{Althaia POV}

I should have stopped my brother the moment I saw him dragging one of the evolving grubs, but the thought that he was going to the arena to fight never occurred in my mind. In hindsight, I admit there was only one way that one of the creatures that had the possibility of evolving escaped the eyes of my older siblings. Because, they would have already extracted it and put it away in the holding chamber, so the cocoon Meneo had could have only been hidden.

Not wanting to dwell too much on the past though, I refocused onto the situation that lay before my eyes. My overconfident brother had just finished dragging the almost finished evolving grub into the arena, waiting patiently for his opponent to emerge. And he didn’t notice me sneaking into the colosseum and as I occupied a space near the arena’s edge. Though for all his foolishness, I had to admit my brother had a reason to be confident, we all saw the strenuous training he inflicted on himself. The results of his labor were clear in his swift and refined movements, but fate always had a way of humbling people.

I remember seeing the cocoon pulse violently, an indication the creature was soon to emerge, however, neither my brother nor I took note of the abnormality present on the object. Unlike any of the cocoons we’d seen before, this one sported a new feature, veins. Blue veins, that pulsed faster with every vibration of the cocoon. If only we’d have known, we could have avoided all the damage caused by such an oversight…

No, we couldn’t have known, I knew deep down that everything was just a string of terrible coincidences, but I couldn’t help but want to blame my brother. From the moment I saw the head emerging from the cocoon I felt that something was very wrong. This beetle wasn’t like any we’ve encountered before, its eyes held intelligence at least a level above the others. Its shell was also adorned with a similar pattern of blue veins that pulsed with its heartbeat, covered only by a thin plate of its carapace.

I watched as its legs slowly extended from the casing, more dangerous looking and flexible compared to previous beetles. It slowly made its way from the shell with its eyes rapidly darting around the room, ones I could sense were analyzing and processing everything in the immediate environment. They stopped over my brother for a moment before surprisingly locking onto my barely visible figure.

Dangerous, this beetle was dangerous. The words were almost out of my throat but my brother was one step ahead of them. From the look in his eyes, I could feel the same realization I had come to, but unlike my overpowering urge to escape into the resting room and lock myself and other siblings in there, in his eyes I saw determination. A determination that steeled him for the upcoming battle, one he probably had little to no faith in winning, but seeing his eyes turn around to meet mine, I understood he intended to fight just so I’d have time to run.

An understanding that once more came a second too late as I saw his figure dashing towards the now still beetle. “NO!!” my screams felt so powerless as I saw him hurtling to the creature, its eyes now fully occupied by the incoming “threat”. “GO!! RUN TO THE RESTROOM AND TELL THE OTHERS! I’LL TRY MY BEST TO HOLD IT BACK, TRUST ME!!” his shouting voice pushing me back from the edge of the sinking feeling that was growing in my thorax, not prepared to do what I knew I had to.

I understood that what he did was for the best, a potential sacrifice of one life in exchange for saving four others, the logical thing to do, but I hated it. The calmness and peace that so easily came to my mind for as long as I could remember completely escaped me. I couldn’t stay calm, not when I was going to potentially watch my brother throw his life away, I wanted to desperately run down in the arena and face off against the creature by his side. However, I knew that I would just be throwing away my life against such a creature, and by extension the lives of my unaware siblings. So, making a decision that resulted in me feeling like someone was carving away at my soul, I turned around and ran with all the strength I could gather. Hoping that maybe if I reached them a little bit earlier, I could hopefully save my brother.

{Meneo POV}

The excitement and confidence that built up as I watched the cocoon pulsate and enlarge disappeared the moment my enemy's head broke through its casing. I could instinctively feel I had messed up, and I had messed up badly. The head looked more streamlined and almost triangle-like compared to what I’d seen from other beetles, and the moment its obsidian eyes crossed mine I felt a chill creep through my entire body. Those eyes didn’t belong to the hard-headed creatures I was accustomed to, no in those eyes I saw intelligence and cunning like no other, intelligence at least on the same level as the 8 of us and using <Inspect> on the creature my fears were validated.

*Status*

Its eyes flicked all over once again after meeting my own, but they soon locked onto something on a higher elevation. Dread overcame me as I tried my best to convince myself that the possibility I had in mind was just my imagination. The lack of movement of its eyes pushed me to confirm it for myself however, and slowly turning around and looking up I was able to make out the figure of a nymph- What have I done-

The thought of dragging one of my siblings into a mess that I had made due to my puffed-up ego mortified me. I couldn’t let anything happen to her because of me, turning back to face the beetle, the only way I could do that was clear to me. Steeling myself for what I was about to do, I felt my determination towering and before it could collapse on me, I dashed out at the creature. My sister’s screams echoed throughout the chamber, and a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep came from my mouth to placate the restless nymph. I gathered it was successful based on the lack of response and staring down the adversary in front of me, I executed <Flurry>, trying to aim the attack towards its side.

The beetle did not attempt to even dodge my attacks as it appeared to still be contemplating on what just happened between my sister and me. For good reason, I realized, because with a dull clang my mandibles bounced harmlessly off of its carapace. The thin layer covering the blue veins was much sturdier and more condensed than I could ever imagine. Its eyes never left me once during the attack, they were just curiously observing me, eyes I realized didn’t even register me as a threat…

The helplessness I felt in that moment was unbearable, the challenge that was supposed to be easily accomplishable somehow twisted into an impossible situation. As if it couldn’t get any worse, I watched as the creature’s eyes moved between me and the opening my sister disappeared through. Its mind still trying to process the significance of our actions before it just simply concluded it would find out. Disregarding my existence, I watched as the beetle slowly made its way to the steps of the arena, apparently following my younger sibling.

I couldn’t let that happen, if only I could get my legs to move, fear locking them in place. Move God-damn it, mentally screaming at my appendages they finally thawed under my will, and in one desperate attempt to do anything to take its attention away from Althaia. I executed the fastest dash of my life towards its undefended rear. I had decided that I couldn’t hurt its carapace even if I tried, so instead, I lunged towards its back legs with my mandibles wide open.

I felt they came into contact with the barbed surface of its legs and although it slightly hurt my mandibles, I applied more pressure to them, desperate to give my sister more time. The creature wasn’t unresponsive this time, however, as I felt my body be lifted off the ground and in what felt like less than a second later, I saw the world around me spin. It had just simply shrugged its legs and I was now flying across the arena, for about 4 meters before crashing into the wall, the world slowly becoming dark around me. I observed the creature stop and turn around to watch me for a moment; before resuming its march towards my sister, at least I stopped it- The words of comfort were my last thoughts before I passed out.

The beetle had been confused for its whole life. It remembered escaping that dastardly prison, finally able to breathe again. Shortly after that, it remembered peeking its head out and observing its surroundings; it appeared to be in some sort of hole, quite evenly proportioned, almost as if it was created. It was only after it got bored of watching rocks and dirt that it noticed the small creature in front of it, and its curiosity was aroused.

Slightly repulsive the creature stood about half of its height, pale and frail-looking, the polar opposite of its good looks, but that’s not what elicited curiosity from it. It was instead the almost instinctual need to attack and unalive the creature that made it curious and slightly confused. The need wasn’t to the point that it drove the beetle crazy however, it was more of a voice whispering in the back of its head, trying to spark some sort of negative emotion towards it. Unsuccessfully, be that as it may, because with a conscious effort the beetle was able to disregard the feeling, though it did remember it spiking when the creature attacked it on two occasions…

Nevertheless, as it walked out of what it now realized was a chamber intent on finding the escaping Althaia, its eyes were captivated by new sights. It saw the glowing green substance covering parts of the new room’s walls, it also observed the ominous hole in the roof that had a weirdly familiar feeling to it. Its eyes finally rested on a few broken and beetle-less shells in the corner of the room. It paused at that sight, a new feeling trying to grow from the same corner of its brain, one that although it didn’t dislike it quickly dispatched. There was no use getting upset over the dead bodies of a few of its lesser kin, but it decided that the least it could do as the superior was avenge the poor creatures.

With a new purpose, it made its way over, intent on discovering the source of the movement it had picked up in the corner of its eyes, from an area carved out from the wall. Halfway during its march though, a figure rushed out of the pocket, bringing a stop to the beetle’s footsteps. A creature that was a few sizes larger and similar looking to the two smaller ones before. Except it was adorning a sleek black carapace and occupied the entrance as it stood there quite menacingly, which caused a strong feeling of danger to assault its instincts. It also noticed the lifeform it was chasing and two others similar to it were behind the creature...

The freshly evolved Dynamis was livid in his movement, anxiousness present in his steps as he watched the weird beetle, but more so due to the lack of Meneo’s presence. He didn’t want to think the worse though, he couldn’t bring himself to. From the tense words of his younger sister, it appeared the foolish nymph had sacrificed himself to save her from the creature in front of him and buy some time for her to escape.

Quite frankly he was incensed, the possibility of having lost his brother dulled his senses before the beetle. Although he could see it was quite different from others before, all he wanted was to get to his brother, and all he knew was that it was in his way. Plus, the boost to his stats made him feel like he didn’t need to be smart about this either because assigning most of them to strength, he felt it coursing through his veins. That very strength was funneled to his feet, where it caused his body to shoot towards the barrier between him and his brother’s wellbeing.

He observed his adversary tensing at his charge, the unresponsiveness that Althaia spoke of when it was attacked by Meneo, nowhere to be found. That fact comforted him, giving him confidence that it was not as dangerous as his sister had made it out to be. A shame really, he didn’t even get a chance to regret his hasty movements, because right when the beetle was within reach of his mandibles, Dynamis realized the tension was a feint. The beetle demonstrated unnatural agility and flexibility as it dodged out of the way of his attack at the very last moment.

While Dynamis lost control of his body in the process, the beetle was already moving to attack his side. The blow connected with a solid thump and as the termite felt like if he had been pressed under a few hundred kilograms of dirt his body shuttled down the ground. Not letting up its assault either, the beetle quickly followed the attack using two of its legs aiming to pin him to the ground.

A move hastily countered by the quick to recover Dynamis, the beetle’s initial use of the element of surprise only resulted in a ghastly dent in the termite’s side. Fighting through the pain the dent caused, he thrashed its body to the side, pushing the beetle off of him. And quickly making some distance between each other, the two once more stared at one another. This time, however, wariness visible in Dynamis’ eyes and the guise of tension replaced by cunning in those of the beetle.

{Dynamis POV}

Crap- I underestimated this damn beetle. Pain assaulted my side, originating from a literal dent in my body. I wasn’t able to ruminate on it for too long though, the creature in front of me occupied all of my attention. Now that I looked closer at it, it was slightly bigger than the beetle I fought last time and there were small blue veins under its shell, very odd. The only thing that had me fooled was its mannerisms, but one quick <Inspect> made sure that wouldn’t happen again. Scolding myself for not using the skill first, I desperately searched for an opening in my opponent’s stance.

I needed something I could exploit, and I needed it fast. The damage I took was more serious than I thought, as with every passing second the pain transmitted from the dent slowly increased. That one moment of carelessness, just exponentially increased the difficulty of this battle, for if I didn’t finish it quickly, I feared the internal damage would only become worse with my movement. The opening never came though, and with time ticking down, I decided I would make one.

Rushing to the beetle once more, I observed it crouch and get ready to try and tackle me into the floor once again. Too bad it wouldn’t get the chance, because while I was dashing towards it, in one smooth motion. I drove my mandibles into the floor and with all the strength I could muster, I threw it up in the air, right before the beetle.

It didn’t expect that move from me, and from what I could see before I was blinded as well it froze up, probably genuinely this time. And I wouldn’t let that opportunity slip by me, so with the general position of the beetle in mind, I barreled forth. Hoping my legs would lead me straight into the creature. I was intent on returning the favor and true to my expectations of the move it wasn’t able to react fast enough to dodge my headbutt.

The attack connecting, I felt the carapace of the creature once more, reminded that an ordinary attack would never damage it. But this was no ordinary attack, the entirety of my strength was behind it. And with a satisfying crunch, I felt its shell cave under the pressure of my attack. It probably would have done more damage too had the beetle not jumped backward halfway through it. Such a tactic mitigated the force drastically, but not enough because as the dust settled, I observed a more gruesome split on its side.

The beetle now observed me with a vivid feeling of alarm present in its eyes, the damn thing had underestimated me as well. Nevertheless, I didn’t allow my attention to be split anymore, because both of us now took the other seriously. I couldn’t allow myself to slip up again, because the lives of all my siblings were on the line.

{Meneo POV}

I felt a splitting pain in my head while I opened my eyes groggily. Looking around, I found myself inside the arena of the colosseum laying on the floor. What was I doing here on the ground? What happened to my foolproof plan? Wasn’t I supposed to be fighting a beetle so I could evolve now? The slow train of thoughts eventually carried me to the last, and I remembered with a shock how I so spectacularly messed up.

Plus, from the look of things I wasn’t even dead, so that meant to the beetle I wasn’t even worth the effort putting me out of my misery would take. That conclusion, lead my already damaged pride over to the edge, where it fell over and splintered into a thousand pieces. And taking its place I felt a blob of nothingness creep up on me, whispering how great non-existence would be right now. It told me of all my failures, over and over, and with each repetition it grew larger, its voice getting louder, practically shouting to me at this point. And quite frankly I felt it was right…

Maybe I should just fall into non-existence at this point. My life so far only consisted of continuous failures, increasingly worse and increasingly depressing, I couldn't do anything right... I turned my head towards the upper parts of the colosseum, and I ordered my battered body to move up the steps, stopping before the arena's edge. The blob’s voice eclipsed my own at this point and it told me of the forgiveness the ground would hold for my head. Of the peace, it would bring me of- SCREEE

The sound echoed through the room and the existence of the blob slowly faded with it. My brothers and sisters, how could I forget about them? And by the sound of it they were still fighting the beetle, the problem I caused. How could I just disregard that fact? Slightly afraid of what I was about to do, I quickly backed away from the arena’s edge. My attention now focused on the responsibility I still had and my legs followed as I darted, well fumbled because my leg was already slightly broken, into the feeding chamber.