Ricky hovered in midair, his multifaceted eyes narrowing.
"Something's missing…"
His gaze flicked between the thick canopy and the gnarled tree trunk.
"One, two, three… five?"
His wings buzzed uneasily.
Yesterday, there had been six fruits.
He knew, because he had been counting them since he arrived.
"Did the spider… eat one?"
Ricky's mind raced. He glanced at the massive spider hanging from the tree, its dark carapace glinting under the sunrays.
Its aura felt different.
Stronger.
Ricky's proboscis twitched. The answer clicked.
"The spider ate a fruit… and became stronger."
A surge of hunger hit him. If those fruits could enhance a Rank 3 spider…
To a mesly Rank 2 like him, their effect was bound to be miraculous.
Ricky breathing accelerated.
He had to get one.
Just as he steeled his resolve, a chill ran down his back.
The air warped.
A presence—cold and ghostly—wrapped around him like unseen fingers.
Then, a voice resounded.
A childish whisper, yet laced with something far more ancient.
"Why are you looking at my fruits…?"
Ricky's wings froze mid-flap.
"Who?!"
He spun in every direction. The trees? The shadows? The air itself?
The voice echoed again.
"Are you a thief?"
A prickle of unease crept up his legs.
Then, he noticed.
The spider was watching him.
Its eight eyes gleamed with curiosity… and intelligence far beyond anything that Ricky had seen so far.
Ricky's thoughts screeched to a halt.
"No… don't tell me…"
The spider was talking.
But that wasn't the strangest part.
Even if the spider could talk, how was Ricky able to understand it?
"What the hell is happening…?"
Before he could process it, the voice came again—this time, annoyed.
"Why are you looking here and there when I am talking to you?"
Enough.
Ricky bolted.
No hesitation. No second thoughts.
A talking spider? That was his cue to leave.
The spider's voice followed him.
"Hey! Stop ignoring me!"
"Where are you going?"
But Ricky didn't glance back.
That thing was a ticking time bomb.
If he wanted to survive, he had to get stronger—fast.
Thankfully for Ricky the spider didn't give chase, it seemed more interested in guarding it's fruits.
---
Ricky tore through the air, heading straight for the knight's corpse.
The closer he got, the denser the air became.
Something was off.
The scent of sulfur curled through his proboscis. The air thickened, almost liquefying around him.
His wings strained against the invisible pressure.
"Shit—"
BZZZZ!
His wings flapped at a desperate pace, but his movements slowed.
"At this rate… I'll fall!"
He knew what he had to do.
Blood Infusion!
A command roared through his mind.
Numerous Veins bulged all over his figure, lifespan burned.
Each passing second cost him a day of life, but the weight pressing against him vanished.
Buzz!
With newfound speed, he dove downward, landing on the knight's exposed hand.
Cold.
Too cold.
His exoskeleton shivered—it was like standing on a frozen lake in the dead of winter.
But he didn't stop.
Six legs dug in.
His abdomen tilted upward.
The lesson with the boar was still fresh in his mind. He couldn't afford to be careless again.
"Robust Iron Frame!"
A grayish light flickered across his tiny form.
It hardened him. Made him tougher.
Even his proboscis gleamed.
Everything was ready.
With one forceful thrust, he pierced the knight's skin.
And then—
With a rush of blood assaulted.
An aroma struck him, so familiar yet so unexpected—Wine.
Ricky's eyes widened.
"No way—"
The blood tasted like ten-year-old, perfectly aged wine.
An involuntary shudder ran through him.
He had dreamed of this.
A taste of home.
A taste of his old life.
His tiny heart soared.
To a drunkard like Ricky, nothing in the world was more precious than wine.
And now—He was drinking it straight from the veins of a fallen knight.
His vision blurred with pure bliss.
Then—
[+6 days of lifespan absorbed.]
[+10 days of lifespan absorbed.]
[+9 days…]
Seconds passed.
His lifespan soared into the hundreds.
And it wasn't stopping.
Ricky grinned.
"Jackpot. I've hit a fucking jackpot!"
But then—A crack appeard, Ricky didn't seem to notice it just yet.
A spiderweb fracture ran across the knight's frozen flesh.
Then another.
And another.
BZZT!
BOOM!
The corpse shattered.
Brilliant golden particles exploded into the air, swirling like a dying star.
Whatever the man had taken from the world…
It was returning.
Or maybe it had never belonged to him in the first place.
Ricky barely noticed.
His body thrummed with newfound power.
And just as he was enjoying the blissful sensation, system prompt hit him.
[Evolution Progress: 100%.]
[Additional condition needed to evolve: 5 years of lifespan—Successfully met.]
[Soul Forces Detected.]
His heart skipped.
"So soon?!"
He hadn't expected to evolve this quickly.
But he wasn't about to complain.
Evolution meant power.
Power meant survival.
His status screen flickered into view.
---
[STATUS WINDOW]
[Stage 1, Rank 2]
[Name: Ricky Stormwind]
[Bloodline: None (Gather more genes to awaken a suitable bloodline)]
[Lifespan: 2 years]
[Evolution Progress: 100%]
[Spiritual Force: 0.214]
A single notification glowed at the top.
[Host is ready to evolve. Tap to begin evolution.]
Ricky grinned.
"Let's find a safe spot first."
Although Ricky wanted to evolve as fast as possible, but there were some things that needed to be taken care first.
For examples finding an safe spot, away from the Spiritual spider sight.
Ricky didn't know weather his evolution would genrate any commotion but it was better to be safe than sorry.
After deactivating, the blood fused state, Ricky figure moved through the air, carrying an unnatural sense of excitement.