Chapter 9: Evolvers and Domains of Power

“Not bad, not bad. We’ve weeded out the useless riffraff, and those who remain… well, at least they’re barely worth looking at.” On the first day of training in the second month, after the morning assembly, Instructor Colin appeared before the cadets once more. He swept his cold gaze over them, nodded slightly, and then barked his address.

“But don’t get complacent or cheerful. Your comfortable days of training are over! Mere physical strength means nothing in the wastelands. Only by surviving deadly battles can you become truly strong! From today onward, you’ll learn the most direct and effective techniques for killing—and you’ll put them into practice yourselves!”

“Furthermore, as I told you a month ago, every training session will be scored, and your scores will determine what resources you receive. Here’s some good news: if your performance places you in the top ten, you’ll earn extra grade-1 genetic enhancement serums as a reward!”

He paused, a meaningful smile flickering across his face, then looked down at the cadets with a stern voice.

Instructor Colin’s speech marked the beginning of a new phase in their training. Endurance and strength sessions were shortened, and in their place, a new discipline was introduced—combat training.

Every afternoon at four, cadets underwent two hours of combat training. The session began with instructor-led teachings, usually lasting half an hour; afterwards, the cadets sparred with each other for ninety minutes, applying the techniques they’d learned.

Performance was directly linked to the acquisition of precious grade-1 genetic enhancement serums. During each sparring session, cadets attacked with full force, never holding back—if one could seriously injure a rival, their chances of earning the serum would undoubtedly rise.

With a wealth of combat experience from his previous life, and the aid of his chip, Zhang Ran excelled in combat classes, undefeated in every match. In contrast, weaker cadets were often left battered and bruised, with bloodshed a common sight.

At the weekend, the instructor named Saqi announced the results—as Zhang Ran expected, he easily made it into the top ten, securing third place, behind only two cadets whose average physical stats surpassed his by 0.2.

Naturally, in the following week, Zhang Ran received extra grade-1 genetic enhancement serums, further accelerating his body’s improvement.

Beyond the addition of combat training, evening classes also changed. After mastering the basics of common characters, the cadets ceased literacy lessons and began studying knowledge about Evolvers and the habits and weaknesses of common mutant creatures.

Before entering the Black Hawk Youth Training Camp, Zhang Ran’s understanding of Evolvers was limited to rumors heard by the body’s original owner—shallow and vague. Now, however, he gained a much deeper insight.

First were the requirements to become an Evolver. Once a person’s physical abilities reached twice the normal level, the evolutionary energy gained no longer strengthened the body, but instead was stored within the spine. As energy accumulated, it would eventually condense, undergo a qualitative change, and form an “Evolution Point.”

When an Evolution Point was formed, it appeared as a source of heat along the spine. At this stage, one only needed to focus their will, guiding the Evolution Point from the base to the top of the spine. Once this happened, the point would be consumed, triggering a mysterious transformation from ordinary human to Evolver.

Next were the ranks of Evolvers. In the wasteland world, ordinary people were considered level 0. Upon gaining an Evolution Point and successfully evolving, a person became a level-1 Evolver, and could continue to evolve into higher ranks by accumulating and consuming further Evolution Points.

Evolvers between levels 1 and 9 were commonly called Scavengers. Compared to ordinary people, Scavengers possessed greater physical strength and resistance to radiation and viruses, qualifying them for basic activity in the wilds.

However, in the perilous wastelands, Scavengers were still the lowest tier, often dying from inattention. Usually, they could only clean up areas already swept by stronger Evolvers, hunt low-level mutant beasts left behind, and collect valuable spoils—hence their name.

To advance through the Scavenger ranks, one must accumulate evolutionary energy and condense Evolution Points; each advancement required two points, and the energy needed for each condensation increased with rank.

Beyond the Scavenger stage were the Hunters—Evolvers between levels 10 and 18. Hunters were far stronger than Scavengers, capable of independently hunting or pursuing powerful mutant beasts, zombies, and alien races in the wilds—hence their title.

Advancing as a Hunter required four Evolution Points per level, and condensing each point was dozens of times harder than during the Scavenger stage. As for realms beyond Hunters, instructors and textbooks alike offered no information.

Finally, there were abilities and domains. The reason Evolvers surpassed ordinary humans was not only their superior physiques, but also the abilities they mastered. According to the female instructor, some powerful Evolvers possessed abilities rivaling or even exceeding the destructive force of nuclear weapons.

Evolvers gained new abilities at levels 1, 3, 6, and 9, and at each subsequent realm. Based on their effects, these abilities were categorized into five domains: Combat, Arcane, Perception, Psychokinetic, and Support.

Abilities in the Combat Domain focused on physical enhancement and using the body as a weapon in close-quarters offense and defense—such as Strength Boost, Double Strike, Master of Offense and Defense, Penetrating Blow, and so on.

The Arcane Domain covered manipulation of elements for medium- and long-range attacks and close-range defense—such as Fireball, Ice Lance, Lightning Arrow, Energy Shield, etc.

The Perception Domain involved sensing the environment, with common abilities like Heat Detection, Night Vision, Scent Tracking, Visual Enhancement, and similar talents.

Psychokinetic abilities pertained to manipulating and enhancing weapons and firearms, such as Heavy Projectile, Explosive Rounds, Sniper Specialization, Weapon Enhancement Enchantments, and others.

Support abilities were broad, encompassing anything not easily classified under the previous four domains—blessing, summoning, healing, luck, and similar powers all fell within this category.

Of course, the five domains were merely rough classifications; many abilities could fit into more than one domain, and some rare abilities defied categorization altogether. Nevertheless, the five domains remained comprehensive and served as the standard for ability classification in the wilds.