Adon looked through the Adaptation and Skill options, and he rubbed the tips of his front legs together.

There were just so many things that he wanted!

The only problem: they were so expensive!

He certainly had more options than when he’d last gathered a handful of Evolution Points together. It also helped that he wasn’t running from anything.

The Adaptation options that drew his eye were Silk Spinner I, Telepathy I, Venom Spines I, Venom Fangs I, Hardened Exoskeleton I, Bladed Mandibles I, Piercing Mandibles I, Crushing Mandibles I, Magic Perception I, Venom Spores I, Sleep Spores I, and Camouflage I.

Adon reluctantly forced himself to ignore all of the Adaptations available related to vision: Simple Eyes II, Spherical Lens I, Apposition Eyes I, Superposition Eyes I, and Infrared Sensing I.

Right now, he needed to focus on Adaptations that would help him fight and defend himself. He hadn’t needed better vision in his fight with the ants. He’d almost been killed because he was slow and weak, not because he was near-blind. Now that he was out of the heat of battle, that was obvious. He only survived because of his superior Intelligence and quick thinking, blended with a very healthy dose of luck.

There were also some Skills that Adon was interested in: Claustrian Language Comprehension, Shed Skin II, and Mana Manipulation. He was pretty sure that last one would cause him to end up as a magical butterfly, which would be much better than a regular butterfly in any fantasy world.

But he forced himself to calmly, rationally analyze what he needed to get right now. He was going to either be fighting predators at night or possibly using violence to secure a hiding place for the evening. Most of the best places to sleep were probably already taken.

He thought back to that morning. He had already been evicted from the plant he was born on. Clearly this place was overpopulated with creatures like himself.

So, Silk Spinner I. The pros of that are that I could try to be like Goldie and use a web to both defend myself and capture prey. The con is that I have to learn to use it.

Silk Spinner I was one of the more reasonably priced Adaptations at only 5 Evolution Points. He thought he would come back to it.

Telepathy I was extremely desirable in the long term, but far too expensive for now. It would cost 25 Evolution Points, a supermajority of what he had saved. Insane pricing for something that he could guess would not actually help him in a fight.

No, it’s like trying to sell diamonds in the desert, he thought to himself. It might be extremely valuable somewhere else, but in the desert, you just want water.

Venom Spines I was barely more expensive than Silk Spinner I, at 6 Evolution Points, and it would actually immediately help in his defense. It immediately jumped to the top of his list.

Venom Fangs I, Adon rejected instantly. It might be good to buy later, when his body was tougher, but right now, he preferred any Adaptation that helped him minimize how close he had to get to dangerous enemies. If I have to inject you with something from these fangs, I’m probably already dead by the time I get that close.

Hardened Exoskeleton I sounded helpful, but Adon couldn’t imagine it would be as useful as Venom Spines I. While the former would make him slightly harder to kill, the latter would actually impose a cost for attacking him. And Hardened Exoskeleton I cost 5 Evolution Points, only slightly cheaper than Venom Spines.

Bladed Mandibles I felt redundant. Adon’s existing mandibles had cut through everything he’d encountered so far. Maybe if he fought something with a tougher exoskeleton, or needed to escape Goldie’s web, that would be different. He briefly imagined an arms race between stronger mandibles and harder exoskeletons, then shook his head to clear away the distraction.

He rejected Piercing Mandibles I and Crushing Mandibles I for the same reasons.

Magic Perception I was the most expensive of the options he’d seen at 30 Evolution Points, and he knew that as much as he wanted anything magic-related, it wasn’t what he needed right now.

And although Venom Spores I and Sleep Spores I weren’t unreasonably priced—10 Evolution Points and 8 Evolution Points respectively—they were more expensive than Venom Spines I, and since they were spores, they would probably require Adon to be above his opponent in position. That way, gravity would carry the spores down onto his enemy. That was probably an unreasonable expectation for right now, since he didn’t yet have wings.

Camouflage I was another expensive option, and although hiding was a valuable ability, Adon suspected that some of the creatures who hunted at night would have superior vision anyway. So he could come back to this another day, if he lived long enough.

He decided to leave the Skills for now.

He would take Silk Spinner I and Venom Spines I.

When he purchased those, he found that Silk Spinner II and Venom Spines II appeared as options. And Adon decided to double down. The upgraded versions of those Adaptations were twice as expensive, so hopefully they would be big upgrades.

With Silk Spinner II and Venom Spines II purchased, Adon had a few points left. Not enough for any of the Adaptations he was really interested in. So he bought Claustrian Language Comprehension, the cheapest of the Skills he’d been contemplating, for 2 Evolution Points. That left him with just a single point to his name.

I have to hope that will be good enough, he thought. He was gambling everything that his judgment of what would make him stronger and help him survive the night was correct.

His body began tingling painfully all over as the Adaptation purchases took effect. He felt the new layer of skin underneath the old, ragged layer he was about to shed, transforming to fit his new body parts. He thought the pain might let up after a few seconds, but it only got worse as he felt the Venom Spines growing through his skin.

That’s okay, he told himself. This pain is just weakness leaving the body.

He clenched his mandibles painfully as the Adaptations finished taking effect. The hot pain of his body transforming itself cooled to a dull, slight ache. And he felt slightly giddy.

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I did it! he thought. I’ve almost made it through the first day, and I’m already so much stronger than when I started.

The first thing he did was turn his head to look at his body. He wasn’t disappointed in the way the Venom Spines looked. They were long, sharp, and stiff, like porcupine quills. Yet he tested it, and he was able to move them up and down, back and forth slightly, like they were extra limbs.

He realized, to his surprise, that if he saw something that looked like himself, he would run the other way.

Very nice, he thought. I’m starting to be intimidating. Look out, world!

Then he turned to his tail end, where he could feel his Silk Spinner had grown. It appeared in the spot where he would have imagined his butt would be, if he didn’t know better. In fact, his butt was on his underside, just a little bit forward of the Silk Spinner.

Adon thought the Silk Spinner’s position was pretty perfect. Since it was at the very back of him, he would be able to spray silk on anything that approached him from behind, as long as he recognized the sneak attack before it was sprung. There were also two new additions around the Silk Spinner.

It took Adon a few seconds of looking at them before he recognized that he now had a new cutting appendage, like a smaller version of his mandibles.

I guess that’s to cut the silk, he thought. Cool. This is really cool!

For once, his excitement outpaced his fear and self-doubt. It felt like he had a real method for surviving in the wild now. Just this morning, he had thought he’d be dead before lunchtime.

Adon decided to experiment with the thread. He clenched down on a new muscle that he felt was related to the Silk Spinner, and a short burst of thread squirted out of his backside.

Yes. I did it! He leaped into the air, pumping his front limbs like a champion fighter. Then he dropped back down to the ground. Right. Still all alone. And even if anyone intelligent did see that, they’d probably think I was a total weirdo…

He returned to practicing with his silk in a slightly more subdued mood, but his feelings of awkwardness couldn’t keep him from getting excited again about how cool his new ability was. It was using up Biomass gradually as he went, but he kept practicing for long enough to grasp how to launch continuous spurts, or long threads, of silk versus short bursts like the one he’d initially shot out. He also found he could control the speed at which his silk moved, to a degree.

I’m not sure I can do everything that Goldie could do, he thought, recalling the spider’s beautiful, delicate web. But this is definitely a great asset for my survival anyway.

He began walking through the twilight—he could tell now the sun was in the middle of setting, so it was his last chance to find a good place to hide for the night—and he came up with a plan as he moved.

It was better to deal with the devil you knew than the devil you didn’t, and he had a phenomenal sense of direction in this life. Or at least a good memory for places he’d been. So it wasn’t hard for him to navigate back to the plant he originated from. It took a while, because he didn’t want to exert himself too much and burn through Biomass he’d need later.

But finally, with the dark just beginning to set in, he made it back.

It was still just bright enough for him to distinguish shapes, and he looked up at the stem of the plant where he’d hatched.

He tried to argue with his doubts. Come on, I can handle the Ladybug Larva this time. He was just a larva, after all. Fundamentally, that was the same stage of life as a caterpillar. And Adon had learned so much in just under a day. I’m not the same caterpillar who jumped off of the top of this plant to escape you. I have silk, I have venom, I’m a real bad caterpillar. This time, you’d better watch out!

The moment had arrived for their second encounter.

Without allowing himself to hesitate, he climbed the side of the stem. He pulled his body up inch by inch. He seemed to be able to climb faster than he had earlier, he noticed dimly. He must have grown a lot since this morning.

As he climbed past the halfway point, he passed a cluster of broken eggs. Adon took stock of what he saw and kept climbing. As he took his inventory, it disturbed him a bit. The Ladybug Larva had eaten just over half of the Ladybug Eggs that lined the plant. He hadn’t left the safety of his home at all, it seemed to Adon.

Just sat around here, preying on his own kind. It felt both lazy and monstrous to him. Even though Adon would happily have eaten the Ladybug Eggs himself, he was still resistant to the norm of cannibalism that he knew was prevalent in much of the insect world.

All of this just increased his commitment to deposing the Ladybug Larva and reclaiming his home.

He got around two thirds of the way up the plant before he could see it.

The Ladybug Larva was positioned in Adon’s old spot, he was fairly certain. Enjoying ruling the roost up here.

And maybe it was because the Ladybug Larva was high enough on the plant that the sunlight could still touch him, or maybe it was just in his head, but Adon felt that the creature’s features swam into sharper relief in his vision than anything else he’d seen in his short life.

Every ugly detail seemed to jump out at him. The monstrous, hideous head. The spiny, alligator-like shape. The grotesque way that bits of Ladybug Egg still clung to the sides of his body. He was not just a cannibal, this Ladybug Larva; he was also a messy eater.

Adon shuddered slightly. He wondered if he’d made a mistake. Sure, the Ladybug Larva wasn’t as intimidating as it had been this morning, but did he want to go into close quarters with it?

He decided, without attempting what had been his Plan “A,” to revert immediately to Plan “B.”

It was less courageous, but it would be safer. If he lived until tomorrow, he would have more chances to be brave. But he would never have a second chance to be safe, if he died.

Adon crept just a little closer, and finally the Ladybug Larva sprang to life. It started crawling down toward him, preparing to face the invader in its territory.

Adon turned and began to climb down the stem, but not at full speed. With a deliberate slowness. Let him think he can catch me.

He slowed down a little further and tried to gauge if the distance was right.

Almost. Not quite.

Adon stopped climbing entirely and tried to make it seem as if he wasn’t sure what to do, moving his body back and forth indecisively.

All of it drew the Ladybug Larva closer.

Adon waited until the monster was near enough to see the black reflectiveness of his beady little eyes. Then he sprang his trap.

A burst of web fluid struck the Ladybug Larva in the face. Adon thought he’d pretty well smeared the eyes and mouth.

But most importantly, this was a long thread and not just a short burst. The silk was still attached to Adon’s abdomen.

And as the Ladybug Larva suddenly found itself frantically scraping and clawing at its face, trying to clear its eyes so it could see, Adon pulled down hard and fast.

He threw his whole body into the effort, until he leaned way out over the side of the plant and risked falling himself. The quick and decisive motion pulled the Ladybug Larva down and to the side, away from the plant.

As it tumbled through the air, Adon severed the silk from his body and pulled himself in as close as he could to the plant stem.

The Ladybug Larva went down, flailing its sharp claws helplessly into the air, as it passed inches away from Adon’s body.

Your turn, Adon thought giddily. This time it’s your turn to fall!