"Well, you guys are too small to even count as an appetizer anyway. So I guess you're all coming with me then," Lucius whispered, trying to approach them.
~I can run experiments on them to find out how the evolution of non-leaf creatures work,~ he thought to himself. He also had the added benefit of them being babies, he could manipulate them into seeing him as a parent figure, and wouldn't have to worry about them betraying him later.
However just as he was about to pick one of them up, he felt them bite him, or try to bite him at least. Their pincers were too weak to break through his skin, but it was obvious that they weren't just going to allow him to take them.
"Won't follow a stranger, huh? That's not a problem, I'm sure with a bit of food, you'll be more willing," he whispered, deciding that he would leave them here for now.
"I'll come back with food if I catch any, don't die while I'm out," he said, before leaving.
He had hoped that on his way back to the camp he would find something to hunt, but this section of the forest seemed completely devoid of animals. Or perhaps, the animals were just that good at hiding. Either way, he didn't find anything to eat.
"At least it's still standing," he whispered to himself as he looked at the alchemist's cabin in front of him. The build had once been reasonably big, but at this size, Lucius doubted that he could live inside it comfortably.
~Perhaps I should just go ahead and start making the builds human-sized, because at this rate I'll have to rebuild structures every two weeks,~ he thought to himself as he knocked on the door.
"Pagan, open up, it's Lucius," he shouted.
A moment later, the door creaked open, and the smell of herbs attacked his senses, temporarily chocking him.
"Ahh, you're back. Couldn't find one hu-" Asclepius was about to say before getting a look at Lucius.
"You're massive," was the first thing they could say, walking out to inspect Lucius. It was sort of laughable how tiny Ascelpuis seemed to him, like a slightly large bug scurrying around him.
"So did you get it?" Asclepius asked.
Lucius nodded his head in reply, before looking into the cabin. "Where's Pagan?"
"Ah, that idiot. While you were gone he went through some sort of transformation, an evolution he called it. I tell you, I don't think it's natural," Ascelpuis said in a hushed tone.
"He became a hunter?" Lucius asked, interrupting Asclepius before they could finish.
"How did you know?"
Lucius held out his hands and drew out on his retractable claws, before retracting them back into his fingertips. He then opened his mouth to show a double set of razor-sharp teeth and moved his tail to show that it was now a weapon as well.
"The Shri'kilian turned me into this once I ate," he explained.
"But that still doesn't explain why he turned into a hunter as well, he didn't eat it," Asclepius replied, completely confused. However, after a moment of silence, it was clear that Lucius wasn't going to shed light on that matter.
"So, where is he?"
"Ah, probably out training that magic of his. It's all he does when he's not hunting," Asclepius answered, suddenly losing interest in the conversation.
"Hunting?"
"Yeah, I told him of a spot where he could get loads of meat," Asclepius said, with a toothy grin.
"What has he been eating?" Lucius asked, kind of relieved that there had at least been enough meat for them to feed Ghost's pod.
"I didn't actually expect him to destroy their whole clan. But after I told him about the webbed-ones who destroyed my village, he came back claiming to have killed all of them," Asclepius started explaining, clearly satisfied with what had been done.
"But they were all burnt, the guy has no technique. We even had to throw away some of the meat."
"I thought you said you didn't care about your cla- wait. Aren't the webbed-ones sentient?" Lucius asked.
"Sentient? Ah, you're asking if they're beasts or not. No, they aren't" Asclepius answered.
"I thought I made it clear that eating sentients was out of the question," Lucius replied, annoyance audible in his tone.
One could debate that it wasn't really an issue right now, besides other animals did it, right?
Wrong. A problem would arise when they evolved further, the act was akin to cannibalism. If he allowed the people in his commune to eat sentients now, it would cause all sorts of social issues for them later.
"When you see him tell him to come to me. I'll be in the main camp," Lucius said, deciding that it was a special circumstance as he hadn't told Pagan beforehand.
"Wait. There's something I want to show you. I discovered something while you were away," Asclepius said, welcoming Lucius into the cabin.
Lucius took up a good amount of space, knocking herbs and flowers aside as he walked towards what Asclepius was trying to show him.
"Look," Asclepius said, pointing at an odd-looking purple fruit.
"What is that?"
"I left a bit of the arachnid meat in a corner, and one of the flowers fell on top of it. I didn't think much of it, but while I was trying to clean the meat up with water from the spring, this thing sprouted," Asclepius explained.
~Did he really discover agriculture by accident?~ Lucius thought, in awe of the coincidence.
"Have you tried to see if it can be used in potions yet?" Lucius asked.
"I've been trying random combinations, but realistically I can't even test them to see if they work. It's simply too much of a risk to test them myself," Asclepius explained.
"So you're in need of testing dummies?" Lucius murmured to himself. "That can be arranged," he continued, inwardly apologizing to any animal that planned on antagonizing him in the following days.
"Good work, I'll try to manage some sort of payment for your efforts," he said. It was important to keep Asclepius motivated.
"Evolution. I want what Pagan has. You got the Shri'kilian right? So that means I'm now an official member of your clan," Asclepius said before Lucius could turn to leave.
"That can be arranged," Lucius replied after some thought. ~However only after the leaflings have all evolved. I'll have to keep you a few steps behind them so you don't pose too much of a threat,~ he thought to himself.
"Also, I need some help. There are simply too many different kinds of flowers for me to pick and carry alone. Not to mention all the time it takes to try and mix the different combinations," Asclepius explained.
"I sometimes lose track of the combinations I've already done as well. Maybe with a bit of help it will be easier to do,"
"I suppose it'll benefit having a reliable team for this. I'll see if anyone is interested in this sort of thing, I'll keep you posted," Lucius said before leaving for the main camp.
