—I don't know what Usaki was thinking, I know he's a monster and all that, but it's obvious his body isn't made to eat meat —I said irritated while looking for something for Usaki to eat.
—There's nothing —I said with a sigh—. I can't go further away, it would be very easy to get lost in this place.
Defeated I turned around to go back the way I came, I was upset about going back with nothing for Usaki. My annoyances only calmed down when I saw Usaki and Shina in the distance, but there was something that didn't let me be at ease. For a while now all those small presences under me seemed to be following me, I knew there were many because my ability was at the maximum number of presences I could feel at once.
—I see you didn't find anything —Shina said somewhat calmed to see I was fine.
—Sadly, there were only trees, dry bushes, and small mounds of dirt —I mentioned disappointed in myself.
—It's okay, Aru. Don't worry, I'm already feeling a bit better —Usaki said still in pain.
—I know you're telling the truth, but you still aren't in the best condition —Usaki just looked away. He felt very embarrassed and probably thinks he's a nuisance right now.
—Don't worry Usaki. The Leotigris bodies are right over there. We can stay around here until you recover —I clarified.
—But we're in an unknown place. Wouldn't it be very dangerous? —Suddenly Usaki stopped talking and started observing his surroundings—. Don't you hear that? —he asked, puzzled.
—Hear what? —I asked curiously.
—Tiny footsteps under us that keep getting louder and louder —he explained— that noise is starting to bother me.
—Under us —I said somewhat fearfully as I lowered my gaze to the ground, feeling a strange sensation inside me.
Before I could say anything else, a large black column shot up from the ground, unexpectedly leaning towards us. Shina and Usaki managed to completely dodge it, but the lower half of my body was crushed by it. I couldn't ask myself why there was barely any weight on my body when I felt great pain in the part of my body that was crushed inside the column, activating Scale Reinforcement and Acid Body. Upon activating the latter, I could hear multiple complaints coming from the column before it went back underground. I then realized something terrifying. My body was quite injured and a good part of my scales were gone.
[Steel Scales goes up from lv6 to lv7]
—Aru! What happened? —Shina said when she saw my injuries. When she tried to tend to me, I felt that same sensation again. When I tried to do something, it surrounded our surroundings. Once it was at its maximum height, covering our sky, it dove from the center.
But before it could reach us, I launched a Fireball, pushing away the roof they had created over us for a moment, before they covered us again.
—This thing is alive! —Shina exclaimed, impressed.
—It's not a thing. There are many very small monsters. If we don't do something, we'll be left as bones —I said while our space grew smaller and smaller.
It seemed not to matter how much we attacked, this didn't seem to stop advancing.
—Shina, get ready. I'm going to make an exit —Before Shina could say anything, I charged a Fireball at maximum power. When they were about to reach us I launched it.
With Shina standing behind me, she wasn't too injured by the explosion, being able to exit just in time through the opening I made before it closed up again, still trapped inside their deadly trap.
—I have to find a way to get out of this situation fast, but how? —I said alarmed.
Ruit covering himself in fire came to mind, but getting that thought out of my mind, not having time to test out new techniques, so I only had one option. Taking a deep breath before repeatedly firing Fireballs, which didn't seem to be enough to stop their advance, slowly starting to cover my body. But at one point my surroundings caught on fire, though that seemed to matter less to them than killing me. When they were about to cover my head, I launched one last Fireball. The explosion covers my entire view.
When it cleared, I could see an orange colored sky. If it wasn't for the intense pain I felt, I would have enjoyed the views.
[You have killed a group of Charis]
[You have gone up from lv23 to lv25]
[You have obtained the Survivor title]
[Scale Reinforcement goes up from lv8 to lv10]
[Detect presence goes up from lv4 to lv5]
[Steel Scales goes up from lv6 to lv8]
[Fireball goes up from lv2 to lv3]
[Acid Body goes up from lv3 to lv4]
[You have your evolution already available]
[Do you wish to evolve?]
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
—Arusai —Shina said with her broken voice while beginning to heal me—, you're alive —she said relieved.
—Barely —I answered weak—. I didn't expect a monster attack to come from here. I was lucky to come out of this alive.
—Aru, don't waste your energies. Better rest a while, we'll take care of you —The way she talked relaxed me a bit, even with the horrible pain I felt.
—I think I'll sleep a- —Before I realized it, I fell deeply asleep.
I yawn as I'm waking up, I was quite lazy about opening my eyes, everything was very quiet.
—It's better to keep sleeping —I thought as I got comfortable to fall back asleep.
But just before falling back asleep, what had happened before fainting crossed my mind, getting up suddenly and hitting my head against something that was above me. When I saw what I had hit, I realized it was dirt. When I looked around, I noticed I was in a burrow with Shina and Usaki who were asleep.
Checking my body, I realize most of the scales I'd lost were there, and the areas without scales looked pretty good.
—I don't know if to say my skin looks better, I had no strength to see how I ended up —I stated to myself—. Now, I feel like I'm forgetting something."
[Do you wish to evolve?]
As if hearing me, a notification appeared almost immediately.
—That's right, I can already evolve —I said happily—, if I had been able to do this before, I'm sure we wouldn't have had so many problems with the Charis.
—But there's nothing that can be done now —I said with an exhausted sigh—, for now, I wish to evolve —I told the system.
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[Evolution options]
Offensive Lerion (juvenile): H+
One of the most common Lerion variants, it makes up for its small increase in physical strength with its great combat ability and two new limbs, which although short, are very sharp and lethal.
Defensive Lerion (Juvenile): H
One of the most common Lerion variants, it has somewhat low strength for its rank, but makes up for it with very good defense and hard, thick scales.
Venomous Lerion (Juvenile): H
One of the most common Lerion variants, given its low strength and poor defense, it has acquired the ability to camouflage with the environment, combined with its venom and great speed making it nothing to scoff at.
Elemental Lerion (Juvenile): G-
A rare Lerion variant, its affinity, control and power with magic together with its large reserves make up for its poor physical abilities and small size.
Lethally Defensive Lerion (Juvenile): G-
A rare Lerion variant, even with its not very remarkable strength, its great defense, lethal venom and powerful acid make it more than formidable.
Lerion Titan (Juvenile): E-
An extremely rare Lerion variant, almost totally incompatible with any type of magic, allowing it, together with its overwhelming defense, to have the ability to repel magic a bit. Its large body is accompanied by an even greater strength and faster than one might think.
--------------------------------------------------
—Wow, I guess there are even more options than last time —I said with interest while observing their descriptions.
—Aru? —My concentration broke when I heard a voice of amazement and concern—. You're awake —Before I could react, I was charged and knocked to the floor while something soft was hugging me.
—Easy, you can let me go now, my whole body still hurts —Hearing my request, Usaki let me go and took a step back.
—Sorry, for a moment I didn't think you were going to survive —he declared, somewhat embarrassed.
—Even though I didn't see how my body ended up, I also thought I was going to die.
—It relieves me a bit not to be the only one who thought that —I was surprised to hear Shina who had just woken up. However, it was noticeable she was still tired.
—I suppose you didn't sleep much from healing me —Shina nodded as she approached us.
—Don't worry, if I managed to save your life it was totally worth it —she assured with a smile.
—But so this doesn't happen again, we have to be more careful," Usaki said quite seriously.
—You don't have to tell me. The only good thing about this is that I can already evolve —I expressed with some sarcasm.
—Wait, you can evolve too? —Usaki exclaimed surprised.
—Wait, is that notice that I could already evolve true? —Shina said, a bit doubtful.
—It's amazing, but this allows us to choose our evolutions —Shina was stunned by Usaki's words, looking at me again with an expression that asked me if it was true.
—Yes, you can choose what you evolve into —I confirmed—, why do you look surprised?
—Of course, for you, it's normal to be able to choose your evolution —Usaki said with a nervous chuckle—, but for the rest of the monsters, it depends more on luck and what you do before evolving."
—Now that Usaki says it out loud it makes a lot of sense —I thought, embarrassed.
—I understand, but it's good that we can all evolve —I mentioned happily—, that way we can survive more easily in this place.
—You're right, but I'm a bit nervous. I don't have good experiences with my evolutions —she said, somewhat downcast.
—I'm sure it won't happen again. Don't worry —I tried to console her. Luckily, it seemed to work a bit, because she responded with a little smile.
—I think it would be time to choose our evolutions —They both agreed, and we started looking at our options, analyzing them for quite a while.
—But what kind of variant is this? In rank, it's far superior to the others, and although one would normally choose the Lethally Defensive Lerion or the Elemental Lerion, but in this case —I thought, somewhat surprised.
—I wish to evolve into a Lerion Titan —I informed the system.
After saying that, the options disappeared. When I looked at Usaki and Shina, I saw they had already started their process. Before I could say anything, my process began. I could feel my whole body getting stronger and bigger; my scales were getting thicker and more resistant; my little horn at the tip of my nose grew larger and more pointed next to my other two horns; the tip of my tail began to take on a round shape expanding outward, as well as gaining quite some weight. My evolution ended, and I was quite uncomfortable because now the burrow was very small for me.
[Your evolution has ended, you have obtained new abilities, abilities have leveled up]
[You have obtained the Titanic Collapse active ability]
[You have obtained the Small Titan Strength passive ability]
[You have obtained the Titan title]
[Scale Reinforcement lv10 evolves into Scaly Hardness lv1]
[Flexible Scales goes up from lv4 to lv6]
[Swift Slither goes up from lv7 to lv8]
[Tail Whip lv5 evolves into Titan Mace lv1]
[Steel Scales lv8 evolves into Small Titan Steel Scales lv1]
[Bite lv8 evolves into Small Titan Bite lv1]
[Regeneration goes up from lv6 to lv8]
[Increased Resistance goes up from lv4 to lv6]
[Ardenyan Fire Source goes up from lv2 to lv3]
—Aru, if you can, come outside —I heard Usaki's voice coming from outside the burrow.
With great difficulty, I headed for the exit while moving my body out of the way. When I went outside, the sunlight hit my entire face. When I could see again, I saw Usaki and Shina's new forms.