World Evolution: Starting With The Wind Monarch

Evan wasn’t mocking or being sarcastic when he called Mike weak. He genuinely felt that way.

The pressure this Rank One Evolver gave him was actually even weaker than the pressure he had felt while facing the pack of wolves the previous night.

At first, Evan was confused by this.

But after thinking about it carefully, he quickly realized why he didn’t feel any pressure from Mike.

Evan himself was strong. There was no doubt about that. But the main reason he didn’t feel any pressure was that almost everything about Mike was below average.

Mike had reached Level 36, but he had achieved that level by killing lower-level creatures.

Those creatures might have been one or two levels below him, or perhaps even lower than that. Because of this, although Mike had leveled up by killing a large number of them, the number of stat points he had received from each kill had been extremely low.

Earlier, Evan had noticed that both his Agility and Strength were slightly higher than Mike’s.

Not to mention Mike’s control over mana.

Evan had expected Mike to use the skill that conjured Ice Bullets when they were fighting at close range. From that distance, if Mike had used his skill properly, Evan would definitely have had to put some effort into blocking them.

But Mike hadn’t used the skill even once.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to.

He simply couldn’t.

To use a skill, an Evolver needed good control over their mana. It wasn’t as simple as thinking about a skill and having it activate on its own.

The Evolver had to focus and control their mana before they could properly activate a skill.

Mike simply didn’t have enough control over his mana to use his skills while simultaneously engaging in close combat.

In short, he was nothing more than a hollow Rank One Evolver who had a high level but very little substance to support it.

The reason Evan had stopped after realizing how weak Mike was was because he was wondering whether he should kill him or not.

The difference between their levels was enormous.

One was a Rank One Evolver, while the other was only a Level 20 Unranked Evolver.

If Evan killed Mike, he would definitely reach Level 25 because of the enormous difference between an Unranked and a Ranked Evolver. Once he reached Level 25, he would gain the opportunity to choose his Job Class.

But the problem was that because the difference in their actual strength wasn’t particularly large, Evan wouldn’t receive many stat points from killing him.

He might even receive fewer stat points than he had obtained from killing the Alpha Wolf.

If Evan had already become a Rank One Evolver, he wouldn’t have cared much about this.

But he was currently only Level 20.

Before reaching Level 25, everything an Evolver did was extremely important.

The grade of the Job Class they would receive after reaching Level 25 would depend heavily on their journey from Level 1 to Level 25.

Evan’s grandparents had also warned him to be extremely careful during this stage because the Unranked Realm was one of the most important stages of an Evolver’s growth.

Since he was strong enough to kill a more powerful Rank One creature than Mike before reaching Level 25, he really wanted to do so.

If he really killed Mike instead of someone more powerful to reach Level 25, he would genuinely feel a pang of regret.

’Damn it, I really wanted to kill this bastard, but killing him would only make things worse for me.’

Evan looked at Mike coldly as he still remembered how Mike had been torturing that young girl earlier.

He took a deep breath, and a cold light flashed through his eyes.

’But even if I don’t kill him, I won’t let him off easily.’

Mike, who was still gritting his teeth in anger after being called weak, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and a bad feeling engulfed him.

He looked at Evan and saw him staring at him as if he were already a dead man.

”You—”

Before Mike could finish his sentence, Evan suddenly moved.

Woosh!

In an instant, he appeared in front of Mike, moving even faster than before.

’He wasn’t using his full strength earlier...’

This thought immediately flashed through Mike’s mind.

But despite his shock, he still tried to retreat.

But suddenly, his body stiffened and a look of horror appeared on his face.

Intimidation!

Evan activated his Intimidation skill, forcing Mike’s body to freeze for a brief moment.

And the instant Mike paused—

BANG!

Evan pushed his Wind Aura to its utmost limit and threw a punch.

BOOOOOOM!

Evan’s fist, empowered by more than 170 points of Strength, Wind Aura, and the additional 10% damage provided by his Slayer title, slammed directly into Mike’s face.

CRACK!

Mike’s jaw shattered instantly.

Blood and broken teeth exploded into the air as his body was sent flying backward like a broken kite whose string had been cut.

BANG!

He flew nearly twenty meters before crashing into a tree, snapping it in half.

Cough!

Mike coughed violently, blood mixed with saliva spilling from his mouth.

His vision spun wildly, and his entire face felt as if it had been smashed by an iron hammer.

At the same time, his consciousness began to fade and he was on the verge of passing out.

However, Mike bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and forced himself to remain conscious as he knew that if he passed out here, it would be the end for him.

Evan calmly walked toward him.

He didn’t feel the slightest bit of pity when he saw Mike’s condition.

’I guess I’ll still have to go find trouble with that Rank One bear to reach Level 25...’

Evan thought as he approached Mike.

Mike looked at the approaching Evan through his blurry vision, the world around him still spinning.

Evan shook his head when he saw his condition and took out a rope from his Storage Ring to tie him up.

However, just when Evan was only two meters away from him, Mike suddenly moved.

A cold glint flashed through his eyes as he gathered all his remaining strength and hurled a hidden knife from his sleeve toward Evan.

Whoosh!

The knife cut through the air like a bullet and shot toward him.

However, after what had happened with the Forest Tiger, Evan had long since learned his lesson.

He never lowered his guard.

Although the distance between them was only two meters, Evan still reacted instantly.

The moment Mike threw the knife, a Wind Barrier appeared in front of him.

Shatter!

The knife struck the barrier and, to Evan’s surprise, instantly shattered it like glass.

His expression changed slightly, and he immediately tried to dodge the knife.

But the distance between them was too short and the knife was already in front of him.

At the last moment, the Bloom Earring he was wearing glowed slightly, and another barrier appeared in front of him.

BOOM!

But the knife still pierced straight through the barrier.

Evan’s pupils contracted slightly, but the brief moment bought by the Blaze Barrier allowed him to shift his body.

Woosh!

The knife struck his left arm instead of his face and pierced through his Wolf Robe.

However, after being weakened by the Wind Barrier, Blaze Barrier, and Wolf Robe, the knife was only able to cut through Evan’s skin before losing all its momentum.

Although he had resolved the immediate danger, Evan wasn’t happy in the slightest.

’Damn it, I should have been more careful...’

He cursed inwardly, feeling irritated by his own lack of awareness.

If it hadn’t been for the multiple layers of protection covering his body, he might have been in serious trouble this time.

Evan picked up the knife that had fallen to the ground and saw it was now covered in cracks, appearing to be on the verge of shattering.

He checked its details through his status window.

====

[Sharp Poison Knife]

[Grade: Uncommon]

[Type: One-Time Use Item]

[Status: Already Used]

[Description: A sharp knife coated with a lethal poison capable of killing anyone below Rank One if the poison is not treated within two hours.]

====

Mike noticed Evan’s expression after he checked the knife and suddenly burst into laughter.

”This is the price you have to pay for messing with me!”

He laughed like a madman, clearly believing that he had finally turned the tables.

Evan shifted his gaze from the knife and stared at Mike as if he were looking at an idiot.

Then he reached into his Storage Ring and took out a potion.

An antidote potion.

He had never been stupid enough to enter the Dark Forest without bringing something capable of treating poison.

Evan uncorked the potion and drank it without hesitation.

When Mike saw this, his laughter abruptly stopped and his face turned pale from anger.

”You...”

Evan ignored Mike’s expression and walked toward him.

BANG!

He gave Mike another solid punch. His eyes immediately rolled back, and he finally lost consciousness.

Evan grabbed the rope and securely tied Mike to a nearby tree. At the same time, he broke all of his limbs so that he wouldn’t be able to break free or escape even after regaining consciousness.

Once he was certain that Mike couldn’t escape, Evan checked his condition before looking at the wound on his own arm, a frown appearing on his face.

”Although this antidote can suppress the poison, it can’t completely cure it. I’ll have to find a higher-grade antidote in Rivo City.”

He muttered with a shake of his head and sighed.

However, he wasn’t particularly worried.

With his current Health and Stamina Points, which were already far higher than those of normal Unranked individuals, he could easily withstand the poison for some time with the help of the antidote he had already taken.

Evan took out a piece of cloth from his Storage Ring and wrapped it tightly around the wound on his arm.

Before the poison was completely neutralized, there was little point in using a healing potion to heal the wound, as the poison would simply damage the area again.

”Still... we learn from our mistakes.”

He muttered under his breath, still feeling unhappy about getting injured by Mike.

Evan then looked into the distance and silently sat down some distance away from Mike.

’I wonder how long it will take those two to bring the city guards here.’ He thought while waiting patiently.