Everett awoke slowly, his senses hazy. Warm seawater lapped at his skin. He blinked, startled—he was floating in a calm, shimmering ocean under a sky that bent like glass. Nearby, Guruji stirred beside him, eyes fluttering open.
On a small isle of floating coral, Gloria sat in deep meditation. Her sword lay across her lap, unmoving.
Noticing them, she opened her eyes and smiled. "You're finally up. How do you feel?"
"Exhausted," Everett muttered, brushing wet hair from his eyes. "But fine. Just... spent."
Guruji nodded in agreement. "Slightly drained. But I still breathe."
Everett looked around. "So… did it work?"
Gloria's grin widened. "Check for yourself."
Closing his eyes, Everett whispered, "Salamander."
His vision pierced through space and frost, entering his own frost realm. There, floating above a cracked glacier, the Earth Salamander lay curled in sleep—hibernating, calm.
Gloria's voice carried over the water. "Makes sense. It's cold in there. Even that walking furnace knows it needs to conserve energy."
Everett's heart skipped. "Then... it's really over."
And then it hit him. The Realm Shard.
---
They ventured deeper into the volcanic mountains, their steps wary, their breath sharp with anticipation. Eventually, in a cavern that pulsed with residual heat and ancient magic, they found it—gleaming, jagged, and nestled in obsidian: the Realm Shard.
Everett summoned all nine of his beasts to form a protective circle. As his fingers brushed the Shard, something shifted inside him.
A cube formed within it. Something ancient. Instinctively, Everett knew: he could fuse the Realm Shard with one of his beasts. He turned to Gloria and Guruji.
"I think... I can help one of them evolve."
Guruji simply smiled. Gloria shrugged. "Go on. We're not stopping you."
---
Closing his eyes, Everett felt his spirit pulled inward.
One by one, everything faded. When the darkness cleared, nine white mists floated around him. Each one resonated with a different emotion, a different memory. These were his beasts—beings forged in survival, loyalty, and struggle.
He could choose one.
He hovered between them, weighing the choice.
Then he turned to the Wind Elephant—nimble, reliable, already attuned to wind, and defensively capable. Its body radiated raw power—dense, unstoppable, a walking siege weapon. One of its seventeen eyes resided deep inside its mouth, capable of shattering the will of even dream-bound foes. Though it's not well used in battle as it's impractical with how much time it takes for preparing for attack. With evolution, it could become an all-rounder, maybe lose its only weakness: sturdy, swift, and deadly.
This is the one.
He reached out.
The Realm Shard shot toward the Wind Elephant. Light flared. The elephant collapsed midair—and so did Everett.
---
In the real world, Gloria jolted as Everett crumpled beside the dormant Realm Shard.
"Guruji! He's—he's not waking up!"
Guruji placed a hand on Everett's forehead. "He is not lost. He is... transforming. Becoming what he might one day become—perhaps in futures that haven't yet arrived."
Gloria blinked. "So… he's evolving too?"
Guruji nodded with a serene smile. "Indeed."
---
Six months later...
The Kingdom of Ganso stirred with life.
Frost Glimmer Wolf sat silently by Everett's bedside in the Kingdom of Ganso, ears perked. The winter light streamed through the tall windows, casting glimmering frost shadows across the room.
Inside, Everett opened his eyes.
Light flooded his vision. He sat up slowly, groggy but... clear. Awake.
The Glimmer Wolf howled and bolted out the door.
Moments later, Gloria and Guruji burst in.
"You're awake!" Gloria cried.
"Welcome back," said Guruji with a faint smile. "How do you feel?"
Everett stretched. "Tired... but stronger."
They exchanged glances.
"What changed?" Gloria asked.
Everett answered with a grin. "Let me show you."
With a flash of cold wind and embers, the new Wind Elephant emerged in his bedroom—which was, thankfully, massive.
Gloria stepped back, eyes wide. "Is that… it?"
Both Gloria and Guruji froze.
The Wind Elephant—no, something greater—stood like a black mountain, molten veins glowing under volcanic rock armor.
It had twenty eyes, arranged in ten pairs: five on its enormous head, and five more spread symmetrically across its body—each eye glowing with shifting hues of fire and wind.
The icy spikes that once lined its skull had transformed into jagged black lava-spikes, steaming and pulsing with elemental heat.
Its trunk was reinforced with obsidian-like plates, and its flamecore—the blade-like entity in its mouth—burned bright like a diamond sword, turning slowly, radiating energy through its entire frame. Its tail now resembled a dragon's—long, segmented, and armored.
The room trembled under its breath.
Guruji whispered, "What was once storm, now walks with thunder and fire."
Everett looked up at his beast, pride welling in his chest.
---
Guruji stepped closer, his gaze never leaving the colossal beast. The chamber echoed faintly with the low hum of power emanating from its molten core.
He tilted his head, his expression unreadable, then spoke softly.
"Such presence," he murmured. "It no longer merely follows you—it stands beside you, like an echo of your will made manifest."
Then, with a faint smirk, he added, "Tell me, Everett... has it earned a name yet? Or perhaps—you have earned one for it?"
Everett didn't answer immediately.
He stepped forward, placing his hand gently on the beast's obsidian flank. The stone was warm—alive, but disciplined. Controlled. Nothing like the wild, half-reckless creature it once was.
He closed his eyes, listening to the hum of wind inside the core, the slow churn of inner magma. He felt a storm and a silence, coexisting.
Then he spoke—his voice lower, deeper, as if naming it solidified something inside himself as well.
"Ash Storm Mammoth."
The name settled into the room like ancient thunder. The beast responded with a slow, mighty exhale that sent embers drifting into the air, and a faint ripple of wind curling through the frost-edged curtains.
Gloria let out a soft whistle. "Yeah... that fits."
Guruji smiled, something proud—almost bittersweet—hidden behind his eyes.
"So the boy who once ran from frost now commands storm and fire. AshStorm Mammoth... It is no longer just your beast. It is your mark."
Everett smiled faintly, watching the Mammoth lower its head toward him—reverent, aware.
"And this is only the beginning."