The other aspect to consider here is that I have learned of levels of cores beyond the special. This unlocks the possibility that there are even more potent cores. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt it! I wonder if Garralosh has a rare core or something even more potent?
What comes after rare? Legendary? Super Rare? Completely Rad core?
I have no idea!
Just something else to ponder, along with what possible evolutions would be unlocked with the absorption of a rare core.
I can dream, dammit!
All in all, it takes a few hours before the gang is ready to move again. We’re still wounded, but the worst of the injuries have healed. I decide it’ll be best if we take our prized core and retreat to the surface. The Expanse is becoming more restless as time passes and we aren’t in top shape.
We’ll need to come back to do some recon to be sure the croca-beasts have actually left, and then wait a bit in order to be sure the waves of monsters will no longer be heading toward the colony.
Tired but triumphant, Tiny, Crinis, Vibrant and I limp our way out of the marsh Expanse to the shortcut, avoiding combat for the most part. Due to us being careful and not wanting to attract unwanted attention, it takes us about six hours to get out of the marsh and up the shortcut.
By the time we get there, I’ve been able to activate my Regeneration Gland again and the hole in my commercial marketplace has been mostly covered up. The carapace is still somewhat thin in places, but at the very least my insides are not being fully presented to the outside. A great improvement indeed.
When the anthill finally comes into sight I almost sag into the ground with relief.
I’m tired, man!
So damn tired…
We all nearly died in that fight! I need stress relief. Also, I need to work on my skills since my spells aren’t working out the way I want them too at the moment. I wish there was someone I could talk to in order to get some advice about this stuff. I highly doubt most people bother with this stuff. They certainly wouldn’t want to have any expertise on the matter. The one time I managed to interrogate a human, I didn’t know enough to know what questions I needed to ask, so there are bound to be massive gaps in what I was able to learn.
So frustrating!
Perhaps Enid will be able to help me out.
Exhausted in body and mind, I drag myself up the anthill and down the main tunnel, Vibrant and my pets wandering along behind me.
Workers are buzzing about, bustling past me, busy with their own tasks. I’m stopped a few times and we exchange the ant high five enthusiastically before going our separate ways.
So nice to be back amongst my people!
I take a moment to pop in to check on the eggs and shock strikes me to my core.
The eggs! They’re gone!
In their place are twenty energetic looking little grubs, dedicated workers watching over them, cleaning them and keeping them fed at all times. They hatched!
The new generation has arrived!
Eyes agog, I move into the nursery chamber to give the little grubs a quick tickle with my antennae. I can’t help but laugh as the little critters wiggle and roll to escape my antennae.
How exciting!
After playing with them for a time, I exit the chamber and head down to the queen’s chamber. She’s still resting, covered in workers and patiently absorbing the ambient Mana just below the surface.
“Mother! I’m back! I’ve got something for you!” I call.
Gradually, the queen’s face emerges from the shifting mass of workers, her enormous antennae reaching out to contact mine.
“Welcome back, child, it is good to see you. What have you brought?”
Suddenly, I feel like a little kid bringing a painting they did at school home to show their parents. At least, this is how I assume that would feel, having never experienced it before.
With a thunk I drop a heavy gem onto the ground.
“I have a rare core! How close are you to evolving?”
123. Discussions
Skills, their structure, nature and import, was one of the first things that required attention when we began to study the System in earnest. The reason why the System felt the need to implement such measures in the way it did was irrelevant to us. Understanding and disseminating this information allowed for the spread of knowledge and proper planning.
There was a great deal of knowledge to be discovered. Mapping out trees, discovering the various unlock conditions and skill fusion requirements was a daunting task only made possible by the collective efforts of many contributors.
In many ways, the search to complete this knowledge goes on, as the very limits of the System are yet to be explored. Perhaps only the Eldest has found the final skills in the tree, but if they have, then they haven’t shared that information. Perhaps that is for the best.
The queen looked down at the core and then back up at me, curious.
“I’m not that close to evolving. I have currently tried to reduce the amount of experience I am taking from my children. There has been a great deal of conflict and our family has suffered. It was my intention to allow the children to have a better chance of defending themselves by allowing them to take in experience.”
Of course she did. What else would I have expected her to do?
“Look, I understand that you’re happy to sacrifice your own prospects to help the rest of us survive, but your own Level and more importantly, your own evolution, will make a huge difference to the overall strength of the family!”
“I will consider your words, child,” the queen assured me calmly, though I doubted she would do anything of the sort.
I may have been able to convince her to be slightly greedy with the Biomass, advancing her egg-laying organs to the point she could select mutation advancements, but I think I was only successful there due to the promise of tangible benefits for her children. There is no such guarantee when it comes to evolution and Mother knows it.
“Look at this core! We defeated a seriously strong monster in the marsh Expanse and this core was inside it. A rare core! Even more powerful than a special core. Who knows what kind of powerful evolution it could unlock for you.”
As I try to advertise the merchandise I’ve brought back to my mother, she continues to watch me patiently. I can’t help but get the feeling she is faintly amused by my attempts at persuasion.
I sigh.
“You aren’t going to use this core, are you, Mother?”
Her antennae twitch in a laugh.
“No, child.”
“Well, what do you want me to do with it?” I say, frustrated.
I really didn’t think she’d knock this back. If Mother can evolve after absorbing the rare core, who knows how powerful she will become. What she might be capable of. At the heart of the colony lies the queen, after all. If she were to die, then it’d be over for this family. I really don’t think we’d be able to raise another queen before the workers died off.
Why wouldn’t she want to get stronger?
As if reading my mind, Mother replies.
“What needs to be considered isn’t how strong I myself can become, but how strong the family as a whole can become. I may be the most powerful individual in the colony for now, but you children are yet very young. It is you and your siblings who must grow strong for the colony to thrive, not I.”