The pain was less this time, fading into a more uncomfortable sensation than the painful shock it was last time. Less like being attacked by a thousand porcupines and more being stabbed by a few dozen swordsmen.

It's a subtle, yet noticeable difference.

[That's because your soul was originally out of phase with the body]

Stolidus popped up, explaining the surprise drop in pain.

Realy? Why was my body out of phase with the soul then?

[Cause you're a monster now, but your soul is still that of a human. You can't teach an old dog new tricks after all, not easily. There's a reason why humans do not choose monsters as new bodies, and why most souls stealing bodies prefer one closer to their ow.]

Oh. But this dissonance is disappearing though, so why's that?

Stolidus snorted.

[Part of the system package. After all, if you're suffering the dissonance, you don't think the others are as well? Be bad customer service if we didn't!]

Hmm. Guess so.

"Hey Earl! you doing fine up there?" Lenore asked worriedly, her voice softer than usual, much to my confusion.

'Of course I am, what are you on about-" I mentally project until I look down and see... Lenore.

Huh, I've grown taller.

Up to the top of my head, I could be estimated to be the size of a tall horse now, taller than the average human, now towering over the elf.

Looks like I am indeed growing larger.

[Well of course you are. You're a turtle type monster. It's practically in your genes to be big. The fact you're this small is a system miracle!Yours truly of course]

I don't recall wanting to be small...

[I mean, if you want to be the size of a small mountain in your next evolution, by all means, just say so. I guarantee the next one will be huge]

I mean, I could just buy a skill using those skill points I've ignored for the most part, but I get your point.

After regaining my bearings, I assure Servante and Lenore, before sending them out of the area.

All right, lets see those changes, hmm?

As the evolutionary name suggested, there were in fact, four trees arranged on my back in a diamond like formation.

Then again, they were barely fitting on there in this formation. I am a turtle, and thus my shell has that oval shape. Perhaps this was the best they could fit on.

The four metallic trees look like they are practically bursting with life, their roots leaking off the shell and onto the rest of my body. I could feel that these roots were controllable, like the vines in my previous form.

Speaking of those, there were more of them now, there were now 8 of them divided amongst the four trees, capable of extending in any direction needed.

The four trees were practically melded together, forming a colorful rooftop, with the winter tree being the only one excluded, instead being comprised solely of leafless branches, spreading out and creating almost battlement like structures, the adornments of a castle.

The winter tree was the one in the lead, surrounded by the spring and fall trees, with the summer being the back of the castle.

The spring had a warm green color to the leaves, the summer a scorching yellow, and the Fall a soft brown with undertones of orange, and the winter tree being leafless.

The winter tree had a hole in the front, covered by a simple door, clearly representing the entrance into the fourtrees subspace.

The subspace was interesting to look at, as I had a Gods eye view of the place, unable to view it with my own two eyes(four?) but I could sense it by focusing on the area.

The Queen ant had relocated to this area in fact, currently burrowing her own hideout within the subspace.

Ugh, don't want to think about that too much.

The rest of the field was rather plain in contrast to the giant ant queen standing out amongst the rest.

It wasn't barren, being plentiful with lush grass, but that was really about it.

Compared to the more illustrious and proud trees that stood on his back, it was less impressive, but I knew there was more to it.

Unlike the inventory players were gifted with, the subspace could hold living things, grow them even!

I was already thinking about whether I could fit a playground within the subspace, which was an easy yes, but it was more a matter of how.

And looking at my own body, which I had neglected to observe...

...

...

Are those horns?

I had borrowed Ore's eyes, only to discover that I had a pair of nubs on the back of my head. He had a pair of those nubs as well, but I hadn't seen them thanks to to Ore's monotone colors.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

My nubs were more bone like in their color, standing out from the rest of my skin.

Is it dragon blood? Is that why I'm growing horns?

That sounds quite exciting!

[No. I just checked. It isn't dragon, and it isn't dinosaur.]

Oh. What's a dinosaur?

[Don't worry about it. Just some really powerful lizards amongst some who had horns. I was just checking to see out of curiosity. Would've been fun if it was a dino bloodline.]

Curious that you won't expand about dinosaurs, but whatever, I'll ask you about it next time.

Then why am I growing horns?

[Atavism]

Atavism? I thought you said it wasn't dragon?

[Bloodline awakening is one way to call it too, but I know that the concept of bloodlines is scarcely discussed in your society, so atavism is a concept I'm sure you understand somewhat better]

Of course, it's what dragons and more powerful monsters call it when weaker monsters evolve into the more powerful forms resembling the former, supposedly tracing back to their ancestors.

Then if it's atavism, does that mean I've connected to a more powerful turtle monster?

[It seems so, which is weird since your initial bloodline was pretty blank slate when it came to ancestors. Whatever, let's call it an opportunity]

Thinking back, I can think of at least two opportunities, whether it'd be the hammer from the dwarf-turned-kobold, as well as grandfather's spear, both seemed connected to turtles, possibly the reason, to say nothing of other possible bloodlines I may have picked up on the way.

It's weird that this tracing back my ancestors to a bigger turtle has resulted in horns, but whatever.

Oh hey, my tails grown longer too. Not long enough to be a lizard's tail in proportion, but it's certainly no longer the stub it was.

Interesting. It's not quite a whip currently, but I guess I can trip someone now with a surprise grab right?

And just to be sure, this atavism is good right?

[Generally, yeah. At the very least, your current evolution doesn't seem to be a negative. A strong bloodline is never a negative. ]

Well that's a relief then. It's nice to receive unexpected benefits like these even if I don't know the reason behind it.

So what skills did I get from the evolution?

[Subspace]

[A subspace exists within the four seasons castle, in which all things that grow inside grow better, influenced by your vitality. Things that die in your subspace in turn contribute to your experience and the growth of other things in the castle.]

[Growth and Decay]

[A spell that allows you to consume magic to speed up the healing of the target.]

[A spell that increases the damage a person has taken, accelerating the decay of the targeted injury.]

[A moment in time]

[A time based spell that allows pauses the sorrounding area for a moment, in which the user can move at their own discretion]

[metal moss overgrowth]

Metallic moss that can grow madly once it sows itself into an enemy, covering them in metalmoss, transforming them into a metallic fertilizer, good for growing metallic type plant crops in.

Whistles

Well, these skills are quite unique.

I already understood subspace, but the fact that it can also boost the growth of things that inhabit it, makes sense at a first glance, but hadn't quite occurred to me. It is quite the welcome benefit. I'm curious if it can be applied to people as well, because if so, then I can help Leon grow that much faster.

As for growth and decay it is quite the vague skill. It seems useful, but it's hard to tell to what extent the spell actually activates. It activates recovery, or increases decay. But what does that mean?

Does the recovery merely increase the recovery speed of an injury, thus limiting the extent to an injury can heal, or does it increase the speed of an injury healing until it completely heals?

The same applies for decay. To what extent does the decay increase? Within the natural extent it would've decayed under normal circumstances, or does it keep decaying till the worst possible outcomes?

There's the more logical former options yes, but those remain unconfirmed until tested.

Regardless, it's a skill with huge potential.

A moment in time...

Looking at the four seasons aspect of this form, the change in seasons, it's waxing and waning of life, the passage of time, it isn't hard to suspect that this current from has an aspect of time to it.

If that's the case, then perhaps future forms could be time related.

Is it possible that the bloodline I've awakened is time related? That'd be exciting. Nearly all the myths about turtles I know of often discuss the turtle's longevity, it's ability to contain the world, and even it's ability to deduce fate, but to control time?

That's new to me. Of course that's just conjecture, and the bloodline could be related to the grass or metallic natures I've inherited, but I have my doubts.

And a moment in time is still a handy skill. A moment is quite vague, but even a moment when you can move and others can't can drastically change the outcome of a battle. At the very least it's quite a bit more obvious how it's useful compared to the prior skill.

Metal moss overgrowth seems quite useful, and mildly horrifying. It sounded akin to a parasite in some aspects, but given that the purpose of moss is decomposition, it makes sense.

Just that the decomposition process starts a little earlier.

And the result was a rich fertilizer according to the skill description, which seemed to match well with the planting process that the subspace encouraged.

Eager to test the absorption of the skill, I bought a few seeds off the store and began planting those seeds.

I found I could command the ant to act on my inside, since currently there was nothing else that could act on my behalf on the inside.

Made me aware that unless I bought a spell or a skill to protect the subspace from within, I should be wary of opening it easily since I have no definitive way to protect myself from the inside.

Who knows how badly that could play out if I let the wrong person in.

For now, I had made quite the harvest with my current evolution. A theoretically strong bloodline, a small spell that could control time, and some interesting abilities that could require testing.

For now, evolution was finished and left me free to take a quick breather.

It's been a very exciting past few days frankly.

Once I sell another basket or two of fruit to that merchant guild, I should contact Anubis to show my appreciation for how much he helped me this time.

I'm sure he's quite busy right now though, so it should be fine to put it off for a moment.

----------------------------------------

Why hasn't he called yet? Complained Anubis as he scratched Ammit behind the ear.

Ammit rolled er eyes, clearly used to her master's silly behaviour, merely rolling its eyes and basking in its contentment.

Anubis pouted. I'm worried. After being targeted like that, surely he's a little shaken. He said, fretting helplessly.

In the middle of all of this, a poor mortal sat in front of the God, yet dared not say a word, for fear of angering the God of judgement. Ammit could only give the man a look of sympathy, though being stared at by the beast merely caused the man's soul to shiver in fear.

Anubis was ignorant of this, too busy being concerned about Earl.

Ammit yawned. You already heard from the Anubian you sent out that he's fine. Stop worry about it.

But this involves foreign gods Ammit! Jorvus even came over and reminded me to keep a closer eye on Earl's affairs! What if she gets involved?

you know the goddess of Elves rarely ever takes action. It's why the elves are in such a mess right now.

Even so-

'Lord Anubis?' Came a familiar voice and Anubis paused readjusting his suit before responding.

Yes my child? He said, doing his best to appear majestic, causing Ammit to exhale in exasperation.

She wished mistress Anput had more free time to deal with this troublesome master of hers.

Such a silly child. Not even mother Echidna fretted this much about children exploring outside.