Chrysalis

“Wuff, wuff, wuff.”

I don’t know why, but these new pets the shapers have designed seem to have such a positive outlook on life. There’s a gleam of simple joy in their eyes as they wibble and wobble about the place, soaking up vile goop and emitting their mist.

After evolving, they’re a bit bigger, but not by as much as I expected. It makes sense on reflection, what would they need Might for? Or toughness? They have one job, and all their evolutionary energy can go into that.

“Why did you make these guys so cheerful?” I ask Bella as my comrades continue to go to war against the enraged fifth stratum beasts in the background.

“Do they… need your help?” she replies, looking nervously over my shoulder.

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“There seems to be a lot of screaming….”

“That’s the slugs.”

I do check before I reply, of course I do, but I snatch my senses away as quickly as I can. Even still, I continue to hear Crinis raving in my mind.

[FILTH! YOU DARE CONTAMINATE THE MASTER’S AIR! I WILL RIP UNTIL YOU CAN BE RIPPED NO MORE!]

Shudder.

“Well… we didn’t, really. I don’t think we spent any time shaping their personalities at all. Perhaps it’s come about as a result of their function?”

“What, as cleaners?”

She shrugs helplessly with her antennae.

it. For whatever reason, they have just… come out this

of foul, noxious slime they can find and soaking

really gone up,”

have liked. Invidia hisses with satisfaction as rock and debris trickles down from

Solant… and you… took them out. Originally, we’d wanted them

the

well as the invidious mana of the fifth, the mist is… difficult to describe. Wherever it touches the poisonous gas, the two just seem to… cancel each other out. As it rises into the air and reaches the strings of mucus attached to the ceiling and walls,

tier. We thought that the most critical issue for them would be how much cleansing mist they can produce per unit of slime consumed. If they aren’t ahead of that curve, then they need to absorb more slime than they can produce mist. Since the slime is self-propagating, they need to be making much more mist than they are

they ahead of that

before they are

Huh…

can see, the experiment is a raging success! The wuffers are doing a stellar job eating slime, and it just so happens to be summoning an endless buffet of experience for my pets, which is fabulous! I can’t wait to see what their Levels are like once this rampage is done.

the shrieks of

me for a minute, I’m just going to make sure those three are

course. N-not

than happy to let me, remaining behind with the small team of shapers they’ve brought with

carefully over the remaining patches of ooze to find that things are as busy as I thought they were. In fact, I’ve never seen anything quite like

almost literally holding back the tide against a tsunami of sludge, slime, frogs and slugs. The tunnel is

didn’t you tell me

FIGHT!] Tiny roars,

experience. It ssssshall

[DIEEEEEEEE!] Crinis screams.

so they’re getting a bit greedy. That’s fine, we

a little room for me. I’ll help out, and I’ll do my best to make sure

Invidia begrudgingly agree, while Crinis continues to shriek and fight, a forest of tendrils lashing out at