Chapter 696 - I spied a spider
Tiny was more than happy to abandon his post for something more exciting and I think Crinis was just relieved she was able to return to me without something dramatic occurring, such as me being sucked through a black hole into the hundredth strata, if that even exists. With the gang assembled, we set off into the deeper tunnels and it was rapidly apparent that things were starting to heat up within the frozen spaces of the second strata. Monsters were fighting everywhere. Shadow beasts in various states of evolution and all sorts of other critters filled every nook and cranny that we came across, either fighting or consuming the Biomass of the opponent in the fight they'd just won. When we slid close to an expanse, the number of monsters we ran into climbed even higher until there was a full on mob that we'd need to physically push through if we wanted to move forward. We weren't interested in getting into an expanse, I know how crazy those places get during a wave, all we wanted was the experience.
Which we took, obviously.
Between the four of us tier five monsters (Invidia is already tier six, but anyway), we were able to sweep away the opposition without too many issues. The only problem we faced was fatigue, since it took a fair bit of effort to scour the tunnels of hundreds of monsters and the further we moved from the nest, the less power I got from my Vestibule. About halfway to our destination we ended up having to 'pull over' for a break. I dug away a section of tunnel wall and sealed it back over behind us so we could rest relatively free from the disturbance of the wave. It'd been a long time since I'd had to do that for all of us and it was eye opening to realise just how much larger the chamber had to be now that we had all evolved to this point. Crinis wasn't much of an issue, being a blob that can compress herself, and obviously Invidia keeps the vast bulk of his mass tucked away in a pocket dimension, but Tiny and I have become fairly sizeable. Things have really changed since he was little and used to ride around on my back. I did also have to make room for my twenty babysitters since Protectant insisted they come in with us. Irritating!
It did make me wonder, with the tier six evolution coming up, just how large am I going to get? As large as the Queen? Maybe... It's going to be weird if I end up that size, some of the tunnels won't even be large enough to contain me...
Eh, I'll worry about that when it happens. After a very welcome and overdue period of torpor, I rouse the gang and we head out once more. I need experience, which means we need to find as many higher tier monsters as we possibly can, and I can remember one such creature that we'd found who managed to escape my grasp. That's right, it's that darn mama spider! I hadn't wanted to pursue her into her cave of death last time, but I'm confident now that we can handle anything she can throw at us! The time for the domination of the eight legged to be complete is nigh! Down with the arachnid! Gweheheheh!
Thanks to my tunnel map, I know exactly where that tunnel is located and we make our way there slowly, having to fight every step of the way. Rather than dive into the expanse, we skirt around the edges until we locate the point I think is closest to the spider's lair from the outside. Of course I'm going to dig through! Can you imagine fighting all over those webs during a wave?! No thanks! Once I have a rough idea I use my mana sense and get some help from Crinis to try and guide my efforts as I start digging down to where the lair is.
Submerging myself within the ant zen, the time passes swiftly and before I know it, I can sense the looming mana of the spider boss somewhere in front.
[Alright team, time to put the plan into action. You know what to do?]
[Yessssss.]
[Yes, Master!]
[HRAAA!]
[Good. Get ready!]
I reach within, all of my minds working in concert on the task of bringing forth the dark purple mana that sits next to my core. More and more energy is extracted as I utilise my skills to compact it until the most deadly spell I know has been formed. The Gravity Bomb is taking shape! Naturally, we retreat further back down the tunnel to a safe distance as I form the spell and though I don't think it'll do much good, I do my best to mask the mana I condense. The spider will probably work out that we're coming, but if all goes according to plan, it won't be able to escape. For several long minutes I rush the mana down until the bomb is prepared and I prepare to fire it.
[Fire in the hole!]
So saying, I unleash the slowly rotating sphere of nigh on black mana. The moment it impacts the end of my narrow tunnel, it expands to its full size and the horrifying pull makes itself known. Rock, earth and cobwebs fly into the singularity constantly, being crushed and smashed into pieces. Despite being able to see the destruction take place, there's no sound other than the howling wind, as if what happened in the sphere occurred in another universe. We wait out the spell in grim silence until it flickers and vanishes, leaving behind rubble and a ball of extremely dense detritus.
[Go! Get in there!] I shout and immediately dash!
Tiny and Invidia are right behind me, with Crinis riding along on my shell. I can see through the section of tunnel we blasted open that a dense nest of webs is woven on the other side. At least, it was dense, after the bomb a huge section has been reduced to nothing, dragged in and obliterated by the spell.
[Invidia!]
The demon doesn't reply but immediately lets fly with his magic.
BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of explosions rock the tunnel ahead, blasting at the walls of the tunnel the spider has made her home. The webs are strong, super strong, to the point where a huge amount of effort is needed to destroy them. The rock that they rest on, however, is just plain old rock.
BOOM! BOOM!
Sections of tunnel wall collapse with a thunderous roar, dragging down the web attached to them and making a mess of what was only moments ago a spider paradise. That's right spider, all that you love shall be turned to ash! This is your punishment for the sin of too many legs! After a minute of blasting away at her nest and blocking the exit, the spider mama has had enough. With a deafening screech, her bulbous form rockets out of the depths of her nest and into our waiting arms.
A deathly chill of poison spreads out from abdomen as she appears, tainting the air and causing the micro hairs on my antennae to shrivel the moment she draws close. I knew this monster would have some tricks up her sleeve, let's see if it's enough to save her!
-x-X-x-
In truth, the establishment of the Core Shapers by the Eldest proved over time to be a master stroke. At first, there were many who decried the resources being sent to the caste instead of being used to nourish the next generation. Perhaps at first, this was indeed the case. As hardworking and talented as Elegant and Bella were in those early days, they l acked Skill levels, expertise and the raw statistical power required for complex core shaping. The Core Shapers were a sinkhole of precious cores, the most important commodity to the Colony, as it was needed to fuel evolutions and there was never anywhere close to enough to satisfy the Colony's needs. Some postulate that the lasting damage done by the Shapers draining cores at this time had a much larger carry on effect than may have been seen on the surface, but I personally doubt it.
The Council was strict with resource allocation then, just as they are now. Bella and Ellie were forced to work miracles with the pittance that they were given, raising their caste up with nothing more than scraps and fumes. Eventually, the Core Shapers rose to a place of prominence and their contributions could no longer be denied by even the most strident of critics. Able to take risks with their pets that ants could not, able to adapt to any environment or conditions by changing out their followers, able to range far on their own, relying on their defenders to protect them. The number of cores brought back to the Colony through out-of-territory resource collection missions is a staggering figure, one that most Colony members are totally unaware of. Lone Core Shapers braving the dangers of the Dungeon on their own or in small teams, venturing outside of Colony territory and battling hard to bring back precious materials.
It is a lesson in long term planning that only the Eldest had the reach to see and the wisdom to undertake. No step that they undertook in the formation of the early Colony failed to bear tremendous fruit down the line.
Excerpt from 'On the castes' by Historiant
The spider was mad. Real mad. A natural response to having her secret nest invaded and subjected to repeated explosions, I have to admit. It's only going to get worse for you spider! I'm not leaving until I get that sweet, sweet experience! Gweheheheh.
According to our plan, Tiny takes his distance before blasting the spider with every ounce of lightning he has, a dissatisfied expression written plainly on his face. You want to punch the poisonous death spider that much? You idiot! Crinis extends her limbs from the shadows, making calculated strikes against the spider's legs as Invidia continues to detonate the surrounding rock, collapsing the web and diluting the home ground advantage of our adversary.
For my part, I bite, and blast with fire, and do whatever else I can to occupy the attention of this high tier beast. The spider's shrieks of rage rise to an all new crescendo and if I could stuff my antennae into my ears, I would. Instead, I bite all the harder.
DOOM CHOMP!
My muscles snap with immense power, sending the black jaws through the air so quickly I can no longer see them move. Despite her immense bulk, the spider moves with surprising grace and she manages to sway to the side, avoiding my bite by the slightest of margins before she bares her fangs at me, striking with blinding quickness. My antennae have already tingled a warning to me and my reflexes pay off, allowing me to skip backward, out of her range. Her bite Skill appears to be weaker than mine, the range and power are not nearly as devastating as my own Doom Chomp. Although... I can't rule out that it's all a bluff. This spider is sneaky and intelligent, I can't trust anything at face value. She probably wants me to think 'oh, this is a pathetic excuse of a bite, I can tank this no problem', then, when I stand in front of her, not dodging like an idiot, her true strike will reveal itself and stab through my heart in a second.
I'm on to you spider!
Maybe I'm overthinking, but somehow I don't think so. This spider is clearly capable of producing powerful poison and even an aura of death. I refuse to believe that her fangs are just for show. Remaining cautious, I snap and bite at the bulbous monster and keep her on the back foot as the rest of my team keep piling on the damage. Crinis uses her barbed limbs to twist and grab at every leg she can grasp, wrenching and biting into the armour covering the arachnid's limbs. Tiny unleashes wave after wave of electric energy on the spider, roasting the huge monster with blue lightning, his face growing more and more disgruntled each moment. Invidia keeps weaving his magical mastery, as usual, flawless execution on display as he controls his mana with perfection. Man, must be nice to be tier six, I can't wait!
Damn spider, gimme my experience!
The fight enters into a brief stalemate as the spider continues to bait and lunge whilst we maintain our vigil of wearing the creature down. Four against one, we don't need to be the ones to take any risks here. In the end, it's Tiny who breaks the deadlock by growing so impatient that he goes against the plan and decides to start swinging. I can see on his face the moment when he cracks, the irritation and anger piled up in him until he snaps and unleashes a deep bellow, cutting off the lightning and leaping forward with his fists bared.
Stupid ape! How many times are you going to try and get yourself killed?!
Tiny has gotten too comfortable getting into the thick of the fight since he got his armour, as he was no longer such a glass cannon that he'd get shattered from the slightest blow. That doesn't mean you're going to be safe you moron! Just as I suspected, the spider has clearly been hiding her strength. The moment Tiny came close enough to unleash his fist, she darts forward, her entire body suddenly blurred and hard to see, as if wreathed in illusion, as her fangs gleam with a deadly cold light. Not expecting this sudden burst of speed, Tiny's punch flies over the spider's head as her fangs reach toward him, poison dripping from the tips.
BOOM!
Invidia to the rescue. Gandalf and his luminous beard bless that little eyeball. Before the spider can close on the bat faced ape, two things happen. First, a multi-layered shield springs up between them which the monster crunches into, slowing her charge significantly as she breaks through, and second, an explosion detonates just underneath the spider, lifting her body into the air and robbing her of her grip on the floor.
Chance!
Even Tiny seizes upon this moment to deliver a devastating uppercut straight into the ominous fangs of the arachnid, shocking the monster. It's the prelude to the end as I Dash forward, my jaws at the ready.
CRUNCH!
The Doom Chomp strikes home and the giant spider simply cannot resist its penetrating power. After a few twitches, the fight is done.
[You have received experience.]
GWEHEHEHEH.
-x-X-x-
The death of the spider, along with all the 'cleaning' my pets and I had done on our journey was enough to push me to level 76, tantalisingly close to the goal. I was keen to get back out and hunting for experience, but the remains of the big spider were right in front of us and I refuse to let Biomass go to waste! This is a tier six monster after all! The four of us dug in and in a short amount of time, all signs that the giant arachnid had been here at all were gone, vanished without a trace. I decide I can spare a little time and explore the rest of the tunnel in which we'd fought. There's a chance that hideous creature had some good stuff hidden in here, perhaps a Biomass store tucked away in a cupboard, or some cores that we could seize upon. Instead, I find something a little disheartening.
At the end of the tunnel, bundled tight in protective webs are eggs. Hundreds of eggs. After the Colony had swept through and depopulated the area, it was clear that the spider mama had been determined to re-establish the dominance of her family over the strata in which we found them. Although it brings me no joy, I can't allow these spiders to hatch and compete with the Colony, so I get Invidia to destroy them.
I copped out, alright?! I didn't want to go around destroying eggs!
With the deed done, I make sure Crinis grabs the core and we back out into the regular tunnels and start sweeping our way deeper. The longer the wave goes on, the faster the monsters will spawn, and already they're piling up quickly! From what I understand after talking to Granin and the others, the mana never returned to 'normal' levels after the first wave, which is something highly unusual. What's even more unusual is having waves this close together. According to the Shapers, this may point to something rather nasty occurring where we experience a series of waves, each longer and more potent than the last. If that's the case, the Colony has little choice but to level up as fast as possible if we're going to survive. We've grown to the point we can handle the second strata well enough, but what about monsters from the third? Or fourth? If a wave is strong enough, and long enough, then they're going to get here eventually.
In fact, they're going to get here right about now.
After burning my way through a mass of tentacled shadow monsters, my pets and I find ourselves standing in a strangely clear section of tunnel that ought to be occupied by more fighting monsters. Instead we can see the signs of recent battle and the rather obvious remains of some creature messily eating what was left of their foes. Not a great sign. Following the tunnel around a corner we come face to face with the culprit, who strikes me rather immediately as not being a shadow creature.
The monster has four grotesquely muscled limbs that each end in a hardened, flesh coloured point. It's body is a bloated, constantly writhing mass of pink ... something whilst its head appears to be little but a mouth. As we watch, it finishes its battle against a large shadow centipede by leaping forward with incredible speed and landing on all fours, one of the forelimbs spearing the arthropod straight through. Not even waiting for the creature to pass away, the hideous monster shrieks a piercing, rage filled scream and starts tearing into the centipede with that enormous mouth, its spear-like limbs dug deep into the floor.
What the heck is that thing!?
[Invidia, any idea what the heck that is?]
[I do notsssss. I have never sssssseeen it before.]
[Are you sure? It sure as heck doesn't look like something from this strata! It must be from the third! That's your home isn't it?]
[ have no memoriesssss of that place... I have no memoriessss before you reconstituted me.]
Huh. I guess I hadn't really thought about how Invidia had come to be in the place I fought him. I suppose it makes sense. He was captured by the golgari at the earliest stage of his growth and then reared to meet the exact specifications of the Shapers. If my memory serves me correctly, a demon isn't considered fully down until it reaches tier six, like the eyeball has. So this thing is tier five at most? Yikes. It's larger than me already and if I'm not mistaken it might be able to drive one of those damn pointy hands it has straight through me just like it did to that shadow creature. That's exactly the sort of weapon best suited to penetrating my diamond carapace!
It's like a sword versus armour back in the ancient days. Someone wearing plate armour or even chain mail is not going to get cut if you slash them with a blade, they just won't. If you had a big enough sword you might be able to bash your way into breaking some bones or getting a cut in, but generally speaking, the way you used a sword against armour was to stab. You puncture through the protective layer by putting the maximum amount of pressure on the smallest point, piercing like a needle. It's almost as if this damn demon was designed to perforate my precious diamond coating. I won't allow it!
[Take it down all! With extreme prejudice!]
Tiny didn't need to be told twice, eagerly leaping into the fight as Crinis slunk through the shadows. Not wanted to have the experience stolen from me, I instruct Invidia not to go on the offensive and instead focus on protection and healing duties. For my part, I spam gravity bolts at the monster in the hopes of slowing it down as I gradually close the distance, keeping one wary eye on each of those four limbs. The monster screams that piercing, outraged shriek when it notices us engaging with it and turns to face us. It moves on all fours and every time it shifts its position those legs rise out of the stone floor of the tunnel and then pierce back through it like it was jelly. It makes moving a little awkward for the monster since it has to send almost half of a limb into the floor before it can find purchase, but it appears to just muscle through the problem and is remarkably fast as it repositions to meet our assault.
Four against one, big mouth! You haven't got hope!
Tiny dances forward, light on his feet with his hands raised ready to strike. Once he finds his range, he starts peppering the creature with blindingly fast lefts. The tight, compact punches are so unlike what I've gotten used to from the giant ape that I almost stumble in place. Has he ranked up his ape boxing skill? What is this textbook orthodox boxing style?
[That's it Tiny! Master the left, master the world!]
With each impact of the light exploding from Tiny's hands, the monster is knocked off balance and its anger builds to a terrifying crescendo. I don't think it's taking much damage from the blizzard of punches, but it's finding it hard to move out from under the pinning assault. Not one to back down from an opportunity, I pepper the beast with a few more gravity bolts as I close the distance with a flicker dash, my form blurring from the high speed manoeuvre. When I'm close enough to engage my Doom Chomp I notice that Crinis has also arrived, a forest of her dark limbs twisting out of the shadows on the floor to wrap themselves around the demon's legs and begin to saw away at the tightly packed muscle.
Assaulted from all sides in this way, there isn't much the poor demon can do to resist as we continuously chomp away at its health. That grotesque mouth snaps and bites at us constantly and I almost lose an antennae when it suddenly extends its jaw a metre out of its face. Whoever heard of an extendable jaw?! What the heck! Soon enough we finish it off and the experience is enough to push me up another level.
[You have slain level 31 Luvenis Avarita Daemon]
[You have gained experience.]
[You have reached level 77. One skill point awarded.]
Awwww yeah! Three levels to go baby! We chomp away at the Biomass and I take a quick moment to study the profile, curious to learn more about the demons.
[Iuvenis Avarita Daemon: Young Avarice Demon. Perpetually hungry, always angry and spoiling for a fight. Beware the destructive power of the hardened flesh spears that tip its limbs].
An Avarice Demon huh? Nasty. Once we finish our meal, we scoop the core and continue to hunt, finding a few more of the Avarice demons prowling the tunnels, crushing everything that they find. After we clear out all that we can find over the next four hours, I finally reach my target.
[You have reached level 80. One skill point awarded.]
[Maximum level reached. You may now use the evolution menu.]
Whoo!
-x-X-x-
With the level milestone achieved, I take a quick break to celebrate and high five (with antennae) the team, before we begin the journey back to the nest. With the wave in full swing, we end up having to re sweep most of the tunnels that had already been cleared as the empty space was either taken up by monsters who had spawned elsewhere, or freshly spawned monsters already jumping out of the walls again. It's hard to imagine, but I think I actually was starting to forget just how tiring the wave was. Just getting through these totally normal tunnels is an exhausting slog of fight after fight. The moment we deal with one monster, another one comes screaming out of a side tunnel.
It's almost as if the heightened mana levels send the monsters nuts as well as drives the spawn rate to ridiculous levels. It could just be the fact that there's no opportunity for monsters to carve out their own space and settle into some territory which causes them to be whipped up into a mindless rage. Whatever the case, by the time we make it back to the nest the four of us, as well as my twenty unseen observers, are all thoroughly tired and done with the Dungeon for the time being. All in all it took a little over three days for us to travel and secure the levels I need to evolve. It's pretty obvious when we get back just how busy the Colony has been, the gates alone have seen a massive improvement. As we approach it's clear to see the fortifications positively bristling with ants ready to defend the entrance to the nest. If they managed to repair the acid pool, there shouldn't be too many issues holding off monsters, although if more powerful demons show up things might get hairy.
Before we enter the nest, I turn back to face the empty space above my head.
"Protectant, you need to get out here for a chat."
Silence.
"You could just talk to the air. I would rather not show myself," her scent creeps up to my antennae from nowhere.
"It's weird trying to hold a conversation with someone I can't see. Just get out here!"
With her usual sulky disposition, Protectant reveals herself and drops down from the roof to come into view.
"What can I do for you Eldest? I'd like to remind you that we are supposed to be a secret protection detail. You make our jobs harder when you constantly reveal our existence."
"Hey, I don't feel any real need to make your lives more difficult, but you need to adjust and have a little more flexibility than what the Council demanded of you. All of their nonsense went out the window the minute I worked out you exist."
I stare down at the much smaller elite ant but she makes a point of turning her head to face past me. Still don't want to give up on the mission eh? Sigh. What a pain.
"Alright, I'll get down to business then. I'm going to be spending the next few days finalising my evolution. It's going to take at least two days, maybe as much as a week. I was asleep for a long time during the last one, so who knows this time? Not me, that's for sure."
"And? We will watch over you, as always."
"Nope, not as always. I don't need protection when I'm evolving, I'll be in the middle of the nest for goodness sake! What could possibly happen to me in there? I'll have my pets watching over me just in case anything happens, having more security than that is nonsensical! You and your nineteen sisters are going to use this time to power up."
"What?!" she says, aghast. "You want us to abandon the mission, completely?! You won't keep any of us with you?"
They're dedicated, I'll give them that.
"No! After I evolve, I'm going to be tier six! We've had this conversation before, if you twenty can't keep up with me, then you can hardly protect me from something I can't defeat myself! I need every one of you to max out your cores and mutations and prepare for special evolutions. Every one of you needs to be tier five by the time this wave ends. If you want to make sure you're ready to protect me, then any tier five members can return to guard duty once I've finished evolving, but only up to a maximum of five. The rest of you stick together until every last one of you has achieved a perfect tier five, you hear me? This is an order!"
I really don't like to boss around the other ants, I'm just not comfortable with telling them what to do, but these twenty are only going to get themselves killed if they don't power up, and they won't take time to level up and mutate if I don't force them to. Even if they don't accept my logic, they can't refuse a direct command and Protectant positively wilts under my omni-directional glare.
"It will be done as you command, Eldest," she mutters before she vanishes once again.
With that unpleasant conversation dealt with, I head into the nest to find a small welcoming party waiting on the other side. Granin, Torrina and Corun are present, as well as Florence and Victor. I'm especially surprised to see the brood tender away from the young where she spends essentially all of her time when she isn't in a meeting.
["Hello all!"] I greet everyone with a combination of pheromones and mind magic, ["I didn't expect you to welcome me back at the gates. How are things in the nest?"]
"Everything is fine," Victor assures me quickly, "our plans are already well advanced and our defences here and in the satellite nests have been established."
Florence nods.
"That's right," she happily agrees, "and the hatchlings have been able to enter the Academy and begin their proper training. The school has already begun a large expansion project to accommodate the boosted numbers but we are confident we can complete the task."
Man, the brood tenders are by far the most soothing caste, always cheerful and upbeat. They work just as hard as everyone else, don't get me wrong, but they all seem to share the same calm and happy aura that Florence and Theresant have.
"Well that's great."
I switch back to speaking to everyone.
["So what brings you guys here?"]
Granin steps forward and looks at Victor for a moment. The ant nods and his voice rings out in my mind.
[The ants are getting ready to take you straight to the Biomass store they've setup for you. The council has been taking my advice about selecting a few members to nurture into high tier powerhouses to shore up your strength seriously and you are the first to get the fast road treatment. The Colony is going to provide all the Biomass and cores you need now that you've hit level eighty. I wanted to tag along with my triad so we could advise and discuss your options whilst you eat.]
["Makes sense I suppose. Lead the way."]
The nest was abuzz with activity when I left and it is completely the same now. As we move through the tunnels there are ants everywhere doing goodness knows how many different tasks. In every chamber and at regular intervals down the tunnels there are soldiers and scouts on guard, ready to leap upon every monster that spawns from the mana dense walls. Even the automated messages from the walls are on point.
"The wave is upon us!" I get blasted from a nearby unit and taken by surprise. "Work hard to secure the future of the Colony! Take regular torpor breaks!"
Nice to see that last bit hasn't been dropped. My siblings need to rest. Eventually we arrive in a smallish chamber and I immediately notice two things about it. First is the massive pile of Biomass that has Tiny instantly drooling. Second is the total lack of mana veins on the walls.
"You guys actually figured it out?!" I'm shocked and delighted.
"The mages figured it out and the inner areas of the nest have been converted. This place is close to the brood chambers and was prepared for your evolution. It wasn't much extra effort considering the work that was already being done."
Holy moly. They figured this out in the nick of time.
[All right then, Anthony,] Granin breaks in. [Get to eating, we have a lot to talk about.]
The three golgari grab a seat and make themselves comfortable whilst they watch me, somewhat impatiently as I hesitate. With a vast internal sigh, I move over to the Biomass and start to eat.
[All right,] I say, [what first?]
-x-X-x-
This is one huge pile of food... there's no way I can fit it all in! I kind of want to call my pets over and have them indulge as well, but I feel bad about it since the Colony has gathered all of this for me. I guess I'll dive in and if there's any left when I'm done I'll make sure the others get their fair share.
[Alright gang. Get some rest but keep an eye out. I'll make sure you get your food later, alright?]
[Yesssss,] Invidia says but I can see his eye blazing with green light as he eyes off my food.
[Yes, Master,] Crinis says, happy to attach herself once more to my carapace and allows her shape to blob.
[Hurrrrr...] Tiny growls, the saliva pouring from his mouth as he openly gnashes his teeth as if eating already.
[That's gross, Tiny! Just move over there, alright? We ate a bunch of demons in the tunnels not that long ago. Mutate or something.]
With my badgering, he finally turns his back on the feast and sulks in the corner. Five minutes later, he's asleep.
[Alright then, Granin. What's the first thing you want to discuss?] I sigh as I start to tuck into the mountain of food.
[The Rescindic Principle, obviously.]
[What the heck was that?]
[The cash in,] Torrina breaks in, [it's going to be one of the most important decisions of this evolution.]
[If not the most important,] Granin grunts. [It's a good idea that we discuss your options since there are likely to be a few built into the choices you get when you evolve. If you have a clear picture of what you want, then it'll be easier to eliminate some options and focus in on the ones you prefer.]
[Alright then,] I grumble, [so what's the best choice? Is there a reason I shouldn't just reset everything and get a totally awesome new body? Just get it all over and done with?]
Granin's eyes go wide and I can tell he wants to facepalm but is resisting by sheer force of will. Corun doesn't quite succeed and smack himself in the face at my apparent idiocy.
[What? What's the problem? So my mutations get set back to zero, but if I sit here in the Colony and they pump me full of Biomass, I'll be able to get them all back to a respectable level in a couple of days! I'll be way more powerful, won't I?]
[Allow me,] Torrina says, mostly to the others and Granin nods before he waves her forward. [Anthony,] the talented young Shaper says, [there are a few reasons why you don't want to do that, although you can, the option will be available to you. One reason is that the further you go down the tiers of evolution, the better reset options you will find. I don't doubt that there will be many options available only to second and possibly a few from third strata monsters when you evolve this time. The next time you evolve, you will see a few that may normally be seen on the fourth strata. Constantly resetting your body parts is hugely inefficient and the more you evolve, the worse it gets. For tier six, it's going to cost you a hundred and forty Biomass to improve each body part from +25 to +30, but if you start your whole body from scratch, it's going to cost four hundred and fifty five per body part.]
I flinch. Ouch. That's a whole lotta Biomass. Four hundred and fifty five? For each mutable part of my body? That's... insane. I'd have to eat through half a strata to amass that. And at tier six, it'd have to be the third strata at that. Although the Colony could pour resources into me, the thought of that much Biomass going towards bumping up my mutations when it could instead be spent on the hatchlings, or other members of the Colony...
[Let's say you did that,] she continues, [and piled up the thousands of Biomass necessary to evolve into tier seven with all mutations at +30, what do you do then? Cash it all in again? Because there'll be better options available at tier seven, and at tier eight, and so on. A better, more efficient strategy is to cycle critical body parts and reset them every few evolutions, if you get that far. Think of everything you consider the most important parts of your body and divide them into three groups. Cash in one set now, one set next evolution and one set the evolution after that. Then repeat the process. At least, that's one way you could manage it.]
I keep eating as I think over what she said. The sheer Biomass cost of resetting my entire body has pretty much pushed me away from the idea. I mean, I could do it, but to get that much food into me would mean I'd probably be still trying to get those points even after I reached level one-sixty.
[You said there were other reasons?] I ask.
[The other main reason is what we would describe as Monster Dysmorphia. Which is to say that not all body parts resonate well with each other.]
[It's complicated as hell and has mainly to do with the higher concentrations of mana needed to fuel these more complex structures,] Granin breaks in, scratching his head. [In the first strata, a monster's body is more or less straightforward and the way mana is used to form them is simple and uncomplicated. When you get to the third and below, things start to get weird.]
[Weird?] I ask.
[Weird,] he nods. [Without going into too much detail, because I think you'd find it boring as heck, complex mana structures don't always resonate well with each other. In extreme cases a monster with two body parts that don't cooperate can literally be torn apart by the conflux of mana.]
[Holy Moly!]
[Which is why taking it slow and being a little careful is a sensible idea. The three of us can advise you about the combinations we know don't work, but the evolution System itself will confirm the safety of the reset, but only for current parts of your body.]
[So you mean, the System will check if the reset parts will work with my body now, but not the other parts that I reset?! What kind of hack job is that?!]
Granin just laughs.
[If you can talk to the System itself, then you can complain about it then. Otherwise, it's better to think about which parts of your body you want to cash in on this evolution. Keep eating, and we'll work it out.]
-x-X-x-
As I keep stuffing my face, Granin and I discuss my various body parts and what might qualify as a good option for a 'reset' in my next evolution. I remain a little cagey about a few things, such as the existence of the Vestibule, but I try to be as honest as I can during our discussions. A few things get ruled out pretty fast. No need to do anything fancy with the pheromone glands at this point, for example. I'm not even sure what sort of new functionality I would gain for my pheromone gland. Demon pheromones? Pheromones made from flames? Geh.
In this way we eliminate candidates and before long we arrive at a shortlist. Carapace (obviously), Mandibles, Acid Gland, Legs, Regeneration Gland, Eyes. All the big ticket items. Would be great to do my brain, but it's not even mutable at this point, so it can't be reset. The carapace is there for very clear reasons. I was promised a reset of pure diamond and by Gandalf, I'm going to get it. If an option appears to reforge my mandibles into some awesome demon chitin or something of the sort then it would surely be a significant boost to the strength of my bite, which is always handy. My legs are an obvious weak point and although the diamond carapace does offer them some thin protection, changing their base properties to something more durable would help to keep me from being legless quite as often. The Regeneration Gland is a (literal) life saver and a significant upgrade there would be incredible. My vision speaks for itself. Better eyes means better life. Being able to see stuff coming is a useful trait to have, and with the reset, who knows what sort of crazy options I might see?
I personally feel like there's a strong chance that the Vestibule will come up as an option to be reset in the evolution choices, given that my current species includes the term 'juvenile'. It would make sense that the natural progression would be to a 'mature' Colony Paragon of some variety, and the key organ of this species is the Vestibule. Exactly what sort of option would be provided to reforge the Vestibule itself, I've no idea, but I think it will be powerful. There is the likelihood that such an upgrade would have adverse side effects, such as giving the Colony an even larger window to sneak their Will into my mind, but there's a good chance that the trade-off will be worth it.
[You might want to rethink your idea of picking carapace on this evolution,] Granin tells me.
[What!? My carapace is a life-saving, incredibly shiny part of my body! What could possibly be more important than that?]
Granin holds up both his hands.
[Whoa there. It's beautiful and amazing, we all get that, just take a second to hear me out.]
He waits until I settle back down and get back to shovelling Biomass into my face before he continues.
[I totally agree that your carapace is important, it's your foremost defensive tool after all, but there are two good reasons that you should hold off during this evolution. Firstly, the options you may get at this stage of evolution are inferior to what you'll get next time. In my opinion, your carapace and plating, upgraded to +30, are going to be sufficient to protect you through the third strata. If you evolve before you attack the fourth, you'll be able to upgrade to a much better base material.]
Something about the tone of his thought suggests he knows something he hasn't said.
[Do you happen to know what I might get if I hold off?] I ask pointedly.
He nods.
[There are a few different diamond flavoured materials you could see, but all of them are good. Living Diamond, Void Diamond, Liquid Diamond, just to name a few. All are seen mostly on the fifth strata but there's a chance they'll show up when you evolve to tier seven.]
Holy moly! All of those sound so awesome! Liquid Diamond?! How does that even work?!
[Alright,] I say, trying to hide my excitement and totally failing, [what about the other reason.]
[The other reason is the inner carapace plating. I actually love this mutation and I think it's done more than you realise to keep you alive to this point, but it can do more. The synergy between the carapace and plating isn't what it could be. I'm suggesting that when you reset your carapace, you reset the plating at the same time. This will let you pick options that harmonize, and allow you to reconfigure your mutations to line up perfectly, giving you the best possible outcome. Does that sound reasonable?]
He does make a good case.
[Alright, I'm convinced, and I'm also full. Step back a second for me, would you?]
The golgari Shaper hurriedly steps out of the way and I back up a bit, my gaster having swollen to absurd proportions after cramming both of my stomachs full of Biomass. Geh, I feel like I'm gonna chuck. Is this what a replete feels like? I used to wonder what it was like to be one of those ants who just hung around inside a nest and allowed other ants to fill up their social stomachs with food to the point they could move. Living food storage units...
Alright, with all of this Biomass, I should have enough to at least make a serious dent in the remainder of the evolutions I need to make. Let me check what's going on in here. According to the menu, I have seven body parts still in need of mutation, some of them more than one. Eyes, pheromone gland, Neural network, my three new acid additions and the Gravity mana gland. I think it makes sense to start with the eyes and take them from +20 to +25. Let's take a squiz at the options.
[Alright, I think I'm going to focus on my mutations for the moment. If possible can I get some privacy for this?]
It's hard to tell, but I think Granin quirks an eyebrow at my words.
[You sure you don't want any advice on this?]
[Ah, no. I think I can handle this bit. I'll be sure to speak to you again before I evolve, don't worry.]
He shrugs.
[Alright then, have it your way.]
He turns around and after a brief argument with Torrina in which she gives a massive case of stink eye, he leads the triad out of the chamber.
[Alright team, let's assume formation C!] I instruct my pets.
In an instant, Crinis has leapt into action, blanketing the chamber in complete darkness using her magic whilst also expanding her body to cover my frame in a sphere of inky black shadow flesh. Invidia uses his shield magic to erect opaque barriers before every door frame, blocking line of sight as well as physical entry into the chamber whilst Tiny takes up a vigilant guard position halfway between the entrances and my own body.
There, now there's no chance anyone will see me when I mutate. Now I can focus on the menus. Let's do this!
-x-X-x-
Now, with my privacy secured, it's time to mutate. Time to dive once more into the depths of the menu lists and bring back only the finest mutations. It's time to begin where it all began: my eyeballs. It seems like a lifetime ago that I first mutated my eyes in order to improve my then terrible vision. Even now I'm not satisfied with my eyes, but then my memory of what it was like to view the world as a human is more than a little funny by now. I've been in ant form for months now, and even then I've been in five different ant bodies so far. It's hard for me to remember exactly what my eyesight was like as a hatchling at this point, let alone remembering what it was like in my previous life.
I might have been a human for fifteen years, but recency bias is real!
Alright then, my vision is currently sitting at +20. The Heightened Perimeter Eyes have served me well during the siege. The improved clarity has been a massive boon, helping me make the best of my reflexes by seeing the threats coming at me from all directions. In hindsight, my focus has really been to try and take all the best parts of compound eyes (multi-directional vision) and combine it with the benefits of a more humanish eye setup. The end result is that I still have compound eyes, but each one of the thousands of tiny lenses that make up my eyeballs are almost as good as those within a normal eye. It's pretty crazy to think about. That level of precision and complexity would be completely impossible for a normal creature on Earth, yet here I am on Pangera, an ant with super vision.
And there's no need to stop now! I want sharper eyesight! Better motion tracking! In all directions at the same time! Gweheheh!
The only way to achieve something like that is to just keep piling on the upgrades, one by one. The list of mutations in the menu is as overwhelming as ever and the crazy options overflow. X-ray vision, firing heat blasts from the eyes... why though? TIME VISION? See things ... after... they happened? Isn't that just normal vision? Or this like a peering into the past kind of thing? Seems far less useful than the future vision I get from my antennae... Weird.
I can't even begin to imagine the sort of things that would pop up in here if I cashed in my eye mutations when I evolve. Laser eyes? Curse eyes? Goodness knows. I trawl through the seemingly endless list until I find the sorts of things I'm looking for: upgrades that continue to track in the direction my mutations are already going. Plenty of stuff to expand the range of the vision, another upgrade like the one I chose earlier which creates patches of sharper focus. Eventually I find what I'm looking for in a generic focal enhancement. With this, my eye shall become the Sharpened Perimeter Eyes + 25!
Lock it in, what's next on my list?
The Pheromone Gland! The ol' faithful. Who would have thought that the simple mutation of the language gland would have such far reaching impact? Come to think of it, packing the capacity for language into one mutation is a little generous of the System, isn't it? It's not the sort of thing that Gandalf is known for, the stingy bearded bugger. I wonder if this became some sort of standard mutation for more intelligent bugs down in the depths? It does teach language, not really, it just expands the range of scents the pheromone gland can produce to have sufficient gradient that language can be expressed. It does increase it a lot though... The pheromone gland went from "danger, food, warm, cold" to "hello guest, please be welcome. Care for some tea?" all in one mutation!
Eh. I'm not going to look a gift mutation in the pheromones... or whatever. What do I want here? To be honest, most of the upgrades here seem like a waste to me. There are options that do all sorts of things in here, turning pheromones into weapons, as a sleep poison, even a choice that helps create sensory illusions in organisms that smell them, basically hallucinogen scent! But since I use them strictly for communication purposes, most of these options are bunk. I'll just take one that makes my pheromones travel further so I can 'yell' harder. My last two mutations were both about making my pheromones more persuasive, which in hindsight is a bit of a waste. I don't need to be persuading the Colony, they don't need any help doing what I ask them.
So my Convincing Pheromone Gland +20 will become the Loud Convincing Pheromone Gland +25. Next!
I've got the three acid glands to deal with and the Gravity mana gland. I'll think I'll do the Gravity gland next. For every single mutation I've selected for my Gravity Mana Gland, I've gone down the same path, which is to expand the capacity. This is for a few reasons, namely that the Gravity Bomb takes a huge chunk of mana to cast and the better I get at condensing mana the more mana I need to fuel the spell. But I want to take something different this time, I want to borrow a leaf from (of all the beings) Tiny. His lightning glands have a great little mutation that condenses the mana inside the gland. It doesn't condense it much compared to doing the work manually, but it gets the process started. It also has the benefit of making every spell I weave with mana straight out of the gland a little bit stronger without me having to do any heavy lifting.
So the Unending Gravity Mana Gland +20 will now become the Compressing Unending Gravity Mana Gland +25
Three upgrades down and a cool three hundred and forty five Biomass gone, just like that. The only body parts I have left are the three new editions to the business district and the neural network, not all of which are sitting at +20 yet. This part is going to be expensive, I hope I have enough to afford it, I really don't want to have to eat anymore right now. Firstly, I'm going to look at the neural network. Who would have thought that starting to mutate my nervous system would have such a beneficial effect in the long run? Combined with my carapace and my antennae, this nervous system has been what kept me alive long enough to reach this level. Having impossibly fast reflexes is always a win, no matter what. The question is, what do I want to mutate into the network now? Trawling through the list, I can see upgrades that will help me make it even faster, but at this point, I'm not sure that's even necessary. I'm already reacting to the future, having my nerves send signals .0000001 of a second faster doesn't seem necessary at this point.
So what do I want my nerves to do? They do the job that nerves do extremely well already. They send signals and they do it really, really fast. What else can I possibly want here? I pour through the list, weighing up the options I find until I come across one that I like. This mutation creates nerve bundles at certain points in the body that help manage coordination better. It's like how an octopus has a separate set of nerves for each tentacle, helping to coordinate the movement of each limb so they can work together. If I'm not wrong, this may even synergise with my existing mutations, since the hyper fast signals will be transmitted to these new bundles, who could make my legs move without my main brain even having to be contacted! Perfect!
The Instant Transmission Sub-Neural Network +20 shall become the Coordinating Instant Transmission Sub-Neural Network + 25! Boom!
Now, it's nozzle time. So far I've upgraded it to increase the range of my acid shot and introduced a scattershot mode. I'm pretty happy with both upgrades as is, to be honest. I don't need to have absurd range with my acid, I'm not trying to turn myself into a sniper or artillery like some of the scouts are, and the scattershot does a good job spreading the acid over an area when I'm shooting at max range. If I upgraded that mutation more, the acid shot would eventually become more like a shotgun, blasting over an area up close, which I don't think I need. So I'm in the unusual place of looking for a new upgrade. What has the menu got for me?!
Lots. It has lots. Just like everything else, there's a ton of options that seem either excessive, weird or rather imaginative. There's the usual list of properties that the nozzle could add to the acid, including elemental damage, somehow. There's actually an ignition option here as well, which I suppose would be handy if I turned my acid flammable. Hang on, I could literally shoot fire out of my backside?! Holy moly! It's a bit more extreme than what I'm looking for though... As usual, I'm more interested in mutations that move along the lines of what the organ was intended to do in the first place. The nozzle makes aiming easier, helps me shoot further and can scatter the acid over an area. Is there something I can purchase that will help aim? I trawl through the list for a while until I come across just what I'm looking for.
It's an odd little mutation that adds a bundle of nerves to the nozzle that assist in making unconscious aiming corrections. Combined with my rapidly climbing accuracy Skill, this mutation could help me hit the target first time every time. Just what the doctor ordered!
So the Hyper Pressurised Scattershot Acid Nozzle +20 will become the Guided Hyper Pressurised Scattershot Acid Nozzle + 25! That's a mouthful. I guess that's what happens when you mash three different mutations onto one organ.
Now the acid concentration gland! I really like this gland, it was cheap to buy and its sole function is to be the acid gland's hype man. It makes whatever the acid is already doing, do it better, and I added the weakening property to try and drain my enemies during long fights. It's a solid combo and I think I'm going to stick with it by enhancing the weakening property this time around. It's pretty simple to find the mutation I want and with this the Thickened Weakening Acid concentration gland +20 becomes the Thickened Draining Acid concentration gland +25!
Nice.
One to go! Six hundred and ninety Biomass down the drain! Holy smokes this is expensive. Checking my Biomass total, I think I'm just going to have enough to squeak all of the necessary mutations in, although the last one is going to be the priciest. The Fatiguing acid stimulation gland of +10. I need to upgrade this dude three more times! Better get to it. Activating the menu I upgrade the gland to the +15 mark and choose to consolidate the existing mutation. The stimulation gland works to increase the production of acid, which is great, the mutation I chose lets the organ drain stamina in order to replenish the acid faster, which works well with my Vestibule since my stamina is topped up by that organ. For the +20 and +25 upgrades, I kind of want to go in a different direction, see what else the menu has to offer.
There's plenty to choose from, as usual. Most of them are around different ways to increase the regenerative speed of the acid, but others are a little more creative with their interpretation of what 'stimulate' means when it comes to the acid gland. Stimulate it to do what? Make more acid? Thicken the acid? Bring about change in the acid? Add properties to the Acid? It's a complex system I've got going on back there and only the finest produce are allowed to emerge from it, so I need to pick well.
In the end, I select something that works with what I have already. This mutation drains stamina, but rather than increase the production rate of the acid, it thickens it, making it more potent. This obviously synergises on multiple levels with my existing setup. By the time this is done my acid is going to be craaaaazy! At +25, I choose another mutation to enforce my new selection and with that I'm finally done!
The Fatiguing Acid Stimulation Gland +10 has become the Exhausting Thickener Acid Stimulation Gland +25! Whoo!
[Do you wish to confirm these selections? This will cost nine hundred and sixty Biomass.]
Holy McBiomass! That's a lot! Do I have enough? I do! By... two. Phew, that was close! Confirm it all, Gandalf! Let's get his show on the road!
... Any second now.
...
Here it comes...
...
BLATTAPHLATTACAAA! It's so bad! MY NERVES ARE ON FIRE DAMMIT!
-x-X-x-
When the itch finally fades away I find myself on my back, my legs splayed in all directions and pinned down by the barbed tentacles of Crinis.
[Crinis? What happened?]
[You were flailing too much, Master. I thought it better to hold you down than have you slip out of my containment.]
That would be a disaster that would increase my risk of being seen by at least three hundred percent! That cannot be allowed!
[You did the right thing Crinis. Well done. Any chance you can let me up now?]
[Oh! Yes!]
Somewhat reluctantly, the limbs retract back into the orb of shadow flesh that still conceals me and I roll onto my feet. It was bad this time, real bad. Doing so many high level mutations at the same time? It's always bad, but a few of the organs made it worse. The sub-neural network is brutal every time, the eyes are a particular sore point for me, and doing three separate organs inside the business district just made that whole scenario back there into a nightmare. It's done now though, Anthony, just forget about it and move onto the next job. Getting close to evolution time!
[Alright then everyone, job's done. Let's get moving to the next one.]
My pets file in behind me as I stumble out of the chamber and back out into the tunnels where I find Granin and the others waiting. My body feels a little awkward, as it always does after a heavy dose of mutation. I think the neural changes are affecting me the most.
[All done?] Granin asks.
[Fully mutated,] I confirm, [time to sort out the core.]
His eyes brighten at the mention of the core.
[I heard you had an interesting specimen you'd reserved around here somewhere. I'd love to take a look at it.]
[As long as you're quick,] I grumble, [I need to absorb that thing and I don't particularly feel like building up the suspense.]
As a group we file along the tunnels, with a few Colony members tagging along to keep track of me for the Council. Seems like they want to know where I'm up to with the process of evolving in real-time. I guess it's a big deal not only for me, but for the family as a whole. Not to worry, Colony! I won't let you down. After a quick journey we arrive in a chamber not far from the Core Shaper's work area and after a quick discussion with a nearby ant we settle in. A few minutes later, Bella and Ellie arrive with a selection of cores, including one enormous sample gripped in Bella's mandibles.
"Here you go eldest! This should be enough to max you out, and here's Garralosh's core, just as you asked!"
"You haven't fiddled with it, have you?" I ask.
The two of them look shocked.
"Of course not! We've studied it extensively, but we followed your instructions and made no alterations to the core itself! Even though we really wanted to!"
"Shut up, Bella!"
"Whoops!"
"As long as you didn't tamper with it, it's fine. Make sure you check with Crinis, she has some new cores for you to play with."
It wouldn't actually matter if they did. As far as absorbing a core goes, you can mess with it as much as you want before absorbing, the energy contained within the core is the same, but for whatever reason I didn't want them playing with Garralosh's core. It just didn't feel right.
"Is this it?" Granin brightens up when he sees the chunky core enter the room. "Can I take a look?"
He waits for me to give him permission before stepping over and gently lifting the core out of Bella's grip. What follows is a brief but vigorous discussion between the three golgari as they take turns analysing the core and giving their thoughts. Corun and Torrina have already had a look at it before, but it's clear how much they value Granin's insight by how attentively they listen when he speaks. The guy is an authority on monsters, after all.
[Are you guys done?] I break in. [I've got evolving to do over here.]
[Oh! Right.] Granin starts at my words then turns and places the core on the ground in front of me before stepping back. [It's not often I get to see the core of a monster one of our sister cults deemed worthy of mentorship. She was a powerful beast, although with a lot of wasted potential. I still find it staggering she was able to move on the surface at this level of strength, the effort involved for the Kaarmodo must have been exhausting.]
[I don't have that much sympathy, to be honest,] I tell him dryly as I look down on all that remains of the reincarnated human. You were one crazy monster, Garralosh, sorry you had to end this way.
I start off with the normal cores, reinforcing my own until I hit the limit. Last time I took in a special core as well as a rare core beyond this point, something I don't care to repeat. Gandalf himself told me that such a thing normally results in death and I'm not one to tempt fate twice.
"Okay then, here we go."
[Compatible Rare core detected. Would you like to reinforce your core, or reconstitute the monster?]
Reinforce me.
Just as every time before, the core begins to dissolve into pure energy that twists through the air and into my body, suffusing the hard gem in the centre of my being and growing it. The pain is terrible as always, the enlarged core pushing up against my insides in ways it was never meant to. Garralosh's core is huge, much larger than the rare core I absorbed last time. If I had to hazard a guess, if it were even a tiny bit larger it would no longer qualify as a rare core, instead being pushed to whatever stage came after that.
It takes several minutes for the process to complete and by the end I am feeling as if I had eaten another meal the size of the last one. I feel bloated, stuffed, gassy, and twinges of pain fire through my body every time I try to move. Ugh. I hate this.
Crinis wraps herself around my carapace and pats me on the back with one tentacle, which does help somewhat. Tiny just points and laughs at me. Damn ape, you'll get yours when you evolve again, just you wait.
With my core as large as it's going to get at my current evolution, my max MP now sits at a rather impressive 530. This is a heck of a lot more evolutionary energy than I've ever had to work with before. A nervous energy starts to bubble within as I get ready to take the final step.
[Alright then. Time to evolve.]
Granin smiles wide.
[What?] I ask him.
[Me? I just love this stuff,] he shrugs, [powerful monsters and evolution have literally been my life's work. Give me a break if I get excited.]
[Doesn't hurt that I'm also a candidate for an ancient that you identified either, does it?]
His smile widens.
[I have to admit that it does add a certain zest,] he agrees. [Where are you going to do this? Here?]
[No,] I sigh, [they want me back in the other chamber where monsters won't spawn.]
Which means I have to walk back. Yay.
-x-X-x-
· It doesn't take long to make our way back to the chamber in which I force fed myself in order to afford those mutations. Despite the pain and discomfort, I'm super excited since each step is taking me closer to my next form. A new and more powerful me is on the horizon! Sadly, almost all of that enthusiasm drains out of me when I see what is waiting for me outside the chamber.
Filled with ire, I stalk up towards the morons and start yelling at them.
"Dammit, Beyn! What the heck are you doing here?!"
The priest and his acolytes are gathered at the entrance to the chamber, all dressed in their robes with the antennae sewn to the top with their hands in the air as if summoning the great sky god. At my yell, they all flinch and turn towards me, bowing deeply once they see me coming. It's Beyn who first replies, speaking to me with his human voice, which I obviously can't understand.
"I have no idea what you're saying, man. Give me a minute."
The priest looks frustrated by his inability to communicate via pheromones despite being able to understand them. How would he even 'speak' via scent? What sort of difference can a Class make in a human body? I whip together some mind mana and reach out to the one armed human.
[Well?] I demand.
[O GREAT ONE! WE HAVE HEARD OF YOUR ASCENSION AND HAVE COME TO - ]
[Loud! Tone it down you oaf!]
[Ah! I apologise great one... My brothers and sisters have heard word of your ascension to a higher state of being through the Colony. We have no desire to interfere in the process, but merely wish to be present for this holy and sacred occasion.]
Seriously?! He's so sincere too! All of them are! They're staring at me with such light and hope in their eyes!
[Alright, fine! Just stand outside the chamber and try not to be a nuisance. I can't believe you were even allowed this close to the brood.]
The look of joy that breaks over the priest's face is so bright it almost burns away all ten thousand of my retinas. He immediately turns to the others and within seconds, all of them are shouting with joy and openly weeping.
"Quiet, would you!? The brood chambers are right next to this place! If you disturb the young, don't think the brood tenders will go lightly on you."
When they receive my pheromone message the gathered antmancers regain control of themselves and return to a much quieter form of dumb behaviour. How did any of these guys survive the siege? They're clearly damaged. They look so damn happy though, I just don't have the heart to chase them away.
"All right, move aside please. I need to get into the chamber."
As I walk past them, a few reach out to try and lay hands on my carapace, which I wouldn't really mind, but before they can touch me their hands are slapped away by small tentacles that emerge from the dark shadows on my back. Crinis says no, apparently. Inside the chamber, I settle into a comfortable position with the triad of Shapers assembled before me.
[Crinis, Tiny and Invidia. You guys chow down on the left over Biomass whilst I get settled. Once I start evolving, I'll be in your care until I wake up, okay?]
[Yes, Master!]
[It ssssshall, be ssssso.]
Tiny is already eating...
[Alright kid, you ready?] Granin asks.
[Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. Why are you guys here anyway? Aren't we basically done with the advice process and such?]
Corun steps forward.
[Yeah, we were just hoping to hear about the options you get in the evolution menu. We, as in, the cult, doc.u.ment these sorts of things and there's precious little information for powerful ant evolutions. Like, almost none.]
[Look, I don't mind you guys knowing about some of this stuff, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you taking it back to your cult. Come to think of it, will you guys even be welcome back with the Shapers?]
[Unlikely,] Granin shrugs, [bridges are pretty much burnt to the ground at this point. We can keep the info under our hat if that's what you want. There's a good chance we can learn more about your species and the different ways the System views your progress through the options you're given.]
[Alright then, here we go.]
Come on then Gandalf, let's get this show on the road.
[Would you like to use the evolution menu?]
Hit me!
[Congratulations on reaching the maximum level for your current species. Evolution will allow you to change your form and increase your stats as a monster.
Warning: evolving will make securing XP and Biomass more difficult as fewer rewards are given for preying on creatures less evolved than yourself.
Your evolution options are as follows: (All options are formica sapiens)
o Grand Major
o Senior Ant Mage
o Worker Commander
o Ant Archmage (special)
o Colony Guardian (special)
o Hive General (special)
o Elemental Ant (rare)
o Diamond Soldier (rare)
o All-seeing Scout (rare)
o Mature Colony Paragon (rare)]
[Holy moly! That's a lotta options!]
[How many did you get?] Granin asks, his voice intent.
[Three normal, three special and four rare.]
Corun whistles and Torrina looks impressed.
[That's a good number, means the System sees lots of potential paths in you. Only having one option isn't necessarily bad, but it means your avenues to develop have been narrowed to only a single path. Having lots at this stage means there's many directions for you that the System views as viable.]
I check through the list again.
[Looks like the rare options I saw last time aren't popping up again. Nothing about the Nascent Hive Mind or Collective Mage are here. I was kind of expecting they might still show in the list, perhaps in a different form.]
[Generally speaking, when a monster turns its back on a specialised path, the System won't present that option again,] Torrina says as Corun starts scribbling down everything I say into a little notepad. [Rare evolution choices tend to be very specific and often cut off paths when selecting them, so when you didn't take those options, the System disregarded them for you. Generic choices are still likely to show up all the way though. I'm guessing that there are Soldier and Worker type evolutions in the normal choices, right?]
I nod.
[Just so.]
Well, I'm not going to complain if the System no longer wants to turn me into an immobile mind controlling brain.
[Alright then, let's go through these. I'm going to assume you want all the descriptions and everything?]
All three of the golgari nod eagerly.
Sigh.
-x-X-x-
In the interests of expanding the Colony's knowledge of future evolution options, I take the time to explore the normal evolutions I've been offered and let the eager triad doc.u.ment the stat gains, organ benefits and descriptions offered by the System. In truth, the stat gain for even these 'ordinary' evolutions was much higher than I expected and my hopes climbed sky-high for what the more delectable 'rare' choices would have to offer. With the first three options out of the way, I take the time to go through each of the special evolutions carefully. You never know if there might be a diamond in the rough!
[Special Evolution: Ant Archmage. +60 bonus to Cunning, +60 Bonus to Willpower. This evolution provides a significant boost to the power of the mind, along with a Manaweave Core Crystal. This new organ grows around the core and focuses the user's mind on the mana contained within, making it easier to handle and use. A new eye is also granted, the 'mana eye', which allows the Ant Archmage to project mental sensing abilities through the eye to increase their effectiveness.]
This is a special evolution?! Look at these stats! And the bonus organs are nuts? Manaweave Core Crystal? Excuse me?! This seems like a super useful organ for a monster like me who focuses more on traditional spellcasting using mana from the core than most monsters who rely on mana glands.
Granin looks impressed with the offering.
[That's better than I expected, to be honest. If you wanted to focus on a pure spellcasting build, this wouldn't be a bad option at all. Don't underestimate the Mana Eye either. It might not be as expensive as the crystal in terms of evolution energy, but it's no slouch. You can think of it as directly bumping your mana sense up a rank for free, and that's before you mutate it.]
[That's... super good. Isn't it?]
[Heck yes it is,] Corun seems excited, [if you took this option you'd almost be as good at spell shaping as Invidia!]
Being as strong as one of my pets, one that I already defeated, doesn't make me all that happy. Still, the gulf between Invidia's and my mastery of magic is vast. Even getting close to his level will be hard. It's tricky to remember sometimes, since he's just a little floating eyeball with tiny wings and arms, but Invidia's mass is like, ninety percent brain.
[The mage ants will want to know about this one for sure,] I muse, [make sure you guys let them know when you complete your report.]
[Of course,] Granin nods.
Onto the next.
[Special Evolution: Colony Guardian. +80 bonus to Might. +80 bonus to Toughness. Focused on physical prowess, the Colony Guardian receives a large bonus to physical stats, furthermore, additional purchase of physical stats are cheaper during this evolution. The carapace of the Colony Guardian will be reforged into Demonic Chitin (warning, this will reset all mutations).]
[There it is,] Granin whistles, [the first reset option.]
I'm a bit confused.
[The raw stats are great, but the bonuses don't seem as good as the first option. Am I missing something?]
[You're probably undervaluing what's being offered quite a bit,] Torrina frowns, thinking. [A reset consumes quite a bit of energy, so getting one for free is always an excellent thing. As to the physical stat cost reduction, this is also an excellent saving. If you poured all your evolutionary energy into physical stats in this evolution, you could gain a truly monstrous boost. It's like getting bonus evolutionary energy from thin air.]
[When you put it like that... I suppose it's better than I thought.]
[Honestly, out of the two options we've seen so far, I think this one is better,] Granin advises, [You would sacrifice your mental stats in this evolution, but you could make yourself a physical powerhouse. Still, as we discussed, I wouldn't recommend a carapace reset this time around.]
[Right.]
... and demonic chitin might sound strong, but it surely isn't as shiny as living diamond. Just wait for me, my precious...
[Special Evolution: Hive General. +20 bonus to Cunning, +20 bonus to Will, +40 bonus to Might, +40 bonus to Toughness. A frontline leader, the Hive general benefits from mixed stats and grows in power the more of their kind fight on the battlefield. The Hive Storm Aura gland will provide a scaling bonus to physical prowess, healing and ferocity to all members of the same species within range, the more affected by the aura, the stronger it becomes. In addition, a Collective Tactical Cortex will be added.]
Yeesh. This one sounds strong also...
[This is good stuff,] Granin looks impressed. [No reset, but that scaling aura is nasty. I've heard about it popping up a few times in the past when hive insects have spawned, it never ends well. Seeing it at tier six kind of surprises me, but then again not many insect monsters get that high, certainly not communal ones.]
It almost sounds a little insulting when he phrases it like that, but I can't disagree with him. With tens of thousands of members, the Colony will struggle to push many members to tier six anytime soon.
[What the heck does the cortex do?] I ask him, I want to see if he knows before I check with the System.
[From what I understand it's like having a mind map of every member of your species within range. You know where they are and how they're doing, generally speaking. I suppose the idea is that you can instantly respond to changes on the battlefield.]
[Fair enough.]
I double check quickly and the golgari is spot on. Granin really knows his stuff.
[Alright, enough with the appetisers,] the old Shaper rubs his hands together, [time for the main course! Let's take a look at the rare options!]
Just as excited as he is, I fire up the menu for the first of the rare options.
[Rare evolution: Elemental Ant. +80 bonus to Cunning, +80 bonus to Will, +20 bonus to Might, +20 bonus to Toughness. The Elemental Ant is a force of nature, with devastating spells that cover all the basic elements. In pursuit of Elemental perfection, some potential is lost. A mythic Omni-Elemental Mana Flux is formed around the core. The Antennae will be remade into Spectrum Crystal, able to better channel elemental mana and sense its flow. An All-Season Eye is granted. As a price, all non-elemental mana glands will be removed and banned. Non elemental mana based skills will be unavailable in the menu.]
Yikes! This is some heavy stuff! Holy stat gain! I relay the information to Granin and he once again nods appreciatively.
[I'm starting to think the System will reward communal insects who make it to the upper tiers. Spectrum Crystal is not third strata, maybe not even fourth... It's clear that your rank five fusion has opened this option for you. I have to say, it's strong. Very strong.]
[What is this Mana Flux thing?]
[A Mana Flux is like a ... whirlpool. It draws mana in and changes its attribute before storing it in the core. This is the only way I know of that a core can hold attributed mana.]
[And since its omni-element...]
[It'll hold all of the elements. You won't even need a construct to change it,] he confirms.
Wow-ee. This is impressive stuff.
[And the Crystal thing?]
[It's basically a substance that reacts well to elemental mana. If you were to cast spells through your antennae, they'd become more powerful. Mutations would only enhance that further.]
Right.
[The eye?]
[Lets you see elemental fluctuations. It's a specialised version of the mana eye from earlier.]
[All of this seems like good stuff.]
[It is,] he agrees, [that's why the cost is high. You'll cut off a lot of future potential, but the payoff is massive.]
This bears some thinking about...