Chapter 113 The Vigil
Being thrown into the mouth of oblivion isn't exactly what I had planned for myself in my second life but I guess things don't exactly turn out according to plan all the time.
For instance I was reborn as ant rather than a human, but hey, no use in complaining.
As the tentacles part before me to reveal the cavernous, impossibly wide mouth of the Jellymaw a tingle of fear shivers through my carapace.
The inside of this monster is simply, black. I can't see a throat or anything! Long curved fangs emerge from pure darkness and outline a gaping void, empty of any trace of the creatures I'd seen consumed before.
What. The. Heck.
I don't have much time to admire the scenery! Let him have it!
Opening my mouth wide I unleash the tightly packed mana I had concealed in my throat. Like a tightly packed explosive given a tiny outlet the pure force of energy roars out of my mouth in a focused beam of destruction. Idly I wonder why my teeth don't get shattered by the blast as it canons out of me but I may just have to put that down to my perfect aim and control.
....
The moment I unleash my strike the world flickers before my eyes, the mass of tentacles that is the Jellymaw vanishes from before me as my vision is filled with a flurry of hooked appendages and cascading dirt as the kinetic force of my blast slams into the far wall of the chamber, obliterating the other monster who happened to be skulking there.
[You have slain level 2 Lesser Imp]
[You have gained experience]
...
Sorry buddy. That wasn't on purpose.
Finally my feet hit the ground and I can tell I'm a sorry sight. Three of my legs are busted from the pressure the tentacles applied as they constricted me. Thankfully not all on one side so I can still walk somewhat well. Numerous punctures and scratches mar my carapace after the barbs tore into me as best they could.
Checking my regeneration gland I can't help but curse internally, still not topped off. I could activate it immediately but instinct tells me the effect will be exponentially better if I can hold off until the gland is full. I'll have to cope with my injuries for now.
May as well collect the Biomass whilst I can, I need to get something out of this to help me recover.
I begin to painfully drag myself across the chamber, snapped legs trailing in the dirt behind me and firing hot lances of pain directly into my mind. I don't think I'll ever get used to having so many broken legs, although I can't really recall what is was like to have only two. I think I heard somewhere that the human mind is capable of adapting to a new environment in only two weeks. It's been significantly longer than that for me here and already it feels as if some aspects of being a human are starting to feel strange in my memory.
Like... hands? I haven't had hands for a long time. I mean, do you really need them? Mandibles seem to work out just fine. I guess I don't have to open any doors, which helps.
The Jellymaw lies in a coiled heap at the edge of the chamber, looking for like a tangled rope than a horrific monster.
I know it's still alive, I haven't heard the announcement from Gandalf yet, not going to fall for that one again.
Behold! The power of human learning!
As I draw closer I can see how the monster managed to survive my shout. At the very last second the beast reacted by bringing every tentacle it could in front of its face to block as much energy as it could, angling the limbs to try and deflect the strike.
It was barely enough. Most of those fearsome appendages have been destroyed or heavily damaged, they twitch and flop on the ground now as the beast attempts to protect itself. It isn't any good.
As I draw closer I can see that the core of the Jellymaw wasn't able to escape my strike, half the core is a molten mess, sagging and weeping what I assume is blood from its collapsed head. The mouth is nowhere to be seen.
I step forward yet again, coming into contact with one of the injured limbs and suddenly I sense danger! The several tentacles whip through the air towards me! The core unfolds itself once more to reveal a that mouth, missing half of the teeth now but still fearsome!
The tentacles lash at the ground, hauling the body of the monster into the air as it collapses down on the position where it sensed that touch!
But I'm not there anymore.
IDIOT!
Trying to outsmart the great Anthony!? Only in the dreams in which you yourself are dreaming of outsmarting me! Ha!
Cautious to the extreme I retreated as quickly as I could, admittedly not very quick, as soon as I touched that loathsome tentacle!
The beast fumbles about it confusion as it failed to find anything, the tentacles flopping about, attempting to seek its foe even as the creature breaths heavily, clearly on the edge of death.
You need to settle down Jellymaw.
And become my food!
Shattering Bite!
Pouring out the last of my energy I manifest the mandibles of energy once more, bringing them down with the force of a collapsing mountain on the main body of the Jellymaw.
Under the immense pressure exerted by my mandibles the beast has no choice but to give up the ghost.
[You have slain level 4 Crinis Inanis]
[You have gained experience]
I'm.... So tired!
In the wake of my triumph I wobble on my three remaining good legs, my vision fuzzing to black before I manage to take hold of myself.
The last shattering bite was pushing the limit right to the edge, but I had to be sure I finished it off, this monster was such a pain in the gaster to deal with.
Exhausted, I pull myself towards the remains of the beast and immediately begin to feast.
[You have consumed a new source of Biomass, Crinis Inanis, one Biomass awarded]
[Basic profile of the Crinis Inanis unlocked]
I'm too tired to read the damn profile, just let me eat. Even shifting my jaws is almost too much effort.
I can't even be bothered checking if there are more monsters in the room, I just have to eat.
As I'm eating my sight begins to blur several times and the aches and pains in my body fade to dull aches before roaring back to the forefront of my consciousness.
I focus all of my willpower on mechanically eating, just move the jaws and take in the food, repeat, repeat and so on.
When I'm halfway through consuming the creature and beginning to feel full I slowly and painfully drag the Biomass back towards the colony.
My mind is on autopilot now, I'm barely thinking at all.
Slowly I begin to realise that other ants have appeared around me, grabbing hold of the food and dragging it back to the escape tunnel. They are dragging me as well, pulling me towards safety, making sure to avoid dragging at my injured legs.
When I sense the relative darkness of the escape tunnel embrace me I pull myself free from the workers and move back to take my place at the entrance, one ant among many protecting the entrance to our safe passage.
Tiny is still sleeping, healing his injuries and recovering his strength, I won't rest until he is ready to take my place.
With a thought I activate my regeneration and the healing fluid floods my system, stimulating my cells, snapping my bones back into place and repairing my joints. Hopefully it will be enough.
Once again I prepare to take up my vigil. I will keep my family safe.
-x-X-x-
After several hours of weary defence Tiny awakes, his wounds mostly healed and the fire in his eyes rekindled. So exhausted I can barely form the thoughts I tell him to defend the entrance until I wake up and retreat further into the tunnel where I collapse flat on my face.
Torpor comes over me like a warm embrace. Like a thick blanket.
Without closing my eyes, my thoughts grow slower until they shift and sink like molasses until they barely move at all. This is the rest of ant-kind!
When I awake several hours later I feel much refreshed. The heavy exhaustion that had smothered me before has mostly been lifted and the rest, combined with my feeding has closed over almost all of wounds, almost restoring my hp to full.
I get another pleasant surprise when I awaken in the form of a dark coloured gem, the core of the Jellymaw I defeated. The colony must have fished it out of the remaining Biomass and left it here for me to deal with as I was one who defeated it.
How thoughtful! Truly the workers are the best of siblings!
I'm tempted to absorb the core immediately but in the end I hesitate and decide to deal with it later. Instead I bury it in the wall alongside the other cores I had brought to the escape tunnel.
As quickly as I can I hustle back to the front lines.
Tiny is cheerfully standing as part of the wall of defenders, workers crawling over him. The poor ape is covered in wounds once again, clearly demonstrating that the wave has not let up at all whilst I was sleeping.
Indeed, the room before us is still filled with monsters battling furiously!
[Got enough energy for one more offensive?] I ask my ape companion?
Tiny turns quickly to eyeball me and nods, a big smile breaking out on his face.
Of course he does, he likes fighting almost as much as he likes food!
With Tiny helping I once more activate the Gravity Domain and we work together to clean the room once more. When that task is done I lead the workers out to collect as much of the Biomass as we can, once again securing the food supply for the colony. Under my instructions, Tiny drags a chunk of food inside the tunnel and stuffs his face before falling asleep, resting whilst I take my turn to defend.
Just like this we begin our long watch. Every few hours we would swap and rest whilst the other took their turn standing against the endless spawns of monsters. On my second watch I took the initiative to push out as much excess dirt as possible whenever there was a break in the fighting, mustering the workforce to move back up the tunnel whilst I protected the entrance, collect the dirt that had been shifted by the Queen and her dig team at the other end before transporting it out to the Queens chamber and piling it up, partially covering the entrance.
In this way we were able to close over at least part of the tunnel entrance and at the same time make a little more room in the escape tunnel.
I didn't want to close the entrance over completely, the monsters in spawning from the Dungeon were a threat to us but at the same time our only source of food. Whenever I awoke from my rest my Gravitational Energy gland would be charged enough that I could maintain the Gravity Domain until almost every monster in the chamber was killed, providing the colony, Tiny and myself the sustenance we needed in order to keep heal and fight.
There was a cost though. Despite my best efforts, despite Tiny exhausting his strength to the limit every time he woke up, we weren't able to protect every worker on the front lines. Sometimes a strong monster would spawn in the chamber, lashing out with mana or claws before I could react, or monsters fighting would lose their sense of direction and battle their way directly into the midst of the ants. Those monsters would always be quickly subdued but sometimes an unlucky worker or two would get sliced before we could save them.
Those losses hurt. I didn't look at these workers as tools or monsters that were different from myself. They had their own childlike intelligence and I accepted them as members of my family, I wanted to save them all if I could. We had grown quite tough at the frontline, a number of my brethren had successfully evolved from hatchlings to workers as time passed. When I was attempting to scout with my mana sensing I was able to discover that some of the mature workers had in fact condensed a core! A milestone well worthy of celebration!
The seemingly endless grind was giving benefits to some members of the colony even as it wore away at our nerves.
After four cycles of resting and fighting the first major shift occurred.
Luckily is was me on duty when it happened. Towards the end of my watch, tired and battered from the constant fighting I had almost not noticed the signs. I was so used to staring at the fighting directly in front of me, sensing for heat sources coming from the walls or from the tunnel above us that I had almost forgotten about what had worried me the most at first.
The tunnel below.
Mostly blocked off in the first hours of digging the escape tunnel the passage leading down into the Dungeon had never been explored my me, too nervous about what I might run into down there. I had grown accustomed to not really worrying about what was happening down there so much that when the sound of fighting from beneath me changed suddenly I didn't know what to make of it.
At first it was just a faint scraping sound mixed in with all the rest of the noise, I'd hardly registered it at first. My mind, weary from the hours of vigilance and fighting only made a mental note of it before focusing on more immediate threats.
It only grew louder with time.
Eventually the scraping was becoming more and more clear, a consistent backdrop to the more insistent sounds ringing out in front me. Then the sounds echoing from the chambers below changed, the ringing sounds of combat replaced by harsh shrieking of crazed monsters and a rather ominous chewing.
It takes a little while for my tired brain to click as to what exactly that means.
The monster from below are rising up!
The second shock strikes me at exactly the same time. From my peripheral vision a twinkling light strikes at just the wrong angle catching my attention just as I'm worried about the noise from below.
What I see makes my blood run cold.
The veins of mana that are energy source of this Dungeon are starting to grow into the escape tunnel! As I stare at these new veins my worry only grows larger.
Not only have the veins started growing, they are extending so quickly I can actually see them move! It's slow for sure, but actually visible!
Not good....
-x-X-x-
This stupid wave! Just how threatening does it have to get? I'm already a wrecked heap. A heap I say!
Now the veins are extending into the escape tunnel, which will surely cause monsters to spawn right under our feet!
An addition we have to deal with these unknown threats from below? It's enough to drive an ant crazy!
Ok.. Think Anthony, what are you going to do?
Stay and fight? Against what!? We have no idea what sort of horror is going to ascend up that tunnel, eager to eviscerate our most sensitive zones? There is absolutely no way we stay here and battle it out against whatever is coming up. One of the first things I learned about in this Dungeon is not to pick a fight you aren't sure you can win.
Run?
Run where? The tunnel isn't complete! All we can do is run up towards a dead end! They don't call 'em life ends for a reason!
Only one choice remains! Hide!
"Quick! We need to cover up the entrance and seal this tunnel!" I shout to the workers around me,
The workers respond to my call to action rapidly, as they usually do. This is a family that can be relied on in a pinch!
A hundred workers leap into action, hauling dirt up to close off the remaining open section of the tunnel entrance, quickly shovelling dirt with their mandibles.
From beneath us the sounds of bloodcurdling screams and the wild gnashing of teeth, grinding away at the bones of still living foes echo endlessly, certainly providing ample motivation to my own digging efforts.
What the heck is going on down there? Actually, I'm not confident that I really want to know.
It sounds like the monsters down there are experiencing a kind of existential terror that I wasn't sure the beasts I'd seen had a capacity to express.
I've always had a urge to investigate, to explore the deeper layers below just to know, just to see what it was like down there, what sort of creatures inhabited that space.
The ghastly sounds echoing from below have somewhat cured me of that feeling, I have to say. To the surface my fellow ants (and Tiny), maybe find a mountain to climb when we get up there!
As we pile the dirt high I can see the gradual progress of the mana veins slowly extending their baleful reach further into the escape tunnel. The speed is still slow, perhaps only as much as thirty centimetres an hour, but just seeing them visibly growing is unsettling to me.
Is the mana concentration still growing?! Is that why they are moving in this way? There is still too much that I don't understand!
Don't think about it! Just dig!
I repeatedly urge the workers to move faster as the dirt flies, ants crawling all over each other in their eagerness to complete the task they've been given.
As the horrific noises from below continue to grow louder we quickly seal off the escape tunnel, plunging ourselves into near darkness.
I'm still not satisfied though. The muffles noises and vibrations that pass through the loosely packed soil are enough motivation for me to continue stacking dirt against the entrance. I want to get some width between me and that room!
"Keep stacking that dirt, fellow workers! Start bringing it from the other end of the tunnel!"
I continue to exhort my fellow workers to keep piling dirt against the entrance, trying to put an amount of earth between us and the horrors that will soon enter that chamber that I'll feel comfortable we are safe.
After ten minutes of constant hauling the sounds of monstrous combat have receded and we've managed to pack the dirt far enough back that even the gradually extending tendrils of the mana veins on the wall have been covered over. Any monsters that spawn in those walls will claw themselves out only to find they are still encased in dirt!
If they manage to actually dig themselves out into the tunnel they'll be easy pickings for the watchful ants.
The colony has entered a strange state now, completely sealed within a dirt cylinder. As the rest of the Dungeon is plunged into blood and madness these ants and I exist in a separate, sealed container.
The worries I have are air and food. I'm not exactly sure how much air monstrous ants require in this world, monster live up to 10000 km under the surface here after all.
Food on the other hand. The colony has a voracious appetite, the need for sustenance is constant. Without being able to charge out and secure Biomass every few hours we will eventually starve to death.
Exactly how long will Tiny last without food?
I'll leave him asleep for now, if I can put off letting him know then I will...
After a period of time helping the digging, with the sounds rippling out from the Queen's chamber growing more and more muted until barely the slightest of vibrations can be felt I decide to head to the front of the tunnel to check on our progress.
The Queen and her dedicated cohort of workers have been furiously ripping into the soil and rock the entire time Tiny and I have been occupied with the defence. A lot of progress has been made! According to my tunnel map, which has reached level two, the tunnel still has a long way to go before we reach the surface.
At the front lines the Queen is still diligently digging, her massive mandibles ripping huge chunks out of the solid ground in front of her as she cheerfully encourages the workers around her to put forth their efforts.
The smaller workers at this end of the tunnel are still vibrating with enthusiasm, fawning over their mother and, vigorously transporting the loose soil further back in the tunnel.
Have they taken a break up here at all?
The escape tunnel has now become like a moving pocket of air within the solid ground, the dirt removed from the front is transported to the back and compressed as best as possible.
Quite an odd situation to say the least.
Taking my place next to the Queen once more I begin to furiously attack the soil, sending a blizzard of loose earth flying to shower the ants behind me who gather it up enthusiastically before carrying it away.
Despite no longer having to fight monsters I feel like the pressure of the wave has increased rather than decreased. The expansion of the mana veins and the movement of monsters from below has rattled me.
Firstly, the monsters from below. Why are they moving? It stands to reason that only reason they are rising up is because they have been displaced by even stronger monsters from beneath them. Is there a possibility this upwards migration would continue until those more powerful creatures rise to this level? Would even the surface be safe if that were to happen?!
Secondly the speed at which the mana veins are moving. I can only think this is caused by the mana at this level growing in intensity. If that intensity continues to grow during the wave then what exactly are conditions going to be like after a week?!
I estimate the wave has only been underway for a day and a bit at this point....
There is still a long way to go.
Casting aside my worries I begin to activate my mana sensing skill periodically as we dig. The best chance of finding food is for us to pass by another tunnel and dig towards it, performing a raid on the monsters there in order to secure Biomass for the colony.
We have moved far past my previous Dungeon exploration and my Tunnel map is completely blank in this area of the Dungeon, the escape tunnel appears as a clean line pushing into unknown territory when I view the map in my mind.
The best chance of finding a tunnel is if I can detect the core of a powerful monster or perhaps sense the mana flooding through the mana veins, then we can dig towards it.
I just hope it doesn't take too long.
-x-X-x-
Donnelan was exhausted. The young fire mage has been repeatedly rung dry over the last twenty four hours, expelling every ounce of mental effort until his mind felt as if were on fire and blood had started leaking out of eyes.
Blood! Right out of his eyes!
When he'd turned to the centurion in charge of his section to indicate the distress he was in, all he got was a cold snort of contempt and five minutes rest. He'd spent his five minutes with his head in a bucket of ice water in the med tent before climbing back up the wall to finish the last thirty minutes of his shift.
This was the first time Donnelan had been involved in defending a wave, so he wasn't sure if what he'd seen was normal or not, but what he had witnessed in the last day had shaken his impression of the Dungeon forever.
He knew the Legion was strict, really strict, on the management of the Dungeon. The mercenaries had a nickname for the Legion's rules in the Dungeon, they called them the 'Stone law', unbreakable and crushing like a mountain.
Donnelan had felt some sympathy for their view in the past. The Dungeon was dangerous to be sure but it wasn't that bad, idiots got themselves killed exploring down here sure, but idiots could kill themselves shaving, was there really such a need to regulate them?
The mage didn't feel that way now. When the light returned the Legion had been in full force on the wall of their temporary fort, officers striding up and down like angry demons, checking equipment and snapping angry hand signals to any Legionary found wanting in their preparations.
When the monster started bursting out of the soil, tearing out of walls and even dropping down from the roof Donnelan was sure he was seeing a vision of hell. Brutal combat erupted everywhere in an instant, the stench of blood and the shrieks of monster flooded his senses until he wanted to puke. Several trainees had, thrown up right over the edge of the wall. The centurions turned a blind eye to reaction of their younger soldiers, some of them had been in the exact same position once.
The endless waves of monsters crashed into each other like a roaring sea before converging on the fort in fury. None of the Legionaries could explain it but once the monsters drew close enough to the fort they seemed attracted to it irresistibly, suicidally charging in an attempt to scale the walls or burst their way through.
It hadn't taken long for the fort to be surrounded by so many monsters it looked like an island under assault by the endless tides.
The only reason the monsters didn't spawn directly under their feet was due to the deployment of an ancient Legion artefact that suppressed monster spawning in an area in the center of the camp. This was another of the Legion secrets Donnelan had been exposed to over the course of this expedition, he wasn't sure how much more they could possibly hide up their sleeves.
It was shocking to him that he could be a trainee alongside these people for five years and not a whisper of any secrets had ever reached his ears, nothing!
"How are you holding up Don?" an exhausted voice reached him.
Donnelan looked up to see Mirryn, face covered in dust and dried ichor approaching his position in the rest area before she slumped down against a tent post, seemingly devoid of energy.
Mirryn had been working just as hard as he had, pushing her archery skills to the extreme in order to damage long range monsters as well as plugging any gaps when the beasts managed to climb the walls and threaten the mages.
In the background the roar of monsters and regular explosions rocked the fort as mages continued to bombard the beasts with every ounce of magic they could grasp. Donnelan had never felt mana so thick in his life, every mage felt as if their spells were super charged in these conditions, their fire hotter, storms larger and ice colder than ever before.
The same was also true for the monsters of course. Hence all the noise.
The constant din was starting to get into a few Trainees heads. Donnelan had seen another archer, nice guy, they called him 'Fingers' due to his extremely dextrous digits he deployed in his archery, after about 14 hours of the wave he'd collapsed in a quivering mess, screaming for the noise to stop, right in the middle of the rest area.
Two medics and knocked him straight out with a rune, tumbled him into a bed where he'd been ever since.
It was almost enough to cause Donnelan to wonder if he should start shrieking himself, maybe then he'd get some sleep!
"I've never been better Mir" Donnelan drawled, "I'm practically on vacation".
Mirryn chuckled, her eyes shut and head leaning back against the post. "I heard about the eye thing. Really only five minutes?"
"Really" Donnelan affirmed.
His friend could only shake her head in disbelief, too spent for any more expression than that.
After a pause she spoke again. "I may have some good news for you though".
"Oh?"
"Apparently the trainees are going to be given a twenty four hour break before our next shift on the wall".
Donnelan was so shocked he sat up too quickly, causing a cramp in his leg.
"Ouch!" he wailed.
It took a few minutes to straighten out his leg and stretch it until the pain faded, during which Mirryn continuously chuckled painfully.
"How are they giving us a rest? Don't they need us up there? I don't see any sign of the fighting dying down..." Donnelan muttered doubtingly.
Mirryn snorted, "If anything it's getting worse! You know that as well as I do. I have no idea what the brass are planning but I was passed this news by the Tribune ten minutes ago. I swear it!"
The young fire mage could only shake his head. How were they going to hold the defences if so many soldiers took a break?
In the center of the camp the senior officers had gathered together, hundreds of years of collective Dungeon experience amassed in one place.
Despite the horrific din that battered the eardrums of everyone inside the camp the officers were unruffled, stroking their beads or thumbing their chins as they exchanged grumbling words about the state of the young soldiers these days.
There is a stirring amongst them and they turn towards their left as a unit, conversation falling away. Moments later Titus emerged from with his command tent, dark plates of armour strapped to his aging yet still bulky frame.
As he approached his old friends and comrades Titus smiled freely, clapping them on their shoulder, sharing a laugh and a warm nod with each of them. Despite the howling battle occurring not one hundred metres away the commander appeared more relaxed than he had in some time.
Quite a few of his officers noticed the change.
"Almost feels like home now doesn't it commander?" grinned a grizzled centurion.
Titus looked at the dazzlingly shining forest and drew the air deep into his lungs, drawing the rich mana into his system.
"Almost Margnus, about another 10% and it'll be just about there."
The others similarly breathed deeply before nodding in agreement. Not just the commander but the rest of these veterans were similarly looking more refreshed and moving more easily than they had in years.
Margnus glanced back at the tent Titus had emerged from before he spoke, "Any luck waking her up commander? I'd love to see her in action again after all this time."
Titus just shook his head. "It's going to take a lot more than 10% to get that old battle axe going, you know that" Titus laughed, "still, I think if we can shake out our old bones then the rest of the soldiers should be able to rest easy for a day, what do you say fellows?"
The men and women who made up the officers of the Legion Liria branch surface headquarters laughed and hefted their weapons, before moving towards the walls. Only Titus and Aurillia remained behind.
"How much longer until they start to show up, commander? Will the trainees be ready?" the Tribune asked, worry in her tone.
Titus only smiled. "Those old dogs will have starting rising up a few hours ago, the pressure in the second strata will be hitting its peak pretty soon. It won't be long until those monsters start to push up here. We'll give as many soldiers a rest as we can for now and then we'll really test their mettle."
The Tribune nodded. "Body of Iron".
"Heart of Flame".
-x-X-x-
I'm so damn hungry!
As I human I never would have expected that digging would be so tiring. Although, unlike when I was a human I've been able to move a hell of a lot more dirt. With my excavation skill targeting my instincts and my mandibles acting as a movable super shovel, I can really smash out some tunnel space.
All the work is really putting a strain on my empty stomach. When Tiny awoke I had him collect my monster cores and then put him to work compacting the dirt at the rear of the tunnel, despite having eaten relatively recently my ape buddy is also starving.
I can only imagine how the Queen is feeling. She appears to be fine, cheerfully chomping away at the earth and encouraging the workforce with her seemingly endless positivity.
My mind isn't completely focused on the digging I have to admit. As often as I can I activate the mana sensing skill, desperately searching for some sign of a source of food! On the positive side my constant scanning and digging has raised my skills, mana sensing by two levels and excavation by one, on the negative I'm yet to find anything.
In my tunnel map the escape tunnel continues to spear upwards and outwards into empty space. I am somewhat worried about where exactly we will surface, the best I can say is that it will be several kilometres away from the guarded entrance I ran into at the very least.
As I grow more and more depressed with the failure to locate anything I finally get a response.
At last! A bite on the line!
As the skill level has risen the range I can detect mana successfully has likewise increased, which is lucky since I doubt I would've been able to reach this response otherwise. Very faintly on the edge of my awareness I can barely sense the ripples of mana. Strong or weak I can't tell at this stage, the only way to get a more accurate reading would be to get closer.
It's been a number of hours since the last time the colony had access to any sort of food, not to mention, if I pass up this reading there is no guarantee another one will come in range of my mana sensing before we reach the surface, the entire colony could starve to death by then!
I won't risk it. The tunnel needs to be diverted. I turn to the Queen.
"I've found a source of food!" I say, "We have to divert the tunnel slightly in order to reach it."
The Queen pauses in her digging to turn her face towards me, I take it as I sign of politeness since, as an ant she doesn't need to turn her face to see me (compound eyes) nor to speak to me (pheromone communication).
"Do you know what you have found, child?" she asks.
I can only be honest here. "I have absolutely no clue, but we may all starve to death in a few days if we aren't able to secure some food soon. If we pass up this chance we might not get another".
The Queen ponders this for a moment before waggling her antennae in agreement. "You speak sensibly child, tell me where to dig".
After a little prodding with my antennae and trying to feel out the ground with my excavation skill I adjust the angle of the tunnel and start to curve the tunnel towards the mana source I'd detected.
If we regularly the direction of the tunnel as we approach we should be able to arrive above the source and then I can dig a small distance down towards it, allowing myself and Tiny to infiltrate without having to risk the workers unnecessarily.
The reading I just was only just able to sense is roughly two hundred metres away. Tunnelling through two hundred metres of solid earth and rock is not a casual endeavour by any means, even for a colony on monstrous earth moving machines like us.
All in all it takes us around five hours of digging to advance the tunnel towards the mana source. I continue to sink my consciousness down into my core and reach out with my senses to detect the ripples echoing outwards.
As we drew closer the form of the mana I had detected becomes more clear and it isn't long before I know just what it is that we have found, a tunnel, and a fairly narrow one at that. Joy blooms within my ant thorax when I confirm the shape of the source. This is perfect! A tunnel, covered in mana veins is sure to be packed with monsters, aka lunch, and due to the narrow width of this tunnel the size of said monsters should be fairly manageable.
After repeatedly sweeping the tunnel I can detect only a few small cores moving about before they shift out of my range. The best possible result. We may be able to harvest a few cores whilst we are at it!
When the tunnel has been dug to the correct position, I tell the Queen the correct angle to get the tunnel back on track and start digging a short passage of my own in order to push my way down towards my meal, I mean the tunnel...
[Tiny! Come up here and get ready to eat!]
I swear it takes less than ten seconds for Tiny to get from one end of the tunnel to other, drool running down his bat face as he gently pushes his way through the workers towards where I'm digging.
....
I shouldn't have called him over. This ape is way too excited. The burning hunger in his eyes feels hot enough to burn all life in this tunnel to ashes. I've invited to fight and eat, I should have known this was going to happen!
It takes me ten minutes to dig my way down to the prey cave and the entire time Tiny is hopping from one foot to another and ripping away at the side of my tunnel in order to widen it out enough for him to fit more comfortably.
Suddenly the soil gives way from in front of me and the thick scent of monster assaults my senses.
[Tiny! Time to eat buddy!]
Before I've even finished speaking Tiny releases a ravenous howl and dives directly into the vertical tunnel, right on top of me!
My plan had been to drop into the roof of this tunnel and scope it out a bit before taking any action. Instead I get pushed down the tunnel by a sheer weight of ape mass that propels us out of the tunnel and sends us smashing into the ground directly between to battling monsters.
THUMP!
....
Get off me Tiny you stupid ape!
Wait a sec. Er.
[Get off me Tiny you ape!]
He isn't listening. Eyes alive with hunger, for food and battle, Tiny leaps up, planting one foot squarely in my back, before diving headfirst into the nearest monster with his fists swinging and electricity zapping in every direction.
He flattened me. I've even taken damage dammit!
Turns out having a giant ape land on your back is less than pleasant.
Groaning internally I pick myself up and try to switch my mentality back to battle mode after the rather rude shock I experienced. Once I get my feet under my I try to grasp hold of the situation as quickly as I can.
What are we up against?
The tunnel itself is quite narrow and absolutely blazing with light, the mana veins snaking through every surface of the walls. Monsters are battling each other up and down the space, even as new monsters are pushing their way out of the walls were they have been spawned.
Havoc! Chaos!
Except they are all low level monsters!
Looking around all I can see are the sorts of enemies I'd seen when I first entered the Dungeon. Slugs, centipedes, wolves, the occasional Croca-Beast and Thorn lizards. All of the weakest foes. I was able to fight against this stuff before I'd even formed a core!
I have evolved twice since then, I am so much stronger than I was before! These monsters are simply no match for me anymore! In fact, most of them look very different now, seeing as I've grown significantly taller and longer than I had before. The Dragon-Wolf hounds can't even look down on my any more. Ha!
Prepare to feel my wrath!
Muahahaha!
Filled with glee I charge towards the nearest Coral-Slug open my mandibles wide and snap them closed.
Shattering bite!
Without any resistance the ethereal jaws of light snap cleanly through the slug. Your goop can't save you now!
[You have slain a level 3 Coral Slug]
[You have gained experience]
Who's next?!
What follows in an extremely cathartic battle. With my much higher stats, body advancements and improved skills these weaker, unevolved and base level monsters are simply no match, practically everything is destroyed with one bite!
I remember when I was afraid of you, take this!
[You have slain ...]
You want to spit your horrible acid on me now? I can barely feel it! Muahahaha!
[You have slain ...]
Oh you want to slap me around with your tail? How about I bite it off?
[You have slain ...]
All the frustration that I amassed in those early days in the upper tunnels of the Dungeon is poured out on these monsters without remorse. Yes, you horrible little beasts. Become my stress relief!
As much as I enjoy the ensuing battle, Tiny doesn't. The monsters are too weak to satisfy his lust for combat, every single one them crumbles after one impact of his colossal fist. After smashing everything in front of him the poor fellow starts to look somewhat despondent. He continues to battle and slay his way down the tunnel but he doesn't have quite the same verve as he did before.
He just can't seem to muster any enthusiasm unless there is a very real sense of danger.
You some sort of masochist Tiny? Can't enjoy yourself unless you are getting beat up?
You need help man.
Soon a decent section of the tunnel has been completely smashed clean by the two of us as we rampage until no monster is prepared to challenge us. Standing amidst the remains of our victims I am aglow with satisfaction having successfully released some of my inner demons and stress whilst Tiny can only look disappointed.
[Cheer up Tiny! Time to eat!] I tell him.
No sooner are the words out of my mouth than a wide grin plays over that bat face and he immediately starts grabbing hold of Biomass and shoving it into his face. I'm just as hungry as he is at this point so I join in with gusto, ripping into my food with all the strength my ant mouth can muster.
Biomass still tastes disgusting, don't think otherwise, but you can get used to anything after a while, even cramming your face with raw monster body parts.
It's disappointing in a way that the monsters here were such a low level, despite killing twenty or so creatures I wasn't able to level up at all, and I highly doubt I'll be able to gain much Biomass, even if I were to consume all of these creatures.
I do manage to come across three small monster cores though! I put these aside to add to my collection for experimentation. It will be some time before I can evolve so there is no need to rush and soak up every core I find, I'd rather use them to advance my skills first, I still feel that the core engineering skill has a lot of potential.
Nonetheless, Tiny and I continue to eat until our stomachs are fit to bursting, only then do we somewhat sheepishly realise that we were supposed to be securing food for the entire colony, not just ourselves.
....
Got a little distracted there.
It isn't a big deal though, if there is one thing that isn't in short supply during the wave it is spawning monsters. Even whilst we were eating there were monsters spawning out of the walls that we had to destroy between mouthfuls.
I drag myself down the corridor in order to hunt down some more prey and busy myself dragging it back towards the connection to the escape tunnel. After ten minutes I've amassed a small pile of Biomass and Tiny has done likewise after hunting in the other direction.
I head back up the short connecting tunnel in order to summon some workers to come and collect the food. As I do so I notice that the mana vein are already beginning to grow up the connection and into the escape tunnel.
Dammit.
There was no way it wasn't going to happen but it still worries me. Hopefully we will be able to continue digging and outpace the growth of these mana veins, I really don't want to have monsters jumping out of the walls as we dig. The monsters would be quickly killed to be sure, but there is a small chance that a worker would be caught unaware, or that a monster would appear directly underneath the larvae before anyone could stop it.
Dozens of ants have already lost their lives in this wave and we've been very lucky!
"I need some help to collect some food down here!" I announce to the workers after poking my head out of the small connecting tunnel.
At the word 'food', thirty workers immediately stop what there are doing and plunge themselves down the narrow tunnel, pushing me out of the way rudely in their rush to get at the Biomass!
I end up losing my grip and falling once again, this time landing squishily in a pile of monster parts.
...
My dignity!
As the ants crawl over me and start to carve up the Biomass I take a moment to rest. After fighting and then digging and then fighting some more, I really feel like a sleep!
-x-X-x-
After breaking into the smaller tunnel to feast it has been two full days. Two days of nothing but digging and snatching the occasional hour of shut eye.
The colony was able to harvest quite a haul in Biomass from the hunt, bringing up piles of Biomass to feed the Queen, workers and larvae, providing much needed energy for the labours ahead.
Before the colony dug far enough that our little capsule pocket passed completely over it we managed to make a few raids down there, grabbing enough of a food store that it should be sufficient to feed us until we make it to the surface.
The problem was the mana veins. After connecting our escape pocket to that smaller tunnel the mana veins grew and extended into our escape vessel so quickly we weren't really able to do anything about it. After just a few hours they were spreading out beneath our feet and not long after that I could feel heat sources starting to appear.
I did what I could and warned the ants, tried to get extra guards near the larvae, many of whom had reached maturity after the last feed and begun to spin their cocoons, turning into pupae. Despite these preparations we still lose a few hatchling workers and a couple of larva.
Although painful there really wasn't anything more we could have done, the colony had to be fed and without Biomass there was no way those grubs would have lived to reach maturity anyway.
At least, that's I say to console myself.
The veins are growing even faster than they did before, so quickly that we can't out dig them. It isn't long before our entire escape tunnel is lit by the mana light and as we dig forward we just can't seem to leave the things behind. Thankfully we must be high enough in the Dungeon that only weaker monsters are spawning.
Our digging has been slowed considerably over the last two days by large patches of rock that required the application of my infused mandibles to crunch our way through. Currently we have pushed through the second such patch and the going is much smoother, soft earth all the way.
According to my Tunnel map, which increased in level again to three, we shouldn't be too far away from the surface. It's hard to tell since I don't know if the surface is flat or not between the entrance I know of and the location we are digging towards. I mean, there is a slim chance we will dig up underneath a river or even the ocean, which would make me a little salty.
Heh.
I'm no digging expert but I'm hoping that if that were the case we would notice the soil getting progressively more damp as we continued to dig. There has been no sign of such a change so onward we go!
I haven't been completely idle as I dig. Using my sub-brain I've been continuing to practice my mana shaping skills, reaching the mighty level eight! Handling the mana into the various patters has become so much easier than when I started, which isn't to say it still isn't brutally challenging. Having had more practice constructing a few of the patterns though I've noticed that my proficiency has increased along with my familiarity.
Which just goes to show that I should rely solely on the skill to improve myself. Actively practicing a certain pattern will make me better at using it, even if my level doesn't necessarily increase.
I also began to experiment more with external mana manipulation. Damn that is hard! Mana inside my body is so much easier to handle than mana outside of it. Reaching out to grasp it with my mind feels like pulling my thoughts out of my own head and using them as a rope to pull in nearby energy.
I manage to level the skill up once before I go back to my shaping practice. I feel the latter is simply much more profitable right now.
Currently my status looks like this:
Name: Anthony
Level: 8 (core)
Might: 41
Toughness: 29
Cunning: 32
Will: 22
HP: 50/50
MP: 45/58
Skills: Excavation Level 8; Improved Acid Shot Level 5; Advanced Grip Level 1; Shattering Bite Level 2; Advanced Stealth Level 5; Piercing Chomp Level 5; Tunnel Map Level 3; Mana Shaping level 8; Forceful Mana Level 4; External Mana Manipulation Level 2; Mana Sensing Level 4; Core Engineer Level 2; Advanced Exo-Skeleton Defence level 3; Pet Communication Level 2;
Mutations: Focused Eyes +5, Infrared Antennae +5, Restrictive Acid +5, Absorption Legs +5, Infused Mandibles +5, Diamond Carapace +5, Limb Regeneration Gland +5, Pheromone Language Gland +5, Deep Gravity Magic Gland +5;
Species: Mind Ant (Formica)
Skill points: 4
Biomass: 13
A few small improvements to my skills after all of the digging and fighting that has taken place. The gradual improvement of my mana skills is what has left me most pleased. Yapping at Tiny whenever I get bored has also helped improve my pet communication skill, which was an unexpected plus! I can hear him more clearly for a bit further away now.
Ultimately though, I'm really hoping we hit the surface soon. I need a chance to take stock and plan the next course of action for myself and for the colony. I can't make any plans at all until I know what will greet us when we get up there.
Hopefully we wind up in a nice empty forest of something, no civilisation for hours in any direction. Then we could hide and ride out the wave!
I'll keep my six sets of claws crossed!
According to the tunnel map we should be relatively close to the surface now, a little bit further and we could realistically expect to reach it any time. With such an important milestone approaching I decide to share it with the Queen, digging inexhaustibly beside me as always.
"I think we should reach the surface soon! It'll be nice to stop digging for a change."
Without pausing in her work she agrees with me. "Yes, the family needs to rest. I hope no more children are lost as we dig".
Even now she is still primarily worried about her children. I wonder if this is a learned personality of if the Dungeon creates every Queen ant this way?
"Hopefully we won't be attacked any more once we reach the surface and can take a breather" I suggest.
"Do you know what the surface is?" I ask curiously.
"No" she replies.
"So how do you know that it will be good for us to go there?"
"One of my children told me so" I can almost hear laughter in her voice, as if suggesting that her children could be wrong or incorrect in anyway, or would mislead her, is simply not a situation that exists in her mind.
And maybe it doesn't. What sort of ant would lie?
As I'm pondering that situation my mandibles scrape onto something. Dammit! More stone! I'm sick of carving through this stuff, my face hurts like fire already!
Grumbling to myself slightly I start to channel mana into my infused mandibles in order to tear through the stone a bit easier. The Queen backs up slightly to give me more space at the front, when it comes to tearing through the rock my mandibles outperform even hers a little bit, and to be honest I think she secretly enjoys a break, she is the only member of the colony to not have a moment of torpor since the wave broke.
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH.
Working mechanically I open my mandibles before slamming them closed and ripping into the stone, cutting away at it easily, causing shorn off pieces to crumble away, raining down on my face and bouncing off my carapace.
It feel like these stones are giving way slightly? Perhaps they are a bit loose?
They also seem quite regular for underground rocks...
Ah well.
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CLATTER!
After digging for a few more minutes the stones suddenly give way and fall around me, revealing an open space beyond.
Is this!?
Did we make it!?
Excited I push my head forward, forcing it through the gap and pushing away the stones in order to get a better view.
Where are we?!
What greats my eyes is a touch surprising. My compound vision ensuring I get a complete picture at once.
We are inside what looks like a stone building with a high vaulted ceiling. On either side of me long wooden chairs are arranged in rows, all facing the same direction, a crowd of people has recoiled on either side, pressing each other against the walls and looking at my ant face in horror.
All of this is shocking enough.
Just that would have been terrible.
But that isn't what seizes my attention.
Before me, at the front of the building, where all of the chairs are facing is a pulpit with a robed figure pointing at me with powerful emotion twisting his face, and behind that man is a statue.
That statue.
.... Is..... Is that?
Sir Ian McKellan?
Gandalf?
-x-X-x-
There are so many things wrong with this situation. In my peripheral vision I can see humans pointing fingers, whispering fearfully in response to my intrusion. At the dais to the front of the chamber the impressively robed figure recovers from his shock and launches into what sounds like a truly impassioned diatribe, full of furious gestures. The man is practically screaming in his fervour, spittle flying from his lips as he exhorts the crowd.
The people are beginning to respond to him as well, turning to listen, the fear slowly dropping from their faces. Their expressions slowly changing from unease to a rapt attention and then to something I could say is religious ecstasy.
Meanwhile, all I can think about is that stupid statue.
How the heck did they get those features so perfect?!
It isn't even Ian McKellan dressed up as Gandalf, as he did for the Lord of the Rings movies. It's just Sir Ian, albeit with something of a beard. The statue depicts him standing, wizened eyes and lined face depicting both wisdom that comes with age and the warmth of a kind soul. His arms are outstretched, one reaching forward in invitation and the other held wide, as if gesturing to the wider world.
He is wearing robes, which clearly fits with the character, and upon the ropes there are hundreds of lines of text, carved so small and intricate that I can only imagine the effort that went into producing such a statue.
That is so weird. I'm aware that other people from my world have come to this one as monsters, is it possible that some have come as humans also? Perhaps one of them also recognised the voice as that of Gandalf and decided to jokingly use his image to found some sort of religion?
I mean, this is clearly a church of some kind, they even have the stained glass windows, through which I can see the faint rays of something I had barely experienced in this world, sunlight! The windows are incredible though, each depicting a different scene which I assume relates to their faith.
In one I can see miserable humans working and fighting. Next to that there is an image of Gandalf descending from above, words pouring from the cloth of his robe to fall upon a joyous populace. Next to that the window depicts dark creatures, monsters I presume, emerging from the ground where they are met in battle by powerful and sturdy looking humans, lines of text exploding from each battle like special effects.
Actually, looking closely I can see that words have been stitched into the robes of the priest also, lines and lines of them in an impressive looking golden thread. I hadn't noticed at first but as the light shifts over his robe the texts glitters prettily.
They really go all out here in this church! Intricately carved statue, skilfully made stained glass, expensive robes and high vaulted ceiling. The full treatment!
"What is wrong?" I hear the Queen ask.
I must have been still for longer than I thought, causing the Queen to become concerned.
"We've reached the surface, which is good news! We are surrounded by humans though, which I'm not sure is ideal?" I respond.
The Queen thinks for a moment.
"What is a human?" she asks.
Err.
"A living creature... that isn't a monster?" I hazard.
"Hmmm" the Queen ponders.
"Can we eat them?" she eventually asks.
....
.....
Now that is a question. Regardless of whether or not I feel comfortable eating people, something which I am really not sure I want to make a call on in this moment, would they even give Biomass, seeing as they aren't monsters? Do they give experience for killing them?
I wonder how much...
No! Those are living breathing people Anthony! There are women and children in this crowd! Don't think about them as juicy sacks of experience!
Even if they think about you that way....
Wait.
Don't pursue that thought.
Shaking my head I try to focus on the humans whilst I formulate a reply to the patient Queen.
"I'm not sure if we can eat them or not. Wait down there with the family for a moment, I want to make sure we are safe".
Hesitant to make any large movements I begin to slowly push myself further out of the hole I've dug into the floor.
It just so happens my movement seems to correspond with the crescendo of the priest's impassioned speech. The middle aged looking gentlemen has gone completely red in the face and he seems to be struggling for breathe as he continues to raise his volume somewhat beyond what I imaged was normal human capacity.
His face is completely twisted with rapture as he raises his hands high to the heavens, apparently exhorting them for something.
My antennae twitch nervously as I continue to slowly creep out of the hole, bringing my legs out one by one.
My movement doesn't go completely without notice unfortunately and the priest once again fixes his burning gaze upon me. The crowd has become completely captured by his blazing rhetoric by this point. I really wish I could understand the words coming out of his mouth, these people seem to be gripped by a potent religious ecstasy, as if the arrival of a monstrous ant from beneath the floor were the second coming of someone really important.
I'm not sure I'm ready for that sort of pressure!
As the priest once again begins to gesture at me the crowd focus their now uncomfortably hungry eyes upon me once again, all traces of fear gone. As I slowly pull myself out an older lady nearby begins to tear up and falls to her knees, hands clasped together in praise.
Uhh....
Are you misunderstanding something?
Out of nervous habit I start to clean my antennae, running my forelegs over them, much like a person would wipe sweat from their brow.
I'm really not sure how to take this!
My discomfort goes unnoticed by the congregation. The old lady seems to have started a trend as several more people are overcome with emotion and sink to their knees. That seems to settle the matter as within seconds the entire audience has fallen to the floor with an audible thunk!
Fully emerged now, I stand in the center of the church, rows of pews on either side as all along the walls people are kneeling hands clasped in prayer facing towards me.
I mean... uh... err..... Hi?
I don't think this is what you guys think it is?
....
I really need to learn mental magic... I didn't think I'd need it this soon!
The priest has completed his sermon at this point. A peace seems to have fallen upon him, the tension gone from his body. He almost seems to radiate an acceptance of heavens will as he too clasps his hands together.
He doesn't kneel though. Slowly and with great dignity he turns towards the altar that stands before the statue. From behind the altar he gathers what appears to be some kind of ceremonial mace which he holds before himself, hands clasped around the haft.
Why a mace though?
Is it an incense stick or something? It does seem to be quite delicately made, too ornate to be a practical weapon. Curiously I flick on my mana sense but I get no response from the item. Doesn't seem to be enchanted or anything.... Is he going to knight me with it? Tap me on the shoulder as a blessing or something?
I'm starting to get more and more worried.
I don't want to offend these people or start a fight or something. Even if this people aren't able to defeat us monstrous ants, they might be able to go and bring people who can! Those soldiers I saw in the tunnels were no joke, I'm not sure I could match up to them even now.
Just play it cool Anthony, don't do anything stupid.
The priest continues to hold his apparently ceremonial mace before him reverentially as he slowly begins to walk down the center of the church towards me. With every step someone from the crowd is overcome with the power of the moment at raises their hands to call out powerfully before sinking back into respectful prayer.
These outbursts become more frequent the closer the priest becomes until he stands before whilst the shouts of the congregation rain down upon him.
Uh.. Hello?
I've grown large enough now that I am basically looking this person in the midriff, which is a great change from when I was born. The hatchlings would only be looking him in the knee. It really is a ridiculous size for an ant, considering how much longer we are than tall. I would certainly be longer than this guy if he were to lie down.
I wonder how much I weigh these days?
Unknowing of my internal jitters the priest brings his mace before him, face filled with rapture. Slowly be raises in offering to the heavens as the crowd becomes even more frenzied.
Then he brings it crashing down on my head.
Then I bite his arm off.
-x-X-x-
So caught up in the strange energy of the moment it takes a moment before I even realise what it is I've done.
Uh.... Whoops?
I mean, he hit me on the head with his stupid mace! What exactly did he think was going to happen?! I've been living a violent life in the Dungeon, some things are just becoming instinct you know? If you whack me on the head with your stupid mace then you can't really blame me for retaliating right? It's self-defence!
The priest seems to also take a moment to process these events. He looks down at his now severed limb before a new expression gradually takes over his face. He falls backwards clutching at his arm and screams loudly in horror!
This triggers the stunned crowd, who had been locked in place with shock to erupt with fear, people climbing over each other as they attempt to run for the door!
Oh boy...
This is not what I intended! Why the hell did we have to dig up into a freakin' human building anyway?!
Did they think the Dungeon had delivered some free xp to them as offering or something? You expected me to just stand there and get killed?! Even if I were to let you bash my head in with that ornate mace for half an hour it wouldn't have been able to damage my diamond carapace in the first place! All I'd get is a headache!
Since it has come to this I have to try and limit the damage, my plan was to have the colony hide somewhere on the surface so we could ride out the worst of the wave in relative safety. If we manage to draw a human army down on our heads then we may as well go back down into the Dungeon and try our luck! If these humans run away and bring back soldiers we'll be in a real pickle!
Think Anthony! You have to fix this!
Out of desperation I do the only think I can think of to stop the people from running away.
I channel my gravitational magic and form the gravity domain.
I mean, it would stop them moving right?
With my increasing skill and familiarity with the spell I can form it much more quickly than before, in only a matter of seconds the powerful energy erupts from me, encompassing the church building. Thankfully I had enough presence of mind to dial back the strength of the gravity.
The moment the spell erupts the humans find themselves unable to keep their feet, the younger children immediately fall to the floor, completely unable to resist the force pulling them down. The adults are better able to cope but even they find themselves without the capacity to walk.
The priest himself is too busy shrieking and gripping his arm, holding it before his disbelieving face, he doesn't even seem to notice that he has been forced onto the floor by my spell.
In some ways I'm impressed.
I only leave the domain in place for a few seconds before I shut it off. In those few seconds the frantic escape of the congregation has been halted, almost everyone has been forced to the floor, unmoving.
I try my best to stare them down a little. It isn't easy to communicate "don't move or I'll turn it back on again!" with an ant stare but I do my best.
They seem to get it to some extent. Fear twists their faces as they have now realised that this isn't some religious experience but the enemy of their kind, monsters from the Dungeon, emerging when they least expected it in possibly the last place they expected.
Seeing the terror and tears on the faces of the children is quite a blow to me. It wasn't that long ago I was a human myself! I'm not that scary am I?
I mean..... A giant ant that can apparently control the force of gravity would be pretty damn scary when I think about it.
With the crowd subdued for the moment I decide to try and work out exactly where we are. I need to know a little more about this situation before I decide to bring the colony up to the surface or retreat down and come up with another plan.
Moving down the aisle towards the large double doors at the rear of the church I hesitate a moment before pushing them open with my mandibles and taking in the surface of this world for the first time.
A brilliant sunset is the first thing that meets my eyes, the alien sky dyed with intense reds and pinks. Lovely. Not much scenery to appreciate in the tunnel after all, causing this sight to hit perhaps a little harder than I would have thought.
Focus! No time to get caught up in a sunset! Shaking myself slightly I turn to take a look at the surroundings. The church appears to be situated on a hill, a cobbled path leading directly up to the doors. Spread before me looks to be a sleepy town, smoke curling from chimneys that poke proudly out of slatted roofs. In the distance I can see farming fields spread like a carpet that press up against a walled city.
Checking my tunnel map quickly I estimate the previous Dungeon entrance I had located seems like it would be smack bang in the middle of that city.
So... things could have been worse, I suppose.
In fact, if I focus my eyes carefully I think there is a fire in that city? Against the darkening skies I'm fairly sure a plume of black smoke is rising from somewhere inside the walls. Some sort of situation happening over there? I don't especially want to wish harm on anyone over there but this could be a chance for the colony to slip away without notice!
After turning back to eyeball the congregation again I scurry around the side of the church and take a peek around the corner. The church doesn't seem to be as large as I had originally thought it was, a sturdy stone building with a high vaulted ceiling to be sure, but it isn't exactly a cathedral.
It seems to have been constructed on the edge of this town, high on the hill overlooking the more simple homes of the people, many of whom possibly work farming the surrounding fields. On the rear side of the church, down the hill and over a few open paddocks a lush wood is spread, thick foliage creating a beckoning darkness across the forest floor.
Just the sort of place a colony could go and get lost in!
I might be able to salvage this after all!
I turn and head back inside where many members of the congregation have begun to offer prayers of a much different sort to the statue, hoping for salvation and survival rather than whatever the heck they had thought was coming their way before.
The priest is still clutching his arm, almost completely inert. I think the shock has hit him pretty bad. Poor guy. I can't help but feel a twinge of guilt, I mean, I did bite his arm off...
I head back to the hole in the floor stick my back zone through so I can talk to the Queen.
It's a little weird the pheromone conversation. We 'listen' with our antennae but we 'talk' with our pheromone gland which is positioned in the rear zone.
"Could you come up here and heal a person? I injured him, but I think it would be bad for us if he died".
I can tell the Queen is a little surprised but she quickly agrees with my suggestion and begins to chomp and push her way up through the floor, buckling the flat stones and forcing the wooden pews to scrape and scratch on the floor as she forces her bulk through.
If I'd thought the humans were fervently wishing for salvation before their efforts are redoubles with the emergence of the Queen. She fills the room with her majesty and abdomen, forcing the people to push themselves back against the walls, openly weeping in terror and this manifestation of the Dungeons evil.
The Queen doesn't seem much fussed. She channels mana through her antennae for a moment and then touches the priest on the arm. The light flares as it passes into his flesh and the wound rapidly closes over, the bleeding slowing to almost nothing in a matter of seconds.
I think with this his life will be preserved, at the very least he won't bleed to death.
With no way to communicate to reassure the people I decide its best just to hustle the colony out of there. Giving instructions to the Queen and the workers we gather up the larvae and pupae before marching out of the church towards the forest.
The eyes of the congregation are almost popping out of their head as rows of monsters ants pour out of this hole in the center of their church, marching past whilst totally ignoring them. I myself head down into the escape tunnel to help move and I'm shocked when a fat grub wiggles towards me, flopping about on the ground with glee.
Are you that energetic grub I saved from the brood chamber?! I shouldn't be shocked you survived I suppose, you do seem to have an unusual amount of spunk.
With that, Tiny, the colony and myself carry everything we belong and walk out, past the disbelieving and hopeful faces of the colony, out the front of the church, across the field and then beneath into the welcoming arms of the forest.
All the while the burning gaze of the priest follows me as I walk.
-x-X-x-
I'd never thought that running through a feel of wheat could be quite so thrilling. Perhaps everyone had been wrong on that front? As I hustled along, Tiny in tow carrying my precious monster cores in one large paw and the rest of the colony following along behind, I couldn't help but panic the entire way, worrying that we'd be spotted.
Who exactly was going to spot us crossing a farm field at dusk, the sun having fallen almost completely below the horizon, I'm not sure. Perhaps the Dragon Guards of legend would swoop out of the sky and smite me with a thunder hammer or something? I have no idea how things operate up here! For all I know there are wizards that could vaporize the entire colony from kilometres away.
Right up until the moment the last worker is safely under the cover of trees I keep stressing. When finally the entire workforce is safe and the Queen, surrounded by her dedicated cadre of ants has been escorted into the forest, I sigh in relief.
Feeling a little more comfortable I make my way to the head of our monstrous ant convoy as we plunge into unknown territory.
There is something faintly magical about this forest, it's old, even I can tell that much with my limited outdoors experience. The trees look wrinkled and wise beneath their broad canopies, stretching to the sun like the elderly doing morning exercise.
At this late hour a mist is beginning to rise from the damp litter of the forest floor, further concealing our movements as we rush further into these woods.
Wait a sec! Heat!
My antennae are constantly scanning and sweeping as we advance and eventually I detect a heat signature ahead and slightly to the left, as if some creature were waiting crouched in the growth as we approach.
I decide to continue to advacne as if I had no knowledge of this interloper, wanting to see exactly what kind of action it would choose to take. Will it attack? Will it flee? I don't know anything about this forest or about the creatures who live here. Any chance to learn something should be seized. Knowledge is power to the monster!
My antennae continue to twitch about as I lead the trail of ants. The heat source has continued to remain still as I draw closer. I even adjust my path so that I'll be right next to the source as I pass but it doesn't twitch in response.
Eventually I move within only a few feet of it. I can clearly see the hiding place now, a dense shrub with thickly intertwined branches providing total visual cover. Sadly for this beastie my advanced senses are completely aware of their location.
My main worry in the event of an attack is the larvae I'm carrying in my mandibles. This feisty grub refuses to sit still, insisting on wiggling about as if admiring the view. You don't have eyes you little grub! What is the point of trying to get a better view?
If I'm attacked I'll have to ensure the grub remains unharmed, and somehow retaliate without using my mandibles, which are fully occupied with said grub.
Sure enough, just as I pass by the bush suddenly rustles and the creature attacks.
Thin, twisted flesh, furred sin, vicious fangs and a crude dagger are all I can see clearly as the creature emerges in a rush, bringing its weapon down in a vicious slice!
I've seen it all you chump! Curling slightly I present my diamond carapace to the weapon, shielding the grub with my body and rotating my face away from it.
The blade flashes down!
*Ting!*
The blade harmlessly pings off my carapace. The recoil twists the creatures arm on a terrible angle, possibly breaking it.
I'm not sure who is more shocked by the total lack of damage inflicted, the monster or me.
Better safe than sorry I suppose, completing my rotation I present the business zone towards this furry humanoid and blast it with acid!
POW!
Already wounded by the rebound of its own strike the creature howls pitifully as the acid blasts it off its feet and congeals, pinning it to the ground.
[You have slain level 9 Ille Feram]
[You have gained experience]
...
So weak!
Super Weak!
One blast of acid and you're dead? Are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure you broke your own arm just by attacking me!
This isn't a some comedy!
Disgusted by the weakness of this monster I'm not even sure that I want to eat it. Is this what monsters are like on the surface? Surely the difference can't be this much?
I shouldn't get ahead of myself. One skinny fur man in the woods isn't representative of all surface monsters, I should stay watchful.
Disregarding the remains of this creature the convoy continues to wind its way deeper in the woods. A long column consisting of hundreds of ants marches along in near perfect silence. After about an hour I halt the column and look about.
We have arrived in a small clearing in the wood. Strong trees surround us on all sides, the soil appears soft and rich beneath my feet. The lush undergrowth is pleasing on the eyes and indicates that this forest is vibrant and full of life.
Seems like a good spot!
We should be far enough away from human civilisation for the time being, at the very least I hope they won't be able to find us in one day. To be honest I'd rather be further away than this but I have no idea how large this forest is. If we keep marching there is a chance that we'll run clean out the other side and into more farmland, better to put down some roots and scout out the situation before we make any more moves.
"Wait here a sec!" I shout to the workers who waggle their antennae at me and tap my head as I wander past. Roughly in the middle of our convoy, I find the Queen, looming over her subjects as they escort her forward.
"I think I've found a place for us to build a nest, might be a good idea to get the larvae settled down and go hunting. Hopefully we can find a decent amount of Biomass up here."
The Queen simply nods her assent. I think she's a lot more tired than she's letting on. The only member of the colony to get no rest at all since the beginning of the wave is her after all. She probably needs some sleep more than the grubs do.
Ants being what they are it doesn't take long for the colony to begin construction on a crude nest. It's honestly a little moving to see them in action. Hundreds of ants swarming, tearing into the soil with relentless energy.
In a matter of hours there is a simple ant hill erected in the clearing, nearly as tall as the tree tops. Inside the colony has packed into a few simple chambers, tending to the brood, whilst the Queen has finally been able to get some rest, nervously watched by her defenders, right in the heart of the new nest at the bottom.
I myself manage to excavate a small chamber for myself and Tiny to curl up in, my precious monster cores nearby and the little grub I carried nestled in one corner.
I'm so damn tired. Please nothing happen at the very least until I get some sleep!
-x-X-x-
Since the cataclysm and the opening of the Dungeon to sentient surface dwellers, expeditions to the underground spaces for resources have been a constant in society. Not only for the abundance of experience provided by the Dungeon monsters, far above that which can be attained above ground, but for the precious resources that can be found there.
Rare mineral types never seen before, underground trees who's wood contains incredible properties, gems infused with mana are all highly prized, but the monsters themselves have always held the greatest treasure.
It is well known on the surface that certain monster parts, when treated correctly, can be prevented from dissolving back into the Dungeon and then turned into miraculous equipment and tools that cannot be replicated using only surface materials. Although expensive to purchase, items crafted from monster parts can be found in almost any civilised town, often something as simple as plough could be constructed using centipede fangs as the blade, or carved completely from the tough bones of a larger beast.
More sought after still are the precious monster cores. It isn't known exactly how or why monsters form cores, but what is known is that they constantly absorb and compress mana, giving the monsters a rich source of power within their own bodies, something no surface race has been able to achieve. Mages are able to perform their miracles by drawing on and shaping the energy found in the area around them or from specially crafted mana stores on their person, but none has ever achieved the internal storage that the core allows monsters.
What's more, the core of a monster retains these properties after death, constantly absorbing and storing mana. When combined with skilful enchanting techniques, cores, especially larger, powerful ones, can be used to create the most powerful weapons and artefacts, hence their incredible value.
Excerpt from 'Cultural study of Pangera and the Dungeon'. Chapter 6. By the Magio Scholar Tarius
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Like a slumbering giant the colony rested that night. The workers had been pushing themselves hard, just as I had and almost the entire workforce sank into torpor with only a few guards patrolling on the ant hill outside. Over five hundred monsters, crammed into a small space, each as still as a ghost. Hundreds more larvae and pupae filled every corner of our new nest, the next generation of workers growing ever closer to their time of awakening.
When I finally shake myself out of torpor I feel refreshed in a way I haven't felt for a long time.
So good!
I can sleep as much as I want and I don't have to battle something to the death the moment I wake up! The lousy wave is in the rear view mirror for the time being and it is a massive weight off my shoulders.
I'm not so foolish to think we will continue to remain untouched by it up here, but at the very least I can enjoy this respite from the constant danger.
Looking around my cramped little chamber I can see Tiny curled up in ball, still snoring away happily. Even rolled up he takes by far the most space in here, he continues to get larger as he eats. Exactly how big is he going to get?!
I'm also pleasantly surprised when I spot the other occupant of the room. Instead of the energetic little grub I saw when I'd gone to sleep in here, there is instead a thick cocoon leaning up against the wall.
A pupa! The little grub must have woven its cocoon whilst I was sleeping! Using my antennae I give a few light taps to the white exterior in order to inspect the pupa. This is the transformative stage of an ants development where they turn from a blind grub into a fully formed ant. This grub was so energetic before, I wonder how it'll be behave as a worker?
Certainly the pupa seems a little different than those I'd seen before? I'm not sure I can put my finger on exactly why....
Mentally shrugging I turn to the other, precious occupant of this room, my cores! Wait..... Weren't there more of these before?!
Shocked, I rush over to my collection like a bird flying to defend its nest. Yes I'm sure of it! I'm missing two cores! I frantically check the remaining gems with my antennae. Phew! The Jellymaw core is still here, I have plans for that one.
Irritated I turn towards Tiny and slap him awake with an antenna. He must have absorbed them in his sleep this greedy ape! So you've gone from refusing to accept any cores to stealing them now huh!?
WAP WAP WAP!
Eventually Tiny is roused by my furious swiping and blearily unfolds himself. He seems completely unaware that I've been hitting him as he yawns and stretches before turning back to me.
[Food?] he asks.
....
Some things never change I suppose.
[Come on, let's go hunting].
The two of us make our way out of our home and up the main shaft of the nest until we reach the top of the anthill. The rest of the colony is similarly waking up, dozens of workers are pouring out of their chambers and getting busy around the colony, some heading lower in order to tend to the Queen, others checking in on the brood, most of which has transformed into pupa by this time. Soon the colony will go past one thousand workers!
That does raise a problem though.
We need food! Ants on earth have a voracious appetite, tearing through huge amounts of other insects and small creatures in order to obtain protein to grow their young. Mature ants on earth don't really need to eat meat themselves, they mainly rely on sugars to keep themselves going.
Not here on Pangera! The monstrous ants need Biomass to keep themselves kicking and growing stronger, just like the young. This means the monstrous ant colony has an even larger appetite when compared to normal ants!
Time to hunt! Already scouts are starting to pour into the forest, twenty to thirty of them darting off to try and locate something for the colony to feast on. More and more workers are massing on the anthill every second, slowly expanding outwards and pushing gradually into the forest, waiting for a signal to go and collect food.
Tiny and I drift off into the forest, moving in the opposite direction to the human town that we'd seen. I don't want to get closer to civilisation and I would love to know just how large this forest is. Something tells me that with a fairly major looking city nearby I shouldn't expect it to be massive. As long as we can hide out here for a week or two I'll be happy!
What follows is a fairly dull day of plodding through forest looking for prey. Tiny and I are more successful than most of the scouts, due to my enhanced senses obviously, but even so there doesn't seem to be a high concentration of monsters nearby the nest.
I run into a few more of those hairy skinny things, each of them wielding crude tools or weapons that heaven only knows where they got them from.
They go down with even less of a fight than the first one did, if that is even possible. Tiny punched one and the creature practically exploded.
Surface monsters are clearly not up to the standard of us Dungeon dwellers.
Which leads me to another conundrum. If I want to improve my skills I'll need to level up and gain Biomass. If I want to evolve or develop my core manipulation abilities I'll need a steady supply of cores and so far those appear to be thin on the ground up here.
As the day draws on I'm led more and more to the thought that even though we just escaped from the Dungeon we are still going to need access to it. Without Dungeon monsters to fight the colony and I can only stagnate.
I won't accept that!