Chrysalis

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

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

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

I think about though, I’ve sacrificed a significant upgrade to my stats in order to condense the core which has given me, in effect, only ten MP that I can’t use. Was this really the correct

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

worry I’ve made the wrong choice, the prospect of being able

back up to five and evolve again? Which also means I’ll be able

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 evolving would

skill point available right now but I don’t want to spend it yet. 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

regained full control of my body and shaken the dust off my mind as I reach the end

walk out into the

place is so

maybe even seventy meters high, so high I 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, to be able to see the ends of

I don’t have regular 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

also explains why

probably be the first 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

Any clues Gandalf?

...

be surprised at this state. For all his immense wisdom the grey one has been very taciturn, or

little extra advice would surely be helpful

left for me to do but move into this new

slope, leaving the shelter of the small tunnel and

a large enough word to describe this place, it feels like a fully enclosed world, like a biome

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

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

the grasses 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. These things are easily twice the height of an