I Shall Evolve Everything

[Welcome to the Lowland realm]

[Your species has been chosen to fight for sovereignty of all realms. Fight and Conquer in this Grand game of Crowns!]

[Realm Announcement: All crowns have been given tier 9 level 9 housing, a special summoning token, and a 3 day novice protection note: a minority of crowns will awaken a talent]

...

[You have awoken your talent, please open your status to confirm]

'Status' Darwin thought bringing up a panel

[Name: Darwin]

[Territory tier/level: 9/1]

[Skills: None]

[Talent: Evolution*]

[Evolution: a tier 1 talent allowing the holder of this talent to simulate evolution in a smaller time frame.]

"Evolution, how ironic" Darwin thought out loud thinking how ironic it was to get a talent so deeply related with his namesake.

'Although a tier 1 talent huh, without anything to evolve it seems useless but with the special summoning token given to us if my luck comes around I'll be able to dominate this realm from the start ' Darwin thought already scheming on how to use his talent to the fullest.

After taking a breather to calm down Darwin took out the special token and then crushed the token.

A second later the broken token scattered into a kaleidoscope of lights before coalescing into a figure.

[Congratulations! you have summoned an Infant Alicanto]

A brilliant bird with glowing wings of copper green appeared in a flash of bright lights. It had three large tail feathers with a slender body.

The Alicanto despite its size saw Darwin and immediately hopped over to snuggle up to him seeming to ask for attention.

Looking at the Alicanto brought up its status screen

[Species: Alicanto]

[Tier/Level: 8/1]

[The Alicanto is a nocturnal bird with wings that glow at night. The glow is dependent on the type of ore it feeds on. Because it feeds on ore it can not fly however depending on when its last meal was it might weigh down enough to temporarily fly and gain greater agility at the cost of decreased defensive hide. Due to the Alicanto's eating habits they have a supernatural sense for ore deposits. While looking for ore a legendary Alicanto was followed by a greedy saint to which the Alicanto created a pitch black darkness and led the legendary class saint off a cliff]

"I'll name you Ali it might be a little unoriginal but it is the best I can give you my little Ali"

In response to her naming Ali gave a happy trill and hopped around Darwin. Seeing this Darwin pat Ali's head.

After playing with the little bird for a bit Darwin was ready to test his talent on Ali.

'Evolution' Darwin thought focusing on Ali.

[Choose a path of evolution:

Ore - the Alikando has spent its time in an ore rich environment allowing it to better digest ores. Alikando has evolved to process ores and integrate their toughness with greater efficiency

Power - the Alikando has spent its time being preyed on by larger creatures. The Alikando has given up all its toughness for speed and power. The Alikando evolved to refine the ores it has eaten into sharp talons and fangs]

…

Looking at the options given to him Darwin could see the advantages in both. The ore route of evolution would be better for protection but the downside is the amount of resources required to have a decent amount of protection not to mention how many rare ores it would need to eat to gain toughness comparable to other mythical creatures.

On the other hand the power route would require minimal resources as Ali would have gone through periods of starvation with predators to compete for its resources allowing it to do much more with limited resources. Darwin would also be able to capitalize on this early period by having a combat focused pet to conquer other civilizations while they are still developing. However the downside of this was how frail Ali would be.

After a moment of thinking Darwin chose to go the power route.

After choosing the power route Ali disappeared without a trace however in the corner of Darwin's vision he could see a little environment where his Alicanto was fighting for survival.

Moments after noticing this in a flash of light Ali reappeared looking slimmer and more powerful. She had a aura to her as though she would rip apart Darwin for the slightest of slights however after a moment passed and the bird noticed him the feeling dissipated still there but restrained.

Ali seeing it's owner chirped and flashed forward tackling him into a hug.

While being squashed by 50 pounds of bird Darwin brought up Ali's information.

[Species: Alicanto]

[Name: Ali]

[Tier/Level: 6/5]

[The Alicanto is a nocturnal bird with wings that glow at night. The glow is dependent on the type of ore it feeds on. Because it feeds on ore it can not fly however depending on when its last meal was it might weigh down enough to temporarily fly and gain greater agility at the cost of decreased defensive hide however this Alicanto has undergone evolution it has discarded its defensive abilities to focus entirely on offense instead of using the ore it ate to increase its defense and offence equally it instead sharpened its talons with white copper allowing it to pierce magical defenses. Due to the Alicanto's eating habits they have a supernatural sense for ore deposits. Legend has it that while looking for ore a mythic Alicanto was followed by a greedy saint to which the Alicanto created a pitch black darkness and led the miner saint off a cliff leading to the death of the legendary class saint]