Re: Evolution Online

"What the hell are you doing?" Elira watched as the chubby elf started rearranging the corpses of the few people they had just now killed in a weird manner.

Actually, it was not accurate to call him chubby anymore because the elf was becoming more fit and agile daily.

"Sssh. I will be done soon." Eldrin replied in annoyance. It sucked that he had to do all of this manual labor by himself. If he had minions like Liam, he would have of course been a lot faster. 

More annoying were the two who were constantly hounding to make it faster so that they could return to their goddamn master.

"Don't do anything unnecessary. We need to-"

Eldrin interrupted the woman because he knew exactly what she was going to say. "I know. I know. Go find your master and help him?"

He sighed and stood up, unable to bear this torture anymore. One would think it would be enjoyable to travel with two beautiful women but the truth was far from it!

"By the way, what help do you think you are going to do when you get to him? Can someone weak like you even be helpful?"

Elira stared back defiantly. "I will do my part no matter how little or big it needs to be."

Eldrin scoffed at this response. "Shut up, you idiot. What I am doing right now is going to be more helpful to your master than you ever can be. Look around you carefully."

Both Elira and Lunaria looked around them wondering what the elf was talking about.

"What? Neither of you bird brains can understand?" Eldrin scoffed.

"Look closely."

The two women's eyes widened in shock as they finally understood what the elf was talking about. The corpses of the dark elves were scattered around in a pattern.

While it was not obvious, from the way he had arranged the corpses it seemed as if the dark elves and the ice elves were fighting with each other.

And that was not all.

There was also a wind elf corpse thrown into this mix, looking as if the wind elf was also in cahoots with the dark elves. 

Moreover, the arrangement was extremely clever. It was subtle and not obvious. It looked like the two factions had indeed fought each other. No one would suspect that this was staged. 

"Now do you understand?" Eldrin laughed like an evil mastermind, giving the two women the creeps. 

"These small fires that I have set up will result in big explosions. And only if there are big explosions…" He explained with exaggerated hand movements. 

"Small fries like us can sneak in the midst of the chaotic battleground and steal the prize. At the least, there will be fewer enemies for your master to fight against. He He he."

"You two are still naive. Young souls. What did you think about this forest? It is a place of bloodshed! Carnage!"

"Every year numerous elves lose their lives here. And we are close to the end game. It shouldn't be long before the big shots arrive. We need to be smart about this." Eldrin explained with a smug expression. 

Even though it seemed like he was joking around, his strategy was extremely elaborate. The two women immediately became worried. 

While they couldn't be of much help, in these past few days they have come to realize that the cunning chubby elf was not that weak. Perhaps if they had not split apart from Liam he could have helped more.

As if reading their mind, Eldrin shook his head. "What you are thinking is not wrong, but if you ask me, worrying about your master is pointless. I have a feeling that the guardian has an eye on him. He should be good as long as he passes all the tests."

"Guardian's tests?"

"Mmmm. I am not sure. There are many rumors circulating around. For example, there is a part of the forest that brings out your worst fears and your deepest insecurities. Fighting at one's best condition is not hard, fighting with this sort of setback is another thing."

"At this point, I think your master is not in danger from these small fries. He needs to look at the forest around him. If he can survive this forest, then most probably he should reach the grand stage."

"Alright. Now that our job is done here, we can leave. Let's go. It's time for the finale. For the real monsters to arrive. We should leave before it's too late. We need to reach that grand stage too, don't we?"

Eldrin packed up the two and left the area. He couldn't help but wonder what Liam was up to right at the moment. The blessing day was getting closer and closer. Was he really okay?

***

Liam did not know what was happening but he mentally prepared himself.

The last time around Liam knew that he was walking into a trap but he still did it anyway because he needed more elven souls but this time he had no idea what was happening or where this was taking him… whatever this was.

"Am I getting teleported?"

If he was indeed getting teleported, all he could do was land on both his feet.

Soon, the distortion settled down and his vision cleared up. It only took about a second but it felt like several minutes.

"Where am I?" Liam looked around when suddenly an intense feeling of dread and helplessness washed over him. His heart started palpitating, fear gripping him like the cold hands of death.

Breathing heavily, he gripped his sword tightly, attempting to ward off the rising panic. There was danger around him. He was sure of it. A danger capable of taking his very life away.

He did not have any escape route this time. This was it. This was the end of the road for him. He was going to lose. He was going to die.

Srik! His mind wobbled. His heart ached. His face turned pale as buckets of sweat poured out of him. He couldn't move even a muscle. He was fully paralyzed.