Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

It was midnight, and Winterseed was calm as usual when the sound of whistles and other wind instruments blasted into the air, alerting everyone to the danger approaching the village.

Thanks to Rowan's prior warning, only the trained soldiers emerged from their houses, while the others remained indoors.

In the streets, many soldiers, grabbing different weapons, could be seen marching toward the southern border, from where the threat was approaching.

The soldiers from the guardhouses at the other borders left their posts and immediately sprinted toward the southern border.

Rowan and Riela were sleeping when they heard the commotion outside.

Rowan was the first to wake up since he hadn't been deeply asleep. He was the one who had instructed the soldiers on what to do, so he immediately understood that great danger was approaching the village.

He jumped off the bed and went to grab the robe Riela had enchanted for him—the one with boosted luck, as he needed more loot.

After putting on the robe, he gave Riela a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back very soon," he told her.

"Come back safely, Rowan," Riela said, worry etched on her face.

Rowan nodded and left the room.

Outside, Roland and a few of the soldiers who had been guarding the northern boundary earlier were near his house; they escorted him as they made their way to the southern border.

Rowan immediately summoned Blaze from the Divine Beast Plain.

Blaze appeared beside him with a battle-ready expression. Rowan observed its stats and saw that it was getting closer to reaching the next major breakthrough—just less than 2% to reach the point they had agreed on before Rowan would give it the monster core to break through.

As they rushed toward the southern border, other soldiers emerging from their houses joined them, and together they reached the southern border.

Luckily, the horde of goblins still hadn't made their way into the village.

Josh and the soldiers at the guardhouse hurried to meet Rowan and report everything to him.

Rowan listened while observing the horde marching toward him.

Thanks to his night vision, he could see the goblins clearly.

They were goblins taller and much stronger than the ones who had attacked a few weeks back. These goblins were about five feet tall and looked really muscular compared to the previous hordes; they also had pretty refined weapons like makeshift machetes and spears, different from the last ones who came with sticks and other wooden weapons.

Amongst the goblins were gigantic hobgoblins wielding large weapons ranging from axes to blades attached to chains and other dangerous-looking weapons.

Just by looking at them, Rowan could tell they would be very difficult to fight.

If his soldiers engaged these monsters in battle, they would definitely lose their lives.

Furthermore, Rowan couldn't engage all the monsters simultaneously without sustaining ghastly injuries.

"Everyone, gather around," Rowan called the soldiers together after pondering for a few seconds.

He discussed a quick battle strategy with them before distributing weapons to those without. All the soldiers from Winterseed got swords since it's the only weapon they have trained with, while those from Glenwood got spears and bows and arrows.

After the short speech, the soldiers nodded their heads and grabbed their weapons tightly; they all felt really motivated to fight as usual.

The horde of goblins was still pretty far away.

With the pace they were moving at, it would take them about five minutes to reach the village.

"Attack now!" Rowan yelled out.

"Remember, leave all the hobgoblins to me and only attack the goblins. Do not attack them alone!" he continued.

The soldiers nodded their heads, eyes blazing with determination, and they all charged toward the horde.

As if the horde noticed the soldiers' readiness, they also began storming toward them, their collective steps creating a horrifying stomping sound that reverberated across the southern border.

Blaze's eyes turned red with bloodthirst; a flaming aura wrapped around its figure as it moved at a shocking pace toward the horde.

Blaze was up ahead of the whole group, just a few inches away from Rowan.

[ Merciless Killer special effect: Bloodlust activated | Attack power +50% ]

Rowan's eyes were fixed on the opponents ahead as he observed their stats with the few minutes he had before engaging.

When he observed the goblins, he discovered they had the same special skill as the last ones—night vision. It disheartened him a little since he couldn't copy them, as he already possessed an even stronger one.

Nevertheless, he was somewhat excited when he observed the hobgoblins.

[ Hobgoblin - Boss Monster ]

[ Health: 100% ]

[ Special skill: Dark Rage (F-rank) ]

[ Status: Revengeful ]

Sadly, there wasn't much time for him to study the skill and copy it, as the distance between himself and the horde was closing rapidly.

Given their supernatural skill, Rowan and Blaze were the first to clash with the monsters.

Blaze leapt into the air and tossed a fireball at the head of the closest hobgoblin. But it didn't let the fireball attack at once; it quickly used [Flame Synchronisation] to control it, shaping it into a fiery spear before tossing it at the hobgoblin's eye.

The hobgoblin let out a loud cry and brought its hands toward its badly injured eye.

Blaze summoned another fireball and used [Flame Synchronisation] once again to form a spear, tossing it at the other eye without wasting time.

While the hobgoblin was struggling in pain, Rowan closed the distance and slashed its neck with his dagger. However, the hobgoblin's skin was too tough, and Rowan's cut only reduced its health from 75% to 28%.

Without wasting time, Rowan quickly slashed once more.

After two more slashes, the hobgoblin fell to the ground.

---

You've slain Boss Monster: Hobgoblin; +1000 evolution points

x100 rewards activated | 1,000,000 evolution points has been rewarded

---

Rowan recalled the time he defeated the Ratax General, which was also a boss monster, and got 2000 evolution points as a reward. But now, after defeating the hobgoblin, which was much stronger than the Ratax General, he only got half the reward, meaning he had gotten stronger.

Before Rowan could fully analyze the rewards, one of the hobgoblins behind him swung its huge axe toward him furiously.

Rowan narrowly evaded it, feeling the wind from the axe brush past his face. Without losing momentum, he spun around and delivered a quick slash to the hobgoblin's leg. The creature roared in anger but remained standing, its thick skin absorbing much of the damage.

Blaze quickly sensed Rowan's need for support and unleashed another fiery spear aimed at the hobgoblin's chest. The spear pierced through, causing the monster to stagger backward. Seizing the opportunity, Rowan lunged forward and plunged his dagger into the hobgoblin's heart. The creature let out a final groan before collapsing to the ground.

Rowan and Blaze had already defeated two of the hobgoblins before the soldiers and the horde finally clashed.

War chants spread across the battlefield as the soldiers began to slash at the monsters with their swords and stab with their spears. The archers stood at a distance and aimed at the goblins!

The night was soon filled with the clashing of swords.

Nevertheless Rowan soon noticed something pretty strange!