The storm didn’t let up for another couple of days and I ended up spending most of the time meditating to learn more about the changes that had occurred in my internal world using my Inner Vision Skill. I had almost forgotten that I had the Skill at all but boy was I glad that I had it now and not only because I didn’t have that much that I could really do unless I wanted to go outside.

My internal world was definitely an interesting place. The sheer number of different creatures living within it was shocking. Within the first two hours I had seen different species of beetle ranging from the cow-sized ones that I had seen the last time that I had added points to my Aspects to ones about the same size that I would expect to see on Earth.

And that was just the beetles. There were a myriad of other insects and arachnids that I found as well. But the thing that I was really interested in finding was whatever it had been that had scared the giant beetles away the other day. In the end I finally found a likely and slightly terrifying suspect. The creature in question was a behemoth centipede at least 15 metres long and two metres wide with massive mandibles that dripped a greenish liquid from their tips. Its legs were also tipped in razor sharp claws that tore bark and wood from the trees with ease as it moved with surprising speed through the forest that was its home.

Watching it weave its way through the trees I was fairly sure that it was one of, if not the most dangerous creature in this forest. I also noticed several spiders in the treetops above it that were larger than I was but none of them seemed to be interested in attempting to attack the massive centipede that I was currently following. Probably because of the thick-looking carapace that protected each segment of the centipede’s body which looked to be more than tough enough to protect it from the spiders’ fangs.

Eventually I stopped watching the centipede and turned my attention more to these spiders since they looked like they would provide something that more important to me than what the centipede could right now. Spider Silk.

While I could make cord with my Nature Shaping it was a pretty primitive technique and not particularly effective. If I could learn to summon a spider like one of these ones or even learn to create thread like they could then, not only would I be able to make all sorts of equipment that was too hard for me to make right now. There were also plenty of traps that I could create using the silk that would be able to catch just about anything that I could hunt normally now. Back on Earth spider silk was almost as strong as steel when comparing tensile strength but it was also much lighter making it an incredibly useful material that could be used to make things like parachutes. I wasn’t sure if the silk that these spiders were weaving was stronger or not but even if it wasn’t it was more than strong enough to hold these massive spiders easily.

I watched one particular spider as it created an incredibly complicated web. Just as I was about to move on a Giant Dragonfly that looked like a larger version than the one that I had summoned flew right into the web which stretched slightly before springing back into place with the struggling dragonfly trapped in the sticky threads that it was made from. Now I was pretty sure that spiders normally didn’t eat dragonflies back on Earth apparently the ones that lived in my inner world had no such qualms because the massive black spider that I had been watching immediately scampered over and bit the creature before wrapping it up in a cocoon of thread. This happened so fast that even I was surprised and just floated in mid-air staring at the bundle of thread and dragonfly that bobbed slightly up and down for a few seconds before the venom took effect and it stilled.

“Holy shit,” I muttered as I stared at the cocoon for a few more moments before shaking my phantasmal head. I wasn’t really sure how long I had been floating around my inner world, but it had obviously been quite a while, so I decided to return to my real body.

“Well, that was definitely interesting,” I said as I opened my eyes back in the real world. “And I think I have some ideas to make some new spells and Skills as well.”

Ignoring the flashing symbol telling me that I had Skill Increases waiting for me I started channelling Nature Mana into the tips of my fingers and weaving it into a thread. At first everything seemed to be going well but then the spell shattered sending a bolt of pain through my skull.

“Ah!” I shouted as I grasped my head. “Well, that didn’t work. I wonder what I did wrong?”

Once my head had stopped thumping, I started thinking about what the problem could be.

“Could it be because I was trying to actually produce thread?” I wondered as I recalled that spiders actually produced a liquid that hardened upon contact with air and became what we knew as spider silk.

“Okay, let’s try that,” I muttered as I began to create the spell again but this time, I added an extra thread of Water Mana that I wrapped around the main thread of Nature Man. I grin crossed my face as the spell stabilised and I pulled my fingers apart to reveal white thread.

“Yes!” I shouted excitedly. My MP drained at a steady but fairly manageable pace as I pulled my fingers further apart until I had about a metre of thread hanging between them before cancelling the spell. The thread fell down onto the bench in front of me and I picked it up and tugged on it.

“Oh, hell yes,” I murmured as I pulled on the thread as hard as I could. It was less than a centimetre thick but even trying as hard as I could, I couldn’t break it. My new spell was a resounding success.

Quickly I made several more threads of the same length as well as others that were about twice as long before stopping when my MP started running low.

“Alright then,” I said with a nod. “I guess that I should check this new spell and then my Skill Increases. Ads I said this I brought up the information on my new spell and started reading.

Spider Silk (Specialised) Unlocked!

Spider Silk allows you to create thread similar to that of a spider with your magic. Like a spider you can choose whether this thread is sticky or not.

Cost: 35 MP/ metre of normal thread. 50 MP/metre for sticky thread

Growth Rate increased by 2 Wisdom!

2 Aspect points awarded for unlocking Spider Silk!

“Huh, well that’s interesting,” I muttered as I rubbed my chin. I had already planned to make a spell similar to this one that allowed me to shoot sticky thread like a spitting spider but having the ability to make sticky thread with this one would be incredibly useful for making traps which was one of the reasons that I had made the spell in the first place.

Nature Mana was sort of odd now that I thought about it. If it could be used to make spider silk like this, then the possibilities were almost unlimited. I decided that I would spend some time soon making new spells since it had been a while since I had done that.

I spent the next couple of hours making silken threads of different lengths and tying them into simple loops that I could use to make snares. Eventually I decided to try the sticky silk to see what handling that was like but sure enough it just stuck to me and I was forced to destroy it with magic.

In theory if I could create some sort of magical glove, I might be able to do something with the sticky Spider Silk, but I wasn’t sure what sort of Mana would be the best type to use. At first, I thought that Water Mana might be the best option but then I realised that probably wouldn’t work properly since Spider Silk started off as a liquid.

“Maybe I should try Air Mana?’ I muttered to myself. Earth mana was definitely an option but using Earth Mana for something like this either wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do which was prevent the thread from sticking to me or make it too difficult to actually handle the thread. “Let’s try it.”

Closing my eyes, I created a coating of Air Mana around my hands and to my surprise I felt the spell solidify and become easier to use almost immediately. I opened my eyes and looked at my hands with a frown when I didn’t see any difference to how they looked normally. I knew that the spell was still working so I decided to just try and pick up one of the sticky threads.

“Oh wow, it actually worked,” I said in surprise when I managed to easily pick up the thread and let it go without it sticking to me. I picked it up again and took a closer look. As it turned out the spell was working exactly as I’d hoped, and I could see that despite the fact that I could feel the thread held between my fingers it was actually suspended about half a centimetre away from either of my fingers.

“Well, that’s interesting,” I said as I turned this thread of silk into a loose loop as well in the hopes that this would work better than the normal type before bringing up the information on my second new spell of the day.

Wind Gloves Unlocked!

This spell creates a cushion of air around your hands allowing you to handle dangerous or difficult to handle materials.

Cost: 25 MP/min.

Growth Rate increased by 1 Wisdom!

1 Aspect points awarded for unlocking Wind Gloves!

Now that I had some more Aspect Points, I decided to check my Skill Increases.

Skills increased!

Calm Mind increased to Lvl 15

Mana Regen increased by 30% when using Calm Mind

Growth Rate increased by 1 Wisdom

Inner Vision increased to Lvl 4

Spellcrafting increased to Lvl 4

Spider Silk increased to Lvl 2

Mana Manipulation increased to Lvl 22

Available Aspect points increased by 8

Next, I brought up my Aspect of the Mutant and placed 8 of my 11 Aspect Points that I had earned into it which was enough to complete the Aspect of the Mutant.

Sure enough, as I confirmed my decision, I found myself in my inner world once again. Looking around I saw something I hadn’t really been expecting to see. Rolling along was a creature that at first glance resembled the Gel that I had summoned. However, unlike my Gel this creature had multiple nuclei floating around inside of it. But that wasn’t the most interesting thing about it. Not the thing that really surprised me was the thing’s size. This Gel like creature looked to be about ten times the size of my own Gel and basically just swallowed up anything that was small enough.

Just when I thought that this was the limit of its strength it encountered a swarm of smaller creatures that resembled slaters which immediately scattered. But then instead of just continuing on its way the giant Gel split into several smaller Gels that hunted down each of the slaters before reforming into their larger whole.

“Well, that was definitely different,” I muttered as I found myself back in my physical body with the new notifications floating in front of me.

Aspect of the Mutant has been completed!

In the end mutation is a useful thing over a long period of time. In fact, it is what fuels evolution itself. For every single mutation that is beneficial there are hundreds or even thousands of mutations that have had no positive effect or sometimes no noticeable effect at all on for the survivability of the species that the individual belongs to.

+ 3 Unassigned Stat Points!

Growth Rate increased by 5 Unassigned Stat Points!

Aspect of Evolution (World of the Swarm) has reached Lvl 300!

Some of the creatures in your inner world have developed the ability to split into smaller parts of the same whole in order to hunt down multiple smaller prey. These individual parts are much weaker than the larger whole, but they are more than capable of defeating weaker opponents on their own.

Create Gel has upgraded into Create Gel Colony

+2 Coordination. +2 Vitality. +1 Willpower.

Growth Rate increased by 2 Coordination, 2 Vitality and 1 Willpower!

“Huh,” I grunted as I realised that my Gel had indeed mutated into something quite different than it had been before. No longer did the Gel feel like one individual but more like a hive mind made up of multiple individuals much like myself and the rest of my minions which were connected to me. In fact, that was probably why my Gel had developed the way that it had.

As I thought this, I brought up the updated information on my Create Gel Colony Skill.

Create Gel Upgraded to Create Gel Colony!

Allows you to create a Gel Colony. A Gel Colony is a colony of Gels that spend most of their lives as part of a greater whole. When threatened these creatures can split up into their individual parts and either escape or overwhelm their enemy with numbers.

Cost 50 Essence.

Requires an upkeep of 30 Essence

Growth Rate increased by 1 Willpower.

“Jeez,” I muttered. “Good thing that I had more Control Points than I needed for the upkeep.”

Having done this, I brought up my Stat Screen to check the changes and use the Unassigned Stat Points that I had gotten from completing my Aspect of the Mutant. Once I brought up the Stat Sheet, I looked over my Stats for a few seconds before placing 2 of the Points into Strength to even things out a bit more and the final Point into Willpower.

Status

Level 4

Exp: 11%

HP: 393/393

MP: 889/1001

HP Regen: 32.4 per minute (+1)

MP Regen: 57 per minute

SP: 308/308

Essence: 61

SP Regen: 31.3 per minute

Control Points: 75.3 (5.3)

Str: 47 (+14/Lvl)

Agi: 63 (+15/Lvl)

Con: 58 (+ 8/Lvl)

End: 51 (+10/Lvl)

Tou: 59 (+12/Lvl)

Int: 123 (+42/Lvl)

Coor: 48 (+11/Lvl)

Vit: 48 (+10/Lvl)

Wis: 80 (+28/Lvl)

Will: 94 (+43/Lvl)

Per: 69 (+28/Lvl)

Cha: 38 (+11/Lvl)

Additional Growth Rate: +24 Unassigned Stat Points/Lvl. +40 MP/Lvl. MP regen increased by 1.4/min per Lvl +5 Control Points/Lvl.

Unassigned Stat Points: 0

“Finally managed to bring my Willpower Growth Rate up past my Intelligence Growth Rate,” I sighed once I’d finished assigning my Stats. Intelligence was an incredibly useful Stat for me to be sure but t still kind of felt wrong for Willpower which was currently my most useful Stat to be so much lower than it. I mean, that was still true but for the first time in forever I felt like it would eventually surpass my Intelligence even if I used more of my Unassigned Stat Points to boost it further.

After this I went to make my dinner and went to bed since it was starting to get late. When I woke up the next day the rain was finally starting to ease but I decided to wait it out until it ended properly and work on my spells in the shade provide by the shelter that I had set up around my barbecue while I sent my minions out to find something to hunt since we were starting to run out of food now.

The first thing that I wanted to do was create a new spell that would allow me to capture or completely contain an enemy indefinitely. Luckily, I had already made a spell that was close to what I had in mind and I recreated the mixture of Water and Nature Mana that I had used to make my Spider Silk spell yesterday but instead of stopping at a single thread I made several all spreading out from a single point and woven back together again with one thread spiralling outwards from that same point as the others. In other words that familiar shape of a spider’s web. A grin crossed my face as I felt the spell come together immediately and I opened my eyes as I launched the spell at a nearby tree.

A spray of liquid jetted out from my hand and solidified in mid-air before wrapping around the tree that I was aiming at.

“Excellent,” I said as I walked over to it and touched the web carefully before casting Wind Gloves and trying to pull it free. Go my surprise my 47 points of Strength were barely enough to even budge the webbing that my spell had created. “Yeah, this is exactly what I wanted.”

Getting back under cover I brought up the information for this new spell.

Web Shot Unlocked!

This spell fires a spray of liquid that solidifies into a strong sticky form of webbing that can trap an enemy until destroyed.

Cost: 50 MP.

Growth Rate increased by 1 Intelligence!

1 Aspect points awarded for unlocking Web Shot!

Closing the description of my new spell I paused briefly as the Dragonfly noticed a Bug hopping between a couple of trees. Quickly I ordered the Dragonfly to follow the creature as I went inside to grab my gear.

However, as the Dragonfly followed the Bug it started noticing some quite odd things. Every now and again the Dragonfly would see a piece of Bug shell or a leg on the forest floor as it flew overhead.

I frowned as I strapped on my axe and kunai. I had made some makeshift sheathes for my weapons when I had woken up this morning using my Nature Shaping and Spider Silk spell which would allow me to move through the forest a lot easier than before while also making it easier to use my Throwing Kunai. I probably wouldn’t need my Throwing Kunai, but I did want to try and use them to see if I could work out some actual uses of them.

I wasn’t sure what was going on right now, but something was telling me that I was going to need all of my minions and every trick that I had at my disposal. As I realised this, I almost decided to just ignore what was going on and do something else but then I realised that I couldn’t just ignore something weird going on this close to my base now that Tane was sleeping.

As soon as I was done with my preparation I started heading in the direction of my Dragonfly as my other minions also started following it too.

Whatever was going on was worrying and without Tane to keep more powerful monsters away from our position checking it out and protecting our territory was my responsibility.