Chapter 209 The state of play

Muahahaha! With over a hundred points to spend, I'm feeling slightly giddy. What to go for first?

Currently I've upgraded eyes to +7 and acid to +6, so I may as well finish those off first, that'll take a significant chunk out of my points already.

[Would you like to upgrade Focused Eyes to +10 and Restrictive Acid to +10? This will cost 61 Biomass?]

Sixty one?!?!

Even if I already knew it, feels bad to hear Gandalf actually say it out loud.

I still have sixty eight Biomass to play with so I need to get spendin'. Once I've upgraded these two, I'll still have legs, Gravity mana gland, Regeneration Gland, Pheromone and the two newest editions to go before I reach a complete +10 state.

Arrrgghhh! This is so frustrating!

Just how much do I have to eat before I can upgrade myself all the way?! Is it my tiny ant stomach that's the problem?! I have two stomachs and I pack them both full every meal!

When I consider that my current level of evolution supports upgrades up to +15 I can only feel depressed. The goal of fully mutating everything before my next evolution seems like a long way away. Work hard stomachs! I'm counting on you guys!

Since I'll be striding forth into battle after this round of upgrades I really want to ensure my combat effectiveness is at its peak, not only on the offensive but also the defensive. I'm thinking that the regeneration gland could use a boost, just in case things turn south and I get bitten in half or something.

[Would you like to upgrade Focused Eyes to +10, Restrictive Acid to +10 and Limb Regeneration Gland to +10? This will cost 101 Biomass?]

Yikes!

Only eighteen left?!

I guess that'll be it for the full upgrades to +10… Enhancing my senses has never been a poor choice. I'll upgrade my trusty antennae next. With 18 Biomass I can upgrade them to +7 and have five points in the bank.

Ok then!

[Would you like to upgrade Focused Eyes to +10, Restrictive Acid to +10, Limb Regeneration Gland to +10 and Infrared Antennae to +7 ? This will cost 114 Biomass.]

Let's do it Oh bearded one.

[At this level of mutation you may select a mutation advancement, please select one from the menu]

First, I jump into the acid menu.

My acid is the OG. When I was a weak and helpless ant, all alone without my colony to support me, it was the acid that became my trusty sidekick. Every combat would entail the acid attack playing a key role, letting me deal damage from range before closing in to finish the job.

Since the rest of my body has been enhanced, as well as my magic growing to the point that it's a credible ranged threat, the acid has become outshined. I don't really need it to do damage, what I want is more utility out of it. The restrictive properties are great, if that could be enhanced I'd be interested, for sure. Let's see what the menu has for me.

Hmmmm.

Wait a sec.

Wait. One. Second.

[Magic eating Acid. Acid becomes able to dissolve magic it comes into contact with, including barriers and constructs].

...

Done!

I don't need to see any more! In fact I refuse!

This is the sort of utility I'm talking about! Able to eat through magical barriers or constructs? Hot. Damn.

Acid is back in town, in a big way.

Already giddy with delight I shift over to the slightly more pedestrian eyes. Hopefully there'll be plenty of boring options that'll calm me down after this excitement.

Flicking through the menu I can recall seeing most of this stuff before. Upgrading to +10 will already give my compound eyes an around quality upgrade, and honestly, ever since I took the focused mutation I haven't really suffered in the eye department since I can basically see like a human can directly forwards.

The rest of the lenses, pointing up, sideways, backwards and so on, are still poor in comparison to human vision, but they do well enough to get me by. My default option would be just to enhance the focused upgrade to further improve my forward vision but another options catches my attention.

[Omni Focused Eye. Enhance key lenses to improve the long range focus of the compound eyes in all directions, instead of only forward]

I like it!

It bears repeating sometimes that I don't have a neck. In order to face sideways I actually have to turn my body in that direction, hence the compound eyes helping out a lot. Being able to see in almost all directions without shifting my head at all is obviously a great advantage. The drawback of each individual lens in my eyes being quite crud is something I've just had to put up with. From the sounds of things this upgrade will go some of the way to increasing the distance I can see in all directions, not just forwards!

Along with the quality increase I get from taking the eyes from +7 to +10 I can expect a tremendous improvement in my all around eyesight. Nice!

Two upgrades out of the way it's time for the regeneration gland. When I first selecting an advancement for this organ I was quite concerned about how less well defended my legs are compared to the rest of me, being relatively thin and unarmoured. Being able to rapidly regenerate those limbs has helped out on a number of occasions and I'm quite satisfied with the results.

Flicking through the menu for the regeneration gland I can see that most of the enhancements that increase on the limb regeneration aspect feel a little unnecessary, basically regenerate them faster or more frequently. Not interested. What I want from the regeneration gland is to make it better at what I originally purchased it for, that is, healing me when I'm injured.

I have the regenerative inner bone plating to help heal my carapace, and that's fantastic, but it doesn't do anything for my internals, organs or muscles, that might get damaged. The regeneration organ definitely still has an important role to play.

[Rapid Regeneration Organ. Allows the regeneration organ to refill more quickly, meaning it can be used frequently to heal damage and restore HP]

I like this choice. Especially considering the campaign that is right ahead of me. Diving into dangerous, croc infested marsh lands to battle for supremacy and eject the horrid things? I might need a whole lotta healing by the time we're done…

With that all of my selections are done. Time to mutate this ant!

[Would you like to confirm these choices?]

Awwwww yeah!

...

Wait a sec.

nnnnnnnnOOOOOOORRRRFFFLETABINNNNNN!!!!!

Building rapidly is the most extreme itch I have ever experienced! The eyes! The eyes are so bad! Not to mention the organs inside my body but holy mackerel the eyes!!!!

I CAN'T TAKE IT!

The only blessing is that the others are so occupied by their own menus that they can't see me scrabbling and rolling about, desperately clawing at the dirt in a frantic attempt to alleviate the itch.

My dignity is preserved at least!

From up above I see a giant ant head poke down into the chamber to see what all the fuss is about.

Dammit Mother!

Name: Anthony

Level: 13 (core)

Might: 41

Toughness: 29

Cunning: 44

Will: 35

HP: 50/50

MP: 220/220

Skills: Excavation Level 8; Improved Acid Shot Level 6; Advanced Grip Level 3; Shattering Bite Level 7; Advanced Stealth Level 5; Splintering Chomp Level 4; Tunnel Map Level 6; Mana Transformation Level 6; Forceful Mana Level 6; External Mana Manipulation Level 2; Mana Sensing Level 5; Core Surgery Level 3; Advanced Exo-Skeleton Defence level 7; Pet Communication Level 3; Rapid Dash Level 1; Advanced Water Magic Affinity Level 2; Stamina Level 2; Pet Growth Speed Level 1; Mana Miser Level 4; Cerebral Endurance Level 3; Mediation Level 4; Precise Shooting Level 2; Ripping Bite Level 3;

Mutations: Omni Focused Eyes +10, Infrared Antennae +7, Mana Eating Restrictive Acid +10, Absorption Legs +5, Savage Infused Mandibles +10, Hardened Diamond Carapace +10, Rapid Limb Regeneration Gland +10, Pheromone Language Gland +5, Deep Gravity Magic Gland +5, Divergent Coordination Cortex +5, Regenerating Inner Carapace Plating +5;

Species: Dispersed Mind Ant (Formica)

Skill points: 16

Biomass: 5

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