by A R Chen
How do I evolve? Steve asked Bonnie. It was finally time. The last two days had been extremely productive; they had journeyed all over the place collecting energy. He had even unlocked the third question-marked evolution, though it wasn’t anything noteworthy and was made further irrelevant, as he had already focused on Changeling.
“Well, you have to put your mind to it, as always,” Bonnie said. “Just try it first, I’ll advise you if it doesn’t work.”
Steve imagined his body changing, and it reacted. It was strange to know his body was changing into something that he only knew by name; he didn’t know what to expect. His vision warped as he fed the change with his energy. Bonnie had taught him during the prior two days of instruction that he could use his energy in all kinds of different ways. Even charging his own mind wasn’t out of the question.
Steve’s vision went black, though this time he didn’t lose consciousness. Something told him that his body was still changing, even though there was no sensation.
After few more minutes, he definitely felt the change as his body gained flesh and bone. He found that the Energy storage he had accumulated was flowing on its own into his new body, strengthening it. Eventually there was an unpleasant tingling sensation in his newly forming body. There was nothing to do about it though, so Steve prepared himself to endure the feeling.
Then he passed out from a wave of pain.
Chapter 21
Mika flew with all her might. She was almost through the gate.
Fuck these Lesser Satans, Mika thought to herself. Cursing her pursuers helped her deal with the stress of the chase. Sons of bitches, all of them.
When the countdown had ended, she had evolved immediately. It had been hell being trapped in the Satan’s residence.
“Duck left,” Steve mentally told her. Mika narrowly avoided an ice lance that would have disemboweled her.
Steve had been indispensable lately; it was irritating that he hadn’t been more helpful earlier. Maybe then, she wouldn’t have been caught in the first place. She was grateful he’d probably just saved her life, but still blamed him for this entire situation at the same time.
Fuck! That was too close, Mika thought as she continued running. She was at the gate now. It had been closing, but they had stopped, apparently realizing that she would make it anyway and not wanting to instead cut off her pursuers.
Just as escape seemed imminent, an arrow pierced her arm and pinned her to the wall just shy of the gate. The pain of being yanked to a stop by the arrow stunned her.
Despair welled up as the gate closed right before her eyes; her escape had failed. Mika let out a cry of pain and defeat, then closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She was never getting out.
With that sigh, her mana was released as she unknowingly cast a spell. Her body phased out, freeing her from the arrow, and she passed through the gate bars as if they were nothing, just as the Lesser Satans closed in on her location.
***
Xander sighed. It had been five days since he was brought to this place, with strange rules and creatures unlike any he had ever seen in his memories. Now it was getting ridiculous. Why did she want him to evolve within the hour?
Why? Xander questioned Mika.
“Because I fucking said so,” Mika replied, her tone harsh. The voice was headstrong and confident as she continued to berate him. “Do it or suffer the consequences, you little—”
It was always like this. Xander had the unmistakable urge to bury his head in his hands, despite the fact that he didn’t have hands, nor a head really. He had a light body, which was useless.
“Fine, mom,” Xander agreed. He couldn’t argue with the rules, it seemed. Xander had tried to find loopholes over the last few days as well, but there didn’t seem to be any. “I guess it’s time to transform. Woo, so fun!” he cheered sarcastically.
***
Todd was confused. Where was he again?
“For the last time, you’re at the pyramid, dude,” Xander mentally sent. “This place is kinda shifty, I get it, man.”
Todd was grateful. He was glad that his helper always enjoyed helping him.
“I don’t,” Xander replied, instantly correcting him.
Oops! He had meant to keep that one to himself.
“You never do,” Xander said exasperatedly.
“Listen up, dude. I got something to tell you,” Xander continued. “You’re gonna love this.”
***
“I have something to share!” Todd announced into Ray’s mind.
“Holy shit!” Ray startled badly. He had been experimenting with a powerful spell and almost lost his concentration. It would have destroyed half the island.
“Why, Todd, why?” Ray repeated what had become his favorite expression during the five days of countdown.
“Sorry!” Todd was his helper. Too bad he acted like he was mentally handicapped. “Hey! I heard that, you’re mean…”
Ray ignored him as he focused on safely canceling the spell. It took a while to undo but he ended it, then turned his attention back to Todd. “What is it this time?” he asked tiredly. He wished he didn’t have this kind of useless help. Todd had seemed alright at the beginning, but as Ray regained his memories, he’d realized that Todd’s ‘help’ was a farce. His helper was retarded, though he meant that in the nicest way possible.
“New rules!” Todd resumed his announcer voice. “It’s time to evolve!”
***
Chang was in the middle of a school of sharks, but didn’t care. They were a hundred feet long and obviously deadly. It didn’t matter to him; they were energy. He had prepared his spells beforehand. He engaged his protection and began the assault.
“Greater Air Manipulation,” Chang called out. A tornado whirled around him, picked up the sharks, and threw them high into the air. The flying sharks were literally fish out of water and at his mercy.
“You know, you don’t have to say that,” Raymond commented on the matter.
Chang knew this was true; his helper was extremely clever. Nevertheless, he replied, “I have to. It sounds too cool. It never gets old.”
Chang activated his drain and began absorbing the energies from the sharks in the air.
“Received new information,” Raymond interrupted. “You should hear this.”
***
Bonnie was tired. It seemed she was always tired. The last five days had been mentally exhausting for her. Why had she been brought here and paired up with a buffoon?
“Say it,” Chang commanded. “You have to say it, or it won’t be as cool, I mean effective.”
“Greater Lightning Storm…” Bonnie had learned to go along with it. When she tried to resist, that only meant that the voice in her mind would never shut up. She watched as her energy flowed out of her light body, forming the spell which dropped the two trolls.
They lay on the ground, paralyzed as she started draining them.
“Say it…” Chang warned again.
Bonnie sighed mentally.
Chapter 22
“Steve! Wake up!” a voice shouted in his ear. It sounded pleasant, female, and maybe a bit familiar. “Steve?”
Steve awoke with a start. Everything was dark. He tried to focus his vision to no effect.
Another vision? Steve thought immediately. Then he remembered his evolution. What had happened?
Bonnie, I can’t see, Steve sent. What happened?
“Try opening your eyes!” Bonnie unhelpfully replied.
Or maybe she had a point…
Steve tried opening his eyes. It worked!
It was disorienting; he was so used to just being able to see everything around him. Now, his vision was limited to two eyes; it was a severe handicap. He was in his residence, but everything seemed a lot bigger than he remembered. Maybe it was the height difference?
Steve walked over to a vanity mirror. His original guest house had been upgraded with the addition of better furnishings when he had transitioned from a gues
t to an honorary part of Niti Village, after his aid in the battle against the Mottor. He now had status on par with a Left or Right in the village hierarchy.
Steve looked into the mirror and saw a black humanoid of childlike proportions staring back at him. He was about three feet tall, thin, and had no mouth or nose. The only distinguishing features on his face were two eyes that could barely be seen, as they were hardly more than slits on his face.
There was a problem. The issue wasn’t that his appearance was ugly to him or aesthetically displeasing. Or rather, there was that too, but the bigger issue was that he felt exactly the same as he had as a ball of light, despite his fully transformed appearance. Logically, it seemed he shouldn’t be feeling that way.
Did anything change, Bonnie? Steve asked, hoping to hear good news.
“You’re black now!” Bonnie cheerily answered. This was beginning to irk Steve, even though she was technically right. “Aside from the color, you have a fleshly body!”
“You’re right, Bonnie,” Steve said patiently. He went on, “Did any of my abilities change?”
“Yes! They’re all erased, besides the Mastery of Languages one,” Bonnie replied, this time a bit more serious.
As soon as Bonnie said this, Steve’s patience ran out. Had he been tricked?
“Though, you get to keep your Energy system!” Bonnie declared. Then she giggled before continuing, “And you gained one new spell. You can change forms using your Energy! You should have seen the look in your eyes. Absolutely murderous!”
Steve almost spit out a sarcastic retort, but then thought of something.
Was it just his imagination, or was Bonnie acting out more than usual? In the last few days she had seemed to talk back a lot more. Maybe it had something to do with her restrictions being lifted.
So, I can become whatever I want now? Steve asked. This was important to understand. If he could copy whatever he wanted, then he could just become a bird and fly over to the first dot on his mental map. Or maybe even hitch a ride on a bird by becoming one of its feathers.
“Nope! You’re limited,” Bonnie clarified. “You can only become a living organism that you’ve seen before. Also, it can’t be too complicated for you to hold in your mind. As you’re keeping your Energy system, you should try to think of ways to manipulate your energy to your advantage!”
Steve tried willing his energy to become Ash. He remembered the boy, blond-haired and tall. He watched himself in the mirror as the energy that made up his fleshly body rearranged itself. Was it even accurate to call his body flesh at this point?
He watched as his short black frame stretched and spread out. Steve grew into a slightly taller and skinnier version of Ash, though the color was completely wrong. Every part of him was still black.
That’s underwhelming, Steve thought, a bit depressed. Why did I have to lose my strong and useful abilities?
After struggling for another half an hour, he finally succeeded in becoming a passable version of Ash. Though he still wasn’t happy with the result. If anyone looked closely enough, they would be able to tell that he wasn’t actually human. Steve adjusted his body a little more until suddenly it felt right. The lingering imperfections disappeared, leaving him a perfect copy.
At that moment, energy began flowing through his body. Something had shifted inside of him and let loose a torrent of power. Was this the mana he kept hearing about? Steve walked outside to test his new power. Pointing at a rock, he tried to recall the chant Ash had used when casting a spell. After uttering some nonsense, he became embarrassed and gave up. This was too difficult, so he tried doing it the way he always had before, instead.
He thought of his Shock spell and tried to trigger it. After ten minutes of fruitless attempts, a small lightning bolt was formed with his mana, struck the rock, and left a small black dimple in the surface of the stone. Why was it so weak? Mana seemed to be an even bigger disappointment than his Changeling evolution had been.
He had seen others cast spells through chanting and motions but it was another thing to try it himself. To Steve, the system seemed extremely inefficient, wasting a lot of time. Steve hadn’t experienced using mana like this, so he didn’t understand. Of course, if the users of mana suddenly switched to pure energy like Steve, casting would be a lot easier for them.
So, I’ll just continue to cast using only energy. Mana is useless, Steve analyzed. By using energy, I should be able to recreate a few of the spells that I practiced the most.
Casting spells in this form was harder, for sure. Instead of imagining the spell and it taking form from his energy, he needed to envision the energy taking a route through his body. Achieving even basic competency at this took a lot more time and effort than he expected. The magic system he’d enjoyed as a ball of light had been perhaps too simple, compared to this. Steve hadn’t expected this new difficulty; it was going to take a lot of time to learn the ins and outs of this new evolution.
Alright, I think I have the basics down, which is fine for now, Steve thought as he concluded his training session. He felt better about this evolution now that he was confident he would regain at least most of his ability with magic. Hopefully being able to turn into anything living that he knew about would become a massive advantage if he used it properly. At the very least, he could already imagine some good uses for it when it came to defense and utility. He headed to Ash’s house, still in the guise of Ash himself. He needed to inform the villagers of his evolution, before there was some misunderstanding. If they didn’t realize who he was, they just might group together and try to oust him from the village.
Steve passed a few villagers on the way, who all waved in greeting to him. He waved back. Perception was simpler having only two eyes. He noticed that he didn’t really miss his omnidirectional field of view. Before, he was constantly distracted by the slightest movement anywhere around him, so this form simplified that aspect of life a lot.
Steve reached the residence and pushed the flap aside to get in awkwardly with his hand. After five days of being a ball of light, it seemed he was still getting used to a humanoid body…or any physical body really. The way he moved wasn’t natural, even though he had been human in his memories. It made sense though; a few mere memories wouldn’t replace a lifetime of experience.
“Hi! Don’t worry, it’s me, Steve,” he said before Ash could even process what he was seeing. He realized his current appearance might be a bit overwhelming for the young man, so he wanted to avert any extreme reactions.
In fact, Ash’s reaction was the exact opposite of what he’d been concerned about. He returned Steve’s greeting and took the situation in stride. Apparently, the villagers sincerely believed there was nothing Steve couldn’t do.
During his last two days at the village, he had noticed more and more villagers bowing down to him when he passed by. Steve knew now that he wasn’t a god; in fact, far from it. Someone or something far more powerful than he could imagine had placed him in an energy-powered light body in this world. The rules they placed on him seemed to hint that there was some reason behind it, even if he had no grasp on it for now. That said, he wasn’t in a hurry to change the villagers’ minds. There were benefits to being thought of as a god.
The village was now on track to becoming an official town of the Empire, though nothing was set in stone. Niti still had quite a way to go to becoming a town. First, they needed to sell off the remaining Crystals and Elemental Bark to nearby cities and the Capital. If he remained a revered figure in Niti, there was no telling what benefits that might provide him in the future.
Steve spent some time with Ash. The boy still wanted to learn from him, but Steve had deflected, telling Ash he would come back around for him. Steve was confident that the correct path going forward was to leave and seek answers elsewhere. Once he understood his place in this world a little better, he would revisit his starting area with new eyes. The few days he had spent in Niti Village had made a significant impression on him.
Niti was a large, peaceful village that gave Steve a warm feeling. Of course, over the last few days, he’d learned that the Nitians’ love of a simple lifestyle didn’t mean that they were completely weak. Steve understood enough of their way of magic now to know that if they had been enemies from the start, he wouldn’t be alive right now.
Their dislike for conflict did not imply weakness, though many misunderstood this, including the Mottor clan. They had thrived on conflict, but in the end had been destroyed by a conflict they had sought out.
Steve had discovered that Leffer was preparing to sue the Mottor for damages. That would likely result in their clan being disbanded and any survivors of their ruling class being executed. The Empire granted no mercy to those who so flagrantly violated their laws. That iron-fisted justice was the foundation that their society was built upon.
Steve had enjoyed his time in Niti Village, but now needed to move on after he made his final preparations. As he left Ash’s house, he felt an eerie rumbling in his lower torso. It was familiar, but also completely novel at the same time.
Was he hungry?
“Wow,” he said out loud. “Things change.”
***
This is the end of Ball of Light: Evolution
Steve’s adventures will continue.
End of Ball of Light: Evolution,
—The first published book by AR Chen!
The author intends to continue Steve’s adventures in the next book of the series!
Please read on for a note by the author…
…And don’t forget to review this novel!
(Even a simple review will help!)
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