The Assimilator hunted, and it was efficient—making maximum use of its new body and the heightened capabilities it afforded.
What set the Assimilator apart from most of the jungle fauna was its superior intellect. It could still strategize, drawing upon predator instincts embedded into its genetic code, ensuring that every movement was deliberate, silent, and lethal.
Over the next few hours of night, the Assimilator eliminated several rabbits, quenched its thirst at a pond, and even brought down a full-grown deer.
It had even woven an expansive web between two massive tree trunks, nearly invisible to the untrained eye—a trap for unwary prey and an additional source of biomass.
Ordinary bugs like spiders and centipedes were harmless at their size, but when scaled to a meter, they became monstrous predators.
Normally, retaining such mass with insect genetic material was impossible unless in an oxygen-rich world, but something in this planet's atmosphere permitted the Assimilator to maintain its bulk.
It devoured the last of the deer's sinewy red flesh, its four arachnid limbs efficiently picking apart bones and flesh. Once the meat was gone, it crunched down the skeleton, consuming it like brittle snacks.
At this level of biological sophistication, the Assimilator could distinguish between flavors, and this deer was especially delectable—as most fresh flesh now was.
The more complex the Assimilator became, the more carnivorous its instincts grew. It began to crave bigger, stronger, and denser lifeforms.
Biomass Assimilated (+10)
Biomass Level: 10/100
The Assimilator clicked its mandibles in mild frustration. Progress was slowing. It needed more biomass—faster.
Intelligent lifeforms offered the richest rewards. Intelligence was among the most intricate evolutionary traits. But the Assimilator could not yet afford to battle intelligent creatures. If they wielded even a fraction of the power of that radiant being from before, it would be obliterated.
Even a primitive with simple firearms could destroy the Assimilator in its current state.
As it contemplated the path ahead, the Assimilator returned to its web. It could already sense vibrations in the air—its trap had been sprung.
Hidden beneath a curtain of drooping vines, the Assimilator observed the web. A small humanoid thrashed helplessly in the silk strands, its black skin glistening with sweat.
Roughly a meter tall, thin and frail, with a large nose and glowing yellow eyes suited for the dark, the creature snarled in a guttural, high-pitched voice.
It wore a ragged loincloth and had a crude stone knife tied to its belt—clear signs of basic intelligence.
It screamed a repeated set of sounds, likely words. That meant there were more nearby.
The Assimilator didn't hesitate.
A swift leap through the foliage brought it before the bound humanoid. The creature's eyes widened in fear just before the Assimilator drove one of its arachnid limbs through its throat, shredding its jugular vein.
The humanoid gurgled and twitched, blood spurting before it went limp, tongue flopping out of its mouth.
Without pause, the Assimilator ripped the corpse from the web and tore it apart. Four limbs worked in unison to rend the flesh, consume the meat, and lick the blood clean. It devoured organs and muscle alike with single-minded hunger.
The taste was exquisite. Intelligent life was always a delicacy.
However, this creature—though intelligent—was rudimentary. A barbaric species, capable of basic tools and primitive speech.
The Assimilator paused.
It sensed more approaching. Similar life signatures. More of the same kind.
It had no time to fully consume the first. Gripping what remained of the mangled body, it ascended the tree, climbing like a monstrous insect.
From above, the Assimilator watched three of the creatures approach, stone daggers in hand, moving cautiously.
One knelt by a bloody patch of grass, the only remains of their fallen kin. The others scanned the area, tense and alert.
They exchanged animated gestures and vocalizations. The Assimilator could only catch the tone, not the meaning. But it was clear they were afraid, arguing amongst themselves.
Curious, the Assimilator checked its internal systems.
Biomass Assimilated (+10)
Biomass Level: 20/100
Genetic Material Acquired
NEW: Black Goblin
Black Ant
Ten biomass units per humanoid. Far superior to the deer.
But what intrigued the Assimilator more was the goblin's mind. When intelligence emerged, assimilation of knowledge became harder. Instincts were simple—programmed into biology. But memory, language, abstract thought—those required more refined extraction.
The Hive Core, with its planetary-scale psionic capacity, could assimilate entire species' knowledge instantly. The Assimilator, now isolated from the Hivemind, could only extract fragments. One key memory per intelligent lifeform.
But one was enough.
It focused its internal systems on decoding the goblin's neural echoes. The gibberish below resolved into understandable speech.
"We get out now," one said, stepping away from the blood.
"No beast here," muttered the one still kneeling. "Strange. Humans close. No beast. So how Friki die?"
"No important," trembled the last one, blade shaking in its grip. "Important is danger near. We leave to den. We tell Draug."
"We tell Draug," echoed all three.
So they had a den. A concentration of prey.
The Assimilator clicked its mandibles with anticipation. If it could locate and consume this den, it might trigger another Metamorphosis.
But first—these three.
It descended in a blur of motion.
"Up! Up!" screamed one of the goblins—but too late.
The Assimilator crashed down from ten meters above, flattening the goblin beneath its massive bulk. The creature's bones cracked like dry twigs beneath the impact.
The other two stared in abject horror. What they saw paralyzed them:
A monstrous hybrid, with the thick, muscled legs of a beast, six spider-like limbs rising from its back like skeletal wings, and a glistening, insectoid head bristling with mandibles. Eight glossy black eyes locked onto them, hungry and unblinking.
Fear turned their bodies to stone.
And that second of hesitation was all the Assimilator needed.
With surgical precision, two arachnid limbs lanced through both goblins' skulls. A wet crunch, then silence. Their bodies collapsed, twitching, lifeless.
The Assimilator wasted no time. It butchered the corpses with mechanical efficiency, devouring them whole.
It understood goblin anatomy now. It knew where the vitals were, the joints that popped easiest, the tendons that cut cleanest.
Biomass Assimilated (+30)
Biomass Level: 50/100
A tribe of these creatures posed no threat anymore—not due to strength alone, but because the Assimilator now possessed their patterns. Their instincts. Their weaknesses.
From their minds, it gleaned more: the location of their den, their numbers, and the identity of their leader—a stronger variant known as a Hobgoblin, called Draug.
Their lair was close. An underground warren of tunnels carved by a now-extinct burrowing species. Twenty goblins. One Draug.
The Assimilator ascended the trees again, moving unseen.
The goblins watched the forest floor. They never looked up. The trees were its domain.
As it advanced, the Assimilator calculated. A full assault would be unwise. Draug was strong—perhaps strong enough to kill it with support. But isolated? Alone?
The Assimilator's strategy formed instantly.
Divide and assimilate. One by one.