I had quickly located the den of the spiders I had searched for longer than I would have likes since I became aware of their existence.

Huh, how odd. This is a temperate forest, this species is supposed to live in more tropical areas. Did something move them? Or... Crecur perhaps? I know I said I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth but this is a bit weird all things considered.

"Menu, can you tell me anything about these creatures?"

[Pest] Anelosimus Eximius A social Spider turned into a monster by ambient mana, live in groups of 'warriors' and 'nest caretakers' that coexist in a shared web and take care of each other's young. Hardier and more intelligent than the natural counterpart, they are found in a wider range of environments.

Ah perfect, this gives me two important bits of information, albeit indirectly. First: I am in a world with mana and by extension, probably magic as well. While the tiny 'Anklebiters' I saw implied magic was involved, that wasn't guaranteed to be the case. This confirmed I had alot more rules to learn. If my memory of magic in other realities serves me well, it would also mean I have a few shortcuts I can take, as worlds with magic were the most filled with strange quirks that I could possibly take advantage of. Second: The spiders I have are merely similar to mundane Anelosimus but can subsist in more ecosystems due to previously mentioned magic. That explains why they are here, and why they seem to have almost double the thousand members the normal variety would keep.That would go a long way into keeping them alive, and useful to me. However, they are called social instead of eusocial. This isn't much of a setback according to what I know from the system, but still a slight disappointment as I imagine being eusocial would make this next part easier.

"Subjugate Anelosimus Eximius!"

Would you like to Subjugate [Pest] Anelosimus Eximius? Will cost 1 Influence to modify into Eusociality and 3 to subjugate (current amount: 5)

Well, I at least have enough to do it. But how detrimental is losing this Influence? I know I get Influence from things I control but.... how exactly does that work, and how often does it happen?

"Menu, how much influence do I gain?"

The progress menu in your system will tell you how much influence you gain per star cycle. (known to you as 'days')

I mean, you could just tell me. But fine, if you want to be a tease, I'll go look for myself. On the bright side, it also addressed my 'frequency' concern of gaining influence.

"Show me the progress menu."

Domain Essence Everything that is under your control The progress of unlocking your memories and skills

Memories and skills. I think Crecur said something about taking my memories. How much does that affect me? Could I become a whole different individual? Yeah, no thanks if that's the case. Although unlocking skills does sound rather nice. Well, I am supposed to be learning. I might as well find out what 'skills' even do. Might give me an answer on the whole 'how dangerous are memories' question.

"Menu, what does the Essence Tab have to do with my memories and skills?"

The Essence tab is about regaining that which was taken from you in your transformation from a soul to an Essence. The transformation is destructive, and to counteract that aspect of its nature parts of yourself are saved in pieces so you may regain who you once were in a manner that will not overwhelm your sense of self. You can not gain new aspects through this manner however, as those must be gained naturally through traditional means such as creating new memories and practicing skills as you would if you were still a soul. Memories are recollections of an emotional and personal nature, while Skills are recollections involving your capabilities and knowledge.

That was reassuring, I would much rather have parts taken away so that they could be given back to me than to have my mind and self changed into an unrecognizable state. Though the whole 'destroying all that I was' is still a bit much. Perhaps there is a legitimate reason behind it, but as long as I can get it back I don't really mind. I don't really want to get philosophical about boats and Greek guys with funny names, not so soon after talking to the queen at least.

With my curiosity sated I selected the domain option, hoping that despite its importance Influence wouldn't be as scarce of a resource that I had feared it would be.

Sources Summary of Source types Deities (0 per cycle) Deities under your domain that grant Influence based on faith they receive Creatures (1 per cycle) Organisms you control that grant Influence based on their success or survival Territory ( 0 per cycle) Realities and land that passively generate Influence Miscellaneous (0 per cycle) Non-specified sources of Influence

Yeah, I'm going to need all the Influence I can scrounge up. Five doesn't sound like a lot, especially if all it takes is spiders to use up all of it. Well, not exactly all. Though being precise with my math doesn't sound like too big of an issue at this point.

Wait, why do I even remember math? I guess it could be useful, but still it seems unnecessary compared to other information I could potentially use. Of all the things I remember, math was higher on this system's list than the definition of the very thing I am meant to represent. I mean, I don't exactly remember what sentient life was like when I was alive for the most part, but controlling aspects of realities should probably require you know what those aspects are at least.

What was I doing again? OH! Influence..... Yeah I need to bump up these numbers fast. All things considered, the best way to do that is get more creatures. I have enough to get the spiders but not much else. Hopefully these little guys can last long enough I can make use of them and their influence. Considering I already get one influence from the bees that are less than one thousand in number right now, this should be a big boost to my gains.

I chose to claim and modify the creature. I hadn't expected much fanfare beyond another box in the front of my awareness, but suddenly my mind was flooded with new information. I understood these spiders on a much deeper level than I had before, from their parts to their behaviors. Even more notable was what came next.

This is a double helix structure... its DNA... is this.... the spiders' DNA? Wait, if it's showing me this does that mean I can change these things on a genetic level?

....

"Nature meet your superior, evolution is now obsolete. Eat your heart out natural selection!"

I wasn't sure the limits of this system, but if I was right, then I had basically become a thinking Crispr machine. My thoughts began to quicken and become erratic once more, at the thought of my new found power.

Who cares about an extinction event when you can become perfectly adapted to whatever environment comes from it instantly? Why bother with the natural order when you can mold life to your whim! Can other Essences do similar stuff? Is there even a limit?

This was it. I was greater than a deity, more influential than even the laws of reality. This was the start of something unprecedented.

"Menu, catalogue the potential changes I can make to the genetic structure of any organisms in my domain and create a list of all the changes I can make and what they will do to the creatures."

You must access relevant memories to do this action. This behavior will result in no benefit until you regain a greater understanding of your past lives. You may use extraneous rules of this reality to supplement your current deficiency until you gain access to your full capabilities.

....OH, yeah. Of course.

Of course I can't do that, why would a being meant to be greater than a god be allowed to actually do what they want. Just as I thought I got to the good part.

For a while I scattered, erratically zigzagging mumbling angry thoughts to myself. However, the longer I went on the more I thought about it.

It's not saying I can't modify my creatures, just that I won't be able to right now. It sucks that I have another thing I need to wait for, but it's still going to open up to me one day. I just need to make it on my own in the mean time. This was still good, just not immediately useful. The system even decided to be helpful enough to point me in the right direction in the mean time.

"Menu, what are these "extraneous rules" that I may make use of? How may I make use of them."

Extraneous rules are aspects of a reality that do not belong to the traditional level of physics. Examples include magic, quantum physics, soul cultivation, and other non-uniform parts of the ruleset each reality may have. Your current reality has a spontaneous metamorphosis system and magic that are interconnected. The metamorphosis system allows creatures to instantly transform into a new being under certain circumstances. The magic in this reality is in the form of a sparse but powerful and versatile form of matter known as mana. Each system is out of your reach, with your only way of interaction being through your domain's creatures.

Long story short, there is magic and some kind of transformation process in this world, but I don't have direct access to it. Unpleasant, but workable. I simply need to find out what situations allow for my bees or spiders to access those 'systems'. I'll be at a severe disadvantage with most creatures on this planet until I figure this out, so this is the highest priority. In the mean time, however, I need to claim my new 'thralls'.

"Menu, modify the spiders to be eusocial and tell me when I make progress on manipulating these creatures on a genetic or physiological level."

Species: Anelosimus Eximius successfully claimed. You may modify new and old species by using relevant resources.

Oh, well that is wonderful news. Time to see what it is that I can do.