Wiping the dust and pieces of the soil of his Mandibles Crete exited the now finished holding room and entered the pit. He admired his work and the results of his labor; the pit’s floor was now an almost perfect circle every inch of soil compressed and strengthened to bear the force of the beetle’s onslaughts.

Taking in the view he decided to move two of the still pulsating cocoons into the holding room, the remaining one the opponent of the first nymph to level up. He had his money on either Dynamis or Amore however, those two from what he’s seen so far have the most combat experience. But it was still up for grabs with Meneo and Vito if they worked hard enough, he wasn’t so sure about the triplets.

Pushing the rock and sealing the entrance to the holding room, he considered the surroundings of the pit. In those memories, there would be places to sit where spectators could witness the battle. Feeling he had some time on his mandibles and an unreasonable need to fulfill his imagination he set about decorating the chamber.

He smoothed out the top of the 4-meter-tall walls so it would be extremely difficult to climb out and carved a curving pattern along its edges to fulfill the aesthetic value he had in mind. He also fashioned stairs of some sort that would allow combatants to enter the arena.

With everything starting to come together we wondered if any of the nymphs had made it to level 5 but seeing as how none of them came back, he concluded not just yet. With those considerations, he went back to work designing the colosseum, or at least he would have had he not noticed the exaggerated movements from the cocoon he placed in the center of the arena.

As his eyes locked in on the cocoon, he noticed its size visibly balloon and the appearance of the soon-to-be beetle take shape. Deciding it would be better to subdue the creature immediately after evolution Crete made his way curiously to the cocoon.

Inching closer he felt something surrounding the bundle, it was that energy he felt when he was undergoing his evolution. Except instead this time instead of coursing through him, Crete was able to “feel’ the energy in the surrounding air rushing into the beetle.

He concentrated on the energy, and he observed it rush into the beetle and congregate in one spot, like the ball he felt when he evolved. He watched as the energy flowed into the ball and he “felt” that it changed fundamentally in the process.

Realizing he was unable to discern how the energy flowed through the beetle after it reached the ball, no it was more of a core he mused, no matter how hard he tried he focused on the energy in the air instead.

Zeroing in on the energy right before it rushed into the core, Crete tried to trace it back to its source. His eyes followed as the river of energy slowly diminished until it was undetectable about 3 inches away from the beetle.

Instinctively he understood it wasn’t that the energy stopped, it was almost as if it became inert to his senses… and he was unable to feel it in that state. Curiosity got the better of him as he tried to feel it beyond his capability, from a river to a stream to a small trickle, his attention was engrossed with the energy.

Crete felt that he was on the cusp of comprehending something, so he was relentless in his efforts and the mental exhaustion due to those efforts slowly began to build up. He was now able to feel the energy 4 inches away from the beetle, then 5 inches, but with that milestone came a splitting headache.

It felt as if his brain was cracking open like a coconut, his progress with the energy coming to a crawl, 5 inches, 5 and a half inches. He had hit a wall, and with the mental exhaustion creeping up Crete was unsure if he could climb it, but he would sure as hell try.

Pushing his brain even further he felt the crack had now become a crevice and any further would make it a ravine… but with that effort, he was able to reach 6 inches. Feeling that if he pushed himself any further, he would damage himself permanently he decided to put his curiosity to rest.

As he withdrew his mental efforts, the headache went with it, but not fully as he was able to feel a droning pain. Although it was much more bearable than when he was actively trying to feel the energy, Crete decided he wouldn’t push himself that hard again lest he permanently damages his mind.

Refocusing on the cocoon, he was surprised to see that the beetle was almost fully formed, and taking a step back he watched and waited. Not long after though, the cocoon started to look strained and with a little tug from its inhabitant, the casing was removed.

Standing before Crete was a beetle quite like the one he saw before, other than some minor differences that were unique to each lifeform, it had the same base appearance. Bulky, sturdy, and big, well not as big as he was now but still big enough to curb stomp the tiny nymphs.

He watched as its eyes focused, the pain of evolution receding being replaced by the pleasant feeling of strength that it brought, before locking onto him and its analyzing look, confirming his theory of intelligence.

It didn’t take long for it to realize that he was a greater threat than it could handle, however, as it slowly backed up, its eyes darting around the room scouring for a possible route of escape. Crete watched all these with careful consideration, and seeing the muscles in the beetles back twitch, which he realized his eyes could do now, he concluded he needed to act.

Legs carrying his body faster than the beetle could process, Crete was upon the poor creature in an instant, locking its movement down by pressing it under him. His mandibles met the beetle’s body and in a moment of realization, he understood they would be able to pierce but not fully bisect the creature.

Looking at the split the beetle had down its back Crete decided it would be best to avoid any aerial shenanigans and in a split second moved to relinquish the beetle of its ability to fly. He observed as the creature processed that it had underestimated the danger Crete presented, as its eyes froze, fear and unwillingness present in them.

Not stopping to pity the creature, however, his mandibles sliced open the beetle's back, and in a quick few slashes, its delicate wings lay on the floor of the colosseum. The beetle was evidently incensed as it tried to thrash around under Crete making him lose his footing for a second before immobilizing it with his superior strength.

Indignation turned into unwillingness before acceptance as the beetle aborted its futile attempts of escape and raising his legs from its back Crete quickly distanced himself from it because although he was stronger, he had no doubt those barbed legs could still inflict harm on him. The beetle froze up for a moment in confusion before quickly backpedaling to the edge of the colosseum.

Crete watched all this with mild amusement before he noticed the beetle’s eyes moved to something behind him and keeping a portion of his attention on the creature, he turned to observe a nymph entering the chamber before coming to the edge of the colosseum and looking down into the pit.

Gesturing for the nymph to come down, it slowly made its way down the stairs to Crete and he could see with each successive step it took determination and resolve firming in its eyes. Picking up on the movement of the beetle, the nymph's eyes veered over to it before locking in on it.

Crete could feel the nymph size up its competitor and the battle intent oozing from its carapace. Chuckling at the nymph’s readiness and spirit, he said in an amused voice “Heh-heh, hold on for a while until the others are finished and take a break to recover as much energy as you can, you’ll need it for this battle.”

{Unknown POV}

I listened as Crete spoke words that made me mildly annoyed, but deciding that taking my time to gauge the threat in front of me, as well as recover the energy I expended while racing to be the first to level 5 to be the best decision, I obeyed. My eyes wandered over to the opponent that towered over me, quite literally and figuratively, I observed the creature’s armor-plated body… this would be a tough fight…

The more I carefully considered the beetle the more I was in awe of what my oldest brother had done. I found it hard to imagine a scenario in which I could come out on top in a confrontation with it but yet, he had done it…

Tearing my eyes away from the beetle I observed what he referred to as the “Colosseum”. The whole thing was quite big to be honest, and I was impressed with how sturdy and how quickly my brother had created it. The walls extended a long way up before curving inwards to ensure no one could climb out… and weird patterns were etched out into it. In addition, there was some sort of elevations placed around the edges of it, that I assumed were for the other nymphs to spectate the fight.

I also noticed the two pairs of transparent wings on the floor not far from the beetle… and realizing the threat of the beetle was reduced by my brother I felt faintly embarrassed. He had fought the creature without any handicaps and came out victorious, and yet here I was apprehensive of a challenge that was lower in difficulty…

My introspection was cut short as I heard Crete say “Ah, look your siblings are here so we’ll start when everyone is seated, I’ll remain down here to save you if it looks like your life is in danger though okay?” While nodding I observed my other siblings enter the chamber and make their way over to the edge and Crete gestured for them to lay their thoraxes on the elevation and spectate my fight.

Heart beating faster I let my eyes wander over each of my siblings, then Crete, stopping for a moment searching to conjure courage from his visage, before finally settling on the beetle. The beetle who I now realized had remained still in the corner this whole time, its eyes focused on Crete, completely disregarding me…

Although I wouldn’t consider myself prideful, that hurt my own, and with that came a wave of bubbling anger. “I could see everyone is seated and you look ready so... Fight!!” the words of my brother acting like the bow that shot me out as the arrow I was.

My body barreled forward to the beetle whose eyes were still locked on Crete, as if dismissing the threat I presented completely, serving to further enrage me. That very rage acted as fuel that made my legs move just that faster, my presence quickly approaching the beetle, its eyes locking onto me for a moment before going back to Crete, searching for any form of movement.

Determining that there was none, however, I felt its gaze refocus on me and both of our eyes locked. Feeling my battle intent, I saw the beetle move to reposition before it similarly charged towards me.

Gazes focused, bodies barreling toward each other. The beetle and I had a silent agreement it understood that it couldn’t escape its situation, and, in its eyes, I could see the resolve to take me down with it, enraging me once more. In its eyes, I was already dead, but in mine, I saw it as a steppingstone, a bloody stepping stone, I added as I realized my vision being consumed by red, one that I would use to reach and rip away the power I sought with my own two mandibles.