Lisa was confused by the vitality she was receiving, not understanding why her injuries were hurting less, producing only a slight itch, but she didn’t let herself focus too much on that.
The beetles didn’t give her time to understand the changes that were happening, and she used [Spectral Step] to dodge to the side.
Unlike the previous attempt, this time, despite the pain, her body responded as she wanted and she managed to dodge perfectly.
While Lisa had to focus all her attention on the battle, Lohan managed to quickly shift his attention to the System, trying to understand what this change he was feeling inside himself was.
Since the digestion of the seed was complete, he was feeling a great change within himself, as if a new source of energy was emerging!
[Digestion of Basic Life Seed Complete!]
[Compatibility detected... Initiating an attempt at Core Fusion!]
[Core Fusion Failed, Difference between levels too great... Attempting Evolution!]
[...]
[Evolution Successful!]
[New Evolution — Natural Energy Core Lv 1]
[Natural Energy Core Lv 1] - 200 Bio
[The vital core undergoes a qualitative transmutation, becoming a Natural Energy engine. Emitting constant pulses that synchronize the cellular structure with the vital energy of nature, forcing the opening of Natural Energy Pathways through biomass to absorb, balance, and circulate the raw essence of the world through the organism.]
Reading that description, Lohan was shocked!
This was practically a [Magic Core] but focused on Natural Energy!
Although he didn’t know exactly what the functionalities of this Natural Energy were, just the high price of 200 Biomass to upgrade this evolution from Level 01 to Level 02 already showed how valuable it was!
In comparison, the cost to evolve the [Magic Core] from Level 01 to Level 02 was only 10 Biomass!
With an evolution cost 20 times higher, Lohan was excited to discover the applications it would have!
But at that moment, he couldn’t test everything carefully.
Lisa had dodged the attack of one of the beetles that flew desperately toward her, but the other beetle didn’t just stand by and watch.
The second Elite beetle took advantage of the moment when Lisa was still landing from her dodge to shoot a purple light from the tip of its horn.
Lisa was shocked by this unexpected attack, but feeling the new vitality pulsing through her veins, she didn’t hesitate.
She not only dodged, but counterattacked in the same movement, feeling that the sharp pain that had previously limited her reflexes was being replaced by an overflowing vitality.
"Halon, what are you doing? I feel... renewed!" Lisa exclaimed through their mental link as she spun in the air, unleashing a kick of [Spirit Fire] that now seemed to burn with a slightly more intense glow, almost as if the flames were being fueled by a superior fuel.
Lohan, sensing the steady flow of Natural Energy, realized that this was the key.
Unlike ordinary Mana, which only fueled their spells, this new energy acted directly on Lisa’s biological cell structure!
Activating the newly evolved [Parallel Processing Core], he divided his consciousness in an unprecedented way: while one part of his core focused on pumping this healing energy into the fox, the other coordinated the offensive to deal with the two Elite Monsters.
"Don’t worry about it, Lisa! I’ll take care of the support and openings, just focus on attacking and dodging!" Lohan replied, feeling a confidence he had never had before.
He immediately used [Partial Division Lv 7] to expel three clones.
While the main body reinforced the exoskeleton at the points where the shell had been broken, the three clones slid across the ground with [Viscous Flow], surrounding the beetle that was trying to flank them.
Lisa let out a low yelp when one of the Elite Beetles, moving with frightening tactical coordination, struck Lisa with its horn.
The impact hit the fox’s side, and although Lohan’s [Non-Newtonian Resilience] hardened the membrane in the millisecond of contact to prevent her ribs from shattering, the kinetic shock still threw her to the side.
Lisa coughed up a mouthful of blood, which, because of the Living Armor around her, had to be absorbed by the Slime so she didn’t have to swallow it again.
Lohan didn’t care about the blood and digested it to focus on the battle.
"Hang in there, Lisa!" Lohan said worriedly.
Using Natural Energy, Lohan forced the opening of more Natural Energy Pathways through his biomass, filtering the raw energy and injecting it directly into Lisa’s circulatory system.
The fox felt another slight itch where there had been open wounds before.
The stamina that seemed to have run out began to be replenished by an external source! Thanks to the [Parallel Processing Core], Lohan was able to maintain this constant flow of healing while simultaneously coordinating his three clones to perform a pincer maneuver.
The clones were not only acting as distractions, but they also acted as mobile anchors.
Using Lohan’s favorite strategy, one of the clones used [Selective Viscosity] to attach itself to the ground while throwing a Magic Web at the hind leg of one of the Elite Beetles, acting as a lead weight that threw the insect off balance.
At the same moment, another clone fired more strands of Magic Web, creating an adhesive net that began to drain the beetle’s mana, replenishing Lohan’s reservoir via [Bio-Synthetic Mana Circulation].
Feeling her body lighter and her wounds hurting less, Lisa saw an opening.
She activated [Spectral Step], once again managing to perform a precise and explosive jump, without the tremor of her injured paw.
Her paws glowed with an even more intense [Spirit Fire] than before, fueled by the synchronicity with Lohan’s natural energy, and with force, she struck the back of the beetle trapped by Halon’s clones.
From that point on, with the coordination of the fox wrapped in Living Armor and the three clones acting as supports on the ground, the battle began to turn around.
The Elite Beetles that had previously dominated the space now fought desperately to get rid of Lohan’s clones, who injected [Poison Production Lv 7] into their joints.
Lohan felt the influx of mana and biomass from his clones’ successful attacks, using this fuel to close the holes in his own obsidian armor and heal Lisa’s body as quickly as he could.
The triumphant buzzing of the beetles was replaced by panicked squeals.
Although Lohan’s healing speed was very slow, it was enough to sustain Lisa, who had previously only been declining in performance due to the accumulation of injuries from previous battles.
Now, for the first time, she was recovering!