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.

For whatever reason,

gleefully wibbling into whatever pile of foul, noxious slime they can find and soaking it up

has really gone up,” I

another explosion goes off, probably closer than we would have liked. Invidia hisses with satisfaction as rock and debris trickles down from overhead, so I

evolved just enough to perform their duty when Solant… and you… took them out. Originally, we’d wanted them to have at least reached this

is the mist more potent as

a counter to the goop, as 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

how much cleansing mist they can produce per unit of slime consumed. If they aren’t ahead of that curve,

they ahead of that curve

take another evolution before they are just ahead

Huh…

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

and the shrieks of Crinis’ victims are absolutely deafening. I

minute, I’m just going to make

course. N-not

let me, remaining behind with the small team of shapers they’ve brought with them, the actual ‘masters’, or ‘mistresses’,

my way forward, scoutting 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

be almost literally holding back the tide against a tsunami

didn’t you tell me it was getting this

FIGHT!] Tiny roars,

experience. It ssssshall be minessssss,] Invidia

[DIEEEEEEEE!] Crinis screams.

getting a bit greedy. That’s fine, we can work

make a little room for me. I’ll help out, and I’ll do my best to make sure that I’m not taking too much of the

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