Antelligent Design

3. I Mutate, Therefore I Itch

Oh God! What the heck is this overwhelming itchiness? From what depths of skin irritant hell did Gandalf find this sensation? My body is pure fire! My mind is breaking! Why am I the only one who seems to be bothered by this? When Tiny spends Biomass, he barely twitches. Crinis doesn’t have a face, so I can’t tell what her reaction is, but they don’t seem to suffer like this!

Why meeeeee?

Eventually, the torture ends, and I slowly pick myself up.

I hate it… I hate it sooo much.

Now what’s next?

First, I try to inspect my carapace to see what’s changed. Unsurprisingly, the shimmering diamond patches of my carapace have extended even further. Hang on a sec…

I peer closer to get a better view and what I see shocks me.

It isn’t that the patches of diamond have expanded; rather, they’ve been pushed outward by a core of pure diamond. In the centre of each diamond covering the carapace itself, my exo-skeleton has been transformed into actual diamond.

I’m getting more and more expensive…

Is this what will happen if I keep choosing to upgrade this path? I won’t just get a diamond layer atop my carapace, but my carapace will actually change into diamond?

I’m not sure how to feel about that.

Will my inner carapace plating still be able to heal my carapace? I suppose it will. It all seems to mesh together even when you don’t think it should. Gandalf seems to have those things worked out well enough.

Next, I flex my mandibles, trying to sense if there’s a difference. They certainly feel stronger and more solid. Curiously, I channel my Mana into them and am pleased to note how smooth the flow feels. The mandibles themselves immediately glow with the energy of Mana. Ooooo, this feels strong.

Eagerly, I check my status to see what has changed.

My Savage Infused Mandibles +10 have now become Empowered Mandibles +15, and my Hardened Diamond Carapace +10 has become True Diamond Carapace +15.

And it only cost me 130 Biomass. Sob.

Ok. Hold it together, Anthony. Still have more to spend.

236 Biomass left. Yikes.

The question at hand is what to mutate first? I’m not sure… I’ve hit the main points in the mandibles and carapace. I think I’ll go with a bit of a mix of utility here. I’ll upgrade the Coordination Cortex, my Legs and my Gravity Magic Gland.

That should be a good boost.

[Do you wish to improve your Combined Divergent Coordination Cortex to +15? This will cost 65 Biomass.]

Yes.

[At this level, you may choose to combine your mutations or emphasise one. Which will you select?]

For this one, I’m going to fuse the two options. This should help the brains remain strong at both cooperation and individual spell casting.

[Do you wish to improve your Rapid Absorption Legs to +15? This will cost 65 Biomass.]

Bring it!

[At this level, you may choose to combine your mutations or emphasise one. Which will you select?]

I’m less certain on this one. Moving fast is nice, and absorbing Mana through the legs is also nice. I don’t really prefer one over the other, but I’m also not certain they’ll fuse to something worthwhile.

I guess for the time being, I should emphasise the spellcasting ahead of the quick movement. Absorbing Mana through the legs has increased my MP regeneration by a ferocious amount. If I keep on using spells in battle, having that increased regen will be incredibly helpful. Let’s emphasise the absorption.

[Do you wish to improve your Expanded Deep Gravity Magic Gland to +15? This will cost 65 Biomass.]

Naturally.

[At this level your mutations will be reinforced. Do you wish to proceed?]

Since I’ve taken the same upgrade twice for the Gravity Magic Gland, naturally, I won’t get the choice to fuse. I’ll be interested to see how much capacity I’ll have once this mutation is done.

Confirm all of those!