[You have defeated…]
Ahhhhhh, this spell is ridiculous!
Some monsters are able to hold on for a moment, resisting the stupidly potent pressure of the beam with the strength of their bodies, but eventually it tunnels through them, boring a hole directly through their shadow flesh.
Then the Mana runs out.
The entire tunnel is littered with monster bodies and a truly insane amount of water. The spray has gone everywhere. The walls are coated with it, the monsters are saturated. Tiny is also saturated. Crinis… doesn’t seem to care, but I can sense a smouldering discomfort emanating from the big ape.
He really hates getting wet.
To vent his frustration, he channels lightning into the onrushing monsters, who charge directly into the soaked section of tunnel, promptly burning them to a crisp.
You were supposed to save some for Vibrant…
Ten minutes later, we finish mopping up the wave and prepare to chow down. I decided not to test any more spells, lest Tiny get even more irritated. I should try and work out a solution where I’m not going to get him soaked. I’ll be hitting the front lines soon enough. It should be fine.
The first thing I do after the fighting is done is call Vibrant down from the ceiling and get her to finish off the stragglers we saved. Thankfully after she spends a lot of time chomping away at them, she cheerfully announced she was able to hit Level ten. Not even the news that another special core was coming her way was enough to dampen the little ant’s mood as she danced about while chowing down on Biomass. Even Crinis managed to find her and toss her in the air a few times to celebrate as Vibrant laughed hysterically.
Tiny just ignored the proceedings and munched his way through a mountain of food.
I’m with you, buddy. Time to embrace the food coma!
OM NOM NOM.
When all is said and done, and we can barely walk, I’ve managed to amass 201 Biomass from my week of feasting and practice. The four of us waddle-roll-limp our way back up the tunnel to our little chamber and I call down the workers.
We weren’t able to eat all of the food, not even close. Hopefully, when the queen has consumed a good chunk of this, the next generation of new workers might be locked in and ready to go.
Settling in, we all prepare to finalise our spending in order to make the final push for excellence as we prepare to advance into the marsh Expanse. I hastily whip up a special core after withdrawing a few small cores from my stash and feed it to Vibrant. Once absorbed, she somehow manages to both gleefully and painfully waddle to one corner to settle down and evolve.
Tiny and Crinis have already begun the process of mutating, I can see them vacantly sitting, unmoving, pawing through menus.
Ok. Time to do this. I’m gonna spend up big!
96. The State of Play
Muahahaha! With over two hundred points to spend, I’m feeling slightly giddy. What to improve first?
First off, acid is already at +8, time to complete my new and improved commercial empire!
[Would you like to upgrade Restrictive Acid to +10? This will cost 19 Biomass.]
And nineteen gone, just like that. I still have a ton of Biomass to play with, so I need to get spendin’. Once I’ve upgraded my acid, I’ll still have Antennae, Gravity Mana Gland, Pheromone and the two newest additions to go before I even reach a complete +10 state.
Arrrrrgh, this is so frustrating!
Just how much do I have to eat before I can upgrade myself all the way? Is it my tiny ant stomach that’s the problem! I have two stomachs and I pack them both full every meal.
When I consider that my current level of evolution supports upgrades up to +20, I grow woefully depressed. The goal of fully mutating everything before my next evolution seems like a long way away. Work hard, stomachs! I’m counting on you guys.
Since I’ll be striding forth into battle after this round of upgrades, I really want to ensure my combat effectiveness is at its peak, not only on the offensive but also the defensive. That means my Coordination Cortex, Inner-Plating and Gravity Gland should be next on the menu.
[Would you like to upgrade Regenerative Inner-Plating to +10, Diverse Coordination Cortex to +10 and Deep Gravity Gland to +10? This will cost 120 Biomass?]
Yikes!
Sixty-two left?
I guess only one more body will make it to +10… Perhaps I’ll improve my ability to coordinate with the colony? It couldn’t hurt. I’ll upgrade my trusty Pheromone Gland next. I can upgrade it to +10 and have twenty-two points in the bank.
Ok then!
[Would you like to upgrade Pheromone Language Gland to +10? This will cost 40 Biomass.]
Let’s do it, O bearded one.
[At this level of mutation, you may select a mutation advancement. Please select one from the menu.]
First, I jump into the acid menu.
My acid is the OG. When I was a weak and helpless ant, all alone without my colony to support me, it was the acid that became my trusty sidekick. Every combat would entail the acid attack playing a key role, letting me deal damage from range before closing in to finish the job.
Since the rest of my body has been enhanced, as well as my magic growing to the point that it’s a credible ranged threat, the acid has become outshined. I don’t really need it to do damage, what I want is more utility out of it. The restrictive properties are great, if that could be enhanced, I’d be interested for sure. Let’s see what the menu has for me.
Hmmmm… wait a sec.
Wait. One. Second.
[Mana Eating Acid: Acid becomes able to dissolve magic it comes into contact with, including barriers and constructs.]
Done!
I don’t need to see any more. In fact, I refuse!
This is the sort of utility I’m talking about! Able to eat through magical barriers or constructs? Hot. Damn.
Acid is back in town, in a big way.
Already giddy with delight, I shift to the next item on the menu, the Gravity Gland!
I see, there are some new options on top of the ones from before. The Condensed Gravity Magic Gland sounds interesting. This is the one Tiny ended up choosing, which slightly condenses the Mana held within the gland. If this upgrade were chosen multiple times and reinforced, perhaps fully condensed Mana could be sitting in the gland, ready to go, without my brains having to do any extra lifting.
Though I already have the brains to do that work…
A quicker-to-refill gland sounds helpful. Mana becoming more malleable for spell shaping or move smoother. There are a lot of new effects that make spell casting easier, but I feel like that’s a waste of potential. I can increase casting speed by buffing up my brains during evolution. There’s no need to utilise my mutations for that.
Personally, I like the idea of having more Gravitational Mana to play with. It’s shown how devastatingly powerful it can be. If I have more of it, that can only be a good thing!
I’m going to take the Expanded Deep Gravity Magic Gland.
And next! Let’s keep this rolling! Straight into the Coordination Cortex!
Another menu! All this text is sending me cross-eyed.
The Coordination Cortex functions as a gatekeeper or secretary to sub-brains, increasing their efficiency by sorting inputs and outputs before passing them on, allowing the little brains to better focus and make use of their resources.
My first upgrade allowed the cortex to better assist the sub-brains when they were focused on their own individual tasks, rather than combining their strengths.