Chrysalis

The larval sea, that's what I started to call it. I don't know how large that endless plain of black rock is, but I haven't seen a single inch of it that wasn't covered in demon larvae fighting to survive. Uncounted millions of them. It didn't take long to reach level five and unlock my first evolution, but I didn't take it immediately, there was so much I didn't know. Later, I'd maxed my mutations and formed a core, and only after that was I prepared to take the next step. Good thing that I did.

The hardest part was finding a place free from conflict where I felt safe in case the evolution knocked me out, which it did. Returning to the fray in my new form was almost too easy at first. The normal demon larvae couldn't hurt me, but my increased strength and more potent weapons gave me an absurd advantage. But that was only at first. It wasn't long before the others found me, others like me. Only then did I realise the unspoken rules of the plains, you weren't supposed to punch down, at least not too much. In order to evolve and grow beyond this second stage, I was supposed to prey on the others who had managed to evolve as I had.

So that's what I did. It reminded me of the old days in a way. No longer was the melee as intense or relentless as before, instead it was a series of duels, one on one battles of skill and wit that would give strength to the winner, death to the loser. I won. Of course I won.

Every now and again the smaller ones would gang up and try to bring me down, but I was larger, stronger and my Skills had advanced far beyond theirs. There was nothing they could do for me. In that way I reached level ten, but again I waited. Only when all of my mutations and my core were pushed to the limit was I prepared to make that step.

My final opponent was tough, having reinforced their hide during their evolution, which was the wrong choice. Although it was difficult for my claws to break through, their weapons weren't enough to inflict damage on me either. We fought for a long time, and though it may have appeared as though it was a standstill, I was always winning. When the defences of my foe finally gave way and the despair began to rise from them, I could almost smell it. A feeling of overwhelming, unrivalled joy shivered through me and I closed for the final blow, which is when I first heard it.

[Demonic Convergence has risen to level 2.]

The first time I managed to level that Skill. I pondered over what it meant later, with my meal complete and my hiding place secured, high on a precarious piece of rock with a crack running down one side. In the end, I didn't understand it, I couldn't work out why the Skill had levelled at that time. There wasn't anything I was doing consciously to activate it at the time. Was it perhaps passive in some way? But what way?

Developing Demon Larva, and each of the choices gave a flavour of different stats and bonuses. Most of my success had come with my claws, so I chose the option that would grant me the most physical power and came with augmentations to my two arms that allowed them to snap through the air as fast as whips. Other than almost doubling in size, my body didn't change much, still a sack of tar covered meat with a mouth

Larva, this time to Prime Demon Larva, but the choices were more divergent. I was careful, as an assassin should be, and examined every option with forensic detail, but I knew I couldn't hesitate too long. As I was going through these menus my rivals out in the larval sea were growing stronger. I'd come close to dying so many times already, a

and that's why offense came first. This evolution allowed me to add a weakening aura to my claws that would infect the mana of any enemy I struck, draining them of their energy and making them more

rest of the evolutionary energy, I used it to further enhance

of meat, but once again I had grown much larger, towering over my initial size. With my preparations complete, it was back down to the endless plains of battle. The weakest demons were now almost not worth the time it took to eat them, the second level not much better. It was for the others like me that

bewildering magic, blasting me with fire, dazzling me with attacks on my mind or launching beams of pure energy from their eyes. Others tough, hard as rocks and healed rapidly, wounds closing before my eyes. Yet others were huge, as I was, powerful arms covered in barbs, claws, spikes, even mouths or suckers that tried to drain my blood away. I beat them all by being swifter, more brutal, more cunning. In each case

has

has

Convergence has

Convergence has

advanced it, curiosity

Slaughter has reached

Convergence of Slaughter has reached

[Demonic Conv …]