Krackle had become more active, having moved from an ambush fighter to a far more active fighter.
Not that they had stop ambushing.
They had merely become far better at moving in stealth.
Richard ad watched in amazement as Krackle had managed to blend into the sky, whether acting as roiling clouds, or even blending into the sky, a technique Richard knew sharks often utilized, but to see Krackle use it was fascinating for sure.
Her suckers had parted in the middle, giving way to a small crystal in each sucker.
Richard had thought it to merely be an aesthetic thing, perhaps a concentration of energy.
He watched as the crystals pierced Krackle's foes and whirred, turning rapidly like a drill as it tore into the creature.
It wasn't extremely dangerous from what he could tell.
When krackle hung off him, he never felt the sharpness and more of a poke, and even when used on their foes, Krackle's crystals never did huge damage. However, that seemingly wasn't the point, so much as to just deal extra pain while hanging on and allowing Krackle to hang on tightly, making it difficult to pull Krackle off without hurting oneself more than hurting krackle.
It was a productive tribulation, though truly worrying.
They didn't have much time to observe this new change, because Atlas evolved a week shortly thereafter.
----------------------------------------
"Will you do it?" Atlas asked the small beetle.
The God did not demand, nor plead, but merely asked, as if speaking to an equal.
He did not need to ask.
For the beetle who was once nothing but a blood sucker, a creature born only to defend their master,
'I will protect him no matter what!'
What other path was there but to be its lord's shield?
Seeing the determination of the small beetle, the god smiled in response.
A powerful wind began to gather around the beetle, as the beetle began heading back to the real world, the changes manifesting in the real world.
Atlas spoke one last time as the winds took the beetle away, smiling sadly.
"Very well then.
Please protect Richard with all your strength,
As I failed to do..."
----------------------------------------
"He's finally coming out!"
Richard said excitedly, watching the husk begin to quake and crack.
It had been a good week since the incident with the heavenly tribulation, and thus the time had been approaching for the evolution of Atlas to finally finished.
So Richard had begun spending more time watching Atlas than actually hunting, something sister Alexandria scolded him for, telling him to focus on growing.
But there wasn't that much to hunt in the first place!
Since the fight with behemoth, he hadn't gone up a level since, indicating that most that roamed this environment wasn't up to par.
He'd probably have to head down into the depths of the ymir ranges to find worthwhile things to fight, or to seek out new places to hunt.
Better that he stay and witness this, the first evolution of his familiars.
Because that's what it was, the first evolution.
Krackle hadn't evolved apparently, so much as broke through a barrier according to the others, and Panda was unlikely to evolve anytime soon, so this was the first evolution he would witness.
The pupa began trembling as cracks began appearing all throughout, beginning from the legs.
Pop
The legs came bursting forward, as they punctured through the pupa, furiously waggling, trying to pull off the shell.
Sister Alexandria had arrived like thunder, eagerly watching as the evolution unfolded, and Richard could even see a floating pencil and paper as the serpent furiously scribbled.
Krackle had arrived, as a show of support, as it cheered its fellow familiar on.
"Oh, he's finally coming out now, huh?" The squirrel said exasperatedly, and yet sat next to the rest of them to patiently watch.
It was painful to watch Atlas come out. Not literally of course, more metaphorically, watching the beetle kicking and failing those little legs.
Richard had even once or twice considered reaching out and pulling the casing off for his familiar, before being told to stop by Panda.
"It's terribly embarrassing. And funny!" said the squirrel as he handed out nuts by the handful.
The show went down much better with a bag full of nuts.
So they watched on for an hour, as the second-hand embarrassment grew palpable.
And eventually Atlas broke through the shell.
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[Congratulations! Your bloodtick has evolved into the Atlas Arms Beetle!]
Atlas had successfully broke through his shell, revealing a dark blue carapace, contrasting with the blood red eyes that the beetle now had, perhaps a remnant of the bloodtick.
His legs were a lustrous siler, long and sturdy, like the trunk of a tree.
Upon its head glinted a small red gem, that glowed faintly in the shade.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Atlas' mind prodded his, the voice more mature, more stalwart.
'My lord, may I?'
With Richards agreement, the beetle tentatively clambered onto the front of his chest, before his legs began sinking into Richard's flesh.
It was as painful as Richard remembered it was, but the strength he soon felt flowing into his body quickly made up for it.
Looking at the front of his chest, Atlas stood out against his white scales, contrasting with the flashes of red.
His carapace, with its shining blue shell, almost seemed like a beautiful adornment, like a piece of jewelry.
It looked like the scarabs of old often depicted in the books written about ancient lords who wore scarabs; especially since Atlas' fore legs wrapped around his neck like a necklace in fact.
"Oh who's a pretty princess? You are! Yes you are!" Said Panda as he chittered, making fun of Richard's new "jewelry".
Krackle on the other hand, was eagerly conversing with the beetle on his chest.
'You like Krackle now! Very shiny!'
'Indeed.' It said with satisfaction. 'We are both stronger now, and capable of truly protecting our master' Said the beetle.
Ignoring the chittering of the annoying squirrel, and the conversation between his other two familiars, Richard cast appraisal on the beetle, choosing to look at the stats.
[Atlas Arm Beetle]
[level: 1/70]
[225/225]
[spd:40]
[ATK: 150]
[Mana:50]
[Def:400]
Skills: blood bond, body fortified, Titan's strength, Berserker's rage, Metamorph( knight form, weapon form, speed baron), mana leech, Endurance of Atlas
Looking at the skills, Richard noticed a certain skill had been replaced, while new ones had appeared as well.
For one thing, greater strength had been replaced with titan's strength.
Before Richard could continue to observe, a blaring sound went off, that even sister Alexandria could hear, to Richard's surprise.
Hello !? Hello!? Is this working?
A muffled voice came in, as the sound of... fuzz? came in as an irritating background noise to the voice, which sounded male like.
Plop
A weird device dropped in front of them, a block-like device attached to a longer oblong shaped item, connected by a chord-like object.
The oblong device rested upon a perch attached to the box, which had 9 tiny holes poked into it.
The oblong object rattled as the machine spoke.
(Author's note: it's a telephone box lol)
"Yes?" said Richard tentatively, unsure how to respond to the voice, even more so as he could feel the tenseness that sister Alexandria, had, even killing intent was leaking out in response to the unknown voice and even more so the dangerously unknown box.
Oh, everyone can hear me, wonderful. Testing out a few things. This is a pre-generated recording developed using the brain scans of player zero, and his vocal cords, to generate a few satisfactory responses in regard to your beetle's evolution, because Grant would've wanted me to explain this to you.
He also would've wanted me to do a phone guy kind of thing, but I'm only willing to humor Grant so far, so that's as far as that'll go. The second voice was far more professional, and had a more feminine tone, though it quickly shifted back to the more male, and apparently goofy tone.
Congratulations on discovering the secret evolution of the bloodtick!
Secret? Richard could hardly figure out how it was a secret when the evolutions were all the evolutions were so easily presented. Did he mean the atlas beetle?
You're probably wondering what I meant if you've managed to gain this evolution, since it was so easily obtained. I'm guessing you made the pact as you hatched it?
Yes.
No clue. This is pre-generated for all who managed to evolve the bloodtick. Y'see, one of the prerequisites is that you make the bloodtick your familiar before it hatches, because doing so after it hatches or even bits you will not present the armored forms, but rather vampiric based future evolution. Chances are, if you're listening to this, you managed to get the bloodtick egg from the gacha, and then hatched it, yes?
Ooooh. Now Richard understood.
Outside settings affected the options the system offered. So whatever circumstances that would lead one to make a pre hatched bloodtick their familiar would not induce the conditions necessary to gain an armored base familiar.
Would it be based off the taste of blood? But Atlas hadn't already been feeding on his blood?
Perhaps it was perspective? Atlas saw him as the giving hand, as a master, since that thought had been imprinted on him since birth. Had he been hatched first, and then made a familiar later, perhaps his familiar's perspective would've changed, and thus his evolution?
So mentality matters, huh.
Richard pondered this as the system continued.
You've probably noticed that the _____ arms beetle's new skills include a metamorph label, and depending on what form you've chosen, the available skills will change. This is because these beetles are predesigned evolutions.
Before Richard could question this, the voice interrupted.
You're probably wondering why this is, since the bloodtick's evolutions had been described as unlocking an ancient bloodline, a stark contrast to a manufactured evolution. Or maybe the system didn't tell you, who knows.
Shouldn't the system know? Richard's eye twitched as he heard this stupid claim.
That's because otherwise, it would be near impossible to unlock the bloodline. The true prerequisite for that would've been sending the bloodtick to fight monsters on its own, rather than parasitizing its master.
Could you imagine that? That would be a pain in the ass. The creature's status is barely better than a goblins, and because of its selective evolution, a bloodtick is barely able to absorb mana from killing creatures, and thus would probably have to hunt for a year straight, like teaching a puppy to chew for a year.
Boring.
Instead I just designed these forms so this ancient bloodline is easier to access. Lucky you!
By this point, Richard was so lost. Why was this important?
You're probably wondering why this is important-
OH MY ISIS FINALLY!
and that's because I wanted to personally brag about my handiwork without actually talking to you, so this pre-generated response was made for you!
Player 0 seemed to be quite the braggart.
Since you've chosen a beetle, more likely than not, you've received the sub skills weapon form, knight form, and speed baron
The three different forms will produce 3 different abilities, depending on how you've chosen to utilize your familiar.
Knight form cuts your speed in half, as well as magic, but your defense and damage will double. And if you want to access your baron of speed form, you'll have to start in knight form.
Weapon form is for when you don't want to use a whole set of armor, but just a weapon. Your damage will triple, but your other stats will not change.
As for the transition from knight to baron, an explosion will occur, casting off your previous form for the baron of speed form, where speed will increase three fold, as the magic increased by a 1.5 multiplier, for a defense cut by half, same goes for your attack.
This all sounded great. The ability to shift between the multitude of forms allowed Richard multiple forms of utility, something that he could appreciate.
You're probably eager to try out these new forms.
Richard did want to try these new forms out after the announcement was over.
So let's get started!
Oh. Alright. Richard admitted, personal guidance sounded good.
Say: Henshin!
Richard paused.
Huh?
What did that mean?
And why did it sound so... embarrassing.
The squirrel had gone dead quiet, yet his eyes could be felt even more than before, and sister Alexandria...
... please don't look at me with those eyes...
...Is that a magical recording tool?
"Well? Go on then! Henshin!" Said the rat as he snickered, making a overly serious face."Henshin!"
Richard really didn't want to say it, despite not knowing what the word meant.
Seemingly, sensing his hesitation, the voice popped up.
If that doesn't do it for you, you can use another phrase.
Please, Richard begged mentally.
All right, say, "Let's Morphing!"
.... Does he have to say anything at all?
Yes.
All right then.
Richard drooped, as he resigned himself to his fate.
Richard finally gave up and whispered.
"henshin"
NOT LOUD ENOUGH!
"HENSHIN!" Richard said embarrased.
[HENSHIN]
A jingle of sounds played as a set of armor began appearing in a flash, alongside a set of straight up laughter from the damned rat.
Even sister Alexandria couldn't help but softly laugh, covering her face with her tail.
Thank goodness for Achil not laughing, the precious lizard.
Achil just didn't understand what was going on.
Finally, amidst the commotion, the transformation jingle finished, as Richard emerged in his "knight form".
[Knight Form] Boomed as the change finished.
.... Tch!