Chrysalis

Well…. This is going to be interesting.

As it turns out, there are new mutation options… crazy ones. Holy moly. What's this all about? Have I ascended to a new stage and at tier seven, you get funky new mutations? Is it the insane level of mana saturation I've been living in lately? Is it the Biomass rich diet of more highly evolved monsters?

A combination of all of the above?

Whatever the case, there's some seriously sweet selections, ripe and ready to be applied to my carapace.

Repelling Carapace - Projects an anti-gravity field around the carapace, pushing foreign objects away.

A literal repellant built into the carapace. It'd be cool, but would likely make it difficult for Crinis to attach herself to me. I don't think selecting that would be good for my health.

Double Carapace - Thickens the carapace. After multiple selections, this mutation will create a complete second layer of your carapace.

That's just stupid! Would anything on Pangera be able to get through that?! Not to mention the cost efficiency. This is effectively giving me an entire new carapace without having to spend evolutionary energy on it! That's just madness!

Trouble is, I'd be way too heavy with that on. My current exo-skeleton weighs tons. I don't mean 'a lot', I mean literal tons.

Mana Infused Carapace - Draws in ambient mana to reinforce and thicken the carapace over time.

That is as sweet as blueberry jam. I wouldn't even have to do anything and the carapace would just strengthen itself. Nice!

I continue to flick through the list, looking at the bevy of new choices and drooling over their incredible effects.

Which to chooooooose? Argh, they're all so good!

I could, of course, go back to my menus and focus on other things, but now that I've seen the incredible power of these new mutation options, I want to get as many as I can.

Eventually, I manage to settle on one that I really like. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.

Light Holding Carapace - Uses the power of gravity to slow the light reflected from it.

Just delicious. First, it uses the power of gravity without me having to cast a spell, meaning my carapace will always actively be channelling gravity, secondly, the effect is way too cool.

I'll be turning myself into a mini-black hole!

What makes a black hole black? Famously, they have such powerful gravity that not even light can escape their grasp! How does an eye work? Light bounces off stuff and enters the eyeball, which the brain then interprets. What this mutation will do, is make it take longer for the light to bounce off me and enter an eye.

Meaning what people will see when they look at me, is literally an afterimage. They'll be attacking a ghost! Combined with my future-sense and reflexes, I'll be dodging so quick they won't even realise they missed before I'm running off somewhere else!

MUAHAHAHAAAAA!

It's disgusting. It's so powerful, it makes me feel a little sick inside. I love it.

Of course, with just the one mutation, I won't be holding onto that light very strongly. The afterimage effect will likely be a tenth of a second, if that. But if I make it to tier eight, or even nine? After doubling down and then enhancing this mutation, it'll increase the delay. Will it last half a second? Not being able to see me for that long would be insane. I can get a lot done in half a second these days.

Of course, it's not invincible. This is only effective against enemies with eyes, or who use sight as their primary detection method. Mana senses will still be able to pick me out, but I can influence that with my existing Skills, masking my own mana signature. Other, more esoteric methods will also still work, like heat, or heck, even my own gravity sensitive antennae.

With that selection made, I swap over to my stomach again and keep flicking through until I find an option that I like. As much as I want to muck around with other body parts, the stomach is fundamental, the engine that powers the Biomass industry. It must be next.

Grav-Compression Stomach - Uses powerful muscles infused with gravitic energy to compact food to a smaller size and density. Increases stomach capacity, increases Biomass gain, increases digestion time.

Heck yeah. Oddly enough, this mutation comes with a downside, but I don't really care about it all that much. I usually feast on the battlefield, which means packing in as much as I can and getting the heck out of dodge. This mutation allows me to pack more in and then get more out of what's in there.

It's perfect.

Of course, the next organ to get the +35 treatment is going to be my inner carapace plating. It makes sense to upgrade it and the carapace at the same time.

Just as with everything else, there's new mutation options available for it once I bring it up to +35. Never-before-seen applications and variations that all do interesting and powerful things.

But I'm not satisfied. If I want to ensure that the Colony is safe against all threats, and if I want to chomp the Ancients down there for putting this hook in me, I can't be satisfied with immediate boosts. I need something that's going to get more and more powerful as I evolve. Something that will really shine after I mutate it two or three more times.

My plating already does the job I first purchased it for exceedingly well. It absorbs shocks and impacts, making me extraordinarily resistant to slam attacks and the like, as well as healing any damage my carapace receives from the inside.

It's amazing!

In addition, it also has the new effect of compressing gravity mana around me, meaning any spell or gravity effect I create gets that little extra boost. That stuff is all amazing, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to enhance the effects of the crystal flesh that my plating is now formed from?

Poking through the list, I eventually find something that I'm happy with.

Crystal Kinetic Displacement - Allows the Crystal Flesh to absorb kinetic energy and then shunt it to a nearby space.

Basically, I can absorb kinetic energy, then blast someone else in the face with it from close range.

These mutations are the best.