Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 552: 552. Gigantic Beetle (6)- Cragcoil Millipede

"Do not disturb it." Theo spoke, and both Elias and Clara nodded after they entered the room following another taxing class.

Theo had already moved on to the next experiment by then.

It was the worm's turn. It was a basic earthworm with abilities unknown for now, but an evolution option had popped up, so it was only right that Theo made it evolve too to see what would happen.

He had thought it was a waste before, but after sitting down with all his notes again, Theo realized how stupid that thought was.

His army had enough killers for now. Now he needed more aspects to it.

The colony, the hive, the army had a need for support. It had a need for defense.

And if he was thinking broader now, it needed better ground too.

He made Clara bring a box of common earthworms again, and this time, he had Elias prepare three different types of soil.

One was normal dark soil.

One was mixed with the gray mineral powder.

And the last one had beast dung scraps, rotting leaves, and a little old blood mixed into it. Theo remembered how he had first gotten an evolution for the earthworm near the colony that the Ant Queen had partially tamed, but he had feigned ignorance toward it because it didn't seem useful.

But now, after experiencing different aspects of beast taming and not just hunting, Theo's perspective had changed.

Clara looked at the third one with clear disgust on her face.

"Young master, sometimes I feel like your room should not be called a room anymore." She muttered.

Theo chuckled. "What should it be called then?"

"A cave." She replied right away, making Elias hold back a smile.

Theo didn't even disagree.

He took a thicker and fatter worm from the lot and first placed it in the mineral-rich soil. Then, every few hours, he shifted it between the soils, making sure it swallowed enough of both.

The worm itself did not look special at all.

It was only when he saw how much faster it moved inside the richer soil compared to the normal one that Theo started getting interested.

And by the evening, the screen finally appeared.

--

[Evolution Potential Detected]

[Evolution Name: Stonegut Earthworm]

[Evolution Requirements:

Consume mineral-rich soil for one full day (0/1)

Burrow through compacted ground equal to ten times its body length (0/10)

Consume beast waste or corpse rot three times (0/3)]

[Evolution Rewards:

Mineral Stomach (Passive): Can digest much harder material within soil.

Fertile Cast (Passive): Excretes richer processed soil that helps flora and tunnel ecosystems.]

--

Theo had to read the rewards twice, then one more time to better understand what he could do with them.

"Heh." He laughed lightly and sat back in the chair.

Elias looked at him in confusion. "Is it good?"

"Very." Theo replied immediately. "This is not the kind of insect we usually go for, but now that I look at it, there are perks to it. It feels like it was a waste of years that I didn't try to evolve a greater diversity of insects... but eh, there is still a lot of time left."

"That good?" Clara asked.

"For growth, yes." Theo spoke, his eyes shining. "If this line gets pushed enough, then not only can it improve soil, but I can also create better insect environments, better farms, and maybe even speed up the quality of materials we grow."

"There is seriously so much to do. What am I even doing in this academy when I have so much work?" Theo asked out loud in a grumpy tone, making Elias and Clara sigh. It felt like they were going in a loop.

They made sure Theo understood that only one and a half years were left until he graduated and that he shouldn't do anything rash this time. In simpler terms, Theo didn't need to be stupid about this.

Theo stared at the worm as if it had suddenly become much prettier than before.

This was why he liked experimenting. The answer was never what he first assumed.

He completed the Stonegut Earthworm's requirements before the end of the next day by forcing it through packed soil inside a narrow wooden tube and feeding it exactly what it needed.

When the evolution was complete, the earthworm had become thicker, darker, and tiny grain-like sparkling dots had appeared across its outer skin as if little minerals had settled into it.

It looked uglier than before. Both attendants could see that, but Theo liked it much more.

He immediately noted down a new line in his journal.

'Earthworm line - growth support, fertile processing, underground environment improvement.'

It was the basic stuff an earthworm could already do in his old world. He was just trying to make the process faster and better than normal.

Only after that did his eyes move toward the millipedes again. There were many of them, and they came cheaply.

After seeing one almost kill the beetle and then get overpowered in return, Theo knew he could not ignore that line anymore.

The first millipede he chose was fed the same hard exoskeleton powder, crushed beetle shell, and compact earth.

The second was given rot, old flesh strips, and a little diluted venom from one of the containers he had kept from earlier tests.

Theo decided to wait patiently, but in both cases, he did not need to wait long.

The first screen appeared for the hardened one.

--

[Evolution Potential Detected]

[Evolution Name: Cragcoil Millipede]

[Evolution Requirements:

Survive three heavy impacts (0/3)

Crush a Level 1 insect- or worm-type beast (0/1)

Consume hardened shell or mineral-rich material five times (0/5)]

[Evolution Rewards:

Segment Harden (Passive): The body segments become much harder to crack.

Coil Pressure (Active): When wrapped around prey, the millipede can exert much greater crushing force.]

--

Theo nodded and wrote things down as if he liked this one.

"Tunnel guard..." He muttered while writing. It was like a position he gave to the little scorpions.

When he was done understanding the first one, he turned to the second screen, which made him grin wildly this time.