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 accumulated experience, all the ridiculous good luck

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

I’ve sacrificed a significant upgrade to my stats in order to condense the core which has given me, in effect,

advance now into what is likely more dangerous territory than I have experienced already, those increased stats would have been

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

back up to five and evolve again? Which

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

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

dust off my mind as I reach the end of the

a deep breath I walk out into the

place

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

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

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

evolve at +5 I’m very excited to see

Any clues Gandalf?

...

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

extra advice would surely be

isn’t anything left for me to

of the small tunnel

enough word to describe this place, it feels

I descend, picking my way through the rocks I strain my eyes 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 with

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

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

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