Chrysalis

My mind snaps back to its regular housing and I take a moment to reorient myself. I’m still where I was before, partially buried in a mound of workers with the Queen standing in front of me, quite close.

"Are you alright child?" she asks, seeing me suddenly look so fatigued.

"I’m completely fine!" I gasp out as my brain continues to melt into sludge, "how are you? How did it all go?"

I’m anxious to know if there was any pain or discomfort during the process. I could have tested it on my pets but there is a chance that the skill would have a different effect on them since they have a different relationship with me than most monsters. In the end I went ahead and worked on the Queen hoping that it would all be fine.

"I am fine" the Queen assures me, "it tickled a bit"

....

Tickled?

So having the fundamental makeup of your being tinkered with only results in a tickle?

Thank goodness!

"That’s great!" I cry, "excellent! The whole process has been a success! Hopefully from now own our family will experience a great gain in strength!"

I stick around to counsel the Queen about spending some Biomass to mutate her egg production organs. She is quite reluctant at first but after trying several arguments I eventually tell her that by upgrading all three organs to +5 it will greatly increase the effect of the changes I’ve made to her core. This isn’t really a lie. If she upgrades those organs and chooses some good mutation advancements for them the rate of egg production will increase as the overall efficiency of the system goes up. I don’t know for sure what advancement choices will appear but it isn’t hard to guess that almost all of them will be based around speeding up the process, reducing the cost of each egg or improving the stats of the offspring, any of which would be fine!

in particular was exceptionally draining. If I’d attempted to do it with my old self I’d have had absolutely no chance of getting anywhere at all. My respect for the Sophos only increases the further I walk

rather because my antennae are picking up something

Gah!

it?!

Come on man! Action stations!] I blearily

bearings he

and moving, carrying me along for the ride. With his massive arms he reaches out and takes hold of the tunnel walls before dragging his massive frame upwards as if climbing on

the Queen’s chamber it is buzzing like a hive, the workers jittering this way and that and some of them stream upwards to the peak of the hill. The majority of them seem to want to remain and defend the Queen albeit in a highly agitated manner. Buried somewhere in that nervous mass of the

this stage I’ve mostly sorted myself out. My headache hasn’t fully receded but it’s much improved from when I began my rest. I’ve managed to notice Crinis and Vibrant are relaxing on my person as per usual, which is something of a relief. I’d rather they be where I can see them

makes his way out in the light at the top of the anthill I can finally take in the situation. Hundreds of ants have already appeared in response to

see something I truly did not expect

wagons pulled by extremely poorly looking horses. At

dirt and potentially dried blood becomes ecstatic at the sight of me and runs forward, spooking the workers considerably. They gnash their mandibles at

don’t really want to kill him of anything. Besides, judging by the look of all of these people something rather serious has gone down. I recognise a few others in the group as members of the village that had rallied around me and the Queen during our short lived cooperation. In fact, the old lady I had

to his knees and begins proclaiming in a loud voice, turning to indicate

....

to feed the dark one’s ego, doesn’t

a darn good thing I’ve evolved and

front of me I summon

but so careful and painstaking was I that it takes a full ten minutes for me finally complete it. During this time the humans have started to grow increasingly fidgety but the

I admire the fiendishly complex final product in my mind. I’ve no idea why it’s so outlandishly difficult to construct but it’s done! Now to put