I’m not sure why, but the name just speaks to me.
Satisfied, I turn my attention to the ball of magical black rubber that is busy feeling its way around with small tentacles, trying to locate the next mouthful. So far, the young Jellymaw has been fairly quiet. Mind you I’m not sure if she can even talk back to me at this stage of her development.
I don’t have too much to go on.
Also, should I give a boy or girl name? Tiny is fairly gender neutral, maybe I should go down that road again.
What sort of name would fit a blind tentacle monster of endless doom? I’m fairly stumped. I may just have to pick something I think sounds fitting and not worry too much about the meaning.
…Crinis?
Eh, sure, why not.
Sounds sort of Latiny, like most of the monster species names. I’ll roll with it.
I’m not the sort to put too much thought into these things.
We find three cores amongst the remains and I take two, leaving one for Tiny to absorb. I make sure to give him a hard stare until he does, in fact, absorb the thing. He knows what’ll happen if he doesn’t!
Although it would have been troublesome, I could have taken these cores to the surface for skill grinding, but I decided to straight up absorb them and return to the path of powering up my core. It feels nice to be on the path of strengthening oneself again.
As we rummage around in what used to be the tail end of the escape tunnel, I make something of a discovery.
It appears as if the loosely packed soil the colony left behind was not enough of a deterrent to the Dungeon veins. They remained inside the dirt, possibly spawning the odd monster inside the earth, or something may have followed the trail of veins and dug its way through, but certainly something has followed from below.
Right at the end of the old escape tunnel, I find a hole that opens into a narrow passage that retraces the colony’s steps back into the depths of the Dungeon.
Nards.
I was afraid of something like this. This means the human church isn’t only exposed to the small monster producing space we left behind, but is potentially connected to the entire Dungeon!
[Tiny! Crinis! We have to get moving. It’s time to explore a little deeper.]
Tiny is visibly pleased with the news, but I don’t get a response from the small blob. Oh, right, I didn’t tell it what its name was.
I walk over to it and tap it with one leg.
[Climb on up. From now on your name will be Crinis. Pleased to have you on the team!]
The little ball wobbles with what I think might be joy before latching onto my leg and climbing onto my back. Once Crinis is securely positioned, I collect the little worker.
“From now on your name is Vibrant! Make sure to get the Pheromone Language mutation as soon as you can, you might need to evolve first, but then we can chat. Let’s go!”
Vibrant twitches back and forth with nervous energy as her eyes focus on me for a long moment, then she leaps up onto her normal position and we descend farther into the Dungeon.
22. Rising
We venture forth, squeezing into the narrow tunnel and descending into the depths. Every now and again, I detect a monster forming, and this prevents us being ambushed as we pick our way down.
I’ve managed to pile up a healthy amount of Biomass over the last while and none of it has been spent. While I wasn’t paying attention, it stacked up to thirty-six! This was unheard of wealth when I was just starting out. Completely ridiculous. Now, I’ve managed to not even realise I had so much, as I devoted all of my attention and energy to my skills.
With this much, I can purchase the +6, +7, +8 and +9 upgrades for a single organ, along with something extra on the side. The question becomes, which to pick? I could go with the new hotness of the Gravitational organ or the old reliable of the Infused Mandibles, even hark all the way back to the eyes?
I think I’ll go with something that is directly combat relevant and upgrade my Mandibles to +9, and my carapace to +6, giving me a little balance. I don’t want to run into anything else I can’t tear through with my trusty face scissors. Combined with the power of my Shattering Bite skill, this upgrade could have a powerful effect! And more Diamond Carapace is always a win. It’s diamonds!
[Do you wish to improve Infused Mandibles to +9 and Diamond Carapace to +6? This will cost 36 Biomass]
Go for it—OH. GOD!
My face! My precious FACE!
The horror of the mutation itch has somehow slipped my mind completely and has stormed back to remind me just how mind meltingly irritating it really is.
My face is on fire. Fire I say! It’s so intense it even overwhelms the itch across my carapace. For the love of beards, make it stop!
There was a distinct leap in the level of itch from +4 to +5, but I assumed that was largely because of the mutation advancement. Apparently not.
Eventually, the feeling fades and I come back to my senses. Tiny is impatiently standing behind me whilst I have been wibbling about the place madly scratching at my face. Don’t look at me like that, you lousy ape! Why is it I never see you scratching away at yourself when you mutate?
I’m going to try and keep a closer eye on these pets of mine and see if I can spot them having trouble as they upgrade themselves. To help them? Of course not. I shall point and laugh! Let’s see the look on your face then, Tiny!
Having recovered, we continue our way down the tunnel and come to the section we had connected to an existing area of Dungeon in order to hunt and feed the colony. The trail stops here. Looks like whatever drilled out the old escape tunnel started from here and not from the old nest.
Thank goodness!
If those horrific beasts I heard but never saw had followed us all the way up here, we would have had some serious problems. Not to mention the human town would have been in some strife. This is by far the better outcome.
This time I make sure to leap into the active Dungeon tunnel before Tiny can lose his patience and shove me down. What greets my eyes is the same bustling scene from the first time we invaded this place. Low-Level Dungeon monsters fighting each other furiously in twos and threes up and down the tunnel. Fallen monsters being contested fiercely as creatures try to heal and sustain themselves through the endless fighting.
[Get ’em, Tiny!]
This tunnel is barely large enough for the big ape to move comfortably, being the kind of smaller offshoot tunnel I’d been born in, rather than a main thoroughfare. He makes the best of it though and gleefully starts smashing his way down. I merely follow along with my passengers aboard.
Whenever a monster from behind us tries to attack, I subdue it with a quick blast from the business district. The unfortunate target is quickly set upon by nearby creatures as its movement becomes restricted and the acid begins to eat away at its health.
My goal is to try and find a larger, main tunnel. The monsters we find there should be more on our Level and provide a larger boost to our growth. If I’m lucky, we might even harvest a decent number of cores from such a location.
With Tiny in front, we follow the twists and turns for thirty minutes, punching our way through every step of the way, before we come to what I’ve been looking for.
Ahead of us, the smaller tunnel suddenly opens wide into a much larger passage, the sound of fighting and the roar of monsters is our welcome.
Perfect.
Before us is a rolling brawl of the sorts of monsters we’d become accustomed to seeing in the underground forest. Bear Tyrants, Lion Ogres, Wolf Dragons and others I’ve never seen before. Armoured lizards the size of horses with mighty club-like tails and two heads are facing off against huge creatures with snakelike tails that lead to an upright body festooned with claws and spikes they whip about with blinding speed.