“My family?”
The interruption brought her to a halt. There was a crackle of something in the air. “My control over gravity started as a unique flair that activated at the moment of my birth. My mother, father and those assisting in the birth were ripped apart on a molecular level shortly after I left my mother’s womb.”
Cynthia knew her face was pale.
“You didn’t know.”
“N-no, your eminence.”
“Soph always tells his amanuenses about my birth.” Hoplite said. “He’d also tell them about my mother, trying to make them imitate her. I learned that when she was pregnant, she had a craving for plantains. Fried, roasted, boiled, mashed. It was the only thing she ate. Day after day, after day.”
It was the first time she saw Hoplite’s eyes focused. The first time his half-lidded stare vanished. The first time she felt as though she were looking at someone else entirely. Briefly, for all of a few seconds, Hoplite was not the fabled High Eminent of War.
“Your eminence! Commander General Hoplite sir!” an AAA soldier ran forward, saluting. “Lieutenant General Luxeme of the Seven Amendments has arrived on with a message on an urgent matter, sir!
The trigger words were to identify him as his title. Your eminence. General Hoplite. His eyes returned to the half-lidded state. His expression back to that of detached apathy. Had she not been paying close attention, had her memory not been trained to pick up on such tiny micro-expressions, she would have believed that seeing Hoplite relaxed was a mere fabrication of her mind.
“I have business to attend to.” He said. “Cynthia. I’d prefer it if you don’t die. You seem to be head-and-shoulders above all of Soph’s previous amanuenses, so I’ll leave you with a bit of advice.”
“Yes, your e-eminence?”
Hoplite’s form rose higher and higher into the air, levitating on his on merit, before giving her the slow, certain words.
“Everyone in Alhamis lies.”
Chapter 11: Ascension
Hungry.
Evaluating Evolution Criteria:
Title [Genocidal] – Found.
Title [Merciless] – Found.
Title [Demiurge] – Found.
Title [Commander] – Absent.
Title [Demon Slayer] – Absent.
Title [Wrathful] – Absent.
Title [Lustful] – Absent.
Title [Prideful] – Absent.
Skill [Fear Resistance] – Found.
Skill [Insanity Resistance] – Found.
Skill [Mental Resistance] – Found.
Any Intimidation Skill – Found.
Any Magic Skill – Found.
Any Active Grudge – Found.
Kill at least 50 creatures as a Stalker Skeleton – Complete.
Remain unharmed during your time as a Stalker Skeleton – Incomplete.
Kill 50 Humans as a Stalker Skeleton – Incomplete.
Kill 50 Monsters as a Stalker Skeleton – Complete.
Kill 50 Demi-Humans as a Stalker Skeleton – Incomplete.
Hunt down 10 Beings as a Stalker Skeleton – Complete.
Evaluation Complete.
[Bonus Criteria!]
Kill a Nightmare One Tier Higher – Complete! (+5)
Enslave a Nightmare Two Tiers Higher – Complete! (+10)
[Calculating…]
Evaluation Score: 33/20.
You attained a perfect score required for evolution.
You have overachieved the necessary score required for evolution.
As a reward for attaining the perfect score, you will be evolved into a superior form of your species.
As a reward for overachieving the required score, you may choose your evolutionary path the next time you evolve.
Hungry.
[Evolution in Progress…]
The sensation of hunger tore apart my body and forced me to collapse unto the forest, scrambling on the floor with ants and bacteria. Tissue, veins and muscles latched upon my bony frame like parasitic mold. Climbing, they weaved over bone and draped my skeletal hand mimicking living-latex.
Food. Need food –
My body could not move. Dropping like an abandoned corpse into a shallow grave, my legs were deprived of their ability to resist gravity. I felt heavy. Bloated. Bloated, yet empty. The gnawing at the center of my being was abated when I felt something settle within my jaws for the first time.
Tongue –
I had a tongue. Lips, a mouth, and flesh within my jaw. They were arid. Flaking. The lips were scorched, the tongue was desiccated, a lone aloe plant stirred in the grains of the Sahara. There was a new sensation. It rose from the deep and engulfed me like Jonah’s whale obeying God. Reckless and hasty, it ascended to clasp and exceed the gnawing tightness of hunger. There was only one thing it could have been.
Thirst.
My throat, an anatomical feature I lacked for the longest time, belayed to me the desires of thirst. It screeched out frantic demands to be sated, itching and hissing as if it were a metal from the forge, necessitating a method to be cooled.
Water.
I wanted it. Desperately. Desperately I desired water – that beautiful, crystal clear liquid of life. Two molecules of hydrogen, one molecule of oxygen, H20 – I wanted it.
Skill [Ice Manipulation] has been used.
My entire body shuddered as ice-cold water splashed upon my form. The water jerked me. I was alert. Aware. Capable of recognizing my surroundings once more. My feet painstakingly obeyed my commands and my body followed suit.
Turn –
Turned on my back. The blue hues of dawn were vanishing to the appearance of the sun. I focused, again, on that liquid of life, trying to remember what just happened, what brought the water to me. I thought about it, water, rain, oceans – and I thought about what made water, two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen, formula H20 –
Skill [Ice Manipulation] has been used.
The air above me rippled. Water appeared from seemingly nothingness, and I forced my weak jaw open to accept it. It splashed into my mouth, covering what I was now aware of as my nostrils and I choked from the lack of air entering into it. I choked and forced myself to swallow the water that entered my mouth without gravity’s help.
Drink – drink –
There was something wrong. No matter how much I swallowed,
