The golden forest remained calm, its trunks illuminated the surroundings, and its leaves remained unshaken.
The beasts remained frozen in ash-colored statues, and the wind was stopped thanks to the dome that surrounded them. There in the golden forest, nothing seemed to exist that could disturb the peace and tranquility.
The feeling of hopelessness, fear, and anguish filled the hearts of its two only inhabitants.
The mutagen stood trembling in front of his master.
Something was wrong.
Normally, he felt warmth and a bit of rejection from Matt, but at this moment, the feelings were transformed into chaos and transmitted like a tidal wave of despair through the bond that connected them.
It was then that his master's gaze turned in all directions, and he tried to run, but he barely moved before he fell to the ground.
Worried and unsure of what to do, he approached him, and his tentacles formed, taking his hand.
His eyes seemed not to notice him, full of terror and negative thoughts that were transmitted through the bond that connected them.
He didn't know what to do, nor how to help him.
Then he too became desperate.
Powerless, he held his hand until a final trace of consciousness reached him, and then a cold sensation embraced him upon seeing how his master was slowly transforming into a statue.
Suddenly, their connection, the feelings that were constantly transmitted, were cut off, and a strange silence and darkness invaded him.
He shuddered at this unpleasant feeling and desperately submerged himself inside his master's body.
Although his body felt recharged and safe inside him, the darkness and silence remained intact.
The despair only increased.
Unfortunately, although he could enter him, the petrification showed no signs of retreating, nor of taking him.
After exiting the body, he took one of the arms and squeezed it tightly.
Perhaps, in a recent petrification, it could be freed by breaking the upper surface. But as soon as the first cracks appeared, he backed away in fear of hurting him.
After that, it remained in a sad silence for several seconds.
The petrification was not going to give in.
Matt had become one more statue in the golden forest.
Then, it only had one thing to do.
Filling itself with courage, it slowly crawled away from its master.
Of course, it was not going to abandon him; it knew that each night the petrified ones awoke from their sleep and began their battle for survival. There, it would reunite with Matt.
But first of all, it had to ensure he survived the night.
The beasts were simply too strong and in a terrifying number, which made surviving it practically a miracle. So, it would take care of increasing his chances and making that miracle a reality.
And for that, it had to transform Matt into someone powerful. Fortunately, the reason for its existence was precisely based on that.
Remembering the structure and weapons of each of the creatures it had analyzed, it crawled slowly and steadily until it reached a tree whose branches were especially thick and durable.
Its tentacles clung to the tree like suction cups and climbed on it until it reached the nearest branch.
Grasping at its base, it destroyed the union between the tree and the branch, making it fall several meters until it stuck into the ground with force.
The leaves came off, and the small offshoots broke from the impact.
From the surface, the mutagen contemplated with disgust.
The branch was too thick and hollow inside, making it too weak and brittle to fulfill its purpose.
However, that was not going to stop it.
Stretching every part of itself, it embraced the branch on the ground and analyzed every part of it, destroyed the excess, and its surface became completely smooth, without protrusions or imperfections.
The branch had transformed into a large, perfect, and spotless stick, but still hollow and brittle. However, that was not going to last long.
In the next instant, something magnificent was happening; the thick wood was slowly but progressively losing its thickness, inside it, the void was being filled with threads and threads of wood connecting to each other until forming a powerful and dense structure that filled every space inside it.
It was as if the excess of the wood was moving to fill the interior void, turning the stick as hard as steel, but compact enough to fit in a human hand.
At the end, a tip emerged on each end.
The final result was a stick no less sharp and lethal than the teeth of the powerful felines that inhabit the forest, but with the firmness and hardness of the lizards' scales.
After separating from the branch, the little one seemed tired, without energy. Its ability to modify consumes much more energy than the rest of its abilities.
Even so, it gave it one last look until it was satisfied and used its few remaining forces to drag the branch and place it between the fingers of its master.
It took a moment to observe its creation in Matt's hands. Its mass shivered; it almost seemed to be proud of what it had just done.
Then it submerged into the forest.
Although it had given him something to defend himself with, that would not be enough to survive the dangers of the night; it had to increase his stats.
Normally Matt walked through the forest while he remained in the safety of his body. However, his partner was not around to carry him, so his pace was slow and circuitous so he spent quite some time wandering through the woods.
Several hours passed until it finally found a new creature that would grant it new experience points.
This one was rooted to one of the trees with huge spikes protruding from its shell, threatening to impale anyone who dared to get close. Its entire body was protected inside its own shell.
Fortunately, the degeneration of the mutagen was indifferent to almost any defense, which allowed it to destroy the creature's body with ease.
Shortly after, the shell fell to pieces, the petrification gave way, and the tender flesh was revealed inside, bathed in rivers of blood.
The mutagen remained expectant for a few moments, and then, what it had been waiting for happened.
The blood swirled into a beautiful crimson pearl.
Its mass trembled with excitement, and it almost jumped to take it, storing it inside itself.
Wasting no time, it began its retreat in search of a new target.
It wasn't sure if it would work, as it thought that strange ability belonged only to its master, so it was truly happy to be able to help him even if they were separated.
The mutagen seemed to be brimming with excitement and satisfaction, swaying its mass from side to side as it moved through the grass.
It was then that a crack echoed, breaking the silence in the forest.
The mutagen froze and remained in place when suddenly the leaves of the trees in front of it rustled and fell, leaving a carpet of leaves on the ground.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed behind it.
The feeling of panic flooded it, and it tried to escape, but it was too slow to succeed.
Then, a creature resembling an ape launched itself from the branches of the trees, landing heavily right in front of it.
The mutagen froze in place, while its mass trembled in terror.
It was at that moment that another one of them landed beside the first, then another, and another, each one positioning itself around it while they observed it with curiosity through their terrifying golden eyes.