Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - In the cocoon
I woke up, or better I regained consciousness in what seemed like a fuzzy cocoon maybe?
'Oh, how weird, I can see something! Finally!'
'I have a body, no wait, several bodies, it's like I'm all of them at once', I thought.
It's hard to explain.
I started to feel several sensory stimuli, like distant muffled sounds, and the warmness of this kind of cocoon.
I tried to move one of my bodies. I mean, it's just too hard starting to move many at once if you're not used to it, I think…
'Hmmm… How many bodies there are? One, two… Seven…'
'Yes, "we're" 10.'
I called my bodies by numbers, at least for the moment.
I started moving One, trying to sense everything about its body (with the help of the other bodies' eyes, I was more or less sure that I was some kind of an arthropod hive being…ish?
I was baffled by my very existence.
'It's weird to be able to look at your own back from behind…'
Well, by the way, I started walking, or more likely groveling around.
'Still larvae, huh? Makes sense. I've just reincarnated!'
I tried to think about sensing smells, or other absurd stuff like thermal vision, or vibration perception…
Then I was appalled. I didn't actually have a proper thermal vision, but I could sense difference in temperatures around me. I did have the sense of smell and that other thing.
I had no idea how… Antennae maybe? Tentacles? Sensory hair?
My vision wasn't much precise yet.
I thought about something about "mana sensing" or other fantasy stuff, but I wasn't that lucky this time.
I wiggled and crawled for a while, and One arrived at the edge of the space in the cocoon.
Just in that moment I noticed that "we" were hungry!
'Oh dammit! Being able to feel 10 times normal hunger is BAD!'
'Wait, didn't I still have ARS with me?'
'ARS, I'm hungry! What can I eat in the nearby?'
[USING HOST'S DATA AND SENSORY INPUT, THERE IS A 97% CHANCE THAT WHAT IS CALLED "COCOON" CAN BE A SOURCE OF FOOD, A 2.1% IT IS NOT, A .9% CHANCE IT IS DANGEROUS.]
'Well, better than nothing', I thought.
I tried to command One to eat the wall of the cocoon, and in that moment I noticed where the mouth was and clumsily started eating with that new mouth.
After a bit of time I discovered a weird thing: One was the only body of the 10 to eat, but eventually each body was full.
'ARS, why did just one of my bodies eat but all of the others became full too?'
[CALCULATING…
USING NEW DATA FROM HOST'S SENSORY INPUT, THERE IS A 94.3% CHANCE THAT THIS IS CAUSED BY THE SPECIAL FEATURE "MYSTERIOUS ABSORPTION".]
'Huh? Weird… Is the cocoon dangerous in any way?'
[USING NEW DATA FROM HOST'S SENSORY INPUT, THERE IS A .0000000003% CHANCE THAT WHAT IS CALLED "COCOON" IS DANGEROUS.]
Well, I had to thank the cocoon, then!
Having filled my… Our stomach, a slight torpor started to take over.
---
I woke up what seemed like hours later.
I promptly asked the system 'ARS, show me my stats'.
[CALCULATING…
BASED ON HOST'S KNOWLEDGE, THESE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS:
SPECIES: DEVA SWARM CRITTER – ???
STRENGTH 1 (1.3)
DEXTERITY 1 (1.6)
TOUGHNESS 1 (1.1)
INTELLIGENCE 10 (10.2)
WISDOM 10 (10.3)
CHARISMA 1 (1.1)
LUCK 30
MANA 30 (30.4)
LIFE FORCE 10 (13)
SPECIAL FEATURES EXTREME ADAPTABILITY, HIVE MIND, MYSTERIOUS
ABSORPTION, KARMIC FLAME EMBER.
DUE TO SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, INTELLIGENCE AND WISDOM, AND MANA ARE ABOVE AVERAGE.]
I wasn't sure about the "special circumstances", but being a former human being could have to do with it.
'ARS, are there ways to use that Karmic Flame Ember?"
[CALCULATING…
BASED ON HOST'S KNOWLEDGE AND SENSORY INPUT, THERE'S A 57% CHANCE THAT ONE WAY TO OBTAIN A SOUL POINT IS TO BURN PART OF HOST'S LIFE FORCE OF ONE OWN'S ACCORD.
THE APPROXIMATE ACQUISITION RATE IS 10 LFP FOR 1 SP.]
'Well I'll wait for that!', I exclaimed in my mind.
One started eating again (not that I was hungry, but I still would prefer to have a full stomach than feel that 10x hunger!), and I made my way through the cocoon's wall, until One's head popped out.
I carefully took a peek on the outside.
Well, it was quite dark. Probably underground.
I smelled something, and my vibration sense could get that there was some sort of movement in the air.
A draft maybe?
I focused on moving another body.
One and Two, getting ready to scout!
'It's still weird to be able to look inside and outside the cocoon', I told myself.
I moved both these bodies and tried to crawl further from the cocoon.
It wasn't easy at the beginning, but I was kinda getting used to it.
I started looking around, trying to figure out how big this tunnel could be.
Then an idea struck me.
'ARS, how tall and long is one of my bodies?'
[CALCULATING…
USING HOST'S KNOWLEDGE, ONE OF THE BODIES IS APPROXIMATELY 10^9 CARBON ATOMS' RADIUS LONG AND 7*10^7 CARBON ATOMS' RADIUS TALL.]
'… In centimetres?'
[APPROXIMATELY 0.7 cm LONG AND 0.049 cm TALL.]
'DAMN! We're no more than little worms!'
I was very discouraged by that new piece of information.
I mean… All my bodies together x3 were needed to be as long as an average human hand!
Trying to not think too much about that, I started going through what it seemed to be a big tunnel before knowing my size (but then it could have been a couple dozen cm long)… it was uncannily bright for an underground mini tunnel.
Noticing that it seemed like a tranquil place, I switched my attention from Two to Three, and made it move towards the hole in the cocoon. I was starting to feel hungry, already. I made Three peek through the hole and I managed to do a quick measurement of how far One and Two went.
Well, not so much. Probably 3 to 5 cm.
And it took me forever.
'I need proper legs!', I screamed in my mind.
While I used Three to avoid getting surprised by possible attacks from behind, I directed One and Two on the left. I then forced myself to switch a bit of my attention to move Four and eat another bit of the cocoon. This stuff had no taste… Or is it just me not having taste buds???
Slowly eating till I was stuffed, I forced myself to not sleep again after the slight torpor rose again. Well, I managed to let anyone but One, Two and Three sleep. The slight torpor quickly got away but I felt a bit numb and my mind kinda heavier. Weird.
I focused on these three bodies. Eventually, I decided to direct Two on the right.
So my vision right now is at the same time on the left side of tunnel, on its right side and behind my two bodies' back. At least until Three can vaguely see both of them.
After what it seems like half an hour, One and Two were no more visible by Three (I feel like I have never been good at names…).
On One's side, it was all very peaceful, almost boring.
On Two's side, though, there seemed to be something that caught my attention.
'This smell… Why do I remember it? Or rather… I know what it is.'
Blood? Mammal blood?
My interest was piqued.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone