The core inside the pile of biomass that had been a Dire Earth Bear Tyrant was enormous. Hunter did not know how many of the core inside of them, squashed together, it would take to make a core a large as the one they'd just found. It was compatible though, and it had to be good to absorb a huge and special core. Advanced Survival Instinct said that reconstituting a monster would also be a good thing to do with it, but Hunter thought it was best to upgrade their own core before they tried a thing like that.

Reinforce my core.

[Your core has already reached maximum capacity for your level of evolution. Absorbing the special core will take you beyond this limit. Do you still wish to proceed?]

This was an odd message. Why would Hunter not wish to proceed?

Yes.

The core was large and dark, almost black. It began to swirl, dissolve, and flow into Hunter's body, and then into their core. There was a strange sensation of strings like the spider made to catch prey circling around and around Hunter's core, and they pulled tight and squeezed it down until it was very dense. Mana began to flow faster and faster into their core.

Hunter knew why maybe they might not have wanted to proceed.

This hurt. The part of their body that held their core ached badly. The pain got worse as the flow of mana continued to speed up and the core inside them greedily drank it in. In what was either a long time or a short time that felt long, the huge core was gone. All of it had spun away and into Hunter. They hoped very much it would make them much stronger, because it felt worse than anything they had ever felt before. It would be bad and unfair if it did not do something very good to help them.

Status.

[Name: Hunter]

[Level: 5 (special core) (evolution menu available)]

[Stats:

Might 11

Toughness 14

Cunning 26

Will 15]

[HP: 35/35]

[MP: 1/25]

[Skills: Pincer Snap level 4, Grip level 4, Deadly Sting level 3 (II), Sprint level 4, Advanced Survival Instinct level 2 (II), Advanced Stealth level 3 (II), Dodge level 5 (upgrade available), Mana Shaping level 7 (II), Forceful Mana level 2]

[Mutations: Infused Stinger +5, Tomosvary organs +2, Adaptive Camouflage Exoskeleton +5, Claws +2, Antennae +2, Eyes +2, Legs +4]

[Species: Claw Centipede Hatchling (Unguibus Scolopendra)

[Biomass: 5]

Hunter's maximum MP had gone from 20 to 25. They supposed that was a good thing, but had hoped for a reward that was even more good than that. Hopefully the special core they absorbed with great pain would help them evolve in a stronger way.

By the time Hunter was done absorbing the core and not dying, which they were pretty sure was a difficult and worthy accomplishment, kin had finished off the second and somewhat smarter Dire Earth Bear Tyrant. It was clear that special cores were powerful and useful things, and Hunter suspected they were also rare and hard to find. Very much biomass was spread all around the ground near home, but biomass was a thing much easier to find than special cores. Besides, Hunter could eat bear biomass while they searched. The kin who were still alive were not many, and were very busy. Some ate biomass that had been bear, some ate biomass that had been kin, and some were hurt. Those stayed still and took time to heal. Hunter rushed over and dug into the biomass that had been the second of the two bears to die.

[You have gained 1 Biomass]

[You have gained 1 Biomass]

[Compatible Special monster core detected. Would you like to reconstitute a monster?]

This time there was not an option to reinforce Hunter's core again, which was just as well. Their body still hurt from the last time. Besides, now that they had absorbed a special core they were very curious to see how the other choice would help them. It was better to reconstitute the Dire Earth Bear Tyrant that was the less stupid of the two anyway. Remaking a monster who thought it was a good idea to roar at a mana bolt did not seem useful.

Yes.

[Manual Reconstitution is locked since requisite skills have not been acquired. Reconstituting monster]

The second huge core swirled and dissolved into spinning strings of dark mana. They coiled and twisted and grew very bright. Then they converged into a strange liquid that gradually made itself into a new shape. This was of course very interesting, so Hunter kept an eye on it as they ate biomass as quickly as they could.

[You have gained 1 Biomass]

[You have gained 1 Biomass]

Then the mana that had been a special core finished the thing it was doing, and left behind a clumsy and small version of a bear. A bear hatchling? Was this good? Probably this was good. It had fur of the same color the big ones had had, and all of the same body parts arranged in the same way, but all of them seemed to not work right quite yet. The bear hatchling looked at Hunter and made what was probably a happy noise. Then it waddled off and began to eat biomass that had been claw centipede.

It seemed clever. That was good.

Maybe if it ate enough biomass its parts would grow strong again, like those of the big bears.

Hunter left it alone. This much biomass was a treasure, and could not be wasted. They ate and ate and ate.

[You have gained 1 Biomass]

[You have gained 1 Biomass]

[You have gained 1 Biomass]

There was a problem. Hunter's stomach was all of the way full, but there was still so much biomass left to eat! They had only one thought of what to do, and it was to go as quickly as their legs could carry their heavy body into the tunnels of home, where it was safer, and spend the biomass to upgrade their body parts. They did this, and the small bear followed with wobbly steps. Fortunately the other centipedes ignored it. It would have been quite bad to spend a special core on a hatchling bear that was quickly killed and eaten by kin.

The body part to improve first was claws, because those could help them cut biomass and eat faster.

Spend Biomass. Improve Claws to +5.

[Do you want to improve your Claws to +5? This will cost 12 Biomass]

Yes.

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

There were many options to choose from, and if there were more time Hunter would have happily thought about many of them. But there was not more time, because the biomass outside home would not last. They had to mutate quickly and rush back out to eat more!

They looked through the choices in a fast way and found one that seemed good.

[Savage Claws. Increases the size and density of the claws to directly increase penetrating power and compression force.]

Choose Savage Claws.

[Do you wish to confirm Savage Claws?]

Yes.

It was the very first time Hunter did not want the very good feeling of a body part mutation to last longer. They had to get back out and eat more biomass!

When the upgrade finished, the results pleased Hunter very much. Their claws were large, sharp, and strong. They might even be able to kill weak prey with only claws now, and not need to use venom at all. First though it was time to test how well they could cut up biomass and help eat faster. Hunter ran out of the tunnel in home to the above and the hatchling bear followed. There was less biomass now because twenty or so kin and two juvenile emerald monitors had been busy eating it, but there was still a great deal left. It was strange that kin and the monitors were not fighting, but it did make sense. Why risk a fight when there is plenty of biomass to eat for free?

The answer to this question was that Hunter did not particularly like monitors, and did not think the risk of killing these two would be large. It would only take a short time to test their new claws.

[You have defeated level 1 Juvenile Emerald Monitor]

[You are at the XP cap for your current evolution]

[Pincer Snap has reached level 5, upgrade available]

[You have defeated level 3 Juvenile Emerald Monitor]

[You are at the XP cap for your current evolution]

Hunter's new Savage Claws worked very well. In the meantime, the little bear hatchling proved to be quite clever by ignoring the short fights to eat biomass. This was very good thinking. Hunter was done killing the two monitors, who had not fought or worked for this biomass and should not get to eat it. Hunter began to eat in a very fast way, and gained a great deal of biomass. When they got full, they went back into home to spend some. This time they decided to just upgrade a part to +4 so that they did not have to make an important decision with very little time.

Spend Biomass. Upgrade Antennae to +4.

[Do you want to improve your Antennae to +4? This will cost 7 biomass.]

Yes.

The upgrade felt good, in the way that all upgrades did. Again, and this was a weird way to think, Hunter wished it could finish faster though. It looked like maybe the bear hatchling had spent some biomass also, as some of its parts looked stronger than when it hatched from the special core.

Hunter and their bear hatchling went back out and ate more. Most of the biomass was gone, but there had been so much at the start that there was still a big lot of it left.

Hunter managed to upgrade both eyes and Tomosvary organs to +4 by the time the biomass was all gone. It was interesting that kin were not as good at eating in a very fast way. Perhaps they did not know the trick to spend biomass so that one could eat more, and were limited to only as much as a stomach could hold. It could also be that those had survived fewer big hunts and so did not have practice eating quickly. Kin had cut up the rest of the biomass and moved it into home, probably to give to the lazy Noble who had only called kin home and had not helped to fight. Though it might be a very hard thing to use mind magic to make a call that loud that could be heard that far. Perhaps it used all of the Noble's mana and left them too tired to help or to come out and eat biomass. Or maybe the Noble was too scared and weak to leave home ever.

Hunter did not like the Noble.