Skills are much more than we’ve understood so far. They’re an integral part of the system that allows the ability of creatures to progress with them as they level and grow. The existence of Skill Tiers, however, raises the question on whether or not they’re only meant to scale proportionate to their user’s tier. Or if they’re a way of quantifying the effort each lifeform has put into a specific area of development. Whatever the reason, the existence of Skill tiers allows all lifeforms with the ability to utlize the system a way of continued improvement, and as such research into the area is vital and needs to be more expansive.

• An extract from “A Philosophical Approach to The Functions of the SYSTEM”

 

{Meneo POV}

 

I rushed towards the sound, throwing caution to the wind, and as my head made it around the corner a grisly sight came into my vision. I saw the same beetle facing off against what looked like my older brother Dynamis. The reason I couldn’t immediately tell it was him, lay scattered across the floor. I grimaced at the sight of two of his legs sprawled on the floor and at his carapace, which looked quite dented in a few areas. It didn’t look like he would last longer in this state either, judging by the small puddles of blue blood splattered across the ground.

The beetle wasn’t much better off, however, as half of its legs lay with my brother’s own on the floor. It also sported a deep dent in the side of its shell, along with a portion of its head that had collapsed. All in all, the sight was ghastly, and the fight would probably end soon, but the way it was looking, they would mutually destroy each other. An outcome I was very much not willing to let play out in front of me. But what could I do to help my brother?

From my previous encounter with the beetle, I already determined I didn’t have the power to inflict any direct damage on the creature. That left me with no other solutions either, because there wasn’t much else I could do to help out. And the sound of legs assaulting the ground brought me out of my considerations, as the two went at it again. An equal exchange of damage took place as my brother once again pounded the beetle to the ground, but it quickly counterattacked and hacked at his exposed side.

I watched as they were once more separated and were observing the other. But deciding, I should at least do something- I devised a plan. A plan that involved using the pulling force that kept objects on the ground, aka gravity to my advantage. I set about sneakily making my way over to the nearest wall before carefully scaling it, mindful of the beetle’s attention and my partially broken leg. My attack wouldn’t work if it was expected, so stealth was vital to my operation.

It appeared I didn’t have to worry too much though, because neither my brother nor the beetle even noticed my small figure ascending the wall, before climbing onto the ceiling. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t noticed, however, as the frantic movements of the triplets came into my vision, and I could tell that they weren’t pleased with my idea. That didn’t matter to me though, because I was sure they had realized by the way the fight was progressing, it would lead to mutual destruction. So, using my life to hopefully save that of my brother was worth it in my book.

Maybe by doing this I would be able to forgive myself for such a blunder. Nevertheless, I was sure that something dangerous needed to be done and I’d rather it not be my sisters doing it. I was halfway across the ceiling at this point, inching ever closer to the fight happening down below. Using the element of surprise was only half of my plan, however, for I knew no matter how much damage I inflicted it wouldn’t be enough. No, I intended to do something more impactful. I intended to use my attack as a distraction that would hopefully give my brother the opening he needed to finish this.

Hanging directly overhead the two, I was now in place. I needed to only wait for an opportune time to attack, and looking over to my sisters once again, I saw them already calmed down. Perfect, now I just needed to wait- Huh? I was alarmed seeing the “oldest” of the triplets break off from the group and circle the ongoing battle. What is she doing? I was suspicious of her actions but seeing the diverting head of the beetle I was now uneasy.

The creature had diverted its focus away from Dynamis and focused on the moving nymph. Crap! I shimmied as fast as I could across the ceiling and over to my sister. A decision that had most likely saved her life in hindsight as the creature had rushed towards her a few moments after my movement.

 

{Althaia POV}

 

I and my other 2 sisters observed the battle going on before us with bated breaths. Our older brother sustained quite some damage but was able to return it, and as the two separated once more the battle fell back into a stalemate. Shortly after that, however, the proverbial rock on my thorax was lifted as I saw my other brother wobble into the chamber. Although he looked quite battered and one of his legs was slightly limp, I was overwhelmed by relief, he hadn’t died.

As if mocking my concern, however, I observed him struggle up the wall and onto the ceiling where he slowly made his way over to the fight. I found myself violently shaking my head and body towards him, and my sisters following soon after, in an attempt to hopefully get him to stop whatever he was about to do. A wasted effort, because although we could tell he saw us, his movements didn’t slow down. Ah, this stupid brother of mine.

Turning to look back at my sisters, I said to them “You two stay here while I try and help that dummy out.” words they weren’t pleased to hear but ones I knew they would obey. So that’s how I found myself creeping out of the restroom trying to circle around to where my brother was. And to be honest I was depending on the fact that the beetle would be too occupied with my brother to notice me. But who was I kidding, I knew that I was just acting out of emotion.

An emotion that had rekindled itself in me as I observed my brother, probably about to do something foolish like sacrifice himself for Dynamis to kill the beetle. The helplessness from the last time he did that burned my spirit. To the point where I couldn’t stay still and watch him do it again, regardless of the danger. This time I would be sure to help him, and from the looks of it, he was trying to be a distraction...? Too bad I beat him to it.

Looking at the rapidly approaching beetle, however, I silently wondered if my brother’s stupidity was contagious. I didn’t have the time to regret my action though, I needed to be focused at this moment. I wouldn’t allow anyone to be sacrificed for anyone else’s sake. Tensing my legs, I prepared to leap out of the way of the beetle, and hopefully, my other brother would be able to take advantage of that moment to kill it…

 

{Dynamis POV}

 

I watched as my adversary’s eyes diverted from me into a direction behind me- not going to fall for that this time you dumb bug. The creature had used quite the number of feints already and I wasn’t going to fall victim to another one of them. But seeing it dart out in that direction I knew that I was wrong, it wasn’t a feint- and the only thing behind me was my sisters…

The train of thought coming to an end with my figure now sprinting after the beetle, I saw one of my sisters freeze up at its charge. I’m not going to make it in time- the notion causing my already exhausted legs to run faster. My brain went into overdrive as well as I was trying my best to map out a course of action that would avoid my sister becoming some experience for the beetle. However, I came up dry, as no matter how I imagined it I couldn't find one. My hesitation at the start had given the creature too much of a head start.

The only thing that kept my legs going was the hope that something would happen- that something would change- something that would give Althaia a way to survive this. My prayers were soon answered as that something came hurtling down from the ceiling above- or more specifically someone. The brother I had already vowed to avenge was crashing down towards the beetle. The beetle- that was still unaware of his incoming aerial assault, due to Meneo attacking from its blind spot.

I couldn’t have asked for more either, because I saw him collide into the creature, breaking the rhythm of its legs. I watched, ecstatic, as it collapsed sliding headfirst into the floor. Unfortunately. my brother had been tossed aside as a result of the collision, and his body was bent at an unnatural angle. My sister had also managed to jump out of the way at the last moment. At the same time, I was close on its heels, and I jumped at the opportunity as my mandibles approached its head from above. And crunching down with all the strength I had remaining, I felt its brain squish under the strength of my mandibles, the annoying creature now finally put to death.

 

*DING*

*Gained 398 experience points*

 

Quickly making my way over to my unconscious brother, however, the satisfaction of having triumphed against a strong foe was muted. I looked closer at his body and other than his broken mandibles and curved abdomen I concluded he probably had several internal injuries. Damnit- he was unresponsive, no matter how much I prodded him. And carrying him into the restroom, the triplets surrounded him with anxious looks. A quick <Inspect> told us exactly how serious the damage was.

 

*Status*

 

They too had realized the severity of his situation, because most likely even Vito- who had focused the majority of his stats into Vitality, wouldn’t be able to shrug off damage like this. I was at a loss at what to do, and the creeping exhaustion that threatened to drag me into unconsciousness wasn't helping. Deciding the best we could do is to at least make sure his condition doesn’t deteriorate; I instructed the nymphs to fetch some grubs and glowing moss.

They came back shortly after with a few of the creatures and a good amount of the moss. I then asked them to lay the moss out on the floor in a cool corner before placing Meneo onto it. The moss was quite soft and made sure that his body wasn’t under any unnecessary pressure. After that, I told the sisters to crush some of the creatures periodically before dripping their juices into his mouth to ensure he doesn’t starve. That was the most I could do before the fatigue finally caught up to me and curling up in a corner not far from Meneo I fell asleep.

 

 

{Crete POV}

 

Walking down the last few meters of the wall, I was still contemplating whether or not I should roll for a skill now or wait until I had more luck so the results would be better. Poking my head of the hole, however, I put the idea on hold, because looking out into the feeding chamber it appeared to have a few more craters than I left it with. There also appeared to be something on the floor in some of those craters- from what I could make out they looked like… legs?

With growing concern, I didn’t even bother to climb down the wall and just directly jumped down towards the ground. I sustained some damage, and my actions elicited a yelp from the two termites behind me, but I paid no mind to any of it. “MENEO!! GUYS!! WHERE ARE YOU!!” I shouted, not exactly using sound, more of a blast of very specific pheromones, but you get the point, and judging by the two thumping sounds behind me I presumed Vito and Amore had as well.

The first place I had decided to search was the colosseum as my legs were already barreling towards the chamber. The whole time I was anxious that maybe one of the beetles had escaped from the holding room and possibly freed others and they had ganged up on my siblings. But, seeing the stone still in place I felt my heart calm down quite a bit, but hearing the shouting of my sister it sped up again.

The disruption was coming from in front of the restroom, and booking it towards there, I saw the triplets surrounding Vito and Amore moving agitatedly. “What happened?” I asked as soon as I came into range, and I saw one of the triplets, Althaia, turn and address me. “It’s better if you follow me and see for yourself…” So following her into the room, my eyes were first attracted to the sleeping termite that looked quite like the other two I had just returned with- Dynamis- I concluded.

Observing him closer, however, I was able to see numerous injuries scattered over his body. The most serious of which was probably the two missing middle legs on either of his sides. “… We ended up having to deal with a beetle… well mostly Dynamis did.” the voice of Amara came from the side, but I was still trying to put together pieces. Especially how one of those creatures could do such damage to Dynamis.

Although they were still dangerous, it wasn’t to the point that we couldn’t handle them one on one- but digressing I asked the burning question on my mind.

“How?... The three of us swept everywhere looking for any grubs close to or already evolving…”

“Yeah, but you didn’t check the restroom… Meneo hid a cocoon inside there- so he could fight it and evolve before you guys came back”

Anger encapsulated my mind and I decided to punish the foolish nymph, a severe punishment that would always remind him of his stupid actions. Feeling the anger consolidate, I mentally reminded myself to always be mindful of each nymph’s personality and be extra careful of what I asked them to do. I also resolved to have a conversation with all of them about the consequences of their actions, and how their decisions could affect the termites around them.

“Where is he?” I felt the words leave my throat with fire enlaced.

“… That’s... him over there…”

I didn’t pay mind to her odd pauses and turning to face the direction she pointed, my eyes met something I had unconsciously disregarded. In the corner of the room lay a bed of glowing moss, but on the moss, I saw the target of my recent discontent. But seeing his state, I felt the negative emotions drain away. And as I neared his body I couldn’t believe that what or who I was looking at was my younger brother.

There was no semblance of him in the broken mass of chitin and legs that lay stiff on the bedding. One of his mandibles had broken halfway and the other was curved inwardly, that wasn’t the worst part, however, because as I observed his abdomen, I cringed. The depression that bent it, caused it to form an upside-down V, And as I inspected him, his health points mirrored his physical state- 3 points away from death…

“….” I was at a loss for words looking at my brother, then glancing behind me I heard my brother ask softly “Is his condition deteriorating…?” answering Vito in an even softer voice Althaia said “Yes… even though we tried our best to keep him as still as possible and feed him grubs to recover, he is still losing health points, albeit very slowly…” “How slowly…?” I asked in a hopeful tone. “Well since we took him into here from when he was injured, it’s been about an hour and a half…” I ran the numbers in my head and determined we had about 1 hour left if his situation didn’t improve, just enough time.

“Okay, you guys stay here and tell me if his situation gets worse. I have a plan” and a plan I had indeed. One that required the lives of all the remaining beetles in the holding chamber. I apologized to the triplets in my mind, but I knew they wouldn’t disagree with my plan, and I didn’t have any time to waste explaining my plan to the others. So immediately bolting towards the colosseum, I didn’t waste any time quickly charging down into the arena and the holding chamber before swiftly dispatching the 5 beetles there.

 

*DING*

*Gained 430 experience points*

*DING*

*Gained 430 experience points*

*DING*

*Gained 430 experience points*

*DING*

*Gained 430 experience points*

*DING*

*Gained 430 experience points*

 

Shit- It wasn’t enough, taking a glance at my experience points I observed the value: “2403/2430”. Only 27 points away from leveling up, but there weren’t any more beetles… But remembering the creatures’ inferior relatives I set about once more. Stashed away in another corner of the colosseum was a room designated for high-level grubs. Grubs that hopefully would be just enough to push me over the edge. Crunching down on the first of them though, I was quick to find out fate never made it easy.

 

*DING*

*Gained (1) experience points*

**A penalty is experienced due to defeating an enemy of a lower evolutionary status**

(Only 20% of experience gained)

 

Damn it- the penalty made sure that I would most likely only gain 1 experience point for each kill, but that wasn’t as bad as it seemed, for all I needed at the moment was 27- no 26 grubs. I didn’t want to waste any more time thinking and went to work harvesting the remaining grubs. But I was toyed with once more, because when my experience points had reached “2429/2430” all the grubs had already been cleared out.

I was just one point away- one point… Not letting the despair at my situation consume me, however, I quickly exited the colosseum and entered the largest chamber, searching for any remaining grubs. While I was scouring the feeding chamber though, the "loud" voices of my siblings in the restroom and the rapidly approaching Amore let me know that I had even less time remaining. I dismissed her frantic words saying, “It’ll be okay, I just need to find one more grub” and seeing her bolt off back to tell the others I needed help, I resumed my search.

I found none of the creatures underneath the hole or anywhere near it. Combing the vicinity with my eyes I was still unable to find any, desperation began to set in as I kept coming up empty. But not willing to give up, I found my eyes wandering over to the section of the chamber where all the waste was dropped. A perfect place to hide a grub, probably, not willing to leave any stone unturned. I ventured over and frantically dug through the waste.

Indigestible beetle legs and rotting grub parts were flung to the side by my mandibles. I was almost halfway through digging and ready to give up however when I hoisted a dead beetle shell up before fate decided to show mercy. Low and behold, underneath it lay quite frankly the most appetizing and pleasing to the eyes grub I’ve ever seen. I didn’t waste any more time admiring it though, as I shoved my mandibles into its head. And with the pleasant notification, I quickly threw all of my unassigned stat points into the one thing that could maybe help me out.

 

*DING*

*Gained (1) experience points

**A penalty is experienced due to defeating an enemy of a lower evolutionary status**

(Only 20% of experience gained)

**Congratulations you have leveled up**

 

I didn’t waste any time initiating the final phase of my plan and willing the option before me once again.

 

Would you like to roll now?

Yes/No

 

I selected “Yes”, and I prayed to the Queen that the skill I got would help me save Meneo.

 

*Skill roll* initiated

**Generating random skill based on luck**

*DING*

Skill <Apothecary Lvl 1> has been created