Skill (Light) has gained multiple Levels

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

About a second passed in complete darkness, a second I spent wishing I had picked the Larvae-eating-larva option, or, even better, that damn cave dweller one. I have no idea how large I am, but if I'm the size of a regular little larva, the Cave Dweller would be an absolute powerhouse, just destroying these little bastards!

Once that second had passed, I was, frankly speaking, swarmed. I may have been at least twice their size, but when a hundred or a thousand larvae were upon you, it did absolutely nothing. All a large size did was allow for more area to bite. Oh, did I mention they were biting me to death?

Indeed, all over my body, tiny little mouths were biting into me. They were all meant to have been used for eating moss to be sure, but they all still had the Munch skill, as I did. If I didn't have my Chitin Armour, these countless bites would have been devastating.

Skill (Chitin Armour) has gained a Level

Skill (Chitin Armour) has gained a Level

Skill (Chitin Armour) has gained a Level

...That's good, right? This doesn't really hurt all too much or anything, and it hurts less now, but this is still not fun. Maybe I won't even have to fight back to do well-,

Owch!

You have lost 2 Health due to Skill (Munch)

...How much Health do I have in total again...?

You have lost 1 Health due to Skill (Munch)

Ow, shit! Okay, uh, fuck me, I gotta do something, um, how are my stats-,?

Johnny Fowl(Lv. 1/30) Species Lightworm (F-) Title(s) Monster Health 23/26 Mana 4/10 Status Strength 3 Magic 5 Speed 6 Defence 4(+5) Skills(...)

Okay, my Health isn't all that bad, my Defence is increasing for some reason, and my Mana is slowly recovering. Man, I can hear Chuck whispering in my ear, telling me to hang on just a while to, what'd he say... "grind" for defence-? Just let the worms make my Defence go up, that is. Which I am not doing.

I have no idea how to replenish my Health, and although the pain isn't too bad, having dozen of mouths chewing on me is just... unpleasant. Have you ever had a cow child suckle on your hand? Like, you know it can't bite or hurt you, but there's some uncomfortable pressure in it. That's this situation, times a hundred, and it's not a cute calf, it's just a calf-sized maggot. In other words, I am in hell.

Alright, so, what can I do? I could use Munch right back at them, for some reason, it has a really high level, but... deep in my subconscious, hell, in my conscious, I don't want to bite/eat a worm. Especially not a worm I've been. I can't figure out a suitable parable for the situation, but it just feels wrong. Let me be guided by my morality, damn it!

Skill (Chitin Armour) has gained a Level

So, that leaves my other skills. Light isn't an offensive skill and neither is flight. I could probably fly away, but... well, for one, I know for a fact that these little maggots all have the Novice Flight skill since I lost it when I evolved making escape impossible, and, secondly... actually there is no secondly, I'm not sure where I was going with this.

That leaves me with one skill: Basic Fire Magic. And out of all the two spells I know, the only viable one is Flare. I could probably use Heat if I could like, home it in on their brain parts. If I did that, just a single increase in temperature would fry them. But one increase in celsius would cost 11 mana. So, Flare it is.

Thus, the final question is-,

You have lost 3 Health due to Skill (Munch)

Owfuck-,, the FINAL question is: should I go with one big explosion or a bunch of small ones? I still don't exactly know the scope of a "small" one, so whichever I do, I'd better begin with a very small one, just to see how it works. It's cheap, too, so...

....Flare!

...

Oh, right, of course, I don't know how to do Magic. Perfect.

Okay, so, my Mana is right in there in my core, and now to just get it out of there...

...

I don't know why, but I kind of want to expel it from my antennae? I mean, I've always been more of an ape than a worm, but even so, it just feels right, y'know?

And so, I let the Mana move from my core and into my antennae and into the wide wide world, and with a chant in my heart, hoping the Mana will obey my wishes...

Flare!

For a moment, there is light. Just the smallest, dimmest little light illuminating a thousand wriggling worms around me, and along with it, there is a crackle, and a spray of liquid that doesn't smell that bad.

...

Moss Eating Larvae defeated

Right, thank you, um. I... That was almost nothing! It was more of a little crackle than even a pop!! "Explosion" my ass!

Okay, so my only hope might be a bust. How fun. One big "explosion" it is. If I leave just a little Mana, I'll be able to fly, maybe to safety.

Right, let's do that.

All my Mana but a single point, which might be about 6 points in total, went to my Antennae, and out into the space just above me, where I imagined most of the larvae were. It sure felt like I carried a hundred on my back, so this would be my best bet if I wanted to fly away. Concentrate, concentrate, let the Mana hang there, form a ball, and...!

Flare, bitch!

A bang resounded, as if a gun had been fired, but it was also like a pop, like a bulbous, swollen corpse popping after prodding. Wet and disgusting.

Moss Eating Larvae defeated

Moss Eating Larvae defeated

Moss Eating Larvae defeated

Moss Eating Larvae defeated...

You have gained EXP

You have gained (13) Levels

I didn't have time to care for all the things that popped up, Instead, I put the remaining Mana I had into the wings on my back and rose from the ashes. My body was covered in some sticky, viscous liquid, but I didn't have time to care for that. Behind me, the gnawing of a thousand mouths was replaced by gradual humming, that of countless wings. They arose behind me.

Fuckfuckfuck

Skill (Intermediate Flight) has gained a Level

Maybe if I'd had the time to I could have cherished the sensation of flight, but instead, my focus laid on the swarm of wings just moments behind me. I was faster than them, I could tell, but even so, my short flight might prove more useless than believed.

I had to consciously keep myself from blinking with Light. If I could see where I was going, I might have a chance.

But I couldn't.

Ten seconds passed, the ten seconds my one point of Mana could be used for, and that very same moment, I could hear the swarm behind me stop flying as well. So, my fate is to just be swarmed again once we hit the ground that is most likely mere centimeters away. I didn't rise that high up, and I probably haven't gotten far, so this fall should end any second now with a soft, cushioning bed of moss.

Any second now.

Aaaaaany second now...

...

Am-, am I still falling?

Oh,, oh god. Oh fuck, I-,, I don't have any Mana! It's empty, it's filling up sure, but super slowly, so I'm just falling through darkness and right above me is no doubt a swarm of maggots with wings and holy shit this is how I die isn't it?

The wind roared in my ears, passing my so quickly it threatened to tear my weak wings straight off, and all I could do was hope I recovered just a single point of mana before I-,

You have lost 19 Health due to a great fall

Skill (Chitin Armour) has gained multiple Levels

Your Chitin has cracked, if you do not rest, greater damage will be incurred as a result

It cracked. I... it hurts. I think I broke every bone in my body. Not that I have any bones.

Due to completing conditions, skill (Fall Damage Reduction) has been gained

Due to completing conditions, skill (Passive Health Regeneration) has been gained

O-, oka-,

And I could not have one more second to think before about a hundred mushy soft silky bodies crashed atop of me like a blanket of crashing flesh. Somehow, it felt more like a great pressure upon me than any actual like, damage. It didn't hurt.

Moss Eating Larvae(48) defeated

You have gained EXP

You have gained (15) Levels

You can no longer gain Levels

Your Level is (29)

Excess EXP will be stored as potential for future (EVOLUTIONS)

Special conditions must be met in order to (EVOLVE)

Please complete special conditions in order to (EVOLVE)

And with that, crushed underneath a pile of, as it turns out, only 48 larvae, I pass out.