Chrysalis

Suddenly gripped by fear I hunker down and try to keep myself as still as possible. Don’t breathe, don’t even blink! Blink and your dead! Wait... I don’t have eyelids! Settle, Anthony. Play it cool. My mentality is frazzled after being thrown into this unexpected situation. I have just the Skill for this. Without hesitating, I sink my mind deep into the soothing calm of meditation.

When using this Skill, emotion fades into the back of my mind, brushing against the edges of my awareness instead of rushing to the forefront and dominating my decision making. To be honest, I should probably spend almost all of my time sunk deep into the meditation Skill. I can recognise that when I use the Skill and my emotions don’t cloud my thinking. The problem is that I don’t really like the feeling of being this cold and logical, it doesn’t feel like me. So I tend to avoid it, even though I recognise how much better my decision making would be. The more I use the Skill, the higher level it would get as well. Who knows what depths of emotionlessness are possible as it continues to rank up?

Those considerations are for another time, right now I need to focus and get out of this situation cleanly. My thoughts clear and I watch the six figures with cold detachment, taking in details that I hadn’t focused on before. The armour the stone people are wearing is minimal. Their arms and chests are mostly bare, they have arms guards strapped to their forearms, the glint of hard metal standing out against their dark grey skin. A variety of weapons are visible on their backs or hips. Large curved blades and two handed swords on their backs, as oversized as one would expect due to their massive frames. One of looks like he’s carrying a Buster Sword! Look at the size of that thing! A shiver runs throughout outside of my awareness as the image of that massive edge shearing through my carapace flits through my mind.

Don’t worry, the diamond carapace is inviolable, it will never fail you. Their eyes scan the clearing constantly as they take in the signs. Their movements feel professional and clean, they never move too far from each other, their hands stand on the hilts of their weapons and they talk constantly, muttering low whispers to each other. Presumably about what they see or sense.

To combat the ever-present darkness they each hold a glowing crystal in one hand which emits a strong beam of light, like a

I need to be careful here. I know for a fact that mana detecting Skills are possible for humans as well, and I’ve seen humans use mana detecting crystals. If they bust out something like that, my overloaded tier five core is going to light up like a firework.

I’ve seen enough. Staying still any longer than this carries way too much risk.

[We need to sneak out of here team. Get yourself ready to go. We move slow and silent.]

My two pets give me their assent and I shift my legs slow and steady, gradually pulling myself further away from the clearing. I don’t know why these six stone people are down here, and as much as I’d like to get some information, I don’t want to risk it. I have no idea how powerful these people are. Nor do I want to start any beef. Maybe I launch a gravity bomb in there and wipe them out, get a bunch of experience and walk away laughing. Then three days later the entire expanse is flooded with very angry stone folks wondering where their team went and hunting for my impressive sparkly hide?! No way!

[Advanced Stealth (II) has reached Level 10, upgrade available.]

I’ll take it. Perfect timing for this particular upgrade. Without hesitation I spent the skill point to upgrade the rank of stealth. As the knowledge trickles into my mind I begin to employ the techniques that blossom into understanding, minimising my massive profile, using the shadows and lowering my weight with care to supress sound.

manage to take ten steps before my antennae sent a shock through my non-existent spine. A tingle of warning that sends phantasmic ripples off all over my

DUCK!

BOOM!

into the dirt to duck low. As

GO, GO! Get on

as he leaps to his feet and with one mighty bound sends himself flying up into the coral branches as they collapse around us. With my near three sixty degree vision I can see the

spinning like a road runner my muscles

BOOM!

Missed me!

has reached

Excellent! Keep running!

DASH!

around me fades to a blur. In my mind I can sense the six dim figures launching in pursuit, moving with incredible speed and precision. These people might be a higher level than I thought!

Detection skill? Another one of those enchanted crystal gizmos? Good ’ol fashion eyesight? At this point it doesn’t matter, I

you can

[Okay!]

and so much faster than I’ve ever seen before. In just a heartbeat it lashes out, slicing through everything in range and then it’s gone. This

defending my home or anything, I have no stakes here.

DASH!