Alix still hadn't managed to get any sleep. The guard had come back with a wide smile across his face and a box of squealing rats.
Alix hovered over Raina and pretended to be frightened, really he was sneaking the worm in his shirt again.
"Aw, no need to be so afraid! They're just rats, heh!" The stupid guard snorted. He gripped one of the iron bars and pulled it away into the belly of a wall, then upended the box and spilled its contents into Alix's cell.
The rats ran around the place like wild, frightened animals scurrying away from some predator. Alix sprang up to his feet and backed up into a corner, making the guard laugh even harder as he pulled the iron bars back to cage Alix in.
"Remember what I told ya, worm catcha. You kill 'em and I'll gut ya." He said, walking away.
Alix weighed his options. He could kill them and gain the soul shards, and wait for the guard to come and torment him for god knows how long.
Or he could stand around obediently and wait for his sentence.
Alix summoned his windows again, and immediately focused on the personal one.
[PERSONAL WINDOW]
[Name: Alix Vineyard]
[Status: Alive]
[Tier: Slave]
[Class: Fledgling]
[Natural Attributes: Regeneration, Secretion]
[Evolutionary Attributes: None]
[Resets: N/A]
[Tamer Soul Fragments Claimed: None]
[Soul Fragments Claimed: 24]
[Soul Fragments Until Next Personal Evolution: 24/100]
Regeneration
Alix suddenly remembered his arm. He had been too caught up in his predicament, and in protecting Raina from the rats that he had completely forgot about the arm that was actively growing.
He looked down and saw a neat, pristine canvas of flesh. A new arm had been created, and was functioning perfectly as if he had never lost one in the first place. It made sense now why the guard hadn't pointed it out.
Alix had another idea in mind, an idea that he did not quite like. It involved losing another one of his limbs, and facing an incredible amount of pain, but this time at the hands of another being, the guard.
The soul fragments were paramount in that they allowed the tamer and their creature to evolve. Alix wasn't sure what his evolution would look like, nor Raina's, but he remembered the strange man in the mines.
He had summoned giant worms that swallowed up and spat out the slavers like they were nothing. They were meant to be super humans, and yet it was so easy. Would Raina become something like that? Alix hoped that was the case.
The idea of Raina becoming as powerful as those massive worms made Alix want to go through with his idea. It was simple, really. He would scoop up a rat and have Raina silently feed on them while it was held tightly in his grip.
But what if that guard comes back?
Alix remembered the strange man's words all of a sudden, they echoed through the halls of his skull, loud and clear. "You can either live as a slave, or die as tamer."
Alix had no intention of dying as a tamer, of course. He only wanted to be free. But now what choice did he have?
Alix scooped up one of the many rats in his cell, and placed Raina on its back. Raina curled its slimy body around the rat, and then inserted herself through its eye.
The rat shuddered violently for a second, and then froze. It made no sound, no squeal, and gave no fight like it had when Alix scooped it up. Raina pulled herself back out of the rats eye, and then proceeded to latch onto Alix's hand.
The rat was dead, Alix realised, and it hadn't even taken that long. The slithering, wet voice crept back into his ear from nowhere.
[Your creature Raina has slain a Fledgling class beast]
[Raina has gained 6 Soul Fragments]
Six soul fragments!? For one rat!?
Alix dropped the dead rat and then picked up another. Raina wrapped itself around it with glee. The rat had shuddered and died in the same way, and the voice returned to speak of Raina's accomplishments.
[Your creature Raina has slain a Fledgling class beast]
[Raina has gained 6 Soul Fragments]
Another six… this is insane. That guard can gut me all he wants, he's not half as scary as Vaylor.
Alix picked up one rat, then another, and another. He had picked up so many that he was starting to get tired of the voice repeating the same lines in his skull.
There were still many rats left, squealing and fleeing from the lifeless bodies of their kin. Alix paid them no mind, and summoned back the creature window along with the other two.
There's got to be some way for me to only summon the one I want to look at
[CREATURE WINDOW]
[Raina]
Evolution Capacity: 3
Evolution Lines: None
Abilities: None
Evolutions made: 0
Soul Fragments Until Next Evolution: 66/50
Description: Raina is nothing but a simple flatworm, bound to crawl under the earth for life. Her tenacity knows no bounds, however.
Amazing…and there's still so many more rats left
[Raina is ready to evolve. Do you wish to proceed?]
Alix's heart thundered in his chest.
Yes
[Raina is evolving…]
Alix watched Raina crawl along his hand silently. For a moment, nothing happened. But then the flatworm began bubbling as if it had been thrown into a cauldron.
Raina was growing in size and length, the black flatworm was expanding rapidly across his entire hand, and was now covering the whole length of his arm. Alix could now wear Raina like a scarf.
She had changed in appearance, too. Raina was a lot thicker, and her skin was adorned by beautiful intricate patterns that resembled blue lilies.
[Evolution successful]
[Raina is now of the Grunt class]
[Please see Raina's new stats]
With pleasure!
[CREATURE WINDOW]
[Raina]
Evolution Capacity: 3
Evolution Lines: None
Abilities: Secretion
Evolutions made: 1
Soul Fragments Until Next Evolution: 16/400
Description: Raina is a an eerie flatworm, slithering and bending to the will of its master. The worm relishes in strangling its prey, liquifying their bodies, and watching the light leave their eyes in a slow, wordless death.
That's…frightening
Alix stared at the flatworm, who was now resting around his neck.
Please don't strangle me, buddy.
Alix blinked at the abilities sections
Secretion? But I can already do that. Wait, can't Raina already do that? Assuming that natural attributes are derived from the creatures, that should be her natural…thing
Alix scratched his head and shrugged off the ability and his confusion. He bent down to pick up another rat. But before he could, a familiar laugh whipped against his ears.
"Heh, worm catcha has become a rat catcha too, eh?" The guard snorted.
Alix glared at the fat guard, who was now pulling the iron bars back into the wall, allowing Alix a glimpse of freedom.
"Wanna know something funny, eh? These cells have no locks. The prisoners can leave at any moment, but only at their peril, heh. I was hoping you'd try to escape, but you never did, right from the very moment you woke up. So I had to try something else."
"Something else?" Alix gulped.
"Aye, something else. Ya think the first couple of rats were in your cell by chance? No tamer would miss out on the chance of gaining soul shards, not even obedient mutts like you. Well, you're not obedient, but you're still a mutt. Wait, no, a worm." He giggled to himself.
"The rats weren't meant to be in ya cell, we can't have tamers growing stronger under our roof. Lord Vaylor insisted, though. For you specifically, and I can't say why, I'm too dumb for allat. But he told me if you defied a direct order from me, I'd get to slice ya and hack ya apart to me liking." He grinned, wickedly at that.
Alix trembled as he watched him lick his lips in perversion. There were disgusting thoughts running along inside that head of his, that was for sure. Alix didn't wish to know any of them.
"So," the guard said, pulling out his two daggers from his pants, "which wife would you like to meet first, eh?"