Chapter 24: System Update

Rihelah awoke to find that she and Michael were no longer alone.

Standing inverted beneath the underside of a nearby mushroom cap, a familiar dragon had shrunk down to their size. Velrake gave Rihelah a beautiful, toothy grin while Her lithe, reptilian body illuminated their hiding place with a soft, golden glow.

Each of Lady Velrake’s gold-tipped scales blended to a deep, metallic blue-black before disappearing smoothly beneath the next. She did not cling to the mushroom as she approached; She simply walked across its surface as if standing upright upon the ground.

[[Congratulations on your evolution, child! It’s time to learn about your gifts!]] Velrake said, softly enough to avoid assaulting Rihelah’s mind.

Rihelah didn’t miss the fact that Michael was already unconscious while undergoing his own evolution.

[Well, I’m glad you’re here! Captain dumbass over there fell while he was supposed to be on watch…] She gestured to Michael.

[[Ah, youth! In the interest of saving time...]]

Rihelah looked on in wonder as Michael began to grow rapidly. The length of his body increased by nearly half, while his overall mass more than doubled. His exoskeleton darkened slightly while his head, thorax, and all six of his legs had become more stout and, for lack of a better descriptive word in Rihelah’s mind, “beefy.”

Wait! He’s bigger than me, now! I thought females were supposed to-

[[Choices matter, child! You must remember that on Earth, there are thousands of species of mantis. Some grow no larger than two centimeters at best, while others reach fifteen centimeters and more. You both evolved in different ways, and your physiology will reflect that.]]

[Oh. Right…] Rihelah fell into brooding.

[[You are too precious, child! Of course, Michael can still mate with you! Do you take Us for savages?]]

[I… Uh-] Rihelah began, but Velrake cut her off with a chuckle.

[[Yes, I am well-aware that you are not yet used to interacting with Dragons. But you will be, for this world is quite different from Earth! While We do not intend to interfere in your lives any more than necessary; as a result of your unique situation, you will see Us from time to time.]]

[So-]

[[Patience, child. Give your mate a few seconds to fully awaken. Afterward, I shall begin the lesson.]] Velrake gestured to Michael, who was already beginning to stretch his new limbs.

[Whoa! It’s Lady-] Michael began.

[[Indeed! Prepare yourselves!]]

They abruptly found themselves seated in their human forms, upon the floor of the kindergarten class they had attended together. When Michael and Rihelah looked at one another, they were shocked to find their bodies were five years old again. They were also clothed in the same outfits in which they had first met. They rushed together and hugged each other tightly.

[[Yes, I am well-aware that you prefer this kind of contact with one another, and so have decided that you may clasp your meaty little hands together while I teach. However, I will suggest that you pay close attention, for this information may determine whether you survive to escape from My Lair.]]

Michael and Rihelah gave each other a quick peck on the lips, then seated themselves facing Lady Velrake once more with their fingers tightly interlocked. The Dragon smiled, showing Her pristine fangs.

[[Very good! First, you have both been reset to Level 1 while retaining all of your current strength. This is to allow for your improved level-up bonuses to accrue as they should.]]

[[Because the two of you had an affinity for the mantis based upon your connection since childhood, you did not reincarnate into humanoid bodies as should have been the case in your rare situation.]]

Lady Velrake stifled a laugh as She continued.

[[You were both so pitifully weak for your first twenty levels upon Edon, it almost had me in tears! But you survived despite the odds, and We hope the lessons learned will serve you well!]]

[[Second, this is your new System Interface. Now, use the mental command, “Status.” Note that I have already set the menus to your favorite colors! The descriptive text may be collapsed at will to streamline your interface when required.]]

[[Third, turn your attention to the Draconic Boons you have been granted. I highly recommend you do not mention these to anyone; especially-so regarding the Mark of Balance. When you find young Sionella again, you may ask her about it in private. She will explain its meaning to you.]]

[[Intelligence is used chiefly for the casting of spells, young Rihelah. While it will slightly increase your actual intellect, each of you will require greater than 1000 Intelligence for your brains to reach double the processing power you possessed on Earth.]]

[[My level, you ask? 80085!]] Velrake shifted Herself to humanoid form, then smirked while She pushed Her shoulders forward to emphasize Her cleavage.

Michael covered his mouth to stifle a laugh at the situation, while Rihelah turned beet-red.

[[No further questions, children. Now, embrace each other once more with those fleshy arms, and prepare to return to My Lair!]]

Michael and Rihelah sprang to their feet and hugged fiercely for a moment. Then the classroom disappeared, and they once again found themselves clinging to the underside of a large mushroom cap.

Velrake hovered nearby as She spoke Her parting words.

[[Think long and hard on how you may exit this place, for there are but two paths accessible to you who lack wings. I encourage you to explore further benefits of The System! There are other ways it can be used, and I have altered the interface so you should be quite familiar with these functions from your world’s video games. On behalf of My Lord and Myself, welcome to Our world!]]

Velrake disappeared without a sound or trace as if she had never been floating just a few centimeters away from the pair.

[Dragons are so weird.] Rihelah mused.

[No kidding.]

[[We can always hear you, so bear that in mind!]] Velrake’s voice crashed into their minds.

[I didn’t mean-] Rihelah spluttered as they both reeled from Velrake’s words.

[[How adorable. Yes, I know precisely what you meant! Safe travels, children!]]

Once he’d recovered, Michael murmured, [Heh. I never used to believe in Gods before, but this place has me wondering…]

[I didn’t think they were real, either. Guess we were wrong! I wonder if any of the Gods people believe in on Earth are real?] Rihelah looked around, but all they could hear was the faintly amused chuckle of a beautiful Dragoness on the wind.

[One thing you can say about Lady Velrake… Even if Her voice is painful sometimes, it’s got its benefits! I assume you’re also getting a bonus for your intelligence when She uses Her full voice?]

The entire cavern rumbled and shook with the Dragon’s barely-restrained laughter.

[Umm Michael… Something tells me She was speaking very softly for our benefit…]

[You’re probably right. We’re lucky She’s so friendly.] He gave a nervous laugh.

[No shit…]

[Well, you wanna try the screen-sharing thing? I’m curious about your evolution!] Michael said as he looked at her.

[Sure!] She agreed.

When they’d finished looking over the information, Rihelah remarked, [It’s not fair, dammit. You grew! Now you’re bigger than me again! I’m the same length as before the evolution!]

[Okay… But you can throw magic around, while I have to get right up in the enemy’s face to fight! Remember the centipede? How long did it take for me to damage that thing? Your spells wrecked it!]

[Well… Yeah, that’s true.] She replied quietly.

[Remember, we’re in this together.] He reassured her while inching forward.

[I wish we could be human again.] She moved in and rested her head against his. Rihelah’s antennae swept against his, and both of them shuddered from the contact.

[Holy crap, that felt good!] He sent his longer antennae up against hers once again and they both trembled.

[Mm…] She agreed.

After reveling in their newfound way of sharing closeness for a few minutes, they pulled apart.

[That wasn’t really what I’d call erotic… But it felt almost like a strange combination of hugging and kissing! Just… through these crazy things that double as a pair of noses!] Rihelah waved her antennae around, intentionally brushing them against him here and there.

[Yeah. You smell good, you know.] Michael noted.

[Mmm… You too...] Rihelah blurted out her response, making it sound like he might be tasty.

Michael took a step back. [That’s not the kind of thing I was trying to-]

She hurriedly added, [But not like food-smell good! More like… fresh out of the shower, or…]

[Or… what?] He sounded amused.

[Or something we need to be human for!]

[I knew it! Pervert!] He snickered.

[Yoooouuu…] She began, then she thought better of it and ended up laughing with him. [Damn your hide, you’re not wrong… But I’m in good company!]

[Fair enough!]

[Hey, Michael?]

[Yeah?]

[Doesn’t it seem a little weird that we get over traumatic things so quickly?] Rihelah’s antennae tweaked quizzically outward.

[Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, too. Maybe it’s because we aren’t human anymore? If you think about it, a Mantis fights for survival pretty much every day.]

[Mm. Our lives on Earth were pretty easy, by comparison. I wish we’d made the most of our time as humans.]

[It’s not like we lost everything, Rihelah. In fact, I’m happier right now, alongside you, than I was as a human adult. Besides, this is a magical world! We’ll keep evolving, and who knows where that may lead?]

[True. I’m just feeling impatient. I need my Michael-hugs!]

[But you just had them!]

[Yeah… But who knows how long it will be until the next time we can do that?!]

[You know, we should start looking for a way out of here. If we want to find a way to be human together again, it’s not going to happen while we sit around complaining!]

[Hey! That’s… I’m not… Well yeah, I guess I am feeling a little bitchy. I just don’t know where to begin, Michael.] Rihelah’s antennae drooped.

[Keep your chin up! There’s good news! You’re a scientist, and we both love nature! I think we can tackle this problem if we think carefully. How would an entrance to this kind of place be formed? We know about the giant worms already. Aside from that, do you know anything about caves?]

[Water has to enter from somewhere, so that’s something we can look into. Wait! What if we find animal trails that lead to an exit?]

[Hmm. Why don’t we go with the water idea? It feels and sounds like we’ve been headed toward something like a waterfall or river. This light wind had to be kicked up by something.]

[Sounds good.] She agreed.

Five minutes of travel later, they crested a rise.

[Ohh…] Rihelah swooned, leaning against him at the sight of a luminous waterfall cascading down from what seemed to their tiny eyes an impossible height.

[Michael! The water’s glowing! Do you think it’s magic?] She trembled with excitement.

[Hmm. There’s probably something living in the water, and knowing this world, that something will try to eat us.]

[Ugh. Good point. Fuck.]

A faint chorus of raucous laughter seemed to rise upon the wind, but when they tried to focus upon it there was only silence.

[Well, we should probably-] Michael began but stopped when he noticed something felt wrong.

[I sense it, too!] Rihelah whispered.

Both of them turned to face the source, lurking within a cleft between two sizable stones. They strained for a moment before its outline was silhouetted between the rocks by a luminous creature flying about in the distance.

An information box appeared to one side as each of them considered the somewhat larger arthropod that had been stalking silently behind them.

A tiny, bioluminescent fly passed by just overhead, its body casting a soft amber light upon the area for a moment. The stone crawler had stopped moving. One of its burly, spiny front legs hung in the air, frozen mid-step as stared them down while trying not to be noticed.

Two long, whip-like antennae trembled while pointing toward them both, and its large eyes gazed toward its intended prey from either side of an impressively-armored head. Stout, rugged mandibles hung beneath its face, while its palps quivered slightly in anticipation.

[Well, shit. I can’t see its level.] Rihelah complained.

[Me either. Must be higher than Level 2!]

[We should be okay. We took out that centipede, after all.]

[Your magic took care of the centipede, Rihelah. I just helped a little.] Michael said, mumbling the last part.

[It looks like a potato bug! I mean, except for the color and that weird horn-thing on its head.] Rihelah whispered.

[Yeah. It blends in almost perfectly with the dark stone in this place. I didn’t even notice it until this new ability warned us. Scary fucker.]

[Mm. With all those spines on its feet, you’d think it would make more noise, but I haven’t heard it once!]

[No shit… Good thing we’ve got this new hostility sense!]

[Mm.]

[Hit it with your water spell, Rihelah, and aim for the head. Try to damage its eyes and antennae. Even if it’s strong, we should be able to handle this thing if it's unable to figure out what’s going on around it. I’ll attack from the right side after your spell. Be ready to dodge… Its name says crawler, but it can probably jump.]

Michael camouflaged himself, then stalked carefully forward to her right. Rihelah completely lost sight of him except for a slight phosphorescent outline. An information panel popped up when she focused on him.

Wow! That’s handy! She smiled to herself knowing the system had recognized Michael as her mate, then focused her attention back on their opponent.

The bigger insect seemed emboldened by Michael’s disappearance and began creeping toward Rihelah.

[Mmkay. Casting now.]

A bubble of water silently appeared between Rihelah and the crawler and began drawing dirt into itself from the cave floor.

The cave-dwelling cricket was obscured from Rihelah’s vision, but Michael watched its long antennae test the water gingerly just before a quartet of powerful waterjets shot toward the stocky insect.

The spell slammed into four places on the crawler’s face and bored into its skull. Both its eyes were blasted apart, but Rihelah had aimed too low to strike the base of its antennae, both of which had moved upward and out of the way of her spell while the creature tested the sphere of water.

In a panic, the stone crawler launched itself forward with its hind legs, straight at Rihelah.

The crawler held its spiny front legs open wide, ready to grasp at her. Rihelah leaped toward her right to dodge away, but the enemy was moving too quickly and she knew she couldn’t make it.

She readied her forelegs to grapple with the larger insect, but Michael exploded against the stone crawler from the right. The impact stunned the creature and knocked it off-course as he clamped down upon its thorax with his forelegs.

Rihelah flattened herself, ducking beneath Michael as he was dragged along with the heavier insect. She stood and turned to find Michael clinging to the side of a rock with his hind legs, hoisting their enemy off the ground while its legs twitched.

[I managed to crush a part of its thorax! Some of its legs might not work anymore!] He said, the effort apparent in his voice as he bent down to bite into his victim.

Rihelah moved to help but stopped short when the big arthropod’s hind legs kicked outward, bouncing it high above the ground and pulling Michael free from his perch as he tenaciously clung to it.

While they sailed upward, Michael released his grip and slammed his forelegs against the crawler to push himself away. For the first time since arriving in the new world, Michael managed a semi-graceful landing.

The heavy crawler bounced off the same rock Michael had clung to before tumbling once on the ground. It lay on its side with its rotund abdomen heaving.

A jet of some dark liquid shot forward from the creature’s head, and the ground sizzled wherever the dark liquid fell.

Michael exclaimed, [Oh shit! It’s spitting acid!]

[Eww! I’m gonna kill it!] She replied.

Rihelah was about to cast Erosive Spray again, but Michael quickly spoke up. [Wait.]

[What? Why?]

[That thing’s chitin is hard as hell! It’s amazing I was able to do so much damage with a melee attack! It seems like my sneak-attack skills are working properly! I wanna do that again!]

[Uhhm, are you sure about that? If that thing pulls you into its jaws or spits on you… Michael-]

[Its front legs are fucked-up, so I’m not too worried. I’m just gonna try smacking one of its hind legs to see if I can break it!]

While he maneuvered his camouflaged self into position, Rihelah got a closer look at the twitching stone crawler.

[Whoa! You crushed almost half its thorax! That’s pretty damn impressive, Michael!]

[Right?!] He shot forward again, and the crawler’s left hind leg partially exploded at the knee when his forelegs slammed into it like a pair of hammers.

The crawler’s other hind leg immediately kicked out toward him, breaking all four of Michael’s walking feet and sweeping them out from under him. The impact knocked him a few body lengths away.

[Oof. Well that sucked…] He felt a little stupid, but his words sounded giddy.

Rihelah’s antennae swept forward in anger. [Damn it, Michael! I know you’ll heal, but I don’t like seeing you injured!]

[Well, I have a feeling I’m gonna need to get up close and personal with a lot of dangerous things if I want to grow strong enough to be somewhat safe in this crazy world.]

[Still, pick your battles! You didn’t have to make this last attack!]

[Yeah, I know. But this is amazing! I’m like a mantis shrimp, but on land!] His feeble attempt to sound like he was taking her seriously crashed and burned.

[Yeah, but only when the enemy can’t see you… You’ve gotta be careful, you dumbass! Do I need to learn some kind of barrier magic to keep you from randomly saying, “Hold my beer!” before you rush headlong into the jaws of death with a stupid grin on your… mandibles?]

[Okay, Rihelah. I get it. But I’m not in any real danger right now.]

[Only because I’m here to back you up in case something else comes along while you can’t move!]

[Yeah, that’s exactly why I felt comfortable taking a small risk. Because I trust you.]

[Well, that’s… It’s nice to hear. Just-]

[Believe me, I won’t stand in the way of those jumping legs again if we meet another stone crawler. I don’t enjoy being injured, despite how this may have looked.]

[Fine.]

[I’ll try to be careful.]

[Good. That’s all I ask. I… Michael, I don’t want to be left alone in this world.]

She moved close to him and touched her antennae to his before helping him to straighten out his middle-left foot so it would heal properly.