Chrysalis

[Crinis. How have you been?]

[Well enough, I suppose.]

Crinis slipped into the chamber selected for her evolution in a manner that had become unusual to her: visibly. She didn’t slide through the shadows or meld into the darkness, but kept her body compressed into a relatively small size, a little larger than a human head, and ‘walked’ in on a number of tentacles.

She was here to consult with the golgari after all, there was no point sneaking into the room.

[It’s nice to see you again, Granin, Corun, Torrina.]

All three golgari smiled at her from behind their desk as she settled into her form, blobbed in the center of the floor.

[You’ve been speaking with us a great deal over the last few days, so there isn’t too much that we need to go over in detail right now. I take it you’ve looked over the paperwork we gave you?]

[I have.]

She couldn’t exactly read, but the golgari had been kind enough to provide the materials in a way that she could comprehend using her mana sight. Since their second skin was infused with dense mana, talking to the golgari was a nice change for her, since she could ‘see’ them almost perfectly.

[And did you decide to take the Torment fusion?]

Crinis had been working on her magic for quite a while. Much like her master, she was something of a hybrid, using mana handling abilities along with physical fighting methods in combat. However, unlike her master, she wasn’t able to draw on devastatingly powerful spells, but specialised in Darkness and Curse.

Although she was now reaching the point where Darkness and Curse were reaching a high enough rank that good spells were just around the corner, the golgari had let her know about a fusion she could take advantage of once the requisite skills were at rank six.

So she had fused rank six Darkness, Curse, and Mind Magic Affinity Skills into the new Torment Mana. It showed a great deal of promise and she was keen to explore its potential further through this evolution.

[You’re almost guaranteed to achieve Mythic status with this evolution,] Torrina said. [We’re excited to see how it turns out. There haven’t been many shadow creatures such as yourself who achieve Mythic, at least not in our records.]

[As long as I’m strong, then I’ll be happy.]

[I think we can practically guarantee that. Let’s walk through your options and see how they fit with our existing plans. Your last evolution focused mainly on adaptability, reforging your eye and flesh to be more darkness-focused. This time your focus is on raw power, so we should make sure we are mindful of that.]

Crinis nodded to show she understood before she eagerly accessed her status and triggered the evolution process. She’d felt so useless during the fighting in the fifth, the contagion ripping through her darkness flesh with unseemly speed and making it impossible for her to fight for any real length of time while exposed to it. Now she had a chance to put it all behind her and emerge with real strength going into the sixth.

The source is www.NovelPhoenix.com, where the author publishes this chapter; this copy was not permitted, and reading there supports the creator.

[Mythic Evolution: All stats removed. All body parts and mutations will be refunded. What need has a nightmare for a physical form? Unburdened by the material, you are everywhere and nowhere, inside and outside, present and absent. Your foes quiver in fear, desperate to lash out, but there is nothing they can strike. Body of Fear granted for free. Immaterial Core will be granted for free. Cloak of Nightmares granted for free.]

Crinis narrated the text to the golgari, who quickly conferred.

[This is… well, this is something, alright,] Granin said, scratching at his head.

[All of those refunds will give you an incredible amount of evolutionary energy to work with,] Corrun said enthusiastically. [It’s hard to calculate how much it will all be.]

[That’s so she can replace them with formless versions to adapt to her new body,] Torrina noted. [Considering the evolution doesn’t include sensory organs, mana organs, limbs, or… really anything at all, there’s a lot of spending to do just to be a functional monster.]

[It could work,] Crinis mused. With this body, it would be impossible for her Master to keep her away. Perhaps she could even argue that being inside his carapace was an inevitable consequence of being formless. She tried to shake off the thought. She didn’t want to get in trouble again….

[On to the next,] she said decisively.

[Mythic Evolution: She Who Hungers (Mythic). +100 to Cunning. +100 to Will. +400 to Might. +200 to Toughness. Your appetite is endless, your greed insatiable. No matter how much you get, it will never be enough to satisfy. There is only one solution: become that which can better consume. All Maw type organs will be fused and reforged with Fragments of Sunder. Disintegration Fangs will be granted for free. Stomach will be reforged with Dissolution Fibre. Well of Hunger will be granted for free.]

[That Might bonus is like something Tiny might get,] Crinis murmured as she looked over the numbers.

[Well… he was offered that much, and more, if we’re honest.]

The three golgari looked uncomfortable and Crinis looked at them for a second, then laughed.

[Don’t worry, I’m not hungry like that.]

They relaxed, for a second.

[So you’re hungry in what way… exactly?]

[I don’t think it matters.]

Crinis didn’t want to eat endlessly. She was no glutton, thank you very much! Having a healthy appetite was perfectly normal for a monster and her Master frequently ate more than she did. No, Crinis possessed a different sort of hunger and she was well aware of it.

[With modifications, this shows promise, depending on how strong the maw and fangs turn out to be,] she said.

The increase in strength and massive jump in the deadliness of her maw could give her the knockout blow she needed to fight other powerful monsters. With other organs and resets added, she could round out the package in a way that was quite potent.

[Mythic Evolution: Mother of Darkness (Mythic). +300 to Cunning. +100 to Will. +100 to Might. +100 to Toughness. You are the Darkness; now, let the Darkness become you. One form is not enough to hold your boundless affection, or contain the full horror of your rage. Clone Organ will be reforged with Propagating Darkstone. Clone Generator will be granted for free. Light Sink will be reforged with Photonic Well Crystal. Clone Mind Conductor will be granted for free.]

[Do we… do we need to talk about this one?] Granin said uncomfortably.

[What? Why not?] Crinis asked, confused.

[I… I don’t think Anthony would be happy if you picked it.]

Crinis looked over the evolution again, frowning internally.

[No…] she sighed, [probably not.]