Limitless Evolution: The Path To Immortality

Silas and company continued to walk through the forest. Around half an hour had passed since their last conversation. Even Alcraz and Deton decided not to speak and remained vigilant the entire time. This was due to one thing. When they had last stopped, there were mentions of something watching them from Siltheria. Of course, they didn't feel it since Silas had taken care of the problem in an instant, yet that was the reason they felt so uneasy.

If there was truly something out there stalking them and they hadn't felt it, wouldn't that place them in a vast amount of danger?

They had to remain vigilant in order to survive. After all, unlike many of the expeditions of the past, their lives and safety were not guaranteed this time. There weren't teachers around them to save them the moment they almost died. Of course, it was well known that the talismans they held had a feature that notified the teachers of the student's health when it reached critical condition, but that did not mean anything in the current environment.

Who knew how long it would take to reach the students? Every second counts in the wilderness, since every second could mean life or death.

'Oh?' As the rest of the students around him stressed about what it meant to be in the forest without supervision, Silas could not help but control his body's movements. He wanted to instinctively halt his footsteps the moment he felt the gaze land on his body. However, he controlled himself and continued to walk as if nothing was wrong.

A small, concealed smirk perked up the corner of his lips as Silas' eyes became threateningly cold.

'They don't seem to realize. I wonder what I should do.' He inwardly mused before closing his eyes. In the next moment, his view completely changed as he was no longer looking from within his body, but rather, his gaze came from above, allowing him to see everything around them.

His vision still had the effects of mystic vision. The mana in the area was highlighted, alongside all life forces and moving energies.

'Is invisibility that common of a technique among these people?' Silas raised a brow and stared at the life force of the three people around them. They were following close by and jumping from tree to tree. It wasn't hard for Silas to see them despite the fact that he would not have been able to in the past.

After breaking into the amethyst core, his mystic vision had tremendously increased in proficiency. This happened again and again every time he went up a grade, and now that he was at the pinnacle of the amethyst core, his mystic eyes were on the brink of evolution. Seeing past something as feeble as the concealment technique was nothing to him. He could see past it with his eyes closed if he wanted to… Literally.

'These are probably from the same group that wants to attack the tournament. Should I kill them now, or should I have a little fun with them? Maybe I should see what these people can do first? You never know when you'll find a worthy ally.' Silas nodded to himself as a small plan formed in his mind.

Just in the moment, he saw something else.

'They're strong. I'm sure they can take care of that thing.' Silas nodded to himself lightly before allowing his eyes to dart around for a moment.

"Do you feel that?" Silas finally asked.

"Yeah. There's something up ahead. It's pretty strong, but I can take it." Deton spoke immediately, not allowing anyone else to have the chance to speak.

"You sure?" Silas raised a brow while Gigi stared at him with puzzlement.

"Yeah. Don't worry." Deton raised a thumb and let out a foolish grin.

In the moment, the entire group watched as something came out of the shadows in front of Deton and Alcraz and towered before them like a four-legged titan.

It was several meters tall, allowing it to stand at a minimum of 6 meters tall. Of course, if it were to get onto its hind legs, Silas didn't doubt that it could reach 12 to 15 meters in height. Its head had barely any skin on it, yet even that was beginning to flake and tear off the bone.

Its skull was that of a goat's, or something close to it at least. Its horns were curved and almost metallic, while the holes where its eyes were supposed to be were empty in the physical sense since the creature's eyes had been replaced by two burning crimson flames that shone from within like tiny pupils.

The rest of its body was a mixture of rotting flesh, fur, and bone. The body was that of a creature that looked more like a sheep than a goat, from how much leftover fur there was, but what caught Silas' attention was the swirling darkness in its solar plexus.

Silas' eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the amethyst core that was being forcefully broken into the sapphire core. The entire body was pumping mana into the core at high levels, while the swirling mist of darkness made out of pure mana around it pushed down on it as if attempting to squeeze it.

'I think I know where the kingdom got the idea of forcefully upgrading mana cores.' Silas mused before staring at Deton, who had already intertwined his fingers into prayer. Lifting his head slightly, he parted his lips and spoke…

Well, 'spoke' probably wasn't the wisest word to use in this situation. After all, what came out of his mouth were not words, but sounds and harmonies that interconnected on a spiritual level.

Even Silas could not help but feel shocked the moment he heard it. The melodious singing rang in his ears and soothed his mind, yet it only turned the creature before Deton more frantic and irritable.

As Deton closed his eyes, his singing became louder, yet, despite not lowering his lips once as he sang, words formed in the minds of everyone who could hear him.

"Blooming Flower"

Winds erupted out of the ground and stretched into the skies. Every plant, no matter if it was a tree or a blade of grass, reacted to the order that had been laced into the very essence of the song. Runes had appeared around Deton the entire time, yet only when words were heard did they finally connect.

The tendrils of vines and roots merged elegantly with the leaves and blades of grass as they plunged into the creature's stomach and shot him into the sky. The leaves and grass cut the creature's bones and skin, while the tendrils of vines and roots grew from within the creature and protruded from every orifice before ripping through the flesh and bones of the creature.

Suddenly, all the nutrients within the undead-like goat were ripped away from it, and in one last act, Deton singings grew in pitch and boomed through their area of the forest. Suddenly, the runes grew in luster as the creature's body got squeezed into a ball from the inside out.

Its bones were ground to dust, while the rest of its flesh and fur was turned into a paste.

In the next instant an enormous flower bloomed in the creature's place before the singing stopped and the runes vanished into thin air.

'So this is what you can do when you're connected to nature to the same extent as these elves…' Silas silently nodded before staring at the beautiful cherry-pink tulip at the top of the pillar of vines.

'To think he would have the ability to one shot the creature… How fascinating.'