Okay, bad news bears over here. I'll just head on back into my dirt wall if I do say so myself. Yup. No need to f.u.c.k with those guys. I'm just an earthworm going to do earthworm things. Don't mind me, I'm just pa.s.sing by. And with my internal dialogue complete, I shuttle my excruciatingly slow worm body right back into my wall.

Woooh! Oh Jeremy, I totally thought I was gonna die right there if I'm honest. That snake was way out of my league, I wouldn't be able to defend myself if I didn't have my centipede buddies going out of their way for me. Big lesson learned here.

[You have gained Life Matter]

Oho!

What's this? A new toy? Ok, seriously though bud if I don't know what this is it's going to be pretty s.h.i.+tty so can I get an explanation.

[...]

Fine! I'll figure this out myself.

[Life Matter is nutrients gained from eating creatures or from innate species food sources. Life Matter allows you to improve yourself on a higher level.]

Oh now you show up. And with a useless explanation no less! I use this to upgrade myself, you say. Well, a good question would be how exactly do I do that? Okay complaining aside, let's check out my status.

Status: David

Species: Earthworm

HP: 100/100

MP: 0/0

Strength: 5

Speed: 2

Toughness: 8

Cunning: 34

Will: 35

Skills: Tunnel(II), Bite, Heat Sense

Life Matter: 1

Skill Points: 0

Okay woah, we got some new stuff in here now. Just a quick glance tells me my Tunnel skill has leveled up so that's good, it proves something at least. Nothing much changed in base stats, actually nothing. Still, the cake is Life Matter and Skill Points.

Jeremy explained Life Matter, and from what I get I use them to upgrade myself, parts of my body I would a.s.sume. Skill Points are pretty basic, they upgrade my skills, I'm just not sure if they matter. We'll see. Now let's upgrade! Oh wait, how? Maybe I just say upgrade? Upgrade!

[Status updated. Generating List...]

General: Heat sensing glands, digestive system, mouth, mandibles, setae, body, muscles

Oh, so I do upgrade myself! In a very literal sense. So what to choose? I only have one point, will it even make a difference? Well, I'm good on the glands, the digestive system isn't a problem and won't help much, oh mouth is good! Let's do that. The other options aren't bad but not my cup of tea right now. Mandibles are especially useless, and I can't even use my bristles well right now, I just kind of wiggle forward. Not very wormlike but it's hard to get used to a segmented body, okay? A limbless one at that. No arms for me. Okay David, stop procrastinating. Let's upgrade!

[Confirm upgrade to Mouth(II)?]

Confirm!

OUCH!

Oh my good lord Jeremy it hurts! I can feel the entire front half of my body enlarging and my mouth getting much bigger than before! I do not like this feeling!

ARGH!

Okay, we're good now. Seriously though, that was painful. Taking an internal check, a couple of my front worm segments have enlarged, and my mouth has definitely increased in size by a few inches. Dirt is just going to pour in! But this now begs a question, how big am I? I definitely felt my mouth increase by at least an inch, but young earthworms are barely an inch long! Not to mention those centipedes were pretty big. And that snake was ma.s.sive! If I had to guess how big I was I'd say I was a half meter long! d.a.m.n!

Ouch! Oh, I guess it's time to eat some more. Let's go!

I move forward, digging an extended network for a long time, long enough to have dug out a central cavern for a home, but still no more Life Matter. I can feel it now too. Dirt isn't enough anymore, it can barely fill my stomach, so to say, I don't have an actual stomach. So now what?

[Creatures are composed almost exclusively of Life Matter.]

Oh har har Jeremy. Do you think I can eat other monsters? Are you having a seizure?

[...]

*Sigh.* Fine. I guess I'll go check on that snake then. Hey, maybe I can get some leftovers? Ugh, I feel sick just thinking about it. Here we go!