FSE

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I wasn't quite certain about the terminology the system used.

The definition of 'evolution' - contrary to what the notification kept implying - was a change, an adaptation of the outside environment, that had occurred naturally in the species over multiple generations, over millennia, not a drastic change induced by consumption of a mutagenic substance.

The term 'mutation' would be a closer fit, but the definition of mutation is a change between generations, if I recall together. A successful mutation passed down repeatedly is evolution. Outside of genetics, 'mutant' is still the closest fit -- 'one who has changed'.

What my girls had experienced instead was more akin to the process bee larva experience upon consuming royal jelly to become a queen bee, hyper-accelerated to the insane degree.

I still don't remember the word for it.

The 'metamorphosis' I think?

Still, it was something I found fulfilling, even soothing to a certain extent, and once I assured myself there weren't any immediate adverse effects and a whole endeavour was, relatively speaking, a natural part of their magic-infused biologies.

Maybe it was the option to give my ever faithful, ever dedicated followers a reward they reserved for all their hard work, a promotion of sorts, a first-among-equals sort of status in their host.

Or the feeling could be an intoxicating feedback behind our shared telepathic bond I didn't realise before, one that made it somewhat special without the intimate relationship I had with one's like Miwah or Tama, and it was merely an encouragement for me to grow our horde even further in quality instead of quantity.

It felt only natural, wanting my people to prosper, as all mental associated with the person I once was were fading away, and the empathy for what the treacherous parts of my minds now considered my kind.

Ironically enough, I could remember Earth, the old life before waking up to this unasked-for adventure, but it was becoming harder to comprehend why. Why didn't I miss the host back then?

I cast those memories aside for now - it was not the right time for introspection.

We were one, and we were many. We are legion.

Another bland notification window flashed in front of my eyes.

|

Unit evolved! Mia, The Devourer Alpha.

361 could be Evolved until innate resources run out.

|

However, looking at the slightly more mature version of the 'Defiler Alpha' - now referred to as the 'Devourer' instead by the obnoxious system screen - and back at the mutated fruit tree, I confirmed there has been some arbitrary restriction placed upon how many 'evolved' girls.

The number of mysterious 'resources' ticked down steadily upon each fruit absorbed, suggesting I couldn't continue doing the same with all of my followers.

It seems capricious from the system's side, introducing something like this now.

For days, the ruby fog spat out fresh monster-girls to join our ever-growing horde without the rhyme, reason, or consideration of sustainability, but now, quality - so called 'evolution' as the notification called it - was at a premium.

Why now? Why ever?

Previously, giving a name would spark the summoning process, but when betterment was in order, the unexplainable mechanic behind my power had suddenly decreed that some currency, some resource, was needed, even if never advised or hinted at one before?

As much as I considered it obnoxious, frustrating even, it was hardly surprising at the circumstances where the 'overview' consistently and repeatedly miscalculated the population numbers. I should check for a correlation between the limit and our population.

How many are we now?

It was like the status screen only approximated what was going on, or was never intended to act with any mathematical precision, but ultimately, there was no way to tell from observation alone.

Now I was even more tempted to chase after the 'scroll' relic, if only to figure out what kind of logic this power followed, if any. There were far too many questions to be had, from my very arrival into this world to the distracting notifications only we saw. The mystical indestructible parchment had better have the answers I sought when we finally lay our claws on it.

I knew there was a connection between the relics and us. The task given to us by the 'Lady' for the sake of much desired peace was merely a bonus.

Nevertheless, until our scouts located the burial mound where the closest artefact was hidden, the only thing I could do was to experiment, and hope that the dragoness didn't lead us on a wild goose chase.

I looked back at the tree of the arcane - I found no better term for the mutated birch.

At the very least, one 'resource' equaled one fruit, even when fed to the 'Alpha'. While I was tempted to recall Narita to discover whether the glowing product would make her even more gorgeous, I considered securing a way to gain the so-called 'resources' more pressing.

Since the mutant tree had a mere four or five fruits left on it -- all radiating the unsettling green light, and the strange overlay message suggested I should have much more available -- it was easy to figure that I wasn't limited by the tree's yield.

Instead, it seemed I needed 'Mutators' to either harvest or refine the mysterious 'resource' and then employ 'Defilers' to distribute it.

That part wouldn't be completely illogical on its own - I understood what the supply chain was - regrettably, this power I was given wasn't always reasonable and predictable in its still puzzling inner working.

However, the nature of the 'resource' remained a riddle to be solved - it something more intangible, unseen, and, unfortunately, unspecified, which doesn't directly relate to the numbers of glow-fruits my 'Mutators' could grow before they exhausted themselves.

While Kirke still tried to channel her magic into the tree, waving her multiple hands as the conductor directing the grand symphony of making branches rearrange themselves and sprout the tiny buds, it was apparent that her sisters seemed all but drained for the sake of this single tree specimen.

The Trees of the Arcane, I suppose I could make the term official as well, were different to the plants twisted by 'Corruptors' with ease at will.

Realising that we would have to retreat deeper into our territory, I saw no point in pushing them to create more here. They would have to grow the 'upgrade tree' elsewhere, anyway, probably in some central, defensible location. If I could have only so many glow-fruit trees, then it is better to grow them somewhere safe. Three hundred magical fruits for ten thousand - it was luxury.

Even the fortress' courtyard wasn't out of the question.

Farther away from us, the organised chaos continued, as our horde further embedded itself into this area, leaving nothing and no one untouched, and with a thousand new 'Corruptors' on the case, the entire invasive ecosystem continued to grow.

The occasional cracks of fireballs and shrieks of the 'Fleshspeaker' bats,were all drowned in the commotion, yet even with so many of my people, this village may not be the best for the arcane tree to set root.

Kirke paused, looking at me, sensing my decision to relocate her creation. Her eyes shone, her wings buzzed involuntarily, and I considered whether it would be possible to 'mutate the Mutators' so to speak.

I've spent the nebulous 'resource' on 'Defilers' only, and then only those I've named previously.

"Master?" Mia suddenly spoke.

I was so lost in thought I neglected to pay any attention to her, while others were checked on immediately after their transformation finished, and the rat-girl certainly felt left out.

"I am sorry." I said, making a few steps closer to her, and asked: "Are you feeling well?"

Just like her sisters, she doesn't seem sick, or weakened - it was, in fact, quite the opposite.. My rodent monster-girl was looking good, her eyes glowed, her soft fur turned darker and shinier, her more mature looking body filled her outfit much better.

Unfortunate naming aside - Mia had a similar name to Mai - the so-called 'evolution' did previously petite looking 'Defilers' a service. Even the salvaged armour fit them better now - a protection they would desperately need if their magic' range didn't grow with them. It was still something that needed to be tested, but for now, I was glad, even if it only meant a better physique. Besides, the 'Defilers' were, apparently, distributors of upgrades, so investing in their wellbeing wasn't a waste.

I touched her gently, stroked her jet black hair and the side of her rat-like face. She leaned into it.

"Yes-yes, Master. Very well, Master." She said, "Better than ever!"

"I am glad." I said, pulling her into a hug, as I did with all the previous ones, which she eagerly accepted, only for Tama to join it this time, pressing herself to us as well.

"I am getting jealous, Master." The silvery vixen protested, her cute foxy muzzle passing gently on my cheek, and I couldn't help myself but to give both her and Mia a kiss. It seems even more natural now, almost as anthropomorphic foxes and rats were always a normal female form of my species, even if the memories said otherwise.

"Yes-yes." Mia approved

"Better, Master." Tama replied approvingly, and with the vulpine grin, she teased: "Would I get some of that ... magic juice too"

Ignoring the innuendo she had without a doubt intended, she was right

I considered it - there must be a way to introduce other breeds with arcane powers as easy as the 'Defilers' made healing to me - but I would rather start with rank and file 'Purifier' instead of one of my mates.

While I could try to make Tama stronger and mystical looking - and have her grow even more fluffy tails - it was now more about understanding the process. Besides, all my girls were beautiful to me, and I wasn't doing this for their looks.

"Eventually, yes, Tama." I said, "But I need to try with a rank-and-file Purifier first."

On the other hand: Tama, along with still distant Helmy, had to wrangle another thousand of their little sisters from torching everything down in a single stroke of pyromania.

I took a step back, mostly not to give into the temptation. I could feel the annoying dragoness watching from who-knows-where, and her presence, felt yet unseen, grew to very obnoxious levels.

"You want even more mates? I am very accommodating, Master." Tama remarked in a sultry tone, looking at me while keeping the 'evolved' Mia in an embrace. Neither of them seemed to mind each other, but it was normal for my girls, just as it was the vixen to tease me for no particular reason.

She must have known I was just trying to figure whether the 'evolved' were the nodes that brought order into chaos, but Tama simply continued being Tama. My vixen likes to tease.

I looked at Miwah and Kirke. However, before they could join the conversation, there was an interruption - an alien presence that cast an invisible, intangible shadow over us - the dragoness made herself known yet again. I still didn't figure out why and how she kept attaching herself to our host.

"Do you feel her too?" I asked nobody in particular, "The dragoness?"

"Yes, Master" Miwah confirmed. Her eyes darted to the horizon as she cast the mind into the host.

"She is very nosy," Tama added.

"Yes-yes. Nosy dragon-thing." Mia added, clearly irritated.

"We have only one Master!" Kirke spoke too, directing her protest towards something unseen.

Then all the 'Displacers' still in the vicinity hissed, almost as provoked by something my eyes couldn't see, and it wasn't hard to puzzle out that the 'Lady' - I still didn't figure how else to call the dragoness - was pestering the rest of our host, starting with our teleporting felines.

When it didn't work, she focused on me.

"I request your assistance, Root!" the dragoness announced out of nowhere. I would have jerked in shock, but her foreboding presence already provided enough warning, and the only thing I could do was be annoyed by her brashness.

It made me look around either way, but the 'Lady' didn't manifest herself to the physical world this time as she did back in the temple, making me wonder whether she needed the statue to animate, or was simply insistent on being the disembodied voice.

"Roo. I need your cat demons, and I need them now!" she insisted, but the few 'Displacers' in the earshot simply hissed defiantly, clearly able to both hear and understand 'Lady' yet completely unwilling to budge at her words.

"For! Master!" The 'Displacers' joined by the several other breeds around intoned in unison, and it didn't require the telepathic link to understand they meant "We don't take orders from you."

I remained silent. While my girls seemed to worry about the overreaching authority, I was more concerned about whether the dragoness would haunt us for all eternity from now on, nagging not only me but also my companions about our every decision.

The 'Lady' paid it no mind and continue to make demands:

"I need you to transport my clergy to safety! My brothers are moving faster than I anticipated!"

"Hm."

It reminded me that the whole political situation between her and her brethren dragons remained unexplained, and demanded some clarification from our 'Lady' side whether I would be forced to deal only with the 'Red' or also with the rest of the pantheon. In fact, now it seemed it was me against all the remaining dragons, and I didn't like the idea a single bit.

"Did you say brothers, as in plural?"

"Yes. We need to consolidate quickly! Send out your cat demons to gather my followers. They need to set out at once. Bring them all here!" the dragoness pushed without explanation.

"Our Displacer rifts kill humans that step through them." I objected, still trying to locate something I could face in conversation to make this a little less awkward. The kittens hissed once again, and didn't like being bossed around by the 'Lady'.

"We have a bond, a pact. Wards made by my priests don't affect you! It must work the same for your cat demons!" The dragoness barked out, her tone betraying the annoyance, maybe anger at the audacity of people not following her direct orders.

"Are you certain it would work?" I said, not quite convinced - so far I've not found anything that would allow the humans to pass the rifts unscathed, though, true, I haven't tested it yet.

"I saw your priestess." The dragoness argued, "She could be brought through."

I paused. It took me a moment to understand she was referring to Ari, even though I wouldn't refer to her as any form of clergy, let alone mine. Ari was simply a friendly human. It was, however, not the time or place to dispute the terms - I wavered for far too long already.

"Could you tell me where your people are?"

I asked and was immediately flooded by the maelstrom of images in response.

This time it wasn't as painful as it was overwhelming, leaving me briefly dazed and confused from the onslaught of the sheer information. Miwah had to hold me up to not collapse down on the ground. However, once the flashing visions receded, there doesn't seem to be any lingering ache, making the entire experience only mildly infuriating because it came without any warning.

It was very unhelpful.

However, I wasn't quite required to know where I was going - my 'Displacers' had to, and I could sense their minds touching mine. I didn't try to fight the presence - we were one, we were many.

I shook my head.

"Did you catch it?" I asked, while Miwah, Tama, and Mia tried to assist me back to my feet.

They nodded. The 'Displacers' seem to be ones struck most. If the jumbled mess of images echoing in my brain were navigation data, they would be the one to act on it, sadly Sora wasn't around to help and the rest looked at least agitated by the process.

"Kitties?" I asked the few of my felines that came closer.

The few 'Displacers' let out a very uncertain "For Master" as a reply, while Miwah, still acting as my support, and translator for the entire host, said: "It is a very ... strange experience, Master."

"Indeed."

It seems it was the first time when the visions were shared by the entire host, yet they could handle the entire process considerably better than I was, as not even a single feline teleporter was grounded by the experience and made sense out of the entire package.

I would try to make sense of it later - right now I tried to not think as the all devouring horde, but as the individual. I bobbed my head, shook it, to regain focus.

"Are those places warded?" I asked,

"Yes..."

No way. I am not sending my adorable kitten where I wouldn't be able to retrieve them.

"Show me the location that wasn't warded out yet. Unless you can grant us immunity to being sealed, my kitties won't teleport to any of those traps, otherwise we won't act!"

I was starting to get vocal about it, and the hustle of whispers in my brain agreed.

"Yee...sss." The dragoness said in slow motion, and I was already starting to hate the divination sessions.

The vision returned, showing the man in the priestly robes staggering through the main street of some vaguely ancient Chinese-looking city, accosted by the shouting crowd.

An armoured warrior, outfitted with the typical lamellar armour, commanded the squad of spearmen from the horseback to seize the distracted-looking priest when the vision had ended.

I didn't recall seeing a shrine. Unless they enchanted every cobble on the street in preparation, it should be safe, for now.

"Bring him in." I ordered, and one of the 'Displacer' kittens disappeared into the rift of shifting space."

Safe for us, at least.

"Heal him on arrival." I gestured to Mia - ready or not, it was the time for my 'evolved' companions to test their mettle, and I would only hope what improved was their ability to heal.

It took a long minute before the 'Displacer' re-emerged back from the portal, this along with the man from the vision, and both collapsed onto the grass, leaving me wondering how long they were forced to jump. My anthropomorphic feline recovered almost immediately, weighted more by the passages she transported than by the experience itself, but the human had immediately started convulsing from the experience.

This time, unlike the fiasco with the merchant, my 'Defilers' were ready, and started channelling their power, but to no avail. It was more than obvious that the human body could not take the strain from both the 'Displacer' portal and the 'Defiler' power in quick succession, and the unfortunate soul soon perished, screaming in agony.

If anything, it was worse.

It left the corpse even more disfigured, a grim reminder that our healing ability still had a grievous effect on the different species, regardless of the improvement on the 'Defiler' part. Then there was a question of whether the greater version, the so-called 'Devourer', was even meant to be a better healer.

I was half-expecting the dragoness to protest, to blame for her follower's death to be placed on our shoulders, but she just insisted.

"Another!"

"It still kills them!" I protested, though this time, rather than regretting the innocent death, I was more upset by losing the progress: "You would just blame us for their death later."

"No! You don't understand." The dragoness, unseen but sounding bewildered, nearly screamed: "It's not going back! They are already dying. I underestimated the bond between us!

"What? We can try to heal them." I objected - it was easier for the human to recover from a single trauma than a combination of two or more already mortal conditions.

"Heal those who are alone right now later!" The 'Lady' hissed, apparently under pressure: "We need to transport all who are endangered to us first, lest they are going to be sacrificed! My eldest priest has already been murdered..."

"There are human sacrifices?" I asked, somewhat dumbfounded. I never truly considered that humans would carry out the blood sacrifices, even the whole situation that gave me my chiropteran followers was accidental.

Then, the 'Lady' did ask us for one, but it was carried on as a byproduct of disposing of the bodies.

I suddenly wanted to find Angela or Arke, as I could try to abuse their biokinesis to adapt humans to the 'Displacer' shifts...

"You don't understand. Our pact!" The dragoness bellowed, upset, nearly hysteric: "I have been deposed! We have the same ... status. It is better for their souls to stay with us than with my former brothers!"

Then I had an idea.

"Mia, channel the fruit to the Displacer," I ordered, gesturing towards the nearest of my feline companions - if I couldn't have better humans, or better healers, I needed survivable rifts.

Kirke reached for the fruit only for it to be snatched out by the rat-girl power, and with the quick throwing gesture a sickly green glow hit the unsuspecting, and quite surprised 'Displacer'.

Oh, the 'Devourers' had instantaneously ranged energy-drains, but they killed humans faster too, but there was no chance to ponder it more.

Her transformation was immediate, drastic, and intense. The previously small anthropomorphic kitten, originally girlish in their proportion, had grown quickly into more adult-human size, along with an athletic figure barely contained in her already limited outfit. The fur, however, also changed, and the little one was quickly reshaped to resemble a panther more than a little kitty-kat.

She growled.

The dragoness protested at the delay, but I paid her no mind - I was trying to save her followers from the horrific effects of the void beyond on humans.

I waved the notification away - I could make my 'Displacers' better, and it was what mattered now.

|

Unit evolved! Kitty, The Named Warpstalker.

360 could be Evolved until innate resources run out.

|

"Show me the vision! Then transport the guy!" I ordered.

The "Lady', already quite irritable, hit me with yet another divination with the intensity of a bullet train.

My next out-of-body experience brought me face to face to another middle-aged native in priestly-robes. This time, however, already bound and held by a pair of soldiers, with the female priestess angrily gesturing towards him. I thought she must be yelling, though the sound was, strangely enough, not included, only visual information. It was still grossly disorienting just as previous visions tended to be.

Next moment, I was back in my body, curled on the ground, with the two 'Defilers' - or were those the developed versions - pumping life-force into me.

"Gate him, Kitty!" I ordered in a groan, paying to mind both the alarmed voices of my girls, and the invisible, intangible dragoness still raging somewhere within my mind - or rather, the combined mind of our host.

The Panther-girl waved her clawed hands.

The space tore itself apart with intensity previously unseen, no longer a dizzying mirage of shifting space, providing a mere glimpse of the wrongness of the space beyond, but the bleeding, rotting wound in reality that simply defied any comprehension.

Several bodies fell through, then the hellish portal closed once again. This time, its disappearance has been paired with not only the notification that popped into my field of vision but also by the enticing feedback associated with our growth.

|

*Major Enemy killed. Seven more to advance the General level. *

Skill "Stalker on the Boundary lvl. 9" Gained.

|

I was sure that more 'Displacers' had been born into existence, but in my prone position, I could only hear their excited meows and chants.

"Another!" the dragoness ordered while I struggled to get back on my feet with the help of Miwah, only to witness the impact of the last attempt.

Not only the priest we aimed to save but also his captors, including the robed woman from the vision, were all apparently sucked into the portal, and transported at once.

None of them survived.

The man we tried to save was not as badly mangled by the journey through the magical gate as were the others, owing it to the healing attempted on him upon arrival, but it was too late for him as well.

The rest, including the priestess, one clearly aligned with someone other than our 'Lady', ended much worse, bloodied and broken like a small animal caught in the spin-dryer.

It was pointless. The only thing I was getting were dead bodies, and clearly, the dragon's clergy weren't immune to portal magic any more than their more mundane countrymen. Whether the 'elite' could survive the journey was a question, but I wasn't trying to weaponise the improved 'Displacer' ability at the moment.

"Portal another!" The 'Lady' insisted, seemingly uncaring for the dangers it posed for mortals.

"It kills them!" I objected, raising my voice against the dragoness, or rather, against the heavens for she was still invisible.

Then she, albeit briefly, appeared in front of me, snapping at me, demanding action:

"They are already dying! If not to my brothers' minions, then to the madness that comes with our bond! Continue, Root!"

"It isn't working!"

"It works for your priestess, Root!"

"I am not killing your followers!" I refused. It was stupid. Or, at very least, against the spirit of our agreement, and destroying what I strived for.

"But it works for your priestess! There is something we can do!" The dragoness barked out, and her shout stirred the entire telepathic network at once. Even the Serpent, still lurking within its confines, had peeked from its hiding. I could sense him, just as I could sense the dragoness mood boiling.

"No." I yelled, pointing at the bodies, "This is what happens when the target isn't one of us?"

"But your priestess!" The 'Lady' repeated, this time, however, her mood suddenly switched, almost like she remembered something in the midst of her outburst: "I understand... your priestess! It must be yours! All must be yours! Your priestess, your demons, all yours!"

The dragoness - and I wondered whether I still should call the dragoness simply 'Lady' considering how easily and casually could break into pure, barely contained anger - laughed in a fit that bordered an insanity. I was getting nervous.

And then, in another of her mood swings, she collected herself, and commanded.:

"Try another!"

"I am not killing your followers! We have an alliance, do we not!"

"Yes. Yes, we have, Root. And I am not blaming you!" She replied, her storming voice now more subdued : "I don't blame you for their deaths. Transport more."

I had enough of her mood swings. Is everyone willing to deal with us unhinged?

The visions came back, and they were numerous as they were distracting, and I struggled to focus on all of them. It was like paying attention to more than one movie while reading several books and listening to song lyrics - simply said, it was too much of a jumbled mess to focus on individual parts.

At least, the 'Displacers' were getting used to it.

"Keep transporting, Root!" the 'Lady' encouraged, this time her rage receding. "I will not blame you."

Then she switched to the local tongue. Dragoness was crazy, and I had enough. I gestured to Kitty.

The grown 'Displacer' - I didn't catch how their breed was called after they developed into anthropomorphic panthers - opened the portal. Unlike her smaller, more subdued cousins, she could do it without even leaving her spot, without risky manoeuvres. But my mind couldn't focus on the benefit at the moment.

I just wanted this to end, it wasn't working, and the 'Lady' would see reason after this.

When the hole in the reality closed once more, there was a single new body left in the grass.

I took him for dead, too. Another man in those colourful priestly robes except...

But this one, this one wasn't dead - he rose on these feet, looking around in shock, then fell back on his knees, bowing his head to the ground.

I blinked.

"What changed?"

The dragoness burst into another fit of laughter. I was certain that the surviving priest could hear her, too, considering he appeared to go into shock.

Still, although shaken, he was alive, and I wasn't even closer to understanding what changed

"You are greedy bastards, you two!" the 'Lady' said, her voice now considerably more approachable in her tone, still made me twitch when, for the split-second, I had an unsettling impression she materialised on my shoulder. Then she was gone: if she did the same to her priests, I wasn't surprised they got skittish.

Miwah had to rush to catch me before I had a dizzy fit.

"All must be yours. It is how it works. It is simple." the dragoness said, this time calm: "Please order your demon cat, Root."

I didn't get it. Yet, it worked. One living human came through the rift unharmed, and it wasn't Ari. I changed my mind: I want to know why.

"Kitty?" I shot a questioning look at my only 'evolved' Displacer, trying to focus on a single scene among the myriads of confusing images the 'Lady' "blessed" me with moments ago.

"For Master!" She said, a sly smile on her increasingly more panther-like face, and as she gestured with her claws. Truly, next stage in 'Displacer' evolution.

The hellish portal tore the air open once more, and another person fell through it landing roughly among the dead, blackened grass and bloody, mangled bodies, next to the single survivor still prostrating himself.

I was about to order the 'Defilers' to help, but the new arrival also managed to scramble on its knees, shocked, but definitely alive.

Answers and explanations were nowhere to be seen.

Or heard, rather, since I expected the dragoness to start a monologue about her miraculous solutions.

She did not.

Instead, she started to laugh once again.

It seems we have driven her insane - at least, if she was sane to begin with.

I would definitely start calling the dragoness something other than that 'Lady', though.