It only took two days! Two days before I ran into the next new item which I had neither seen nor considered before. Diminishing returns.

First, I had decided that adding ten percent of the total amount of mana that a creature holds without any upgrade would be one upgrade point. That seemed like a method I could easily calculate and would take into account the differences in mana requirements to constitute change.

Thinking about it, it makes sense that when something has been made more substantial, it will take more mana to increase further. If I add one mana to something with a diameter of one millimeter, the effect should be more significant and more condensed than if I were to add one mana to something with a diameter of two millimeters as the same amount of energy would be distributed over something larger.

If I assume that one point of mana has increased the density or the circumference of the venom sacs by twenty percent, then it should follow that to get a similar result, I would have to spend that same amount of mana extra. I would assume that the same goes with increasing the size of bones or creatures overall. I also believe that with sturdiness, increasing something that is already sturdy would require more mana than increasing something weak by the same amount. Dense muscles need to absorb more energy than weaker muscles do, and in the end, mana is just another form of energy.

So now that three points of mana have been added to each spider, I see an upgrade of about two and a half points. Following this line of thought; I can think of eight general upgrades for my spiders. I can either choose to add one point into each of these attributes to see one point of upgrade, or I can choose to specialize and increase one aspect just over six times. I would assume that at higher levels it would become much more efficient to keep a somewhat allrounder build going.

These returns on mana investment show that the natural path may have been the most potent all along. What is being used most, gets most mana points but the mana going elsewhere isn’t wasted as the efficiency of the mana going there is higher. It would never lead to a full allrounder, but it would inevitably lead to a more robust overall being.

An average hunting spider seemed to put about ten percent in increasing its size, twenty percent in its legs so it could move faster, ten percent into its exoskeleton so that it could take a bit of a hit, though I doubt it would ever become durable. Ten percent in its eyes, twenty percent in its fangs so it could better pierce its target, though perhaps also so it could inject more venom in a shorter amount of time and the remaining thirty percent would go to venom.

With my interference, I heavily skewed the mana distribution towards the venom glands. As a result, I could see these glands strengthening in a short amount of time, but I would expect this to mean that over time as nearly eighty percent of the mana would now go to the venom it would end up with fewer upgrades overall. I do think I have figured out how to tinker with my creaturs and create my own ecosystem though.

Now that I have split my spiders into two categories, which under my influence have diversified further but are also becoming more similar within their groups, I should differentiate within the species. Both are still spiders, they have the same base stats and options and could enhance the same functions, but due to the differences, their entire method of living has become different. Logically every choice made would follow the highest chance of succeeding, and by using the furthest enhanced parts the most, chances of success would be the greatest. As such, I will differentiate based on species as well as based on jobs. As such I should call them spider webmakers and spider hunters.

Also, by forcing my spider hunters to all follow the venom route, the few that were overpowering insects or outrunning them have now become more efficient at poisoning. So it is not only possible to add a job to my creatures, but I can also remove jobs and make them unavailable by limiting the mana going the parts primarily required for the type of hunt I am trying to get rid of. If only these spiders could understand the fact that I am graciously pushing them towards a better life. Of course, I also figure that spiders from more mana rich areas would have passively absorbed so much mana that they should be equally or even more venomous than my spiders while also having all their other body parts upgraded further. Let ‘s hope that none of these monsters comes over too soon.

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So let's plan the spider army for now. My spider webmakers are my safest bet for enhancement, considering they are stationary and won’t leave my zone of influence. That means that there is no risk of mana being drained through them dying outside of me. The spider hunters, on the other hand, can hunt outside of my area and absorb some of their kills there and when they come back and die here, I have a small mana increase.

Luckily I have time. As such I choose two spider webmakers, and two spider hunters, which ones don’t matter much anymore as my enhancements have made all the previously absorbed mana relatively insignificant, so they are all very similar to each other now. But for this test, diversification is my friend. I can have them follow unique upgrade paths and see which is the most effective hunter and how the upgrades change their behavior. I can then see if I can get my spider hunters to be my attacking force and pull some mana towards me and have my spider webmakers be my defending force.

First, I take the spider hunters. I choose one and increase the venom further to the point where now eighty-five percent of passively absorbed mana flows towards its venom gland, making the venom just about as deadly as it could possibly be. Five percent will flow to the fangs for faster and more significant venom injections. Five percent would go to the legs so that it will be able to move slightly faster or maybe even jump on its prey.

At least it would have to be able to move despite the added weight from its fangs and venom glands. The rest of the body would share the remaining five percent evenly. I expect this to be a slow, silent ambush hunter who pounces on anything passing by and injects a venom so potent it can immediately kill it. It would never be physically powerful and have good defenses so it won’t be able to fight anything. With so little mana going to its legs it most likely won't be able to outrun anything either.

Had I known a method of making it invisible or at least harder to see I would give it that, but for now it would have to rely on lack of movement and strategically placing itself in positions from where it won’t easily be found to both ambush prey and not get eaten by anything else. In total, the new upgrade cost me about a fifteenth of a point of mana. I will call this one my spider assassin.

For the other spider hunter, I add more mana towards its size, legs, and fangs. This distribution lowers the percentage of the venom to sixty-five percent. Still very potent, and it should definitely be enough to kill, but perhaps not as fast or maybe it will only maim. However, now that ten percent goes to its legs, it will grow significantly faster than its assassin brother. Also, with its increased size and better shell, it will be more durable and stronger so it might even survive a physical confrontation long enough to inject venom. This spider I would expect to move around a lot more. Maybe not to chase down enemies as it still isn’t built for speed, but it would for sure be able to stalk and then fight prey. I wish I knew how to make the spiders blend into their surroundings more, but for now, I will go along calling this a spider stalker.

Now I will look at my spider webmakers. I can choose to enhance the webmaking gland further, and for one that will be the actual direction, I push it towards. A larger, stronger web will surely catch more prey. However, I would need to spend an unknown but significant amount of points on the spinneret for it to even be able to entangle and hold something as substantial or even more substantial than a rabbit.

So vital in fact that I am sure that if I used all the mana available in this area for just one spider, it still would not reach that level. The spider I have chosen to push further down this path, I will call a spider Webber. For this one making a web is going to be its only way of hunting and hiding in one part of its web will be its only method of defense.

The other spider webmaker I decide to go a different route. The web gland will remain the main focus, but I will add some percentages towards its fangs and venom. My thought process here is that if the web can’t hold on to prey for long, then my spider needs a weapon to kill prey in the amount of time that it is held. This will be a precise check to see if holding for longer or being able to kill quicker is going to turn out to be more efficient. I would expect the more allrounder to be better with larger prey due to the diminishing returns giving it more stats overall.

However, for prey that can already be caught, a more massive web will lead to more catches. This will be essentially dividing small prey towards the spider Webber and larger prey towards my new creation which I will dub spider defender. Named as killing anything it catches in its web is going to be primarily defending its home. And also me.