Becoming an adult

Aaand the last bite...done.

[Level up! You can now go through a metamorphosis into an adult form.]

Woohoo! Finally! Let's do one final inspection, status!

[Name: Arthur

Level: 1 (0/20 EXP)

Body status: Healthy, Larvae

Race: Copepod (unidentifiable exact species); Grade Z

Endowment: Smarter

Age: 38 minutes

Title: First Blood (temporary), Kin eater (race-limited)

HP: 0.05/0.05

Stats:

STR 0.0001; INT 0.001; AGI 0.0001; VIT 0.0001

Skills:

Deduction (lvl 0)

Free skill points: 0

Free stat points: 1]

Well, that was easy. I only had to kill 4 more of my brethren and eat at least 3/4 of them to gain another XP point. Metamorphosis though... System, define "metamorphosis"!

[Some species of Copepods go through a metamorphosis to enter into their adult form. During this process, certain features are discarded or made depending on the species.]

Nice, then, System, initiate the metamorphosis.

[Metamorphosis initiated, putting host to sleep.]

...

Viola! I'm awake once again. Let's check my status before anything else. System, status!

[Name: Arthur

Level: 1 (0/20 EXP)

Body status: Healthy

Race: Copepod (unidentifiable exact species); Grade Z

Endowment: Smarter

Age: 45 minutes

Title: First Blood (temporary), Kin eater (race-limited)

HP: 0.09/0.09

Stats:

STR 0.0002

INT 0.002

AGI 0.0002

VIT 0.0002

Skills:

Deduction (lvl 1)

Free skill points: 0

Free stat points: 1]

Ohoho! Everything increased including the level of my Deduction skill. Let me just check my body.

Oh yes! I have a shell now! Woohoo! I look like some kind of deformed water-bug now. Still, it's much better than a funnily shaped blob.

My vision also seems to have improved slightly. It's a bit clearer.

Time to explore!

...

Water, water, water, bug-thingy, water, more water, another bug thingy...

It is sooo boring! I cannot for the life of me, find the bottom and I think until I do, I won't be able to really see anything. [Evolution] seems to the only way forward.

Time to eat things.

Suddenly, my now much more sensitive antennae felt a disturbance behind me. I spun around.

A MASSIVE shrimp was behind me. What the hell? RUN! I have to run! Swim, my little legs, swim!

Swimming, swimming, just keep swimming!

Aha, another red blob! Please switch your attention to him! See, he is slow and yummy and I'm all shell since I just grew up!

I dived under the blob.

Success! The shrimp left me alone! Note to self- Do NOT get near any shrimp in the future!

Well, now that my potential demise has been averted it is time to get hunting.

Red blob found. Getting nearer, all legs and mandibles ready.

Deduct!

[A larvae copepod. Exact species unknown.]

Unknown, not unidentifiable, which means in the future when I level it up I might be able to know.

Anyway, the blob hasn't noticed me yet. Let's go for the kill!

[Larvae copepod killed. 0.5 XP awarded.]

Nice. I'll need to massacre again. Ugh.

...

Prey number 7.

This blob looks slightly different. Hmmm.

Deduct!

[Young amphipod. Species unknown.]

Define 'amphipod'!

[Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. They are mostly detritivores or scavengers.]

So, a bit more complex than Copepods?

[Yes.]

Can I evolve into one?

[Yes, host, however, does have to reach a certain level first.]

Nice, time to eat!

And so I continued evading the occasional shrimp and terrorising other plankton weaker then myself.