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 had? It

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 mana they

significant upgrade to my stats in order to condense the core which

territory than I have experienced already, those increased stats would have been

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

to level one may not be that bad, doesn’t it mean that I’ll be able to level back up to five and evolve again? Which also

have a second opportunity to amass skill points as an unevolved creature which could allow me to gain more levels and skill points at a faster pace than

several skills at level four which will need to be advanced 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.

off my mind as I reach the end of the tunnel. Beyond here lies the vast underground

walk out

this place

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, to be able to see

eyes like a human, but compound eyes. This means a few things, firstly, my eyes don’t need to be wet, so I 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 place they are directly looking at in great detail, my eyes are able

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

skills can evolve at +5 I’m very excited to see what will happen when a mutation reaches

Any clues Gandalf?

...

all his immense wisdom the grey one has

extra advice would surely be helpful

isn’t anything left for me to

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

enough word to describe this place, it feels like

to see as far into the distance as I can. Strange twisted trees, huge oversized mushrooms and a carpet of plant-life underneath face me everywhere I turn. The whole ... forest ... pulses

the first time I really think

react. When

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