36 Here's Matty

(A/N: First of all *kowtows* please forgive this lazy author! I totally could have finished this chapter yesterday. Anyway, hope it was worth the wait~)

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Matt placed Martha down and rubbed his chin in contemplation. Martha didn't know what to do with her body so she just clumsily sat on her limbs. Instead of relying on sunlight to create sugars from carbon dioxide, Martha must be utilizing radiation. He could not think of any way for a biological creature to turn into a nuclear bioreactor, but seeing it in front of him was proof. The large release of heat from the reaction previously must have been the trigger that "woke" this body. For now, he couldn't do much. His plan was to level Whispers until it could create a two-way channel.

Matt took out his water bottle from the bag and poured it out into the feeding dish. Since only the cameras were knocked out, he didn't want to risk using anything else in the lab that would alert the AI to his actions. After the water bottle was emptied, Martha awkwardly crawled forward, unsure of how to move. Her body inched forward like a worm and it was an adorable sight. When she reached the water, she placed her paws into it and it was slowly drained.

After the water was completely drained, Matt could feel heat radiating from Martha's body. It wasn't like the radiation from earlier, but seemed to be excess heat being released. Water must be an important ingredient to whatever is going on inside her body. Martha seemed to fall asleep, so Matt went back to his bag and took out the pieces of the membrane. This was something he was very excited about. Just small shavings from the surface were able to give him evolution points.

Matt cut a small chunk from the membrane and examined it. This little cube was enough for an evolution point. When he looked down at the large sack, he started salivating. The problem was, he wasn't sure what function this membrane played for Martha. Matt wasn't sure if this was like an egg or a womb. If it was an egg, then it might be necessary for Martha to eat it for nutrients. However, Martha was a plant not a mammal or bird. It was all very confusing. Matt decided to only eat enough of the membrane to evolve his Whispers skill.

[1 Evolution Point Gained.]

[1 Evolution Point…]

[…]

…

[Whispers Lv. 1->3: Utilizing your mental energy, you may whisper into someone's mind directly. They will hear an unrecognizable voice in their mind.

>Ability: Whisper

>Evolution Cost: 5]

<Whispers Lv. 3 has evolved to Telepathy Lv. 1>

[Telepathy Lv. 1: Utilizing your mental energy, you may initiate a channel of communication between people's minds. They will sense each other's thoughts as their own. The channel will last as long as you maintain it with mental energy.

>Ability: Telepathy

>Level Cost: 10]

[Telepathy

Activation: Thought

Duration: Special

Targets: 2]

While looking over his new ability, Matt saw Martha get up and try to use her limbs again. He walked over and attempted to use telepathy. The ability wasn't as simple as he thought. In order to form the connection, Matt needed to manipulate his mental energy to connect the two targets. It took a lot of effort, but he finally managed to form a stable path between Martha and himself. He waited but didn't notice anything. Either Martha wasn't capable of thought, or Telepathy doesn't let you 'read' thoughts.

{Can you hear me, Martha?}

However, instead of words like he expected, his mind was flooded with images. It was a collage of various scenes of Matt from when he visited her as a plant. After 'hearing' his voice again, Martha looked up and blinked. Matt understood that Martha wasn't capable of language, at least not yet. However, she was able to understand his words at least. Another thing he realized is that the connected people have to want to communicate for the channel to work.

After the first interaction, Matt started to feel dizzy and couldn't hold the Telepathy up. He had done several failed attempts so he was already a bit tired. He decided to rest a bit and try to communicate again. Martha was able to figure out how to stand on her limbs but when she started moving, she fell down. It seemed that the coordination of her limbs wasn't instinctual. Matt wondered why Martha chose that form if it was so inconvenient.

Eventually, Martha made it to the membrane with her poor movement and started eating it. Matt clicked his tongue in disappointment. He wanted all of it to himself, however, Matt worried that if Martha didn't eat it, she wouldn't have the energy to survive. Martha seemed to understand something and turned her onyx-like eyes toward Matt. She lifted a paw up and shook it once.

'Is Martha inviting me to eat? Well, I won't say no to that.'

With permission, Matt started to eat larger chunks of the membrane than before. He was getting five to six evolution points per mouthful. The two of them ate the sack for half an hour and all of it was gone. Martha curled up into a ball and slept. Matt, however, beamed with excitement. In order to improve the efficiency of this big platter in front of him, he leveled DNA absorption each time he could. Because of that, he made huge progress.

[DNA Absorption Lv. 6->Max: You have reached the peak of the innate skill of all parasites. Due to this, the complete instincts of your species have been released from their genetic locks. All organisms have become your prey. Whenever you consume blood or tissue containing genetic material, gain EP.

>Ability: Sense Life

>Absorption Grade Limit: 2 -> 3

>Efficiency: 60% -> 100%

>Evolution Cost: 80 EP]

[Sense Life: When activated, you are able to detect living organisms. You will sense their general direction and their life rating.

Activation: Thought

Distance: 60 meters

Duration: 60 seconds]

As soon as he reached max level, he felt his body undergo incredible changes. It was as if a boulder was lifted from his shoulders. The connection between his body and his host improved to levels he wasn't aware of. Additionally, he could feel the deep instinctual drive and control it to an extent. When he looked at Martha, he could sense how vigorous her life was. What he didn't realize was that he automatically activated Sense Life and was feeling her vitality. Matt turned his head and sensed someone walk past the lab. Their vitality was much lower than Martha's.

After the minute passed and his ability went on cooldown, he went back to normal. Although his Sense Life wasn't on, everything still felt much easier to do. His body felt more natural. Matt stood up and did some stretches and felt very good. The portion of the membrane he ate had granted him one-hundred ninety-two points. After leveling his ability at each increment, he was left with seven points. Although it was depressing to sink one-hundred eighty-five points into DNA absorption, it was definitely worth it.

It was a common way of thinking as a gamer. In order to win the long game, improve your resource collection sources. Once you have the best income, you will eventually overwhelm your opponents. As an avid gamer, Matt felt proud of this achievement. However, that evolution cost was a great bait to him. He had already figured out the existence of aliens and the connection to his ability. His theory that the realm beyond DNA absorption would allow him to absorb alien genetics was strong.

[Host: Matthew O'Connely

Status: Grade 1+ Mind Slug

Evolution Points (EP): 7

Abilities: <Perfect Mimicry Lv. Max>, <Improved Metabolism Lv. 2>, <Mental Resistance Lv. 2>

Skills: (NEW!)<DNA Absorption Lv. Max>, <Toxin Resistance Lv. 5>, <Weak Hypnosis Lv. 2>, <Dream Casting Lv. 3>, <Primary Reproduction Lv. 0>, (NEW!)<Telepathy Lv. 1>]

Matt saw the 'plus' after his grade that wasn't there before and investigated. What he saw surprised him, but he somehow already knew. In the back of his mind, he always felt that the progression of the Mind Flayer was lacking.

[Grade 1+ Mind Slug: Your species lives amongst other creatures as its main habitat. (…) Once a Mind Slug unlocks their core genes, they will gain the option of evolving toward the life branch of the tier 4 Eldritch Horror.]

Eldritch Horror. The name alone showed just how powerful it was. There was no such thing as a lifeform above tier three in the game. Mind Flayer, Faceless Devourer, and Hive Queen were all tier three creatures. There was also no way to go beyond that point. However, in this reality, Matt took the first step to becoming a being that could only be described as a god. The most memorable Eldritch Horrors ranged from a deep-sea octopus monster that fed on insanity to a whimsical clown that fed on fear. The common point between these two was agelessness and surviving without organic sustenance.

Matt was extremely thankful for his obsession with value. Something told him forming a sub-body first would have blocked this evolution variant.