章 25: Moving Forward

There, in a room with only a leaf bed and a crudely made chair and long desk, sat Key with the unknown fruits lay on display. Only three fruits were missing from the batch they picked which rested in the hands of Black, Donn, and Ford. Each one needing it to adapt farther and become three-star Adapters.

And he still felt slightly annoyed at their joke about the fake office desk. Seeing that he was a leader of a place, he would generally need to do paperwork as well. As to make a joke of his this new position, Shaw thought it would be funny to make him a desk to go along with the new status.

Sighing while taking inspection of the place, his fingers tapped the desk in boredom. Soon, his eyes landed on the hole in the grass wall acting as a window for the small house. In the window view was a group of people being led by Skyla to his new home.

At first, he tried denying the proposal to claim one of the built houses as his property. But the more he refused, the more everyone insisted. Left with no either choice, he was forced to accept it grudgingly.

This decision left only two houses for the others to live in until more homes were built.

He would have told the others that they were more than welcome to share it, but didn't because he was also aware of the significance for a leader to live alone or only with their family members.

It was to create a barrier to the people to let them know, there was a difference in status. It was also an important action to maintain respect and loyalty from those of lower standing.

In a newly built establishment, it was not a good thing to show one's appearance too often as opposed to a long time establishment where it was expected to encourage others to engrave the image of a person with high prestige into their mind.

The reason for this was because when it was new, the people wouldn't see somebody of higher stature. Instead, having witnessed being treated equally, there would be no impression left to reflect being unique.

However, if seen scarcely and treated with more value, it would make them special and magnificent. And since the number of people happened to increase little over a thousand, it was vital for them to understand who was at the top.

The whoosh sound of grass being moved opened his front door. This action drew his attention to the people entering his house while reminding him of the reason for them being there.

He was in need of people that were at least four-star Adapters and above to help in achieving his seven-day promise. And naturally, Skyla being there was to act as his secretary while learning to lead in his absence.

As for the fruit on the long desk, it would be the main item needed for the promise. Unlike the other three that went to the Evolver World with him, he didn't stumble upon the fruit by luck. Nor did he think of the fruit as being something rare.

During his separation from the group, he noticed that the whole place was being forced to evolve besides just them. Naturally, this meant the animals and trees would also change from the environment as well.

Since the forest area seemed like a typical forest, the idea of there being fruits like berries, pears, apples, and maybe even nuts, ran across his mind at that time too. Wanting to see their evolved state, he took the standard measures used to found food in a forest to search them out.

That was when he noticed after looking for areas with animals that a lot more animals were roaming around a particular place. It only took the change in the trees and the healthy state that the animals had to realize he finally found an evolved tree.

What followed was him killing or capturing animals while testing the fruit's safety. "Ahem..." Was the sound he heard from Skyla to bring him out of memory lane. Giving her and the group his undivided attention, he chose to greet them.

"Hello, fellow tribe leaders. I am Key Stroke, but you may continue to call me Chief as I am also the new village leader. Now take a look at the fruits on the desk. Do these seem recognizable?" He asked.

One of the men answered. "Those are five-star Bewitching Pears. If eaten, you will become possessed by an evil spirit. They are useless since nobody wants an evil spirit to control them, and only the strong can defeat them, but it has no meaning to do so."

The rest showed signs of also agreeing as they wondered if this question was the only reason they were asked to come here. Although they decided to serve under the youth before them, not all of them was enticed entirely. There was still proof needed to verify the youth's credibility.

Naturally Key could tell what the group was thinking, but he thought nothing of it. In time, they would certainly see the answer they wanted to be answered. "Is that so? Well, the reason I have brought this item before you is to ask for your help and corporation. This fruit is what will make the people become Adapters." Key explained.

"You said there was nothing to gain because there is an evil spirit inside waited to take over people's body. But what if you didn't absorb the ambition force inside and instead, used the ability of a four-star Adapter that can use ambition force externally to help guide into Non-adapter?" He asked.

Shocking the tribe leaders, one voiced their disbelief. "Impossible! That would just kill people. Only people with the potential to be titled Adapters can accept ambition force into the body!" Key only shook his head at the naivety of the tribe leader.

"Your thinking about giving them the whole energy. I'm talking minimal amounts of ambition force. Furthermore, the Evolver Door allows anyone to enter. It's a place that forces the body to adapt or die trying. If a person was fed small doses of ambition force while being in the Evolver World, their body should adapt. The problem is finding out the amount of ambition force a regular speck can take and how long they can last in the Evolver World before death comes. When they can no longer take the influence of the place, a four-star Adapter can shield some of the effects and carry them out. Who said they needed to endure the experience by themselves?" He finished.

Huh? That simple? Why hadn't anybody tried or thought of this before? Was this what he might about knowledge is power? Just who was Key Stroke, the Chief that they have chosen to follow?