Chrysalis

Chapter 24

I don’t know how much time had passed before I regain consciousness. The light slowly returns to my eyes and sensation to my limbs.

Deep inside my thorax (the middle bit) a hot, boiling feeling is slowly fading away, drawing in a dense ball of heat. Probably my new core.

Groggily I get my legs underneath me and start slowly moving through the tunnel again. No matter how weak I feel, I cannot stay here to rest, pursuers could be dropping down the shaft to investigate even now. I have to move.

Gradually my muddled thoughts begin to straighten themselves and my coordination slowly returns. As I navigate my way across the rocky tunnel I check my status.

Name: Anthony

Level: 1 (core)

Might: 15

Toughness: 12

Cunning: 25

Will: 18

HP: 30

MP: 10

Skills: Digging level 4; Improved Acid Shot Level 1; Grip Level 4; Bite Level 4; Advanced Stealth Level 1; Tunnel Sense Level 3;

Mutations: Eyes +4, Antennae +2, Acid +3, Legs +1

Species: Hatchling Ant Worker (Formica)

Skill points: 1

Biomass: 0

accumulated experience, all the ridiculous good luck I’ve had? It hasn’t

in my heart as I survey my new status, but when I notice that my MP has gone from zero to ten it raises my spirit a bit. Looks like my hunch was correct and the monster core is the vital ingredient to mastering magic for me and my fellow creatures down here. This could explain why so many monsters were drawn to the pool in the first cavern I was in. By drinking the water which was somehow suffused with

I’ve sacrificed a significant upgrade to my stats in order to condense the core which

likely more dangerous territory than I have experienced already, those increased stats would have been super

the wrong choice, the prospect of being able to use mana was just too

that bad, doesn’t it mean that I’ll be able to level back up to five

an unevolved creature which could allow me to

once they reach level five. I won’t even look at the skills menu in case mana shaping or spell chanting has appeared in the list. I may not be able to resist the temptation! Be disciplined Anthony! Don’t let your precious skills waste

off my mind as I reach the end of the tunnel. Beyond

I walk out into the open air

place

and I would certainly plummet to my own death. To my left and right the walls curve away into the distance to a place I cannot see, my eyesight

have to blink, more to the point I can’t since I have no eyelids. Secondly, my eyes don’t have one point of focus, unlike a human who can see the one place

explains why I’ve been so frustrated by the blurry nature of my vision, especially over a distance. It probably also explains why I’ve been

the first body part I mutate to +5. Since skills can evolve at +5 I’m very excited

Any clues Gandalf?

...

surprised at this state. For all his immense wisdom the grey one has been very taciturn, or perhaps he’s just

extra advice would surely be helpful

for me to do but move into this

I more down the slope, leaving the shelter of the small

to describe this place, it feels like

my eyes to see as far into the distance as I can. Strange twisted trees, huge oversized

is just so alien, for the first time I really think to myself, this is absolutely another

claw, snipping at them to see if they react. When they don’t respond I move toward a

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