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

Why am I level one Gandalf?! My hard work, my accumulated experience, all the ridiculous good luck I’ve

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 mana they were able to absorb it and hasten the formation

in order to condense the core which has

to advance now into what is likely more dangerous territory than I have experienced already,

worry I’ve made the wrong choice, the prospect of being able to use mana was just

it mean that I’ll be able to level back up to five and evolve again? Which also means I’ll be able to gain more of the precious skill points as I

unevolved creature which could allow me to gain

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

body and shaken the dust off my mind as I reach the end of the tunnel. Beyond here lies the vast underground space I

I walk out into the

this place is so

absolutely refuse to climb on it. One slip 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 isn’t good enough, even at plus four,

don’t 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

nature of my vision, especially over a distance. It probably also explains why I’ve been able to avoid having anything sneak up on me, since I’m essentially watching every direction

body part I mutate to +5. Since skills can evolve at +5 I’m very excited to see what will happen when a mutation reaches that level. Will I be able to advance my mutations

Any clues Gandalf?

...

For all his immense wisdom the grey one has been very taciturn, or perhaps he’s just

little extra advice would

left for me

shelter of the small

even a large enough word to describe this place, it

as I can. Strange twisted trees, huge oversized mushrooms and a carpet of plant-life underneath face me everywhere I turn. The whole ... forest ...

first time

and plants with my front claw, snipping at them to see if they react. When they don’t respond I move toward

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