Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

— Some time later —

"Hmm…"

Although Necro had a strong start and a melodramatic exit, he eventually realized—without a shred of doubt in his mind—that he was… lost.

"Barbarian Lord Usopp told me there was a Human Settlement somewhere around here, but why can't I seem to find it?"

He looked left—there were trees.

He looked right—there were more trees.

Then he looked ahead—and no surprise there—more trees.

"Hurm…" Necro rubbed his chin in confused thought. "Was the information I received faulty or something?"

"No," he rebutted. "I made sure Barbarian Lord Usopp hadn't lied to me. It would've been foolish for him to do so if speaking strictly based on probability."

In the end, Necro just decided to continue aimlessly walking around.

The cultivators that attacked them over the last two years came from somewhere—he just had to find out where.

Just then!

"ROOOARRGGHH!!!"

What sounded like the bellow of a ferocious reptilian beast was followed by the sudden appearance of a pretty young girl, roughly 13 years of age. She was running atop the tree canopies above—that was when Necro saw it:

A green-scaled dragon.

"Or rather, some variation of one with a mildly diluted Bloodline?"

As Necro pondered this question, the bizarre situation before him continued to unfold.

What was most bizarre was the fact that the ferocious dragon-like monster was not the one doing the chasing. No, it was instead the pretty young girl who was chasing after the fleeing dragon monster.

"Come back here, Lolipop!" the pretty girl cried out as she sped up, achieving speeds surpassing most normal Early Qi Condensation Realm Cultivators.

His curiosity got the better of him, and Necro wound up tailing the dragon-human pair.

If nothing else, perhaps they could lead him toward the nearest Human Settlement.

With all that in mind, Necro followed them. However, after some time of watching the pretty young girl get no closer to catching the dragon monster, he figured he'd become more personally involved.

Taking a few |Shadow Steps| forward, Necro silently and untraceably appeared right beside the annoyed young girl. She seemed to still be unaware of his existence, so he took the time to analyze the contours of her face.

Round peach-blossom eyes that glowed with confident youth. Delicately carved eyebrows containing a touch of fieriness. Pinkish lips that complimented her black-with-pink-highlights hairstyle exceptionally well.

This unknown girl was definitely destined to be a beauty.

However, Necro wasn't at all interested in that. Instead, he was more attracted by the clothing that adorned her. It was very well made and stood out among the greenery that encompassed them.

If summed up in one word, her attire was extremely 'opulent'.

'This girl's standing in the world is certainly not low,' Necro thought. 'Probably a High-born, as Barbarian Lord Usopp called them.'

Her cultivation of the 3rd Layer of Qi Condensation at such a tender age also supported this hypothesis.

"Y-You, who are you!?"

While lost in thought, Necro was late to realize that he had finally been found out. However, he was not late enough to be incapable of evading the swift sword strike that aimed to lob off his head.

There was no actual intentional killing intent in the attack—as it was more reflexive than anything—thus Necro performed a simple parry with his bare hand. After which, he spoke up, saying:

"I likely spooked you, human girl, but I mean no harm."

"That sounds exactly like something a malicious person would say!" the pretty young girl retorted as she temporarily diverted her attention to the unknown figure running beside her on the tree canopies. "I'm sorry for striking out so suddenly before, but if you don't tell me why you were following me, I-I won't make things easy for you…!"

'This girl… She's not as snooty as I imagined a High-born to be…'

Under normal circumstances, she might have even come off as friendly.

"Human girl, if I lend you a hand with this dragon predicament of yours, will you do me a favor?" Necro asked.

"W-What?? What are you talking about—"

"The dragon," Necro repeated. "Do you require some assistance? Answer yes or no—my offer only stands for a very limited amount of time."

"B-But I don't even know who you are!"

"Does that matter?" asked Necro. "The monster you're chasing is getting away. I promise you I can bring it back—is this what you want or not?"

"I…" The young girl looked toward the distant flying dot in the distance, with a complex array of emotions bubbling up inside her.

In the end, she couldn't take the inner contemplation anymore.

"F-Fine! Just do it! A favor!? I'll give it to you!"

She suddenly blushed.

"As… As long as it's not too unreasonable…!" she added meekly.

The pretty young girl didn't believe this boy, who appeared younger than her, could do anything more than she could. However, at this point, she was willing to grasp onto any straws she could.

Lolipop couldn't be allowed to get away!

"Remember what you promised," said Necro as he raised an arm, and without moving a single inch or turning his head, shot a massive, elementless |Death Piercer| out of his warped hand.

The pretty young girl watched in utter astonishment as a few dozen-meter-long pointed pillar rocketed through the skies. In the blink of an eye, it caught up to the 20-meter green-scaled dragon.

But before it could pierce through the monster and give the young girl a heart attack, it broke apart mid-air. It then splintered further and transformed into a woody net that wrapped around the dragon monster.

"ROAARGHH—!!"

The dragon shrieked as its mobility was instantly restricted. Within milliseconds, it could be seen plummeting from the skies before ultimately crashing into a mountain and bouncing off into a patch of forest.

"Your dragon," Necro said calmly as he lowered his arm. "I've caught it for you."

"This…"

The pretty young girl showed a baffled expression from the moment she first heard him say this all the way up to when the two of them arrived at the dragon's crash site. In fact, it only worsened when she saw how tightly bound the dragon was.