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!

is going

the centipedes however , it makes so much sense. Of course the centipedes would construct a mound around a spawn point, reinforcements would literally pop out of thin air

the noble centipede that gathers its followers together, creating the mound around a

Interesting nonetheless.

of this discovery

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

to connect it to the nest without drawing too much attention. 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

I would probably need to put down a pheromone

worth it to create such a long tunnel and divert the workforce just for one centipede an hour… but securing such a safe and reliable

feeling I gradually realize what

of workers worth the time and effort, I should also create another pitfall network here, so that a number of workers could remain in this location and still be efficient in

to do in terms of

this is going to be

embrace the zen of ants!

takes me almost two days of

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

case, if he is getting

the timeless mantra of the ant, digging, carrying dirt and rock to the 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 better than I could

was also able to level the excavation skill another two