Haaaah…
Oh well. No use crying over spilt… something.
Crinis is still in place, nestled onto my mid-section between the joints where my legs attach to my carapace.
[How are you, Crinis? Ready to go and get large?]
[Ready, Master,] she replies. [Was your evolution successful?]
[It was! Some very nice bonuses picked up this time.]
[You don’t seem to have changed much that I can tell, Master,] she says, extending a few little tentacles to pat about my carapace, probably checking my size.
[All of the changes took place on the inside this time. And they weren’t small either!] I boast. [Wait and see what I can do now.]
[I look forward to it, Master]
I can already feel the difference within me. My mind is positively humming with strength, like a sports car sitting in neutral, just revving and ready to go. My sub-brains are sitting idly inside me, each of them more powerful than the single one I had before, and I now have the ability to harness them together, get them to act in concert on a single task.
I can’t wait to flex this new mental muscle!
Let’s try it!
Mana! Transfoooooorm!
Eagerly I direct my new mental rig to attempt the never before achieved Mind Mana Transformation. This process is so difficult, I honestly have no idea how any human is actually able to achieve it at all, let alone in a fight!
First, I need to bring the Mana out of my core, directing it into threads which are woven and shaped into a mind-bending construction. I’m beginning to suspect it goes a little beyond the three dimensions I’m familiar with. Intricate whoops and whirls curve back and in on themselves before fine filigree patterns are woven on the outside and on the inside of almost the entire thing!
I get a headache just picturing the stupid thing.
At least… I did.
Muu… muuuha…. MUAHAHAHAHA!
YESSSSSSS!
Throwing the bulk of the work over to my sub-brains, they thrum to life as they take the strain of directing and shaping the Mana. The cortex acts like a foreman, directing the efforts of the two brains to ensure they don’t overlap and their independent efforts slot together like clockwork.
The sub-brains strain under the load of directing the wispy threads of energy, but they are far more capable than the old sub-brain was. Not only is their mental strength beefier, they have an upgraded amount of Willpower, giving them a bit more grunt.
What this does is free up my main mind to patch up the gaps. Keeping the whole picture on my mind as I fill in wherever I notice a deviation or a particularly tricky bit that the sub-brains can’t quite handle on their own.
Over a few minutes, the Mind Magic Transformation construct begins to take shape and excitement rises in my heart. It might actually happen this time!
65. The Work of the Mind
Nearly there!
This construct has defeated me over and over again. To the point that this glittering shape of Mana is literally burned into the insides of my eyelids. Except that I don’t have eyelids—not the point!
With every passing second, the shape begins to come together, weaved out of threads of light, it shines brilliantly inside my mind.
Finally!
Crunch.
AW HECK!
In my eagerness, I slip in my control and one of the threads gets shunted out of place. Which, of course, causes the entire thing to collapse in on itself and dissipate into nothing…
GAAAAAH!
Undone by my own eagerness and joy at success. This is the cruel irony of the world at play and not entirely my fault!
Ok, it is.
I can almost feel the smouldering resentment from my own sub-brains, irritated that I ruined their work. What the heck? You don’t get to be mad at me, dammit! I’ll make you guys transform Mana on your own until you melt into sludge!
That’s right. That’s who’s in charge!
Putting aside this failure, I’m still feeling extremely positive. I’d never been that close to succeeding in that notorious transformation before, and I almost nailed it on my first attempt! With diligent practice, I’m sure I’ll be able to succeed. If I can manage the Mana Transformation then I can surely succeed with the simple ones. It seems this evolution was a wild success!
The next thing I’m keen to try is working on the cores. If I can practice the Core Engineering skill at a faster rate, then I’ll be massively pleased!
Rushing over to the cores, I roll one out with my mandibles and crack right in.
Core Engineering!
My mind sinks down into the little core and the nebulous energies that contain the information, the Mana DNA of the monster, rise in my mind.
Now for the tricky bit.
Bringing the force of my mind to bear and calling upon the reserves that are my sub-brains for assistance, I begin to force and hold the changes to the information in the core. What I find almost immediately is… it’s so much easier! Forcing the change is a breeze with all the power I have humming inside my head, then locking it into place is so much easier, I’m able to task my sub-brains with that and move onto the next change immediately.
This is going to increase the speed of my skill training immensely!
Happily, I continue to shove around the values in the core, sometimes making large stat changes and going in and making finer adjustments to the body shape, muscle density, even the brain matter. As usual, the process becomes more and more difficult the further away from the original state of the core we get. With my newfound mental strength, I can push it so much further than before, reaping more XP from every core I start to work on.
I could almost cry, this is everything I wished for! Now my Core Engineering skills will be able to go to the next Level!
Once I hit the wall with the first core, I push it to one side and take a brief rest. If I alternate resting and working, I’ll be able to work for longer and grind my skills more efficiently, even with my extra brain power this rule will hold true.
After a minute or two I shift over to the next core and then the next. On it goes until the fatigue starts to mount up. I push through until my mind is entering the familiar braindead zone I spent so much of the last few days in.
[Core Engineering (II) has reached Level 8.]
Yessss!
Two whole Levels from grinding today. Though it took hours of effort, with my new brain rig, I’m able to make more changes to each core and work for a longer period of time before I fall flat and run out of energy. This is a huge boost. Gaining two Levels in one go is evidence of the kind of power my new brain is packing!
Two more and I’ll be able to morph it into the next Level of the skill. I cannot wait!
Literally, I can’t.
I know Tiny is hungry and Vibrant is bored, I think she’s run off somewhere with Crinis actually, but this is too important. My biggest goal and major project is dependent on this skill taking shape.
Determined to see it through I decisively… take a nap! Need to replenish my mental stores. When I wake up, I notice Tiny has shifted his position and moved somewhere below me. Judging by my senses, he got tired of waiting and tunnelled his way down to underneath the queen’s chamber, so he’d at least have something to eat.
I don’t mind that, I’m also starving, but the cores come first.
Cores, cores, cores!
Pleased to notice that my headache is resolved, I jump straight back into grinding until my thoughts are sluggish and my head is pounding. The pile of cores I’ve worked on goes past fifty and almost reaches seventy by the time I finally get the announcement.