Chrysalis - Chapter 367

Chapter 367






I can't wait to see my status when this evolution is done . It's going to be craaaaazy . I'm already getting a headache just thinking about having to upgrade all of these new glands . So many!

But it'll be worth it, I may have gone on a bit of a shopping spree, but the utility I've gained is immense, not to mention by all around beefier stats . My size is possibly going to double, perhaps even more than that after this . I'm gonna start pushing Tiny around once I'm done . Gweheheheh .

Alright then . Time to confirm everything and drain this dangerously overloaded core . Just being free of this pain is enough for me to eagerly finish up with the menu and welcome the deep embrace of torpor . As it has in the past, the lassitude begins to fall over me immediately, my vision fading to black and sensation falling blessedly away . Ah, no more pain, no more sensation of a physical body at all!

Wait a second . I remember this sensation .

My mind continued to sink, falling deeper in on itself as if I were circling a cosmic drain to the centre of the world .

Here we go again . Off to chat with Gandalf .

Being my second ride on the … whatever this was … I let myself go and tried to enjoy it without the sense of vertigo kicking in . I have to say, it isn't easy to enjoy a disembodied experience since there isn't really any actual sensation but rather a vague dizzying sense of movement . Without any ability to perceive my environment and without any real sense of distance, I found myself feeling vaguely bored as I waited for the ride to be over .

[Well I do apologise if you find the trip dull . There isn't really any other way to bring you to me . ]

Ah, the gruff voice of the Grey One himself . It's seriously uncanny how much they sound alike . Is this some form of cosmic accident?

Yes, well . It is what it is I suppose . How've you been, Gandalf?

A deep chuckle resounded around my free floating mind .

[This name you have for me is amusing . You continue to insist on using it?]





It's not as if I know your real name now, is it?

[And if I told you my real name would you change your way of speaking?]

No .

[…]

…

[You've certainly kept up your fast pace,] the voice changed the subject, [I didn't expect to see you here so soon after the last time . I suppose your circumstances can be somewhat to blame . ]

You can tell what's going on up there? I'm a bit shocked .

[It shouldn't be that surprising, surely . Everything touched by the system is within my grasp . It's only natural I could track the progress of so many monsters as they rushed toward you . ]

Yeah well, any chance We could get some help out of you? It doesn't seem entirely fair . How are they controlling all those monsters anyway? Isn't that infringing on your role?


[Not really . Certain monsters have that authority . It's all part of the design . ]

Right… .





[You should have died, you know,] Gandalf said suddenly, [You weren't made to push your core that hard at your current level of evolution . Your core should have cracked and you should have been killed . That's how the system was designed, after all . ]

Well… what can I say? Sorry to disappoint you?

[Oh, I'm not disappointed . Quite the opposite . You're a promising specimen, after all . It would have been a shame to lose you so soon . ]

I guess I'm annoyingly good at surviving when I shouldn't . You said the system was designed, was it you who designed it?

[Oh, think you're going to ask the questions do you?]

I tried to roll my eyes but then realised I don't have a body, or eyes that can be rolled .

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You brought me down here just to talk at me? A little dialogue isn't such a bad thing is it?

[You know, it's been a long time since I was able to talk to someone like you . As I mentioned before, those that I've brought into the Dungeon tend to be on the broken side, and being let loose in that environment tends to warp them even further . ]

There was a pause before the voice continued mildly .

[… Like that Garralosh for example . ]

Well that stopped me cold .





Garralosh was an outsider like me?

[Of course . She's from your world even . I can't say if the timeline was close to yours . Temporal vectors tend to get very fuzzy with this sort of summoning . But yes, she was like you . Unleashed on the Dungeon, alone and had to rely on her wits and savagery to survive . She's been here for hundreds of years now . She did very well at first,] Gandalf mused, [perhaps too well . She threw away every piece of herself that inhibited her survival until there was almost nothing left . ]

Yeah, who would have thought that someone would make desperate choices when thrown into a murder pit and forced to fight for their life .

[Are you being sarcastic?]

Not at all .

[I had high hopes for her you know,] the voice mused, [she was much like you, rose up quickly . But in terms of long term impact you've already surpassed her in a lot of ways . ]

Like how? By creating a new species?

[By creating such a successful species . She made her own species also . Inadequate, inefficient things . ]

Gandalf sounded very dismissive of the Croca-Beasts, almost as if they were insulting in some way .

I'm not a big fan of the Crocs, for obvious reasons, but they seem pretty killy to me?

[Bah . Without the support of their parent the species would have been wiped out by normal Dungeon spawns within ten years . They provide no value . ]

How are monsters supposed to provide 'value' anyway? As long as they're killing things, they're serving their purpose aren't they?

[In some ways, yes . But in others, no . ]

Alright then, stay cryptic .

[I'm curious, does knowing that your enemy shares so much in common with your change anything for you? Are you still willing to fight against a fellow human?]

Who's a human? She's a giant crocodile and I'm a massive ant . Of course it doesn't change anything .

[Oh? I expected a little more sentiment from you . ]

I'm a big believer in the loving the skin/carapace you're in . Had a human life and it was fine …

[You starved yourself to death remember …]

I feel like you're never going to get over that . It was fine, but that's over now . New life, new family and I'm not about to let someone destroy it just because they happened to be a human before they were brought here .

[I find your commitment towards your second life to be admirable . Not many in your position have been able to say the same . I hope you wake up in time to defend your home . ]

Wait . . What do you mean? I should have heaps of time, right?

[Well, this evolution is a bit special . You did have a lot of energy in your core to expend . It's going to take a bit longer than usual . ]

I was suddenly frantic at this news . I had to wake up in time . What would be the point of my struggles otherwise? I could feel my mind fading into nothing as my consciousness was returned to my body .

Dammit Gandalf . . . .