My new third brain, I make larger and more potent than the other two. I want it to act as a kind of boss brain that will lead the way in combined spellcasting, acting as the guide and brunt force. While I’m at it, I beef up the other two sub-brains slightly, giving them a little extra punch. Having done that, I have a shade of my free +15 Cunning and Will left over, so I spend it upgrading my main mind, and I give a little extra boost from my spare energy as well.
When that job is done, I sit back and admire my new brain power. Fearsome! With this evolution, I’ve taken my mental game to a whole new level.
Now on to the physical stats. I want to spend my Might on roughly sixty percent size and forty percent density. It’ll make me a bit larger and a bit faster, but I really need to emphasise raw stats. In my next evolution, I may be able to correct the imbalance and give more energy back to density.
Adding a straight up forty Might goes a long way in making me a larger boi. I try to ensure the density of muscle is concentrated in my head, since those are the muscles responsible for powering my bite. I’ll need all the juice I can get in that department if I’m going to match it with a giant crocodile. I supplement the free stats with some extra from my evolutionary energy pool, making my overall Might gain fifty points. If I’m going to address my terrible physical stats in this evolution, then I need to commit.
Toughness is mainly spent thickening and powering up my carapace, but I spare some thought to buffing up the walls of my internal organs. It’s unlikely to help much, but some types of energy, such as electricity, are able to go straight through my outer defences. Toughening up the insides should help reduce that damage, at least a little. As with my Might, I spend some energy to bring my overall Toughness gain up to fifty, rounding out the bonus stats nicely.
Since I’m already in the menu, I decide to poke around at my new Collective Will Gland. Each of the three rare evolutions gave massive stat gain. In the case of this evolution, it was the Collective Will Vestibule. Rather than an organ, it almost appears to be formed from crystallised flesh, which is creepy enough. More staggering than that is the sheer cost of the thing.
This was one expensive organ! It cost more than most of the high-end aura glands. Significantly more. And I get it for free? Viva la rare core! Viva la rare evolution!
I’m not even perfectly aware of what this thing does, but I’m positive it’s going to be amazing. How could it not?
OK. Cool it off. We have a fair whack of energy still to spend. More stats? Hmm. Not sure. Wings? Again… not sure. Will I really need the wings underground? Flying sounds nice and all, but I like getting my face-hands and claws into the dirt. Perhaps I’ll revisit the wings idea another time.
I could put a stinger onto my back zone. Lots of different ants have stingers, and I can definitely see how they’d be useful by injecting painful venom into my enemies. But no. I’m firmly in camp acid. The products released from my business district have widespread renown and fame after my aggressive marketing. I wouldn’t want to turn around and start advertising a whole new line of wares. Perhaps there’s something I can use to give my acid a boost.
I flick through the exhaustive menu, my mind happy for something to focus on other than my screaming innards, until I find a few items I like the look of.
[Acid Nozzle: An attachment organ that allows for more flexible and precise aiming from acid glands.]
This gland is quite cheap and essentially acts as a small, flexible barrel on the end of my acid gland that can help me aim without having to change my body position as much. For example, I’ll be able to lift my abdomen up high and use the nozzle to fire directly forward without having to turn around. Nice!
Whilst I’m at it…
[Acid Concentration Gland: Attached to the acid producing organ, this gland will secrete a concentration that will cause the acid produced to condense and purify, improving its qualities.]
Nice one! Essentially improving the power of the mutations that I already have. Meaning my acid will do more damage, be stickier and eat through Mana faster. Not bad for one cheap gland. Heck, I’m on a roll, why not keep it going!
[Acid Stimulation Gland: Improves the speed of acid production in the attached gland.]
Since my acid is going to be more flexible and potent, I may as well ensure I have more of it. Phew. It’s a good thing my back zone is so much larger than it was before, I never would have fit this gear in there otherwise.
What else can I do? I’ve bought three little cheap glands. I think it’s time to spend the rest of the energy on something big. Something expensive and powerful that’ll help tie my mental and physical attributes together.
Maybe I can do something with my nervous system?
After all, that’s the part of the body that connects the mind to the muscle!
I poke through the menu and find a heap of options regarding nerves and the nervous system in general. Much as I suspected, they are quite pricey. Some of the tastiest options I can’t afford, even before I’d bought any glands, but there are still quite a few that catch my eye.
After some consideration, I spend the remainder of my energy on this:
[Sub-neural Network: An extension to the main nervous system that reduces response times by allowing automatic reaction processing in the extremities.]
Gwehehehe. With my nervous system ready to be upgraded my reaction speeds will be extraordinarily fast! When I consider what I might be capable of with my Future Sense antennae… hopefully it comes together.
120. Sinking
I can’t wait to see my status when this evolution is done. It’s going to be craaaaazy. I’m already getting a headache just thinking about having to upgrade all of these new glands. So many!
It’ll be worth it. I may have gone on a bit of a shopping spree, but the utility I’ve gained is immense, not to mention my all-around beefier stats. My size is possibly going to double, perhaps even more than that after this. I’m gonna start pushing Tiny around once I’m done. Gwehehehehe.
Alright then. Time to confirm everything and drain this dangerously overloaded core. Just being free of this pain is enough for me to eagerly finish up with the menu and welcome the deep embrace of torpor. As it has in the past, a feeling of lassitude falls over me immediately, my vision fading to black, and sensation falling blessedly away. Ah, no more pain. No more sensation of a physical body at all!
Wait a second… I remember this sensation.
My mind continues to sink, falling deeper in on itself as if I were circling a cosmic drain to the centre of the world.
Here we go again. Off to chat with Gandalf.
Being my second ride on the… whatever this is… I let myself go and try to enjoy it without the sense of vertigo kicking in. I have to say, it isn’t easy to enjoy a disembodied experience since there isn’t really any actual sensation, but rather a vague dizzying sense of movement. Without any ability to perceive my environment, and without any real sense of distance, I become vaguely bored as I wait for the ride to be over.