CLANG

Deep in the central area of the Great Patinak Forest, a fierce battle was taking place.

"Damnit! That ability is so fucking overpowered! Hoof," Atlas muttered, his breath ragged from sprinting through the shrub at his fastest speed. The sun was high in the sky, trickling through the canopy of trees and speckling the ground in its warm golden hue, but he had no time to appreciate that beauty. He was running for his life, his siblings having left at some point or another, both for the same purpose.

"Fuck! Get ready!" he roared, jumping over a long, thin and razor-sharp line of string that was woven between two sturdy, thick trees. This was where Blanc had left a [Mindweave Imprint] indicating their first line of traps.

As his hexlimbs shone gold and blue in the light of the sun, they carried him forward at their fastest speed, blurring around him as they did. Atlas would occasionally use his human legs to shoot off the ground when he dipped down, reinforcing his greatest jump height and increasing his momentum. After all, this was their second battle, and they'd learned a bit from the first, but it was nowhere near as difficult as their current opponent.

Dipping through or jumping over a few more lines of woven thread, Atlas finally reached the site where a large 'X' was carved into the soil, sparse dry leaves and branches interspersed across the area. He had made it to the final checkpoint. "Blanc, I swear, if this thing doesn't kill us, I'm killing you. Just wait."

[Brother, there is no need to be so upset. You are the fastest of us, thus, obviously you are the best bait. It's simply strategy,] Blanc's amused voice echoed in his mind. He was somewhere above, in the trees, but Atlas didn't know where—not that it mattered. He had done most of his job; this was just the final part. The creature, their "prey," was extremely difficult to deal reasonable damage to. It had the absurd ability to phase in and out of space momentarily.

Every time they tried to puncture its black scaly hide—looking like shattered fragments of obsidian—it would just phase out and reappear a moment later. Thus, the current situation: a trap that could hold it still and harm it when it came back into reality was necessary. At least, that's what Blanc had said.

Standing on the large marking, Atlas spread his hexlimbs around, gripping the areas where he could feel stronger support, prepared to jump with his greatest strength at a moment's notice. He wasn't sure when it would show up, but the creature was crazy fast—faster than all of them, though it lacked their agility due to its own ungainly size.

[INCOMING!] Shine's voice blared, filled with intensity as she chased after the beast, pushing it towards the entrapment.

"Oof!" Atlas grunted, his legs coiling and pushing off just as the creature's horrifying, razor-sharp maw came flying toward him. His body twisted instinctively, muscles responding to the imminent danger as he narrowly avoided the beast. The creature shot past him, heading face-first toward the ground—but the impact he expected never came.

The creature phased through once again.

"Yes!" Atlas cheered, this was exactly what they wanted. They'd noticed by now that this thing could phase through material of a certain thickness. It'd done so to numerous trees, but all of them were of a certain thickness, and it never went through anything thicker. Thus, they realized it could probably also phase through a fake floor, and into a hole below.

[Perfect. Now, let's wait for Shine to catch up and then we can go down there and end it. I still need to pay it back for my hexlimb... this will take forever to heal,] Blanc said, jumping down from the canopy above with only 5 of his usual 6 hexlimbs.

The beast had manage to eat one, ripping it clean off his back, and it was only after this occurrence that it began to chase them like crazy. Something about their hexlimbs seemed to benefit it, or at least that was their conclusion.

"How deep is the hole? How'd you find it?"

[Deep enough, probably around 10 meters, then it branches off into a tunnel system. I wouldn't be surprised if something lives down there. I found it because it wasn't covered when I came this way. I used a web to lay a foundation and then covered it with dirt and leaves.]

"Good job, next time I'll handle that part, you can run, fucker."

[...]

Just as they wondered where she was, what was taking so long, Shine jumped down from a nearby tree as well, breathing just as raggedly as Atlas had. She'd also had it hard, having to keep up with the beast and warn them of when it arrived, but her job was practically over now, they could all rest soon.

"You two ready? Even if it's trapped down there I doubt this'll be easy, according to the system it's evolved at least once. Only reason Blanc isn't a toothpick for its teeth is that badger from earlier and the trees around us... But, that also means a ton of experience."

[Why are you talking so much? Let's just go kill it, do you know how much I had to run just to keep up with this teleporting little shit?]

Hearing this, Blanc and Atlas just chuckled, nodding to each other before slicing through the web covered in gravel, dirt, leaves and branches, as they prepared to climb down the fairly large tunnel.

The creature was at least the size of an average wolf, this should make it fairly obvious how large the hole was compared to the three of them.

"Let's go," Atlas said, jumping down the hole without hesitation. As he fell, his hexlimbs prepared to stab into the walls, stopping his descent with the grace of a Spiris. He wasn't intending to be a snack. Nope, his excitement for this battle came from his desire to evolve. He didn't know what it was like, but every novel he'd read with mutation and evolution had crazy awesome new forms, he wanted one for himself.

Falling into the dark pit below, the light from above leaking into it and his eyes adjusting properly to the darkness, Atlas finally laid eyes on the injured form of the predator that'd chased them. It was limping, one paw seeming broken. Seeing this, Atlas realized it'd probably reappeared before landing, that or something else had injured it in the time they conversed.

Holding himself quietly to the wall, the creature below already eyeing him fiercely, Atlas just waited for the other two, he wasn't planning to attack this thing alone, no way. 'There are quicker methods of suicide, ones not as sharp either.'

'What level will this get me to? I wonder if those scales are any good for anything either...'

Moments later, two skittering Spiris variants climbed down the wall of the hole, joining Atlas. Then they each separated and took up a third of the holes circular wall, preparing to attack.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"First try ranged poison, let's see how it's scales react to it. Then we can try getting closer if we need to," Atlas said, the other two just nodding. Then, rearing back as if to cough something up, all three of them curled their cores inwards rubber-banding their bodies downwards as two of their spiris legs shot small globs of acid. Falling through the air, deep as they were, it was very hard to make out these spit-colored toxin balls, and they landed directly on various portions of the beasts hide.

TSSSS

Almost immediately small trails of smoke, steam, whatever it was, bubbled up into the air from wherever the toxins had landed, the beast howling in pain as it snarled in their direction.

[It works!] Shine squealed, happy at the news.

"Yeah, it does, but I don't think it'll be enough to actually kill it for hours... We're gonna have to go down there eventually or whittle it down slowly, I don't think we should stay here for that long, no idea what lives down there."

[Hmm. That's true, we're pretty close to Velathra now too, so it'd probably be best to just get this over with, but how do we do it quicker?] Blanc added, quickly seeing the problem.

Whatever lived here could definitely climb, they had to in order to enter and leave this gaping tunnel or hole, their advantage would be much slimmer against something that could climb as well as them.

"Actually, I have an idea. Remember that big rock at the top?" Atlas said.

[The one by the third wire?] Blanc said.

"Yeah, let's push that in the hole. If it doesn't see it coming, meaning we've gotta be fast, it might get hurt enough for us to fight it in melee."

[Ok, I'll go tie some web to the end facing the hole, you two push it, I'll pull.] Shine said, taking this chance to get the easier side of their plan.

"...Alright."

[Sure.]

So, scurrying back up to the top of the hole, Blanc and Atlas find the massive rock and begin to push. It's not perfectly round but it's enough that a few times flipping it over will get it in the trap. A few minutes of heavy panting and "boulder" pushing later, they're done. There it lies, just beyond the edge of the hole. They were just waiting for Shine to come up before dropping their "nuke" on the beast below.

[Shine, come back up, we're ready.]

[What are you talking about? I'm up here,] came Shine's voice from above them.

Seeing her standing on a branch far above, both Blanc and Atlas's faces darkened, she hadn't planned to help at all, "I really hope experience is divided by contribution... Push!"

With one final strain of their backs, biceps, and legs, the rock was pushed over the edge of the hole and tumbled straight down, rolling against the sides here and there. Moments later, a loud *SQUEAL* came from below, the beast had been hit, it was time to take a look.

Seeing the result of their efforts, all three of them almost felt pity. The creature's torso was half squashed to death, it was bleeding out slowly and there was no way it could move, the only reason it lived was that its head hadn't been crushed.

"Let's wrap it up quickly, surround it and pour in your toxins, all of it..." Atlas said, with a bad taste in his mouth. None of their poison was powerful enough to make it a quick death, but it was their best option. Their blade-like hexlimbs weren't big enough to slice off its neck, if it even let them get close enough, thus they opted for this choice.

[Mn. It was a good fight.] Blanc nodded, making some kind of gesture with his hexlimbs towards the creature.

. . .

Half an hour later, the three of them crawl out of the hole, the beast now dead, and having received their system notifications regarding the encounter.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATIONS]

[You have survived a [moderate] battle.]

Combat Rating: [moderate]

The Shadow Ravager [EV: 1] [Level: 7] has been slain. (The clever use of traps and coordination between three hatchlings allowed you to take down an enemy much higher level than you, well done!)

[Your level [3] has risen to [5], and you have gained [4] Skill Points, congratulations!]

[You have reached the max level of your evolutionary [Tier], and are eligible to evolve. Find a safe place and begin evolution when ready by notifying the System.]

[You have absorbed 150 Essence and 25 Bio-Morphon Energy.]

Your instincts sharpen as you grow stronger from this battle.

[You have obtained a rare drop:]

[Phasedian Scales] x32

Codex Entry Updated:

Shadow Ravager - Entry #005 has been added to the [Codex].

System Observation:

[Well done, but remember, as a hatchling your journey has only just begun.]

Seeing the string of system notifications, all three of them were happy with their victory. Not only had they felled a tough foe, but they'd done so to a beast an entire evolutionary tier above them. This was a big moment for them, and Nythera didn't intend to ruin it, even if they had a lot of training ahead of them.

"Huh? Are you guys eligible for evolution too?" Atlas asked, noticing the notification that said he'd reached the max level he could for this tier. If he was being honest, this information completely thrilled him, it was like a shot of chicken blood to the soul. He wanted to run around a tree in circles screaming 'I'm gonna evolve!' but he didn't as he had two siblings and didn't want to give them black-mail material.

Before either of Blanc or Shine could respond, a voice traveled from the distance to their minds, [Do not evolve here, especially not now. In fact, just put it off entirely for now. There are more factors to consider than just evolving when you can. While it's fine to do so if you're really impatient, you can strengthen your foundation greatly before starting, and none of you have done so. Additionally, I'm guessing at least one of you wants to consider the option of special evolutions, right? If you do, let's just wait until we get to Velathra, they should have a large stock-pile of the materials and special abodes you need. They'd also be more than happy to help nurture talented hatchlings that have already lived through the situations you have. Hatchlings aren't normally leveled to max just days after birth after all, you guys are pretty fast, be proud of that,] said Nythera, appearing in the distant shrubbery.

"Nyth-Mom... Damn, I was really looking forward to this," Atlas muttered. If he could have it his way, he'd just start immediately, maybe climb to a high branch and then start as his form of "being safe," but he had to admit that she was probably right. He didn't know about these foundation building methods, and if he was being honest, even if he wasn't those protagonists blessed by the heavens with luck, he'd rather have a special evolution than something 'vanilla.'

[I was intending to wait, Primordial Elder, it is among some of the knowledge passed to me regarding my Dakhrai, I understand the importance.] Blanc said, nodding in Nythera's direction with respect. He'd already accepted her grand identity, if anything, he didn't really understand just how immense it was, but to Nythera it was better this way.

"Good, if only my son was so calm and collected," she said, chuckling at Atlas's sour expression.

[Elder brother defective is special in his own ways, namely, he's defective,] Shine added, further darkening Atlas's face.

"I. Am. Not. Defective. I just have memories of something else, something... hard to explain," he said, looking away. Who could blame him for his different reactions to things, this was all stuff he'd read of in books, not remember his elders having done, like the other two. It was an annoying difference between them, but Nythera never seemed to ask about it, as if she didn't care.

'I'll just wait for him to tell me when he's ready... it's not like this is a first, maybe he just needs to find out about that,' Nythera thought, a complicated feeling in her chest.

She knew exactly what Atlas's bloodline memories were replaced with. Memories of a past life. But this meant nothing to her. They were two different lives, and the connection between soul-strings woven together did not split even in death. He may have had another family once, but he was her only son now, and she his only mother. She just hoped it wasn't these memories that were causing his mental and spiritual resistance to this world and connecting with it.

'If it is... I'll have to think of something. I don't want to seal them if they mean so much to him, but if I have to, I will.' she resolved.

"Well, if we aren't going to start our evolutions, let's hurry up and go, I want to see this majestic land of Arkiens you guys keep talking about. How you can have such an apparently majestic city in a forest this big without tree-houses is beyond me," Atlas said, moving along.

[We don't need tree houses, that's a human thing, and it's stupid,] Shine quipped, following behind Atlas as he walked in the general direction of Nythera had pointed out.

"Sure, sure. Next thing I know you'll be telling me you don't need toilets either."

[We don't...]

"Shit, I forgot."