Ignis's transformation culminated in a silent, supernova-like flash that filled the cavern with warmth and light. When it faded, where the Solar Drake hatchling had been, now stood a Young Solar Drake. She was nearly twice her previous size, her body longer and more streamlined.

The most striking change was the pair of large, leathery wings that unfurled from her back, shimmering with a faint golden membrane. Her crest of fiery spines had grown more pronounced, and her eyes blazed with greater intelligence and power. She let out a triumphant, resonant chirp and gave her new wings an experimental flap, lifting herself a few feet off the ground with a gust of warm air.

[ Ignis has evolved into: Young Solar Drake! ]

[ New Skill Acquired: Solar Wind (Active) - Cost: High Mana ]

Effect: Beats wings to unleash a scalding gale of superheated air and light, damaging and blinding enemies in a cone.

Adam's starlit eyes crinkled with approval. "Look at you, Ignis! True flight at last. And those wings are magnificent. You've become a proper dragon."

Ignis landed, puffing her chest out proudly, her joy radiating like a physical heat. «Yeaaayy! I can fly! I can really fly!»

Simultaneously, Lilith's transformation concluded without fanfare. Her silken cocoon simply dissolved into silvery mist, revealing her new form. She was indeed larger, her pearlescent white carapace now pristine and gleaming like polished moonstone.

Her legs were longer and more gracefully articulated. The most dramatic change was her eyes once crystalline blue, they were now a deep, luminous crimson that glowed softly in the dim light. She looked less like a simple spider and more like an ancient, elegant arachnid queen.

[ Lilith has evolved into: Pale Widow Queen! ]

[ New Skill Acquired: Crimson Gaze (Active) - Cost: Medium Mana ]

Effect: Her glowing red eyes project a beam of mesmerizing and paralyzing psychic energy. Weak-willed targets are frozen in place, while stronger ones suffer mental disorientation.

Lilith stepped forward, her movements fluid and silent. She did not speak, but a gentle, warm feeling of satisfaction and a subtle, elegant desire for acknowledgment flowed through her bond to Adam.

Adam turned his gaze to her, equally impressed. "And Lilith. You look… regal. And powerful. That new aura suits you perfectly." His praise was genuine and measured, acknowledging her growth without excessive flourish.

A soft, pleased hum resonated from Lilith. «Thank you, Adam. I feel… more complete. More in tune with the deeper threads of this place.» Her telepathic voice was, as always, calm and melodic, carrying a gentle grace.

From her post, Alice watched it all. She felt a familiar, thorny twinge seeing Adam praise the others, but it was muted. She had her moment of connection with him earlier. She flicked her tail, her starry eyes taking in the newly powerful forms of her companions. «Hmph. Don't get too full of yourselves,» she grumbled, but there was no real bite to it. She was learning to share the spotlight, as long as her primary place was secure.

Adam coiled in the center of their sanctuary, turning his focus inward. He had accumulated a total of 10 Skill Points from his recent level-ups. With the final confrontation looming, every allocation needed to be precise.

His primary weakness against a foe like the Arachnowyrm was not strength, but perhaps subtlety and mental fortitude. It was a strategist. He needed to be a better one. With a decisive thought, he invested heavily into his Intelligence, feeling his mind expand and sharpen, his thoughts becoming swifter and more layered.

[ Intelligence: 24 -> 26. Cost: 4 Skill Points. ]

Next, his magical stamina. A prolonged battle would drain him. He strengthened the core of his power.

[ Mana Core: Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2. Cost: 1 Skill Point. ]

Finally, his trusted ranged attack. Making it more potent could provide a crucial opening.

[ Ember Shard Shot: Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2. Cost: 1 Skill Point. ]

His resources spent, Adam felt the subtle but significant upgrades settle within him—a keener mind, a deeper mana well, and a deadlier shot.

He opened his eyes to see Ignis buzzing with impatient energy, her new wings flapping in a clumsy, enthusiastic rhythm that stirred up dust.

«Look, Adam! Look! I can do this!» she chirped, attempting a hover but listing sharply to the side.

A soft, graceful laugh echoed in their minds. Lilith, serene and elegant in her new Pale Widow Queen form, observed with her calm crimson gaze. «It would be wise for us to grow accustomed to our enhanced capabilities before the final hunt,» she suggested, her voice a gentle melody. «A practical exercise would serve us well.»

"Agreed," Adam rumbled, uncoiling his star-lit form. "And our first lesson is in flight control. Come, Ignis. Let's find some open space."

Ignis, over-eager, alternated between sudden, rocket-like ascents and uncontrolled drops, her landings more often crashes than touchdowns. Adam guided her with patient, firm instructions, occasionally using a wing to gently correct her trajectory.

«The air is not your enemy. It's your tool. Be smooth,» he instructed, hiding his amusement as she tumbled into a soft patch of moss for the fifth time.

«But going fast is fun!» Ignis protested, righting herself with a fiery grin.

Once Ignis could manage stable flight, the newly evolved party moved out. Adam led them through unexplored tunnels, using his Hunter's Tri-Sense to seek a worthy test.

They found it in a vast, subterranean lake connected to the Violet Abyss. The water was eerily still. Then, something monstrous rose from the depths. It was a horror of the deep a bulbous, pulsating body with eight thick, spiked tentacles, each lined with rows of violet, crystalline barbs. A single, massive yellow eye opened on its central mass, fixing on them with malevolent hunger.

[ Spinefrost Abyssal Lv 38 ]

"Perfect," Adam murmured, his star-lit scales casting ripples of light on the dark water. "Let's see what our new strength can do."

"Ignis and Lilith wait for my signal. Alice, be ready to intercept anything that tries to flee back into the water," Adam commanded, his voice calm and authoritative. He inhaled deeply, feeling the upgraded power in his Ember Shard Shot. With a sharp exhale, he fired not one, but two rapid shards of superheated obsidian.

FWOOM! FWOOM!

The projectiles slammed into the creature's bulbous head, not piercing deeply but leaving smoldering cracks and drawing its full attention. Enraged, it heaved its massive body partially onto the rocky shore, its barbed tentacles lashing out.

"Now, Lilith!"

The Pale Widow Queen's crimson eyes glowed intensely. A visible beam of psychic energy [ Crimson Gaze ] lanced out and struck the Abyssal's great yellow eye. The creature shuddered, its movements becoming sluggish and confused, tentacles wavering aimlessly.

"Ignis, the tentacles! Keep it pinned!"

«On it! SOLAR WIND!» Ignis beat her new wings with all her might, unleashing a scorching gale of superheated air. It washed over the Abyssal's limbs, not cutting them, but searing the sensitive tissue and causing them to recoil and spasm, preventing the monster from finding purchase to drag itself back into the water.

Alice, seeing a tentacle thrashing too close to Lilith, Void Stepped into its path. A Void Bolt formed and shot from her maw, punching a clean, silent hole through the rubbery limb, severing it completely. The severed tentacle writhed before dissolving into the violet water.

With the monster disoriented, pinned, and wounded, Adam moved in for the final strike. He used Phantom Onslaught, disappearing and reappearing directly above the creature's head. Channeling the enhanced power of his Monarch's Bane, he bit down at the base of its skull, injecting a massive dose of his neuro-paralytic venom directly into its nervous system.

The Spinefrost Abyssal gave one final, violent shudder before its eye dimmed and its body went limp.

[ Spinefrost Abyssal Defeated! ]

[ +85 EXP | +110 EP ]

[ Evolution Points: 189 -> 299/3500 ]

The rewards were modest, the creature was indeed beneath their new collective level but it served its purpose perfectly.

"Good work, everyone. The coordination was excellent," Adam said, nodding to each of them. He then proceeded to consume the Abyssal's body, absorbing its unique aquatic and defensive essence.

[ Consumed Spinefrost Abyssal! ]

[ Skill Fragment Acquired: Hydro-Spike Adaptation (0.5/1.0) ]

Fragment Effect: Grants a beginning understanding of pressurizing liquid into projectile spines and adapting movement through viscous environments.

"A useful fragment," Adam mused. "Not enough to complete a skill, but the knowledge could be valuable."

«See! I told you flying was useful!» Ignis boasted, landing with a proud thump.

«Indeed. Your contribution was… adequate,» Alice remarked, though her tone lacked its usual sharpness. She was secretly pleased with how seamlessly they had worked together.

Lilith simply bowed her head gracefully, a silent acknowledgment of the successful test.

Then after that they decided to look for monsters again, Adam and Ignis flew around the violet area.

«Come on, Boss! It's fun! Let's swim!» she projected, doing an awkward but enthusiastic doggy-paddle.

Adam, watching from the shallows, couldn't help the smile that tugged at his serpentine maw. The water was strangely pleasant, a soothing contrast to his usually fiery or stony environs. 'Ah, what the hell.'

With a smooth motion, he slid fully into the lake, his massive body displacing water with a gentle surge. The temperature was perfect cool without being cold. "You're right. This is... nice."

«Hehe! Told you!» Ignis beamed. Then, with a mischievous flick of her draconic tail, she sent a large splash of violet water right into Adam's face.

Adam sputtered in mock outrage. "Oh, it's on, lizard!" He retaliated by coiling his tail and slapping the surface, sending a much larger wave crashing over Ignis, momentarily submerging her.

What followed was a playful, surreal chase a star-lit serpent and a young solar dragon splashing and diving in the luminescent lake.

On the shore, Lilith observed the scene, her crimson eyes soft. «They seem to be having fun»

Next to her, Alice was not sharing the sentiment. She sat stiffly, her tail-tip twitching with increasing frequency. Her starry eyes were narrowed into slits, fixed on the splashing duo. A low, continuous growl vibrated in her chest. «What are they even doing?» She gnashed her teeth softly, the sound like grinding pebbles.

Suddenly, Adam's Hunter's Tri-Sense spiked. A subtle, powerful vibration through the water. A shift in the current. A psychic impression of something large rising from the abyssal depths far below.

«Ignis! Out of the water, now!» Adam commanded, his playful demeanor vanishing instantly.

But it was too late. Ignis, who had just resurfaced, let out a sharp yelp of surprise. «Something's got my—!» Her sentence was cut off as she was violently yanked underwater with terrifying force.

"IGNIS!" Adam roared. Without a second's hesitation, he dove. His Abyssal Seraph eyes, adapted to the deepest dark, pierced the gloom. He saw Ignis struggling against a thick, muscular, greyish-pink appendage—a tongue—that was wrapped around her hind leg, dragging her deeper.

Propelling himself with powerful coils, Adam shot through the water like a torpedo. He reached Ignis, and with a precise bite infused with Monarch's Bane, he severed the monstrous tongue. The creature recoiled in silent agony, releasing Ignis, who immediately began kicking towards the surface, coughing up water.

But their escape was blocked. From the inky darkness below, the owner of the tongue revealed itself. It was a massive, tadpole-like creature the size of a bus, with a grotesquely wide mouth lined with rows of inward-curving, spiny teeth. Its body was smooth and slick, a mottled grey and green, and two small, black eyes sat above its maw, watching them with cold hunger. It didn't swim so much as pulse through the water with disturbing speed, its body undulating.

[ Mugwump Lv 45 ]

The Mugwump opened its cavernous mouth, and with a powerful contraction of its body, it unleashed a torrent of pressurized water—a Hydraulic Jet—that slammed into Adam and Ignis, not to cut, but to disorient and push them deeper into its hunting grounds.

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