Chrysalis

As I ate the mana cloud beneath me grew more intense, radiating a blinding glow that forced me to turn my head away to avert my eyes.

Curse my lack of eyelids! Sometimes an entity just has to blink!

There is a bright flash and then the intensity of the light fades, allowing me to turn back and observe what the heck just took place.

The mana cloud is still there, lazily swirling as the glowing energy leeches out of the walls, but there is also a centipede! A brand new claw centipede uncurls itself and upon seeing me staring down at it, immediately opens its claws and charges!

CHOMP!

[You have defeated level 1 claw centipede]

[You have gained experience]

That was one short life…

Holy bushiness of the grey one! This is a spawn point?!

I hadn't had confirmation of this point yet, I had no idea how all of these monsters were being created. I hadn't seen any monsters procreating, giving birth or any such thing, but that didn't mean that it didn't or couldn't happen. Here though I have proof! Evidence! Monsters are spawned from concentrated mana points in the ground, possibly also in caves!

But why? And how?! Is the creation mana I saw in the menu? If so, who is doing the creating? Is this simply a natural phenomenon in this world, a by-product of mana? It seems ridiculous to suggest that in any place the strange energy form that is mana exists, monsters will begin to spontaneously pop out of the ground!

going

construct a mound around a spawn point, reinforcements would literally pop out of

its followers together, creating the mound

Interesting nonetheless.

course, the other aspect of this discovery is

recover its intensity, growing brighter with each passing second. It is entirely possible this location will spit out a new centipede every hour!

We aren't too far from the ant hill here, it should be possible, if tedious to dig a tunnel that will connect this location to the nest. Such an endeavor would probably take a full day of digging, even with

how will I manage this location? I would probably need to put down a pheromone trail to bring workers here so they are in position

and divert the workforce just for one centipede an hour… but securing such a safe

feeling I gradually realize what

tunnel will be constructed. To make the investment of workers worth the time and effort, I should also create another pitfall network here, so that a

do in terms of trap resetting but once a day should still be sufficient for

is this is

to embrace the zen of ants! Dig Anthony! Dig with your very

takes me almost two days

amuses himself by immediately smashing the spawned centipedes and consuming the Biomass, then napping until the next one spawns, roughly an hour later. I'm starting to notice a few changes to my ape companion, his hands seem larger, his fur thicker and even his eyes appear to be sharper than before. I can't be certain but I think he might be starting to spend the Biomass he is gaining. Perhaps he couldn't

getting stronger then

surface, only to return and dig again. I'm once again grateful for my improved stats since I was able to power through the work

level the excavation skill