Records of Rebirth

Dust and debris lifted off the ground in swirling waves as the wasp struggled to control its newly forming body.

Battered and covered in bruises, it swelled in size as it struggled. New parts grew to replace the old ones. Its sinewy arms hardened and vicious claws erupted at their tips. Its serrated limbs exposing bladed spines at their edges that glinted a brilliant green.

The soft flesh under the cracks of its former shell ripped and tore as something forced its way through. Spines that were sturdier and more robust than the original were breaking their way out of its body to form a new shell, and just like that, its defence increased once more.

Its body seemed to be reconstructing itself from inside out. Its evolved form was still in the process of settling, and it was getting stronger as more time elapsed.

There was enough dust in the air to hide my presence but the wasp's level of perception was abnormal. Even through all this, it stayed alert, it's good eye unwaveringly fixed on my distant figure.

I needed more confusion and camouflage if I was going to approach it again. I looked around and slithered behind a wall to hide from its sight.

"Its body keeps rearranging itself." I complained to Sensei. "Evolution must be extremely painful. Shouldn't it be asleep during something like this?"

To me, it looked painful. Like a patient being awake during surgery, watching their body open, their bones stretch and meld without any anaesthesia, to form something new. With the wasp's body constantly transforming while it was awake, surely the pain it felt was beyond excruciating.

It was no wonder the wasp was so ravenous, its energy was being depleted for its own deconstruction. So how much more would it need to develop an improved version of itself?

Once it was done, everything in its vicinity would be plundered beyond recognition.

«Evolution isn't painful.» Sensei corrected. «It is a sensation much closer to ecstasy than anything. Most of the time, creatures undergo this change during their sleep and all they remember is experiencing a pleasant dream.

However, from the moment you were detected, it had to stay awake to defend itself in the case of attack. It will resit its fatigue until the unwanted party either retreats or its evolution comes to an end.»

Obviously, neither of the two had occurred yet, and we were left with this situation. If I wasn't here the wasp would have gone away to somewhere hidden to evolve. Suddenly I felt a little awkward, like an observer watching a private moment.

«But it is indeed more dangerous to do so while awake.» Sensei continued. «The creature is more likely to get overwhelmed at the height of its ecstasy, and push past its limit to continue chasing the euphoria it feels. Even after all of its energy is depleted.»

Was the wasp incapable of going all out because of this?

"What happens then?" I asked, perplexed.

«They can never return to how they once were.» Sensei added with a solemn voice.

I imagined the wasp imploding in a pillar of flames as its body spontaneously combusted - talk about going out with a bang. One last blaze of glory before its life was snuffed out like a candle. Its last moments would at least be...not painful.

If it depleted its energy attacking me it wouldn't have enough to continue and would have no choice but to go past the limit and destroy itself. A malicious grin spread across my face and my thoughts filled with new ways I could torture it.

I moved through the walls concealed, tracing with [Heat Sense] to find a blind spot that did not reveal itself until I'd circled around the wasps figure. It kept its eye trained high on the walls, expecting an attack from above, but this time I came up from behind. I knew I only had this chance. Before its body settled, I aimed to kill it or damage it as much as possible.

Sneaking up on it, I attached myself to its hind leg, curling around as I crawled up swiftly.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Grip LV 3』has become『Grip LV 4』〛

But before I could reach its abdomen the wasp stomped the ground causing tremulous vibrations along its legs that threatened to unhinge my [Grip]. The claws along the joints of its front limbs, now slightly elongated, bore down eagerly to slice at me.

I used [Leap] to clear out of the way, aiming for the spot nearest to the wasp's abdomen, where its segmented legs had the most cracks. Vicious claws swiped past, narrowly missing my body as I wound along the wasp's leg.

If I was still there, I'd surely have been injured. I secured myself out of range using [Bite] to grab hold, just as an awful screech escaped the wasp's mandibles. I happened to bite an area of its cracked shell filled to bursting with delicate fleshy sinew.

Noticing the wasp's adverse reaction I continued to attack the same area, eliciting more shrieks. The wasp's attacks increased their ferocity, its clawed arms swirled about, recklessly slicing gouges in the floor like they were made of butter, throwing up more clouds of dry debris.

It kept up its movements wide but this time I didn't roll off its body. It's arms that were still evolving changed once again, their serrated segments opening at their joints to reveal rope-like sinewy parts that added more length to both of its arms.

What would be its shoulder joints, at the closest point to its head where its arms and thorax met, now housed unnaturally long arms that drooped loosely from their sockets. When the wasp picked up its arms, they swung flexibly from their sinew, dropping down in swift whirring motions like a knotted whip covered in barbs.

Their movements were flexible and these new arms could bend to reach places that were impossible before. Its arms snapped grotesquely, their loose joints twisting to reach its back as they moved and suddenly the claws on its three finger tips melded together to a single long claw, ending the tips of its arms like the blade of a spear.

I knew it wouldn't risk attacking itself, any blows that reached its back would risk injury to itself, but the sight of its bizarre arms and their increased range made me worried. I spread myself flat across its abdomen and slowly inched my way up to its thorax, just as its whip like arms came down, claws slicing right where my head would have been.

The cut itself wasn't deep, rather than injuring itself it only served to remove some of the old shell that remained. I could only guess it was limiting its force to not injure itself.

I laid low, forced to stay immobile as its claws hovered dangerously close to my body, not quite attacking but poised to move at any sudden movements. I slowly gathered my body, painfully inching closer to form a coil. The bizarre arms twitched slightly in the air but there were no sudden attacks.

Once I curled enough to gather the momentum to strike I immediately rearing my fangs, attacking with a burst of speed with [Rapid Strike] and [Bite] to strike at the nearest sinewy cluster on its thorax.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Poison Fang LV 3』has become『Poison Fang LV 4』〛

I knew they were incredibly sensitive to pain and as my jaws clamped onto them, the wasp shrieked. The bizarre arms immediately came down, claws stabbing at reflex in the place where I should have been.

Bursts of purple blood spread over its thorax like the scene of some grisly sacrifice, eliciting further screeches from the wasp as fragments of cracked open shell fell. Its pain excruciating, its body shuddered violently, the energy contained within swirling out of control.

The wasps body spasmed from the pain of its own attack and while it was distracted I quickly made a break for its head. Slithering up its body I bared my fangs to take out its other eye.

But I was not so lucky to escape unscathed. I was crouched low and barely survived my flesh getting carved to pieces when one of its arms passed over my head in a swift attack, but the other knocked me completely off the wasp, sending me flying. The first arm had missed but I was cut by the serrated claws of the second.

If not for the hardiness of [Rugged Scales] the cut would have been deeper. I collided with the nearest wall and a coppery taste filled my mouth, but not before I felt the stinging pain.

Getting knocked down was like the finishing blow and the impact left me disorientated. I didn't curl myself to soften the blow and I smashed through two walls before falling loosely on the ground.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Rugged Scales LV 3』has become『Rugged Scales LV 4』〛

The cut stung painfully even with the effect of [Pain Resistance] and because of the wasp's interference, I was unable to blind it completely. Both of its eyes bled profusely but the second was only slightly injured.