Well. That was harrowing.

Unpleasant too.

I've lost a wheel somewhere so I can't even roll back.

I'm definitely not going to try and go back for it, nor check any of these tempting side corridors.

My recent brush with death and the long walk has me feeling disconnected. I can't really feel anything right now, I can't focus, and oly those moments replay in my head.

If I had lingered longer in the fight, I'm sure it would have been my demise.

That thing was smart, strong, and looking back, I'm certain it was toying with me.

I need a bigger gun.

A bigger gun...

Not just that but a better body too. I don't even know where to start.

Let's ask Grimal. He's probably awake by now.

With my goals engraved in my heart, I limp forward on my damaged legs. The walk to the cafeteria is long and the bees are silent. Perhaps they can sense my mood. Perhaps it's just their mood.

I don't want to feel like this again.

I need a bigger gun.

I need a bigger gun.

What to do...

What to do...

Let's practice Heat on this long walk. I managed to crudely melt together some sand before.

Maybe I can make some decent metal.

It's going to take a lot of work. My last melted mass was full of holes and mostly glass slag.

I don't know if I can do it, but I need a bigger gun.

My stamina begins to flag, so I root myself, unfurl my leaves, and begin to see if I can accurately cut round holes in the wall. My light limb feeds my leaves a little in this dark hallway at a cost of mana, and I regain a little mana from the soil and light. I'll run out eventually, but I have a lot of mana, and I can feed my spells with soul thread if I run low.

Given how long I rolled down that hallway, I'm going to be a while returning.

I need a bigger gun...

Where the hell is Eliza anyway? I haven't seen her in a while.

---Eliza---

I can see my own organs.

THis is understandably worrying, but I've tested my new crystalline exoskeleton in battle, and it's far stronger than my previous chitin. But I glow in the dark, a soft blue light, and I can see my own organs now.

It's unnerving, but after eating so many frog mana cores, its inevitable that there would be some sort of change. The benefits outweigh the negatives though, because I have grown larger, stronger, I have become more durable, and I can use magic.

Seeing my organs makes me really uncomfortable though. I feel vulnerable.

Trying out Brian's spell for the first time, I have grown a small hollow in a tree near the entrance, and I have been stuffing soul cores inside it for later. I can't use those, so I might as well save them for Brian. Maybe if I give him a gift he will be less likely to die.

Speaking of souls and death, I think I'd like to see if I can make that weird soul thread generator he made. I know he thinks I couldn't have survived it, but I'm stronger now, and the patch he put on my soul is fraying into loose threads as it recovers anyway. I think I can replicate his work with these scraps.

If I survive, I'll grow in strength. And with a few more kills, I know I can survive.

---A few hours later---

---????---

Tul Drazzak was perplexed and worried.

Energy from generator 2 was dropping.

Considering it was one of only 4 power crystals he held controlling interest in, this concerned him greatly.

The magethread output from the crystal had dropped by twenty percent a few days ago, dropped again a day later, and he had nervously waited for any change. Change had occurred again just now. An additional reduction in output by ten percent along with a steady drop of nearly a percentage point a day.

This was a disaster. What would the shareholders think?

This needed to be remedied immediately, and with all due haste. The investors could not know.

Perhaps the livestock had died?

More livestock could be purchased silently through his off network holdings.

Perhaps a host of Hartan? Their reproduction was swift but they had weak bodies and souls.

No, something was killing his livestock. He needed something small, ferocious, adept at hiding, and not vulnerable to starvation.

What about the Urgor? He had never used them in this generator yet, according to the records. In fact, the records said that this generator had not been manufactured by the Mistweavers, but looted in the War of Conquest. There was no record of a survey team ever sent inside. It was possible that the metallic ores favored by the Urgor as a food source would actually still be intact.

He would send 100 Urgor inside from one of his other generators, no need to make a purchase just yet. If they also died, he would try water adapted life or sunlight adapted life. One of them would take root. The shareholders would never know as long as he fudged the numbers a bit.

A small excursion in his shuttle with an extractor, and some instruments for basic energy readings to confirm his hypotheses would sort everything out.

He wriggled his tentacles nervously as he gathered tools and prepared to commit fraud.

---Brian---

I finally managed a clean, accurate hole cut into the wall. The lines are straight, the melt was clean.

The wall looks like swiss cheese though. It's been a while and I was running low on mana anyway. My legs are a bit better and my holes are naturally healing, which is nice. I didn't realize they could do that.

The bees have gotten over the shock of nearly dying and are now complaining about the lack of work and flowers nearby.

I've recovered a bit from my shock at nearly becoming spider bait.

I think I might be able to take some pieces of sheet metal and cut useful holes in them now.

There's no better time than now to resume my trek.

With the aid of clean cuts, there's not much I can actually make by itself, but I'm pretty sure a similar time investment plus a hammer and anvil will mean I can forge weld a little. I've heard it's stronger than a regular weld when done right, and I've seen it done, so I know approximately what to do.

I was also told it was really hard, and I don't even know what metals or alloys those scraps are made of.

Hmm. What can I build with just cutting and spells?

Wait, why am I thinking of metal when there's plenty of rock?

I only have an axe, and it's annoying to use because it gets stuck in flesh, and way too light for these monstrous arms. Also I have 4 arms and only one axe. I don't know if I have the control or knowhow to temper mysterious metals, so I doubt I could make a decent replacement out of cafeteria benches and old stove parts.

I should see if I can use those rune plates I scavenged from the kitchen, too. Maybe I'll get an idea.

What if I could cut out a pair of big stone clubs? Primitive, but it would get the job done in a big way. I could beef up my upper arms and hit like a truck. Possibly literally. A 40 lb club might be way more effective than a 10 lb axe, and it would never get stuck. I probably need a spear too in case I get charged again, like literally everything has done so far.

Wait, another primitive weapon was the crossbow. I could make it entirely out of wood. Why don't I already have one?

Why don't I have 4, fully loaded and hanging from my waist?

They might not be great but they're better than not having a crossbow.

Since my skills are too crude for making any decent weapons with metal, I will attempt to make myself metal bones instead. It should increase the weight of my limbs, increase support, and increase my relilience. It will be good practice that I can hopefully build upon to make other things later. Just a few bones though, and I'm skipping the hands and feet, there's enough support there already.

I have a plan, and it's solid. I'm not going to bow to any giant lizards. I'm not going to let a giant scary spider push me around!

I'm going to work.

Fuck that guy.