Stretching his limbs like he'd slept for too long, Atlas waited outside the hulking gates of the Cradle, the early-morning breeze flowing through his hair as his hexlimbs supported his leaning. The sun was slowly rising in the distance, blessing the forest just beyond the gates in its golden splendor.
He'd woken a few hours ago, prepared with Nythera's help, and finally had a small breakfast before heading outside the gates to wait for Blanc and Shine, and whoever the other six would be.
Nythera had already shared the success of the two's evolutions with him, telling him not to worry as she handed over the necessities she said he would need. Looking into the sack of supplies, Atlas couldn't help but be faintly surprised.
"A satchel, a fluffy blanket, some kind of warm rocks, a signaling token, a storage ring for the Essenceflow Water, a little purse... with a note? Five health potions, three mana potions, and a... what is this? Is this a sleeping mat?" Atlas muttered, looking through the large bag that Nythera had handed him before he left for his waiting spot.
She hadn't explained most of it, but heavily emphasized the usage of the token. It was a way of signaling to the Elders and Nythera that something had gone wrong, in which case they'd immediately come for them, as long as they could hold out long enough. Atlas figured it was good to have incase of emergency, but had no plans to use it unless absolutely necessary. This was his first 'adventure,' his first 'dungeon delve,' he wasn't going to ask for saving. No way, he'd be the one doing the saving!
Either way, he was both surprised and unsurprised by the contents of the bag.
"Why a sleeping mat? Aren't we supposed to weave webs for that? I actually do have those memories you know..." he muttered somewhat embarrassed. It was embarrassing how people were starting to view his apparent "defectiveness."
"I'll have to figure out how to explain it all..."
As he waited for Blanc and Shine, he wasn't surprised by the lack of food or travel jerky. He'd finished a small meal before moving outside, and he understood the Spiris' general lack of culinary understanding. They could consume literally anything and burn it into energy, even gravel, as long as it wasn't beyond the ability of their level and [Manacore]'s strength by too much. They'd be fine without food anywhere they went, and would only need water after long stretches without it. Thus, he figured there wouldn't be any snacks, not that he wasn't disappointed to be right. It was moments like these that he wished he'd been even unhealthier on Earth... oh how he missed his lays chips and cola.
Before he could rummage any further, he suddenly felt the hair on his neck straighten as he quickly peered deeper into the Cradle. He sensed movement in the distance.
There, past the gates of the hulking structure built into the mountain, were two figures approaching in from the center of the Cradle. With the overall increase in his stats, his heightened senses and newly enhanced ability to feel vibrations, Atlas had picked them up immediately.
"Blanc, Shine! Over here," he yelled, one of his hexlimbs waving behind him instead of his hand.
Hearing his voice, the two figures picked up their pace and quickly shuffled towards him. Atlas could see their expressions the closer they got, they were odd, to say the least.
'What the hell happened to them? They look like they just left a battle with PTSD and won't ever forget the scenes... Or tried my sisters cooking...'
Once they finally arrived, each holding a satchel similar to the one Atlas had, he noticed the changes in their forms immediately.
Blanc stood just as tall as Atlas, about the size of an athletic fourteen year old boy, while Shine looked a few inches smaller, and many times more nimble. She looked like she had the build of a ballerina, an absurdly compact musculature beneath her exoskeleton with the nimbleness required of the trade, of course, she still had her hexlimbs as well. There were various other changes, but Atlas couldn't really tell what they'd do, so he decided to just wait to observe later, only Shine's changes were pretty immediately understandable.
"Hey, how'd the evolution go you two? I see you focused on precision, Shine," Atlas said, nodding towards Shine's now much thinner hexlimbs. They had an additional joint as well, and seemed to be faintly serrated at the tips, he didn't know what her mindset was when making the changes, but he could tell they'd make precise movements and tasks far easier to deal with than he'd be able to achieve with his own.
[Indeed, brother Atlas. I wanted to focus on web-craft and be able to pivot into a runic focus in the future if I still feel that way, so I opted to increase the maneuverability of my hexlimbs while also increasing the ability to use them in precise tasks.] Shine nodded, eyeing Atlas's changes as well before Blanc spoke up.
[Well, I'm sure we'll all show off what changed once we get into some proper fights, so I won't spoil my choices too much,] he said, acting all mysterious.
"Hmm... that's fine. I just increased my sensory ability, maneuverability, and control by a large margin. I finally feel like I'm whole now, not just like I have six extra legs attached to my back."
[Good choice. What about your physique? Did you enhance it at all?] Blanc added, remembering their plans for their respective roles.
"About that... I didn't enhance it much, I chose to go another route in the end. I enhanced my mind by infusing it with a special essence. I'd explain the effects, but I think it'd just be better to show you," he said, as he shut his eyes and focused internally.
Before long, both Blanc and Shine felt a massive transfer of information, it was sudden but very blatant, as if Atlas had warned them before hand. They were sure it could've been subtler, but he seemed to be considering their feelings.
As soon as they accepted the transfer from Atlas's [Mindweave] they found their thoughts and focuses pulled into a virtual projection of around ten meters surrounding their bodies. It wasn't perfect to the degree of gravel and every blade of grass, but it was close, and extremely shocking. It was as if Atlas had built a Mindscape of their surroundings in just the fractional moment that he'd shut his eyes, and pulled the two into it with their permission. Their real bodies remained outside, but their thoughts and intentions, their focus, was pulled into this space.
[Amazing.] Shine muttered, feeling the reception of another stream of information directly from Atlas's weave while she watched the projection in awe.
This time, it wasn't another scene, but an extremely condensed "packet" of information, more specifically language. It was whatever language Atlas tended to speak with his mouth, that they could only understand thanks to their [Mindweaves] and [Astera Horns].
Astera Spiris never had much need for learning a language as they communicated mentally just fine, they could understand any races intentions to communicate through these [Mindweaves] as well, like universal translators, but that didn't mean they didn't appreciate his sharing. In their eyes, this must have been extremely burdensome, but when they looked back at Atlas's figure, he looked like nothing had happened at all.
[Was the essence you infused your mind with, the essence of [ALL]?] Blanc asked, noticing the absurd increase in Atlas's mental ability.
"Yes."
"I see." Shine said, her voice coming out slightly jittery, as if she wasn't used to using her tongue yet, "I also infused this 'ebsemce'... I mean es-essence, into my body. Instead of my mind, I put it into my joints and hexlimbs."
Having shown what he'd meant to, Atlas diffused the [Mindscape] as he called it, and returned their focus to reality, eyeing the two of them as he asked in curiosity, "Why did the two of you come out looking like you were scarred for life? What the hell happened?"
"That..." Blanc paused, realizing he barely knew how to explain mentally, let alone in this new language he wanted to practice.
"I think you're better of not knowing, brother Atlas. Trust me on this." Shine said, eyeing Blanc with a weird expression, as if exasperated.
"Hmm? Alright I guess... what about the other six? Where are they?"
"They're heading up soon. The Elders are preparing their necessities and caring for the others," Blanc answered, choosing to lean his body against the large rock that Atlas was as they waited.
"What do you mean caring for the others?"
"You don't want to know."
"Seriously?"
"Trust."
"... Alright." Atlas just nodded, wondering what exactly could happen in such a short time since he'd last seen them.
"I guess while we wait I'll just check my status. I'm not sure about you two, but my Sys- Err, [Zeta] told me I should start thinking about where I'll distribute my stat points after converting the essence I have saved up. You should probably plan for that too." Atlas said, immediately focusing on the blue panel that floated before him.
[Name: Atlas Tetharys]
[Form: Primordian - Astera Spiris Mind Apprentice (Variant Youngling)]
[Titles: Survivor of the Impossible]
[Tier: 1] (Congratulations, host. While you haven't yet reached the tiers of true strength, you have taken your first step. Zeta is proud.)
[Level: 0]
[Essence: 275]
[Bio-Morphon: 55] (Zeta suggests carefully considering which mutations you would like to focus enhancing first.)
[Stat Points: 0]
[Vitality: 12]
[Strength: 8]
[Dexterity: 19]
[Endurance: 11]
[Intelligence: 49] (A much more important stat now that you have constructed a Mindscape)
[Willpower: 41] (A much more important stat now that you have constructed a Mindscape, although already very important without such consideration.)
[ALL/Primordialis: 65] (As Senior Nythera Tetharys has forbade, [ZETA] also does not advise mobilizing any of this energy unless absolutely sure of your control. Please be careful.)
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[Inherent/Unique Skills]
[Voidsoul Tree Seed], [Eyes of the Primordian], [Astera Horn Manipulation], [Astera Mindweave], [Wave Affinity], [Mind Affinity], [Youngling Web Spinning], [Youngling Neurotoxin (Infused)], [Youngling String], [Consuming Void], [Neurodivergence]
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[Skills]
[Astera Spiris Sense Lv1], [Astera Mindscape Lv1],
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[Mutations]
[Myo-Woven Nimble Hexlimbs - 0], [Astera Horns - 0], [Arcane Wave Gland - 0], [Arcane Mind Gland - 0], [Astera Spiris Exoskeleton (Youngling) - 0], [Astera Spiris Toxin Sac - 0], [Astera Spiris Spinnerets - 0], [Astera Variant Limbs - 0], [Sensory Array (foundation) - 0]
---------------------------------
Seeing the newly enhanced status page, Atlas couldn't help but smile beside himself. It wasn't a monumental increase in strength, he knew very well that he still amounted to cannon fodder, if even that, when compared to the grand scale of [Sellene]. But the visual representation of his growth was invigorating nonetheless.
His stats had more than doubled after both eating his egg shell and subsequently evolving, and this was without converting essence into stat points. He finally had two skills, and even his title was looking pretty sweet.
Most importantly though, he could finally see the parts that'd previously been sealed, or hidden. Every portion of these Primordian related stats or skills were more ominous sounding than the next, or more badass if you thought like Atlas. He'd already heard that the System, Zeta, had done its best to convey what they might do, or how they affect him, but it could only get so far before even it was stumped. There were no descriptions for the two skills, [Eyes of the Primordian], or the [Voidsoul Tree Seed]. According to Zeta, only the first one was related to his nature as a Primordian, the second was an anomaly it didn't understand the origin of, but believed was somehow related to Nythera judging from historical records it knew about.
And yet, Atlas wasn't at all bothered by this. This was already progress, and it was more than enough to sate his curiosity for now. He didn't really intend to dabble with 'shit he shouldn't fuck with' before he was ready anyways.
"Thanks for the info Zeta, seeing the little levels next to the mutations I really just want to rush to the Nexus Zone now..." Atlas said, feeling genuinely giddy. He felt like a little kid on his first espresso and too many Linkin Park songs. He wanted to sprint through the forest at his highest speed, proclaiming himself the death of all that stood in his way, but alas, the cold voice of reason splashed him awake.
[Host, Zeta is also quite happy with your growth and the success of your evolution despite the anomalies that occurred. But you should temper excitement before you are completely comfortable with the changes in your body. Additionally, you now have a far greater role than just another part of the team. You have not only your siblings to guide, but the six approaching Spiris younglings as well. Please be advised.]
Hearing Zeta's words, Atlas just waved it off and nodded dismissively, "I know, I know. Wait, approaching? Oh, there they are."
"Felix, Fama Odumb, Sierra, Syx, over here!" Shine waved, saying some of the younglings names in the new language, English, that Atlas had shared with her.
[SHINE! DO NOT CALL THIS GREAT FAMA ODIN BEN, ODUMB!] one of the Spiris roared back, charging ahead of the group, it'd obviously translated what she'd said with its horns.
And so, seeing the approaching figures, a wide smile broke across Atlas's lips, he was just getting antsy, but now his team had arrived.