The Evolution Chronicles

"I'm... immune?" Mian finally replied when he felt Daniel's gaze on him.

Daniel quirked a brow at Mian and fixed him with a disbelieving look. He did not believe even the tiniest bit of Mian's lie.

"I'm serious." Mian stressed. His Gift made him immune to the effects of the strange drug's energy, so he was technically speaking the truth.

"Yeah, and I'm the culprit behind the drug." Daniel snorted and folded his arms, but Mian refused to change his words. He couldn't just say that he had a Gift after all. That would surely lead to something that he could not predict.

"Oh, dammit all!" Daniel eventually swore out loud and threw his head back. "Fine! Let us say that you are immune as well, do you even know how to take care of the drug?" He leveled a glare at Mian.

"Maybe?" Mian raised his hands and shrugged. "Perhaps I can do something about it, but I will have to see it first. Do you know where it is?"

Daniel studied him for a few seconds before snorting and waving for Mian to follow him, and then promptly diving back into the water. The act surprised Mian, but he quickly recovered and followed after Daniel.

When he dove into the water this time, he was able to examine his surroundings, unlike the last two times that he had been in the water. An underwater world expanded before his eyes when he focused them. It was not too vast, but remained much more diverse than the sparse and bland variants that Mian had explored in the ponds and lakes that were around his pack lands.

He soon regained his focus. He did not have time to waste, and Daniel was already swimming into the distance. He quickly followed him, swimming closer to the waterfall and into a cave that was fixed into the rocky wall at its side. They then proceeded to climb upwards until Mian could see the water falling down from the top of the waterfall through some tiny cracks in the walls around them. They had emerged from the river and were now climbing to the peak of the waterfall.

"Over here." Daniel stopped at a small opening that was the size of Mian's head. Mian peeked inside it and was instantly able to spot the odd object that was inside the hole. It was a white, circular mass of some strange crystal like substance.

"What is this?" Mian asked as he stretched out his hand to touch it.

"Don't touch it!" Daniel instantly reacted and pulled Mian's hand out of the opening. "That's the drug. I don't know how it got there, but it's turned this entire river into some endless source of mind controlling water." He explained.

Mian studied the crystal orb for a couple of minutes as different thoughts went through his mind. He exchanged ideas with Hana multiple times before settling on the simplest and most direct approach. He stretched his hand back into the hole and placed it on the crystal orb.

"What-!" Daniel didn't manage to finish his sentence before a blinding white radiance expanded through the cave and forced him to shut his eyes. It took him an entire minute to let his eyes recover before he was able to open them again after the white radiance had died down.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He promptly shoved Mian out of the way and looked into the hole where the crystal formerly was. In its place was a transparent crystal layer that prevented water from rushing through the now empty passage.

...

A few moments earlier,

Mian stared at the crystal drug and a stream of information flowed into his mind from Hana.

'Are you sure I can absorb this thing? I thought we were going to purify it?' Mian asked Hana, full of doubt. Upon scanning the drug, Hana had told him that it would be possible for him to absorb the drug and gain some Evolution Points out of it, along with an ability, depending on the exact properties of the drug.

[Positive.] Hana replied easily. Mian sighed before placing his hand into the hole and on the crystal drug.

'Absorb it.' He mentally willed. He felt his hand sink into the surface of the drug before a blinding white light erupted from within it. By the time the white light faded, what was left of the drug was a flat, transparent panel that blocked the flow of water from the rushing river above. It prevented the water from rushing into the cave and overwhelming the two boys.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The next moment, Daniel arrived beside him and pushed him away so he could inspect the hole, but Mian paid little attention to that. Instead, his concentration was turned inwards.

[Absorption complete. 4,329 Evolution Points gained. One of your abilities has Evolved.]

'4,329 Evolution Points. That's a huge catch!' Mian exclaimed, but his attention was soon claimed by something else. 'A new ability? Show me.'

[Abilities]

Minor Mystic Force

Minor Leadership Talent -> Influencer.

---

Mian noted that his Minor Leadership Talent had evolved into an ability called Influencer. The name of the ability made its effects clear, but Mian still asked Hana just to be sure.

[The Influencer ability grants you the power to influence those around you. The people who spend their time around you will be more inclined to follow your footsteps and act as your subordinates. This ability is mostly passive, but it can also be activated by consuming energy. An active usage will cause immediate effects, while a passive usage will only show effects after a certain amount of time has passed.]

Mian mentally took note of that effect before focusing on his surroundings. He noticed that Daniel had put some space between them and was eyeing him warily.

"W-who are you?" The young dominant hesitantly asked. "Are you behind the drug?! I'll kill you!" Daniel's entire demeanor changed as he arrived on the most likely conclusion as to why Mian was able to manipulate the drug.. Anger appeared in his eyes as claws stretched out from his fingertips and sharp teeth appeared from the edges of his mouth and he suddenly pounced at Mian.