Chrysalis

After discussing the various benefits of the Elemental Ant, which were impressive to say the least, I was ready to move on. As cool as the evolution is, I'm not about to throw away my precious gravity mana. Powerful elemental spells? Sure, that'd be great and all, but would they really match up to what the Gravity Bomb can do? Can they match up to what the gravity bomb will be able to do in the future? The more mental strength I accumulate, the deadlier the gravity bomb will get. If I ever manage to actually snipe the Gravity Mana Affinity skill, then my proficiency will soar!

Besides, trading future growth for strength in the present is just not my style. I'd much rather go the other way!

Moving onto the next option, the Diamond Soldier. I've got a good feeling about this one!

[Rare Evolution: Diamond Soldier. +20 bonus to Cunning, +20 bonus to Will, +100 bonus to Might, +100 bonus to Toughness. The Diamond Soldier is an unbreakable frontline warrior and leader who is capable of turning the tide of battle single handed, without drawing on the support of others of its kind. The carapace and mandibles will be reforged into Fetid Diamond, a material as hard as it is toxic, enemies who draw too close, or suffer a bite, will experience the immensely powerful poison embedded within (warning, this will reset all mutations). In addition, a diamond parasite hive will be added.]

Uh… what? Granin winces.

[I was worried about this happening,] he says.

[What do you mean?]

[This is basically the option you wanted next evolution. Despite how it sounds, this is actually better than I thought you might get at this stage. Fetid Diamond is a fourth strata material, it's exceptionally powerful. Hard as nails, much more so than your current exo-skeleton, and even a touch of the stuff is capable of killing the unprepared. Your mandibles would effectively get not only a hardness upgrade, but an exceptionally potent toxin upgrade for free.]

[But what's this about a parasite hive?! I'm not sure how I feel about that!]

Torrina raises her hands in a calming gesture.

[It's a good thing, even if it sounds… a little weird. Basically a small nest of symbiotic parasites would be created within the carapace and they excrete material that hardens and toughens your shell over time. It's a powerful upgrade.]

I'm really not comfortable with voluntarily adding parasites to my carapace.

fifth strata, like I told you about.

[The odds are diminished…]

[Right,] he nods.

Well damn.

Diamond even shiny?]

the

of a dull yellow-green,] Torrina

REJECTED, DAMMIT.

Soldier! The stats are great, the cash-ins are good, just the material is wrong! What a waste! If this costs me my perfect diamond upgrade next time, I'm going to be super annoyed! Annoyed I say! Bah to you, Gandalf! Even if I have to pay for the cash-ins myself, I'm getting me a sweet,

Next!

to Will, +80 bonus to Might, +80 bonus to Toughness. To see all and know all is the purpose of the All-Seeing Scout. The eyes are remade into Demonic Lenses (warning, this will reset all mutations). In addition, a Visual Array Matrix will be added to

'All-Seeing Scout'… makes me

potent non-visual 'sight'. The two Demonic Lenses don't act like eyes at all, more like receptors that will coordinate with the Spectral Wave Eye to capture signals that normal eyes just can't see.

Spectral Eye is like the antenna and the Matrix is like a computer. The eye detects the signals collected by the dishes and the matrix interprets it all. I mean, it sounds handy and all, but I'm not convinced that it's

pipes up, [sensory upgrades are expensive, very much so, and a package like this is pretty much top of the line for a monster of your tier. You'd be impossible to sneak up on, and don't underestimate the benefits that these

I turn to Granin.

'see' a short distance into stone if my memory serves. And this is all before mutations. You can upgrade the lenses to be more sensitive, have longer range, collect in a wider area, specialise in a certain type of input, and ditto with the Spectral Eye. A small side benefit, demonic lenses are, as I said, not eyes. They're hard, much harder than chitin. You'd

them before they find you, it's all extremely important, especially for the stealthy, one on one style combat that scouts tend to engage in. If I spent more time roaming out on my own than I did

hesitate for

tell you about the next evolution,] I tell the triad, [it has to do with my current species and there's a

a look at your core,] Granin muses, stroking his chin, [I can make a few guesses, obviously, but I was never confident I