The Glorious Evolution Chapter 3: The Sun Disk Towers.

Once Levi finished his daily training regimen, he dashed for a rapid shower, completely indifferent to the horde of grotesque nightmares ogling his privates.

What about the incident from before? He'd long grown accustomed to it.

Levi had solid cause not to be spooked by Ash'kral... He'd watched him commit heinous acts against nightcrawlers who dared provoke him, crafting a terrifying notoriety in the process.

Poor Eggplant nightcrawler—he was utterly clueless...

That said, although Ash'kral constantly poked fun and pestered Levi, he'd never once breached his dreams or launched an attack on him.

Shower complete, Levi approached the wardrobe, arm extended ahead, fingers tallying silently as per his routine.

His fingers brushed the automated closet; a single button push unveiled an outfit of matching pieces—black trousers paired with a plain white tee and oversized hoodie.

He displayed zero passion for trends, craving nothing but maximum ease.

Clothes on, he stepped into standard white sneakers, now slightly soiled from wear, slipped on round black shades, and sealed the closet shut.

Arriving at the entrance, he swept his hand aside to snag a plain white cane.

Yet the second he unlatched the door, Arthur loomed beside him, dressed identically, with a half-consumed banana crammed in his mouth.

"Wher...ar we goin..?" Arthur mumbled through his mouthful, blatantly disregarding his brother's solo moment.

"Seeking a recommendation letter for the Contract Ritual Assembly." Levi replied steadily.

"This again, ahh, aight."

Arthur lacked the energy to bicker over this topic once more. He'd exhausted every word and deed trying to block his brother from joining the Contract Ritual Assembly.

It wasn't disbelief in Levi's potential, but awareness that a core requirement for Daywalker transformation demanded eyes with exceptional sunlight tolerance.

A razor-thin gap existed between robust light resistance and full immunity.

Levi could only take in light via his skin or consuming Growth Totems—both far less dependable than fixating one's gaze right on the sun.

To humans, light was simply light, but for Nightcrawlers? Their ultimate fuel for growth and evolution... their lifeblood!

Cursed to yearn for it yet defenseless against direct contact, Nightcrawlers harvested light through four methods: ingesting plant-captured rays, devouring humans or beasts outright, or forging a contract to inhabit a human host.

The former options spoke for themselves, but contracts grew complex, allowing nightcrawlers to craft mutual gains or skewed deals benefiting one side.

Naturally, nightcrawlers seldom inked pacts that shortchanged themselves.

Thus, they lured fragile-minded humans into surrendering their forms for trifling lures like instant payback, devastation, or other vile cravings.

These unbalanced bonds spawned Sleepwalkers—shapeshifting humanoid horrors navigating light and shadow alike.

However, mutual contracts forged a Daywalker.

Levi counted as a muggle, no different from other blind souls worldwide, saddled with the most abysmal 'talent' for Daywalker development.

"Brother, even if by sheer miracle we snag a recommendation letter from a legit agency and you gain entry to the ceremony, how will you handle the ritual's final stage?" Arthur grinned bitterly. "You know full well nightcrawlers pick their hosts, not the reverse—especially for low-talent folks. Yours? They'll find your daily light intake worthless. I dread watching those hideous bastards snub you publicly."

"If I get rejected, so be it, but one step at a time, one step at a time..."

Such overwhelming handicaps left Levi utterly unperturbed... They'd shatter any average person, compelling surrender before the fight began.

Not Levi, though... He'd find no eternal peace until facing the pair of nightcrawlers haunting his nightmares.

"By the way, shouldn't you be in school by now?" Levi's tone sharpened abruptly, icing Arthur's nerves.

Towering at six feet six inches with a build like a bastion, he remained the baby brother to Levi, despite their scant one-year age gap.

"Come on Levi, we have only one month left before the semester ends, and also the Contract Ritual Assembly is in two months. With my sexy physique, I am bound to pass the trials and become a certified Daywalker." Arthur sought to calm his brother down, "School will be useless then as I will be joining the Grand Daywalkers Training Center."

Levi fell quiet, realizing his brother spoke a ton of truth. For ordinary commoners, finishing high school and college remained essential to grasp any chance at a decent future.

However, for aspirants chasing daywalker status? Training started from infancy on nearly every skill; even then, it often fell short of success.

Anyone might ponder why the Daywalker profession drew such envy.

The answer was straightforward: Daywalkers stood as modern-era heroes, humanity's protectors, the sole force checking the spread of darkness, and above all, the supreme powers ruling the world.

Nearly every Governor in the Holy Regions ranked as mighty Daywalkers who could unleash miracles with just a finger snap.

In this era, no mere commoner ever rose to political office.

Hence, achieving Daywalker rank elevated one above the masses. Yet, the greatest perk lay in their freedom to rest anytime, safeguarded from intrusions by their bonded nightcrawler.

Though Arthur's argument rang true, Levi replied in a subdued tone, "Arthy, don't argue with me. I don't want you to stay in school for a grade, I just want you to gain knowledge."

"Don't forget, there is also a trial for intelligence in your precious plan."

"Are you insulting my intelligence? Huh?" Arthur appeared irritated, "Just because I have big muscles doesn't mean I am dumb..."

"What's seven multiplied by eight?" Levi questioned calmly.

"This...Cough, one hundred and..."

"Maybe you should stop hitting weights and start hitting'em books. You will bring shame to our family name during the assembly." Levi cut in with an exasperated sigh.

"Not if you were there." Arthur fired back with a broad smile.

"Asshole, you know it frowned upon to abuse the disabled?" Levi laughed lightly, "So be it, go wear something else, we might be out for a while."

"Hmm? Where are we going?"

"Borders."

"Borders?" Arthur chuckled, "Smart, we have already gotten kicked out of every private agency in the settlement. We might as well visit their Daywalkers at the borders."

"But, how are we going to enter the outposts?"

"Don't worry, I have it covered."

"Aight."

While Arthur stepped out from the apartment building, marveling at Tamara's settlement's stunning views, Levi faced a swarm of nightcrawlers drifting everywhere, seeking fresh tormented prey and lurking for Stygian Gates to appear.

Sadly for those creatures, not a trace of darkness existed in the settlement, constructed fully to block nightcrawlers' entry.

Portals to the Shadow dimension only emerged after fifteen minutes in total blackness.

This forced holy regions to build cities featuring glass ceilings on structures and embed artificial safeguard lights into every corner.

Such measures made daytime Stygian Gate openings—and invasions—at settlement cores or capitals virtually impossible without sabotage.

Naturally, a dedicated department oversaw the synthetic light system's maintenance citywide.

Regarding nighttime and subterranean shadows? For the moment, divine forces shielded humanity.

Meanwhile, Levi and Arthur zipped along on an electric dirt bike toward the borders, dodging vehicles and walkers, ignoring their swears at Arthur's wild riding.

Soon after riding out, they hit Tamara's settlement edges, cruising over lush golden wheat fields as sun rays bathed their skin warmly.

Scattered folks perched in trees or field middles, meditating with gazes locked on the glowing sun.

Levi and Arthur ignored them, as Daywalkers routinely soaked up pure sunlight in vast open fields.

The serenity, breeze, scents, and absence of structures aided their harmony with body and Shadowlife Seed.

"It must be a clear sky today."

Sensing the cozy rays, Levi tilted his head up, eager to simply admire the glorious azure heavens.

Yet, only endless blackness and the grotesque swarm of nightcrawlers clogging the heavens showed in the reflection...

Even as the clamor swallowed Levi's words, Arthur clasped his brother's hand and gestured toward certain spots in the sky.

With a silly, beaming grin, he began pointing out shapes, "Over there's a cloud shaped like a huge sword. Next to it, one that looks like a headless turtle. That other one—it resembles, hold on, it looks like that tool for clearing clogs in toilets and sinks... What's it called..."

"Plunger." Levi smiled.

"Plunger! Yeah, it completely slipped my mind."

Arthur chuckled and kept spotting fun shapes along the path. His limited words didn't matter—his brother always divined his meaning, like he could read his mind.

Blinded since age seven, Levi never let it halt his thirst for knowledge and books about the world... Actually, it sharpened his dedication to reading alone, his only path to sketching the world in his imagination.

...

Soon after, the Larson brothers neared the fringes of the Holy Heliodor Region.

Tamara's settlement ranked among the handful in the area huddled right against the borders.

This explained the abundance of branches from top-tier Daywalkers' Agencies out of the capital.

"We're approaching the Sun Disk Towers." Arthur noted, eyeing dozens of towering spires that climbed to two hundred meters apiece.

Towering structures stood kilometers apart from each other. Levi and Arthur understood these encircled the Holy Heliodor Region's borders in a vast ring, tracking the Holy Pillar's orbit.

Solar-powered, the towers boasted massive mirrors capable of beaming focused sunlight in full 360-degree sweeps, making them lethal traps for nightcrawlers at the frontier.

Arthur headed for the closest tower, pulling up short at the outpost's sternly guarded gates encircling it.

A snaking line already waited for guard scrutiny, since uncertified folk couldn't enter these outposts without Daywalker certification or citizen approval.

Being neither, Levi and Arthur sidelined their dirtbike against the outpost walls to observe the shifting queue.

As Arthur sized up the Daywalkers in the crowd, Levi observed the tethered nightcrawlers, each drifting in a narrow loop by their handlers.

Quickly, Levi drew most nightcrawlers' notice, redirecting their stares to him.

A craggy hog marked by glowing green fissures, icy blue eyes, and a pair of burly tails lumbered over to Levi, scoffing lightly, "This the famed Soulless Gaze? Doesn't match the hype—rumors overblown?"

"Unlikely, only one notorious blind kid haunts this zone."

A bulky insectoid monster with chitinous armor and amber gaze observed coolly, hovering steadily near Levi.

Flanked by the pair, Levi paid them no heed.

His vacant sockets locked onto a foggy serpent-manta blend, its ruby scales agleam and elongated tail dripping gore.

"Soulless Gaze, kid with ironclad will and eyes void like the abyss." The serpentine nightcrawler hissed close to Levi's ear, "Word is you pleaded with any nightcrawler to turn you Daywalker... Still hunting?"

"Why are you asking? Are you planning to refer me to your friends?" Levi whispered, a subtle smile playing.

Arthur caught his brother murmuring solo and knew he was linking with nightcrawlers.

Though Levi hadn't shared his scheme, Arthur trusted him fully.

The reason was straightforward: Arthur had encountered no one as cunning and brilliant as his elder brother.

That's why he honored him, heeding every directive, convinced it served his welfare even if baffling at first.

Levi's quip drew chuckles of delight from the three nightcrawlers.

"The rumors told no lies, you have no shame when it comes to securing a contract."

"Shame doesn't pay the bills." Levi kept his faint smile, "Shame won't get me my peace and vision back. So, how about we drop this meaningless shakedown and get to business."

"Business?" Blee'der narrowed his eyes menacingly but with a hidden hint of intrigue, "What does a hairless child know about business?"

"I know that your partner is trying to help you evolve to Tier 3 through a Remarkable Evolution." Levi's tone turned calm as he stared right into Blee'der's eyes.

The laughter faded away, and the looks of amusement vanished completely.

A flicker of surprise passed between the three nightcrawlers as they glanced at one another, before they turned their eyes back to Levi...This time, their stares were piercing and icy cold.