Endless Evolution as a Centipede in a Game-Like World

[19 biomass gained!]

When I finished consuming the first crow, the first notification appeared, confirming my suspicion. Seeing this, I felt even more driven. So much so that I immediately upgraded my mandibles to help me tear through the crow’s flesh more easily.

[2 biomass has been spent to increase hardness and sharpness of your mandibles]

I then removed the remaining crows from my storage space and sprayed my acid over them, softening their tissue so it was easier to consume, similar to how certain types of flies consume their food.

Before, it took me roughly half an hour to consume 1 crow, but with this, it only took around 5 minutes per crow.

The biomass continued to pile up until every one of the crows was devoured, and in total, I gained 435 biomass!

I could hardly believe the number as I stared at my status screen in front of me.

+-----+

Name: Liam Fairchild

Gamertag: ApexHunter101

Race: Myriapoda

Species: Centipede

Danger Level: F

Player Rank: 606/607

Level: 7

Strength: 51

Speed: 39

Defense: 52

Skill Points: 19

Biomass: 435

-Skills-

-Lv. 4 Acid Shot

-Lv. 4 Skitter

-Lv. 3 Pinch

-Lv. 3 Venom

-Lv. 3 Serpentine Evasion

-Lv. 2 Molding

-Lv. 1 Camouflage

-Lv. 1 Omnivision Sight

-Nightvision

-Forum->

-Storage->

+-----+

Compared to when I just started, my stats were exponentially higher. I even managed to climb by 1 rank. That meant that somewhere out there, there was a player weaker than me.

There is a player in Vesperia weaker than a centipede, ha!

For some reason, I found that fact hilarious. Maybe that player was given a bad hand or awakened a useless class like squire. Or maybe he was a player that just doesn’t log in often or has a useful role that doesn’t require him/her to increase their level.

The more I thought about it, the latter might be the case. Well, whatever.

I quickly turned my attention back to my status screen, staring at the vast amount of biomass I had available. I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Holy shit!

With this much, I could upgrade several of my body parts but what I was interested in most of all was the tiny pair of wings on my back. In their current state, they were useless.

Time to upgrade!

[5 biomass has been spent to evolve wings]

I could feel the wings on my back growing larger, but apart from that, nothing else happened.

[10 biomass has been spent to evolve wings]

Once again, my wings evolved as they grew broader in size, but this time, I was met with the sweet sound of a notification and a pop-up.

-New Skill Acquired-

[Glide: Passive skill that allows you to glide through the air when jumping from high areas.]

Glide?! What am I, a cockroach?

Useless...

[15 biomass has been spent to evolve wings]

Still nothing.

Feeling increasingly agitated by the second, I again tried to evolve my wings, except this time I was hit with a list of options, similar to the ones I received when leveling up my exoskeleton.

Finally...

-Wing Evolution-

[Moth Wings: A pair of black moth-like wings will be grown from every segment of your body. These wings provide comfortable flight at a moderately slow speed.]

Benefit: Each wing releases tiny dust-like particles that can cause hallucinations or disorient prey.

[Obsidian Dragon Wings: Scaled wings belonging to a rare A-ranked fire dragon with obsidian-based scales, which causes it to be targeted by seasoned players. These wings feature black obsidian scales wings with a sharp talon at the joint of the wing.

Benefit: Hard, iron-like scales provide the perfect defense and can be used to cover the entire body when in a pinch. Wings also allow you to fly at extremely high altitudes and has resistance against fire and acid. The sharp obsidian wings can also be used to slice preys.]

[Obsidian Dragonfly Wings: 4 sets of massive iridescent wings that vibrate so fast they appear as a blur. Due to user’s unique properties, these wings will be obsidian-based. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Benefit: These wings prioritize high-speed movements. These wings allow for instant stops, vertical lifts, flying backwards, and even side to side. Due to the high-speed vibrations, wings can also create a sonic attack that can be used against prey.]

[Black Feathered Wings: Black feathered wings similar to the ones belonging to crows and a certain legendary bird.

Benefit: Wings create a strong pushing effect, allowing you to blow hostile targets away with a strong gust of wind.]

Reading through the list of evolutions available, I felt as if the decision was even more difficult than last time. I began thinking about which one would serve me best. The feathered wings, though they might be useful in certain situations, weren’t it. I would go as far as to say it was the least desirable on the list.

Though the moth wings had the ability to create hallucinations, it seemed to lack most advantages of flight overall. The only thing it offered was comfortable flight and was slow, which could get me killed in a fight.

So really, the real options were between the dragon wings and the dragonfly wings. Both had huge benefits, and hearing that the dragon wings belonged to an A-ranked monster made me lean towards it.

But the dragonfly wings had the ability of high speed and high maneuverability. It was everything you wanted in wings. There is a reason dragonflies had a 90% success rate when it came to hunting.

It prioritizes high speed and maneuverability, while the dragon wings prioritize defense and power. There was huge potential in both of these options, but I could only choose one.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, weighing each option carefully before I finally came to a decision.

[20 biomass has been spent on...]