Chrysalis

[The time has come, Crinis! Time to seize your destiny. To elevate yourself to a higher plane. A new tier, if you will. You shall become stronger, more powerful, more excellent in every way. But choices will need to be made. You must navigate the labyrinthine System and make the selections that speak true to you. Be certain of your path and firm in your convictions! What you select matters not, only how you feel about your choices matters. Reach deep inside the infinite void of endless murder that lies within and be true to the self you find there! Do you hear me Crinis!]

[I- I do! Master!]

[Good energy! You've come a long way, Crinis! Tiny and I are proud of you!]

[HRM] Tiny grunts.

[Exactly! We are with you all the way. There is nothing to fear except fear itself! And that fear is something we will fight! On the beaches! And the trenches! Or tunnels, I suppose…]

Dammit, I'm losing it!

[I've got it, Master! Don't worry, I'll be fine.]

[Okay, great!]

Phew. I was really running out of steam there. I need to see if there's a pep-talk skill. Any help I can get would be welcome, because I suck.

[Got your mutations sorted then?]

[Yes.]

[Special core's been absorbed?]

[Yes.]

Then we are all systems go. Let me just check your core

I scuttle up to Crinis and touch my

Name: Crinis

Level: 20 (core) (III)

Might: 90

Toughness: 80

Cunning: 41

Will: 42

HP: 160/160

MP: 230/230

Level 12 (III); Expert Shredding Level 16 (III); Greater Tremor Sensing Level 5 (III); Barbaric Dismembering Level 1 (III); Greater Fear Inspiration Level 9 (II); Mana Transformation Level 11 (III); Slick Tentacle Walking Level 4 (III); Advanced Tentacle

Grisly Teeth + 15; Omniscient Mana Sensory Gland +15, Reservoir Shadow Magic Gland +15,

Species: Shadow Murder Orb

Skill points: 27

Biomass: 14

she can get it to at least the third rank. The real juice starts to come out at around that level. The

would hopefully take a bit more of a beating. She chose to emphasise the disintegrating aspect of her Maw, anything that went in there would start to break down at a fairly rapid clip. Nasty. Fused her stomach and now it truly is starting to get bottomless. Her dividing tentacles were fused and how she's able to produce even more of the damn things. She chose to emphasise the cutting aspect of her barbs and how they are sharp. Should help her cut through sterner defences. The teeth… I don't want to talk about the teeth. They scare me. Her sensory gland was fused, increasing range and granularity of her detection. Her Shadow magic gland was fused, bringing the properties of rapid refilling and greater capacity. The shadow flesh generator now spits the stuff out even faster than before. The Shadow eye was interesting. She chose options to increase the clarity of her shadow sight and then reinforce it. Makes a world of difference, I'm told. As to the tentacle conductor, she surprised me a little. I thought for sure she would increase the number of tentacles it could control, but instead she gave it finer control, allowing the sub-brain to make incredibly fine movements without

herself at all! Looking at this powerful, intelligent and accomplished pet, my heart is filled with pride. If I could, I would shed

Crinis. Go

[Okay!]

more before she slithers into the corner of the pen and falls still.

she have a little privacy

OF

are incorrigible. I can't find in my heart to get mad at them though. They're just obsessed with pets to a truly unhealthy degree. Helping each other evolve their pets is