"How long has he been like this?" Baset asked. I opened my eyes in time to see Baset down on one knee reaching out to touch my face.
"No touchy." I said as I slapped her hand away. Baset arched a brow at me and then frowned. Jane and Iris were standing behind Baset along with Dean Baxter by the door to the vault. The girls looked terrified but a look of relief spread over their faces when they saw me slap Baset's hand away.
"CHASE!" The girls both screamed then rushed over and tackled me. "We were so worried!"
"Ow! Get off me! I'm still mad at you two!" I snapped and tried to wiggle free from them. I stilled when I heard both Iris and Jane sniffle as they clung to me then full-blown tears streamed down their faces. The girls bawled their eyes.
"Whoa! Hey! Pouring on the waterworks isn't going to make me feel sorry for you two and forgive you!" I exclaimed. I turned to Dean Baxter and Baset wanting them to do something but they both looked worried and a little relieved instead. "Okay why the hell did you two get Baset and the dean down here?"
"Chase…you know you missed my class today right?" Baset asked softly. I frowned at her.
"Your class isn't for another three days. We just had your class a few hours ago." I replied. Iris dried her eyes and sat up.
"Chase you've been in here for three days…" Iris said. I blinked at her absently then looked at the dean and Baset for confirmation.
"According to the girls you've been unresponsive for the better part of three days." Dean Baxter said. Jane dried her eyes and sat up and looked at me.
"We left you alone after you took that evo and went to the vault for the rest of the day and most of the day after. When you didn't come back to the dorm we came to check on you and found you just sitting there, unresponsive. We tried everything to wake you up but you didn't even react. Iris even punched you. We figured you were just ignoring us but after you didn't come out of it this morning we went to get Lady Baset." Jane explained.
"Three days…It doesn't even feel like I was in there three hours…" I muttered to myself.
"Where were you?" Baset asked.
"Inside my crystal, well the space for my evos inside my crystal." I replied.
"Of course you were…." Baset with a groan. "You were doing body modification again weren't you?"
"Yes, trying to save my new evo." I said flashing Jane and Iris a glare.
"New evo?" Dean Baxter remarked.
"I tried to splice a tier three evo and it worked but the evo wasn't fully formed. Chase got mad that I asked Iris to put it out of it's misery and he took the evo and came in here." Jane said simplifying everything.
I stood up and walked around Baset and the dean and scowled at Jane.
"You can't say it worked if the evo you spliced nearly died cause you fucked up!" I snapped. "He was all mangled and couldn't move. His genetics were so messed up it was a miracle that he didn't die!"
"Chase I completed the splicing without the circle shattering because I ran out of mana. That is the important thing!" Jane exclaimed.
"I'm sorry to Jane but you're wrong." Baset said with a shake of her head. "Even if you completed the splicing if there is no evo to show for it the splicing was a failure."
Jane frowned and looked towards the dean who nodded his head in agreement. Iris walked over and patted Jane on the back, ever her fateful companion.
"Either way I saved the evo. Even though it took me three days apparently." I said, I suddenly became aware how empty my stomach was and achy my body felt from sitting in that position for so long. Baset looked me up and down then scratched her chin.
"Despite not having anything to eat for three days you look very well nourished. While you were using mana to modify that evo your body must have also taken some mana to keep your strength up." Baset observed. "How much mana do you have left?"
I frowned and took a second to take stock of my mana reserved. It wasn't nearly as depleted as I was expecting it to be after all the modifications I did.
"I'm at about forty-three percent I think." I replied then scratched my chin. "I could have sworn I used more mana than that…"
"So are you going to show us this evo you spent so much time working on or keep us in suspense?" Dean Baxter asked. All eyes turned to me and I narrowed my eyes at the dean. He completely ignored that look and continued. "In fact, why not do a presentation?"
"I just found out that I was basically meditating for three days! Can I get a moment to collect myself?!" I snapped. Dean Baxter smiled devilishly.
"Sure…I'm sure we can arrange to have the coliseum sold out for this revel in a few days…" He said. I scowled and crossed my arms.
[Hey, are you okay with that? I know you were just fixed?] I asked the evo.
[Yes Star Boss! I want to stretch!] The evo replied enthusiastically.
"Fine…" I grumbled then walked out of the vault. I wasn't exactly sure how large the evo was but just in case it was massive like inside the crystal I didn't want to summon it inside.
I walked back over to the splicing circle then turned around to find that The dean, Baset, Jane, and Iris had followed me out there.
"What exactly is done in an evo presentation?" I asked the dean.
"Usually you tell us the temporary type name of the evo, what it's designed for, it's evo class and any other information that you find relevant." Dean Baxter replied.
"Can Chase even do the presentation since Lady Jane was the one to splice the evo?" Iris asked.
"Yes, since it was a failed splice and Chase has done body modifications to it. Genetically it's not the same evo as before." Baset replied. Iris nodded and looked to me.
"I see…" Iris said.
"Lets see…this new evo's class is combat evo, it's designed for forest and marsh combat but could easily be used in a urban or mountainous environment. It's temporary type name is…ummm….oooh…Millitanto!" I said. Jane frowned when she heard the name.
"Did you call it Millitanto?" She asked. I nodded slowly wondering where she was going with her questions. "You know I used centipede DNA not millipede DNA, right?!"
"And people mix up millipedes and centipedes all the time so it doesn't matter which you originally used they will probably think it's a millipede." I retorted. "Either way this is my presentation Lil PP, not yours."
"CHASE GAELBOR KINGSTON!" Jane barked, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment and anger. Dean Baxter and Baset both just glossed over me using a nickname for her and spoke up as if I hadn't said anything.
"Anything else you want to add about this evo before you summon it?" Dean Baxter asked.
"Yeah, it looks badass!" I exclaimed proudly. Baset and the dean chuckled then motioned for me to continue. I held my hand out and my crystal started to glow.
"Let's go…umm…" I started then frowned when I realized I never gave the Millitanto a name. I dropped my hand and scratched my chin for a few seconds as I thought up a name.
"Chase what are you doing?" Iris asked.
"Thinking up a name for the Millitanto give me a second…" I replied. I tried a few names in my head but none of them sounded right. They didn't exactly fit him. My eyes widened and a satisfied smile creeped on my face as I raised my hand again. "Lets go! Grimm-Guard!"
A crystalline structure shot out of my crystal and flew high above the lights and hit the ceiling above. There was a small bright flash followed by the sound of skittering along the roof's support beans. Everyone looked up and their eyes widened as Grimm-Guard's full size became apparent to them.
"What is that?!" Iris exclaimed. I smirked as Grimm-Guard's head poked down from the ceiling and stopped a few feet above the floor next to me. Petted his head, which was every bit as wide at the front of a steed shuttle.
"My new evo." I replied.
"Grimm-Guard, guardian of the Star Boss!" Grimm-Guard exclaimed. Everyone's mouths dropped as they heard Grimm-Guard speak.
Honestly I was a little surprised as well, his mouth didn't really look like it would support human speech since he had no tongue. Though the weird gill-looking things that were under his mandibles vibrated every time he spoke. I guess they vibrated at a frequency that allowed him to mimic the sounds a human tongue would make.
"Another evo that can talk!" Baset groaned and rubbed her forehead.
"How did it get so big! The thing was only as long as Chase a few days ago?" Iris asked.
"I modified the genetic sequence that dictates size and to support its new body weight I changed its carapace strength and internal structure." I answered as I looked up at the rest of its body that was still tangled in the rafters. Judging off of how much was visible he had to at least be a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty yards long but there was a possibility he was longer than that.
"Of course he did…" Baset said with a sigh.
"Star Boss gifted me with power. I will use that power to protect Star Boss and all he owns!" Grimm-Guard exclaimed. I scratched my chin thoughtfully then smiled.
"Then how about you watch the laboratory from now on?" I asked.
"WHAT?!" Jane and Iris screamed.
"That's not really necessary, the laboratory has some of the best security on the campus." Dean Baxter said proudly.
"Well pretty soon this lab is going to be the headquarters of Sho'lajah artifact company and those security measures are going to be tested on a regular basis…possibly. I'd rather have something else in place in case a intruder manages to get past all those fancy alarms and traps." I said.
"I will feast on any who dares try to steal from the Star Boss!" Grimm-Guard exclaimed angrily. He snapped his oversized mandibles closed a few times to emphasize his point. I patted his head.
"As long as they aren't human, evos you can eat. Humans just paralyze them with your venom." I said. Grimm-Guard nodded and sighed though I could tell from that sigh that it was a little disappointed by that order.
"Chase, when you have some free time I'd like to talk to you about your progress with body modification." Baset said softly. I nodded slowly.
"Maybe tomorrow…" I said apprehensively.
"Well since you're scheduling your week out young Kingston, I need to speak with you sometime in the next few days. It's about the business that you started." Dean Baxter said.
"That business is actually the reason I came here today."
I frowned and looked to the dean. "You mean you didn't get dragged here by Tri-clops and Lil PP?" I asked pointing to the girls. Jane scowled at me and started casting an offensive sigil.
"Chase!" She growled lowly. Grimm-Guard immediately moved to block Jane's attack by surrounding me with its body and screeched aggressively.
"NONE SHALL HURT THE STAR BOSS!" Grimm-Guard roared and snapped his mandibles at Jane. Iris moved to protect Jane and placed herself between Jane and Grimm-Guard.
"Calm down Grimm. She won't hurt me." I said placing a restraining hand on his body. Grimm-Guard stilled then uncoiled himself and pushed one of his mandibles between my legs and used it to toss me in the air and up onto the top of his head.
"Star Boss wish is my command. I won't hurt my heartless creator as long as she doesn't hurt you." Grimm-Guard said. I felt that if he had eyebrows or eyelids he would have been glaring at Jane.
"Heartless…" Jane muttered. I looked down at Grimm-Guard's head and followed his body all the way up to the rafters. His body was black with dark Grey bands along the sides that made it harder to see in the dim light of the rafters. Luckily his legs were a dark red color so that helped but just barely.
His body was separated into segments that looked to be about a yard or so long and the joints that connected each segment were protected by a secondary layer of exoskeleton. At every three body segments there were slots in the top of his carapace that his wings unfolded from.
"Amazing job young Kingston. If I were to give you any critique it would be a little more descriptive and to upsell your evo's strengths. Other than that I'd say it was a marvelous presentation." Dean Baxter said, obviously to draw tension from Jane and Grimm-Guard.
"Thanks…" I said dryly then looked down to Grimm-Guard thanks to his massive compound eyes I was pretty sure that he could see me even though I was standing on his head. "Can I trust you to guard the laboratory from above? You'll be able to watch everything better from up there."
"Of course Star Boss!" Grimm-Guard exclaimed, enthusiastically shaking his head and bucking me off him unintentionally. I fell to the floor in front of him and groaned as I sat up and turned to look at him. "Oooops! Sorry boss!"
I felt a wave of remorse and embarrassment come from Grimm-Guard. I shook my head as I stood up then petted the evo on his head again.
"It's alright. You just need to be more careful when someone is riding on your head." I replied. Grimm-Guard nodded and I felt a wave of relied flow over me from him.
"I'll go and familiarize myself with your domain Star Boss!" Grimm-Guard exclaimed. Two small large dragonfly wings expanded from the slits in his carapace on his head and flapped so fast they became invisible and a gust of wind knocked me away from Grimm-Guard. His head and the section of his body that was descended from the rafters floated and quickly ascended. Once he got past the lights he blended into tithe shadows and started scurrying along the rafters and support beams of the roof.
I turned and looked towards everyone else and pointed to the door. "While he makes himself home I'm going to head home and get some food and sleep. I'm starting to feel exhausted…"