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Chapter 1022 - The Great Stuff
🕑 Added 2022-07-30 06:35:46 +0000 UTCYou didn't think I'd hold out on you did you? :P
Chapter 1022 - The Great Stuff
[Mythic Evolution: Formless One. You have invited your kind in, and given back to them in turn. Now it is time to make the union complete. All stats removed. All body parts and mutations will be refunded. Every member of your chosen species will be granted a formless core and you will exist as pure energy dispersed across the network formed between them.
You may make upgrades to the formless core through mutation within each individual who contains one.
Together with your kind, rise as one.]
Uhhhhhhhh… what?
[That’s… unexpected,] Granin says.
His face looks fairly impassive, but judging by the gobsmacked expressions on Torrina and Corun’s faces, he’s only just holding it together.
[Granin, what the hell is this? I wouldn’t even have a body?!]
[Mythic evolutions can be extremely unusual,] he says after a brief pause, [A larger, more fundamental change to your existence. You’ve seen evolutions that make broad, fundamental changes before, am I right?]
[Well, sort of. I would have turned into a giant brain, not a literal ghost!]
[Not a ghost,] he corrects me, [you wouldn’t have a body, but you would still exist as a living creature formed of energy. You’d effectively be unkillable. I’m no expert on this stuff, it’s too high level, but as I understand it, the only way for you to die would be for every member of the Colony to be destroyed.]
[But what would I even do? Float around just… existing?]
[Don’t underestimate creatures of energy. You could influence the world more than you think. And the more ants with the core in them, the stronger you would become.]
Both of us know that the population of the Colony will explode if we aren’t defeated soon.
[I’m not interested in becoming some bodiless spectre,] I say firmly. [I’d rather take a rare evolution than this one.]
[Well, I suppose it’s a good thing you have more mythic options then,] Granin replies. [I’m just shocked you are getting choices like this at tier seven. It’s unheard of.]
And also undesired. I just can’t comprehend what that sort of existence would be like. And how would my siblings feel if I just… moved in? I’d literally be adding something they didn’t ask for into their bodies. The whole thing gives me the creeps.
[Mythic Evolution: Larval Deity. +400 Might. +400 Toughness. Cunning reduced to 20.
The strength of your people flows through you and they sit within your power. To ascend higher, you must be reforged. You will return to being a larva. All body parts and mutations refunded.
Your form will be coated in Golden-Diamond silk and your body replaced with World Essence infused flesh.]
What the hell is this Gandalf?! These options are just bizarre! I hesitate for a long moment before I give the details of this one to Granin. As I explain the evolution, even his stoic expression cracks.
[Anthony… what on Pangera have you been keeping from us? What have you evolved into?]
[Uh… not much. Just… stuff.]
He doesn’t seem convinced by my dissembling.
[These evolutions are not normal,] he stresses, [and there is no doubt they are a result of whatever it is you’ve been keeping from us. A Larval Deity? World Essence?! It… I-I mean… I need to sit down.]
And he does. The big guy folds his legs on the spot and takes a seat. Corun and Torrina sit down next to him, the three of them taking a moment to get their heads around things.
[So…] I say after a minute. [Can someone explain this one to me?]
It takes a moment but Granin raises his head, his eyes looking a little feverish.
[Well, from what I can tell, you would return to being a larva, but not like you were before. Think of a gigantic, golden larva, with incredible strength and almost unkillable.]
[Except I’d be blind and largely helpless.]
He nods.
[With your Cunning reset, you’d lose your magic and wouldn’t be nearly as intelligent. I feel like this evolution intends for the Colony to effectively feed you experience and Biomass until you reached max level and evolved to tier eight. At that point you’d be able to evolve into…]
[A Colony Deity? I’d be a god?]
That’s a little upsetting…
[Not in a literal sense,] he assures me, [just an incredibly powerful monster. I can’t even imagine how strong you’d be, but it would be… very. Very, very.]
He seems to have lost his words.
[So essentially I would need to sacrifice all of tier seven and have the Colony babysit me until I reached tier eight? I’m not really feeling it.]
[Please choose this one,] Granin raises a hand weakly. [Think about it carefully. Words like deity are not thrown out by the system for no reason. If you survived to tier eight, your path to ascend as an Ancient would be almost assured.]
[I don’t care about that,] I remind him. [And I get the feeling you’re not telling me something.]
He hesitates.
[Golden-Diamond silk and anything World-Infused are valuable. Beyond valuable.]
[Literally priceless,] Torrina breaths over the mind link. [Impossible to buy because nobody is selling. Empires have burned to the ground for such monster parts.]
[Oh hell no!]
[We could protect you,] Granin assures me desperately. [We can cooperate with the Colony. I can contact the cult. ALL of the cults. I can gather an army from across the planet to defend you. We could accelerate you to tier eight in six months!]
Six months of having the Colony feed me resources and devote their entire existence to trying to push me to the next tier? No thanks.
[Give it up Granin, it’s not happening,] I tell him ruthlessly. [I refuse to go back to being a grub and force the Colony to protect me. That’s the opposite of what I want.]
I mean… I can’t even imagine it. Flopping about in some chamber while the Colony fights and dies to bring me food? Sure I could turn around and protect them once I reached tier eight. IF I reached tier eight.
No chance.
[Luckily for all of us, there’s one choice left.]
[Mythic Evolution: Perfect Paragon. +80 to Cunning, +80 to Willpower, +150 to Might, +150 to Toughness. The pinnacle of all the Colony seeks to be. You have created for your people a home, invited them in and bade them sit. Now you must give them hope. Become the goal that they strive to be. The Communal Spirit Nave will be reforged into Soul Crystal (warning, this will reset all mutations) and a Soul Crystal Altar will be awarded for free (you must choose the purpose of the Altar.) You may select two body parts to reforge at half cost.]
Oh thank my precious, precious commercial empire. Something normal (ish).
The stat gains are amazing, I’ll complete the chain of evolution and although I didn’t get any fancy resets, I get two at half price. Two for the price of one? Heck yeah!
That’ll take care of my carapace and mandibles, and maybe leave enough energy for something else to boot!
And I don’t have to lose my body or turn into a giant grub! So much winning!
[I can already tell you like this one,] Granin says before I say a word about it. [I’m going to assume it completes your current chain?]
[Yep. And I get to keep my body. That really shouldn’t be such a plus, but that’s how things have turned out.]
The shaper sighs and straightens his posture.
[Anything you’re prepared to share about it?]
I’m happy to give him the stats and talk about the discounted resets, which raises his brows.
[You can save a huge amount of energy with that. Enough that you can either dip for better, more expensive choices or reset twice as many organs.]
[Any advice on that?]
[Not really. It depends entirely on your priorities. If you want the best possible carapace and mandible mutations, then spend big on those, if you want a more balanced approach, get cheaper upgrades, but improve more things.]
[That’s ot going to be an easy choice, is it?]
[Absolutely not.]
Comments
elkress
Rinoz plz do an alternate story with anthony picking larval deity, its too great of an opportunity to pass up. Just the part till anthony awakens and kicks ass is enough. Of course looking at the current situation of the story the choice is just not feasible so consider revising or adding stuff to previous arcs for the alt timeline to make anthony pick the choice. Im sure if the colony and queen begs him for it he'll give in.
Brandon14754
Also considering it seems that juvenile paragon gave him that option perfect paragon might lead to adult deity or something even better. Either that or maybe then worshipers would become important so then to grow power you need to have more worshipers. If that's the case other current deities might not like new game in town... like the church of the path.
ZaneofBane
After considering his options, I think the Larval God was a trap. The colony is already consolidating it's holdings while forces are mounting against them. Without Anthony, they're in trouble. Balancing all that while feed and leveling Anthony is a pipe dream. The other cults have proven untrustworthy with the Golgari, so that's just inviting disaster.
Desmond Cheong
Earlier chapters dropped hint the nave/vestibule works both way. Imagine the colony found ways to interact with Anthony’s organs. Example “ colony offering : send 1% of exp and biomass gained to the revered paragon” the altar will boost and stored the offerings. Like how brilliant discovered the “link”
MrrC
He may well get the Diety level at 8 but not as a larva instead as a mature ant
Panda
The risky choice is way more interesting for the story. The termite war arc has been the most boring major arc so far; there's no tension, no stakes, and we don't see any other viewpoints. Anthony has plot armor, so it's not super interesting to watch him go on the offensive because we know he's gonna be fine. The best arcs have been the ones where Anthony's not fully in the picture. Think back to the Garralosh fight - will the ants be able to hold her back until Anthony finishes mutating? Or the legion siege - Anthony can only be in one place at a time, so can the ants hold the line in the places he's not defending? Taking Anthony out of the picture for 6 months in-world time/100 chapters would be really interesting to read, and personally I think the side characters could carry the story along. If all you want to see is optimal decision-making then I would recommend Magnus Carlsen tournament reports.
Rahsheem Reid
Probably a month or so
Kyle Pemberton
It's interesting to learn who's not good at weighing risks and rewards in the comments here. Right now the colony heavily relies on Anthony to survive when they get into trouble, choosing larval deity would make him essentially unable to help. And we know eventually the Legion and other groups are gonna attack the colony with full force at some point.
Runaway_Cactuar
The larvae option is the most interesting one to me, narratively. We know Anthony has MC plot armor, and is one of the biggest fish in the upper strata pond. There is less narrative stake if he just takes the better version of what he had now. But if he's incapacitated during a wave, or during the lizzies' inevitable counterattack, the other characters has to step up to protect him. Not only does that give us a chance to develop the side characters, it gives them a chance to shine. Also, I really want to see Leeroy almost succeeding in dying in defense of Anthony, only to be saved by Anthony from the edge of death. =P
JumpyBoy192
I want that too!
Eadinize
Honestly I hope granin convinces Anthony to become the larva cause then we can do a time skip and be more solidified in the world closer to the next wave
NinjaChicken
Larval deity would be suicide. Back before the dungeon opened up, it would have been a great choice. Now however with all of the different civilizations, and the Legion in the dungeon Anthony would just be dooming his family amd himself to death.
Isiah Debarros
I really want him to get the best carapace and mandibles that he can
JumpyBoy192
I really want Larval Deity! I feel like it could serve as character development for Anthony. He would be forced to let his family protect him.
Dan K
Wonder how long he’ll be taking a nap this time.
Cpt Tardigrade
Itd be the end of the paragon line of evolutions. He'd still be able to pick a new evolution or evolutionary line at tier 8
Cylar
Completes the chain? Would that mean that this the end of his evolutionary branch?
Jadedknot
Since tier seven is a "Perfect" Paragon and they say that this evolution will complete the chain, what would his next evolution be? I could be completely wrong, but a new branch could open up because of the Soul Crystal and Altar organs.
Jadedknot
Yeah, I think the altar organ kind of gives it away, but we need to find out what it actually does. It would be weird if this option couldn't reach the same "level" as the other two.
Michael Kelly
Gaaaah!
sebsebs
Good stuff. If Anthony wasn't the main character of the story, the Formless One evolution would be the most interesting for the Colony as a whole I think. Tier 8 would be a new start with the Larval deity but now I wonder what it will offer if he takes Perfect Paragon : he's already perfect right ?... Since the new organ has "altar" in it, I wonder if it's not just another path to deity (like the larva and even the formless one in a way), albeit a longer, less obvious one. I feel like it would be the most authentic though, leading by example and being, well, a paragon that EARNS reverence, rather than "cheating" with the system to be something that IS revered.
Lord EinTopf
Yeah i Love this stuff
Thunderhoof
I was like imagining old man RinoZ being held at a gunpoint and forced to upload a chapter fast.
hawkshe .
I can feel like he was too stingy in giving info for his chosen evolution. I feel like he should have at least told Granin that it reforges the class specific organ from his last evolution and grants a new class specific organ as well that works with the two organs from his last two evolutions. Even if he never tells them what the organs do, just the group knowing that he has 3 class specific organs that were created in a synergistic fashion by the system could be helpful information.
guvvuf
Larval Deity. Hah, wild!
Caleb Leavitt
I need more please cliffs are killer
Rahsheem Reid
I can easily see anything getting more than gravity magic the next upgrade. But this also begs the question I have for the crew like how badass will their lvl ups be….sheeesh with Tiny I’m thinking MikeTyson/King Kong/RunekingThor
Anthony Romanov
Not necessarily as Nave is rated higher then then larvae deity as it really chain of 3 evolutions. And it appears that their were other deity monsters that have being hunted. Deity are Rare but not Unique. But Nave is requires that you create independent sentient spieces that look up to you (basically a protagonist system) and give you strength.
Mokka-San
man, i would like to have a second timeline from now on where he chooses larval deity O.O RinoZ please make it happen!
Rahsheem Reid
I guess I was kinda right the larval deity has some cool option
Drew Lim
Bummer the choice he will make wont have mutations like world infused or golden diamond
Drew Lim
Long term, larval deity is the much better choice but the story would either have a time skip or the story would focus on the supporting characters
prevail singh
Ty
Enzo Elacqua
Honestly, weirdly enough I would not mind Anthony taking larval deity. This is one of the few stories where I quite love the side characters and chapters, so him just vibing and eating shit while maybe working on something else would honestly be fine with me. Would love to see the Colony grow more, how it extends without relying on Anthony, and even how they would contact the other cults who would try to help defend Anthony. He will still pick the Paragon but yeah just my two cents. Also he doesn’t seem to get any good materials from the paragon mutation, isn’t the soul things from the fourth? Unless his soul crystal and vestibule have been materials from the sixth all along.
Titaniumtac
Thx
