The Evolution of the Weakest Ghoul

"Glad to have you here. It was quite a surprise to see three adventurers actually willing to join the military," a calm male voice was heard as Ronan, Hesa, and Yen sat down at a round table.

In front of them was a man wearing a simple military uniform.

Ronan’s face had twitched a couple of times as they walked up two stories to get there. The design of the building was approaching modern standards.

Maybe this was the result of years of evolution. It seemed that not only was the middle-level continent stronger than the low-level continent, but it had also undergone a much longer period of development.

Even though this was a fantasy world, it was slowly approaching the modern age.

Ronan couldn’t help but wonder what a higher-level continent would look like.

"Alright, thank you. When can we begin?" Ronan asked, his past-life business instincts already kicking in.

Any more time and he would end up stuck in a long conversation.

"Ah..." The man was caught off guard.

Although Ronan and the others had agreed to join the military, he hadn’t expected them to be so eager.

He had been thinking about how to convince them to stay in the military permanently, but it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary.

Don’t tell me this trio actually wanted to join the military for real?

"Yes. Alright. For now, we are currently strained at the war front, so it would be helpful if you could join the battle. You three will be assigned as a specialized unit, and your missions will be communicated to you shortly," the man spoke.

After everything has been decided, the man thought with an embarrassed smile.

The few adventurers they had encountered before had all been given missions, but actually seeing an adventurer voluntarily join the military was a once-in-a-blue-moon event.

They only tended to work with the military when the enemy had gotten close to the city. Otherwise, they preferred to stay back.

Well, the man couldn’t blame them.

At any moment, they could be transferred from this relatively safe battlefield straight into the heart of the war at the Empire’s border.

There, Sovereign Realm beings were the weakest soldiers, and they were basically cannon fodder.

King Realm experts were the fighters, while Supreme Realm experts were the commanders.

For adventurers, most of whom were at the Sovereign Realm, there was no reason to willingly endanger themselves in a war that showed no sign of stopping.

Their deaths would simply become additional corpses among the dried bones scattered across the battlefield.

"Hmm... Alright, then," Ronan agreed as he stood with a smile and shook the man’s hand.

Ronan was not new to this.

He could easily read the expression on the man’s face. They hadn’t expected the trio to actually join, but this worked perfectly in Ronan’s favor.

He didn’t want some stupid special task that required him to kill only a few orcs.

He wanted war.

He wanted to kill as many as he could.

If Ronan knew about the main war currently taking place at the Empire’s border, he would immediately sign up with excitement.

After all, unless he could kill a King Realm expert, he couldn’t complete the mission assigned by the system.

Every city had a mayor, and every mayor was at least at the King Realm.

The trio followed the man as he guided them toward the soldiers who had recently joined the army.

They were led toward the exit of the military base, where more than a thousand Transcendent Realm experts were prepared to head into battle.

They wore silver armor that reflected the sunlight, their sharp spears pointing toward the sky.

One could see the tight grips they had on their weapons, as well as the tense atmosphere surrounding them.

Even though they weren’t like the veterans Ronan and the others had seen earlier, these new recruits had still undergone hellish training.

"You bastards are lucky. We have three unique individuals joining you. More of you might actually survive," the commander of the battalion spoke with a wild grin as he saw the trio being led toward them by the man.

He had a rather wild and unrestrained aura. A small scar crossed his cheek, and his muscular body carried a giant war hammer over his shoulder.

He was the only Sovereign Realm expert among the battalion or at least he had been before the addition of Hesa and Yen.

The soldiers looked through their helmets at Ronan, Hesa, and Yen.

They were stunned by their clothes.

These... these were actually adventurers?

Flashes of surprise appeared in their eyes before quickly turning into curiosity.

They had always heard about the capabilities of adventurers.

For commoners, there were two main ways to quickly grow stronger and have a better life after service or old age : become an adventurer or join the military.

As long as someone possessed a barely decent trait, the military would accept them once they reached sixteen.

But for adventurers, one needed to possess a good enough trait to reach at least the Sovereign Realm.

That meant having a trait that had at least reached its first evolution.

This was a hurdle that most soldiers would never cross in their lives.

And that naturally made them envious.

They wanted to see just how strong a first-evolution trait possessed by an adventurer could be.

"These are Basha, Eve, and Joy. They will be joining your battalion. Are you okay with that, Commander?" the man asked with a smile.

"Yes, First Sergeant," the commander replied with a smile.

"Good. Peci, take good care of your battalion. Now head out quickly. They need urgent reinforcement at the war front" the man said.

"Yes, sir," Peci replied as he turned to look at the new adventurer trio after the man left them.

He wasn’t the only one looking at them curiously. The soldiers were too.

Ronan smiled at the commander as he glanced at his stats.

What could he have?

It was rather weak.

[Status]

Host: Peci

Race: Human

Realm: Sovereign • One-Star

Traits: Battlefield General Lv.11

Essence: 908/908 (1000 essence for next breakthrough)

Abilities:

Battlefield Awareness Lv.5:

Allows the host to perceive the movements, positions, and general condition of allies and enemies within a certain range. The ability becomes stronger as the host’s realm increases.

Range: 50 meters

War Intent Lv.3:

The host’s battle intent grows stronger the longer he remains on the battlefield. His physical abilities, reaction speed, and resistance to pain increase as his War Intent accumulates.

Increase up to 30%

General’s Command Lv.2:

Allows the host to transmit commands directly through his voice and mental connection to soldiers under his command. The effectiveness of the ability increases with the soldiers’ trust in and willingness to follow him.

2/10 chance of success

Cooldown: 20 hours

Probability of one time success plus : 0.1% with a 100% power increase and trust of his men.

Battlefield Reinforcement Lv.1:

The host can temporarily strengthen the combat abilities of allies under his command. The greater the number of allies being reinforced, the weaker the enhancement becomes.

Increase combat abilities: 10%

Cooldown: One hour

"Commander Peci..." Ronan called out.

Peci smiled.

"Yes, adventurer?" he replied.

"We’re getting paid for this job, right? Like, based on how many orcs we kill?" Ronan asked.

The soldiers’ mouths fell open, while Peci’s expression froze.

Wait... was this how all adventurers were?

No wonder they were so rare to see in the army.

"Er..." Peci was lost for words.

Ronan’s face fell.

"I knew it. This is free..."

He sighed.

"Damn corporate work. Milking workers for low to zero pay..."