At that moment, Theo didn’t know what to feel.

His gaze was locked onto a single sight, of the mantis, clinging to the other side of the beast’s body, staring back at him with a "I told you" look.

What Theo saw were three deep gashes on the beast’s body.

’Are they claw marks...?’ Theo asked himself, bewildered.

The three gashes on the beast’s body were long, clean and brutally deep, far too precise for Theo to ignore.

One by one, as the others joined him, they looked down, stunned.

"Oh, heavenly artifact..." Kaelor murmured, placing a hand over his chest.

"To wound a beast like this with such strength... I would rather not meet whatever made those..." Kaelor added, unease lacing his voice, while everyone just stared at the wounds with different emotions.

Theo narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look at the wound. Soon, he realized that the wound was immense, so large that compared to them, he could see the torn edges of flesh along the sides. The skin looked shredded and peeled back, as if something had ripped straight through it.

It left him with an unsettling feeling.

"This was made some time ago... it’s already healing..." Theo said quietly.

Upon hearing his words, the other leaned in, examining the wounds closely.

Then, a sudden emotion came from the mantis.

Theo froze,

’There’s no way it’s going to do that.’

And before he could react to stop it, every single one of them present saw the mantis move its way toward the closest gash and, without hesitation, slipped its body into the deep gash.

Theo stepped forward instinctively.

"Wait—don’t!" someone whispered, but he didn’t stop.

Carefully, Theo edged closer to the wound, the steep angle threatening to send him slipping.

Step by step, he reached the wound, where the mantis had already burrowed inside. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

And in that moment...

A notification appeared before his eyes.

[Evolution Potential: Detected]

Theo froze for a moment before he thought this through.

’Mantis... drank its blood...’

He glanced at the beast, searching for any reaction or changes within it.

Nothing.

It didn’t even twitch.

And at that moment, Theo’s eyes dropped to his waist... specifically, to the empty vials.

He moved even closer to the wound where the mantis still was. There was no time to think anymore.

Grabbing the edge of the wound by the side, which felt like a rock crevice due to drying, Theo pulled out one of the vials and signaled the mantis to move aside.

It obeyed, though its mandibles remained buried deeper somewhere.

Theo leaned in and looked inside.

What he saw next made him catch his breath.

The wound was massive... deep enough that it felt like a small cave. Theo even believed he could probably crawl halfway inside if he tried.

Within, he spotted several small openings where a strange liquid seeped out, green tinged with the red-colored blood.

’Is that blood...’

The color looked so much like poison or venom that it made him wonder if it was some organ oozing its internal fluid and not the creature’s blood.

But seeing that the mantis was already feeding on the wound, Theo crouched a bit forward and held the vial beneath one of the openings.

A single drop fell.

And the vial was completely filled.

Theo’s eyes widened. ’The blood is so thick; just one drop filled the entire vial...’

He quickly grabbed a few more vials before deciding to pull himself back.

The moment he turned...

Clara stood right in front of him, her eyes burning with anger.

But before she could say anything, Theo raised her a set of filled vials.

"You grab some too. Then we will leave," he said, but then leaned closer to whisper something. "Make sure to hide the vials you will get, alright?" Theo spoke and saw the others looking at them too.

No one felt dumb enough to go down toward the deep wounds that looked like claw marks from above.

"Mantis, let’s go," Theo spoke in a commanding voice.

The mantis pulled itself free and raised its head up for Theo to see the greenish blood dripping down its mandibles as it moved toward him.

It then made its way forward and moved its face toward the few vials of blood Theo had stored.

Theo tapped its head a few times to let it know not to look at the vials, signifying that they weren’t for it.

When Clara was done too, they made their way back up with the mantis.

As the others saw them emerge, Lucien extended both hands to Theo and Clara, helping them up.

"Alright, let’s leave now. We have done enough," Theo said, already turning back.

He had gained something that was worth a lot in his eyes and, more importantly, completed the evolution requirement.

His gaze drifted to the massive head of the beast nestled within its own body, its eyes still closed.

"We really are like insects to this thing... it doesn’t even care that we’re on its body..." Theo muttered, drawing puzzled glances from the others.

This time, he didn’t jump. He slid down the creature’s smooth hide, while the mantis became a blur before landing effortlessly on the ground beside him.

A thought crossed Theo’s mind: what would happen if the mantis were to attack that tough hide with its skill?

The mantis immediately sent a pulse of annoyed emotions through their bond.

Theo stopped for a split second before moving again.

Apparently, the mantis had already tried attacking the beast. Multiple times. But none of its attacks had even left a mark on the beast’s skin.

That realization brought back a familiar sense of helplessness, the one Theo hadn’t felt after he fought the tyrant beast in the gate with the baron.

Soon, with the help of the falcons and the path they had marked along the way, the apes materialized again and picked up the lioness-like beast’s body before they started moving back to the exit gate.

Theo glanced at Clara’s waist. Although his expressions didn’t change even in the slightest, inwardly, he smiled. All the vials that had been empty and kept in the belt were gone, as if she had lost them or something.

But Theo knew better.