The evolution program inside Asoka had finally started to do its job.

The creature Asoka had eaten moments ago was thoroughly digested, and the nutrients were quickly redirected toward Asoka's growth. Unfortunately, Asoka's badly wounded body required immediate attention, forcing the program to prioritize healing his injuries instead of focusing on growth.

Healing Asoka proved to be quite a challenge. By the time his body was repaired, there were no nutrients left for him to evolve further. Fortunately, the program managed to redirect some of Asoka's internal energy to create a pair of hands at the base of his neck, located on his back near his spine.

These hands were bony and weak, but they followed the design and could grow stronger later when Asoka consumed a large amount of monster meat.

With its task completed, the evolution program ceased its activity, and Asoka began to regain consciousness.

The first thing Asoka noticed when he opened his eyes was the bright sky directly above him—or rather, he realized he was lying on his back, staring upward at the sky.

Confused, Asoka soon realized his body was moving up and down, as if something was carrying him. He craned his neck to look down and discovered a group of insect-like creatures lifting him as they walked in a neat line.

These insect creatures closely resembled beetles, with two pairs of forward-facing horns, another pair of horns on each side, and several additional horns scattered across the exoskeleton on their backs.

Aside from these differences, the beetles had ten pairs of legs, each as sharp as deadly fangs, stabbing deep into the ground as they marched in perfect unison.

Asoka turned his gaze toward the direction they were heading and realized they were taking him to the gigantic monster he had seen before. He couldn't help but notice a resemblance between the colossal creature in the distance and the beetles carrying him now.

"Are they going to eat me?" Asoka wondered.

If he were to compare their sizes, Asoka could tell that these beetle-like creatures were slightly smaller than him. He was confident he could handle one in a one-on-one fight, but against an entire group, his survival was uncertain.

As they drew closer and closer to the gigantic monster, a wave of fear began creeping into Asoka's mind and heart. Rational thought slipped away as fear took over, filling his mind with panic. Instead of thinking about how to defeat the beetles, all he could wonder was whether he could survive an escape attempt at all.

Asoka was taken even closer to the gigantic creature. He could now tell that it wasn’t just massive—it was ancient. The texture of its outer carapace was thick and weathered, resembling layers of fossilized stone. The aura radiating from the creature was overwhelming, so terrifying that Asoka’s rational mind finally gave way to panic, and he acted purely out of fear.

Asoka bent his body upward, using it like a spring to propel himself out of the beetles’ grasp. His sudden and unexpected movement caught the beetles off guard, momentarily slowing their reaction. Seizing this brief window of opportunity, Asoka twisted his body and stepped onto the back of one of the beetles.

Using the beetle beneath him as a launchpad, he pushed himself upward. The other beetles quickly adjusted, reforming their positions to intercept him at his likely landing point. Refusing to be captured again, Asoka let out a defiant roar and activated his short-range teleportation magic, shifting himself several tens of meters to the right and landing safely on solid ground.

Wasting no time, Asoka dashed away, leaving the beetles buzzing angrily behind him. The beetles regrouped and gave chase in a neatly coordinated formation, which somehow increased their speed. They quickly closed the gap between them and Asoka in mere moments.

Within less than a minute, the beetles were right on Asoka’s tail. Their sharp horns swung toward him, attempting to disable him and halt his escape. Seeing their relentless attacks, Asoka roared in frustration and fear.

Fear clouded his mind, leaving him unable to think clearly. He moved purely on instinct, driven by the primal urge to survive.

One beetle charged directly at Asoka, aiming to ram its horn into him. Asoka caught the horn mid-attack, lifted the beetle with his extraordinary strength, and hurled it nearly a hundred meters away. Another beetle seized the moment, slamming its horn into Asoka’s back. The impact sent him sprawling face-first into the ground, but he quickly pushed himself up to avoid a follow-up strike.

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A third beetle approached from the side, this time aiming to stab him in the abdomen. Asoka narrowly dodged the attack, escaping with only a shallow bruise on his belly. He retaliated with a vicious counterattack, driving his claws into the beetle's side, targeting the vulnerable seams where its outer shell plates connected.

His claws met some resistance, but with a powerful push, they pierced through the beetle’s carapace, digging deep into its body. Asoka ripped his claws out, leaving the beetle fatally wounded.

The beetles kept coming at him, one after another, attacking from different angles. Their goal was clear: to incapacitate him without killing him outright.

Realizing they didn’t intend to end his life, Asoka used this to his advantage. He fought with ferocious determination, launching all-out attacks and dodging only when absolutely necessary to avoid fatal blows. One by one, he managed to kill or mortally wound the beetles.

An hour later, Asoka stood victorious, though badly injured and utterly exhausted. Most of the beetles lay dead around him, their bodies riddled with stab wounds or crushed by his immense strength. A few had been torn apart by his sharp teeth.

“Finally... I can run away...” Asoka thought, relief washing over him.

But just as he was about to move, his body froze in place. An overwhelming sense of dread gripped him, as if his heart was being squeezed from within.

Slowly, Asoka turned his head to look behind him—and there it was. A gigantic beetle loomed over him, its colossal frame casting a shadow so vast it seemed to swallow the ground beneath it.

The beetle stood tall on two massive legs, with an additional four pairs of limbs that functioned like arms. Its dark brown carapace gleamed under the light, and six pairs of menacing horns adorned its massive head. Compared to this towering creature, Asoka felt as insignificant as a human standing at the base of a skyscraper.

“How... curious... you are... young beast...” the colossal beetle spoke, its thunderous voice reverberating through the air like a storm.

Asoka could only stare in fear, unable to move even a single muscle. His mind was blank, and any trace of fighting spirit had vanished completely. He couldn’t even muster anger, because the creature before him was beyond what emotions could comprehend.

“What are you? A human? Or a monster?” the gigantic creature asked curiously.

Asoka couldn’t answer. It wasn’t just fear freezing him in place—he genuinely didn’t know the answer.

“Hmmm, I expected as much. Let me see for myself,” the creature said, pointing one of its claws and gently touching Asoka’s head.

In an instant, Asoka felt as if he were being pulled into his own mind space—the place he had once drifted in during his long slumber. But this time, he wasn’t alone. Beside him stood the same gigantic creature, now shrunk down to Asoka’s size.

The creature looked around, its expression filled with curiosity and wonder as fragments of Asoka’s memories began to emerge. Sounds, images, and concepts flowed out like a rushing river, swirling around Asoka yet somehow avoiding the creature entirely.

“Can you speak in this place?” the creature asked.

“Y... Yeah... I think I can,” Asoka replied, stuttering nervously.

“Good. Tell me your name, young monster.”

“M-My name is Asoka.”

“Who gave you that name?”

Asoka fell silent again. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know. He simply knew that was what he was called.

“I see... Then who made you this way?” the creature asked, its voice calm but probing.

Once again, Asoka could only shake his head. That, too, was a question he had no answer for.

“May I see your memories? You’ll need to guide them to me so I can understand,” the creature said gently.

Asoka didn’t fully understand what the creature meant by "guide the memories," but somehow, instinctively, he knew what to do. It felt like they were communicating not just with words but through meaning and understanding.

Focusing his will, Asoka directed his memories toward the creature. The information streamed into the creature’s consciousness, and it began to nod slowly, seemingly pleased as it absorbed what it saw.

After several minutes, Asoka pulled back the flow of memories. For a brief moment, the creature’s expression shifted—annoyance and anger flickered across its face—but it quickly softened into understanding and acceptance.

“Thank you for sharing your memories with me, young monster. Now I know who you are,” the creature said.

“Can you tell me... about myself?” Asoka asked hesitantly, curiosity burning within him.

“Of course not. That is something you must discover on your own,” the creature replied firmly. Then, after a pause, it continued, “However, I can offer you a gift—something that will make you more powerful.”

“Powerful?”

The word ignited a deep hunger within Asoka. He wanted strength. No—he needed it. Nothing else mattered.

“I will grant you the ability to manipulate magical energy. Use it wisely,” the creature said, waving its hand.

Asoka felt something enter his mind space—a presence that quickly settled at the far edge, within one of the mysterious bubbles that floated there.

Asoka’s surroundings began to shift. The air itself felt strange, as though he were submerged—not in water, but in something else entirely, something that made him feel invigorated.

“What you’re feeling is magical energy. It’s abundant in my pocket dimension. When you return to your world, however, you may find it scarce—if it exists at all,” the creature explained.

The creature then slowly withdrew its claw from Asoka’s head, snapping him out of his trance. Asoka’s gaze fell on the sharp, pointed claw that had touched him. Without warning, a ravenous hunger overtook him, and he lunged forward, biting down on the very tip of the creature’s claw.

To his surprise, Asoka’s teeth managed to break off a small fragment of the claw—barely half a centimeter. Wasting no time, he turned and bolted, grabbing two of the beetle corpses he had killed earlier as he fled.

The creature watched Asoka’s retreating form with an expression of amusement. No one—neither creature, monster, nor anything else—had ever dared to show hostility toward it. Yet here was this young, ungrateful monster, biting its claw after receiving a gift of unimaginable power.

“Ungrateful little beast,” the creature murmured, a hint of laughter in its thunderous voice. “Your future will be bright.”

With that, the gigantic being—Lider—returned to its nest, content to rest until something equally interesting happened again.

*****

An Hour Later

Asoka was excited—no, he was thrilled!

Not only had he gained a new power, but he had also snagged a piece of an ancient creature, which he quickly devoured, and two beetle corpses that he could feast on later.

But even after an hour of running, Asoka still didn’t feel safe enough to stop and eat.

Then Asoka made a decision. He decided to head back in the direction he had first arrived from and going to go back to his planet earth.

Or at least, he tried to. Because when he craned his neck to look in that direction, all he could see was an endless sea of green grass stretching far into the horizon. It seemed to go on forever, fading into infinity.