Evolution Online: I Can Fuse With All Things-Chapter 62: The Outcoast Village

The journey west was not so long. In fact, they didn’t need to pass the main gate—Adrian led them to another gate that was more casual and built because of the waterway.

That side was more direct toward their destination, so they took the route and pressed further.

The terrain shifted subtly with every mile—grasslands slowly thinned, replaced by jagged cliffs and brittle rock outcroppings. Trees twisted, thinner here, gnarled by salt winds and time until, in the thick of the night, they finally reached the outskirts of the Outcoast region.

The first village they came upon was little more than a cluster of slanted wooden homes, many in disrepair. Crops were half-harvested. Smoke curled lazily from chimneys, but the streets were quiet—eerily so. Children peeked from shuttered windows. Adults looked away when their eyes met Lucien’s. It was a place gripped by fear.

Adrian adjusted his satchel.

"I thought the Federation was supporting them... this place looks abandoned."

Lucien didn’t reply immediately. His eyes swept across the village, noting the fortifications—or the lack of them. There were no guard posts, no lookouts. Just people trying to vanish into routine before nightfall.

He stepped into the square, where a shallow stone well stood. A few pails leaned beside it, untouched.

That’s when he saw her.

She stood near a stall, a cloth-wrapped basket on her hip, speaking quietly with an older man. Her hair was tied back in a rough knot, her sleeves rolled to her elbows. There was a quiet fire in her movement, a sort of stubborn strength that made her stand out.

Lucien’s stride slowed.

Adrian glanced at him.

"You know her?"

Lucien gave a faint nod.

"We met briefly... outside the gates."

Gaya chuckled, impressed.

"She looks better than she did a few hours ago."

She turned then, sensing eyes on her. Her gaze locked onto them immediately.

A subtle frown creased her brow.

She passed the basket to the older man and approached with calm, measured steps before bowing. Her voice was cool but not unkind.

"You’re here."

Lucien nodded subtly.

"Thank you for earlier."

She released a hollow smile.

"It made no sense that I would make the situation harder for a man who only wanted to show generosity to me. Even though I was tempted for a moment."

She stopped a few paces in front of him, arms folded.

"I didn’t expect the Guild to send someone this soon. They usually don’t care unless a town’s burning."

Lucien winced.

"Ouch. It didn’t cross your mind that I could have opted to do this from your kind words?"

The lady replied sternly.

"Adventurers are not that generous. And pragmatically, I do not expect them to be."

Gaya inspected the woman and scoffed.

"I see, but you would expect the Wardens to let you and your kids in out of the kindness of their hearts. That is quite naive for someone who proves to not expect Adventurers to be kind."

She turned to Gaya.

"I said Adventurers—the wardens are a different story. We might not be integrated into Rhamira’s walls, but we are their responsibility. We are the reason they have outskirts. Even the slums have their own purpose to fulfill; abandoning them is wrong. The least a Warden of the Federation should be able to do is let starving kids inside."

Gayanna furrowed her brows. She was about to speak, but Lucien interrupted.

"The guild didn’t send me. They offered, and I accepted."

She shifted her gaze to him and raised a brow.

"Altruism?"

"Boredom."

"Right."

Adrian, chuckling sheepishly, stepped forward.

"We’re looking into the infestation. We need information. Anything you can tell us about the Goblins—their numbers, their patterns, where they’re coming from—will help."

The woman looked between them.

"You’re not from here. You don’t know what’s happening."

Lucien narrowed his gaze.

"Then tell us."

The air went silent for a beat.

Then she sighed and turned, motioning for them to follow.

"They don’t come in waves. They don’t even move like Goblins. They come in the fog, mostly at midnight. And when they kill, they don’t take only food—they take parts. Bones, flesh. Sometimes whole people. Sometimes just their hearts."

Adrian paled.

Lucien muttered.

"And monsters should not act with such precision?"

"No. Not Goblins. Their numbers and the fact that they are very organized is deeply disturbing. They don’t have a pattern, or if I was to be more direct, it almost feels like they make us adapt to their pattern only to change it—there’s no predicting what could come. Fighting them is difficult enough, and we are not even much of fighters."

She led them past the last houses to a field. A crude post stood at the center, and tied to it was a blackened plank with a symbol etched deep into the wood. A spiral pattern of jagged lines, almost rhythmic in design—like a ritual mark burned into reality.

Lucien stared at it, a golden light subtly illuminating in his eyes.

[Recognized]

[Mark of the Elder Spine]

Adrian looked at the mark also and looked at Lucien.

"Was that really done by a Goblin?"

Gayanna responded with a flat tone.

"Of course it’s not."

The woman looked at all of them, especially Gayanna, as she continued.

"The Goblins are being led. But I do not think that they are being led by something that should be leading them."

Lucien exhaled.

"Does that mean we could be having a Deviant problem on our hands?"

A dark frown fell on Adrian’s face.

"A Deviant?"

The woman was also freaked out, but her expression had been paled and hollowed out from time before now. She frowned darkly though, terrified by the word too.

Lucien and Gaya, however, looked quite unconcerned. Did they utter any word that was much of a big deal?

Lucien looked at them strangely.

"Don’t worry, it isn’t out of place. I have faced a Guardian rank Deviant before, and I lived—do not worry."

He smiled at her and asked:

"What is your name?"

She hesitated.

"...Elara."

He nodded once.

"Elara. Where’s the last place someone vanished?"

Her eyes turned toward the cliffs in the far distance.

"There’s a cave system beyond the ridge. We used to mine there before the attacks started. It’s where they first came from. But no one returns from there now."

Lucien turned toward the horizon, the sea wind stirring his coat.

"Then that’s where we’ll begin."

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