Antvance into the Unknown

103. Evolution

Charge! Pierce!

As ridiculous as it feels, I continue to use the stupid combo of new Skills that I purchased in order to keep Levelling them up. Charge is fine. In practice it’s very similar to Dash, with the exception that now it’s Levelled up to rank three, it’s become a proper active Skill that shrouds me in the power of my stamina and shields me when I ram into things.

Mandible Spear, though? First of all, my mandibles aren’t exactly sharp. They aren’t pointed. They aren’t even remotely spear-like. When I activate the Skill and charge into something mandible-first, it feels more like I’m hitting them with a battering ram than a spear!

Secondly, it’s almost like I’m insulting the monsters I’m fighting. I could Charge them, knock them over and finish with one powerful chomp. Instead? I repeatedly prod them with my mandibles, pushing them over in a display that feels more like I’m trying to make fun of them than fight them. It’s embarrassing! At least there aren’t any members of the Colony here to see me do this… Except for the twenty babysitters hovering over my head somewhere…

Dammit!

I keep doing it, though. For one thing, it’s a good way to gradually bring monsters’ HP down, something I’m not all that good at, and we need weak monsters for the hatchling to get experience from. For another, I still hold out hope that Mandible Spear and Charge will fuse into something a little more awesome. If I can manifest a blazing spear of energy as I Charge into my foes, how awesome would that be? There’s quite a bit of mass on me at this point, it would be a shame to not use it.

Also, my progress on Mind Magic has continued quite well. I’m only a few more Levels away from reaching the rank to unlock Mind Constructs! Very exciting. Not only for the constructs themselves, but for the opportunity to check and see what new magic might have unlocked. With any luck, Gravity Magic will finally be mine! Allowing me to use more advanced spell forms for the Gravity Mana I constantly carry around.

“Ha! Victory is mine!” the hatchling crows, standing over the remains of her bedraggled and defeated foe. “Time to evolve!”

“This was a lot harder to achieve back in my day,” I grumble as I make my way over to her.

“Maybe I’m just amazing?” she asks, completely serious and without shame.

“Noooo,” I drawl. “I didn’t have anyone serving me almost dead monsters for me to finish off. I had to fight them on my own.”

I also had to make my own core!

“I asked if I could, and you said no!” she huffs.

“Because these things would take your head off in about five seconds!”

“You can’t very well not let me fight when I want to and then complain that I’m not doing any fighting,” she quite rightly points out.

I sigh.

“Fine, fine. You make a good point. Let’s move somewhere a little less busy and get ready for the evolution.”

We find a quieter section of tunnel and settle in.

[Crinis, can you take care of any unwanted guests? This might take a little while.]

[Of course, Master. I’ll make sure that no filth disturbs you!]

In a blink, she’s gone from my carapace, and a forest of tentacles emerge on all sides, completely blocking this section of tunnel from its surroundings. I’ve no doubt that in a few minutes, this whole area will be completely empty, all the monsters having run and hidden in sheer terror from the strange creature in their midst. Pushing the insanity and fear of the Dungeon monsters from my mind, I concentrate on the matter at hand.

“Do I evolve yet?” the impatient hatchling asks.

At least she asked before rushing into it…

“No. We talked about this. The best evolutions always come when you boost your core a little more than the System recommends. You get a little extra ‘spice’ in the process. Now this here,” I hold up a special core, “is exactly the spice we are talking about. Reinforce your core with this, then you can evolve. But make sure you do what I told you. It might be frustrating to remain a hatchling for another ten Levels, but this will pay off in the long run.”

I can tell she’s not happy about it.

“I just don’t want to stay so useless!” she huffs.

“Believe me, this path will make you useful faster, not slower. You really think a tier two mature worker is good for anything around here? Absolutely not. You still wouldn’t be able to fight the monsters, and you sure as heck wouldn’t be able to help with any of the projects around the Colony. By taking the special hatchling evolution, you might remain small and weak at tier two, but you’ll get payoffs down the line. You’ll be stronger at tier three than you would have been otherwise, same for tier four, and that’s when you’ll finally be of use to the Colony.”

“Fine,” she grumbles, accepting the core from my mandibles.

A brief moment of hesitation, then the core dissolves, the energy contained within flowing into her body to join her own core.

“This… isn’t very comfortable…” she grunts.

“Sure isn’t!” I agree. “Wait till you try a rare core! Now evolve so you don’t have to put up with it for long.”

The hatchling falls into the listless view of someone fiddling with their menu, and after ten minutes, she drifts off, starting to softly glow as the process takes hold. Tiny hovers over the defenceless youngling, taking the job far more seriously than I’d have thought him capable of. Giving the big ape a satisfied nod, I prod Invidia and start a Mind Magic battle with him to help hone my Skill. He always wins, but there really isn’t anyone else for me to practise with. Just a couple more Levels and I’ll have the power!

A little less than an hour later, the hatchling stirs, and we greet her back to the world of the waking.

“Welcome back, little one,” I tell her. “How do you feel?”

She shakes herself alert, then gives herself a quick look over.

“I feel… stronger than before. Better. I suppose.”

“You’re even very slightly larger!” I encourage her.

She checks herself again.

“Huh. I suppose I am. Alright then, let’s get back to it! I want to be useful and I’m not there yet!”

“You sure aren’t,” I chuckle. “Right you are, back at it.”