"Wow, it's really gotten hard!" exclaimed Richard as he prodded the now pupa form Atlas.
For the last month Atlas had been eating nonstop, having become less withdrawn and far more shameless, not hesitating to eat all that it had been offered.
And now, Atlas was beginning to enter the second stage of this intermediary evolution.
What was fascinating was that all of Atlas' stats had been wiped out when he used appraisal, and seemingly the label had changed from larvae to pupa.
Atlas himself began hardening, his skin turning a dark yellow, as his appearance soon became brittle, a mere husk for the new Atlas inside.
The pupa likely referred to Atlas inside his former body, as from what Richard's knew, beetles would shed their larval form and emerge in a pupa made of their own excrement, before finally shedding that and becoming a full-grown beetle.
To read and to experience were truly two different things.
Atlas wasn't responding currently though, in what Richard can only assume was a food induced sleep coma, or the need to rest within this transitionary period.
He wasn't sure, and neither was sister Alexandria.
"It's probably the first time a blood tick has ever evolved in a long time, or at least on record."
Her tongue flickered in and out as she thought about the interesting phenomenon. "We can theorize and liken it to other beetle monsters, but I suspect that'd be a moot point. We can only wait and see how this all plays out."
It was a fair point. Just because two monsters are similar animals, does not mean their evolutionary path will play out the same, something frequently seen when observing the various fish of the sea.
Richard believed that, and thus left the new pupa time to metamorphosize.
----------------------------------------
Crash!
Bam!
Loud, thundering sounds could be heard throughout the forest, leading Richard, alongside the squirrel to investigate.
Krackle was "cultivating", as Karkinos described it, something that had been told to him frequently, and as a result, he hadn't seen his familiar as often.
Arriving at the location from which the sound emanated, they found Achil there, but Achil was not alone.
Standing in opposition to him stood a wolf, seemingly a normal monster, but there was something odd about it.
Its pelt was missing in patches, giving way to dark, shining hid.
From its head protruded 2 large horns, curved upwards, that shone with a dangerous light.
The face was like that of a wolf, and yet certain features were off, less wolf like, and more... reptilian? What an odd thought.
Its body was unnaturally bulky, almost bursting out of the build of the wolf, as if it were trapped in that form, and where the fur was missing the veins could be seen bursting at the seem.
Why was the tail that long?
And amidst all the oddities of the wolf, what truly stood out was the hunger present on the face.
It just looked hungry. A hunger so deep and... strong that there was something unnerving.
The wolf didn't look that much different from the average monster, shouldn't stand out, yet there was something off about it. Something only noticeable upon closer examination.
Why?
"There ain't no fucking way..." exclaimed Panda, causing Richard to wonder if there was something he was missing.
Appraisal.
[Behemoth(youth)]
A... behemoth?
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That behemoth.
The beast of legend?
A living apocalypse?
The beast of endless gluttony!
"A behemoth." came another voice as sister Alexandria slithered into view.
Somehow, Achil and the "behemoth" were both unaware of the group.
"I've blocked their perception of us so we could see what's going on. A behemoth, how rare."
Rare? Is that all she thought of it? Why wasn't she afraid?
Was this the disparity between the two of them, that she could so easily see a beast that rivals the gods as "rare"?
Catching his surprise, sister Alexandria gave him a mirthful chuckle.
"You're wondering why I'm so nonchalant when talking about a creature like behemoth?"
Nod
"It's simple really; this one is in its youth. It hasn't quite become the infamous monster know for its gluttony."
Is that why she wasn't scared of the behemoth?
She continued the lecture as she viewed the two fight with amusement.
It wasn't a pretty fight either, and although Achil was easily bearing the blows, he wasn't overwhelming the beast either, being unable to pierce the behemoth's pelt.
"Behemoths are born rarely, but when they are, all creatures seek to kill them, as the danger their bloodlines present are immeasurable. If I had to guess, this one just wandered into our territory, otherwise I would've noticed it sooner. The camouflage doesn't work on me."
Camouflage?
The behemoth doesn't look like the beast of legend, save certain features like the horns, or the black skin and the elongated tail.
Perhaps?!
Sister Alexandria nodded in approval as she watched Richard piece together a guess.
"Indeed, when behemoths are first born, they take on the form of another monster, generally mammals in order to hide their true existence. As they grow older and evolve, they begin shedding the false appearance in favor of their true existence as behemoths. You see how the fur has already begun falling off, right?" she said as she indicated at the patches of missing fur.
nod
"By the time the monsters in the nearby environment have noticed, generally the behemoth is ready to fight them on equal ground. In fact, I'm sure the reason it has wandered here is that it has already finished consuming an ecosystem."
Terrifying, the way sister Alexandria so casually mentioned this fact. And yet, the way she describes it, it sounds like behemoths aren't rare. so this isn't uncommon.
"Sister Alexandria, how rare is the behemoth? Because from the way you've framed it, it almost sounds like these are common."
"They're not rare, per say, but not exactly common. They're cyclical, having tendencies to show up in a general area every 100 years. It's hard to estimate the exact area, but generally, behemoths never grow enough to be considered a legitimate threat, because they wander into the territory of powerful monsters like me."
Pause
"Of course, you know what happens when they don't, of course, right?"
Of course, the legend. The horrifying legend.
"Then are you going to kill-"
"Hell no she isn't!"
"I'm not" agreed sister Alexandria.
Hmm?
"Why?" Richard asked, genuinely confused. What about this situation would cause Panda to deny the idea completely?
Richard had a niggling suspicion, but there's no way, right?
"Isn't it obvious?" Panda smiled "Like taking candy from a baby, we're going to kill the baby in the cradle!"
----------------------------------------
"But the behemoth is a monster of legends!"
"So are dragons. And demigods." Panda pointed out. "Yet they're all suspectable when they're young."
"But what's the point? Is it the bloodline? With all due respect, I don't know how strong a behemoth is, but isn't absorbing the behemoth bloodline dangerous?"
To this, sister Alexandria and Panda shook their head. "Quite the opposite really. It's hugely beneficial, as having the behemoth bloodline increases strength, primal instinct, and hardening." noted sister Alexandria.
"Besides, fish lips, you haven't leveled in a while, have you? You can tell how strong it is right? I bet this could push you over to level 4!"
Richard paused, as he pondered it thoughtfully.
It wasn't wrong really. Ever since arriving at his newest evolution, he had only managed to get another level. Another level, and that was it. Sister Alexandria had chosen this place because of how relatively peaceful it was, and thus this issue began rearing its head once Richard completed his newest evolution.
Yes, this would be an opportunity.
"Alright, let's go." said Richard, mildly excited at the thought of leveling again.
When Richard and Panda first entered the battlefield, Achil and the young behemoth were still locked in battle.
----------------------------------------
A shock of lightning flew at the behemoth, hitting one of the furless patches of the beast, causing the behemoth to pause as Panda and Richard entered the field.
It was only stunned momentarily, before flying at them, drool running down its face.
Seeking to match it in a fight, Richard rushed forward, aiming lower in the hopes of grappling it from an advantageous position, away from its teeth.
Locked in this position however...
bam!
... was not the advantage Richard had thought it'd be.
He hadn't considered that despite its wolfish appearance, the behemoth was not a wolf.
It was a behemoth.
And behemoth's have very strong hands.
Using its hands, it was beating Richard down.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
The blows rained down, without hesitation as the beast used those malformed hands to attack Richard from its position.
"#*#)$*)(*)$ *#()$()*&@^(@*&)_&$))!!!!!"
It was only thanks to Pandemonium's cursing that the behemoth was only slightly distracted long enough for Richard to roll out of his poor choice.
The behemoth chased the tiny squirrel, lunging forward as it tried taking a bite out of his companion.
Richard winced as he got up, noting his bones were broken in multiple spots.
Thuds could be heard as Achil walked up to Richard.
The hatchling's face was unreadable.
'You cannot handle head on.' it stated calmly, not a hint of arrogance in its voice.
'let me. You attack from sides.'
Richard nodded in agreement as they faced the behemoth as Panda leaped onto Richard away from the hungry beast.
It was going to be the first time Richard worked alongside another dragon.