Creature Creation System

[Ding! You get 1x biomass.] 

[Ding! You get 1x biomass.] 

Unfortunately, since they were just normal ants and not the ones he had killed himself, a single corpse only equaled one biomass. Watching from the side, Elvira smiled. 'I knew it. My decision was right. With him at my side, taking over the throne won't be a problem. After that, I can finally take revenge on them. But just where did he go in my past life? I doubt he just died... Did he transform into another being?' 

When near death, Ben had transformed into a Hive Sovereign. It was a species Elvira had never heard of in all her life., Since he could transform into this, it was very possible he could also change into other species depending on the situation.'The lower we go, the stronger the species we meet will be, but they will have lesser minds. They will act just like beasts. Did he meet up with them? But other than those, there are also the Explorers.' 

Explorers were those who tried to go deeper. The reasons varied, but most were to escape the control of the strong kingdom above. They were either a pioneer or a criminal. But both is still dangerous.

Meanwhile, Ben was now sitting on the floor, his lips curling into a smile. The corpses around him had all turned into biomass, leaving the place completely clean.

[Ding! You got 1.125x Biomass.] 

[Ding! Mastered biomass material, creature creation system unlocked.]

A new screen then popped up in front of his eyes, showing many options. 'Let me see, base creature form. I have two options: humanoid and insectoid.'

On the side of the options, there were three numbers with three icons, and as an experienced gamer, Ben quickly understood them. The first represented base complexity, the next one was mana, and the last one was biomass.

As he thought about the complexity, an explanation popped up in his mind. 'The complexity of a creature represents how intricate and advanced its design is. Higher complexity results in increased costs for mana and biomass, as more energy and resources are required to bring the creature to life.'

Ben chose humanoids since he thought they would be more adaptable and useful. Even though the insect form, like an ant, had its benefits, they couldn't use any tools or weapons. A new window then popped up, giving size options.

[Tiny, small, medium, large, huge]

'Tiny is the size of a rat, while small is as big as a dog. Medium is the size of a human. For now, I will just use human.'

Ben could instinctively tell the size was based on animals from his world. After choosing the size, he then got the option to customize their physical features. The base form came with two humanoid hands and legs, two eyes, and normal skin. 

Ben started seeing the options. Based on what he saw so far, he only had choices from human and ant species. 'I wonder how I can get more part selections. Do I need to grind for parts?'

Like it could read his mind, the system popped up a new message.

[New parts will be acquired if you use the skill consumed. Please check your skill list.]

With a thought, a new screen popped up.

[Skill:

Hive Mind

Consume

Regenerative Brood 

Chitinous Shield 

Metamorphosis

___

Consume

Eat a target to restore a small amount of stamina and health. 

There is a chance to learn and incorporate parts of their body for future transformations and creations. 

If the target resists, the skill fails and stuns you for 3 seconds.]

'So this is how I get more parts. Interesting.' Ben also checked out his other skills. Hive Mind allowed him not only to communicate with others, but he could also take direct control of their bodies.

Regenerative Brood basically consisted of regeneration using biomass. Chitinous Shield was the skill he used to cover his body with chitin armor. Ben wondered if he got this skill because the biomass he used to transform came from the ant.

If it was true, this meant he would be able to get more skills in the future. As for the last one, Metamorphosis, it allowed him to transform his body into the body parts he had gathered. The creation function was more limited than crafting. As for the last one, he could just use his imagination, while the first was not. 'I wonder if this is because of my previous occupation. As a builder, I also had a lot of knowledge as a handyman, which included making my own tools and gear.'

Ben then put his focus back on the screen.

[Extra limbs (Arms, legs) +1 complexity, +10 mana, +10 biomass.

Claws +1 complexity, +5 mana, +5 biomass.

Exoskeleton (Chitin), Ant jaw, antenna, compound eyes...]

Since he didn't know the total price, Ben decided to make the strongest creature he could for now. He put an ant jaw to give his creation more options to attack. Their hands were turned into claws, three long fingers, and a thumb. Ben then gave them two extra arms. The moment he did this, the body's waist and legs turned bulkier.

'So the system automatically corrects the creation to make sure it can function.' Finished with the physical features, Ben continued. The next option gave him the choice of abilities, but there was only one option: Royal Ant Strength. This gave innate strength to the creature, allowing them to lift things 20 times their body weight.

The information made Ben reconsider his choice. If he made the ant as large as an elephant or even bigger, their strength would grow twenty times. The innate abilities were like a cheat. But it didn't come cheaply. The tooltip explained that the cost would rise depending on the size of the creature.

Tiny would raise the cost by 25%, while small would raise it by 50%. Since he was using medium size, the cost was already a 75% increase modifier for mana and biomass. If he turned it into a huge one, it would cost an extra 125%. And there were also more cons he needed to think about.

With small size came agility, but having a body that huge in an underground place like this had too many cons. Just like the royal ant he had killed, they easily got trapped because of their body size despite their speed. If they had a humanoid-sized body, Ben could already imagine he would be dead now.

Clicking the window, an option came up, asking Ben to decide on the creature's intelligence. This time, it only had three options: Animal, Human, and Genius.

The default was human, which didn't change complexity or mana cost. Unlike other options, this one didn't impact biomass. For Genius, it cost him a +20% mana modifier, while Animal would give a minus modifier, which basically reduced the overall cost by 20%. 'Let's choose a human for now. If they become too smart and rebel, that will be a problem.'

Despite having Hive Mind, Ben didn't know if this ability was truly perfect or if it had any kind of loophole. Who knew if some kind of Genius could think of this and find a way to escape his control. This would become a big problem for him.