Mummy Evolution

In the past—Forest Settlement.

After Sett killed the boulder-like man with a single punch, as expected, chaos ensued. The people of the settlement began panicking, guards began storming in, and even with all of Sett's abilities as a Tier 4 Tomb Raider and a Tier 2 Axiom Holder, he couldn't fight everyone at once.

After all, there were more than a few Tier 4 Tomb Raiders in this settlement.

Yet, Sett didn't give up and fought valiantly. He tore apart his enemies, healed his own injuries using their slain corpses as fuel, and kept on fighting. His movement, well-trained but untested, became better and better as he kept on fighting.

But after hours of movement and relentless battle fueled by bloodlust, his inexperienced mind soon became weary.

In the end, his enemies were Tier 4 Tomb Raiders—they could analyze Sett as much as he could analyze them. Though they might not be as good as him individually, Sett was soon besieged by them all.

The chief of the settlement appearing out of nowhere—a person who had weird talons for arms and wings behind his back—sealed the deal. Sett was wholly unprepared for such a cunning enemy's ambush and soon, he was in a severe disadvantage.

Throughout it all, Ismera remained on her bench, eating dumplings.

The food stall around her was in tatters, the buildings destroyed, but she still looked the same as ever—not a speck of dust on her body. Even then, the people fighting didn't seem to notice her.

She asked calmly, "Are you done, Sett?"

Sett roared. "NO! I can still win!"

Soon, it was clear to her that Sett was bound for failure. The village chief tore Sett's arms out of him, making him fall bloody on the floor. The corpses around him had already been used to fuel Death Begets Life, and he no longer had the energy to heal himself.

He was a miserable sight.

And the village chief was a bloodthirsty beast of its own.

"I don't know whether to say I am disappointed or not," Ismera commented lightly and pointed at the Chief. "But it is as I expected, I guess."

Axiom of Information—Info Dump.

For a moment, the beast of a man froze above Sett, his mind filled with infinite information regarding a mot of dust. Even in a simple mot of dust, there was enough information to make a person's brain break down. The molecular structure, the way the atoms collided inside it, and much, much more.

And when all that information entered the man, he couldn't shrug it off.

That was all the help Sett needed.

He rose and bit into the man's neck, then tore it apart.

Blood geysered into his face.

But using the chief's corpse as energy, he healed himself.

Ismera sighed.

Sett, bathed in blood, slowly walked in front of her.

He remembered her words from earlier.

"I want you to try and defeat this Tomb without my assistance."

If he could do that, she would agree to any one of his requests.

Blood dripped from his jaw.

He had failed her challenge, and his face was a mask of silence.

More than the fact that he failed, Ismera's words had affected him.

I don't know whether to say I am disappointed or not, but it is as I expected, I guess.

Was this her expectations for him?

To fail?

It is an A-tier Tomb, of course she thought I'd fail. It's my first Tomb Raiding experience after all.

But Sett knew that was a lie to comfort himself. Even though Ismera expected him to fail the challenge, she must have had that tiny bit of expectation for him.

That tiny voice in her head that was waiting to be surprised by his performance.

His grandmother indeed had sky high expectations for him.

Otherwise, she would not have given him that challenge at all.

She had wanted to be surprised.

Sett's golden eyes immediately lost their shine.

And he had disappointed her.

Indeed, no matter how good Grandmother is to me, even she is just another person I will disappoint. Everyone has too high an expectation for me. I knew it.

"Grandma, I failed," he said.

"You did, and you failed quite miserably. Why did you have to kill that man for just speaking things?"

"He… He disrespected you. Before me!"

"Then kill him covertly once you are outside others' eyes. Isn't that how your mother taught you to act?"

Sett gritted his teeth. "I thought I was strong enough."

A resounding slap across his face.

"Say that again."

"I thought… I was strong enough."

"How did you come to such a foolish conclusion without knowing your enemies?" She snarled. "Do you take me for a fool? You knew you were ruining your own chances at winning the Tomb, and you still killed that man—so crudely at that."

Were her teachings regarding environmental awareness just nothing to him?

Did her teachings even matter then?

The more she thought about it, the angrier Ismera became.

"..." His face stung.

"You knew exactly what mistake you were committing, you knew the consequences of garnering such malicious attention from the natives. And you knew how to avoid the consequences while getting the same result. You could have killed the man, and have no losses.

"You could have done that, you are smart enough to notice, too. But you still chose to go with killing him and brute forcing it."

She stood up, her plate of dumplings already empty.

And then, she walked out of the settlement itself, one hand behind her back.

Sett followed her silently.

"I am not disappointed because you lost, nor because you didn't meet my sky high hidden expectations," she said. "Though that is part of it."

He clenched his fists. What had he done? He had failed. FAILED!

"I am disappointed because you didn't try your best to win," she said calmly but Sett could feel the anger hidden behind her words. "Was my reward not enough for you?" She mocked herself: "Heh."

Sett shook his head. "No, I wanted it more than anything. I want it more than anything."

"Obviously, actions speak louder than words."

Sett gritted his teeth. "I knew I was doing something foolish, but I just couldn't stop myself. It felt… so relieving to just kill that man."

Ismera laughed.

"Yes, killing him felt relieving since it will mean you lost the challenge because of your own volition."

Sett was silenced.

"If you didn't try hard enough, and then failed, you have an excuse to tell yourself. 'Oh, I failed because I didn't try hard enough, not because I lack the ability.'"

She looked at him. "Am I right?"

Sett… nodded, looking at his own hands.

Her gaze turned to the south. Since the settlement, which should have been slaughtered by something else, was slaughtered by Sett—though he had spared the normal people—the true slaughter would begin now.

Something was going to come and destroy that settlement in its entirety.

After all, Tombs were only made for the dead. And only if the dead amounted to a massive number can an A-tier Tomb be born.

"You acted because you wanted to protect your own ego. You do think of yourself as capable of anything, if you tried something with all your heart and still failed, you will lose yourself and your subconscious knows it."

In the distance, a giant titanic being's foot fell from the ground, making the lands themselves quake.

Step.

Sett's heart clenched in fear at the colossal being.

Step.

"That is the sole Guardian of this Tomb, it must have eaten the other guardians to become the Lord here. And it is going to kill us to grow stronger."

Sett walked forward, fear becoming even heightened.

He was not that thing's opponent by a long shot.

He knew it by instinct.

Fight it? Then die.

"Grandma," he said, "give me another chance. I will come back with its head."

Ismera looked at him, her stern face cracking into her usual smile. "Don't be reckless. In the end, it is failure that can help you grow. You failed this Tomb, so you will have to work extra hard in the next Tomb.

"If I threw you at an undefeatable opponent just because you failed, won't I disappoint you?"

Sett looked at her, really looked at her.

Ismera spread her arms apart, and her whole demeanor slowly changed.

"Come, come my enemies!" she whispered.

It was a giant moving towards her, but to Sett, she became even more colossal than the giant.

Sett put his face over his palm.

Grandma, I failed this Tomb, but I swear I won't fail the next.

Soon, Ismera was sitting at the top of the fallen giant's head, her legs regally resting on the corpse's eyelids. Frosty air moved out of her mouth, her entire body felt like a legend on the land.

She simply stared at him.

"This too, my son, is Ismera Ramses."

That was the legendary Tomb Raider in action.

To one who raided S-tier Tombs and came back victorious, A-tier Tombs were nothing special.