[Evolution Path]
[Chimera Mother (Evolved Form) — Habitat: Cave/Global]
[A sovereign progenitor capable of giving birth to offspring infused with traits from anything she has consumed. All absorbed abilities, materials, and properties may be inherited, fused, or reshaped within her children. Each birth produces a unique variant shaped by her accumulated evolution.]
[Do you wish to evolve? Yes / No]
Maddy stared at the system window, eyes wide, breath unsteady.
"An evolution path? What does this mean, Lucy?"
[Response: After consuming and applying the Suzerain's reproductive ability, your fundamental nature has changed. Originally, you were a Chimera Worm—a creature designed only to eat, mutate, and survive. However, the integration of the Suzerain's reproductive function has shifted your existence. You are no longer merely a collector of traits. You are now a source.]
"I am the source now… So it's not just about me anymore. Everything I eat… every trait I take… it won't just make me stronger. It will shape my children too."
Memories rushed back. Sleepless nights. Not just from the pain of bruises, but from the empty space beside her. From imagining children with her husband's eyes and his intelligence. Children she thought would fix everything. Children she thought would save her marriage.
She inhaled slowly.
"All those nights… I thought if I could just give him a child, he would love me again. I thought that was my worth."
She looked at the prompt again.
"If I say no, can I just keep going as I am?"
[Response: Yes. You may continue as a Chimera Worm in human form, collecting traits until another path reveals itself. However, this path… is the answer to the emptiness you carried in your previous life.]
Maddy looked at Sephiran, then at the hollow darkness of the cave. For a moment, she saw her husband's sneer… the cold silence of that large, empty house.
"No… I'm not saying no. This is everything I've ever wanted. You can call them monsters but to me, the children I'll bring into this world are everything I cried for during those painful nights."
She lifted her chin, her voice steadier now.
"Yes. Let's do it. Yes."
[Response: Evolutionary Path "Chimera Mother" confirmed. Initiating evolution in 3… 2… 1…]
Poof!
Light wrapped around her, enclosing her body like a cocoon. Sephiran stared at her with wide eyes, as if watching his pocket monster evolve right in front of him.
When the glow faded, Maddy looked down at her hands. The Princess's graceful fingers were still there. Her long violet hair still flowed down her back, smooth and silky.
"I… I look the same? Did it fail? Lucy, did I break it?"
[Response: It did not fail. You are now a Chimera Mother. I suppressed the physical 'monstrous' mutations such as the external abdomen or extra spinnerets because I knew you would absolutely panic if you lost the Princess' form. You are welcome, my friend.]
Maddy burst into laughter, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Oh, Lucy… you really do know me. That was good. You made me laugh so hard. Gosh—whew! T-Thank you, Lucy… my friend. I promised her I'd take care of this body."
But then, a violent cramp seized her stomach. A hunger, deeper and more primal than anything she'd felt as a worm, tore through her. It wasn't just a hunger for food; it was a desperate, biological urge to create.
"Oh no... oh god, Lucy, help!"
Maddy doubled over, clutching her stomach.
"I feel... I feel like I need to birth something right now. But look at me! This body is too small! If I try to give birth to a monster like that Suzerain, it'll tear me apart! I can't let this body suffer like that—the Princess already went through enough fatigue and pain! Please, tell me there's a way out of the 'natural' way!"
[Response: Steady your breathing, Maddy. A solution has already been calculated. Just as 'Ingest' manifested through your Demonic Blood Art, your new nature has now granted two unique skills to resolve this biological dilemma.]
Maddy's voice trembled with excitement as she stared at the system.
"Two skills… just like Ingest? Thank you, Lucy… you really are the best! Now… what are those two skills? What do they let me do?"
[Congratulations! You've acquired a unique skill: Birthing Customization]
[Birthing Customization: Before beginning gestation, you may select and imprint specific traits into each future offspring to customize them. Traits can come from any digested monsters, materials, or objects that possess a trait. Once chosen and imprinted, these traits are permanently encoded in your children, determining their physical form, combat style, and abilities.]
Maddy's eyes lit up with a fire she had never felt before.
"Oh my… Lucy… What—WHAT A SKILL! With this, I can literally design my own baby! The color of their eyes, whether they have spider eyes or normal ones… I could even give them wings or fins so they can live not just on land, but in the sky and water too! Gosh, this is every dream a… mother and an animal lover could ever have!"
[Response: Precisely. And to solve your 'physical' concern...]
[Congratulations! You've acquired a unique skill: Mobile Womb]
[Mobile Womb: A large, web like, living flesh structure capable of conceiving and nurturing multiple offspring simultaneously. The womb is highly flexible and adaptive, able to expand, contract, or shift position to protect the developing children. Offspring conceived within the Mobile Womb inherit pre selected traits imprinted through Birthing Customization.]
"THIS IS PERFECT!"
Maddy cheered, her voice echoing through the cave.
"I don't have to worry about this body being too fragile. I can carry all of them at once and keep them safe. They'll come out exactly how I want them to."
She looked down at her hands, her expression softening into something deeply emotional.
"In my past life, I always envied animals... seeing them give birth to a whole litter, so many lives at once. And now... I can do that too. I can finally be a real mother."