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

My hard work, my accumulated experience, all the ridiculous good luck

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

to condense the core which has given me,

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

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

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

this is actually better. I’ll have a second opportunity to amass skill points as an unevolved creature which could allow me to

I have 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. I may not be able to resist the temptation! Be disciplined Anthony! Don’t let your

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

deep breath I walk out into the open air

place is

certainly plummet to my own death. To my left and right the walls curve away into the distance to

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

been so frustrated by the blurry 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

has been the correct choice for me and they’ll probably be the first body part I mutate to +5. Since skills can evolve

Any clues Gandalf?

...

well. I shouldn’t be surprised at this state. For all his immense wisdom the grey one has been very taciturn, or perhaps

little extra advice would surely be helpful

me to do but move

more down the slope, leaving the shelter of the small tunnel and exposing myself

place, it

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

just so alien, for the first time I really think to myself,

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

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