Chapter 15 – Odours and Textures

Resh was the biggest it had ever been, and it was enjoying it. It was like being the top predator in the forest. And that is what it was aiming for. As it looked down from its height it could see animals shying away from its now very bulky self. This was the like, just eat and grow. Eat and grow!

Its legs notably had become strong and more capable. This would be a huge advantage for it as it started to explore a wider area, it had not even moved further than the small part of the forest it currently resided in. It would want to search further afield to see what else it could see and fight and Assimilate, that skill would be its bread and butter moving forward if it wanted to get stronger.

Resh didn't want to get smaller just so that it could fly. It decided that it would continue to grow, maybe it would Consolidate later, but not now. I would keep growing, its Legs of the Squitter could handle 2 kg, so as long as it stayed within that weight it could still walk around, and that amount of Weight would only be an advantage for it if it did not want to fly around. Now that it had Consume instead of Absorb and Digest things would go faster!

Keeping close attention on its progress and growth and weight it Consumed as it never had before, without reservation or worry until it got to its desired Weight. It took almost four full days but by the end, it was totally worth it. It was huge, compared to what it had been before. Never in all of its life had it been this large, granted, its life had been less than 3 weeks all told but still, wow!

Consume has increased to Level 14!

Meditate has increased to Level 6!

Meditate has increased to Level 7!

Strong Photosynthesis has increased to Level 12!

Odour Alteration has increased to Level 10!

Congratulations on reaching Level 10! You can now store up to 10 Odours in your Odour memory this is the maximum number for this Skill. Odour Alteration has evolved into Strong Odour Alteration and has changed slightly, each Odour you have will gain an additional trait with either positive or negative effect this will depend on the Odour you chose. The maximum range for the smell and effect of your Odours is increased by Level.

Many Eyes of the Insect has increased to Level 12!

Many Eyes of the Insect has increased to Level 13!

Legs of the Squitter has increased to Level 11!

Camouflage has increased to Level 9!

Camouflage has increased to Level 10!

Congratulations on reaching Level 10! You can now store up to 10 Textures in your Texture memory this is the maximum number for this Skill. Camouflage has evolved into Strong Camouflage and has changed slightly. You can now use multiple Textures at the same time. Camouflage effective range is increased by Level.

For gaining a Weight over 1kg, you gain +3 Strength!

For gaining a Volume over 500cm3you have gained +4 Vitality!

You have just received +2.1 Luck! Greater chance for good things to happen!

You have just received +0.3 Luck! Greater chance for good things to happen!

You have just received -0.6 Luck! Better Luck Next Time!

You have just received -1.7 Luck! Better Luck Next Time!

Now Resh was the big bad! It didn't need to fly for the moment. What it wanted to do was find those creatures that had squashed it. They would be found on the forest floor. It took another look around the area where it was. Resh had spent a comfortable few weeks here. Eventually, it felt that it would need to move on or at least explore the wider area but for now, it was okay. It had this insatiable urge to explore and be more. With this incredible ability to use part of creatures, it found to adapt and improve and it would not be able to maximize that capability unless it encountered a lot more. It would need to at least explore the forest that it was in. If there was a way for it to remember the areas it had already explored and where it needed to go next. Now, that would have been amazing! Unfortunately, that was just not possible yet.

So clawing down to the ground it began moving, it didn't have a good sense of direction, one direction was as good as any other as far as the Copycat Slime was concerned. It didn't encounter and sense anything for the first few minutes and it was moving at a decent clip, now that its speed had gotten to where it could move around relatively quickly and smoothly, outdistance many of the other creatures and it was certainly more intelligent than the other creatures in the area. Resh took a moment to reflect on its incredible growth in the last few weeks, considering it could beat nothing when it started and now had eyes, wings, legs, and 2kg behind it, Resh was pretty happy. Then the heavens decided to burst the bubble that was swelling its head and it got bulldozed by a Panther, just like every other time things had been going well. An unexpected encounter quickly brought things back into perspective. Resh was once again taught the insignificance of its existence compared to the wider world.

To put things into perspective that Panther was at least 1000x larger than Resh and it was most definitely the apex predator in the area. Resh was so small compared to the Panther that as it ran through the Panther had not even noticed Resh. This it turned out was a huge stroke of Luck and if the Panther had noticed Resh might have tried to eat the gelatinous creature. Resh swollen "head" having been suitable deflated. It resolved to be more cautious again because there were indeed things that could seriously hurt it even in this "huge" form it had.

Also as per Resh's usual luck, it got severely damaged by the glancing blow from the Panther. Losing a whopping 156HP, Resh curled in on itself at the damage and pain. Resh was so tired of thinking it was doing well and then getting reality checked by the universe. Why? Why was everything so hard!! Setting Photosynthesis to healing Health once more, it seemed to be doing that a lot lately, it set off in search of something a little more manageable. Like a Treaber or Squitter. Only, on the ground. One thing that Resh had time to try when it was hit was to gain its fur as a Texture. It might have been useful in the future when Resh tried to beat it or even to hide. The Panther was foe out of reach….for now.

In wake of the Panther, there were very few other creatures that Resh ran into, it supposed that like itself, they too had been scared away but the Panther's passage. Resh decided the prudent course of action was not to go directly away from the Panther. That would mean going straight through the area that had been cleared of creatures. Instead, it moved off at an angle. Realising at the same time that it was still disguised as a bit of tree bark it also adjusted Camouflage to the Loamy Soil texture so that it blended with the soil it was walking on.

Resh quickly started to encounter small creatures, there were small creatures that looked like the Squitter but much bigger, which still made it smaller than Resh. It seemed to stay exclusively on the ground. Resh used Identify consciously for the first time on them.

Grounded Squirret

Resh decided to go for it. Slowly edging its way forward, sliding on its belly. Resh maintained the Loamy Soil Texture and crept up behind the Grounded Squirret, it was within 10cm of the creature, and the Grounded Squirret has just raised its head and sniffed at the air, it seemed on more alert but hadn't moved at all. Then a leaf rustled and the Grounded Squirret spun around. Eyes blinked at it from within a mound of Soil and it bolted! Resh tried to extend an appendage towards it but it was too late, Resh could not move fast enough and it had been found. Annoyed Resh tried to understand what had gone wrong. Of course, it needed to keep its eyes away from the creature it would need to rely on its perception once it got close.

The Squirret had sniffed and then gone on alert, but Resh didn't know what that meant. It would try again with the eyes on the back, away from the Squirret. Resh had to wait a full hour after finding the Squirret again before the stupid creature relaxed enough for Resh to approach it. This time Resh didn't even get within half a meter of the Squirret, it was already on high alert as soon as it was within 5m and when it got closer it just ran off. This time Resh was perplexed, it didn't use its eyes it kept them on the opposite side of its body and it looked like Loamy Soil what would have alerted it? It had sniffed the air again this time but Resh didn't know what the thing on its body that it raised did?

Resh had never had a nose, so didn't know what the Squirret was doing. Although it could change its Odour it could only tell the difference by what effect it had since it could not smell itself. The Squirret on the other hand knew that predators mask themselves and so was always on high alert for anything out of place, like a moving mound of soil that smells like Fresh Grass when there was no grass in sight. Resh being the low Intellect creature it was, took about five more attempts to figure this all out and by then it was nighttime again and it was tired of chasing the Grounded Squirret. It would start again fresh tomorrow morning. It had run around in circles for over 6km chasing that Squirret. It needed to sleep.

Strong Photosynthesis has increased to Level 13!