Chrysalis

[Before you get too carried away,] Granin chips in, [remember that manipulating mana outside of your body is much harder than the mana inside it. Manipulating energy within someone else's body is another level of difficulty above that. You’ll need to train hard before you can even dream of setting off those insane bombs you can make.]

That makes sense. If it was easy to manipulate energy inside an opponent, then almost any other method of fighting would be completely redundant. Even so, I like this idea. It would give me an almost unstoppable trump card if I can master it, and I can think of a few other uses for it outside of just the gravity bomb.

[I like it a lot!] I declare.

The triad has really come through for me and exceeded my expectations, so I tell them so. I never would have considered some of these ideas. I’m glad I finally opened up to them.

The three look pleased with my words, Corun grinning up at me, Torrina wearing a slight smile, and even Granin looks less grumpy. That could just be a trick of the lighting.

[We’re working on mutation packages for your legs, regeneration gland and your whole acid… collection, in the event you reset those next,] Granin tells me. [For now, though, this is what we’ve come up with. It’s more difficult for us to contribute to your Vestibule, Nave and Altar, since we haven’t worked with those organs before.]

I’m a little disappointed, but Granin frowns at my drooping antennae.

[We still have to talk about your Skills,] he says, and I perk up immediately.

New Skills! This is what I’ve been waiting for!

[What have you got for me, Granin? Some sweet fusions? The mega-instant-death-to-all-foes Skill?]

[That is a good one, but no.]

[Wait, that’s a Skill?!]

not! And don’t forget, I’ve warned you before, learning too many Skills will become a weakness, not a strength. Without time to

I wish I could

Surely, you’ve got a little something for

not, why bring it up at

think will be the most optimal combinations for you to work

little disgruntled

Now we recommend you add the Balance Skill, as well as one other. Took a bit of research to find this, since there isn’t a lot of documentation on ants, but there’s also a six-legged version of the Defensive Footwork Skill. These three, along with Predictive Thinking, can all fuse with the Grace Skill at rank four or higher

[Ooooooo. Sounds fancy.]

you lighter on your feet, harder to knock down, recover faster and more coordinated in tight spaces. Combined with your organs and mutations, you’ll be pushing those advantages

that misses! I’m a fan of this idea. Combined with my sturdy carapace and plating, not to mention my extraordinary regenerative capacity, my multi-layered defence will only grow stronger.

wanted to focus on the mental side. You’ve been throwing around some pretty mighty spells lately and handling a

I was

first place.

[Right.]

this case, we suggest you take Concentration,

of Divergent Thinking. I thought I didn’t need it, due to the brains that I’m

manage the mind constructs necessary for the complex mana manipulation you need, but there’s a particular fusion for which the Skill is necessary.

[Which does what?]

adding the Mana Weave Skill into