FLASH!
Instead of Amigo evolving, he and Luke suddenly vanished without a trace. The Insect World disappeared as they were transported somewhere else.
The system greeted Luke upon their arrival.
〖Warning: You are entering a simulation!〗
〖Objective: Defeat the monster and gain access to your goal!〗
"’Entering a simulation’? Heck, more like we got pulled into one!" Luke muttered aloud as their surroundings materialized.
Instead of the Insect World, he found himself standing in a pond. The pond was very foggy, and the atmosphere could freeze your bones.
"Master! Where are we?" Amigo panicked. "I hope we didn’t accidentally eat from the wrong tree!"
Suddenly, the system popped up again.
〖Success! Conditions met! Your Astral Tortoiseling has adopted the branch: Evolution!〗
〖Condition 1 | Origin Branch〗
〖Condition 2 | Evolution Branch〗
〖Condition 3 | Symbiosis Branch〗
〖Condition 4 | Ascendancy Branch〗
〖Condition 5 | Extinction Branch〗
Luke looked at the screen carefully.
The system had finally revealed all the Branches under the Primordial Path. Each Branch had up to seven futures, meaning Amigo had about fifty final forms he could evolve into.
"If we ate from the wrong tree, we wouldn’t have fulfilled the condition," he said. "But you’re yet to grow, meaning something is missing. The system says to defeat the monster and gain access to your goal. So, what monster?"
Luke scanned the pond, seeing nothing but fog and giant mushroom trees. He wondered what kind of monster the system expected them to fight in a place like this.
"Master, keep your guard up!" Amigo warned. "This type of lair houses rankless monsters that fight unpredictably."
BOOM!
Speak of the devil!
The pond erupted like a volcano, throwing water sky high. Luke and Amigo were tossed back many feet as a gargantuan monster emerged, bellowing at the cloudy sky while water sheeted down its skin.
The monster was a mix of a whale and a lizard, with skinny arms, fins, and insect wings on its back.
"Shit," Luke whispered as the system failed to identify something so bizarre. "Amigo, how did you predict the danger accurately?"
"It is due to my new skill, Nature’s Call, Master!" Amigo answered, attaching himself to Luke’s back as chaos arose.
Luke stole a glance at the skill’s description.
〖Nature’s Call: Allows the Astral Tortoiseling to perceive resonance within environments. Can understand and identify any feeling.〗
This skill made Amigo an indispensable partner. He could lead Luke toward opportunities that other summoners would spend years searching for, or better still, lead him away from unforeseen traps he would’ve fallen into.
Luke closed the panel and focused on the danger before him. A monster over forty feet tall.
"Sorry, big guy, but I need to take you down anyway," he said as he summoned three armor pieces: Mask. Gauntlet. Sabatons.
Wheeew...
Within seconds, Luke had taken his body a few feet afloat. He also used the gravity ability to pin the monster down into the pond.
SPLASH!
The monster’s colossal body plunged into the depths.
But it countered the gravity by swimming deeper into the water.
Luke narrowed his eyes once he felt control slipping from his hands. He used his mask to track the monster’s movement under the surface, and this allowed him to escape its next ambush.
SPUURSSSH!
The monster bellowed again, condemning Luke’s reflexes.
The battle then turned south as the creature met the sky using its insect wings, then dive-bombed Luke.
BOOOM!
A cyclone formed in the pond from the impact. The relentless creature took to the sky again to prepare another assault, but Luke couldn’t let that happen a second time.
Using his foot armor, he glided as fast as he could toward the monster, flawlessly dodging the water attacks launched at him. Once he was close enough, he unleashed a punch to its gut, amplified by Purgatory Charge.
BOOM!
That part of the monster burst open. It didn’t die immediately, but Luke had taken control of the battle, gliding around like a fly and delivering more attacks while the creature writhed.
The fight didn’t end until Luke spotted the right weak point in its skull.
Courtesy of the Hell Ape, he imploded the monster’s head, and the rest of its body dissolved into dust.
The system flashed just as the remains of the monster plummeted back into the pond:
〖Congratulations! You have slain the Evolution Guardian. Rewards: 1000 XP.〗
〖Flame +550.〗
〖Success! Your beast can now begin its trial!〗
Luke absorbed all the Flame while hovering above the pond, watching the system interface.
The system had a habit of hiding info until everything had been completed. Only now did Luke learn that what he had just fought was considered the Evolution Guardian—which made sense, as it must have been guarding what they came for.
Now that it was gone, flecks of light gathered together and formed a slit in the air, no wider than a sword’s edge, yet life seemed to flow beyond it.
The system said,
〖Evolution Trial Unlocked.〗
〖Objective: Survive the River of Evolution until the present era.〗
〖Note: This trial can only be participated in by the beast alone.〗
Luke frowned.
Firstly, the system hadn’t mentioned anything about a trial beforehand. He had assumed consuming the sap would be enough, but it seemed evolving a Mythic beast was proving to be tricky.
Secondly, he wasn’t comfortable with letting Amigo face whatever trial this was all by himself. Not one bit.
"Survive the River of Evolution?" Luke muttered. "What exactly does that even mean?"
"It could mean I will begin from the very start," Amigo reasoned. "Adaptation. Evolution. Natural Selection. Every skill I obtain has to be learned through how species came to be."
The Primordial Path.
Luke thought Amigo was right.
If the Scholar Path pursued knowledge through books...
...and the Arcane Path pursued knowledge through energy...
...then the Primordial Path pursued knowledge through life itself.
And experience was the best teacher.
"Are you sure you can do this alone?" Luke asked.
Amigo looked up bravely, his heart racing. He thought it was time he stopped being wimpy and frightened.
His shell was the safest place in the world. Whenever danger appeared, his first instinct was to hide behind Luke. Whenever a powerful enemy appears, Luke stands in front while he provides support from the back.
If even this frightened him, how could he ever reach his potential at the end of the road?
"Yes, Master!" Amigo saluted. "Do me a favor and always keep your tank full. Do not run out of Aeon or I might be stuck."
Luke nodded and allowed Amigo to climb onto his head before jumping into the crack. The slit swallowed him whole without leaving even a ripple behind.
Luke thought he might have the pond all to himself, but the simulation ejected him immediately after Amigo vanished.
Gasps!
He sat straight up on his bed, sweating profusely. Looking around the room, Luke confirmed he was back on Earth. The simulation was over for him, but for his beast, it was just beginning.
Meanwhile, Amigo’s consciousness woke up to infinite darkness. This time, he had no senses, no shell, and no body. Just instincts.
〖Your Species: Astral Tortoiseling〗
〖Current Form: Cell〗
〖Location: Microscopic Ocean〗
〖Time Ratio: 100,000 Years : 1 Minute〗
〖Divine Skill Granted: Infinite Sanity〗
Amigo looked around desperately. If he didn’t do anything now, he would die and fail the trial.
Soon, another cell appeared next to him. That meant competition.
At the same time, there was food nearby.
"No way... That’s my food..."
Determination pushed Amigo as he floated to the essence, beating his competition to it.
Absorbing the food made him bigger than the other cell. With this new size, Amigo ate the competition and became even bigger, increasing his chances of survival in the river of evolution.
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A/N: Thanks for reading!
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