Chapter 4: Evolution
Kaito looked at the four newborn skeletons lined up before him.
No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5.
This was a brand new squad converted from the bones of the four wolves.
Their bones shared a uniform yellowish hue, possessing that fresh-out-of-the-earth aesthetic.
Including the already evolved No. 1 standing beside him, he now commanded a combat squad of five skeletal units.
A squad. This was a good start.
The primary mission was to replicate No. 1's success and force these four rookies to complete their evolution.
Kaito's train of thought was clear.
The key to No. 1's evolution lay in Breaking the Limit.
The core wasn't the kill itself, nor the absorption of soul energy.
It was that "First Time"—creating something from nothing.
First imitation. First independent thought. First successful hunt.
This behavioral pattern could be designed, guided, and even mass-produced.
This meant Kaito couldn't just order them to kill; he had to guide them to complete the act themselves.
He had to manufacture a "First Time" that they could accomplish independently.
He felt his plan was seamless.
A reproducible process to mass-produce Tier 1 Skeleton Soldiers.
"Mass production of Tier 1 Skeleton Soldiers starts now."
He picked up a branch from the ground. It was of suitable thickness, roughly the length of a short sword.
He walked up to Skeleton No. 2 and jammed the stick into its bony hand.
Then, he pointed to a clearing not far away. The ground there was bare, save for some fallen leaves.
Using his clacking jawbone, he issued a command he felt was both clear and inspiring.
"Go forth and hunt, brave warrior! This is the finest sword in our village!"
Skeleton No. 2 tilted its head.
The Soul Fire in its sockets flickered, seemingly processing this information-overloaded, complex command.
Kaito looked at it expectantly.
In his plan, No. 2 would take the stick and perform some imitative swinging motions at the empty ground.
Then, Kaito would release a live animal to guide it into completing the kill.
That was the ideal workflow.
The next second.
Skeleton No. 2 moved.
Its actions completely defied Kaito's expectations.
It spun around abruptly, facing Skeleton No. 3 standing right next to it.
Then, it raised the "Village's Best Sword" high.
WHACK!
A crisp sound of impact.
The wooden stick smashed solidly onto Skeleton No. 3's skull.
Skeleton No. 3's head flew straight off, tracing a standard parabolic arc through the air.
Finally, it rolled precisely to Kaito's feet and stopped.
The headless body of Skeleton No. 3 swayed, its two arms swinging unconsciously for a moment, before standing stiffly in place.
Skeleton No. 2, holding the stick, also froze. It maintained its swinging posture, seemingly unable to comprehend why the "prey's" head had fallen off.
The scene fell into a dead silence.
The only sound in the forest was the wind rustling the leaves.
Kaito looked down at the skull by his feet, its empty eye sockets staring up at him.
Four holes met once again.
Kaito silently bent down, pinched No. 3's head with two finger bones, and walked over to its bare neck.
He held the skull with both hands, carefully aligning it with the cervical vertebrae.
Click.
A soft sound. Installation complete.
Bone collided with bone, echoing crisply.
Experiment Failed.
Kaito immediately began his post-mortem analysis.
Where was the problem?
The command was too complex.
The concept of "Hunt" was too abstract for a newly born skeleton.
It couldn't understand the target, so it chose the nearest interactive unit.
Which happened to be No. 3 standing next to it.
Strategy must be changed.
Verbal instruction was too inefficient and prone to ambiguity.
The most direct and effective method was visual teaching.
After a moment of thought, a new plan was formed.
Through the soul link, Kaito issued an extremely simple command to the four new skeletons.
"Learn. Skeleton No. 1."
The heads of the four skeletons tilted simultaneously, then turned in unison toward Skeleton No. 1, who was half a head taller than them.
Then, he issued a second command to No. 1.
"Demonstrate. Hunt."
Skeleton No. 1, having already reached Tier 1, was still not exactly a genius, but it could clearly understand Kaito's commands and possessed rudimentary independent thought.
The Soul Fire in its eyes pulsed once to acknowledge receipt.
Now, it was Teacher No. 1's class time.
Skeleton No. 1 strode forward, moving through the forest. It held its bone sword in its single arm, its posture steady.
The four rookie skeletons followed behind in a single file line, stiffly imitating its every step.
The scene looked like a bizarre kindergarten teacher leading four uncoordinated students in morning calisthenics.
The next half hour was mostly spent looking for suitable prey.
The forest night was not peaceful.
Soon, No. 1 stopped in front of a bush.
It had found a target.
Six rabbits gathered together, nibbling on grass roots.
Skeleton No. 1 didn't charge in immediately.
It turned around to face the four skeletons standing dazed behind it. It opened and closed its jaw, emitting a gah sound.
As if saying: Watch closely.
Then, it moved.
Its figure charged into the bushes.
The bone sword swung. It used the flat of the blade to smack one rabbit, sending it tumbling away—alive, but dazed.
Then, with surgical precision, it used the edge of the bone sword to slice the tendons of the hind legs of the other four rabbits.
The entire process was clean and efficient.
Having done all this, it bisected the only remaining intact rabbit with a single slash, killed it, and then retreated, holding the dead rabbit.
Now, the arena contained five crippled rabbits.
They couldn't run fast; they could only struggle in place.
Skeleton No. 1 threw the dead rabbit on the ground, then pointed its bone sword at the struggling rabbits.
Demonstration over.
It was time for the students to practice.
The four rookie skeletons, clutching their sticks, began to mimic No. 1, charging toward the crippled rabbits.
Their movements were still full of discordance.
No. 2 swung its stick and missed, nearly tripping itself.
No. 3 stabbed violently at a rabbit but hit the dirt, nearly snapping the stick.
No. 4 and No. 5 chased the same rabbit and crashed into each other, their bone parts clattering loudly.
But this time, the goal was explicit.
The mission was clear.
Use the stick in hand to make the things flopping on the ground stop moving.
They could understand this logic.
The chase continued.
The swinging continued.
THWACK!
No. 2 finally succeeded. It smashed its stick onto a rabbit's head.
The rabbit twitched twice and stopped moving.
At that exact moment!
Kaito felt the soul link between himself and Skeleton No. 2 fluctuate violently!
A stream of energy surged from the rabbit's corpse, relaying through No. 2's body, and a portion fed back into Kaito's own soul!
[Skeleton No. 2 has successfully broken through its own limits.]
[Evolution Conditions Met!]
Success!
The method works!
Immediately after.
No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 successively completed their first kills.
Four skeletons, carrying their respective spoils of war, clack-clacked over to Kaito and placed the rabbit corpses down.
They were reporting their results.
Four bursts of energy fluctuations, erupting almost simultaneously, lit up in Kaito's perception.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Kaito issued the thought.
"Evolution!"
The command was sent through the soul link to all four qualified skeletons simultaneously.
The bodies of the four skeletons began to change.
Their bones emitted dense, subtle sounds, like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil after rain.
Their frames were elongated and heightened. The color of their bones shifted from yellowish to a pure, smooth white.
A few seconds later, the transformation ceased.
All four newborn skeletons had completed their evolution.
Their height now matched No. 1, standing half a head taller than Kaito.
Unlike No. 1, however, they all possessed complete left arms.
And on their left arms, a small round shield (buckler) made of bone had materialized.
[Novice Skeleton] evolved into [Tier 1 Skeleton Soldier].
At the same time.
Four streams of pure energy flowed in reverse through the soul link, surging majestically into Kaito's body.
This energy poured directly into the Soul Fire in Kaito's eye sockets.
The originally stable Soul Fire increased in brightness by another tier, the form of the flame becoming more solid.
He felt his core, that cluster of Soul Fire, transform from a mere flicker into a roaring campfire.
The increase in power followed immediately.
Kaito flexed his finger bones; the sound of the collision was deeper and heavier.
Before, he had doubled his strength to 2 Chihuahua Force.
Now, these four feedbacks caused his strength to skyrocket.
He assessed himself. Currently, he possessed at least 5 Chihuahua Force.
A brand new, standardized Undead Legion was beginning to take shape.
Kaito looked at the five Tier 1 Skeleton Soldiers standing in a row before him.
"Excellent. Now, it's time to snowball."