The Golden Experience Point [Part 1]

Chapter 153: "The Transforming Queen"

As Sugaru walked closer, it seemed that the giant mole noticed her approach.

Is it thinking that another annoying bug has appeared?

However, despite getting close enough to be able to touch it, the mole showed no signs of moving. This attitude seemed a bit too nonchalant. It's true that otherwise the engineer ant would have been killed before it recognized the giant mole, but this behavior could be considered arrogant, if we think that it doesn't know our strength.

"Is it a consideration to allow players to strike first? No, the management wouldn't bother with such specific settings. It probably just happens to be the personality of this mole."

Perhaps due to becoming more powerful than other moles, its perception or response capability towards danger seemed to have dulled.

In this grassland, aside from small animal-type monsters found in other areas, there were only moles. The apex of this ecosystem would likely be the moles, and if this giant mole was the strongest among them, its arrogance might be justified.

"I'm not entirely sure if it's a dungeon... but since it's set as a transfer destination, these moles are probably Subordinated by the giant mole. Indeed, there seems to be no danger here."

According to individually sent system messages, it mentioned targeting "territories dominated by a single force" as the transfer destination. Since there were no clear allies like parties or clans in the system, a single force could only refer to a single character. The exception being [Subordinate].

Even though there were many monsters in the territory, being set as a transfer destination implied that one character dominated most of it. This suggested that dungeon bosses, regardless of being PCs or NPCs, uniformly possessed [Subordinate], serving as the leaders of large forces.

This was a hypothesis, but given the situation, it seemed accurate.

After defeating this giant mole, Sugaru planned to check if other moles were still alive on the way back to confirm.

Sugaru initially intended to let the mole take the initiative, but frustrated by its lack of action, she transformed both of her hands into scythe-like shapes and attacked.

For a moment I wondered what had happened and checked carefully, and sure enough, her topmost arm had changed into a sickle shape.

I'm curious about what happened to the spider's outgrowth tubes and the ant's acid-secreting holes, but first, what was the reason for the change?

In my haste to check Sugaru's skills section, the only suspicious thing I found was the [Metamorphosis] entry. Not in the sense of a dubious wording, but in the sense that it might be the cause.

She had noticed this skill during Sugaru's reincarnation. When it came to metamorphosis in insects, there was a clue. However, the ant monsters in this game did not undergo metamorphosis. They hatched directly into adults from eggs. Therefore, I thought that metamorphosis might not exist in the system, and I pretended not to investigate further to avoid potential issues.

However, it appeared that metamorphosis did exist. Moreover, it served as a practical skill for combat and production, rather than a necessary process for the creature's ecology.

The effect of the skill was to "Transform a part or all of one's body into a specific shape. The time required for the transformation can be shortened by consuming additional MP. The transformed part may temporarily gain a skill based on the post-transformation shape. The duration is determined by the consumption cost".

The original cost was LP, but by consuming both LP and MP simultaneously, instantaneous transformation was possible. The specific shape was predetermined, and Sugaru's metamorphosis list enumerated traits that could be produced as subordinates, including the current [Scythe], as well as [Thread] and [Acid].