Evolution

I had a solid grasp on what happened before, but now I'm just confused.

Biomass? Upgrades? What, can I just customize my body to however I see fit? If that's right... this is one of the strongest abilities I can think of. Thousands of years of evolution condensed into the span of a single night. My only regret is that I didn't study more biology back on Earth.

Regardless, I think I can figure this out myself. First on the list of upgrades, 'Sharpened Claws'. Increased sharpness would be great. Not only would it make eliminating targets easier, I would be able to slice through that gun more effectively. That would be a good investment of this so called 'Biomass'.

With this thought, the screen changes.

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[Upgrade: Sharpened Claws]

[Your claws lengthen by two centimeters, growing harder and sharper.]

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An interesting ability, there are no numbers to measure the increase in sharpness by but the change probably won't be minuscule. This is probably a worthwhile upgrade, but checking out the other ones is better.

Compelling the vision to change to the next upgrade, the screen alters itself to display the next upgrade.

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[Upgrade: Enhanced Ligaments]

[Your leg joints increase in both sturdiness and in flexibility. You are able to run faster and more controlled]

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It's a shame there are no numbers to determine anything, but I guess that would make this ability too strong. The ability to alter my evolution is powerful enough, and beggars can't be choosers. Anyways, the upgrade itself is good. Greater agility is important in killing enemies. My human body was very lackluster in its ability to move around quickly, especially in my later years.

The last ability, which seems like the most useful one.

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[Upgrade: Weak Corrosive Ability]

[Your claws flow with the darkness. If you will it, you can make your claws strike with a corrosive force.]

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Again... the description on these upgrades are very short and vague. I can't make much decisions with such vague details. Regardless, all three upgrades seem super useful, it's a shame that I can't tell the price of them. If I had to choose, I would go with Enhanced Ligaments. The corrosiveness seems cool, however, I don't have enough knowledge of this 'darkness' or rather any mystical abilities of that matter.

Willingly selecting the upgrade for Enhanced Ligaments, the screen changes.

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[1.6 kg of Biomass consumed]

[Enhanced Ligaments 1 Unlocked]

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Enhanced Ligaments 1? Does that mean that there will be further enhancements to the ligaments in my legs? If so, that would be very useful. Either way, it seems that the upgrade had consumed all of the available Biomass, so Sharpened Claws and Weak Corrosive Ability are out of the picture.

After I selected the upgrade, my vision returned, as I found my body fully healed and my legs further enhanced. Before the upgrade, they were just standard bone-looking legs. However, now they had a deeper grey color to the joints and were much smoother and tougher.

Fully waking up, I hear the battle cry of a similar alien that I had previously killed. It seemed far in the distance, close to the area of the corpse I had left behind. This meant more Biomass, hopefully I would also be able to gather information on the technology of the weaponry they used.

I took off, rushing to where I heard the scream. My legs operating at a much quicker pace than before. They were easily able to carry me well past normal human capabilities. I don't have a specific way of measuring, but it seemed that I was going at least twenty-three miles per hour, the scientific limit for what humans could achieve back on Earth. I got to the location of the battle around 50% faster than last time, it seems that the upgrade had done a lot of improvements on my legs.

When I got to the battle, I could see three of the same alien carrying the corpse, probably back to base. This won't do., I need that guys Biomass. If I want to continue surviving, I need to consume as many creatures as I can.

Swooping in at speeds I couldn't reach before, I take a slice at one of the aliens' throat, attempting to knock at least one out while they are unaware of my existence. I manage to cut straight through, as the alien falls to the ground, convulsing in pain and with its imminent death. The other two drop the body, surprised, before pulling out their guns and backing up slightly. They both let out two bullets, however, my increased agility allowed me to dodge three of them. However, one of them manages to strike me right in my abdomen.

Lucky for me, this body contains nothing vital there, so the bullet doesn't effect me much aside from the great amount of pain I am currently in.

[Pain Suppression 1 Unlocked]

An image appeared in my head, as the pain began to subside slightly. It was still very painful, however, it was much more bearable. Readying a stance, I charge at the remaining two aliens, dropping low to make myself a smaller target for them to hit before getting close to one of them. I let out a harsh swing of my claws as I uppercut the alien in the jaw, causing my claws to pierce straight through its head as it falls to the ground.

With only one enemy remaining, the battle is much safer. The last remaining alien fires two shots at my chest, which both get dodged as I close the distance between me and the alien. While clawing at the arm of the alien, I realize that this one has an extra set of arms, which it uses to swipe at me with some sort of electrified knife, slashing straight into the previous wound as it burns my skin.

I let out a small cry of pain, as the supposed Pain Suppression ability lowers the pain by a decent margin, allowing my head to stay in the fight. Taking my claws, I stab the alien in the throat, attempting to kill it. However, my wound twitches, causing me to stray slightly and pierce it in the chest instead. This works just as well, however, the alien was able to make another swing at me with the electrified knife, this time lodging it straight into my shoulder.

With a cry, I slash at the alien for one final time, before it flops dead onto the ground with blood pooling around it.

'Crii!'

I let out a howl of sharp pain as I attempt to rip the knife out with my claw. Usually you don't want to do this, but this knife was continuously burning my flesh, I would die if I didn't. After pulling out the knife, I throw it onto the ground and look around. Three and a half bodies of aliens. I could probably get so much Biomass out of these guys.

Enhanced Ligaments turned out to be a great upgrade. My speed allowed me to dodge most of these weak aliens' attacks, and get to here much faster in the first place. It was definitely the right choice. Now, which one comes next? I don't even know if the same upgrades will be available to me. That can wait until next rest. For now, my main priority should be bringing these guys back to the safe spot, my egg.

Before I do that however, I need to look at the guns. Stabbing one with a claw, I can tell that they aren't ordinary weapons. They don't have a power supply in them, rather, they draw upon some sort of latent energy in the air. I can tell because there are three tubes located on the outside of the gun that lead into some sort of tank filled with bright blue energy.

This is an interesting discovery. This means that there might be some possibility that I can harness this energy, wether it be in weapons I later create or in myself. Either way, this would be incredibly powerful. Food for thought I guess.

I continue to contemplate my actions as I drag the bodies back to the egg.

After successfully brining them to a safe location, I begin to dig in. For some reason, I don't get full. My stomach is tiny, so I should be sated after just the arm of these guys, however, I don't seem to fulfill my hunger at all, I'm still hungry.

I manage to eat two bodies, before I decide that I no longer need to eat, even if I'm hungry. I need to save some of it for after the next upgrade. I don't know if the upgrades consume all of the Biomass each time, so leaving some for after is a wise choice.

After finishing my meal, I lay down on the cold hard rock, attempting to fall back asleep. However, I am unable to. It makes sense, as I only woke up around an hour ago. Maybe I can scout the area for a short while, then come back when the time is right. I'm sure some amazing upgrades are waiting for me.