Huh?
You ate what?!
After Pot's voice fell, Asterion paused for two seconds—he understood what Pot was saying, but precisely because he understood, he found it hard to comprehend.
What?
You? Ate the scale I gave you?
You actually ate it? Could you even chew that thing?
No, seriously, how did you even crush it?
There were simply too many things about this that the dragon couldn't understand, so much so that Asterion felt a bit confused, his large draconic head filled with even larger question marks.
Smack!
Seeing Asterion switch from lying down to sitting up, the Old Shaman immediately slapped the back of Pot's head with a paw.
"Even if Boss gave that to you, meow, you can't destroy it, meow!!" The Old Shaman declared self-righteously. "That was the first scale Boss Glavenus bestowed upon us, meow! It was a tribal sacred relic, meow!!"
"Roar, roar!" (He ate that entire scale? Ask him how he managed to swallow it.)
Realizing the Old Shaman had completely missed the point, Asterion asked directly.
"Meow... meow just started by licking Boss's scale at first, meow." It was hard to imagine a black cat's face turning red, but Pot certainly looked embarrassed as he meowed quietly. "After all, it's a good thing Boss rewarded meow with. Meow worships Boss so much, so naturally, meow had to lick it every day, meow."
Asterion: "..."
What kind of licking cat is this?!
But licking and eating were two different matters. given the chewing power of a Grimalkyne, Asterion didn't think for a second that Pot could chew through his scale. There had to be more to the story!
"Meow doesn't know how much time passed, meow, but suddenly one day, meow felt that this wasn't enough to get closer to Boss Glavenus, meow!" Pot said with a face full of pride.
"So meow thought of a way to grind some powder from the corners of the scale and swallowed it, meow!"
"It's more than that, meow!!"
The Old Shaman shouted indignantly, then, using all fours as twos, he dragged a scale in from outside the nest at top speed—er, half a scale.
"Look! This has gone way beyond grinding it into powder, meow!! The sacred relic has been completely destroyed, meow!! If meow had known, meow would have taken it away, meow!! It would have been better to enshrine it in the tribal grounds, meow!!"
The originally diamond-shaped scale was now only half a section long, and some semi-circular teeth marks could still be seen at the break.
He really bit it off.
Asterion had to lie down to get a clearer look at Pot, specifically his mouth—how did such a tiny mouth crush his scale?
Or did my scales become brittle after detaching from my body?
Well, that was somewhat possible, but that didn't mean a Grimalkyne could bite through it with just a cat's mouth, let alone digest it after swallowing.
Asterion had a premonition that some unknown change might have already occurred within Pot.
"...Meow won't hand it over to any other meow! Not even the old Chief, meow!! Boss Glavenus gave this to Pot, meow!! It's Pot's stuff, meow!!"
"Then you ate it all up, meow! Aren't you afraid Boss Glavenus will be angry, meow!!"
"Why would Boss Glavenus be angry, meow?! He already gave it to meow, meow!"
"..."
While Asterion was deep in thought, the Old Shaman on the side looked like he was about to get into a brawl with Pot.
Uh, don't look now, but the Glavenus Tribe had differentiated into various positions these days. For example, the Chief responsible for the tribe's daily affairs, the Shaman responsible for inheriting history, the Guard Team responsible for protecting Boss Glavenus, the Gathering Team responsible for collecting spices...
Although there were many divisions, it was really just a difference in labor. Whichever meow was good at something would go do it. Everything was for the better continuation of the tribe. Aside from respecting the old meows and caring for the small meows, no obvious class distinctions had formed among the Grimalkynes.
—And then there was the current situation where Pot and the Old Shaman were tangling together in a fight.
"Roar!" (Quiet!)
Snapping back to reality, Asterion had to let out a roar to make these two cats behave before he could continue inquiring about the changes in Pot.
"Changes, meow?" Pot clutched his head, thinking desperately. "Meow... Meow's teeth became sharper, meow! Bones that couldn't be chewed before can be crushed now, meow!"
The bones Pot was talking about weren't ordinary creature bones, but the bones of Large Monsters that Asterion had brought back to the nest. Being able to crush those meant Pot's teeth were now sufficient to cause damage to Large Monsters.
Though the damage wouldn't be high, given how small his mouth was.
"Aside from the changes in teeth, meow, meow feels like meow can eat more, meow!" Pot said with a smug look. "Meow can finish what other meows take three meals to eat in just one meal, meow! And meow feels meow's strength has increased too, meow! Yesterday, meow dragged that huge wyvern leg into the smokehouse all by meow-self, meow!"
"That is true," the Old Shaman testified. "The tribe is already planning to select him as the First Grimalkyne Strongman, meow—are there any other changes, meow?"
"Others?" After thinking for a long time, Pot said distressfully, "Seems like that's it, meow... can't think of anything else, meow!"
"Roar, roar, roar!" (I understand. Do not punish Pot. Let him finish eating this entire scale.)
"Eat... eat it all?!!" The Old Shaman's cat eyes went wide.
"Roar, roar!" (Finish it—no, let him eat this piece too.)
Halfway through his thought, Asterion reconsidered. He turned his body and controlled a scale on his surface to detach.
The Old Shaman: "..."
It seemed Boss Glavenus really wasn't angry.
He had thought Boss Glavenus would be furious seeing the scale he bestowed being damaged. Unexpectedly, not only was he not angry, but he also wanted Pot to eat more.
Picking up Asterion's newly shed scale with a speed unbecoming of an old meow, the Old Shaman quickly took a bite on the edge of the scale—confirmed by his teeth, it was a flavor that couldn't be bitten.
More than just unbiteable, the Old Shaman was in so much pain his tears almost came out; he nearly shattered his old teeth.
"Here, Boss Glavenus says for you to finish that previous half-scale and then eat this scale too, meow."
Saying this, the Old Shaman handed the new scale to Pot—Pot reached out to take it—reached out—uh, the Old Shaman was gripping it very tightly; he couldn't pull it away.
Pot, power up!!
Forcibly yanking the scale from the reluctant Old Shaman's paws and hugging both scales together, Pot shouted excitedly at Asterion, "I will finish eating them as soon as possible, meow! Boss, meow!!"
"Roar!"
This time, without the Old Shaman needing to translate, Pot understood that Boss Glavenus meant he could leave.
After explaining matters, the Old Shaman and Pot left Asterion's side while chattering away; the two cats were still complaining about each other.
Watching their figures disappear into the cave, Asterion began to think about what the changes in Pot actually meant.
He had a hypothesis, one that wasn't hard to arrive at, and the cause of the evolution was obvious: eating the scale.
Pot evolved by eating the scale he had shed.
Being able to eat and increased strength were just surface appearances. The most important thing was that Pot could digest what he ate.
This point was particularly crucial. It was as if this Grimalkyne was essentially moving closer to him—Asterion wasn't certain.
Coming all this way to become the Apex of the southernmost part of the Wildspire Waste, what Asterion relied on was certainly his stomach. His stomach granted him super-strong energy absorption efficiency and evolutionary capabilities, but what couldn't be ignored was that Asterion's teeth were also very good.
At least so far, there hadn't been anything he couldn't bite through.
Did this trait seem to be appearing as a sign in Pot? At the very least, an ordinary Grimalkyne absolutely could not bite through Asterion's scale—at least, a scale that hadn't decayed yet couldn't be bitten.
Asterion was somewhat curious if Grimalkynes could really evolve by ingesting his scales. He looked forward to Pot's future changes.
In the time that followed, Pot became a big star in the Glavenus Tribe. Er, Grimalkynes didn't have the concept of a "star," but the meaning was the same.
The Grimalkynes who chose to stay after the Gluttony Festival had all joined the Glavenus Tribe. Asterion's underground kingdom expanded once again with the surge in the Grimalkyne population. Wherever Pot went, there would be Grimalkynes looking enviously at him—or rather, at the half-scale around his neck.
Carrying the new scale Asterion bestowed upon him on his back like a shield, Pot strung up the remaining half-scale he was eating with a rope and hung it around his neck, taking a couple of sucks on it whenever he had nothing to do.
Boss Glavenus's requirement for him was no longer a secret. Now, all the Grimalkynes were eagerly waiting for new changes to appear in Pot.
So envious... they also wanted to suck on Boss Glavenus's scales...
Damn Pot!!
"Pot, meow! This is my treasured vanilla jerky, meow! Can we trade so I can try it once, meow!"
"And me! This is wine I brewed myself, meow! I want to try too, meow!!"
"..."
Well, envy was envy, and flattery was flattery. The Grimalkynes were willing to pay any price to gain the privilege from Pot to touch Boss Glavenus's scale, or to take a suck on it.
"Meow told you it's useless, meow. Only a meow as excellent as meow can complete Boss Glavenus's orders, meow!" Surrounded by cats, Pot said with a helpless look, "And haven't some meows already tried, meow? You guys can't bite Boss's scale at all, meow."
"That may be true, but we still want to try again, meow!!"
"That's right, that's right, please Pot, meow, you are the best meow in the world!!"
"..."
Gift-giving, bribery, acting cute, begging—the Grimalkynes used every method to get the right to touch or suck the scale from Pot.
But unfortunately, even if Pot couldn't refuse them and agreed, no second Grimalkyne appeared who could bite through the scale.
However, Pot's personal assets surged during this period: endless jerky to eat, endless wine to drink, and even beautiful meows... Cough, cough, cough!
Can't speak further on that.
Anyway, although he gained quite a few benefits using those two scales, Pot was still seriously carrying out the task for Asterion—he finally finished eating the scale Asterion gave him.
One morning, before Asterion left the nest, Pot was waiting early at the nest entrance. With him were the Old Shaman and Chief Sparky.
"Big trouble!! Boss, meow!!"
After a long time, Asterion once again heard the Old Shaman's cry of bad news—this guy never seemed to be calm; who knew how he had the nerve to educate Sparky.
Unlike last time, Asterion easily saw the change in Pot this time.
He... his belly had gotten bigger.
Er, he had turned into a big fat cat.
He had grown taller, standing a full head higher than Sparky, who was in the prime of his Grimalkyne life. His arms and legs were a full circle thicker. He was simply like a Plus-Size Max Edition Grimalkyne; placed within the Grimalkyne species, he could be counted as a giant.
"Bo... Boss, meow?" Pot was a little nervous. "Is meow looking okay like this, meow?"
"Roar, roar, roar." (Is there anywhere uncomfortable? Tell me everything you've felt during this time.)
Asterion was thoroughly interested now. This was far more important than the matter of going to the Ancient Forest.
"Meow doesn't know how meow became like this, meow," Pot scratched his head, recalling. "Doesn't seem like anything special happened, meow."
"Let me speak, meow," the Old Shaman said grumpily. "This guy hid at home refusing to come out, meow. It wasn't until I went to see him that I discovered it, meow. He ate all the food other meows gave him—Boss above, meow! That food was enough to feed the tribe for half a year in the past, meow!!"
"It was indeed scary, meow," Sparky chimed in. "I thought some monster had invaded the cave, meow."
"It's not a monster, meow!" Pot said somewhat angrily. "Meow just ate a little more, got a little fatter, meow!!"
"It's absolutely not just 'ate a little more,' meow!" Sparky's mouth twitched as he patted Pot's belly. "Look, your stomach can't even retract anymore, meow."
"That is a stomach bag, meow! A big stomach bag, meow!!"
"Roar!" (Quiet. Ask him, does he still poop?)
Er, Asterion's question was somewhat abrupt, and too peculiar, so much so that the Old Shaman held his breath for a long time trying to translate it while finding a description that maintained his dignity.
"Yes, meow," Pot was also a bit embarrassed. He scratched his head and said, "Quite a lot, meow."
"Of course, meow, after eating so much, meow," Sparky laughed loudly.
"Do you want to fight, meow!!"
Pot was getting urgent.
Asterion wouldn't interfere in wars between cats; he was thinking.
The changes appearing in Pot were undoubtedly related to himself. Whether it was natural talent or good luck, this Grimalkyne had already obtained a part of his power—power evolved beyond just the physical body.
After all, although Pot had become taller and fatter, he was still a Grimalkyne. No bizarre changes had appeared on his body, such as growing a body full of scales or sprouting a horn.
So, to be precise, Pot actually counted as having evolved. After all, his height, weight, and even physique had broken through the limits of the Grimalkyne species. If given a bit more time, perhaps Pot could propagate a new kind of Lynian.
And the abilities this new Lynian possessed would be the ability to eat more, absorb nutrients better, have greater strength, and have better teeth.
Hmm... perhaps one day they would even earn the elegant title of "Felyne Wyvern."
The power obtained from Asterion wasn't much, and he even pooped as usual. But for the originally weak Grimalkynes, the changes appearing in Pot were already enough to make cats envious.
Fat or thin actually didn't matter. Aesthetics were relative and subject to change. What was important was the power to survive safely.
————
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