Early the next morning, all three of us woke early.
Today we had important tasks—helping Brownie and Waspy complete their evolution requirements.
"Brownie's first." I said. "We need to find 3 different types of plants, plus one dying plant."
Brownie nodded, looking both nervous and expectant.
"Let's go."
---
We began exploring the forest.
Brownie seemed especially sensitive to plants, stopping before certain ones to observe carefully.
"Choose ones you feel drawn to." I said.
Brownie nodded.
After walking a while, we reached the stream.
Brownie suddenly stopped, looking at a small sapling by the water.
It was a very ordinary sapling, about twice our height, with verdant leaves that looked quite healthy.
"I like this one." Brownie said.
"Alright." I walked over and carefully began digging.
Though my claws weren't ideal for digging, taking it slow worked.
Waspy helped from the side, using its stinger to loosen the soil.
Soon we'd dug up the sapling with its roots intact.
I tried putting it in my Dimensional Cheek Pouch—
Success!
"Great." I breathed a sigh of relief. "First one found."
We continued forward.
Deep in the woods, Brownie stopped again.
This time it was a cluster of faintly glowing mushrooms.
Not the dangerous Poison Cloud Mushrooms, but small ones emitting a pale blue light.
"This one's special too." Brownie said, eyes sparkling.
I nodded and carefully collected several, roots and soil together.
Put them in the space.
"Second type."
The third plant was discovered in a rock crevice.
It was a vine with tiny white flowers blooming on it.
"This is it." Brownie said.
I helped carefully extract the vine from the crevice.
Put it in the space.
"All three plants found." I said. "Now we need to find a dying plant."
This was more difficult.
We searched the forest for a long time.
Most plants were either healthy or completely dead already.
Finally, in a shadowy corner, we found a barely living small tree.
The trunk was only as thick as my forearm, but already had several cracks.
Most of the leaves had yellowed and fallen to the ground.
There were also marks of insect damage on the trunk.
"This is the one." I said.
I carefully dug up this dying tree too and put it in the space.
"Done." I looked at Brownie. "Now the question is, how do we care for them?"
Brownie looked troubled too: "I'm not really sure either..."
Waspy said: "Plants need water and sunlight, right?"
I thought for a moment, then my eyes lit up.
"My space!"
Brownie and Waspy both looked at me.
"There's magic power flowing in my Dimensional Cheek Pouch—maybe it'll help plant growth." I said. "And you can enter the space to care for them directly."
Brownie's eyes brightened: "Right!"
"Let's try it."
I put Brownie in the Dimensional Cheek Pouch.
Waspy waited alongside.
I could feel Brownie's movements in the space—it was watering the plants, arranging their positions.
Half an hour later, I released Brownie.
"How is it?"
Brownie said excitedly: "The plants seem to really like it there! I can feel them absorbing magic power from the space."
"The sapling's leaves even look a bit greener!"
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Seems cultivating plants in the space was the right choice.
"What about the dying one?" I asked.
Brownie's expression dimmed somewhat: "That one... is still very weak. Even in the space, there doesn't seem to be much improvement."
"How can we restore it to health?" Brownie asked worriedly.
"It might take time." I said. "Or maybe it needs a special method. We'll observe slowly."
Brownie nodded.
I looked at Waspy: "Now it's your turn."
Waspy flapped its wings: "What do I need to do?"
"Confuse the same target 5 times." I said. "And confuse two targets simultaneously, making them attack each other."
Waspy thought: "Sounds like we need to find suitable prey."
I nodded: "And we need to attack the same target multiple times without killing it directly."
"So we need a magic beast with strong defense and tenacious vitality."
I thought for a moment: "How about a Rock Scale Lizard?"
Brownie's eyes lit up: "Right! Rock Scale Lizards have high defense and are very slow—relatively safe."
"Then let's look near the stream."
---
We returned to the stream area.
Soon we spotted a Rock Scale Lizard basking in the sun.
[Rock Scale Lizard]
[Level 10/50]
[HP: 150/150]
[MP: 30/30]
[Strength: 15]
[Defense: 20]
[Speed: 5]
[Luck: 3]
High defense, very slow.
Perfect target.
"This is it." I said. "Waspy, you handle attacking. Brownie and I will contain it so it can't escape."
"Okay!"
Waspy took flight, quietly approaching the Rock Scale Lizard.
Then—
"Buzz—!"
Waspy dove down, stinger precisely piercing the lizard's body.
"Hiss—!" The Rock Scale Lizard cried out in pain.
A few seconds later, its movements became strange.
It suddenly turned and whipped its tail heavily against a nearby rock.
Then it turned the other way, opening its mouth to bite at empty air.
Confused!
But the duration wasn't long—only about ten seconds before the Rock Scale Lizard returned to normal.
It looked at us angrily, but being too slow, couldn't catch up at all.
"It works!" I said. "But the duration is short."
A system notification appeared:
[Evolution requirement progress: 1/5]
"Continue!"
We waited for the Rock Scale Lizard to calm down, then Waspy attacked again.
Second time.
Third time.
Fourth time.
Each time we waited a bit, letting the lizard return to normal before attacking again.
Though the Rock Scale Lizard was angry, its slow speed meant it couldn't catch up, and with high defense, Waspy's stinger barely damaged it.
I checked the lizard's HP—
[HP: 150/150]
Stung four times without losing a single point.
Fifth time—
Waspy struck the Rock Scale Lizard again.
A system notification appeared:
[Evolution Requirement 1 Met: Cause confusion state in same target 5 times]
[Current Progress: 1/2]
"Halfway there!" Waspy excitedly circled in the air.
I smiled: "Well done."
But by now, the Rock Scale Lizard was thoroughly enraged.
It let out angry hisses and, though slow, began charging in our direction.
"Oh no, it's really mad!" Brownie yelped.
"Run!"
All three of us immediately fled.
The Rock Scale Lizard angrily chased behind, but being so slow, we quickly left it far behind.
After running a good distance, we finally stopped.
"Phew... that was close." Brownie gasped.
Waspy looked a bit embarrassed: "Sorry, seems I made it too angry."
I shook my head: "It's fine. The requirement's met anyway, and it wasn't hurt at all."
"Now for the second requirement." I looked at Waspy. "This one's harder. You need to confuse two targets simultaneously and make them attack each other."
Waspy thought: "I need to find two magic beasts and sting them both at once..."
"Right." I said. "And make them attack each other while confused."
"I'll try."
---
We continued searching the forest.
We needed to find two magic beasts relatively close together.
After walking a while, we found two Burrow Rats.
They were fighting over some food, facing off against each other.
"Now!" I whispered.
Waspy immediately acted.
It flew rapidly toward the first Burrow Rat, stinger striking.
Then quickly turned and struck the second.
Both Burrow Rats began acting confused almost simultaneously.
The first started attacking the ground.
The second jumped up to bite at air.
But they each attacked their own hallucinations without attacking each other.
Failed.
No system notification.
"They're too far apart." I analyzed. "We need them closer together."
Waspy nodded: "And when they're both confused, they need to be face to face."
We began devising a new strategy.
After searching more, we found two Stone Beetles.
"Let's just put them together directly." I said.
Brownie and I each grabbed a Stone Beetle and placed them very close together.
The beetles seemed confused but hadn't figured out what was happening yet.
"Now!"
Waspy dove down.
Almost simultaneously, two stingers struck the two Stone Beetles.
Both beetles began acting confused at once.
They crawled around chaotically, attacking everything nearby.
Then—
They bumped into each other!
The first Stone Beetle mistook the second for an enemy and rammed it with its hard shell.
The second fought back!
They began attacking each other!
A system notification appeared:
[Evolution Requirement 2 Met: Cause confusion in two targets simultaneously and make them attack each other once]
[Current Progress: 2/2]
[All evolution requirements met]
[Evolution available]
"Success!" Waspy excitedly spun several circles in the air.
"I can evolve!"
I nodded with a smile: "You did it!"
Brownie was also happy for Waspy, jumping around: "Great!"
We immediately headed toward the tree hollow.
After returning, I looked at Waspy.
"Ready?"
Waspy nodded, eyes determined: "Ready."
I opened Waspy's evolution option.
[Confirm evolution to: Mindtwist Wasp?]
[Note: During evolution, will enter deep sleep, estimated time 8-12 hours]
[Yes/No]
I looked at Waspy: "Confirm?"
Waspy took a deep breath: "Confirm."
I clicked "Yes."
The next second, Waspy's body began glowing.
A faint purple light enveloped its body.
Waspy's wings slowly stopped vibrating as it gently landed on the ground.
It closed its compound eyes.
Evolution had begun.
Brownie and I watched quietly.
"Now we wait." I said.
Brownie nodded, then said somewhat worriedly: "My requirements... I'm still missing one."
"That dying plant."
I looked at Brownie: "Don't worry, we'll figure something out."
"Maybe after Waspy finishes evolving, we'll find a way."
Brownie nodded, but there was still unease in its eyes.
I looked at the evolving Waspy, also thinking.
How could we restore that dying plant to health?
Just watering it and keeping it in the space didn't seem enough.
We needed a more special method...
I looked at Brownie.
Suddenly thought of a possibility.
"Brownie." I said.
"Hmm?"
"You can sense plants' conditions, right?"
Brownie nodded: "I can sense some things."
"Then... try transferring your magic power to that dying plant."
"Magic power?" Brownie paused.
"Yes." I said. "Maybe plants need more than just water and sunlight—they need magic power too."
Brownie's eyes lit up: "I'll try!"
"Go in and try now then." I said. "Waspy's evolution needs 8 to 12 hours. During that time you can slowly figure out how to transfer magic power to plants."
"And that dying plant probably needs a lot of magic power to recover—it won't happen all at once."
Brownie nodded: "Right! I'll go now!"
I put Brownie in the Dimensional Cheek Pouch.
I could feel Brownie beginning to experiment in the space.
It placed its paws on the dying tree, trying to transfer its magic power.
At first there didn't seem to be any reaction.
But Brownie was patient, trying bit by bit.
I sat at the hollow entrance, guarding the evolving Waspy while sensing Brownie's movements in the space.
Time passed slowly.
I could feel Brownie's magic power gradually depleting—it must be trying to transfer magic to the dying plant.
After about two hours, Brownie's weak voice came: "Gray... my magic power's almost gone..."
I released Brownie.
It looked exhausted, but there was a glimmer of excitement in its eyes.