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

pile of foul, noxious slime they can find and soaking

gone up,” I observe,

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

enough to perform their duty when Solant… and you… took them out. Originally, we’d wanted them

or is the mist

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, it eats away

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

of that curve

take another evolution before they are just

Huh…

I 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

shockwaves from the continuous explosions, punches and the shrieks of Crinis’ victims are absolutely deafening. I think I might need to head over there and check

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

course. N-not

with the small team of shapers they’ve brought with them, the

of ooze to find that things are as busy as

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

didn’t you tell me

FIGHT!] Tiny roars,

It ssssshall

[DIEEEEEEEE!] Crinis screams.

so they’re 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

to shriek and fight, a forest of