Chapter 82 Mechanic in training (1/2)
There is so much information contained within this core. It's hard to describe exactly how my mind perceives it. I feel as if there is a ma.s.sive filing cabinet full of data, numbers and values under my antennae, but I can't open all of the drawers.
I can sense that there are things I don't have access to, things beneath the surface that my current level of skill won't allow me to influence, but this is a big development! Using this skill, it would possible to custom design your own monsters! Tweaking every body part and stat, potentially even their behaviour!
Eagerly I give it a try. I'll do something simple to start with… I'll take the instructions regarding the statistics and I'll s.h.i.+ft them slightly, swapping points from might to toughness. Simple.
How hard can this be? Let's try it!
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRUNNNNNNGGGGAAAFLOOEY!!!
Are you kidding me!?
As soon as I attempt to exert my mind and change the instructions I can feel powerful resistance against my will. The information recorded in the core does NOT want to change. Only by a supreme effort of mind was I able to s.h.i.+ft it ever so slightly and then grip the change tight in my mind, refusing to let it return back to what it was before.
After holding my change in place for a few seconds it gradually settled and became stable, the new normal for this monster core.
Holy munching mandibles that was difficult!
To be honest, if I handed upgraded my will and cunning I'm not even sure that I would have been able to do it at all. Clearly the path of core manipulation is just as draining as that of magic, requiring extremely potent mental resources in order to use these skills effectively.
I see a tremendous amount of potential in this skill. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with it, but levelling it up and hopefully upgrading it at level five will reveal more secrets and uses for me. Besides, it would be a waste not to try and make use of my new mental faculties. If I have the juice, I should put it to use!
Heh.
CRAs.h.!.+
Oh h.e.l.lo! It seems some prey has decided to drop in! Das.h.i.+ng towards the source of the noise I see that there are several workers already ahead of me, rus.h.i.+ng towards the scent of prey. The hatchling workers look even smaller to me now after my size increase, little adorable things that can scuttle about under my legs.
To think I was one of them not that long ago, desperately trying to sc.r.a.pe xp and Bioma.s.s for myself out of the hostile caves by myself.
Not to worry little guys! Together we shall overcome!
The prey turns out to be just another large centipede which is quickly covered in acid and carved up for transport. More and more workers appear once the message gets out and there is a solid crowd of them chomping on the Bioma.s.s before long. I manage to snag a chunk and give it to Tiny before returning to the rabbit core and burying it in the wall again. I want to see if I can keep making changes to the same core in order to grind out Xp for the skill.
No sooner have I finished burying the core when I am disturbed by yet another cras.h.i.+ng sound. Another trap has been triggered!
This particular prey is sensationally unlucky, falling into the pitfall at a time when the traps are swarming with workers, many of them working over the centipede and others just milling about, attracted by the pheromone trails left behind by the traffic.
Rus.h.i.+ng over I can see that our new guest is a wolf-dragon, writhing and rolling at the bottom of the pit, attempting to release itself from all of the vines and branches. I wince as many of them are snapped by the creature's struggle. I'm going to have to replace all of those you mutt!
Behold the fury of the insect!