The Flow

“Basic Nutrient Obtained” -- You have produced 0.4 Energy and 2 Points

I don’t feel hunger, but that’s gratifying. Right after absorbing the nutrient, a pleasurable feeling invaded me. It felt as if I hadn’t eaten in years. I was even dazed.

““So that orb was a nutrient. A “basic” nutrient.””, I thought.

Basic. This means there are more types. Maybe it’s because of its properties? Each of them may have different characteristics and cells might produce different amounts of energy depending on the quality of the nutrient. It could be similar to proteins, glucids or other organic compounds in my previous world. For example, on Earth, each glucose provided 38 ATP, whereas a fatty acid gave 112 ATP. So this world must have it’s own principles and substances. But...

“”It gave me 0.4 energy and 2 points… That’s little.”” I sighed.

I can’t lie, I expected more. In total, I needed 1.000.000 energy points. If I assumed I would be eating basic nutrients most of the time, I needed 2.500.000 without skill upgrades. Anyways, I wasn’t depressed. This was definitely better than disappearing.

After clearing my mind, I decided to follow the path the nutrient had come from. Although there were no lights and I couldn’t “see”, somehow I could orientate myself.

“”It’s the best choice I have right now. Nutrients may spawn randomly or have a fixed track.””

With this in mind, I kept moving slowly, but steadily. I was able to move thanks to my flagellum through the viscous liquid that filled the space. At first, it felt as if I was travelling during a damp, misty morning, but after some time it became much easier to crawl. It felt as if I was learning how to swim. When I was a kid, during a summer camp, I fell into a frozen lake. My legs were shaking and didn’t respond at all at that time. Firstly because I didn’t know how to swim, and secondly because I felt despair and started drowning. From then onwards, I was afraid of water.

After that incident I tried many things out to overcome my trauma, but none of them resulted in success. However, this situation was different. I didn’t have another choice but to learn and succeed if I wanted to survive. Plus I didn’t need to breathe as a cell, so it wasn’t that hard. Learning this made me feel elated, so I thanked the “Earth” for giving me this opportunity and carried on travelling.

I had been moving for a while when...

“”zzz...zzz...zzz...zzz”

“”Mm? What’s that sound?””, I wondered.

I started to check my surroundings.

“”What is that?”” , I “squinted” as I tried to see what was that thing.

I saw a small yellow bug above me moving at a tremendous speed. As it could be hostile, I prepared myself before it got closer. Despite what I said, I didn’t have anything aside from my membrane. I was pretty much defenseless and didn’t know if I could resist its attack. Maybe I was being superstitious and that “insect” was harmless, but my condition and primal instincts probably obliged me to stay on guard.

As soon as it was nearby, a tongue stuck out of its mouth and targeted me. What a disgusting sight, it almost made me throw up, although I couldn’t because of being a cell. Also, I couldn’t run away nor defend myself, as it was faster than me and I didn’t understand how the defence system worked. It was my first battle. Thankfully, I was ready and had predicted this. When the tongue made contact with my membrane a message appeared:

“Virus Type A” Is Destroying Your Membrane

25% Chance to defend

Do you wish to increase your chances? Cost: 3 Energy → +10%

YES/NO

“”YES?!””I shouted. Although I said I expected this, I was panicking and shocked, so I quickly responded. Thank god... I can increase the success rate with energy. The more, the better. No complaints, though I didn’t know how it worked.

Do you wish to increase your chances? Cost: 30 Energy → +10%

YES/NO

I can’t afford it… The cost had increased sharply. I had 7.4 Energy left. No matter what happened, I needed to obtain some profitable outcome of this battle.

When I thought so, the bug started to squeeze through my membrane. At first it was just its tongue, but after some seconds three quarters of its body had disappeared. Agonizing, the bug stopped moving. Then, nothing was left. No blood, fluids or substances were left behind, everything was eaten.

Suddenly, *RING!*

“Virus Type A” Has Been Absorbed

You have produced 20 Energy and 30 Points

Energy Reduced → 10 *(30-10)*

“”Points Reduced?”” Why? Because of the damage? I wasn’t sure about this, I needed to experiment more before reaching a conclusion. There could be many reasons for this. Health, the payment of energy to increase the success rate, the absorption speed… It could have been anything.

Anyways… I was astonished, 20 energy and 30 points?! That’s what I’d obtain if I ate 50 Basic Nutrients!!! However, it seemed eating nutrients gave way more Points.

“”Virus Type A, huh. I can compare it to a parasite that obtains food from other cells. That would explain why it had so much Energy.””, I started to theorize about what that virus did. As it was here, then that meant I was near an area with high concentration of nutrients. These kinds of “bugs” may act as bees with honey, they are attracted to nutrients. Thinking so, I started to move. After a long journey, I arrived at a destination that seemed to be full of resources.

“”I see them”” , I muttered.

Orbs, that’s what I was looking at. A measureless number of luminous lights were in front of me. I distanced myself as much as I could, because it’s probable that more viruses or other kinds of threats were close by.

I had obtained 15.2 Energy and 76 Points during my trip after defeating the bug. Obtaining nutrients had become easier as I advanced, so I was able to absorb 38 Basic Nutrients. However, travelling wasn’t an easy feat. I had to avoid many enemies and lure them to other cells. Thankfully, it looked like there were no viruses here. I checked my status.

Membrane: D (0/200)

“”I’d like to upgrade my “Membrane”, but I guess I’ll have to absorb more nutrients.”” I mumbled.

Afterwards, I decided to stay at this spot because lots of orbs could be found and there were almost no viruses. This place would be an ideal location to level up characters if this was an RPG. In my case, viruses were PK-players and the nutrients were the monsters.

The “farming” started and my conviction was getting stronger, the nutrients followed a path. A flow.

<< One Month Later >>

270 Points Spent // All The Abilities Have Reached C Rank

You Have Been Promoted To: Unique Mature Cell

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Name: Luke

Being: Unique Mature Cell

Energy: 75/1.000.000

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Speed: C (0/100)

Metabolism: C (0/200)

Energy Consumption: C (0/40)

Membrane: C (0/400)

Points: 0

Speed: Movement speed. Current Multiplier X2

Metabolism: Efficiency of energy production. Current: 0.5 Energy/nutrient

Energy Consumption: Amount needed to survive. Current: 0.07/nutrient

Membrane: Ingest nutrients/Defend. Current: 2 Nutrients/bite - 40% Chance to defend