Adam still had half a day remaining before nightfall and since his research goal was reached, he figured he might as well find his test subjects immediately.

He thoroughly looked around, trying to spot something suitable as a test subject. As he was visually inspecting the surroundings, the wind brought with it a particular smell. Adam turned around to see where it came from. He had totally forgotten about it, but last week’s unwelcome visitor was still laying there. When building his camp, he had temporarily thrown it into a corner, with the intention of throwing it away afterward, yet as he had thrown the leftover wood in the same corner, the dead wolf had been half-obscured, resulting in Adam forgetting about the rotting beast. As time went on, the rotting process advanced, and now that Adam paid attention to his surroundings, he could not not notice the ever increasing stench of death.

He quickly removed the leftover wood, and was thanked in turn with an increase in the stench. The rotting Beast didn't look too inviting the touch. So Adam decided to not move the beast and use the skill on it where it was. He looked at the carcass, concentrated a bit on it, before invoking the skill.

[Wolf carcass] successfully evolved into [Zombie wolf] [Wolf carcass] successfully evolved into a being of the first order The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 16 hours

It ebbed away. It was the weirdest feeling in the world. The feeling of your mind melting, disappearing into the void. Your will being channeled into something else. It lasted only for an instant, yet the result held a grasp on his mind for a long time. The dead body of the decapitated wolf rose from the dead. Adam tried to understand it as soon as he saw it, yet an invisible barrier appeared in his mind. A glass ceiling prevented him from thinking on his own level. He was confused for a short time, before he couldn't even remember what he was even confused about.

Soon there was only Adam, the wolf, and the world inside the camp. The undead beast tried to walk around, but without its head it could only wander aimlessly. Adam, in his daze, followed the headless wolf's example. For 16 hours he did not do much more than aimlessly wander about, only remembering to eat at random times. After these dreamlike 16 hours, Adam finally woke up. Everything became clear again as the signals from the surroundings started to enter his body. The glass ceiling disappeared like snow melting before the sun.

The sounds and colors flooded his mind again as a feeling of realness overcame him. He had, once again returned to the land of the aware. He looked at the still wandering wolf. Now that is mind was clear again, he could finally study his test subject. He invoked [Identify] to grasp the nature of this had headless being.

Great , Adam thought, I successfully created a fucking zombie! What in fuck's name am I supposed to do with such an ability? Shouldn't it just power up things or shit? Why did it go and create a zombie?

Adam raged for an entire hour, before calming down. With his calmed down mind, he once again thought over the situation.

I enlightened a dead carcass, granting it ‘both mind and soul’. Objectively speaking, it was no wonder that the result was a zombie. What else would it have become?

Now that rationality had set in once again, Adam decided that he needed to find something that was not a carcass to test his skills on. He left his camp in search for a test subject, leaving the wolf, who was busy bumping into a wall, behind in the camp.

As he reached the edge of where the forestry began, he saw a big blueish cat hiding behind some bushes. He immediately stopped walking, and started to slowly approach the cat. The cat, who was busy hunting, warily looked at Adam. It seemed to consider for a second, before quickly running off. Adam, who saw a great test subject to running away, followed in hot pursuit. The cat was quick, but not as quick as Adam. Adam quickly started closing the gap, yet the cat didn't want to give up and did its utmost to lose the pursuer. As it ran at full speed, it quickly dived into a bush. Adam heard a dull thump, followed by a short but miserable mew. He quickly grasped through the bushes and took hold of the furry thing on the other side.

In his hands, he held the trashing cat. He quickly used [Identify] on it to make sure it was fine.

... is this someone’s pet or something? Well, it’s not like I’m going to kill it. I’m just borrowing it for a bit. It might end up undead though...

He took a quick glance at the surroundings. His gaze swept over the rock wall, before coming to a standstill at a particularly oddly shaped Rock. He also wanted to test his skill on something that had never lived, and thus decided to take the rock as well. As he grabbed the rock, he saw something purple at the edge of his vision. He turned his head to discover a peculiar purple flower. As he used [ Identify] on it, its name became clear.

He supposed that he didn't already have a plant as a test subject. So he plucked the flower and took it with him too. With a rich harvest in test subjects, Adam made his way back to his camp.

As he stepped out of the verdant bushes, a gust of wind hit him in the face, forcing him to squint. He looked to the sky and saw ink-black clouds looming over the horizon.

I guess this means tonight's weather won't be boring

When he turned down his head, in the corner of his vision, an unnatural spot within the green forestry caught his attention. The vivid green and lively light brown were rudely disturbed by a blob of pinkish grey. Once he focused his eyes on the spot, he found it to be a creature he had not yet seen. It was hard to see from its fat body if it was male or female. Its pinkish grey skin tone gave it an un-human feeling, which was complemented by the fact that its head resembled more that of a pig then of a Human. Adam responded to this weird sight by reflexively using [Identify] on the being.

An orc?

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Her heart was racing as she ran through the forest. She felt the fear creeping up her spine. It felt cold, yet she was sweating. Unnerved she looked left and right to no avail.

Where is he? Where is he? Where could he have gone?

All kinds of Doom scenarios flew through her mind. She tried to push them away and remain calm, but it was of no use. Her heart was beating erratically as she continued to run through the thick vegetation.

A hundred meters to the right was are a relatively brighter spot in the forest.

A clearing! From there I might be able to oversee a larger part of the forest!

Quick in her judgment, she dashed towards the brighter spot. When she had almost reached the clearing, a weird wooden structure appeared in her view. It caused her to slow down. She stopped right before the clearing and peered through the bushes in an attempt to understand the place.

Seconds after she arrived, she heard something to her left. Reacting to the sound she quickly gazed to her left. A creature she didn't recognize came out of the forestry. She felt a shock through her entire body. Not from seeing a human for the first time, but from seeing what he was holding.

Eleazer!

She would recognize its lustrous thick fur from miles away. It was her pride and she brushed it three times a day. Its bushy tail was weakly hanging, its usual liveliness was nowhere to be seen.

It came from her stomach. Welling Up from Below. Quickly rushing up her head. Hurriedly spreading through her mind, clouding it with crimson clouds. All disappeared from her world, except the man and the cat. An emotion from the deepest reaches. There was a reason they called her 'Berserker'.

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Frozen in place, Adam stared at the orc for several moments. She was the first to move, and her step forward was the start of the battle. He quickly dropped everything, before his two [Mana-chakrams] swiftly came into being.

I should be able to easily best a level 7.

While running, Adam looked at his opponent, who, with bloodshot eyes, stared back. Nytia, the orc's iron-clad fist flew at Adam with surprising speed. Adam, shocked by his opponent's speed, could only meet her fist with his. Sparks flew everywhere as his [Mana-chakram] met the ironclad fist. The blue circle instantly deformed under the heavy blow. A second later it shattered under the extreme pressure. With still half of its momentum remaining Nytia's fist bashed into Adams. Adams body was flung three meters back. With great effort, he managed to land on its feet.

Fucking hell, this thing is much stronger than those goblins, even though they had a higher level!

His whole body hurt like hell, but his enemy wasn't going to let him off. Nytia's fist was bleeding heavily. The blood was gushing out of a large cut in her gauntlet, yet she was already charging at him again. Adam didn't dare to meet her head on; he quickly started evading her blows. In the blink of an eye, they had crossed the whole clearing twice. Adam felt is legs slowly turn to lead, yet he had no choice but to continue this deadly dance with the female berserker orc.

Finally, Adam made a mistake. As he once again changed his direction, he accidentally stumbled over the rock he brought with him and had thrown on the ground when the fight started. He unceremoniously crashed into the ground, tumbling around a few times before losing parts of his skin from his unfortunate encounter with the ground. When his body finally came to a stop, he quickly crawled away from his position, afraid of the advantage his opponent got from his fall. He looked back to find out to see where she was, yet she was nowhere to be seen. Confused, he turned around, only to see his opponent laying flatly on the ground. Even more confused, he used [Identify] on her.

unconscious?

Adam looked around cautiously in an attempt to find out who was responsible for this situation, but there was no one. He mustered all of his remaining strength to get up. He gazed at the unconscious orc, wondering what to do with her. He already had a dead sample, thus a living one would be far more desirable. And he already had a plan to deal with her.

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Two hours later, within Adam’s camp, an orc head was sticking out of the ground. Adam wiped away the sweat from his forehead. Now that Nytia wouldn't be able to hurt him, he finally had time to check if he gained anything from the battle. Full of anticipation he opened the status screen and he wasn't let down. He gained two levels in [Block] and [Pain resistance], and one in [Running] and [Physical fitness], slightly increasing his future survivability.

Now that everything had settled down, he could finally focus on this research. He had put the cat in a makeshift cage made from the leftover wood. And now, he lined up the spoils, the wolf's bane, the rock, the blue cat and the orc. Since the orc was buried alive, except for her head, he couldn't move her. So he had to start the line from the buried orc's position. He thought for a bit, before deciding it wouldn't matter with which one he would start.

The rock was the first victim. Adam let his concentration fall on the rock, before immediately activating [enlighten]. For the second time, his mind metaphorically melted and washed away through his ears. As he was standing there like a fool, the stone grew legs and walked away.

[Rock]] successfully evolved into [Walking Rock] [Rock] successfully evolved into a being of the first order The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 16 hours [Enlighten] has leveled up to Lv. 2

Sixteen hours later, the bright light of the sun's rays invading Adam's sleeping mind, finally forced him to wake up. The first thing he saw was a rock walking on 16 small legs. His mind needed a few moments to process all of it.

I gave the rock legs, and brought it to life? This skill is incredible... I think...

As the rock was aimlessly walking around, Adam diverted his attention to the test subjects. Nytia was still unconscious, Eleazer was still locked up, and the Wolf’s bane wasn’t really doing anything. It was a plant after all. So moved his attention back to the walking Rock.

Before I move on to the other test subjects, Adam thought, while he stared at the rock, I will test what happens if I use enlighten on it for the second time.

And like that, the poor rock that finally gained life, had to be Adams victim once again.

[Walking Rock] successfully evolved into[Golem] [Walking Rock] successfully evolved into a being of the second order The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 8 hours

It was afternoon as Adam regained his intelligence. Having woken up from the daze, he looked at the being in front of him. It was a rough stone sculpture resembling a human. It didn’t have any of the finer features, like a mouth or nose. But despite that it was unmistakably resembling a human. After his initial observations, Adam used [Identify] on it.The waiting time halved, was the last intelligent thing Adam thought that morning.

The amount of information wasn’t really...satisfying. But more importantly, his experiment was a success! The weird walking rock had successfully become something...greater. Adam started wondering as to the limits of this skill. Would he be able to indefinitely enlighten this being until it became a god? Or would there be an unbreakable wall somewhere along the road? Preventing it from ever growing stronger. It was exhilarating for a mortal to do the work of the divine. The possible prospects made him excited for what was to come. The research fanaticism he picked up by researching the dawn stone flared up again. He knew he would not rest before knowing the limits of the skill.

He glanced at the other test subjects; nothing changed from eight hours ago. He looked back at this creation, determined to push it one step further. For a moment, he laughed at his own foolishness as he knew he would have to, again, spent the next eight hours, being not much more than brain-dead. Yet such a thought lasted only a moment, before his determination returned in an even stronger fashion. With a thought [Enlighten] activated once again and the intelligence disappeared from Adam’s eyes.

[Golem] successfully evolved into [Earthen] Golem] successfully evolved to the third order The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 8 hours [Enlighten] has leveled up to Lv. 3

While wishing he had more INT, his mind disappeared into oblivion. And when he finally awoke, it was already morning. He guessed that his brain-dead version was still intelligent enough to go to bed. He only wished that it was intelligent enough to lay down within the cabin. He wiped the dew from his face and got up.

His eyes fell on the person standing before him. His skin was an earthly brown. His eyes seemed to be bottomless pits with dirty yellow flames in the middle. He was staring at Adam and Adam stared back for some time.

[Identify]!!!

Earthen?! He is the golem!?

“Euhm.. creator... are you okay?”, the earthen asked.

It spoke!

Adam coughed once, before replying, ‘I’m alright.’ Silence permeated the air afterward as Adam’s mind was fully occupied trying to figure out what to do next. He had created a being, an intelligent being! But that was just in his research mania! He had no idea what to do once he had actually created a being he could converse with. He created it, but did it resent him for it? Did it feel grateful? Did it even care? Or was it, perhaps, as confused as he was? Should he send it away or did he have a responsibility to care for what he created? He could just kill it and no one would ever know...

“... creator...”, the earthen finally said. Upon which the confused Adam sprung out of his daze and reflexively replied ‘yes’.

“What should I do?”, the creation asked his creator.

You’re asking me? How the fuck do you expect me to know? I just created you because I was curious! Do you expect me to tell you that? Isn’t that the same as telling you that your existence has no meaning? Do I look that evil? I’ll just make something up!

“What do you want to do?”, Adam replied in an attempt to throw the question back at the earthen.

“I do not know my purpose, creator. But you, as my creator, surely know my meaning!”, the earthen answered honestly and he continued, “I beseech you to tell me, creator!”

A purple light awakened in his mind, suppressing its own flare, whispering thoughts that should not be thought. The confused Adam didn’t notice, as he was busy trying to think of a raison d’être for the earthen.

“I created you, because I needed a... helper!”, Adam replied and tried to look strict during the second part, “of course, if you’re dissatisfied about it you should just scram, I’ll just make a new helper. One who does appreciate his creator.”

“No! No! Please, I have nowhere to go if you sent me away!”, the earthen hurriedly answered.

What the fuck did I just make up? I sound like some evil god! I just inserted the second part because I was afraid I would hold you against your will!

Adam sighed. What was done, was done. Maybe it was just like having a child, the responsibility might be worth it, in the end. Adam finally made up his mind. Since he created this being, he had the responsibility to care for it. And thus he decided to give it his first order. To give it its meaning.