[Eating the bugs you slay is the only way you can obtain their Hexichor and have me transform them into points,] [Accounting for your still-very-human biology, fifteen points is the most you will be able to obtain from eating only the easily digestible parts of the fairy shrimp, that being the first three pairs of thoracopods, the compound eyes, the left cercopod, the latter section of the upturned abdomen, the nauplius eyes–]
anything
[We have around fourteen minutes remaining. Allow me to make this brief. This is your status screen, which denotes all of your physiological attributes:]
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Striding Glaives
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[From top to bottom, we have your name, insect class, your current unallocated points, your Hexichor Art, and your Hexichor Pool. You can think of Hexichor Pool as ‘magic stamina’, or ''mana'' for short. Every time you use your Hexichor Art or any active mutation ability, you will drain a bit of mana from the pool. If the number reaches zero, you will die,] [After that, you have your five physical attributes. One ‘level’ in strength, speed, dexterity, toughness, and perceptivity means you are equivalent to an average human in all those attributes. If you have five levels in strength, you are basically as strong as five average humans. Understood?]
knew
[If you want to raise your strength from level one to two, it will cost you one point. If you want to raise it from two to three, it will cost you four points. To increase any of your attribute levels by one, it will cost a number of points equal to that attribute''s current level squared, and this applies for the first five attributes,] [To increase your Hexichor Pool, however, the cost is consistently one point per level. This is because increasing your magic stamina is the easiest modification I can make to your body. Therefore, to increase your Hexichor Pool from four hundred and ninety-nine to five hundred, it would only cost you one point, and from five hundred to six hundred, it would only cost you a hundred points. Understood?]
was
[Finally, for the mutation tree at the bottom, there are ten tiers of class-specific mutations you can unlock—think of mutations as active and passive biological abilities—and you must unlock all mutations in each tier before moving onto the next. Your tier one mutation, ‘Striding Glaives’, was unlocked the moment you chose your class, so if you have fifty points, you can unlock one tier two mutation,] [There is no point in explaining Hexichor Arts at this stage. There is no point in explaining the intricacies of how the levelling system functions at this stage. Now that you know everything you need to know, please—start eating the bug.]
…
Might as well eat while I… ask?
Dammit, I already got this far
Lots
… You’re saying mama spent decades honing her strength and toughness, but I can literally be twice as strong and tough as her if I just put two points into those ‘attributes’? How does that even… work? I get you’re some advanced magic technology the smartest people on the continent developed, but–
[Insect flesh is more protein-dense, folic acid-dense, and vitamin-dense than any other food in the world, and combined with the magic essence that is ''Hexichor''?] [Insects are such a potent source of nutrients that, if a normal human without a system were to consume insect flesh and accumulate Hexichor, they would begin mutating traits of said insect and gradually lose their humanity. However, systems such as I are capable of controlling that intake of Hexichor and converting it into points, which you can then use to selectively increase your attributes or evolve controlled mutations.]
Well, the people who developed you must’ve been–
[Out-of-this-world genius, yes. They even designed us ‘Archives’ to be able to converse with our users like this.] [Now eat this part over here. You have twelve minutes remaining.]
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
I get it, I get it. I’ll eat whatever you want me to eat. If only it ain’t so salty, huh?
[It is a saltwater crustacean.]
And where I come from, we cut our fish open and leave it to dry for at least two days so the saltiness is less overbearing, I’d hoped my first bite of a crustacean would be… you know? Cooked? Will I really be safe eating raw flesh like this?
[No.]
What?
[Apologies. I meant yes,] was [But… perhaps you could start a little fire. Not only would eating cooked insect flesh yield more points, it would also be easier on your stomach.]
And how am I going to start a fire in the middle of this?
How the hell do I start a fire, though?
Yes!
[You can cook multiple strips of flesh at once to minimise cooking time,] [Rip flesh from here, here, here and here. This is all you can realistically eat and digest within fifteen minutes for fifteen points. Do not throw away the inedible chitin, either. Put as much of it inside your cloak as you can.]
I don’t know how to carve a shrimp.
[I do. Grab the leg at the base and twist– just like that. Good job. Now squeeze out the flesh and–]
I know how to carve a shrimp.
sharp
[They are part of your reward for slaying the shrimp,] [Twelve shrimp phyllopodia—twelve ‘legs’—and four shrimp antennae. They can be used to construct ''Swarmsteel'', which are magic equipment forged from insect parts that can provide attribute levels and even special abilities once you meld with it.]
You’re going to have to explain what ‘meld’ means–
[Say you construct a helmet out of the shrimp parts you just obtained. If you wear the helmet and it comes in contact with your skin, it will begin to stick onto your skin. That is called ‘melding’, and the higher quality the Swarmsteel—which depends on the quality of the parts, the quality of the construct, and how well you can meld with it—the more attribute levels you can gain from equipping it,] [You already know who the Great Makers are. I notice you reference them a fair amount as an expression of exaggeration in your speech and thoughts–]
–hey, don’t pry into my memories like that–
[–so the people who understood how to work with insect parts to turn them into powerful weapons and equipment are called ‘Makers’,] [Now eat. Five minutes remaining. Since the flesh is now semi-cooked, you should be gaining twenty points instead of fifteen points.]
bit
And… I don’t assume I can make any Swarmsteel with these random parts just sitting around? They’re going to weigh me down, right? Are they really worth keeping around even though I probably won’t be using them anytime soon?
[Just hoard it. I am sure it will come in handy eventually.]
If you say so. But if I sink, that’s on you.
[That would be on you for picking the water strider class–]
Is there anywhere for me to skate to? Another ship or something of the sort?
[... According to the navigation data that Antonio Saranno last updated three months ago when he sailed by this strait, there is one landmass somewhere between three to four kilometres of where we are,] [If you can manage to skate through the storm, you should be able to see the tail of the island, but if you cannot, you will die. There is still the option for you to attempt skating back to the shoreline. What will it be, Marisol?]
…
… I have twenty ‘points’ now, right?
[Correct.]
And how do I raise my attributes?
[Simply command me to do so. I suggest, with twenty points, you put–]
Raise my speed to level four, my toughness to two, and… how many points would I have left?
[Five points.]
Put the rest into the other attributes, A Sand-Dancer must be graceful, and I can’t do that if my attributes aren’t properly balanced, right? A few levels in every attribute should be… helpful.
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[... The attribute levels will help, but at the end of the day, this storm is a nasty one to skate through on glaives,] [If you shall make it out of this alive, it will be your tenacity that pushes you through; nothing more, nothing less.]
[Good luck, Marisol.]
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[Objective #2: Skate out of the storm and head towards the unidentified landmass]