Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

Fafnir's current state began two days ago.

Despite not having done anything, Fafnir climbed down from my shoulder, seemingly exhausted, and settled in the corner. It was a spot he'd taken a liking to before, so I thought nothing of it—until the bright white light engulfed him.

Fwoooosh

What the...!?

Startled by the sudden light, I jumped to my feet.

But before I could do anything, the light completely surrounded Fafnir.

"Ding! The black dragon 'Fafnir' has accumulated enough experience for its first evolution."

"Ding! The first evolution of the black dragon will begin through the Egg of Evolution."

With the system message, the bright light took the shape of an eggshell.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

After a short while, the light dimmed, leaving behind the massive egg that now stood in front of me.

Thinking back on that moment, I couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle.

It was only now that I realized how much trouble it would have caused if the egg had appeared in a different place.

'Thank goodness the office is large enough to accommodate it. If this had happened anywhere else, it would've been a real hassle.'

If it had happened in the conference room, I'd have had to conduct meetings with this giant egg taking up half the space.

If it had been outside the castle, I'd be forced to station guards around it constantly, worrying that it might break.

But since Fafnir had chosen to form the egg in my office, all I had to do was wait.

After all, the office was a secure area, only accessible to me and my top-ranking officers.

I wasn't sure if Fafnir had intentionally chosen this spot knowing that, or if it was just a coincidence.

"Still, an Egg of Evolution, huh? That's a feature that wasn't in World Breaker."

In World Breaker, monsters grew over time naturally.

If you tamed a monster while it was in its infancy, after dozens of turns, you'd get a message saying it had grown, and you could start using it as a unit.

But now that the system had been implemented in reality, it seemed some things had changed.

'The Egg of Evolution, first evolution, and experience points.'

I gently stroked the egg as I recalled the words on the status screen.

From what I could gather, it seemed like some monsters grew by consuming part of their master's experience.

When the experience accumulated to a certain level, the evolution process, like the one happening now, would begin.

And since this was labeled as the first evolution, it stood to reason that there could be a second and third evolution, each requiring a similar process.

It wasn't just about the passage of time anymore—now, growth depended on how much experience the master could gather and share.

'Looks like the system doesn't want someone lounging around in a safe spot and having their baby pet dragon grow into a massive beast without effort.'

I smirked as I guessed the system's intentions.

Other people might find it annoying, but for me, it was actually a good thing.

After all, it would take much longer than a year or two for that little guy to grow into a full-fledged dragon.

If I could actively feed it experience and speed up its growth, I had no complaints.

'The problem is, there's no indication of when this evolution will finish.'

Was I supposed to wait indefinitely like this?

Out of curiosity, I reopened the status screen, hoping to find some hint about how long the evolution might take.

Maybe there would be a clue hidden somewhere in the description, even if there was no timer.

I was reading through the details about the Egg of Evolution for the umpteenth time when it happened.

"Ding! A leader has proven their abilities."

"Ding! A new quest has been generated."

"Ding! Main Quest: "The Forgotten Ancient Ruins" has begun."

At the same moment that the system message rang in my ears, the castle began to shake.

Rumble, rumble

"An earthquake! It's an earthquake!"

"What's going on all of a sudden!?"

The sudden earthquake sent the commoners into a panic.

Back in the US, earthquakes weren't much of a threat, but this was a different world.

There was no guarantee that a disaster like the great earthquakes of foreign lands wouldn't happen here.

No matter how thick the castle walls were, if the ground itself split open, what could anyone do?

"Ahhh! Somebody help!"

"Head to an open space! Somewhere with no falling debris!"

"Where is there such a place around here, you idiot?"

"Shut up and calm down!"

The ones who brought order to the panicked commoners were the high-ranking pioneers, led by Zachary.

They shouted at the startled commoners, their voices firm.

"This isn't a natural disaster, it's a temporary phenomenon! The system is changing the terrain because of the quest! So stop freaking out!"

"Huh? So... what does that mean?"

"It's the same thing that happened when the dungeon opened! Don't you remember?"

"Oh!"

The commoners recalled the time when the pioneers had been busy exploring the dungeons.

Back then, when the dungeon first appeared, there had also been an earthquake accompanied by a system message.

It had ended so quickly that most people had forgotten about it, but it had given them a scare at the time.

"So... does that mean everything's okay?"

"Yeah! So stop worrying and just stay put!"

As soon as the officers finished shouting, the earthquake began to subside.

The commoners let out sighs of relief as they calmed down, but the pioneers were just starting to get excited.

'An earthquake means the terrain has changed.'

'There must be a new structure where there wasn't one before—either a dungeon or something else.'

'Where is it? What changed?' Enjoy new stories from empire

Fwoosh

As if to answer their questions, a pillar of light shot up in the distance.

It was so massive and bright that it was impossible for anyone in the city to miss it.

"The ancient ruins buried underground have emerged."

"Follow the light and head toward the Forgotten Ancient Ruins."

"You can check your status screen for more details."

The pioneers, with practiced hands, quickly opened their status screens.

What appeared was a quest written in a different font and color from the usual.

At a glance, it was clear that this was no ordinary quest.