The Devil's Evolution Catalog

The morning after their night “lessons”, the students gathered at the campgrounds as instructed.

Through the miracles of modern healing, their wounds were completely gone, though I couldn’t say the same for their psyche. A quick look later and I could have sworn that they had just walked out of a carriage crash.

A complete wreck…

On the other hand, some of them were just raring to have a go at someone. Then, finally, there were those who were just pissed, like they were owed a million gold coins.

You could almost say that this was the whole three stages of grief right there.

“Gather up!” By now, Ansom had fully assimilated into his role as my adjutant.

Hearing his command, even the dissatisfied students jogged over to form up.

Upon arrival, they found a group of robed men gathered by the side. Their curiosity was piqued, but hours of harsh training had conditioned them not to ask for the time being.

“Morning, Instructor!” Ansom led the students in greeting.

“Morning, Instructor!”

“Mhm, morning, everyone.” I nodded curtly. But by the time I was done, I could sense that some of them were still dissatisfied with yesterday’s treatment, they just weren’t saying it out loud.

Hey, I mean… better a lesson learnt than a life lost, am I right? At least they won’t think they are all-powerful just because they can pilot some magitek armors. After all, they are still newbies, just more powerful ones.

“I know some of you might not be happy, but this will be the last day I’m training you before you will be sent to the battlefield. On the battlefield, there is no telling when the enemy will strike and where…” I paused at that point and looked around. Some of them were finally getting the point. “How can you hope to survive on the battlefield without at least this level of mindfulness? What happens if you get ambushed in your sleep again? I’m sure you can tell already.”

Death -that’s what’s waiting for them at this rate.

At this very least, I want to hammer this logic into them before they leave. I wouldn’t want them to just die meaninglessly.

“…”

“Since no one is objecting, I take it everyone understands then.” I did not bother to look at their expressions this time. “In that case, there’s nothing more for me to say. This is something you will experience for yourself on the battlefield. But back to the training… today is the last day, but I’ve just realized I haven’t imparted something important onto you guys… The importance of trust in your comrades and cooperation. Everyone here still thinks of themselves as a solo hero.”

Or maybe I’m just too strong? There were no cannons yesterday, but they would have just lost faster if I could use them.

In actuality, the students shouldn’t have lost so one-sidedly. They were just too used to duels, and too complacent in their numbers advantage. By the time they realized they were in trouble, it was too late.

“In order to work on this problem, I’ve devised a little game. I hope that everyone will learn to trust each other once we’re done. Any questions before I start?”

“Yes. Will it be fun, Instructor?” Green-haired Tallin was the one to ask, raising his hands as if he was in a classroom.

“I’m sure it will be.” I revealed a toothy smile at our eager little bird. “You will be gasping with excitement by the time I’m done.”

“Any other questions?”

“…”

“Good, now stay there, I need to go get some… Anyway, I’ll handle it.”

On the western section of the base, a group of multi-colored mages stood at the ready. These were the mages of the Royal Mages Circle.

“Please begin, just follow what we discussed earlier.”

I nodded at the middle-aged mage who was leading the group. Yet even though he was the leader of this group, he was at most a six-star; the higher starred ones weren’t too easy to borrow after all. But the ten of them should suffice for my needs.

Soon, mana began gathering in our vicinity. As the energies grew, the ground began to shake. The rocks cracked and danced wildly. A number of students were already starting to lose their balance, nearly tripping in the process…

As the tremors reached their crescendo, a deafening rumble swept across the forest, followed by a strange black plateau rising out of the ground.

When the commotion died down, the plateau reached several dozens of meters high, like a sword pointing right at the heavens.

But that wasn’t the end of the spellcasting either. Riding on their wind magicks, a few of the casters floated up to the plateau and created a bunch of descending white rings as they came down. From a distance, these rings almost looked like bangles on an arm.

With that job done, the head mage floated before me, looking at me with an inquisitive gaze. “Lady Mo Na, will that be enough?”

I nodded politely. “Yes, but I might need your cooperation in the near future, please standby at the side.”

“Understood.” He nodded as well.

“Instructor, what is this?” Stars practically spewing from his eyes, Tallin rushed forward, pointing at the new plateau. “Instructor, is this the game you were talking about?!”

“Oh, this is just the beginning. Would you like to be the first person to try it?”

“Of course!”

He immediately answered without consideration…

“Actually, Instructor, is it alright if I take that back?”

“What do you think?”