Upping The Ante

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.

There is another heap of options available. I can have the cortex be more efficient at assisting minds casting certain kinds of spells or increase the efficiency of working on certain types of Mana. There is a further upgrade on the Divergent mutation which assists the brains when they’re each concentrating on multiple tasks. Yikes.

But I’ve had my eye on an upgrade since last time. The Combined Coordination Cortex. That’ll increase the efficiency of attached sub-brains when working together to accomplish a sophisticated task. This way I get a slice of both types of pie!

NEXT.

My Inner Carapace Plating!

Sooo many great options for the bone plating. Strengthen the plating overall, turn it into a second skeletal structure, improve the regenerative ability, improve the speed of the regenerative ability, extend the bone plating inward so it protects some organs from damage.

So many!

Eventually one catches my eye. My Diamond Carapace is tough as nails and extremely sparkly. I get that. But my main concern is a strong blow cracking it from a hammer or axe type weapon, even a monster like Tiny punching me. To protect myself against that, I need:

Dispersive Bone Plating! This bit of goodness will form an absorbent layer against the outer skeleton that assists in absorbing and dispersing kinetic energy from hard strikes.

I like it. My exo-skeleton is my pride, and it shall never be pierced. I won’t rest until I’m as solid as a tank!

Although, I really need to work on my magic defence.

Finally, it’s time to move onto the last but not least, the pheromones!

Once more the menu blossoms within my mind, filled with the possible selections of pheromone upgrades. There are tons.

Acid pheromones that cause damage to any who inhale them? What the heck? I mean… I guess the ants don’t inhale the pheromones, so it wouldn’t hurt the colony… not sure on that one.

Mind Strike pheromones that weaken the will of any who come into contact with them? Could be handy for setting someone up for a mental attack… pity I can’t do those yet.

Flammable pheromones. You basically fill up an enclosed space with this stuff and throw in a fire spell. Kaboom! Basically, petrol fumes pheromones? WHY!

I spy one option that piques my interest.

Persuasive Language pheromones, makes it so your pheromones are more persuasive when being used to communicate with others. Meaning others will consider your signals before listening to any other trails.

This sounds interesting. I might be able to get the queen to reconsider mutating further with this. I’ll take it!

With that, all of my selections are done. Time to mutate this ant!

[Would you like to confirm these choices?]

Awwwww yeah!

Wait a sec…

Noooorrrr-FLETABINNNNN!

Building rapidly is the most extreme itch I have ever experienced! It’s everywhere! So many hotspots all over my body, it’s impossible to decide which is worse!

I CAN’T TAKE IT!

The only blessing is that the others are so occupied by their own menus, they can’t see me scrabbling and rolling about, desperately clawing at the dirt in a frantic attempt to alleviate the itch.

My dignity is preserved at least.

From up above, a giant ant head pokes down into the chamber to see what all the fuss is about.

Dammit, Mother!

Name: Anthony

Level: 13 (special core) (IV)

Might: 41

Toughness: 29

Cunning: 44

Will: 34

HP: 58/58

MP: 220/220

Skills: Excavation Level 9 (II); Improved Acid Shot Level 6 (II); Enhanced Grip Level 3 (II); Shattering Bite Level 7 (III); Advanced Stealth Level 6 (II); Splintering Chomp Level 4 (III); Tunnel Map Level 6 (II); Mana Transformation Level 6 (III); Advanced Forceful Mana Level 5 (II); External Mana Manipulation Level 2 (I); Mana Sensing Level 5 (I); Core Surgery Level 3 (III); Advanced Exo-Skeleton Defence Level 7 (II); Pet Communication Level 3 (I); Rapid Dash Level 1 (II); Advanced Water Magic Affinity Level 2 (II); Stamina Level 1 (I); Pet Growth Speed Level 1 (I); Mana Miser Level 1 (I); Cerebral Endurance Level 1 (I); Meditation Level 1 (I); Precise Shooting Level 1 (I); Ripping Bite Level 1 (I)

Mutations: Omni-Focused Eyes +10; Infrared Antennae +7; Mana Eating Restrictive Acid +10; Rapid Absorption Legs +10; Savage Infused Mandibles +10; Hardened Diamond Carapace +10; Rapid Limb Regeneration Gland +10; Persuasive Pheromone Language Gland +10; Expanded Deep Gravity Magic Gland +10; Combined Divergent Coordination Cortex +10; Dispersive Regenerating Inner Carapace Plating +10

Species: Dispersed Mind Ant (Formica)

Skill Points: 14

Biomass: 22