian, eliciting a scoff from the other boy.

"That was thanks to my Gift, not my own personal power. I want to be able to do things by myself without wholly relying on my Gift." Mian grumbled. While he was immensely grateful to Hana and the Evolution System, he did not want to be completely reliant on this Gift. He wanted to be able to defend himself and pose a threat to any enemies who were out for his blood, even if he somehow found himself in a scenario where his Gift was useless.

Dion nodded in understanding. "Don't worry. When we have some free time, I can show you the basics. We can work out way up from there."

"Thanks." Mian heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing Dion's words. He feared that Dion might laugh at his insecurities, and was happy to see that Dion understood, and even promised to help out.

After that, the two boys continued their exploration of the underground labyrinth. They had forgotten to ask for a map from Moses, so they were relying solely on their senses and instincts to guide them through the winding pathways.

"I hear water up ahead." Dion announced.

"I hear it too." Mian nodded, and the two boys sped up more. Before long, they came across an immensely wide and cavernous area where water flowed through. Clean, see-through water flowed through the path and through some narrow tunnels that were built for the water to pass through. At the bottom of the stream, a giant white ball rested.

"That's it." Mian pointed at the ball, immediately recognizing it from his previous experiences. He leaned against he railing and peered down into the dark depths of the flowing water that was only barely illuminated by the torch in Dion's hands.

"Whoa. That's seems a bit too dangerous." Dion reached out and grabbed Mian's arm, thinking that the boy wanted to throw himself into the water down below.

"Don't worry, I'm not jumping in." Mian reassured him, also recognizing that it was too dangerous for him to jump into the water. He might get carried off by the current, and possibly even drown and die if he was not able to get enough air.

Straightening out, Mian stretched out one of his arms and pointed it at the massive white orb in the water. He then willed the energy flowing around him, in him, and in the orb, to do his bidding.

This was something he had been working on for a while now. Instead of calling upon Hana to do everything for him, he wanted to be able to control his Gift through his own efforts. After all, when he had initially gotten his Gift, Hana had only told him that she was there to guide him, not to do everything for him. So, he figured it was about time he started commanding his abilities by himself.

A golden radiance painted the dark cavern, pushing away the darkness and temporarily blinding Dion. A couple of minutes passed before the light died down, and when it was gone, there was nothing left of the massive white orb that had been in the water earlier.

Instead of leaving something to purify the water over time, Mian had instead chosen to completely purify the water at once.. At this very moment, some unknown ripples were moving though the water, unknown to anyone but Mian.