There was a temporary way to evolve humans. The theoretical explanation was too long to get into, but it was called the ‘Theory of Metamorphosis by Force’. It wasn’t evolution caused by a synergy between mana or some other power and the person’s spiritual growth, but it was a forced evolution caused by human will.

Overall, Odin’s theory turned out to be right and wrong.

A combination of a strong unexplainable current of great power from spiritual growth and the strongest flow of mana that was humanly possible would completely destroy the physical body. This gave rise to the differentiation between temporary and normal metamorphosis.

Unlike the regular method of metamorphosis, where only the body was restructured while keeping one’s life safe, temporary metamorphosis broke apart everything in its way without regard for one’s safety. As such, if there wasn’t a safety measure to keep one’s life safe while the physical body went through restructuring, it was nothing more than a new way of committing suicide.

Furthermore, metamorphosis also required a strong current of immeasurable power; that was why Davey had used Shandra’s flesh, which circulated with great power, its breath, a whirlwind of power, and the Remaining Spark, and his spare life. The Remaining Spark was valuable, but it wasn’t a waste to have it help him recover this much power.

Davey was simply bothered by the energy of Shandra Minea, the most adaptable king of mythical beasts, staying inside of him. Like a thorn in his side, the energy was not going away. It stuck to him throughout his metamorphosis. Removing it would cause him problems, but leaving it inside him felt weird as well.

Thanks to the huge de-spell purification magic he had cast, Davey could see the barrier’s effects starting to wear off.

-My father taught a ridiculous fella.

‘Do you know that your father hits the sky and divides the ocean when fighting about rank between the heroes?’

* * *

“It’s a transcendental being’s trace!”

Boris and the Alpha Reinforcements’ knights urgently entered the forest. They were infuriated after realizing the nasty scheme that was taking place. They could not forgive Gaor, one of the knight order’s five captains, for his betrayal. They also blamed the outside presence that seemed to be working with him.

In fact, they struggled to enter the forest, which was blanketed by a strange power. Because of that, Boris could only pace around anxiously and hope to get in contact with the students by pure luck.

Then, for a mere second, a pillar of light with a shockingly clear and strong power shot up and tore the clouds in two. The forest shook like an earthquake had struck, and the barrier shattered to the ground.

Boris seized the opportunity, yelling, “Groups 1 and 7, search the perimeters of the forest! Group 2, go find the rest of the trainees and protect them! And the rest, follow me to stop Shandra!”

They all thought that defeating the enemy would be impossible. Four experienced Swordmasters had been helplessly slaughtered, and the only people going to stop Shandra this time were two Swordmasters and Advanced Experts at best.

No matter the amount of experience or people, this wasn’t an opponent they could win against. However, they had to go; it was land they had to protect and trainees they had to save no matter what. Although they had heard that Davey, the strange trainee, had the power of a Master, they were not people who would simply sit around and do nothing.

“Everyone! On alert! We charge forth!” Boris shouted anxiously while following the traces Shandra had left behind, leading to right after the hill.

‘Are the trainees still alive?’

The trainees only had a slim chance of survival. Davey was with them, but Boris and the others believed that the children still wouldn’t survive against Captain Gaor, dozens of enemies, and Shandra.

“Leader Boris! It’s the children! They haven’t suffered any major injuries, but they are on the ground!”

Boris widened his eyes. He ran toward them as quickly as possible when he heard the urgent shout. The knight members planned to take Shandra down, but having found the trainees, their priorities had to change for now.

“Everyone! Ensure the safety of the children! Gorden! Silve! Find Shandra! Report its movements!”

“Yes, sir!”

Watching the two blonde and silver-haired men bow before moving, Boris was quickly able to get to where the children were with the search party’s guidance. And…

“What…is this?” Boris’ jaw dropped wide open as he stared at the horrendous situation in front of him.

The children were on the ground, their postures suggesting that they had been running away until having been caught in the middle of a huge altercation. They were unconscious. However, the incredibly large aftermath hadn’t been caused by Shandra, the being that Boris initially suspected; if it was the dragon who did this, he would have seen the dragon.

The horrendous scene that Boris could barely believe with his own eyes had been caused by something unbelievably enormous. He wondered if this was the outcome of a claw that was hundreds of meters long tearing through the ground. The vast white forest, initially covered in snow, had been ripped apart and turned inside out.

Boris had to make sure the children were safe first, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the scene in front of him. He murmured, “What is this…?”

Not only did Boris feel that way, but the knights beside him also mumbled in shock as well. They all wondered just who had caused this unbelievable situation.

With his sharp eyesight, Boris saw someone standing in the middle of a gigantic crater. He knew that someone had to be the reason behind this incident. He wanted to ask if that was even possible, but his instincts were telling him that it was true.

The person silently standing among the black dust was a boy. He looked up at the sky with a long spear in his hand, like he was sending his condolences toward some higher place.

“Davey…” Upon realization, Boris called out the boy’s name.

Davey, cracking his neck peacefully while standing in the middle of the crater, was nothing but calm.

-Zing… Leader Boris! Answer! Report on the situation!

Boris could hear the urgent voice of one of the Alpha Reinforcements’ captains through the communication crystal, which began working after the barrier had fallen apart. He replied in a somewhat shocked voice, “Boris Tellman, leader of the first group, reports that…the catastrophe is over.”

-What? What are you talking about?! What about Shandra?! What happened to Gaor, that betrayer?

“That is…” Boris could see neither Shandra, the king of mythical beasts, nor Gaor, so he clearly had his answer. He repeated, “It seems like…the catastrophe has already ended…”

Boris could hear confused voices from the crystal after he gave his report.

-What? That makes no sense?! Shandra’s not just some regular fella, ya know? And do ya know what kinda person Gaor is?! Did ya check right?!

“Yeah, so…”

‘Come see this for yourself. Transcendental being or betrayer or whatever, I’m having a hard time believing it too.’

Boris didn’t know how to describe this bewildering situation, and he found himself speechless for a very long time.

* * *

Simply put, this situation was like a bomb had suddenly exploded. Everyone who saw the situation, including Boris, could only say one thing, “Davey… What’s the issue with that guy?!”

Everyone—even the experienced trainees or the trainees who had seen it happen with their own two eyes—thought the same way. They thought that Davey being an Expert was impossible, because that meant that he would have started to use and reinforce mana. Then, what about him being a Swordmaster? Or a 6th circle mage? Although he could be a Master, everyone thought the same thing.

‘Impossible.’

Davey had, needless to say, created a terribly big situation. This was especially true since he was a prince from a small kingdom who had spent half of his life in a coma.

The only things that the knight order had found out about Davey were that he was the First Prince of a small and powerless kingdom, he had been unconscious for a long time, he had received a stigmata, and he had an outstanding knowledge of medicine.

Davey’s progress in the Ordem Territory was a bit odd, but there wasn’t anything the knights could find out about that. A stigmata was also just a sign of God and not a measure of the mastery of holy power, so it didn’t make sense that Davey could show this much power just because he had that.

The knight order did previously hear that Davey possessed an unbelievable power, but they really couldn’t believe it, not even those who had seen it with their own two eyes. The extent of Davey’s power was much greater than they had imagined.

“Trainee Davey… I can’t tell if he’s a timebomb or a gift from God…”

“Let’s look on the bright side. Trainee Davey isn’t all that righteous, but he is clearly amicable toward us. There’s no reason to be hostile toward him, and it’s also true that this situation wouldn’t have ended here if it wasn’t for him.”

“That’s true, ya know. To be honest, that Davey fella is the least of ma concerns. My head is hurtin’ since I gotta take care of ma own son right naw.”

“But we should still try to understand the full situation.”

The captains and high-level members had a quick discussion. They found out that the traitorous Gaor was dead, and Shandra, the transcendental being that had been running wild, was taken care of. This was the achievement of a boy who had just become a trainee and was supposed to take a formal test.

Ever since the incident back at the ancient ruins, the captains and high-level members knew this strange trainee named Davey was very powerful. Sio Howl, who didn’t have a big mouth, and Lucia, who had a quirky personality, both didn’t say much about that particular situation. However, they were able to tell that Davey had the power of a Master. However, this incident made all of them intrigued about who he really was and what his limits were.

“His powers are similar to the Sword Lord’s powers in the ancient books. Perhaps…he is a complete successor of the Sword Lord?”

“Successor of the Sword Lord? Hahahaha! Why don’t ya just call him a dragon? Chuckle!”

“Hahaha, you’re right! It was too much of an overestimation.”

“Wasn’t it?’

Davey was indeed the Sword Lord’s student, but the captain and high-level member who were discussing this matter had no way of knowing that.

“Besides that, isn’t it more important for us to find the organization that was working with Captain Gaor?”

“It’s obvious what organization both knew about Alpha Reinforcements and could take them on.”

“Another Last Wisp…”

Several organizations of Last Wisp were spread out across the continent. Of course, the knight orders all had an idea of what organization might have been working with who.