Imposter System

Alexis sat alone in her study staring at a pile of fabric and sewing materials. She didn't know how to sew and had tried to look up videos but was at a loss. Rather than not being able to do it, she couldn't muster the effort to begin. She stared at the two snakes in the middle of the pile, and then over at Alex sleeping in his crib.

Matt had told her to navigate the branch on her own, and she thought a lot about it. She stared at her abilities and sighed in resignation. Her proficiency had only gone to ninety after fully nurturing the two wyrmlings. He didn't explain it to her directly, but she understood that she could reabsorb them and then grow a new one. The process of growing these little guys wasn't frightening or weird at all for her. In fact, it was very fulfilling.

She picked up one of the wyrmlings and looked at its skills. It was the worse of the two, since it wasted five of her points. Alexis knew that this wyrmling would never be stronger and those five points were completely useless. Five points was a steak meal! This was unacceptable for her. Alexis pulled out Matt's jamming device and activated it. Then, she dimmed the lights in the room and returned to her seat.

After picking up the wyrmling, it began to transform back to its original form. Instead of trepidation, it seemed to feel bliss. It was aware of what was going to happen to it but returning to its mother's embrace was not uncomfortable for it at all. Alexis opened her mouth slowly, after reaching the normal limit, her jaw unhinged, and she directly shoved the whole creature down her throat.

Despite the large size, it was quite easy to devour and reabsorb the wyrmling. Once it was swallowed, it melted and was directly absorbed into her system. It never reached her stomach, so she didn't feel any sort of disgust. In the middle of the process, with the wyrmling halfway in her mouth, she felt Matt connect to her mentally and begin transmitting his thoughts. She nearly choked from shock.

Several minutes earlier.

[Host: Matthew O'Connely

Status: Grade 1+ Mind Slug

Evolution Points (EP): 314

Abilities: [Perfect Mimicry Lv. Max], [Improved Metabolism Lv. 3], [Mental Resistance Lv. 5], [Improved Reflexes Lv. 2], [Biological Reinforcement Lv. 3], [Enhanced Soul Lv. 1]

Skills: [Genetic Assimilation Lv. 7], [Toxin Resistance Lv. 5], [Hypnosis Lv. 1], [Dream Eating Lv. 1], [Primary Reproduction Lv. Max], [Psionics Lv. 3+]

Allies: [Alexis Alexeyev Grade 1], [Alexandria Nikos Grade 0]]

'It used up ninety points in order to give me that ability.' Matt contemplated as he probed the uses of this new ability, Energy Parasite.

Based on his instinctual understanding, this parasite worked exactly like Sundering Strike, but allowed for the target to recover their mental energy at the same rate as it devoured it. Once it was full, it would return to the user and strengthen them. In Matt's case, the energy would get converted to Evolution Points.

However, he didn't discover any intrinsic weaknesses, except that it wasn't possible to detonate the parasite remotely. It had to stay for the full duration. Fortunately, any attempts to remove it prematurely would activate its self-defense and destroy the targets mind. Of course, if it was caught early the strength was low, but in Matt's case, it had already been over six months.

Matt had a theory on the ability of the Energy Parasite, so he sent one of his own into Willard's. However, Matt's parasite couldn't get a foothold to penetrate. Based on his understanding, as long as his energy parasite overpowered Willard's, it would neither explode nor give Willard any benefits. In fact, it should even give Matt double the Evolution Points since the Willard's parasite already grew fat from Matt's mental energy.

Willard watched Matt contemplating his words and started laughing again. "Don't feel too bad. It won't kill you. Just leave it alone, and once it's finished, it'll return to me without harming you. You can only blame the difference in our ability."

These taunting words made something click in Matt's mind. Willard was technically a grade two-plus human, at least mentally. Based on this logic, his abilities would be a grade stronger than Matt's. It was no wonder that this Energy Parasite was able to penetrate his mind unnoticed for this long. However, if the issue was difference in ability grade…

Matt smirked and decided it was time to use his hidden card. He had been saving this for after his evolution but using it here wouldn't be bad either. With the recent mutation of his Psionics, it may even give him a surprise. He directly connected to Alexis through their mental network. After so many months, the increase in his mental abilities now allowed him to reach Alexis from almost anywhere in the ship.

{I need you to bring up the support menu again. It's time to use the upgrade I've been saving.}

{What!?—Oh, you scared me, Matt.}

{Hm? Why are you so jumpy? Are you eating someone?} He transmitted jokingly. But after Alexis didn't respond for a moment, he joked again. {You're not eating someone are you? Leave a few pieces, I'll hypnotize a few people and make it look like an accident—}

However, Alexis had finally finished reabsorbing the wyrmling and responded {No, I didn't eat someone!}

Before he could reply, the support menu appeared in his mind.

[Sub-Body Alpha:

Host: Alexis Alexeyev

Support Points: 102]

[Genetic Divergence 2: The Mind Slug is a powerful evolution pathway that has been tested through billions of iterations and become the most efficient. However, a very early iteration of the mental path was the Omega Mind, lacking both stealth and mobility but excelling in mental strength to the point of even predicting the future. Unlock the genetic information of the Omega Mind and optimize the Main Body's genome.

]Reward: Main Body Gains 75 Evolution Points

]Cost: 40 Support Points]

[Hybridization: Many pioneers in the Parasite family attempted to mix their ancestral evolutionary pathways to become something new. Explore the genetic structure of mixed branches in order to enhance the Main Body's skills.

]Reward: Main Body Evolves 1 Path Skill

]Cost: 50 Support Points]

[Keen Awareness (Locked): The Omega Mind was the pioneer of the path which ultimately became the Mind Flayer. Once the parasite entered this path, it would grow to be larger than its physical counterparts. The ability to control all living life on a planet was a given, but its true power was unlocking the secrets of precognition.

]Prerequisites: [Genetic Divergence 2], [Hybridization]]

Matt looked over the support menu and there were a lot more options than last time. A whole new column and several rows had appeared offering a variety of upgrades like mental strength, range bonuses, and other supplementary bonuses. However, all of them required Genetic Divergence at various levels.

His eyes were also drawn to the Keen Insight upgrade and was very tempted to go for it. However, Alexis only had enough support points to get the two available upgrades. It was unlikely that the Keen Awareness would cost so little. He confirmed the text on the upgrade and let Alexis know to claim it. She was quick to do so and returned to her little project.

Meanwhile, Matt felt a transformation happening deep within him. He guided the transformation to target his Psionics skill. Various images flowed into his head. He couldn't understand any of them himself, but deep down he had an instinctual understanding. Something that didn't require conscious thought. This was the core of his parasite self.

[Hybridization Upgrade Complete.]

[Dark Psionics Lv. Max: Your mastery in mental energies has unleashed the full potential of your grade, yet you were still able to go even further. Due to various mutations and optimizations, you have unlocked a portion of the Dark World's power. Each of your abilities will carry with them a sliver of energy from the Dark World, amplifying their strength by many times.

]Ability: Telepathy

]Ability: Dark Mind Blast

]Ability: Voice of the Dark Ones

]Ability: Sundering Reaper

]Ability: Energy Vampire]

Matt didn't take too much time to investigate his new abilities right away and decided to send the now improved Energy Vampire directly into the little Energy Parasite of Willard's. Instead of requiring penetration, it existed half-way in the Dark World, so it simply engulfed the target from a different dimension. It directly fed on the Energy Parasite and quickly drained it of the stored power.

Willard jumped out of his seat and shouted, "What have you done!?"

"Nothing much, I just learned your technique in seconds, and in a matter of minutes, made it better. Checkmate."

Matt slapped the screen like a bass and his projection disappeared from Willard's room. Willard fumed for a while before beginning to laugh. He had truly lost his mind, or perhaps discovered its original state.