CHAPTER 136: THE OTHERS

The Others

"That’s the last one for today." Mrs Jane exhaled as she stretched, her shirt tightening over her figure briefly before relaxing.

Near her were Ellie, Kurt, Sam, and Irene, and around them, the surrounding area had been devastated.

Trees were either uprooted or on fire, or both. The ground was upturned in many areas, with some of it having been turned into lava. Crystalline shards could also be seen all over the place, some having been impaled into different areas, and there were different crystalline ’statues’ here and there as well.

Some spots had been melted, with corrosive puddles being strewn about, filling the air with a pungent smell. Some parts of the ground and rocks looked like they’d been hit with pure cuncussive force, blasting them apart.

There was also an eerie darkness that was rapidly receding.

"That was the fourth one today," Kurt stated as he sat down cross-legged, Clyde immediately climbing into his lap. However, the little fox looked quite a bit different compared to a month ago.

Previously, Clyde had indeed looked like a simple fennec fox. Now, though, not only had he grown a bit, but, he was still pretty small, his appearance had changed quite a bit.

His ears had grown larger, almost to a comical level, but within them, symbols resembling soundwaves could be seen. His fur had also turned a silverish-gray, and said fur had grown out quite a bit, but the tips were oddly straight. Not that he looked like a porcupine, but it was like someone had used relaxer on him, and there were no mats within his fur, allowing it to pick up soundwaves far more easily.

He’d also acquired a second tail, with both tails raised high like radars.

"If we include the ones everyone else was handling, then that should be 13 today. In theory." Irene added, also sitting. Next to her was Inagi, who—just like Clyde—had experienced some changes.

The most obvious change was in his size. He was only slightly larger than a normal monitor lizard before. But now, he was the size of a small Tibetan Mastiff.

Speaking of lizards, that name didn’t really apply to Inagi as much as before.

His body had become a lot less slender and was more bulky. His tail had also gotten longer with spikes traveling along it up his spine to his head. His skin showed signs of scale-like growths on its surface as well.

His claws looked far sharper than before, and right where his feet started, green veins pulsed as they ran into each claw.

Then there was his head, which didn’t have many changes other than the large fangs that protruded from his mouth.

Needless to say, Inagi looked more like a drake than a lizard.

"Cool, so can we get going now?" Sam asked, a bit impatiently. As soon as she did, a figure materialized out of her shadow. It was a large feline, but certainly no housecat. More like a juvenile panther, and it made no sound as it moved up to Sam’s side, rubbing itself against her leg before lying down.

Blackie had certainly gotten.. darker. Even without shadows around, her body was so dark that light seemed to almost get sucked into it, making her so dark that looking at her directly was a tall task.

Unless she allowed you to look at her directly, that is.

Her slitted pupils that were dark as night flicked around calmly, her lithe figure filled with lean yet powerful muscles that were ready to explode with power at any given moment.

"Yeah, we’ve been at it for a while." Ellie nodded and straightened her hair.

Meanwhile, a large python slithered around her torso. If it so pleased, it could crush her simply by constricting. But it didn’t.

Sugil didn’t look like a simple snake or Amphiptere anymore.

She was about 10 inches thick, with a body length of well over 2 meters.

Her scales looked like carved gems, beautiful, but incredibly durable, and if she so pleased, she could make them sit straight and act like razors on her body, allowing her to effectively grind whatever she found herself tightening around.

Her wings had also grown larger, but to prevent them from affecting her slithering, they had been folded firmly on her back. Otherwise, if they were open, one would be able to see strange crystalline markings on them, which weren’t only there to look pretty.

Also, it had to be mentioned that other than the obvious Ellie, everyone’s beasts had all entered the Apprentice Rank.

"If you guys are okay with it then sure." Mrs Jane shrugged, not finding an issue.

That’s when a shadow suddenly covered the group, and they all looked up to see a large winged reptile with two legs and winged forelimbs. It had bright red scales with an underbelly with more flesh, but still durable skin.

It was a Wyvern.

Horns protruded from its head, and its slotted pupils locked onto everyone in the group before focusing on Mrs Jane.

It immediately dived down, and when it got close, a red and orange light covered its body, and it rapidly shrank. Mrs Jane held out her arms with a small smile, and what she caught was a toddler with bright red hair, similar to hers, with two small red horns peeking from beneath the hair. His skin was slightly tanned and smooth.

"You were quick, Ignis. Did you find anything?" Mrs Jane asked with a small smile, and the boy stared up at her without an expression, but his eyes were bright.

"There are more nests spread out in this direction. There’s a large underground network connecting them based on the heat signatures I saw. I wasn’t able to locate the queen, though." Ignis replied earnestly.

As for who this Wyvern turned toddler was? Well, it was Mrs Jane’s salamander, who had probably the biggest visual change after evolving as it went from a Salamander to a Wyvern.

Needless to say, the change was huge, and everyone had been baffled when it had happened, Osho included.

Still, it was a positive development, and Mrs Jane was especially fond of him, which made sense, he was her beast after all.

"What about Nora?" She asked again.

"She’s sending metal dust through the network to properly map it. She should be done soon." Ignis replied.

No one questioned why Mrs Jane had asked Ignis when she could have just used her bond with Nora to ask. In fact, chances were that she already knew, but it was clear to everyone that she enjoyed talking to her beasts now that they could physically respond to her.

Not that she didn’t enjoy talking with them before, but she seemed to be the one enjoying it the most.

As for what they were talking about?

Well, after their Beasts evolved and they got a good feel for their strength, the Citadel Lord had made the decision to start increasing the scope of the Citadel’s influence. More power meant they could seize more resources, and they intended to do just that.

Hence, they started moving out in the Southern direction which was the most unexplored part of their region of the wilderness for a simple reason.

Ants.

Ever since the founding of the Blossom Citadel, this direction had been the biggest headache for them as there was a massive ant colony that claimed that part of the wilderness as theirs.

Individually, they weren’t that much of an issue. But like all insect-type beasts, the issue lay in their numbers.

A preliminary scan showed that there were millions of ants living there, moreover, their numbers only grew as the colony slowly expanded.

The Citadel often had skirmishes with them. Not exactly beast tides, but more often than not, a squad would need to be sent out in order to ’cleanse’ the excess ants that started setting up smaller nests near the Citadel.

However, they had slowly been gaining more ground, and it was speculated that an all-out war would eventually break out with the ants.

Before, such a thing had been dreaded. However, now that Osho revealed his ability, the Citadel Lord had made a swift decision.

To push the colony back and claim more land.

Moreover, while the land was nice, there was another reason he sought to expand in this area.

Resources.

Scans showed that the spot was filled with natural treasures. Which is also whynthe ants were so keen on settling there. Natural treasures allowed them to grow and expand swiftly, and even now, their scanners still showed them that there was a large amount of the natural treasures they could use.

The Citadel Lord wanted these natural resources as well.

The Black Rock Chain was a good source of income for the Citadel, yes. But after Osho revealed his identity and proved his loyalty to the Citadel, a long gone ambition reignited in his heart.

Blossom Citadel was considered to be one of the better Bastion Class Citadels, however, he wasn’t content with that.

Now that his Beast had evolved and he’d ranked up, his natural lifespan had also increased, and he desired to bring the Blossom Citadel to greater heights.

Hence, he began the task of claiming the territory of the ants.

He also saw it as the perfect opportunity for everyone whose beasts Osho had evolved to get some practice in, so that’s what the group and everyone else had been doing this last month and a half, and the results were palpable, as one can imagine.

"A transport helicopter will be arriving soon. Also, Osho says he’s done with the last batch of eggs and is free until the Envoys from the Tamer Colleges arrive." Mrs Jane explained, and the eyes of everyone—Ellie specifically—lit up.

"Finally, now we can properly hang out." Kurt laughed and the others celebrated. Meanwhile, Ellie just smiled, but there was a hint of determination in her gaze.