Chrysalis

Chapter 496 Idle Monster

It took time and effort, but finally, I have been successful in my quest to consume the Biomass resulting from a Gravity Bomb! After contending with the dense ball of ex-monster with my mandibles without success, I had to apply other methods to try and soften it. Water magic and acid had some effect, but not much on the unyielding chunk but they did provide the impetus that allowed the breakthrough! By first cooling the sphere and then heating it with ice and fire magic respectively, then biting the heck out of it I'd been able to crack the ball open finally. Once such a weakness has been exposed, it was merely a matter of persistence, chomping on the thing over and over again to break off small flakes and shards that I could eat one by one.

The taste is horrendous. Unimaginably bad. But there's little that can be done about that, the pursuit of Biomass doesn't allow for weak stomachs! If I wasn't willing to eat something disgusting, I would have starved to death long ago. I wouldn't have even made it as long as I did as a human! Something like this is laughable.

Of course, my sub-brains continue their brutal training regime even as I worry this ball of food into manageable chunks. No rest can be allowed if I'm to survive the upcoming rounds. Despite my peace offering to the leaders of this farce of a Cult, I don't think they'll let me have the easy way out. Their greed for knowledge is one thing, their dedication to their idiotic vision quite another. After getting to this point and sacrificing so many of their own members' projects, would they really be willing to throw the rules out the window to let me go? I'm not sure even the lure of new magic is enough to get my deal over the line.

Even beyond their stubborn ideology is their strange and seemingly baseless dislike of me as an individual. You don't like ant monsters, fine. We do start very weak, it's true. I've been lucky I've made it as far as I have. Yet there seems to be this strange insistence that I wind up dead. Why?! It can't just be because they don't want me wasting resources they would rather see being funnelled into stronger monsters. If that was all they wanted, surely they'd just have to wait until I ran into another creature that I couldn't beat and all my accumulated experience and Biomass would go toward their desired end.

It just doesn't make sense. I feel like there's something missing, and it's making me even more uncomfortable. I don't want to hang around this place any longer than I have to. The sooner I can get out, the better. The next chance I get I'll need to talk to Jim and see how he's going with his preparations. I may need to rely on my fellow reincarnators to enact our daring escape before things here escalate even further.

I don't dare wait and hope that the Colony will find me. The distance is great and the direction unknown. Even if they're all working hard, and I'm sure that they are, it's too much to ask that they would be able to find me and set me free. No, even if they found me, I'm not sure I'd want them exposing themselves. I've no idea how the nutters in this cult would react to intelligent ants, and beyond that, I don't want to bring the wrath of the Golgari empire down on my family. Even with all of the promise and strength that the Colony has shown, I don't think we'd be able to survive.

Granted I haven't seen exactly how large or powerful the supposed Golgari civilisation is, but I don't feel like taking any risks. Until I know otherwise, I need to assume it can't be handled by us ants.

Putting all that aside, what do I need to do now? Mutate baby! I've got a whole pile of Biomass stored up after two successful fights and managing to consume the remains of the Creeper has given me quite a number to work with and I intend to DO WORK. In total I have a whopping five hundred and ten Biomass to spend. These monsters are packed full of juicy goodness and the further we go in this mad tournament the juicier they get. They're like pinatas filled with candy that lets me improve myself. Eating through all of these monsters is netting me levels and Biomass at a pretty heft pace, which is good! I'd just rather get it done with less risk. Risk is bad.

So what to spend it on?! Excitement is real! I can feel my heart all aflutter! Time to dig into those menus! First thing first, I need to work out what to upgrade. So far the only things I've managed to max out at +25 are my Carapace, Plating, Stomach and Regeneration Gland. There's a heck of a lot left to go. My mandibles are probably a top priority, increasing my offensive power could do with a boost. Although my magic has proven to be the decisive factor so far. Perhaps I should go with my coordination cortex? Improving the performance of my brains would also assist with my training speed, since I'd be able to cast more spells more rapidly.

That seems intelligent! Let's go with that then!

Quickly bringing up the menu, I peruse the options as I think about the direction I've taken my coordination cortex so far. The first two mutations focused on improving the brain's ability to work independently, then I improved their ability to work together and fused it. For the +20 upgrade, I took the Indomitable option, which allowed the coordination cortex to help spread the load of mental strain across my minds to prolong my ability to work for an extended time under stress. When combined with my Collective Will Vestibule, if I ever get back in range of the Colony, I might be able to keep slinging spells forever.

Which had worked well, I have to say. My sub-brains get put through a lot of work, no slacking for them! Letting my coordination cortex help lighten the burden has been good, and I think I'm willing to go further down that line of mutation, especially given my current circumstances. Perhaps next time I evolve, I need to look for something that might give me some of that synergy along these lines. If I can make my brains work harder for longer that'll have a tremendous increase in my magical Skills training speed.

Browsing down the menu, I can't see anything that particularly grabs my eye. In the end, I settle on an option that extends from Indomitable, Unyielding. This option will allow me to push my minds even further. That's 115 Biomass down the gurgler. What's next?