Brent had learned a number of things over the last few weeks. For starters, he had learned to greatly fear the larger patches of Abyssal Moss of the Depths. While a morsel was easily digested, the larger groupings couldn’t be handled as safely. He had acquired this knowledge the hard way, when a spiteful patch of moss attacked him back after he took a large bite from it. He had only survived after taking multiple bites from his own leg, a process which disgusted him in retrospect but seemed only natural in the moment. His only other option had been to allow himself to die, which he was unwilling to do. Not only was it more pain than he was capable of handling, but also because of the second thing he had learned: while terrifying, uncomfortable, and hard, his current predicament was a wonderful opportunity. He was gaining levels faster than anyone had back in Noobtown, and he was doing it consistently. This was his chance for power, and he was unwilling to allow it to pass by him. Plus, if he did respawn outside, he would simply go back to being hunted. At least here, among the small, unthinking, microbes, he was the pinnacle of the food chain–at least for as long as he was only around patches of moss that he could eat with one bite.
The third thing he learned was that while he felt hungry, a single mote of moss actually had plenty of sustenance to maintain his bodily functions, despite his stomach and head feeling otherwise. This led to the fourth thing he had learned, he was a very hangry person. After learning that lashing out in anger in pitch darkness was likely to result in injury, he took the high road and continued to focus all of his anger at Mike, the reason he was down here in the first place.
Another thing he learned was that his mindset and intent went a long way in shaping his experience with the System. This was driven home when he reached Level 11 and got his first class.
[Congratulations! Level 11 Reached.
Calculating class…]
After only a few seconds, the notifications continued.
[Calculations complete. Unique pathway unlocked, rare class earned: Devourer.]
[Congratulations Devourer!!
You forge onward, eating your way through challenges that cause others to retreat.
+7 stat points by assignment per level ]
He was nearly dizzy with excitement. 7 stat points per level was more than double what he got before, and the notifications hadn’t finished yet.
[For reaching your first class, Class Skill Unlocked: Consume.
[The might of your jaws are unstoppable and undisputed.
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Instantly consume anything they latch around]
Flush with the euphoria of Leveling Up and gaining strength, Brent had wasted no time as he rushed to continue hunting even more immobile foes. After only a few days, it became apparent that his windfall hadn’t been everything he thought it would be. He no longer Leveled Up as quickly, which he could only assume was due to him being around the same level of the moss that he ate. He also found that the Consume ability really did require him to be able to latch around something for it to take effect. When he tried to use it on a large boulder, nothing happened. However, when he fit his mouth halfway around a rock, it disappeared instantly, his body sucking in any energy it contained. Admittedly, there was no energy gained from rocks, but that wasn’t true for moss. He now no longer needed to chew or swallow the disgusting greens, as soon as they passed between his maws, they were absorbed.
To compensate for the limitation of his mouth size, he had begun doing stretches with it each day using a number of increasingly large rocks he had come across in his wanderings. He was only a few days in so far, but he was already dreaming of being able to unlatch his jaw on a whim, not unlike snakes were able to do.
There was nothing he could do to mitigate Consume's biggest drawback however, the inability to eat. While he survived on the energy he sucked from the moss, the food never actually reached his stomach. The offended organ had railed at him with ever increasing urgency, driving him forward from one bit of moss to the next, making it impossible for him to rest or sleep. With each forced step he took, his hunger and hatred for Mike only grew.
⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫
System Administrator turned from viewing the fledgling wraith as the communication screen chimed, prompting them to answer an incoming message. As Sector Assimilator’s face appeared, the many weeks of worry that had plagued System Administrator about their future came to head, causing him to stutter slightly before initiating the formal greeting, as was their place.
“Ttdh… Laud the Queen!”
“May her spawn creep forth forever.” Sector Assimilator replied, before continuing almost immediately, “Our vessel is still two local weeks out, due to the denseness of the populations in this sector and the relatively low energy levels, we are forced to travel much slower than we are accustomed to.”
The unnecessary bit of information seemed out of place to System Administrator, especially after the most recent encounter 6 weeks earlier, and they struggled to come up with a reply. Was it an olive branch of some kind? If it was, it would be a Queen-send. System Administrator would take any path out of their current predicament. They eventually decided on a courteous reply that wouldn’t put them at any more of a disadvantage going forward.
“Our vessel appreciates the advance warning. We are humbled that we need your help, but grateful for it.” It was a respectable thing to say, both humble and dignified, and none would find fault with it even nearer the hive’s heartlands.
The show of deference seemed to please Sector Assimilator who leaned forward slightly in their chair. “Yes.”
The single word wasn’t quite a sneer, simply a statement that System Administrator did need their help and should be grateful for it.
“Owing to the delay, we thought it prudent to check in on how things are progressing, both in terms of the assimilation as a whole as well as in regards to the anomaly and Junior Administrator.” Sector Assimilator continued.
System Administrator centered themselves as they tried to think through the best way to give an update on three very sensitive topics. Resolving to report the worst thing first, they decided to start with the anomaly’s growing ability to interact with cosmic energy, something that might push the assimilation to phase 4 even sooner than System Administrator had thought possible, after which they would talk about the state of Junior Administrator wallowing in their cell. They would then finish the report with the newly developing wraith–a phenomena that was impossible to artificially create and only occurred one in ten thousand assimilations. That assimilant alone would increase the estimated value of the assimilation by a minimum of 10%, if he managed to fully progress to a wraith. Hopefully the news would buy System Administrator some leeway.