I got back to my feet slowly, still leery of the return of pain.
For a few minutes, I moved my body parts with great care, testing my limits. Gradually, the discomfort receded. Once more, my jelly felt trustworthy.
I did it. Despite the agony of the last several hours, I felt triumphant. I evolved.
I chirped out and got down to business; I could feel power suffusing my entire body. As I straightened and stood, I also saw grey flesh creeping out across my jelly body. It was disappointing that I could no longer jiggle my jelly, but probably the protections for the body parts I had Integrated would be worth it.
Even if others can’t see it, my warm insides will always be jelly. Like some sort of satanic pastry.
Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Lvl 2.
My Health steadily dropped as the grey (almost lavender, probably due to my base jello color) flesh grew out. When I received a Level, the speed of its growth increased. Soon, I had a rectangular torso covered in the grey flesh. I shook my wings as a test. The joints felt smooth and easy. The downside was that shifting my body parts around felt more difficult, but otherwise…
Uhum, this form is still a bit… I wiggled my body around, shifting my mass and body parts. The body responded sluggishly but soon followed my will. Although I had become an Experimental Chimera Core, I still had a lot of control of my body. I stretched upward, my arms lengthening. The Interstitial Body Structure gradually morphed.
Your Skill (Earned) Skill Inferior Body Manipulation has grown to Level 18.
Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Level 3.
In the end, I had become a humanoid torso. Probably all told, I now ‘stood’ at a foot high. I could only look down at my base and grimace though. The crawfish legs are a bit creepy. Way too skinny. I’m that bro that skips leg day. Well, I will replace them. Perhaps with tortoise legs, now that my antenna has been broken…
…ah, somehow, tortoise legs seem a bit too far in the other direction… these are the sort of thighs that lug around a real caboose…
I hopped around, a massive torso supported by tiny crayfish legs. I grimaced; yes, definitely it needed to be the legs, despite the aesthetic that left a lot to be desired. I examined the deceased tortoise as the sun came up over the horizon. In addition to harvesting some body parts from this defeated foe, I had also the Skill explanations for all my newly earned Skills-
Ahhh, there is so much to examine! Evolution is truly the best…!
I skittered on my small legs closer to the tortoise. Now with my evolution, I was probably closer to a third of the size of the thing, which made manipulating it at least possible. With a great effort, I managed to lift the Swirlback Tortoise's body… but then I ran out of gas and it collapsed back down into the mud, sinking even deeper.
on my humanoid form, my right forearm ended in my Serrated Foreleg. To alleviate my frustration, I waved the foreleg around for a bit, scoring harmless hits against the stupidly heavy shell. But as the sun rose higher, I recalled the threat of other monsters showing up and trying to steal my prize.
Well, no one but us absorbs the body parts of the defeated, but they might just eat it…or Green could show up and demonstrate her butcher Skills that would do a wood chipper proud… uwah, yes, the Skill explanations can wait for a bit. Better handle this issue first.
I quickly got to work. I couldn’t quite flip the tortoise, but I could pry it up long enough to hack at the tortoise's legs. The Serrated Foreleg had some difficulty with bones, but I forced my body to work.
Your Skill (Earned) Inferior Body Manipulation has grown to Level 19.
Your Skill (Earned) Foolish Grit has grown to Level 2.
Oh? I suppose I did earn that Skill… gah, this System and its FOOLISH nomenclature…
Well, I tried to ignore my wandering thoughts. Soon, I had four hacked-off tortoise legs. I gathered them together and attempted to integrate them into my body. And to my delight, they did indeed come as a set of four.
Would you like to integrate four legs of Swirlback Tortoise Lvl 14?
Integration requires 52 Anima. Continue?
Jeez, the Anima costs are really ballooning outwards. Jumping straight to 52? But these are legs that have gone through a first evolution, so…
Your Skill (Species) Integrate Body Part has grown to Level 19.
Your Skill (Species) Integrate Body Part has grown to Level 20.
You have integrated four legs of Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise Lvl 14! Four Legs of the Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise provide Strength +4, Defense +2, and Agility +1.
Despite the Anima costs, these legs instantly became worth it. They sank down through my lavender flesh to the bottom. I had to stretch out the base of my body for balance, creating a rectangular bottom thorax for the thicker tortoise legs. They stomped into the mud, finally giving me some steady footing on softer ground. Plus, I think the extra Strength helped support my larger body.
That’s actually a scary thought… if I didn’t integrate a body part that grants Strength, could I absorb a bunch of body parts and find myself ungainly? I wouldn’t even be able to support my own weight?
Stolen story; please report.
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Lvl 2.
Tch, always showing up to mock the mistakes I almost made…
Again, I reined back my wandering thoughts. After all, hadn’t the System granted me an epic evolution? Let’s not stress over the details. And I now had a better idea of the importance of balancing my Stats for the future. At the very least, I should pay lip service to this System so as not to draw its ire.
Yes but haven't most of these Levels seemed to have been triggered by thoughts? So obviously, it’s aware-
Your Skill (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom has grown to Lvl 3.
Your Skill (Earned) Foolish Grit has grown to Level 3.
“...ah, chirp. Fuck me-cheep.” My beak released my words. I just tried not to think too deeply about whether this System could be partial or vindictive. Instead, I stomped closer to the tortoise's body and tried to flip it again. Now, with the extra added 4 Strength, I managed to lift it… until I stopped and wavered, with the tortoise held about 75% of the way to flipping it over.
With how large it was… I simply wasn’t tall enough to flip it over all the way…
“Such a letdown-cheep.”
Your Skill (Language) Bestial Comprehension has grown to Level 2.
If I Level this, perhaps I won’t need to chirp as often…? Hum, interesting that Language is its own class of Skill…
I set those issues aside for the moment, as I stood in strained effort. I grew out a dozen tentacles and pressed them against the underside of the tortoise, then grew another dozen tentacles out of the tips of those tentacles, getting some extra distance. These grew out of my body, but were not covered in the Interstitial Body Structure. After about thirty seconds of concentrated effort… I finally managed to flip my prize and reveal its soft belly.
Your Skill (Earned) Inferior Body Manipulation has grown to Level 20.
I raised my Serrated Foreleg and got to work carving up its insides. The sun had truly risen now, and I could hear the lazy ribbits of the nearby frogs as the heat roused them from their mud naps. I hacked away, clearing out space to reveal the internal organs. Cheh, doesn’t look like there is a Mana Core… also, I don’t think it’s a good idea to get rid of my Hybrid Monster Core, at least as long as it maintains the connection to the Spiderlings… I’m at 10 body parts, but these crayfish legs are a bit superfluous with the tortoise legs… so how about…
Warning! Your Four Back Legs of the Prideful Crayfish Snapper has been severely damaged! You have lost access to Stats (Temp) Agility +2.
With my Serrated Foreleg, I could easily slice off the offending body parts. Then I plucked up a heavy organ, almost one-fourth of my current mass, from the chest cavity of the hacked open tortoise.
Would you like to integrate heavy heart of Swirlback Tortoise Lvl 14?
Integration requires 70 Anima. Continue?
70 Anima, really? Tch, guess I’ll need to snack on swamp flies when I get back… Ah, I might not have much Anima left after this to replace some of my other body parts…
Your Skill (Species) Integrate Body Part has grown to Level 21.
You have integrated heavy heart of Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise Lvl 14! You have unlocked the Skill (Temp) Inferior Adrenaline Rush. Heavy Heart of the Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise provides Recovery +3 and Constitution +3.
(Temp) Inferior Adrenaline Rush: The heavy heart of the Swirlback Tortoise functions as part of the creature’s pituitary system. Activating the Skill provides a small boost to physical Stats for a short amount of time. Boost and length of effect increase with Skill Level. Cooldown decreases with Skill Level. May trigger due to stressful situations. Control increases with Skill Level.
I couldn’t help but shake my head as I read this Skill description. Ah, this tortoise did so little cardio it could only have an inferior adrenaline rush… honestly, quite sad… but to be fair, he seemed to have nailed a leisurely life.
Hum, now I wonder…if I absorb a similar body part, will the Skill Levels remain? Better test it now…
Warning! Your Sour and Malnourished Stomach of Lonely Crayfish Egg-Defender has been severely damaged! You have lost access to Stats (Temp) Constitution +1 and (Temp) Recovery +4. You have lost access to the Skill (Temp) Feed Lvl 10.
Would you like to integrate fat stomach of Swirlback Tortoise Lvl 14?
Integration requires 43 Anima. Continue?
Such a high price…!
You have integrated Fat Stomach of Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise Lvl 14! You have unlocked the Skill (Temp) Mana Feed. (Skill Levels from Feed have been retained). Fat Stomach of the Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise provides Strength +2, Recovery +5, and Constitution +1.
(Temp) Mana Feed: (Altered to suit your Species) When Absorbing Anima, a slight chance of regenerating Health and Mana over the next minute. Half of Health Absorbed will also be gained as Mana. Effect chance increases with Skill Level. Amount of Health regenerated increases with Skill Level.
So long as I eventually discover a useful Blessing I might be able to benefit quite a bit from this better version of Feed… hum…
I considered the remains. Probably I also wanted to switch out one more body part. Considering my Status Screen, my beak seemed like the obvious choice; it provided a wide variety of benefits, but only 1 Stat for each. And I knew almost intuitively that I could now make my own mouth with Interstitial Body Structure.
Considering the remaining body parts… that annoying tail is the obvious choice. But at 35 Anima, there is no chance I will be able to Integrate it. So just bring it back with me, along with the shell, and go after I’ve had a bit of a snack…
I began cutting out the extra organs and muscles, so the shell would be as light as possible. But halfway through the process, I heard a deep, rumbling ribbit.
I twisted around and found that, somehow, the monstrous toad that monopolized the North portion of the beach had shifted and peered down at me from atop a nearby mud mound. It’s chest cavity swelled and collapsed as it considered me. I felt a flash of irritation. That five-horned bastard! Does it smell my prey? Trying to steal my kill?!
My evolution had increased my size, but the toad still towered over me, of a size with the tortoise corpse. It considered my bristling form and offered me another mild ribbit.
Your Skill (Earned) Detection has grown to Level 2.
Your Skill (Temp) Inferior Adrenaline Rush has grown to Level 2.
Time for a strategic retreat! Just eat this discarded offal, you bastard.
Ahem, don’t kill me…
With a swipe of my serrated foreleg, I tossed as much of the other flesh away. My ‘heart’ pounded. I felt the adrenaline rushing through my system, triggered by my fear of the giant frog being. Even after growing and getting my own evolution, I still felt quite a bit behind that giant bastard.
I scurried away, lugging the large shell through the mud with the tail dangling after it. Luckily, the frog didn’t actually seem like it was pursuing. Because I had gone out of the mud area and back into the reeds and quickly lost my momentum as the shell caught on a stone embedded in the mud. Even though Strength had grown to become tied for my highest stat, this was still very difficult.
And then the Inferior Adrenaline Rush gave out, leaving me panting and exhausted.
Little hex spiderlings, I don’t suppose you can lend a leg?