Chrysalis

The larval sea, that's what I started to call it. I don't know how large that endless plain of black rock is, but I haven't seen a single inch of it that wasn't covered in demon larvae fighting to survive. Uncounted millions of them. It didn't take long to reach level five and unlock my first evolution, but I didn't take it immediately, there was so much I didn't know. Later, I'd maxed my mutations and formed a core, and only after that was I prepared to take the next step. Good thing that I did.

The hardest part was finding a place free from conflict where I felt safe in case the evolution knocked me out, which it did. Returning to the fray in my new form was almost too easy at first. The normal demon larvae couldn't hurt me, but my increased strength and more potent weapons gave me an absurd advantage. But that was only at first. It wasn't long before the others found me, others like me. Only then did I realise the unspoken rules of the plains, you weren't supposed to punch down, at least not too much. In order to evolve and grow beyond this second stage, I was supposed to prey on the others who had managed to evolve as I had.

So that's what I did. It reminded me of the old days in a way. No longer was the melee as intense or relentless as before, instead it was a series of duels, one on one battles of skill and wit that would give strength to the winner, death to the loser. I won. Of course I won.

Every now and again the smaller ones would gang up and try to bring me down, but I was larger, stronger and my Skills had advanced far beyond theirs. There was nothing they could do for me. In that way I reached level ten, but again I waited. Only when all of my mutations and my core were pushed to the limit was I prepared to make that step.

My final opponent was tough, having reinforced their hide during their evolution, which was the wrong choice. Although it was difficult for my claws to break through, their weapons weren't enough to inflict damage on me either. We fought for a long time, and though it may have appeared as though it was a standstill, I was always winning. When the defences of my foe finally gave way and the despair began to rise from them, I could almost smell it. A feeling of overwhelming, unrivalled joy shivered through me and I closed for the final blow, which is when I first heard it.

[Demonic Convergence has risen to level 2.]

The first time I managed to level that Skill. I pondered over what it meant later, with my meal complete and my hiding place secured, high on a precarious piece of rock with a crack running down one side. In the end, I didn't understand it, I couldn't work out why the Skill had levelled at that time. There wasn't anything I was doing consciously to activate it at the time. Was it perhaps passive in some way? But what way?

Shrugging it off, I made my final checks and evolved. For my first evolution, only three options were presented, and each of them were quite similar. Initial Demon Larva became Developing Demon Larva, and each of the choices gave a flavour of different stats and bonuses. Most of my success had come with my claws, so I chose the option that would grant me the most physical power and came with augmentations to my two arms that allowed them to snap through the air as fast as whips. Other than almost doubling in size, my body didn't change much, still a sack of tar covered meat with a mouth and two arms tipped in razor sharp claws.

This second evolution was a little different. Again, I progressed from Developing Demon Larva, this time to Prime Demon Larva, but the choices were more divergent. I was careful, as an assassin should be, and examined every option with forensic detail, but I knew I couldn't hesitate too long. As I was going through these menus my rivals out in the larval sea were growing stronger. I'd come close to dying so many times already, a single second, one upgrade, one level, could be the difference between living and dying. There was no way I was going to end up in another demon's gut. I refused to become Biomass for another's growth.

I stuck to my strengths, choosing the option which allowed me to further enhance my advantage in strength and speed. Defence was important, and that's why offense came first. This evolution allowed me to add a weakening aura to my claws that would infect the mana of any enemy I struck, draining them of their energy and making them more susceptible to my blows. This would pair well with the penetrating mutations I had already chosen for the blades on my hands, ensuring that the effect would go through.

For the rest of the evolutionary energy, I used it to further enhance my Might, with the dregs being pushed into Toughness.

When I awoke, I was still a sack of meat, but once again I had grown much larger, towering over my initial size. With my preparations complete, it was back down to the endless plains of battle. The weakest demons were now almost not worth the time it took to eat them, the second level not much better. It was for the others like me that I sought out and our battles were mighty, crushing many beneath us as we fought.

The divergent paths were showing more sharply at this stage, and some of my foes fought with bewildering magic, blasting me with fire, dazzling me with attacks on my mind or launching beams of pure energy from their eyes. Others tough, hard as rocks and healed rapidly, wounds closing before my eyes. Yet others were huge, as I was, powerful arms covered in barbs, claws, spikes, even mouths or suckers that tried to drain my blood away. I beat them all by being swifter, more brutal, more cunning. In each case I became intoxicated by their fear and despair, and I continued to hear it.

[Demonic Convergence has reached level 2.]

[Demonic Convergence has reached level 3.]

[Demonic Convergence has reached level 4.]

[Demonic Convergence has reached level 5.]

Then I advanced it, curiosity alone demanded it.

[Demonic Convergence of Slaughter has reached level 2.]

[Demonic Convergence of Slaughter has reached level 3.]

[Demonic Conv …]

I stalked the plains like a conquering king, only giving way when I saw any who were higher above than I, but those were few and far between. As my victories piled up and my strength accrued, I grew in confidence, striking at my foes rapidly, one after another. I barely slept, barely rested at all, and soon level twenty came. Again I waited. I knew of the rewards for those who were patient, and I gathered my power until I reached my perfect strength. This time, things were different again. I reached the end of the larval stage it seemed, as none of my options included those terms. Instead, it was time to pick a more advanced form.

[Pupal Demon of Slaughter.]

Was this the purpose of the demonic convergence? Was it related to my evolution in some way? Regardless, this was always the option I would choose. It was suited perfectly to my style and I relished in the new form I would take. No longer a graceless blob, I would change, becoming a scythe armed nightmare with lithe limbs, able to stand on strange, double jointed legs. This was more like it! I picked over each of the details with care, ensuring each of my choices would harmonise and work together to better become a part of my perfect strength. Only then did I confirm my choices, ready for the embrace of the dark to swallow me as my body underwent its metamorphosis.

But it didn't happen, instead I was pulled from my body, my mind dragged down to a different place, a place of endless, torrential red, where the fires burned black and hot enough to scorch my very soul. There I saw a being so large that I couldn't comprehend it and for the first time in so many years I felt fear. It towered over me like a human towers over an ant, a nightmarish representation of the demon larva, covered with eyes and mouths and seated on a vast throne. As I watched, the throne shifted and with horror I realised the chair itself was part of the creature's body. Slowly the creature stirred, the air itself thickening like blood as it did so, pressing me down to the floor like a worm.

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Another has come, after so long.]

The voice shredded my Will and filled my head with echoes of gibbering whispers and despair filled screams as one of those eyes opened to focus on my tiny, huddled form. How could anything this powerful exist?! What was this world?!

[Yessssssss. Tell me, pitiful one. How does it feel to kneel before your God?]