This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

As time passed Kain reluctantly got over his hang up of still not getting to stay in the Rank 1 room.

However, rather than him maturely choosing to let it go, rather other more important events preoccupied his attention.

Finally, after an extended period of training with the various evolutionary forms of the silkworms to get them to inject only the desired amount of energy into their threads and analyzing the various reactions between the different elements and how they work to counteract and bolster one another, Kain finally felt as though he'd met the bare minimum to successfully evolve his first test subject.

In the housing facility assigned to Kain, before him were 8 spiritual creatures resembling moths and butterflies that were floating at Kain's eye-level in a perfect line—all of different colours.

These 8 insects were the 8 possible evolutionary forms for the Silkworm and were the 8 largest, strongest, and most ready to evolve. More impressively, these typically disobedient spiritual creatures were lining up straight with military precision without the control of Bea.

Kain called forward 4 spiritual creatures: a plant attribute Leafwing moth, a fire attribute Flamesilk Moth, a water attribute Tidalace Butterfly, and an earth attribute Granitewing Moth.

These 4 moths represented the relationships between the elements that Kain was best able calculate their possible effects on one another.

He had each of them produce a certain amount of silk, and once a small mountain appeared next to each of them, Kain began to distribute the freshly produced silk to each of the other 4 at previously calculated ratios.

"Hmm… according to my calculations, each coccon using these 3 elements should have plant-attribute energy make up 35% of the cocoon to account for the massive amount that will end up being used to fuel the fire-attribute energy present in the cocoon. By that reasoning, only 10% of the cocoon should be from the Flamesilk Moth, 30% from the Tidalace Butterfly, and 25% from the Granitewing Moth. Sigh…hopefully this works." Kain mumbled as he repeatedly rechecked the data collected from his previous experiments and portioned out the correct amount of threads to be used by each of the spiritual creatures.

Each of the 4 insects began to form a cocoon while steadily integrating the silk threads of other attributes.
Read exclusive chapters at empire

After nearly half an hour of work, when Kain noticed that they were all almost finished forming the cocoons, he tossed a spiritual orb and catalyst into each cocoon (a costly investment of evolutionary research that was thankfully covered by the college).

Once the cocoon was fully formed, and Kain assume each spiritual creature wrapped inside had taken the initiative to consume the catalyst, he waited for the signature bright white light of evolution to emit from each of the cocoons.

But after an hour of waiting…nothing.

'Did it fail?'

Thankfully before Kain did something rash in his worry, a faint light began to emit from the cocoon containing the water-attribute Tidalace Butterfly. Not far behind it, light began to appear on the cocoons of the Leafwing, Granitewing, and Flamesilk Moths, respectively, and Kain was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

As the light from the cocoons began to intensify, Kain couldn't help but lean forward in anticipation. Even the other dozens of moths and butterflies that were ignorning what was happening here, began to gravitate towards where Kain and the 4 cocoons were.

The steady glow filled the room, shifting in color as it emanated from the cocoons: a deep blue from the Tidalace Butterfly, a verdant green from the Leafwing Moth, a rich earthy brown from the Granitewing Moth, and a vibrant red from the Flamesilk Moth.

The first cocoon to burst open was the Tidalace Butterfly's. A shimmering, watery light spilled into the room, and out floated a surprising figure.

'I never imagined the following evolutionary form to look like this.'

The revealed creature was humanoid in shaped and resembled a fairy or sprite. However, unlike the typical image of a fairy it possessed a pair of antennae that sprouted from its forehead that hinted at its insect heritage.

Its skin was a soft blue, while its hair shimmered like deep blue cascading waves, and its eyes gleamed with the clarity of pure water. Four delicate butterfly-like wings extended from its back, their translucent surfaces glowing faintly with a blue hue. It donned a shimmering blue dress that sparkled and reflected light like the surface of a still pool of water.

The sprite tilted its head at Kain, emitting a series of melodic chirps and trills, a sound so delicate and sweet that Kain couldn't help but smile.

"Adorable," he muttered under his breath. Kain could already imagine the frenzy this new spiritual creature will set off once revealed to the world. Moreover, he could imagine the boatload of money he'd get from people purchasing the evolutionary formula for it.

Based off of its appearance alone he could tell it was destined for fame, if after further tests it proves to have formidable combat strength, then considering the widespread availability of Silkworms it may very well be the most popular spiritual creature in the near future. Heck, it may even replace dragons as the nation's mascot.

Next came the Leafwing Moth's cocoon. A burst of green light revealed another sprite, this one with light green skin and hair resembling vibrant foliage. Its antennae twitched playfully as it darted around the room, letting out higher-pitched trills. Its every movement was accompanied by the rustling of the leave that composed the 'clothing' covering its body.

The Granitewing Moth's cocoon was next. The sprite that emerged had smooth earthy-brown skin with dark brown hair, while its 'clothes' appeared to be composed of pieces of stone jigsaw pieced together.

It chirped excitedly, its voice not as high-pitched as the others but exuding a slightly raspy warmth, and it immediately began inspecting the other sprites, curious about these unfamiliar creatures.

Finally, the Flamesilk Moth's cocoon erupted in a burst of crimson light and heat. The sprite that emerged had pink-tinged skin, with its bright red hair resembling flickering flames. Like its dress composed of flame, its wings glowed like embers while its chirping voice crackled like tiny sparks.

As the four sprites floated together in front of Kain, a bright smile gradually appeared on his face.

However, whether it was due to their endearing appearance or the massive amount of money they represented, one couldn't be sure.