The group watched in fascination as Wally's form was engulfed by the swirling pool of rainbow energy. David bounced excitedly on his talons, his wings fluttering with anticipation. Gideon and Kozlov both seemed extra nervous, but his excitement was contagious and they both began to slowly add their cheering and words of encouragement to his own.

"This is the best part!" he chittered, earning a bemused look from Claire.

“You know he can't hear you, like, at all." Claire chuckled like an engine backfiring, “Right?"

As the technicolor goo began to recede, a new figure emerged. Where Wally had once stood was now a magnificent, larger wolfer-like creature, his fur was longer and silkier, shimmering with an almost ethereal quality. His muscles were more defined, and his posture more confident as he let out a deep resounding howl that would have given David goosebumps in the past, but now just made him excitedly poofy. If David had to guess, he'd probably gained an extra 30% of his previous size, and the color of his coat had shifted to a deep rusty color.

"Wow, Wally!" Gideon exclaimed, scampering closer. "You look amazing!"

Wally blinked, shaking his head as if to clear it. "I feel... different. Stronger, definitely, but also-"

Suddenly, Wally's eyes widened in alarm. His nose twitched violently, and he let out a yelp of distress. He began pawing at his snout, whining pitifully, and David felt like he'd forgotten something suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Kozlov asked, concern etching his features. The massive bear took a few lumbering steps towards him, but paused shortly after starting as Wally began to frantically wave him away with a paw.

Wally couldn't seem to form words, instead opting to gag and cough dramatically. His eyes watered as he stumbled backward, desperately trying to put distance between himself and the group. Claire's eyes narrowed as she observed Wally's behavior before her own nostrils flared slightly, and understanding dawned on her face.

"Oh, for the love of- David, back up!" she growled, using her massive bulk to herd the others away from Wally. "It's your smell, you idiot!"

David looked offended, and his ears slammed flat in indignation as he scampered away as requested. "My smell? I don't smell that bad!"

Claire snorted. "To most people? No. But Wally's sense of smell just got supercharged, I think. And you, my friend, are a walking toxic waste dump. It took me a while to get used to you too, remember? I just had more time to acclimate."

Realization hit David, and his ears drooped sheepishly. "Oh. Right. The whole 'corrosive spit' thing. And the other toxins. And the... yeah, okay, I get it."

Claire nodded. "Exactly. Now, all of you, back up about fifty feet. I'll help Wally adjust."

As the others retreated, Claire approached Wally carefully, sinking into a low comfortable crouch to bring her head down to his level. "Hey, Wally. I know it's overwhelming right now. Try to focus on my voice, okay?"

Wally nodded weakly, still pawing at his nose before he began to rub it into the dirt. The dusty soil clung to his snout and seemed to mitigate his suffering a little, and the gagging stopped to be replaced by the occasional sneeze.

"Good," Claire continued soothingly. "Now, let's work on controlling that new sense of yours. Imagine you have a dial in your mind. Right now, it's cranked up to eleven. We need to turn it down."

Slowly, patiently, Claire guided Wally through mental exercises to help him manage his enhanced olfactory sense. The others watched from a distance, fascinated by the process. She masterfully distracted him by giving him specific things to smell for, describing them in ways that made absolutely no sense to David and the others, but that Wally seemed to grasp almost immediately.

"I had no idea Evolution could be so... intense," Kozlov murmured.

David nodded sagely. "Oh yeah, it can be a real trip. My first one? Ended up with really strong predatory instincts. Made me super aggressive in a fight," he said, flexing his wings. "It took forever to figure out how to dial it back before I stopped just going straight in to attack, even when I shouldn't have."

After what seemed like an eternity, Wally finally straightened up, looking more composed. He took a tentative sniff of the air and smiled.

"It's... better," he said, his voice deeper and more resonant than before. "Still strong, but manageable."

Claire beamed. "Great job, Wally! Now, let's work on using that new nose of yours. I bet you could track a mouse from a mile away now."

As Claire continued to work with Wally, David turned to the others, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "So... about that telescope?"

As David eagerly turned towards the facility, ready to sprint for the telescope, Kozlov held up a massive paw.

"Not so fast, bat-man. If Wally's Evolution made such a difference, I think it's time we all caught up."

Gideon nodded enthusiastically, his tiny form vibrating with excitement. "Agreed! We've been holding off long enough, and that took much less time than I had anticipated."

David's ears drooped momentarily before perking back up. "Fair enough! Alright, gather 'round, consider this Evolution 101."

As the group huddled closer, David began rattling off advice. "First things first, focus on one ability category for combos. It'll make leveling way easier. Second, try to keep everything working towards the same goal. Don't spread yourself too thin. And lastly, don't stress about time. The Evolution menu is weird – you could spend what feels like days in there, but barely a minute passes out here."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Kozlov nodded gravely, while Gideon scribbled notes in the dirt with a finger for a moment before the wind instantly erased his efforts and he threw his hands up in disgust at his own foolishness. Adam, still looking nervous, shuffled his hooves and slunk farther to the back of the group and tried to look small, casting anxious glances at where Wally was still getting pointers from Claire about the fine art of Sniffery.

"Alright," David chirped, "who's first?"

Without hesitation, Kozlov stepped forward. "I'll go."

The massive bear closed his eyes…and fell flat on his face with a meaty thump several seconds later, his body unable to sag into the trance while he stood on his hind legs as he preferred to do. David winced, Gideon sucked in a hiss of surprise, and Adam groaned before beginning to move forward, intent on rolling him onto his side. David quickly extended a wing and gently blocked him, shaking his head firmly as Gideons eyes widened a bit in recollection, and the tiny puffball began to explain about the potentially violent reaction that came with touching someone that was evolving. About 5, maybe a little less than 10 minutes later by David’s estimation, the rainbow-goo made its reappearance and they all watched in awe as Kozlov's silhouette began to grow... and grow... and grow.

When the light faded, a truly monumental bear lay before them. Kozlov had nearly doubled in size, now standing half as tall as Claire on all fours, and his head sailed a ridiculous distance into the air as he finally levered himself upright with a bit of difficulty. His fur had lightened to a sandy tan, and his paws were almost as large as David's entire body.

Spooky was not happy about this particular development, and David had to mentally thump himself as he was overcome with an illogical urge to attack while the man was still down and disoriented.

Kozlov flexed his new form, a low rumble of satisfaction emanating from his chest as he slowly padded toward Wally and Claire. "Now this... this feels right. Mountainshaker, huh?"

Claire is going to do a fucktuple-take when Kozlov finally stands next to her, I don't think she's been able to look anyone in the eye yet. He's getting closer…here it comes…yes! Oh, she hissed at him, poor Claire. Maybe her instincts hate other larger predators? Looks like she got it under control faster than I would have, I need to work on that. Spooky, you hear me? Chill out! Big bear is friendly, you can knock it off, I swear you have a complex.

Gideon, practically vibrating with excitement, was next, and this time it was David that had to restrain himself from touching him, mostly because he was adorable. His Evolution was less dramatic in size, but no less impressive. When the light show finally receded, Gideon stood about the size of a capuchin monkey, his long poofy fur a stark, pristine white. His limbs were noticeably more muscular, and his hands looked far more dexterous.

"Bigger!" Gideon exclaimed happily, examining his new form. "And that's not all. Watch this!"

He twitched a bit before suddenly sagging in exhaustion, and David had to catch him before he collapsed. Within seconds, a rather large insect unburied itself from the rusty soil nearby and came scuttling over to stand obediently before the white puffball of a man. It sat patiently without a single spark of intelligence in its tiny black eyes as Gideon recovered enough to sit up and pat the thing curiously on the head, its large pinchy jaws gaping open happily at the contact; it obviously wasn't very smart, but it seemed docile enough.

A summoning ability? Actually, no, that's a pretty decent idea for someone so small. Good job using your noggin, Gideon. That's a termite…thing, right? Doesn't really look like an ant, too fat in the head, kinda pokey looking all over. Weird how it's bigger than him like that, Viktor’s ability summoned lots of things, maybe this is the opposite? One strong thing instead of lots of crappy little ones? Interesting…it'll be nice to see what someone that isn't a total monster can do with Summoning.

"I can summon this little helper now. Picked up the ability during Evolution!"

David's jaw dropped with the appropriate amount of theatricality, despite having seen Summoning before. "Holy crap, Gideon! That's amazing!"

Adam, seeing his companions' successful Evolutions, finally worked up the courage. His transformation was subtle compared to the others, and he didn't seem to have been too adventurous with his choices. His stocky form became sturdier, growing a large hump on his back that bristled with coarse fur, his legs, shoulders, and haunches thickened while he gained a bit of height. David experienced a wave of sudden adrenaline as the man's pig-like snout suddenly lengthened to droop down over his face and hang, and he felt a bit stupid for momentarily thinking his nose had somehow fallen off.

As the group marveled at their new forms, Claire, Wally, and Kozlov rejoined them. Wally practically pranced as he followed along behind the two titans, and David had a hard time looking away from the way his long silky fur bounced with every movement he made.

"Well, well," Claire rumbled, eyeing the newly evolved group. "Looks like everyone's enjoying themselves. Good for you, I can't imagine being stuck as Hatchlings for that long, must have sucked."

Wally, now more composed, nodded in agreement. "It's incredible. I can smell the changes in everyone! Kozlov, you smell like mountain stone and pines. Gideon smells like cold? And... something else I can't quite place, that's weird, what is that?”

David bounced excitedly around everyone, happy to enjoy everyone's progress without some direct threat looming overhead for once. "This is great! Really good starting point for you guys!"

He paused, then added hopefully, "Telescope? Stars? Not right?"

Kozlov chuckled, his new form making the sound resonate like thunder and echo strongly off the crumbling observatory a short distance away. "Yes, David. Now we can look at your stars. Gideon, you and…uh…your pet lead the way to this telescope, if you would be so kind."

Gideon scampered ahead, his new agility on full display as he led the group through the facility, and Kozlov quickly found that he barely fit inside anymore. He dropped to all fours with a huff, and clumsily stuffed himself inside the lobby after everyone else, his bulk scraping the edges of the hallway. Gideon’s insectoid companion followed close behind him, its many legs clicking rhythmically against the floor as it single mindedly followed after him, alert to every small change in his body language as Gideon hopped, bounced, and scampered across the tiles.

As they approached a large storage area, Gideon's nose wrinkled.

"Ah, here we are," he announced, gesturing to a set of heavy metal doors. "Fair warning, it might smell a bit... stale in there."

With a grunt of effort, Kozlov pushed the doors open, revealing a cavernous room filled with large rubber crates. The musty scent of aged packing materials wafted out, causing Wally to sneeze violently.

"Sorry about that," Gideon said sheepishly. "The packing peanuts probably didn't age well, but they've likely done their job protecting the telescope...I would assume."

David peered into one of the open crates, his nose twitching at the sight of the deteriorating foam as he chattered out a few Echolocation's and found the huge lense to be in perfect condition. "Well, at least it's dry here. Could've been worse."

Gideon's insect, reading the intent in the room somehow, suddenly sprang into action, its powerful mandibles easily gripping the edge of a crate. To everyone's amazement, the bug began to drag the heavy container towards the door with surprising ease.

"Well, I'll be damned," Kozlov muttered from the hallway outside, watching the insect work from afar as he could no longer fit through the door without blocking it off.

Adam, seeing an opportunity to help, moved to assist the bug. Together, they made quick work of moving the crates into the hallway where Kozlov easily began to drag them toward the doorway as if they weighed the same as a feather pillow, instead of the dense heavy crates they were.

"That thing must weigh what, 50 pounds?" David observed, impressed, as he inspected the summon more closely with a few more Echolocation's and a bit of sniffing "And it's hauling those crates like they're nothing."

Gideon beamed with pride. "Isn't it wonderful? I had no idea it would be this strong!"

He patted it on the back again happily as the bug wiggled contentedly at his touch. David motioned with a wing to do the same, and fell back with a yelp as the insect released the crate rapidly to whirl on him, mandibles open aggressively as it began to advance before Gideon called it off and it instantly returned to its hauling.

"No touchy.” Gideon said seriously before repeating himself. "No touchy. No touch…for now. I'll work on that, sorry.”

"Noted." David muttered as he scooted carefully around to dart back into the hallway and make some space for Adam and Gideon's new friend.

Shut up Spooky, I know I could eat it. You know what'll make us feel better? A new ability.

David called up his Status with a grin, his eyes darting toward his storage happily as he squeezed past Kozlov into the lobby, where the bear had begun to neatly stack the crates just outside the doors.