The huge eyes of the similarly massive Woodborn Mantis searched its surroundings. However, all too soon its vigilant gaze hastily returned to the small white fruit hanging from the plant that it had been guarding for all too long.

Its massive frame twitched while its finger long mandibles chittered as its eyes reluctantly left the plump fruit to search its surrounding once again.

The Woodborn Mantis that was half the length of the mortal’s forearm twitched nervously as it guarded the cherry shaped fruit which was smaller than even a mortal’s fingernail. Yet, the fruit emanated an enticing fragrance that those ensnared by it forgot everything else.

The insectoid immortal’s large mandibles chittered in anticipation and hunger, but it did not touch the fruit. Instead, it waited as it guarded the plant and the fruit. It was almost as if the Mantis was waiting for the fruit to ripen. But how could that be? The insectoid immortal did not possess the patience and the mental capacity to come to such a decision. It was still mostly a creature of instincts despite its Tier 3 existence.

This seemingly unnatural decision of the Woodborn Mantis was, of course, not the insect's own. Instead, it was the effect of the little white fruit hanging from the plant. Just as its scent enticed the Mantis and any other creature that came across it, the fragrance also instilled in them patience while overpowering their instincts.

The fruit was not as simple as it seemed.

The rustle of leaves caught the attention of the wood-skinned insect and its huge head snapped towards the sound. The creature’s pupils narrowed as its eyes landed on the outpour of ants from the only anthill within the clearing. It bristled in anger and it spread out its massive but translucent wings.

However, its posturing had little effect on the ants that just kept pouring out of the anthill. The tiny insects formed an orderly line as they marched towards the fruit and its guardian. The huge insect’s scythe-like limbs twitched as it took to air before rushing towards the marching insects.

As it arrived above the ants, the brown Mantis activated its Skill [Harden] which further reinforced its already sturdy [Tough Chitin].

Harden Tier 1 effect: Temporarily increases the hardness of the skin or chitin by a factor of 10 times the [Skill Level] Tough Chitin Tier 1 effect: Permanently increases the toughness of the chitin by a factor of the [Skill Level].

After all, this was not its first battle against the ant horde. It would not be the creature's last either. As a result, the massive insect knew their modus operandi and they knew its strategy. However, the Woodborn Mantis was a Tier 3 immortal, virtually a supreme existence in this mana starved zone. It may not be sapient or very intelligent, but its Tier 3 status granted it much more wisdom than that the Tier 1 ant Drones and their Tier 2 immortal monarch.

Thus, as the ants shot their mandibles at the flying mantis, it ignored the feeble attacks and arrived before the few Tier 2 guardian ant Drones. It cut them down with its scythe-like limbs as it activated the Skill [Sharp Blades].

Sharp Blades Tier 1 effect: Temporarily increases the sharpness of the blades by a factor of 10 times the [Skill Level]

The Tier 2 Drones fell apart under its assault and the mantis moved onto its next target. It moved from one target to the next as the split apart the ants one by one. The huge mantis did not require much time to finish the Tier 2 Drones and if Tier 2 Drones couldn’t last against it, how could Tier 1 drones? Thus, they too fell in droves and where there had been a horde of ant drones, now were nothing but corpses.

The mantis’ crazed eyes searched for any sign of movement before they landed on the white fruit that had ripened and fallen. The creature’s entire body trembled in anticipation and it raced towards the fallen fruit. The urge to consume the fruit was so strong within the creature that it forgot it could fly. All its thoughts had been consumed by only one desire and it was to consume the fruit.

The creature arrived before the fruit and started to devour the white berry in large bites that barely fit inside its insectoid mouth. Yet, the insect immortal cared not as it satisfied the sudden bout of the all-consuming gluttony.

However, the moment the creature swallowed the last bite, its eyes seem to clear. But it couldn’t ponder on its state for long as an extremely familiar chime broke its reverie.

Ting.

[New [Species] granted. New evolution path has been granted. Evolution possible.]

Ting.

[Maximum Level of the current Vessel detected. Evolution is possible. Do you want to evolve now?] [Yes] [No]

The mantis did not understand what the squiggles on the strange blue thing meant. However, its mind comprehended the information all the same; much like the creature had done for the entirety of its life. As it processed the information, the massive insect hissed and spread open is massive and translucent wings, as if it were celebrating.

The creature had, after all, a reason to celebrate. It had reached Level 100 long ago but hadn’t been able to evolve as its evolution path had ended, leaving it a Tier 3 immortal for the rest of its existence. As a result, the creature had been facing death as its lifespan had decreased with each passing day. But now that it had gained a new [Species], the creature could evolve once again.

Gaining new [Species] was extremely rare for immortals in the wild. As to gain a new [Species], an immortal needed to add the Law Scars related to that species to its own Bridge. However, dealing with Law Scars was not as simple as consuming the remnants.

If that had been the case, then the life of an immortal would have been pathetically easy. Unfortunately for the immortals, the life of an immortal was meant to be anything but that. As a result, adding Law Scars was almost an impossible task for most immortals.

The difficulty was further compounded by the fact that Law Scars etched themselves on the Bridge that connected the Vessel and the soul. Hence the Scars were ethereal existences and not physical ones. They could not be dealt with normally and dealing with them always required special Skills. Whether the Law Scars were on the Bridge or within the Remnants, they couldn’t be handled physically.

While immortals did have access to these Skills, they were only available at high Tiers. These Skills also needed high-Level Limits to be properly made use of. Thus, immortals whose [Species] only allowed them to evolve a few times never received such Skills. As a result, they failed to change their species and as their Vessel aged, they became food and experience for other creatures.

Such was the reality of an immortal’s life.

It is for this reason that those mortals that follow the path of Monster Tamer considered the Evolution Elixir as an absolute necessity when dealing with wild monsters. As by merely dangling the elixir before dying monsters, they could bend the immortal to their mortal wills.

However, the Mantis neither knew nor cared for all of this as it finally calmed down and stopped hissing. With another look at the weird squiggles, it decided not to evolve and the blue thing before its eyes vanished.

The creature’s eyes scanned the clearing before it decided to leave the clearing for good. After all, as a creature that had survived to reach Tier 3, its survival instincts were not ordinary. And with the presence of the anthill, the creature deemed the clearing unsafe to evolve.

0.0

The Woodborn Mantis settled within the burrow at last. It had taken the insectoid immortal quite a few weeks to find a hiding spot where it felt safe enough to evolve.

Its wings twitched in anticipation and its mandibles chittered as it desired to evolve.

Ting.

[You have reached Level 100. Do you want to evolve now?] [Yes] [No]

The creature comprehended the meaning without understanding the words and once again desired to evolve.

Ting.

[Chose your form.] [White Moonlit Spider.]

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-