In the face of urgent danger, Kai'Sa hastily shed her top, wiped her face clean, and slipped into Kane's shirt. The darkness of the tunnel, coupled with her intentionally turning away, spared her from Kane's gaze.
But truth be told, he knew there was nothing extraordinary to see in a ten-year-old girl.
As the monstrous creatures caught up again, Kai'Sa, fueled by irritation, crumpled her sweat-soaked shirt into a ball, hurled it into the swarm, then ignited it with a flaming bolt.
"Want this? Well, you can't have it!"
Having thrown them off once more, they didn't get far before encountering a long slope. Hand in hand, they slid down swiftly, at last shaking off the voidling horde.
Exhausted, the duo found refuge in a dry cave, leaning against the cool rock wall to rest.
The chill of the wall made Kai'Sa instinctively flinch. Glancing over, she saw Kane already resting with his eyes shut.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked, guilt washing over her for taking his shirt, leaving him exposed to the crisp air.
"Sure, I'm cold, but I won't die," Kane replied with a wry twist of his mouth, downplaying his discomfort.
A single layer of fabric provided little warmth anyway. It served better as a makeshift modesty cover for Kai'Sa.
He patted his stomach, feeling its emptiness but not hunger; its softness made him wonder when, if ever, abs would form. Perhaps the relentless struggle to survive might sculpt his body by the time he reached twelve summers.
As for Kai'Sa, he pondered whether she would have begun to develop by then, already looking forward to the days ahead.
To be frank, raising Kai'Sa had become Kane's ultimate motivation to keep pushing through.
"Tired. Let's sleep for a bit," he said, hugging his arms.
"Okay."
Without a word, she placed her arms around his neck. In their tiny corner of the world, the two small figures huddled close, sharing their warmth in the dark.
Aware that tears could now attract monsters, Kai'Sa consciously sought to become more composed.
She cried less, showing a resilience beyond her years, though she remained somewhat childish compared to Kane.
These changes didn't escape Kane's notice. His days were split between watching for monsters and observing Kai'Sa's transformation.
The next day, Kane was startled awake by voidlings invading their cave. Luckily, it was but a small group. He directed Kai'Sa to dispatch them, turning the would-be attackers into an unexpected breakfast.
Efficiently, Kai'Sa extracted and absorbed their hearts, then they hastily left the cave.
From that moment, encounters with voidlings increased. Kane noticed them patrolling everywhere, as if a bounty was placed on their heads in this underground world—relentlessly hunting the two survivors.
They were often woken by surprise attacks, forced to fight or flee, rarely enjoying a full night's rest.
Amid continuous, intense battles that became their routine, survival grew ever harder.
The void creatures brought endless conflict, always seeking to annihilate them.
They were nomads of the underground, never lingering in one spot for long, without a home to call their own—resting anywhere was the same.
However, these frequent confrontations accelerated Kai'Sa's carapace growth.
In what Kane believed to be a year, the carapace spread from her arms to envelop her entire body.
From arms to torso, then thighs, and finally her head.
The second skin of the Void clung to her like a constricting suit, with dark purple chitinous armor covering her limbs. The unprotected areas remained more vulnerable.
It's important to distinguish between the two.
The second skin appeared as a pale purple, hugging her flesh. Its surface, finely textured and non-reflective, invoked a primordial fear of insectoid wings.
Lines like gills or muscle fibers adorned it, and a constant flow of purple light, lava-like, gave it an otherworldly charm.
Peering through the gaps between her ribs, one would sense an empty shell, not a little girl or even a human, but the Void itself.
The chitinous armor that covered her mid-thighs and arms resembled the glossy carapace of beetles, rigid and edged with bone-like protrusions as if they were decorative knightly embellishments.
This dense armor made Kai'Sa's thighs appear thicker in comparison to other parts of her body.
Except for her head, the Void carapace was now inseparable from her flesh.
The carapace granted her superhuman speed and strength.
Especially her speed—Kai'Sa could run along walls as if gravity held no sway over her.
When the thigh armor plates opened for ventilation, she could rush with such speed that she could even run upside down on the ceiling, leaving behind a purple blur.
Her silhouette still resembled a human from a distance, as the massive shoulder pods had not yet formed.
Kai'Sa's carapace included a retractable helmet that endowed her with the extraordinary senses of Void creatures, controllable by thought alone.
Whenever the helmet retracted, it revealed the human parts of her—her head, neck, and the deep V of her chest.
She was grateful that the Void didn't encase her entirely, allowing her to retain many human sensations.
Accustomed to the growth of her carapace, Kai'Sa had gradually become used to being unclothed, and Kane had seen her in full before the complete coverage, though there was little to see in the undeveloped form of a young girl.
Regrettably, he could no longer administer a spanking.
Perhaps due to constant running or Kane's discipline, Kai'Sa's backside had become notably firm and shapely, powerful in motion and full of potential.
She discarded her top as the carapace reached her abdomen, and her pants followed as it spread to her thighs.
Years of enduring the piercing pain of the carapace made her accustomed to its embrace, so when it covered sensitive areas, she passed the test without any strange reactions, much to the previously worried Kane's relief.
Kai'Sa had changed so much, yet Kane only had his arm covered by the second skin.
He had directed most resources to her, enabling her rapid full coverage.
And indeed, he was right. Whenever he was exhausted from evasion and had to rely on Kai'Sa to carry him, he marveled at the wisdom of his earlier choice.
With Kai'Sa's merciless speed, no Void creature could catch them once they fled.
Aside from occasionally reminiscing about life above ground or deepening their memories through shared descriptions, Kai'Sa also began hunting alone, leaving Kane behind.
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