The Antventure Begins

64. Right to the Core

The enormous core, gleaming like a lustrous pearl, began to dissolve, the solid matter it’s made of released into the air. Energy swirled and flowed in tiny particles dancing and spinning. Each individual particle met another and those two met another. The dots of energy grouped into flowing streams trailing through the air.

Eventually these streams begin to draw towards me, flowing directly through my physical self as if it weren’t there and drifting towards my core. The energy acts almost as if it were water circling a drain, looping around the core in wide circles before the loop closed tighter creating a faster flow the closer it gets.

As the energy meets my core, the spherical gem begins to grow, greedily absorbing every particle of light that touches it, using that energy to construct itself anew.

More and more energy flows with every second, growing faster as the enormous core continues to dissolve, releasing all of its potential. The spinning energy is no longer like a bath drain and more like a raging whirlpool. A veritable ocean of power drawing deep into my core.

It. Hurts!

The further my core expands, the more a dull pain throbs in my abdomen. Distant at first and increasingly sharper with each passing moment.

I clench my mandibles and brace myself against it. C’mon, Anthony, you can take it.

More. More. MORE!

Oh, the sheer agony! My core is a screaming mass of pain, ultra-dense and far larger than it should be for a creature of my strength.

And deep inside, that core is unstable. Growing too quickly and holding too much energy. Damn it hurts!

Finally, the titan-croc’s immense core is completely gone but the pain remains. The ripping agony flares every few seconds, causing me to almost collapse. Even Tiny noticed something was wrong, coming over to place a gentle paw on my back. Thanks, little buddy. That’s really nice.

OUCH!

Damn this core! I don’t recall Gandalf mentioning the searing agony involved when pushing your core beyond your evolution Level. With my willpower being sapped by fighting off this pain, I can’t do much. Blearily, I check my status and the result shocks me into alertness again.

MP: 11/50!

Fif… FIFTY?

No wonder the whole process was so painful. My core is literally a full 25% larger than a body at my Level of evolution is supposed to be able to handle.

Even though this process continues to cause such terrible sensations, excitement replaces some of the trepidation. Do you know what this could mean for my next evolution? Will new, rare options be unlocked? Maybe there’ll be a heck more evolutionary energy to spend upgrading my stats. Perhaps this will provide enough to afford that subsidiary brain for magic!

I’ve managed to amass seven points of Biomass so far from this battlefield. As for the remains of the former titan-croc, I’ve barely managed to touch it. I’m in so much pain, I seriously don’t want to eat any more. Frankly, I don’t want to do anything anymore. I need a nap.

But I force myself to keep working.

I refuse to let this wealth of Biomass go to the colony completely. They can have the rest. This titan-croc is mine. I’m allowed to be this selfish, right? I’ll conveniently ignore that I gobbled up all the cores from the large monsters…

With Tiny helping me along, I limp towards a tree near the croc and begin to Excavate a temporary nest. I would normally drag this food back to our own little chamber within the colony, except I don’t think I have the strength.

The Excavate upgrade shows its power here and I’m able to dig out a surprisingly roomy chamber beneath the tree relatively quickly.

With that job done, I drag myself over to the remains and start the unpleasant job of breaking it up into pieces and burying those in my new hiding hole. The carcass is so large it takes almost an hour to complete this job, and several times I have to chase off a few workers coming over to grab a bite.

And the flaring agony I experienced has receded to a lesser, consistent pain that batters constantly in my mind.

Ugh… I hate this.

The busy workforce has also completed their mission, transporting all the Biomass down into the main nest to be consumed and fed to the brood.

After one more look at the now bare area, I wriggle myself down into the chamber. Once Tiny has joined me, I close the entrance.

The long battle has finally ended and the colony has been victorious. Time for a nap.

Zzzzzzzz…

Several hours later I startle myself out of torpor, snapping awake in an instant. I’m up! Phew, good sleep.

The pain of my core has been downgraded to a persistent ache. I can probably attribute this to my insides being squashed by the larger than intended core occupying too much real estate.

Not to worry! As soon as I evolve it’ll be nice and snug in there once again.

Tiny gradually shakes himself awake. He’s grown again after stuffing his face yesterday. Honestly, I think he’s grown a little too large to comfortably fit on my back, which is a little sad. I am glad he’s managing to get larger and stronger though.

You’ll prove yourself useful eventually, you little ape!

Now that my core has reached its maximum potential, plus a bit more, I don’t really begrudge him the core I spent to bring him to life. It all worked out in the end, and I got a little monkey buddy for my trouble.

My mind now turns to the business at hand. Namely, continuing to eat this Biomass! I’ve resolved that until all this beast has been consumed, Tiny and I will live the shut-in lifestyle. We won’t leave until the meal is over.

I estimate we’ll be able to fill ourselves up at least once more, possibly twice, before the food is entirely gone.

C’mon, Tiny! Time to dig in.

Om nom nom.

Gah, I’m stuffed! Tiny looks so full he’s practically a monkey basketball. That’s another seven Biomass in the tank. Such riches!

Being so full, we decide to sleep again. A well-deserved holiday after our efforts.

When we awake, we finish off the food and I gain another four Biomass.

Rest in peace, titan-croc. I will never forget the mutations you allowed me to gain.

Checking my status, I have amassed a ridiculous eighteen points of Biomass! This is so many points, I almost don’t know what to do with it.

Settle down, Anthony… let’s start planning out the costs now. I need nine points to max out my antennae, so there goes half of my wealth immediately. I’ll have another nine whole points to spend. I can upgrade my Regeneration Gland to four with my remaining points. I really like the regeneration and have already promised myself to prioritise it. Two points remaining…

Guess I could spend those on either pheromones or legs.

Legs would be useful in general. Running around, climbing, these are all things I do constantly. Pheromones will help with managing the colony and workers. I mean, an extra +1 isn’t going to make a huge difference to either choice, so I’m not too concerned.

I think I’ll take pheromones. The ability to move the workforce faster, even by just a second, could be critical at some point. Not to mention, we’re going to need a lot of food to keep growing the colony. The more successfully we can hunt the better off we all are.

[Would you like to upgrade Antennae to +5, Regeneration Gland to +4 and Pheromone Gland to +2? This will cost eighteen Biomass.]

Heck yeah!

[At this Level you can choose a mutation advancement. Please select from the menu.]

Here we go!

The dizzying number of options unfolds in my mind like a flower. There’s always such a ridiculous number of suggestions. What on earth am I supposed to pick!

Enhanced Sense Antennae for an empowered sense of smell? Sounds handy. Bladed Antennae, equipping each antenna with a bladed tip and turning them into weapons? Holy heck! Precognitive Antennae, sensing vibrations from a moment in the future? Are you frickin’ kidding me? How would that even work? I’m a little leery of this one. Witnessing getting splatted a hundredth of a second in advance… there wouldn’t be a whole lot I could do about it.

There are a few that tickle my fancy. Such as the Mana Detection Antennae, allowing the appendages to sense the flow of Mana. I do already have a skill that will hopefully be able to perform the same job. Another choice improves the strength of any magical energy channelled through the Antennae, making me wonder if the queen selected this upgrade…