Amongst the plains, Amar trudges on, his arms wrapped around a large bundle of grass he wrapped in tablecloth. "Note to self: find a way to make material transport easier." Amar grumbles to himself. Thankfully he's not alone for Arlo, a true helper, carries a bundle almost half as big as the one Amar is carrying. "Don't worry Arlo, I guarantee you'll get a big helping of strawberries when we get home." The tortoise's eyes light up, most likely pleased with more treats. After a few hours The duo finally make it to the troop generator, with Amar drenched in sweat. "Lets hope this works..." and without further delay, Amar dumps the large pile of grass onto the cube.
At first not much seems to happen. However, the grass soon shrinks at a rapid pace and before Amar knew it, it was all gone.
The box emits a short hum as a rune screen flashes before Amar's eyes.
{ points: 100 [1]
Materials: grass
Evo tree(!)
}
" Wow this tree thing is…basic. " Amar thought to himself, looking at the simplistic screen. "So from what I understand, these 'materials not only change what the turtle could do, but also gives me the points needed huh? well, Now I know how to get the army started at least. Now what's this thing about?" Amar presses his finger onto the 'Evo tree(!)' display, believing that it would work similar to a tablet. Sure enough, the screen changes.
{ tortoise(10 pts)
alter size(2pts)
alter characteristic(5 pts)
Mutation(more material needed):
}
" 'Alter size'? does that mean I can make them bigger like the one on top the fortress?" Giddy at the idea of a platoon of building sized turtles, Amar press the option. However, his excitement is immediately extinguished as he sees that the options are either 2x or 1/2x. "Pity. I will create 2 half size turtles and one large one then." After putting in the parameters, The cube ascends higher as it begins to rotate with increasing speed. Three orbs of light are expelled from the cube as it hovers back to the pedestal.
Before Amar stood the three tortoises, just as he had specified them. "You two will be called Hamsa and Hamso prospectively." He then points to the larger one. "And you will be known as Magnus" The tortoises make squeaking sounds, much to Amar's surprise. (A/N: I honestly didn't know they could squeak)
Later on, the group of 5 are back in the field, now being turned into a training area. Arlo is seen unearthing rocks and other things of interest as Amar observes the new tortoises. "Seems like size really is a factor on these creatures." Hamsa and Hamso repeatedly bite at the stones Amar had set up for the test, cracking it but not breaking through. Magnus on the other hand...
boosh!
Magnus raises his head in pride as another medium sized rock is turned to powder under his strong jaws, further powered by the strange energy. "I WILL figure out how this energy works." The heart of a scientist burns greatly with Amar as he ponders on how the energy could be understood. "all right, good work all of you! we will stop here for today."
Amar then collects a handful of stones and strawberries, heading for the troop generator one more to test a theory. Dumping the objects in his hands onto the cube, Amar waits till the analyzation phase is done before checking the rune display. "Sure enough, this thing can handle it."
{tortoise(10 pts)
alter size(2pts)
alter characteristic(5 pts)
Mutation:
Crop keratin (50 pts)
Stone skin (80 pts)
}
Amar sharply inhales a breath of air looking at the 'Stone skin' option. "Lord, why is it so expensive!? I could buy 8 regular turtles with that amount! Even the other option costs 5 times as much! maybe these 'unnatural changes' Shaphan spoke of are more costly because they go against the natural order? Fascinating." Curiosity rising, Amar selects the 'Crop keratin' option. The cube goes through its process, this time releasing a slightly larger wisp than Arlo's. The light dims, and Amar is astounded by what's in front of him. A Lime green tortoise with brown lining the top of its shell. Yet, the strangest part is that there is a small plant bud on the center of its shell, swaying gently from the breeze entering through an open window.
The unique tortoise's head seems to be on a swivel, for it is constantly turning, eyes gleaming with a sense of wonder. Amar calls out to the tortoise to get its attention. "Hey little guy. Must be hungry huh? do you want some strawberries?" The tortoises eyes light up as it crawls over to enjoy the pile of strawberries in Amar's hand, "I think I'll call you Willow." Amar picks up Willow after she has finished eating the fruits.
Amar finds his other tortoises basking in the sun. Magnus is lying atop a large boulder with Hamso and Hamsa on top of his shell, trying not to fall. Arlo lays a bit further by Magnus' side, using him as a partial shade. "Ok Willow, these are your future teammates. You four, make sure to treat her well, I'll be back with some water." Amar heads to the food storage unit, for now majorly empty except for a pile of strawberries and hay. "Gonna have to find another source soon." Amar grumbles to himself. Running low on the small amount of jerky he had on him and not wishing to try hay, Amar wracks his brain for an answer as he gets the water basin. He would have loved to catch some fish, but without any trees nearby, his tool kit is a bit limited.
Leaving his food matters aside for now, Amar places the basin for the tortoises. The group gather together to get a sip all except Willow. "Hm? what's wrong willow? do you need me to bring you closer? don't' worry I'll-" Amar doesn't finish speaking for beneath willow's shell, two vines stretch out. Hamso and Arlo move from the basin, tucking into their shells as they hiss, letting the strange vines pass overhead. "So your actually part plant huh? well that changes ... a lot of things actually." A grin settles on Amar's face as Willow enjoys the water, oblivious to the storm of thoughts raging in her commander's head
A/N: Greetings! just gotta say, thank you for your patience. And support, as 1k views and 5 collections is really good for only 4 chapters so far!
from here on out though, the chapter release will be on Wednesdays, as apparently my Tuesdays are too chaotic...
Leave some comments to let me know how well (or poorly, I don't hate) the story is so far and I hope you'll enjoy next week's chapter!
[1] So in case your wondering:
small objects give about 1 point
medium objects give about 10 points
large objects give 100 points
because Amar and Arlo brought over a thousand strands of grass, the troop generator grouped every 100 grams to give out one point