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 I’ve had?

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

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

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

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

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 means I’ll be able to gain more of the

amass skill points as an unevolved creature which could allow me to gain more levels and skill points

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

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

walk out into the open air once

this place is

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

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 to look in many directions

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

eyes has been the correct choice for me and they’ll 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

Any clues Gandalf?

...

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

little extra advice would surely be

anything left for me to do but

leaving the shelter of the small tunnel and exposing myself to the open air of this incredible

this place, it feels

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 the

just so alien, for the first time I

When they don’t respond

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