Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills-Chapter 219: Migration ( 69 )

The fifth day of the hunting trip went by pretty quickly and easily, thanks to the insanely boosted motivation of the soldiers, which enabled them to fight more fearlessly and brutally in order to become as strong as Winston and Bryce.

On the other hand, Winston and Bryce displayed incredible speed and strength in their various hunts.

They were so overpowered against the FF-rank monsters and were able to deal with the F-rank monsters about ten times faster and more easily than before.

With the combination of the new skill both of them had awakened, they were simply unstoppable against the hordes.

They were so fast that Rowan had to make them halt during several hunts to give the other soldiers a chance to find monsters to slay.

It was the night of the fifth day, and the soldiers were already relaxing after going on eight different hunting raids for the day.

Today was the day they had attempted the highest number of hunting raids so far, and they were worn out beyond description.

Campfires were set in numerous spots on the spacious ground.

The soldiers lay tiredly beside the campfires—some fast asleep, while others devoured their food supplies.

Rowan, Blaze, and Winston sat down a few meters away from the others, watching out for monster threats, since this was an uncleared spot they had set aside for the morning, and monsters would naturally prowl the area at such hours, especially with so many prey around.

Winston observed quietly while chewing on a big piece of chicken.

Blaze sat silently, eyes closed, appearing to cultivate through meditation after devouring numerous monster cores he had snatched from the battlefield.

Rowan, on the other hand, analyzed the stats of his soldiers as usual.

He noticed that 70% of his soldiers had crossed the seventy-thousand evolution mark, about five percent were nearing eighty thousand, while the others remained below seventy thousand. Yet even at that, it was still impressive progress—considering that a few days ago, only a handful of them possessed ten thousand evolution points.

"All the captains are closer to evolving than the rest of the soldiers, which is natural. Roland seems to have the most evolution points among the captains, and George is also doing pretty well, considering he is just an archer," Rowan analyzed inwardly.

"Tomorrow’s hunting raid would be at least ten, and I expect all the captains to cross the ninety-thousand mark while the soldiers cross seventy or eighty. I don’t want to end this hunting trip unless all my soldiers have evolved," he continued analyzing to himself.

He made plans for the next day’s hunt, intending to break the soldiers physically and mentally by making them fight more without rest, to prepare them against the monster wave that was approaching, according to the system.

The soldiers had already grown mentally compared to a few days ago, but Rowan felt it was still not enough.

He heaved a sigh after a few more minutes of analyzing his men.

Then he returned his focus to Bryce and Winston, realizing he hadn’t gotten a proper chance to carefully examine their character status.

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[ Captain Bryce ]

[ Occupation: Captain ]

[ Power: F-rank (115500/250000) ]

[ Special skill: Warrior Spirit (D); The spirit of a true warrior, granting +50% endurance and +50% bodily defense during intense combat ]

[ Status: Sleeping ]

[ Winston ]

[ Occupation: Warrior ]

[ Power: F-rank (120900/250000) ]

[ Special skill: Blade Spirit (D); The spirit of a true swordsman, granting +50% agility and +50% attack power during intense combat ]

[ Status: Eating ] Stay connected via novelbuddy

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"Both of them got new skills according to their specialty in combat. Does that mean an archer would get something like Archer Spirit? If so, I’m sure it would be a boost in perception or aim," Rowan thought.

Winston turned to look at Rowan and saw him staring at midair with a calculative expression on his face, hand resting on his chin.

"I wonder what Lord Rowan is thinking about, but I’m sure he’ll figure it out. He’s so smart—I still can’t believe he’s only a few months older than me," Winston thought, then returned his attention to the others.

Meanwhile, Rowan finished analyzing and took some rest.

---

The next morning arrived pretty quickly. The morning sun filtered through the leaves of the huge trees around the soldiers, its glow announcing the arrival of a new day.

They got up one after the other and braced themselves for yet another busy day of hunting.

But they were soon greeted by a huge surprise.

"Captain George is not moving anymore!" someone yelled out in a loud voice, alerting everyone to the spot where George seemed to be sleeping peacefully—except that his chest was no longer moving.

"What? George is not moving?" Rowan asked as he stood up from his sitting position and rushed toward the gathering crowd.

Winston and Blaze followed right behind him.

"What could be happening?" Rowan’s mind was shaken by the shout.

He silently prayed it wasn’t true as he pushed through the crowd to the front.

Captain Roland and Captain Josh could be seen shaking George’s body to get a response, but nothing happened.

"This can’t be! Is Captain George dead? Why isn’t he moving?"

"This is bad… Why would something like this happen? What could have caused it?"

"Please don’t let it be that same evil dark creature that’s been causing trouble back in the village! We’d all be doomed!"

The soldiers revealed their worries one after another.

Winston, too, was deeply confused.

Blaze, who had been active throughout the night and noticed not even a single fly approaching the sleeping soldiers, was equally baffled.

[ Master, this is strange. ]

Blaze communicated to Rowan, who at that moment observed the report displayed before him.

[ Captain George – Dead, Cause: Unknown ]

"Even the system isn’t aware of the cause?" Rowan wondered.

He stepped forward and crouched by George, his eyes scanning the man’s body for any trace of what might have happened.

But there was nothing.

His face twisted into a frown, a sign of his confusion.

That expression quickly crushed the hope the soldiers had clung to regarding George’s condition.

For Rowan to react this way confirmed George’s death.

"What is happening?" someone muttered.

"Lord Rowan, I was sleeping right beside him. I woke up early, but I didn’t notice anything strange."

"Same with me. I woke up a few hours ago because I found it hard to sleep, but other than the gentle rustling of the trees, I heard nothing."

"I thought I was the only one who couldn’t sleep… turns out that wasn’t true."

"Yeah, the wind was cool and everything was silent, but I just couldn’t force myself to sleep properly. I lay there until morning came."

As everyone relayed their experiences, Rowan quickly spotted a clue in their words.

He stood up at once and turned to the crowd, whose eyes were fixed on him for answers. He asked, "If you found it difficult to sleep last night, raise your hands."

More than ninety percent of the soldiers lifted their hands.

"This is strange. Why did everyone find it difficult to sleep? Could this indicate the presence of the same bastard killing my villagers… or is it a clue about another supernatural entity?" Rowan wondered to himself.

The soldiers began murmuring again, revealing just how worried they were about their own survival.

Rowan replayed the situation in his mind, completely shutting out the voices around him.

Bryce noticed this and stepped forward, calling out with his loud and firm voice for the others to keep calm.

"Keep your voices down and let Lord Rowan think about this in peace, all right?"

The crowd fell silent at once, though the men’s expressions remained worried.

Rowan thought about the matter for a long while, even consulting his system, but he couldn’t arrive at a clear conclusion.

After some time, he sighed and instructed the soldiers to set up a funeral pyre for George’s body.

The wood was neatly arranged, and George’s corpse was laid atop it.

A heavy solemnity took over as the soldiers gazed at their deceased captain.

George was from Winterseed II (formerly Glenwood), so the soldiers who had come with him felt especially pained by his death.

The archer team stared at his corpse with red eyes, tears dripping uncontrollably.

The rest of the soldiers did likewise—over the past few days, the bonds among them had grown stronger through the repeated trials of battle, where everyone depended on each other to survive.

Though they had lost more than a few comrades in the night raids, it couldn’t compare to losing George. His death felt completely sudden.

Rowan looked at George for a few seconds, then gave a short and emotional speech, praising George’s bravery and his efforts in the recent battles, and wishing him a peaceful rest in whatever followed after death.

His words stirred up the sorrow the soldiers had tried so hard to hold in. More anguished cries and sniffs echoed across the area.

Once Rowan finished speaking, he gave Blaze a signal, and Blaze consumed George’s corpse with flames.