-Yes underling number 46, your blood will be well-used, now off with you, off I say! To the devil with you! Oh, welcome underling number 163, I see you brought-,
Oh! Why, I hardly noticed you there! As it turns out, managing about three hundred underlings is no easy task. Well, it is easy for a person of such high esteem as I, but to any untrained layman, it would be implausible to organize them as I have. As it turns out, simply sending them out into the great wide beyond is a pretty good idea at first, but once you've got more than 50 mosquitos, they start dying off quite fast. Not faster than you can create more, but fast enough to notice a change.
So, I organized them, turning them into squads of five, each commandeered by a single mosquito each. It is... a hierarchy, of sorts, with myself at the top. A demon lord and his four kings. That kind of deal. Once you pass a certain threshold, this kind of strategy works better. One mosquito will act as a distraction, buzzing about their head, while the other ones drink their fill from any other exposed path of skin.
The greatest loss incurred from this model was one squadron which lost about four members, but the rest have had a maximum of one or two. The more mosquitos I have, the more blood I get, the more mosquitos I can make. Exponential growth.
-The only problem is...
Before me, a long line of blood-filled mosquitos stretches, each one of them waiting to give me their blood. The system almost works too well. While I'm standing here manually removing the blood, only about two-thirds of all the mosquitos are out and about. I need to do something to increase my storage of blood. If I could only do that, this would go smoother by far, since I wouldn't have to take some time after each refill to summon more mosquitos.
But that isn't the only problem. I seem to have reached some sort of plateau, here at 300 mosquitos or so. They're dying off faster than I can summon them, but only because I can't make use of all the blood at my disposal.
With that all said, I think I have an idea. Something that will allow me to do things better, more effectively. In other words...
Evolution.
See, despite how much blood I have absorbed and used, my level has not risen. Not even once. My governing theory is that, since the stats (I have yet to raise) cost blood to increase, so too does my level. Probably.
...I'll need to try this quickly, underling number 209 is staring at me quite wistfully. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting. System! Increase my level!
Would you like to convert <10> Blood into EXP?
Yes. Do it, I command you!
You have gained <1> Level
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Alright, this is going to take some time, so I'll spare you the grind.
Yes underling 206, step right up, I'll need you now, more than ever.
...
...
As per request,
David Branner Mosquito Level 10/10 Power
Status
Flight 2 Succ 3 Defence 1 Noise 2
Skills
Mitosis (2 Blood/Use) Evolution Bloodwork
...As it turns out, my stats do not scale with my level. A set-back, to be sure, but unimportant at this very moment.
Now, system, show me the information regarding evolution! Give me the final piece of the puzzle to my future!!
Evolution: allows the user to
-Asking for a fight, are you? I'll bet if I gave that blue screen a little shiner to go with it I'm sure you'll change your min-,
"Bzzt?" beside me, underling number 130 buzzes in a way that is decidedly not annoying, or even hostile. No, as odd as it seems, the mosquito almost seems... tender. The buggers are growing on me, I swear.
So, what is it? I was in the middle of some very important and VERY evil thoughts.
130 doesn't answer. Not that he can answer, but-, instead, he fearlessly takes a step towards his overlord, standing just a little bit closer.
What in the world are you doing, have you no shame-?? Mosquitwo! Remove this-,
My order goes unheard, as Mosquitwo comes closer as well. And the five underling bodyguard he had. And underling number 55, 39, 299, 12, and, well, pretty much everybody in the line comes near, inching closer and closer without any spoken words.
What is wrong with the lot of you-, have you all gone mad?! This is unsightly behaviour, to see you so blatantly disregard the wishes of your superior-,,, why I'll-,
I can think no more, as my remaining mosquitos, all the two hundred mosquitos I've got flying about, stealing blood, come closer from every direction imaginable. I can swear on the dark lord that some of them are emerging from the watery depths of the lotus-fountain.
These mosquitos, when flying all together, all coming closer to myself, form something of a cloud of insects, black like death itself. The cloud does not land beside me. No, the mosquitos all huddled next to me rise as well, taking to flight to join the cloud of mosquitos around me. Well in the air, they start swirling around, creating at first a cyclone, and then a tornado, made up purely by insects, with myself as the eye.
What in the evil lord below is-,
And then it happens.
Conditions have been met.
That is all I can see before the mosquitos close in on me, the sheer amount of them becoming more than a cloud, more than a tornado. They become an impenetrable darkness. My heart is alight at the sight. I'm proud that I and my underlings could create such a beautiful sight.
And then the pain starts.
Deep, fundamental, twisting every limb in my body, turning it into something that wasn't me; that was more me. My skin burns and my flesh boils and my organs bubble. I revel in it. In the pain that grants me strength, in the weakness of mind that allows my flight. When I exit this darkness, I will be greater, more powerful. It is a dream. A lucid fever-dream I never want to escape.
Enjoy your new form.
And I do.