With three Biomass in hand, I delve back into the Mutations menu. Like last time, the options unfurl in my mind like a scroll, and I eagerly scan what's available. I'm actually a bit relieved that there aren't any new choices popping up here, unlike with my skills. Mutations are a big deal, serious investments that demand careful thought. The last thing I need right now is to suddenly see options to alter my heart or make some other drastic change I can only guess at; I've got enough to sort out as it is.

  However, it seems that something has changed: The price for mutating my Scales has increased, going from one point to two. Looks like each upgrade I make raises the price for any subsequent upgrades and so on. Honestly, I'm not too surprised. Given how game-like the system is, it makes sense that there would be some form of resource management involved; it would be unbalanced otherwise. If I had the option to stack Mutations on the cheap, who's knows how strong I could get in a short amount of time. I'd definitely put something in to prevent snowballing if I was the System’s designer.

  Regardless, I have a few options to consider now that I know about the price hike.

  The way I see it, I have three choices for my Biomass. Option one is to continue with my plan to upgrade my Scales, getting them to +2. This would leave me with one Biomass to play with, which I could then apply towards upgrading another body part to +1, or I could choose to save it for later. Its a good option, to be sure, but not the only one.

  Instead, I could go for a more general upgrade, spreading my points to get three +1 mutations. This would let me experiment, seeing which Mutations are worth investing in further and which ones can wait. The only real drawback to this plan is that it might limit my future options because of the increasing costs. Even if I assume each monster gives at least two points when eaten (not counting any hunting diversity bonus), that's still only enough for one +2 Mutation down the line unless I decide to bring the other two up to +1. I guess all my plans eventually lead to that point anyway, but we're thinking short term future right now, not future-future.

  Then there's the idea of going all-in on a completely new Mutation, sinking all three points to boost it straight to +2. I'm a bit hesitant about this one. While I'm sure a +2 Mutation would be powerful, I just don't know which one would give me the most bang for my buck right now. From what I understand, any Mutation is a beneficial one, but if I were to pick, say, Ears +2 and it turns out I really needed Claws +2, I'd be in a pretty tight spot.

  I think, and I think, and I think some more, pondering my conundrum for ten minutes before I make my decision. In the end, quantity is a quality all its own, and I decide to get three +1 Mutations: Ears +1, Claws +1 and Tail +1.

  The first two were no-brainers, being direct upgrades to my current strong suits. But the third choice, that's where I got a bit stuck. I initially thought about improving my Venom Gland, wanting to go all in on my new weapon in my next fight. But after mulling it over, upgrading my Tail made more sense. All the Venom Gland upgrade would do increase the potency. However, improving my Tail will allow me to hit harder, possibly letting me punch through armor I wouldn't be able to before, allowing me to inject the venom in the first place.

  Plus, I'd like a baseline for how good or bad my venom is. A necrotoxin is probably nothing to sneeze at, but just how quickly it works, I don't know.

  Decisions made, I lock in my choices, and immediately, a familiar bubbling sensation spreads across my body before settling on my ears, claws, and tail. Muscles stretch and strengthen, claws sharpen, and my tail...feels about the same if I'm honest, if a bit more flexible and strong. Regardless, I'm satisfied with my choices.

  With that settled, I'm ready to move on to my next task of the day: clearing the cavern. Although my den wasn't infiltrated, that doesn't mean no monsters came into the cavern. It's a nice place to set up shop, after all. There's no way at least one monster hasn't wandered in to stake claim, especially after that racket yesterday. I just have to hope that it's a monster I can defeat. If I can't...well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

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  Before heading out to my imminent doom, I check myself over. Teeth, check. Claws, check. Ears, tail, and stinger—check, check, and check. It seems like I'm fully healed, and a quick glance at my HP has me reading a cool 50/50. Looks like a good night's sleep was all I needed, even if the night itself was terrible. Depending on what I see when I do my deep dive of my purchaseable skills later today, I think I'll pick up Metabolism when I get my next skill point. Any healing I can get will be welcome, and if I'm forced to sleep injuries off, a speed boost is going to be worth it's weight in gold.

  Welp, enough stalling. It’s time to get my hunt on. With my preparations complete, I break down the packed dirt door and step out of my den and into the tunnel. As I pop my head out of the hidey hole, my ears spread out like radar dishes, picking up every sound in the area. Every so often, I emit a high-pitched pulse that bounces through the forest, creating a perfect mental map of my immediate surroundings.

  So far, I'm not hearing anything monster-y stomping about. No gnashing teeth or vicious roars or buzzing. (I hate buzzing.) Still, even if I can't hear anything, I should do a full sweep of the cavern. I wouldn't want to assume nothing is here only to get jumped by a quiet monster.

  So saying, I begin my sweep by stalking through the undergrowth, keeping to the deep shadows of the forest as I follow the creek downstream. If there's a monster in here, it will probably be drawn to the water, just like any other living creature. If I'm lucky, I might be able to surprise it while it tries to take a drink. It takes fifteen minutes of scuttling through the underbrush before I get a hit on my internal radar, and thankfully, it's a small one. Well, small is a relative term; My echolocation is telling me it's near my size. It's a little harder than I thought to get an accurate reading from inside the thicket, but I'll cut myself some slack since I'm still unpracticed. I swear, if it's another stupid Missle Beetle, I'm going to flip.

  It takes another five minutes of travel before I'm finally able to lock eyes on the invader, and as I slink forward under a bright yellow bush, I'm just glad it looks like this thing doesn't have eyes. At first, I think it's some type of slime. Strange, I know, but even with how animalistic the monsters I've come across are, slimes are an OG staple. I just wouldn't be surprised to see one is my point. But after part of the mass slips away, the truth is revealed.

  Worms. Numerous writhing and wiggling worms. They swarm over each other in a tight bundle, their grotesque bodies seemingly forming one larger mass that undulates slowly toward the creek. Once the bundle gets close enough to the water's edge, it breaks apart with a horrid squelching noise before regrouping and swarming toward the small river.

  Among the now five monsters, one specimen stands out—it is unusually long and large. While most of the worms measure around a foot in length, this one is easily triple that size, if not more, and is covered in rocky-looking rings that wrap around its segments, giving it a sturdy and intimidating appearance. Its heavily muscled, undulating body is attached to a ring-like mouth filled with razor-sharp, dagger-like teeth that gnaw at the air, and the tip of its “tail" ends in long, stony spike. The horrific monster chitters at its compatriots, and In eerie unison, the worms rear up before plunging their faces into the water and begin drinking deeply from the glowing liquid. I watch as their bodies expand while they engorge themselves, each one beginning to emit a faint blue glow as they swell.

  Haha, nope. I chuckle darkly to myself as I slink back into the forest proper, my tail metaphorically between my legs. I'll admit it: I was a little overconfident after my battle with the beetle. Given my relativity easy victory, I figured I could handle most monsters that wandered in, or if not, at least be able to escape from battle. I've been sobered on that assumption. Did you see the size of that worm?! I might be longer than it, but it beats me in the bulk category by at least twofold! And, it has minions! That's so totally unfair it isn't even funny; There's no way I could win.

  Now, In my defense, I believe I could probably fend off the smaller creatures if they tried to swarm me. They are much smaller than I am, and while I'm not sure how their little mouths would fare against my scales, I suspect they wouldn’t be very effective. No, the real danger comes from the big one, mainly because I don't know why it's so damn big in the first place.

  It's obviously related to the bite-sized nuisances, but in what way, I haven't a clue. Is it an alpha? Or going through some form of extreme sexual dimorphism? I suppose it's possible. I may not have lady bits anymore, but that doesn't mean all monsters are like that. Still, I feel like I'm missing part of the puzzle.

  As I ponder, my gaze remains fixed on the monstrous worms through the tangled trees. They continue to gorge themselves on the glowing water, their bloated silhouettes now twice their original width and radiating an unnerving blue luminescence. The alpha, in particular, pulses with an intense, almost blinding light. Absentmindedly, a series of echolocation pulses ripple from me, a silent probe seeking to map the terrain and more accurately gauge the size of the Giga Worm.

  The instant the first pulse makes contact, the alpha freezes. Its head, dripping with luminous liquid, rips from the water, and its blind gaze drills directly into me. A beat later, the smaller worms mirror its action, coiling and writhing in the air before their collective attention locks onto my position. With chilling synchronicity, they rear back, then surge forward, a tide of grotesque blue light bearing down on me.

  I just had to open my big mouth.