Chương 22: Chapter Twenty One

Ding! You have chosen to Evolve your Species! Let us show you your options! Bob's eyes widened as the different choices began filling his screen; not having expected anything so elaborate from the process. But he certainly wasn't complaining. Especially not when he saw what was available. Treasure Hound Mimic (E) With their dozens of eyes, Treasure Hound Mimics are easy to spot. But that's because they're not hiding. They're searching.

Unwilling to wait for treasure to happen upon them, they wander off to seek it themselves. Unique Trait: Gold-seeking Eyes (E) Granted! Improved (Ocular) Path Traits Available! (Mind Control) Path Traits Restricted.

Attributes Per Level: Perception + 5 Strength + 2 Constitution +2 Dexterity + 1 Requirements met: Trait: Eyes like Jewels (F) Trait: Creeping Hoard (F) Acquire at least (75%) of total hoard through independent salvage Thousand-Foot Mimic (E) While most Mimics are mindlessly aggressive, some have learned that they aren't the only things out there searching for treasure. Slow to progress – but long to live – Thousand-Foot Mimics tend to flee any threat of combat. Or interaction. Or, anything, really.

Unique Trait: Articulated Undercarriage (E) Granted! Improved (Movement) Path Traits Available! (Maw) Path Traits Restricted. Attributes Per Level: Constitution + 4 Dexterity + 3 Willpower + 2 Intelligence + 1 Requirements met: Trait: Creeping Hoard (F) Traverse at least Ten Miles Flee from multiple enemies. Patch-Work Mimic (E) The World breaks all Mimics. As it is – in general – quite desirous of the delicious treasure lurking within them. Some Mimics, however, become stronger at the broken places.

Mostly because they'll glue any old garbage there to reinforce it. Unique Trait: Patchwork repairs (E) Granted! Improved (Regeneration) Path Traits Available. (Consumption) Path Traits Restricted Attributes Per Level: Constitution + 6 Willpower + 2 Intelligence + 2 Requirements met: Survive after taking Severe Damage multiple times. Utilize outside material for protection Tangle-Trap Mimic (E) If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Sitting, waiting, tripping, tangling. The patience of these Mimics is measured in years, not days. Which isn't great news for their bound and captured victims. Unique Trait: A Tangle of Tendrils (E) Granted!

Improved (Prehensile limb) Path Traits Available (Movement) Path Traits Restricted Attributes Per Level: Dexterity + 4 Strength + 4 Constitution + 2 Requirements met: Trait: Taste for Gold (F) Entangle or grapple at least (1) enemy Iron Chest Mimic (E) Hard to break into – but all the more tempting for it – Iron Chest Mimics are a favorite of hard-hitting adventures everywhere. All of whom are soon depressed to realize that a life kept securely safeguarded, is rarely a terribly lucrative one.

Unique Trait: Mildly Immovable Object (E) Granted! Improved (Armored Defense) Path Traits available (Prehensile Limb) Path Traits Restricted Attributes Per Level: Constitution + 5 Strength + 5 Requirements met: Used improvised armor to prevent a fatal blow Bob stared at the windows in front of him. Feeling mildly overwhelmed by the unexpected abundance. And beyond the number, the quality of the options was also impressive. At least when compared with what he'd previously been working with.

Which, to be fair, wasn't saying much. Still, Bob felt himself momentarily gripped by indecision, arguments about short term vs long term benefits raging though his head before he managed to break free. Reminding himself that he didn't currently have the luxury of a lengthy decision-making process. He needed to somehow be able to survive the onslaught of an army of giant, angry crabs. And he needed to be able to do so as quickly as feasibly possible.

So, it was best to again start by getting rid of the options he knew he wasn't going to take. And, by that metric, the first to go was the 'Treasure Hound' mimic. Compared to the other options, its abilities could do objectively little to help him in his current situation and would, frankly, probably be overshadowed by the Skill granted from his new Class. Bob found advancing the 'ocular' tree alone mildly tempting, having encountered enough beholders in his D&D days to want a peek at the higher ranked Traits.

But not enough to risk his life for it. It was, overall, a pretty easy evolution to drop. Unfortunately, the rest weren't quite so simple. Next, he looked at the 'Tangle-Trap Mimic'. He hated the idea of putting it on the chopping block for the 'improved prehensile limb' traits alone. When you added in its 'Unique Trait' sounding like it might well be a force multiplier, it was hard not to keep it in the running. Unfortunately, the evolution restricted the sole trait tree Bob refused to give up on.

As much as he hated missing out on the improved prehensile limb traits, it wasn't enough to have his 'movement' ones stripped away. Surviving this situation as an immobile booby trap stashed in a corner and covered in crab shit not really sounding like a 'win' to him. So, as much as it pained him, it had to go. Which left him with the final three. One based on movement and the other two on defense and regeneration.

Given that the 'Patch-Work' and 'Iron Chest' mimics both operated within the 'Health-loss retention' field, he decided to compare them first. Thinking it would be fairly easy to narrow down his preferred choice between the two. Except it wasn't. From its attribute bonuses alone, 'Iron Chest' should be a top contender. A solid plus five to strength and constitution, especially with a steady source of dexterity through his class, meant a massive explosion in physicality at the exact moment he most needed it.

Unfortunately, the evolution came with just as many downsides. Both its unique trait and the addition of heavy armor suggested to Bob that he'd probably end up – post evolution – even slower than he already was. Something which didn't seem terribly appealing, given his current situation. And then there was the fact that, depending on how far reaching a 'restriction' was, he might well lose out on his only method of attacking in the first place.

From that perspective, choosing the 'Iron-Chest' mimic would actually be worse than choosing the 'Tangle-Trap'. At least with it he'd have a way to defend himself. Unfortunately, 'Patch-Work' suffered similar issues. Normally, grabbing up a regeneration trait would have been a no-brainer, but this felt like it had too many unknowns which could make or break it as an option. How quick did 'Patch-Work Repairs' heal him? Could it be used while in combat? Did it require any extra materials in order to work?

For the last question, at least, the descriptor hinted at 'yes'. Which would be a huge negative in his mind. Eventually he decided that, based solely on not wanting to lose access to 'prehensile limb' traits alone, 'Patch-Work' had to be considered the victor of the two. Unfortunately, it did its victory lap looking much the worse for wear. Enough so that it became quickly obvious to him that his choice had already been made. And oddly enough, in favor of the only option he'd yet to scrutinize.

To be fair, though, the 'Thousand-Foot Mimic' had already been on his short list. He was slightly concerned about lacking any strength increases in his planned build, but felt doubling down on dexterity might be the better bet anyway. After all, being able to take a hit – or regenerate after one – was great. But Bob would prefer not to be there when it landed in the first place. There weren't many 'uncertain variables' when it came to moving faster, after all. He would just be faster. Hopefully by a lot.

Something which was hard to argue against when surrounded by thousands of homicidal crustaceans. Plus, he had basically given up on all incoming 'Bite' traits with his prior skill evolution. Which meant having them restricted did nothing but remove a dud from his list of choices. It was arguably the only option on the board without a downside. Which was why he was about to irrevocably alter his existence by choosing it. Bob steadied himself, giving the entire list one last glace before fully cementing his decision.

Desperately hoping it wasn't the wrong one. Ding! Choice Confirmed! Cost to Commence Evolution into ' Thousand-Foot Mimic (E)' is 5. 12 Silver. Commence Evolution? Yes / No'Wait. What?' Bob stared at the evolution cost incredulously. A cost which, after checking his status page, was exactly as much as it had taken for him to advance to level ten in the first place. And which The System seemed to desire from him for… unknown reasons.

It didn't seem likely to be a physical requirement for 'modifying his form' after all. The System had already done that a number of times; sans special ingredients. Nor could he imagine it as being in actual 'payment' for anything. Given that would require there to be a being of God-like power who, despite having the ability to freely modify reality at a whim, chooses to spend their infinitely-valuable time enacting a toll of useless metal from creatures which are objectively beneath them.

Which, really, meant there could only be one reason for its existence. The System was doing it to fuck with him. Normally, Bob would ascribe thoughts of Deific focus to an undiagnosed mental disorder. However, after taking a tally of all available evidence, he wasn't sure he could come up with a likelier explanation. Unfortunately, having an explanation didn't change the fact that he was about to be a little over five silver coins lighter.

Despite a touch more grumbling, Bob knew full and well when he was over a barrel and out of other options. And honestly, depending on whether or not the experience multiplication stayed consistent, five silver might not seem like much of a loss pretty soon. Eventually he simply confirmed the purchase. Watching as nearly half of his newfound wealth disappeared in the blink of an eye. Ding! Choice Confirmed! Commencing Evolution into ' Thousand-Foot Mimic' (E) now! Transformation time: 3 hours 24 minutes 42 seconds.

'Wait, what transformation ti-' That, unfortunately, was as far as Bob's mind was allowed to get before – after a pulsing surge of energy rippled through him – everything suddenly cut to black.