Chrysalis

This is one huge pile of food… there's no way I can fit it all in! I kind of want to call my pets over and have them indulge as well, but I feel bad about it since the Colony has gathered all of this for me. I guess I'll dive in and if there's any left when I'm done I'll make sure the others get their fair share.

[Alright gang. Get some rest but keep an eye out. I'll make sure you get your food later, alright?]

[Yesssss,] Invidia says but I can see his eye blazing with green light as he eyes off my food.

[Yes, Master,] Crinis says, happy to attach herself once more to my carapace and allows her shape to blob.

[Hurrrrr…] Tiny growls, the saliva pouring from his mouth as he openly gnashes his teeth as if eating already.

[That's gross, Tiny! Just move over there, alright? We ate a bunch of demons in the tunnels not that long ago. Mutate or something.]

With my badgering, he finally turns his back on the feast and sulks in the corner. Five minutes later, he's asleep.

[Alright then, Granin. What's the first thing you want to discuss?] I sigh as I start to tuck into the mountain of food.

[The Rescindic Principle, obviously.]

heck was

[it's going to be one of

grunts. [It's a good idea that we discuss your options since there are likely to be a few built into the choices you get when you evolve. If you have a clear picture of what you want, then it'll be

shouldn't just reset everything and get a totally awesome new body? Just get it all over and

and I can tell he wants to facepalm but is resisting by sheer force of will. Corun doesn't quite succeed and smack himself in

problem? So my mutations get set back to zero, but if I sit here in the Colony and they pump me full of Biomass, I'll

nods before he waves her forward. [Anthony,] the talented young Shaper says, [there are a few reasons why you don't want to do that, although you can, the option will be available to you. One reason is that the further you go down the tiers of evolution, the better reset options you will find. I don't doubt that there will be many options available only to second and possibly a few from third strata monsters when you evolve this time. The next time you evolve, you will see a few that may normally be seen on the fourth strata. Constantly

five? For each mutable part of my body? That's… insane. I'd have to eat through half a strata to amass that. And at tier six, it'd have to be the third strata at that. Although the Colony could pour resources into me, the

at tier seven, and at tier eight, and so on. A better, more efficient strategy is to cycle critical body parts and reset them every few evolutions, if you get that far. Think of everything you consider the most important parts of your body and divide them into three groups.

as I think over what she said. The sheer Biomass cost of resetting my entire body has pretty much pushed me away from the idea. I mean, I could do it, but to get that much food into me would mean I'd

were other

would describe as Monster Dysmorphia. Which is to say

breaks in, scratching his head. [In the first strata, a monster's body is more or less straightforward and the way mana is used to form them is simple and uncomplicated. When you get to the third and