After discussing a few possibilities back and forth, I bid the golgari trio goodbye and they make their way back to the gate. Mana sickness is no joke and I appreciate them taking the risk to help me out.
It’s a hard concept for me to grasp, being ill from too much mana. I literally need the stuff to survive, the more the better. One of the many benefits of being a monster, I suppose. I was born from mana, there’s no way it can hurt me.
The lack of it can hurt me. Severely, in fact.
Which is another thing I need to keep in mind. Evolving yet again, increasing the density of my core and further making my body dependent on mana to exist. More resets, more fancy, high-energy components in my body, more energy needed to sustain me.
Perhaps even the first stratum will be out of bounds for me, even during a wave. The second might just be in bounds, perhaps. But then I have to worry about the Call.
It’s a constant knife in my side. Even now, I can feel it trying to pull me down deeper. I’m worried this mythic evolution is only going to make it worse.
If I’d picked larval deity, it would have been agonising, I bet. An evolution with high potential like that, but with no ability to move around, I’d have been stuck on my backside for at least six months with a hook yanking on my soul.
“Eldest? It’s ready.”
Cobalt pops up in front of me and I’m pulled from my thoughts.
“What’s that?”
“The evolution chamber. We’re ready.”
Nice.
“Alright then, let’s get this show on the road.”
I lever myself up onto my feet for the first time in days, and immediately collapse onto the ground again as my insides shift against the oversized core.
“Oof! Uh… one sec.”
Second attempt.
“Aaaaand up! OUCH.”
And down.
Cobalt looks at me. I look back at Cobalt.
“You can’t move, can you Eldest?”
it seems that I can’t. This is,
worry, Eldest, we’ll take care of
the end, the carvers lift me up, raising the ground beneath me and hardening it
as I lie flat on my carapace, being hovered into an evolution chamber that they’d purposely
me flowing through the Vestibule only makes me feel worse.
and a few hundred dedicated guards. Thankfully, they managed to keep Beyn and the acolytes out. I saw them as I was hovering past and he looked like he was in the middle of a revelation of some sort. That guy needs a hobby. How in the hell are those idiots
while I’m evolving, alright? Might be a few days this time. Possibly even a week or two, I don’t know. Eat, sleep, have fun. Make
will, Master,] Crinis says
I’m not dying, oi!
wantssss them,] Invidia hisses at
do not want a
[Wantssss,] he contradicts me.
him. Who the heck taught him about winking? I’d wink back, but I’m not physically
for that bud. I’ll catch you
straight into the
new species and prepare to fiddle around the edges, deciding
you and you have welcomed them into your house. The energy
-
Altar of War
-
Altar of Growth
-
Altar of Culture
Altar of Mind
Altar of Strength
Altar of Self
Altar of Many]
the altar, so I suppose this is it? There’s a lot
people to matters of War. You must fight to survive and survive to fight. Increase experience gain
I get a bad feeling reading this. Like, why does it sound like it's going to have an effect on the Colony as well as myself? We are already plenty warlike, I don’t need to make my siblings even more
the experience gain applies to just me either. I think it applies to every ant in range of the altar. That is…
Direct the energy of your people to Expansion and Growth. The future of your people can only be ensured by development and securing the next generation. Reduced Biomass cost for
even work?! Does the altar literally
blowing my mind right
It will only work for ants within the range of the Altar anyway. I’m never hanging around the queens these days, they are way higher in the Dungeon. I can’t pick this one, but holy moly, if
it. It’d never
Culture: Direct the energy of your people to Dialogue and the Arts.
the bonus in case I get tempted. It’s not that I disagree with Gandalf on this one, I actually would much rather pick this one than the Altar of War. My family has developed a wonderful culture of its own, with carvings, and tea, and sponge cake… for some reason. I
to those idiots who run around carving my face into everything they touch? I’ve seen cakes decorated with me on
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