After The blinding light fades, Amar opens his eyes to the new area he will now have to call home. To the left, A building shaped like a triangle stands amongst the rocky hills. The roof is made of what seems to be straw and its base being held up by four wooden rods. In the center stands A fortress, ancient yet still imposing. Atop of it, to Amar's piqued curiosity, lay a large tortoise. The creature is a dark shade of green, with a yellow underbelly. Its shell gleams in the suns rays as it slumbers, free of any true responsibilities currently.
Yet, Amar's focus is turned to the third building, the most mysterious of all he has seen so far. Before his eyes lies What appears to be a church. Near its entrance the church like building displays two stained glass windows. Upon close inspection, they seem to be murals, with one depicting a topside view of a turtle shell while the other shows of a cloaked figure with its arms spread out, as if representing generosity and forgiveness.
While Amar gathers his bearings, back in the united states, the people watch on from the newly created viewing platforms as they mourn the unfair hand they have been delt. "Our lives are dependent on a TURTLE!? What are we supposed to do!?" "How would I Know!? we are literally in the SAME situation!" Many others all either discuss with those nearby or are on their phones, speaking with family members across the world.
"Well, this is really a nice place. Well polished and everything!" Oblivious to the dispirited people, Amar whistles in appreciation on the interior of the church like building. "But what exactly is this for? I'm not exactly a religious person, and I doubt the god watching over this place really wants me to be a bootlicking lackey based on the rules." "I believe I can answer your questions, and no you wont have to constantly pray at this place." A voice sounds out from behind Amar. Amar spins around, only to pause at the unexpected visitor.
A young man with a halo over his head stands with his hands behind his back, where Amar can see pristine white wings peaking out. "Greetings, my name is Shaphan, an angel record keeper. I will also be serving as your guide from here on out." Amar raises an eyebrow but says nothing. Shaphan, seeing Amar's 'enthusiasm', continues with the explanation. "As you can probably guess what the other two buildings are for, I will only describe the one we are currently in. This building is your troop generator, where you will be able to create your army. However, the limits for this place is that they can only use the animal you are working with as the base, and you will need to exchange points if you are to make more troops You'll have to figure out how to acquire more points on your own however. Though, you can even input materials to create more... unnatural changes."
Amar, seeing the hesitation on the angels face as he mentions the changes, presses for more answers. "What do you mean by 'unnatural changes'? What materials can I use for this and how?" "Well, unnatural can range from changes in physical attributes, like the shell's design and how long the neck could be, to mutations that mix different species together to achieve alterations. As for how, you would use the cube on that alter right their."
Amar follows the Angel's finger to see the prism hovering on the marble alter, a royal purple hue emitting from its surfaces. "Since this is your first time I shall demonstrate." Shaphan says, materializing what seems to be a bone. The divine messager of Yahweh taps one side of the bone onto the cube. The surface ripples as the bone sinks in as if it were a swamp. Wisps of energy soon float out converging in one area on the floor. It begins to churn and twist, Eventually taking on the silhouette of a tortoise. The light soon dissipates, leaving in its place a small tortoise, not much taller than Amar's leg.
Shaphan picks up the creature and hands it to Amar. "This little guy will be in your care from now on. The bone I used unlocks the ability to produce more similar to him. Now I will leave you be to prepare." As Shaphan finishes speaking, he begins to turn transparent, eventually vanishing from Amar's vision. Amar mulls over the angel's words as he observes the turtle in his hands. "Well then little guy, from now on you will be called Arlo. Lets see what we can make happen." Amar Exits the troop factory with Arlo in hand. "Alright the first thing I need to do is find a food source. After all, an army marches based on how full its stomach is. Thankfully these guys are herbivores, otherwise I would have to figure out a way to avoid spoiled meat."
Amar hikes across the plains for a few hours, with Arlo on his head acting as a small sunhat. He isn't worried about getting lost, as the fortress is incredibly large, with a large tortoise on top making it very hard to miss. "Now how will I feed the big guy though? Hay might be something, but it sure wont keep him happy for long. Hm? What's that?" As Amar was thinking, He sees some plants with red objects hanging from them. As Amar approaches the low to the ground plants, a smirk finds its way on his face. The plants, as it turns out, are strawberry shrubs. "Perfect, with these, I can grow some food for the turtles AND still have a source." Amar collects A few, feeding some to Arlo and pocketing the rest in order to plant some strawberries later on.
The sun begins to set as Amar finally makes it back to base. "Phew! finally made it. Now to get the big guy settled." For the next 3 hours, Amar gathers up large amounts of grass and some of the strawberries he collected, tossing them into the waiting maw of the now somewhat awake ginormous tortoise. Sweaty and covered in dirt, Amar heads into the base to freshen up. "Thankfully this place has a modern bathroom instead of being a medieval one. I would rather not have to use a hole in the ground." Now finished cleaning himself, Amar heads to his bed, one fit for royalty judging by how comfortable he felt, and sleeps, preparing to deal with the next day.
Morning follows soon enough, with Amar and Arlo now outside. Amar holds a strawberry out for Arlo to see. Noticing that he now has the tortoise's attention, Amar then places the strawberry into a wooden box he found while rummaging through the fortress. As Amar places the box Infront of Arlo, he tells the reptile, "Alright Arlo, if you want the strawberry, you gotta get through this box. I hope you understand what i'm saying or this will make things much harder in the future." Amar then steps aside, ready to see what Arlo can do.
Arlo at first looks between the box containing the delectable treat to Amar. Amar motions to the box while thinking "Pleeassse have something for me to work with." Amar's eyes suddenly spike with data. His choice of replacing his eyes with mechanical ones wasn't just for aesthetics. The eyes are not only able to have perfect vision, but they can also read energy changes. This function has helped him in many ways from seeing were blockades are in circuits to dodging overcharged machines about to explode. "What the...!" Amar stumbles back as his eyes tell him that the energy reading is coming from Arlo!
The tortoise, in Amar's eyes, has a blue light traveling through its body, with it eventually spreading into the tortoise's jaw. To his shock, Arlo then brings his jaws down upon the wooden box. The box shatters into splinters as the strawberry rolls out. As Arlo enjoys his newly claimed meal, Amar watches on, thoughts flying through his head. "So basically, these 'spirit beasts can use some kind of energy to make themselves stronger? If that's the case then..." Amar turns his gaze towards the massive behemoth on top of the fort. Recalling Arlo's recent performance, an excited gleam flashes through Amar's eyes, his true thoughts unknown to the rest of the world.