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, they have just…

into whatever pile of foul, noxious slime they can find and soaking it up like a paper-towel, wuffing away the whole

has really gone up,” I observe,

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

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

or is the mist more potent

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 each other out. As it

along with boosting organs they gained at this 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

ahead of that curve

will take another evolution before

Huh…

it just so happens to be summoning an endless buffet of experience for my pets, which is fabulous! I can’t

continuous explosions, punches and the shrieks of Crinis’ victims are absolutely

for a minute, I’m just going

course. N-not at all,

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

forward, scoutting carefully over the remaining patches of ooze to find that things are as busy as I thought they were. In fact,

three of them appear to be almost literally holding back the tide against a tsunami of sludge, slime, frogs and slugs.

didn’t you tell me it was

Tiny

It ssssshall be minessssss,]

[DIEEEEEEEE!] Crinis screams.

they’re getting a bit greedy. That’s

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

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