Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

In Winterseed village, there exists a very large building used for welcoming visitors and holding important meetings. Nevertheless, the last time it was opened was during the last meeting Dragun Winterseed held with his strongest soldiers three days before leaving the village.

The details of the last meeting remain unknown, and all the participants of the meeting have been slain by goblins and Glenwood soldiers.

At this moment, Rowan, his captains, and D'andre could be seen walking toward the entrance of the building, which stood alone, opposite the village square.

It was still nighttime, and around twenty soldiers accompanied them, quickly forming a defensive formation around the building upon arrival.

Rowan and D'andre walked in front of the captains. Rowan opened the door, revealing the large hall within the building. With Rowan's [Night Vision], he was able to observe the hall and notice the wooden chairs arranged properly in a circle. He also saw the cobwebs and dust that had settled in the room, indicating it had been untouched for quite some time. The air inside was musty as well.

'No one has ever thought of cleaning this room since Dragun left,' Rowan sighed. He was a bit frustrated as this was the only place they could use in accepting D'andre.

His hut, while being the second-biggest house in the village, is only as big as a medium-sized bedroom on Earth. He couldn't entertain anyone with that.

While Rowan swam in his mental frustration, D'andre observed the room as well and noticed everything instantly.

He whispered a few strange words into the air, and suddenly, a magic formation appeared, glowing brightly and drawing the attention of everyone, including the soldiers guarding the premises. They all reacted the same—shocked and amazed.

"Magic!" Rowan's eyes widened in shock as he saw this.

He had used magic in games and watched a lot of movies featuring magic, but he had never seen anything so close and realistic! The feeling he experienced right now was akin to living out a dream in real life. Nevertheless, there was a bit of curiosity and greed within him.

He activated [God Eyes] and entered the detailed stats, where all of his skills would be displayed before him, and then he could copy them. However, after activating it, a frown appeared on his face as he observed the window floating in front of him.

[Skills: Trading (SS), Light Magic (B), Fire Magic (A), Mana Breathing (A), Voice of Prosperity (A), Sweet Tongue (D)]

DING [ERROR! You cannot copy skills from this character.]

DING [ERROR!!!]

Seeing these messages made Rowan's heart skip a beat as he observed D'andre.

'Who the hell is this guy? I can't copy any of his skills, not even the D-rank ones?!' Rowan exclaimed inwardly. This was the first time any of his skills had failed to activate on a target.

According to the function of his [COPY] skill, he could copy skills from anyone below SS-rank, and D'andre wasn't even S-rank, so why couldn't he copy his skills?

As Rowan pondered and wondered, the magic formation D'andre had created began to manifest its purpose as a strong wind suddenly appeared, drifting inside and across the room. Under his control, the wind acted as a cleaner, wiping away all the dust and cobwebs in a matter of seconds.

The captains behind Rowan watched all of this with their mouths wide open in shock.

This was simply extraordinary, throughout their lives, they had only heard that elemental magic existed but had never seen any before. In fact, according to their forefathers, manifesting elemental magic could only mean one had been blessed by the heavens and accepted by the elements, making them one with them.

The young soldiers who had left their positions to come watch were shocked beyond description as they observed with wide eyes and open mouths.

As for D'andre, he kept a smile on his face. After cleaning the room using wind magic, he made a ball of glowing crystal appear midair and used his wind magic to make it float into the room, letting it hover in the middle to provide lighting for the meeting.

After setting everything in place, he turned to Rowan, who was standing beside him, and nodded at him as if to signal, "He's done."

Rowan, still confused about D'andre's identity and the situation with the system, could only nod in response.

'I will get to know your true identity very soon,' he swore to himself.

He then signaled the guards to return to their position and the captains to come inside with him. The soldiers obeyed and did as he commanded, and the captains entered the room.

After five minutes, everything settled down, and the eight of them sat inside the room. The glowing crystals floated in the air, providing more than enough light. The doors were securely locked, ensuring the details of their meeting remained within the room.

Rowan faced D'andre, who sat opposite him with a slight frown on his face.

"You expect me to believe you just felt like coming here? Prove it," Rowan demanded, his eyes narrowing. He knew D'andre's answers were nothing but a smokescreen for his true intentions.

Rowan could literally see with [God's Eyes] that whenever D'andre answered most of his questions, his status changed from [Cheerful] to [Dishonest], indicating that his answers were lies.

"How and why should I prove it to you, Mr. Rowan? A merchant would venture into any territory he finds attractive and try to build up a successful business connection there. It is the norm of the business world, and I am sure you are smart enough to know that," D'andre replied with a smile.

[ Your captains find D'andre suspicious ]

[ Your captains' trust with D'andre has increased by 50% | Current Trust level: 30% ]

From the system notification, Rowan could tell that D'andre's answers were smart enough to convince the captains, but he knew they were fake as usual.

'What is this guy hiding?' he thought but kept a straight outward expression.

"There's Glenwood village nearby, and they're at least three times more prosperous than Winterseed. If you were really the skilled merchant you claim to be, wouldn't it make more sense to build connections there? Besides, my village barely has any purchasing power. So, what exactly do you expect us to pay for whatever you're offering?" he asked.

[ Your captains' trust with D'andre has decreased by 80% | Current Trust level: -50% ]

D'andre and Rowan went back and forth, debating, each of them trying to outsmart the other with every word they spoke.

Their back and forth left the captains shocked and amazed: This was the first time they had seen their beloved Lord battle someone verbally. He was able to contrast all the points D'andre gave and use them for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, D'andre was astonished. 'Is this the same guy Elara described as young and naive?' he wondered, recalling his conversation with Elara before arriving at the village.

'I've spoken and made deals with dukes, kings, and emperors, but none of them have ever made me question my own wit. Yet this guy—a mere village head of such a small place—is outsmarting me at every turn. Who is he really?'