Hunter very much wanted to rush over and gorge on biomass, but had two new skill points, and Survival Instinct had just reached level 5. Survival Instinct was the best and most important skill, because nothing was so important as survival. So before they began to eat, they did one thing first.

Spend Skill Point. Upgrade Survival Instinct.

[Would you like to upgrade Survival Instinct to Advanced Survival Instinct?]

Yes.

Knowledge flowed into their mind in a pleasant trickle. The feeling from getting a new skill was different that the feeling from upgrading a body part, and felt less good, but still good.

Advanced Survival Instinct suggested they run over and eat biomass.

They were going to do that anyway.

They did.

[You have consumed a new source of biomass: Lupus Draco Cub. You are awarded one Biomass]

[Basic Profile of Lupus Draco Cub unlocked]

[Lupus Draco Cub: Wolf Dragon Cub. The young form of the fearsome Wolf Dragon, they have a high resistance to flame]

[You have gained one Biomass]

[You have gained one Biomass]

[You have gained one Biomass]

Hunter ate the biomass that had been Wolf Dragon Cubs first, because it was not inside of a hard shell. They did not know what wolfs or dragons were, but probably the adults could use fire to hurt. The cubs could not though, and since Hunter did not use fire to fight it did not matter that those could resist flame.

Their stomach was already pretty full, but there was all of the biomass that had been stone stingers left to eat. It was a bit hard, but they were able to get a grip on the slimy soft part with their claws and drag it out of the shell.

[You have consumed a new source of biomass: Conus Interfodio. One Biomass awarded]

[Basic profile of Conus Interfodio unlocked]

[Conus Interfodio: Piercer Cone Snail. An ambush predator with two lethal stingers that uses magic to improve their camouflage abilities]

[You have gained one Biomass]

[You have gained one Biomass]

Hunter only had time to eat the biomass that had been Wolf Dragon Cub and a quarter of the biomass that had been Piercer Cone Snail when a problem came. The problem was a Juvenile Emerald Monitor. Hunter had regained a little mana and a little venom, but both their core and venom gland were still more empty than full. Monitors were dangerous to fight, but Hunter thought they probably could because they had used so much biomass to upgrade their body parts. Should they run away, or stay and defend the biomass they hunted? Advanced Survival Instinct gave no answer that was clear.

Hunter decided to fight.

They decided this was a fight, and that a fight was different from a hunt, and so was still within Noble's commands that they only hunt safe prey. They had to push with their Will to think that thought though.

The monitor tasted the air with a forked tongue, looked at Hunter, and ran fast at them. Hunter waited until it came near and tried to bite, then used Strong One's favorite trick and Dodged to the side before grabbing hold of the underside of the monitor's throat with both claws.

[Dodge has reached level 4]

The monitor tried to hit them with its tail, but Hunter could dodge a little while still keeping hold of prey's throat. The tail hit them, but the angle was bad and Hunter's +3 upgraded exoskeleton did not even crack. They infused their stinger with mana and stung. Hunter had only enough mana and only enough venom to sting one time, and had not been able to make that venom good by putting extra mana into their venom gland when they produced it. Still, they were very good at stinging, and had a very good stinger. It should be fine. They grabbed hold of the underside of prey with all of their legs. Prey tried very hard to bite, or strike with its tail. It could not. Hunter's claws and legs made sure it could not move well, and venom was slowly turning it to biomass.

[Grip has reached level 4]

[You have defeated level 2 Juvenile Emerald Monitor]

[You have gained XP]

The fight was easier than they thought it would be. They still remembered how hard and scary their first hunt had been, with many kin against a monitor that only had three legs that worked. But they had much more practice hunting and fighting now, and much better body parts and skills. Maybe now it was not so dangerous to fight one monitor.

They still would not want to fight two. They would have to run away if two came together.

Hunter left the new biomass for last, because biomass that had been Piercer Cone Snail was absolutely delicious.

[You have gained one Biomass]

[You have gained one Biomass]

The second shell had a monster core within the biomass. Hunter absorbed it. They checked their status and found that they had a maximum MP of 14 now instead of 12.

They ran in an excited way back to the first shell and searched inside it.

There was a core in that shell too!

Hunter absorbed that core, then continued to the third and fourth snail shells.

They gained four more biomass and two more cores from the other two shells. All four of the Piercer Cone Snails had cores before they became biomass, and now all of those cores reinforced Hunter's. There was so much biomass to eat that they even had to take a break to let their stomach work before they could finish it.

Another Juvenile Emerald Monitor interrupted Hunter as they ate, but it was fine because it was alone. Hunter killed it and continued to eat. It was a much easier thing to fight a type of monster one had fought before. Monsters of the same type did not seem to have different ideas on the best way to fight, so it was easy to know what they would do. If one knew what a monster would do, and it was not too strong, it was easy to kill it.

Hunter finished the biomass that had been snail and then the biomass that had been monitor. All together, they gained 15 biomass, 2 levels that each gave a skill point, four monster cores that raised their maximum MP to 20, and new levels in important skills.

It was the new best hunt of all hunts in all of time.

Hunter felt indescribably happy.

There were many decisions to make and much thinking to be done, however. It was best to be in a safe place while thinking hard thoughts, which distracted from danger a little. It was even more important to be safe when upgrading body parts.

They went back to the mana water in the cave. There could be more Piercer Cone Snails hiding on the ceiling, so even though Hunter was very excited and wanted to rush, instead they went carefully and stealthily. Nothing interesting happened on the way, and probably they would have been safe if they'd ran instead. It was fine. They got to the water anyway. Also, they could not know it would be safe to run when they decided to be careful.

Hunter's mind raced with too much to think about. They had 16 biomass (they'd had one even before the greatest hunt of all hunts) to spend, and also a skill point. That was enough to upgrade their exoskeleton to +5 and another part from +2 to +4. Before they decided what part to upgrade next they would need to choose a mutation for their exoskeleton. That felt like it would be a very important choice to get right. There were other thoughts though, and those ran through their mind like centipedes with hundreds of legs.

Some of the thoughts were on the types of monsters that Hunter had found who had cores in them. Each of those had a very good trick to kill prey safely. Each did not go and look for prey, but picked a good spot where prey would come to them, and waited there, hiding. All used venom. All were easy prey to kill if one knew what their trick was and waited until they did not hide. Overall, it was a safe way to be a monster so long as no other monster that was cunning like Hunter came to hunt. It was also a way that also would give much time to practice mana skills while one waited for prey to come. A Claw Centipede like Hunter did not have good tricks that were part of their body, but if one was cunning then probably one could think up good tricks instead.

Other thoughts were on Claw Centipedes. Since that was what Hunter was, this was an important thing to think about. Centipedes were smaller than most other monsters, and one that was alone seemed to be weaker than one of any other type of monster that was alone. Upgrades could change that, but monsters of other types could upgrade their body parts too. Centipedes were faster than most monsters because they had many good legs, and had good organs for sensing. Groups of centipedes were good at hunting, but bad at keeping individuals in the group from dying. Hunter thought probably centipedes spawned more quickly than other monsters, but did not know for sure if that was true. Some monsters were a little stronger than centipedes, but some were much much stronger than centipedes. Upgrades to body parts and increases to skill levels could make a centipede stronger than the monsters that started only a little stronger, but Hunter did not see how they could make a centipede better than monsters that were very, very strong. Perhaps skills that used mana would be a way, but if that was so it would be very slow.

Hunter added all of these thoughts together and tried to grab hold and stop them from running. They were one Claw Centipede. One Claw Centipede was weak, but they had many upgrades and were very skilled so they were a little strong. They could hunt and fight other monsters who spawned weak. There were other monsters though that were much too dangerous to fight, and they would have to run or hide from those. The most likely way Hunter would become biomass was if a monster they could not fight who also had good senses and could run fast found them.

There were three ways that might be good then. They could try to learn ways to use mana that would let them fight even the strong types of monster. They could get better at running fast. They could get better at hiding. Of these, the hiding way seemed best. The mana way might not work at all, and even if it did work it would take too long of a time. The running way was pretty good, but not so good as hiding. Hiding helped to avoid dangerous monsters, hunt prey, and learn new things. Things learned were a kind of power one could gain, like biomass, skill points or monster cores. Even if those did not show up in status, they still were good and important.

The thinking was done.

Spend Biomass. Improve Exoskeleton to +5.

[Do you want to improve your Exoskeleton to +5? This will cost 9 Biomass]

Yes.

[At this level you may choose a mutation advancement, select from the menu]

There were many, many ways to upgrade their exoskeleton.

Venomous Exoskeleton would cover their body in tiny stingers.

Aerodynamic Exoskeleton would let them move faster, and would have been the best choice if they had decided on the running way.

Spiked Exoskeleton would cover their body in piercing spines.

Flexible Exoskeleton would help their body twist and turn, and would be stronger against blunt blows.

Diamond Exoskeleton looked very good, and would be strong against attacks of all kinds except mana or poison.

Magic Resistant Exoskeleton was not the one, because very few monsters Hunter had found used mana.

There were many more, but Hunter looked until they found a choice that would help them hide.

[Adaptive Camouflage Exoskeleton, changes color and pattern to match surroundings and suppresses your scent]

This was the way. Hunter was pleased.

Choose Adaptive Camouflage Exoskeleton.

[Do you wish to confirm Adaptive Camouflage Exoskeleton?]

Yes.

It was the best feeling Hunter had ever felt. Their entire exoskeleton, covering every bit of their body, lit up with power and changed. They wanted very much to spend every bit of biomass they found in the future to improve their exoskeleton until it could mutate again.

That was, sadly, not the right way. Instead they would improve legs next. It was best to hide from dangerous monsters, but it was second best to run. It would be good to be able to run faster.

Spend Biomass. Improve legs to +4.

[Do you want to improve your legs to +4? This will cost 7 Biomass]

Yes.

That upgrade felt good too, but not nearly as good as the exoskeleton mutation.

When it was done, Hunter had one decision left.

How should they spend their skill point?