Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

The southern area of Winterseed echoed with the sounds of clashing weapons, loud battle cries, and groaning goblins as men and goblins engaged in battle—one side fighting for dominance, the other striving to protect their loved ones.

The soldiers, armed with swords and spears, battled the goblins at close range, while the archers stood aside, firing at the goblins intermittently.

Rowan and Blaze fought side by side, defeating the hobgoblins one after another. Although the hobgoblins were much stronger than them, their combined powers allowed them to perform wonders.

At least thirty minutes had passed since the battle began, and over eight hobgoblins lay dead on the ground, with several goblin corpses scattered beside the gigantic hobgoblin remains.

Throughout those thirty minutes, Rowan was greeted with numerous shocking discoveries.

First of all, he noticed that none of the monsters were dropping material loot like crude iron.

He found it strange since the goblins from the last attack had dropped such loot.

But this wasn't the most shocking discovery!

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[ Captain Roland has slain 1 goblin, gained 50 evolution points ]

[ 10% of the soldier's earned evolution points have been transferred to you ]

[ Your soldier: Winston has slain 1 goblin, gained 80 evolution points ]

[ 10% of the soldier's earned evolution points have been transferred to you ]

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Rowan's eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw these notifications popping up. There were so many at times that he couldn't even focus on fighting.

'They are earning evolution points!' he yelled inwardly.

Before now, he had been the only one earning evolution points, and now his soldiers were earning them as well!

It was quite surprising.

"Why did they start earning evolution points only now?" Rowan asked the system as he slashed his dagger at a raging hobgoblin.

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[ Only registered territories can unlock this feature. Your territory in the past wasn't registered. More perks will be added as your territory evolves! ]

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Seeing the system's reply made Rowan understand his situation.

'Damn, this is good! Not only myself, but even my soldiers will be able to improve their powers by slaying monsters! This is beyond good. In a few months or later, I will have soldiers with F-rank power, and any FF-rank or even F-rank territory military would be easy for them to deal with!' Rowan thought to himself with a gladdened smile.

This was a new development, and it made him genuinely happy.

Being a strong leader was already a good achievement, but being a strong leader with a strong army would be the greatest achievement. With a strong army, conquering other territories would be very easy.

It was still nighttime, and the fight between the goblins and humans continued, resulting in more casualties on the goblin side as the soldiers became too united and coordinated for the goblins to handle.

Despite the goblins being stronger than the soldiers, as they combined their powers together, and with the archers supporting from the sidelines, defeating the goblins became a fairly easy task.

Out of the one thousand-plus goblins that had attacked at the beginning, only about seven hundred remained alive at this moment.

About 20% of the hobgoblins had fallen to their demise under the collective power of Rowan and Blaze.

Since the fight began, Blaze hadn't backed down once and kept giving its all to the battle.

Rowan witnessed Blaze use different tricks with its Flame Synchronization skill.

Blaze was able to manipulate the fireballs it spewed, make them take different shapes, aim at the hobgoblins, and even determine the pace at which they darted through the air—the power was simply amazing!

Rowan observed Blaze's power from time to time and couldn't help but feel envious of his own pet.

Sadly, he couldn't copy magic-related skills from anyone because he wasn't a mage and didn't have his own mana core yet. He could copy skills from other classes, but the magic class proved to be the most difficult as it requires a core, unlike the others.

Rowan didn't let this demotivate him and kept battling.

He and Blaze moved in perfect harmony. Blaze assisted Rowan by unleashing streams of fire, which Rowan used to his advantage. The flames disoriented the hobgoblins, allowing Rowan to strike swiftly with his dagger. Their combined attacks were overwhelming.

The soldiers, inspired by their leader, fought with renewed vigor. They formed tight groups, covering each other's flanks. The archers from Glenwood provided support, their arrows finding goblin targets with precision.

Captain Roland led a charge against a group of goblins trying to break through their lines.

"Hold the formation!" he called out.

The soldiers braced themselves as the goblins attacked. Swords clashed, and spears thrust forward.

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[ Captain Roland has slain a goblin, gained 50 evolution points ]

[ 10% of the soldier's earned evolution points have been transferred to you ]

[ 2 soldiers have slain two goblins, gained 160 evolution points ]

[ 10% of the soldiers' earned evolution points have been transferred to you ]

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Rowan noticed the notifications appearing more frequently. His soldiers were not only holding their own but also growing stronger.

A group of goblins wielding makeshift spears tried to flank the soldiers.

"They're coming from the side!" shouted Marcus.

Rowan saw the danger and acted quickly. "Blaze, cut them off!"

Blaze sent a wave of fire toward them, forcing the goblins to halt. The soldiers seized the moment, attacking the disoriented goblins.

"Now!" shouted one of the archers, releasing a volley of arrows that struck the goblins in effective spots, killing most of them and weakening the others.

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[ Soldier Marcus has slain a goblin, gained 60 evolution points ]

[ 10% of the soldier's earned evolution points have been transferred to you ]

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[ Soldier Riviz has slain a goblin, gained 70 evolution points ]

[ 10% of the soldier's earned evolution points have been transferred to you ]

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Rowan and Blaze continued targeting the hobgoblins. Blaze's fire weakened them, making it easier for Rowan to land decisive blows. One hobgoblin swung its massive axe at Rowan, but he ducked under it and slashed at its leg. The creature stumbled, and Blaze finished it off with a burst of flames.

Another hobgoblin charged at Blaze. Rowan intercepted it, blocking its attack with his dagger. The force pushed him back, but he held his ground. Blaze took the opportunity to send a fireball into the hobgoblin's chest, knocking it down.

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

[ x100 rewards activated | 1,000,000 evolution points have been rewarded ]

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Rowan and Blaze continued their relentless assault. Over the next two hours, they moved swiftly across the battlefield, taking down hobgoblins one after another with their combined efforts.

As more hobgoblins fell, the remaining hobgoblins and goblins began to realize that they stood no chance against the united force of the humans and started to retreat little by little.

They turned their backs on the battlefield and began to flee toward the forest without wasting time.

Two soldiers were fighting a goblin who suddenly let out a defeated shriek, dropped its weapon, and ran to join his fellow goblins who were escaping.

The battlefield took a quick turn; the goblins no longer tried to defeat the humans but ran from them—this amazed some of the soldiers, causing them to stand and watch in awe for a few seconds.

"Don't let them escape!" Rowan quickly commanded, breaking the brief relaxed state of the soldiers.

"If they escape, they will regroup and come back stronger. We can't let that happen!" Rowan announced.

"Archers, this is your time to shine!"

With Rowan's words, the soldiers became active again and began a hot pursuit after the monsters in front of them.

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Not far from the battlefield, inside the South Forest, Dragun could be seen walking deeper into the dark woods with a neutral expression on his face.

The sounds of nocturnal creatures and insects filled the air, but Dragun didn't seem bothered. He continued moving on with his search for more herbs and possibly monsters, so he could slay them and collect their monster cores.

He found a few herbs in his current location, but as he moved further, he discovered that the magic herbs were becoming scarcer and scarcer.

"This is the red sunflower, but someone has already harvested its petals beforehand," Dragun thought with a frown.

He looked around and saw more red sunflowers, but all the petals—the important part for potion brewing—had already been harvested, confusing him.

"Only a mage or herbalist would harvest the petals of a red sunflower and leave the other parts," Dragun mused, frowning.

The only herbalist in Winterseed is Liara, but she wouldn't dare venture this deep into the forest because of the dangers that lie within.

If it wasn't Liara, then there must definitely be someone harvesting herbs from the forest, and that person is definitely not from Winterseed!

"But who might that person be?" Dragun couldn't help but wonder aloud.

He frowned, observing the area for a few seconds before shaking his head and proceeding deeper in search of herbs.

He crossed distances that no one in Winterseed had dared to cross in the past few years.

After a few hours of walking, he began to sense a strange presence around him, causing him to look around with a frown, but there was nothing there.

Dragun's frown deepened, and he halted.

Just then, footsteps grew louder in front of him as a smirking figure appeared out of the thick bushes.