[Still, one advantage you have over monsters of your tier is that you have a fairly capable basis for multiple thought threads, which is the optimal way to grind your mental Skills.]
[That's what I've been doing. At least lately. The idea was to advance my magic as fast as possible to try and unlock the Gravity Magic Affinity. I have a feeling that once I get it, it'll be strong.]
Granin nods.
[I've no doubt of that. Space magic is one of the most advanced forms of magic known and only old boulders like myself manage to level our Skills to the point we can unlock it. Even then, it levels up extremely slowly. Only the most powerful and gifted of Shapers can do more than create and open gates with it.]
Thinking of an army of ants teleporting around through magical gateways, I mutter: [yeah, well, gates sound pretty good.]
[You aren't wrong. They form a huge part of every Dungeon civilisation. I'd go so far as to say, colonising the Dungeon would have been impossible without it. If your Gravity magic is as fundamental as that, it may be some time before you're able to unlock the affinity.]
[Dammit.]
[Agreed,] Granin sighs, [acquiring that skill would be the easiest and fastest way to power you up. Since you don't have access to it, and we don't know when you will, there's little point in trying to grind for it now. If we throw all our eggs in that basket and the Skill doesn't show up, then you'll end up in a bad way.]
[I don't know about that,] I protest, [it's not as if that last battle was a real struggle. I dealt with that supposedly powerful monster with ease.]
Granin gave me a long steady look at that point. I could almost hear his thoughts turning in his head, I could see how hard he was struggling not to call me an idiot.
[Out with it then,] I sigh.
The Shaper shrugged heavily and sat down before looking me in the eye.
[Look, Anthony. That Rhino was a stupid thought experiment. Had it landed that charge on you, you would have exploded into a thousand tiny pieces in an instant.]
[What about my Diamond Carapace?]
[In an instant,] he insists, [your carapace wouldn't count for squat. It was carefully raised over a period of years, fed cores and Biomass, tested in battle after battle. It took the blood, sweat and tears of a team of three Shapers to create that creature and it was a certified killing machine. Luckily for you, it wasn't that smart, and it was inflexible. I don't think the poor creature even considered you would use Earth magic to open a tunnel beneath you whilst casting all those other spells.]
[So you're saying I was lucky.]
[In a way, you were very lucky. The opponent was lacking in intelligence, which is something you have an unfair advantage in, since you're a reincarnator. Most of the monsters that you'll face will be smarter, most of them will be just as clever as the average human.]
[I thought it wasn't popular to invest in mental stats at this tier?]
[That's true, but creating a hulking brute without a brain is just asking for your expensive, labour intensive project to club its own brain out with a rock. Remember, these aren't pets. They are true, wild monsters that have undergone extensive core shaping after spawning.]
He makes a good point. Tiny has been as much a hindrance as he has a help at various points. In some ways it just adds to his loveable charm, but in others it's nearly got us killed. It's all trade-offs.
[So what's the play then? What do you think I need to work on?]
Instead of answering directly, the Shaper asks me another question.
[What are your basic elemental skills like?]
[You mean, fire, water, earth and air? I mean. I have them. None of them are past rank three though.]
[Oh? That's better than I thought. If you can get all of them to rank three and fuse them then you'll have a bit more firepower in your corner.]
[To rank three? Is that all? I thought fusions would be better the higher rank the Skills were. Shouldn't I try and hold on for rank four at least?]
Granin hesitates.
[Yes. Technically, yes. The rank four fusion is much stronger than the third rank one. The fifth is even better than that. I'm not sure that anyone has done rank six. Certainly I've no idea what that fusion results in. You'd have to level up the four skills seventy five times, which would take a heck of a long time.]
[But it would be worth it in the long run...]
[Surviving in the short term has to trump planning for the long term at some point...]
He has a point there. But nobody got anywhere without taking risks! I have a feeling like if I compromise too much then my path to power in the future is going to get cut short. Compromise now, compromise in the future, when will it end? I need to push hard, right now. Also, I have an advantage that Granin doesn't know about. The Gravity Bomb. I know it's a risk, but if I get deep enough into this tournament, hopefully the Cult won't be so prepared to sacrifice me to learn about my magic and I can snag a free win by blasting some poor monster into a compressed ball of their former selves.
[You've got to go big or go home, Granin! We're shooting for a more powerful fusion! Rank five! Hit me up top!]
I raise a foreleg for the inevitable five but to my mounting shock it appears as if Granin fully intends to leave me hanging. Perhaps he's able to sense my mounting despair over the mental link because he speaks up after a moment.
[I have no idea why you're raising your leg up in the air. I need to hit you where? And by the way, you do realise that in this case 'going home' means being murdered and then eaten?]
[It's a 'high five', you need to... never mind. Yes, I understand that I'm taking a significant risk. I just feel like if I can get as much strength as possible from the base elements, then I won't need anything else to push me through until I can finally get my Gravity Affinity.]
Granin thinks about it for a few minutes.
[I take your point. If you can get hold of a more powerful fusion then it may prove to be more efficient going forward. I just hope we can keep you alive to that point.]
[If I don't manage it, it's not as if I'll have to worry about what comes after.]
[True. Just what sort of life did you live on your world?]
[Pretty ordinary I suppose. I mean, I think so? Stabbings are common, or so I believe...]
[You died from stabbing? That sounds rough.]
[What? Nonono. A stabbing is just a hospital visit, no worries there. Got patched up a few times. No, I starved to death.]
[How the hell...]
[Doesn't really matter does it? Bug off, Granin. Time for training!]
-x-X-x-
Chapter 476 An unlikely ally
I spent the next two days training my Skills. In order to maximise my training speed, members of Granin's triad came to assist me. Something I'd already noticed is that Skills train much faster in a combat situation. Field practice, so to speak. The System doesn't seem to be too picky about what exactly counts as combat since I can shape the earth beneath Torrina's feet over and over again and hey that counts. I'm not complaining about it, it means my Skills go up faster after all, but I can't help but feel a little put out that there are such obvious loopholes in the mechanics of the System. Surely Gandalf could have thought of some of these exploits.
I've no idea where Granin has got himself off to, but I don't seem him across these two days. Torrina and Corun keep me company instead. The former doesn't say much but her quiet competence and advice with handling magic are well received, the latter doesn't shut up and keeps me informed of all the goings-on back in the combat area. I can feel the battles occurring now and again. Even here in my chamber, over a hundred metres away from that arena the floor shakes and dust shakes loose as the roof and walls rattle from the force of colossal impacts.
It's going down out there in a big way, so I'm told. Every day, multiple battles, occur as these mad Cult members throw their proto-ancients at each other to see which monster comes out alive. After every fight Corun runs into my chamber to rave about the battle, filling me in on all the gossip. I'd prefer it if he stopped telling me about how all the Shapers were reacting to the results. What do I care if some ancient stone person was reduced to tears and movingly eulogised his monster pupil of ten years? I don't! I don't at all! These people are maniacs running a death tournament!
I mean, monsters kill each other all the time, right? We fight and eat each other, it's only natural if you can call anything considering monsters that are born out of pure magical energy to be natural. But being forced to fight by these Shapers for their reasons is really rubbing me the wrong way. However, I have to admit that making use of their resources and knowledge will help me, and I can take all of this knowledge back to the colony if I ever make it out of here. Just thinking of what the family will be able to do with all of this knowledge is enough to make my mandibles quiver. The teleporting ant empire of doom will become a reality!
After two days of grinding, I manage to get my Earth Mana Affinity to level eight of the second rank and my Fire Mana Affinity to level nine. With a little more time I'll manage to get both of them to rank three, then I plan to switch over and start working on Air Mana. I also manage to gain two levels in Mana Moulding. I love that Skill. Every time it levels up the knowledge of how to handle mana just matures in my mind and I gain a little more speed, a little more finesse and a bit more confidence. With my multiple minds, each sunk into the blessed tranquil sea of meditation acting as a force multiplier, I get faster and faster at weaving my spells.
Toward the end of the second day, Granin finally reappears along with another team of three Shapers, each looking super serious. Torrina had been acting as my 'opponent' for training and she quickly stands to one side as the others enter my chamber through the above door. Very swiftly a mind bridge stretches out toward me and Granin's voice echoes in my mind.
[How goes the training?]
[Good, I suppose. Numbers are going up, still a long way from where we want to be.]
[From where you want to be, you mean,] he can't help but throw that in, [I'm pretty sure you'll be able to reach tier three in each of those basic elements before the next bout. But no matter. Get ready to move out, these three are going to be your escorts.]
I'm a little confused.
[Uh... Why? Didn't you just say I'm not fighting now?]
[Not a fight. The matches for the day are done. Tomorrow will mark the end of the first round and you'll be up fairly quickly after that I imagine. No, I've gotten permission for you to meet the other reincarnator that the Cult has taken under its wing.]
[Oh, right! James, I think his name was?]
[Right. He's also not in the tournament, mainly due to some higher-ups pulling some serious strings. Lucky for him really. He's not that strong in a fight.]
Poor guy. At least he's not in this deathmatch tournament, so it's not all bad.
Much the same as when I was brought to meet Sarah, the three escort Shapers bring me out of my cell and through the tunnels before guiding me through the gates and out into the combat area. The space looks a great deal different after two straight days of brutal monster combat. Chunks have been ripped out of the ground, stones are smashed to pieces, the walls are scarred or outright destroyed in a few places. Not to mention the ichor stains on the ground and about the place. Phew, this is grim stuff.
What I don't see is a monster. Where the heck is this James guy? Is he hiding behind a gate like Sarah was? If I wasn't scared of the huge bear of death, I'm not likely to be scared of whatever this 'weak at fighting' guy has become.
After a few more moments of confusion, a mind bridge connects to me from somewhere in the chamber.
[Eyyy. My fellow invertebrate! How's things?]
I still don't see anything. My antennae twitch but I can't sense any heat either. Where the heck is this guy? Is he invisible?
[Uhh. Good! I guess? Not really? Where the heck are you? Hiding? There's no shame in being a monster, man. Come out and own it!]
[Me? Ashamed? Of this glorious form?! Never! I just prefer it down here is all. I think you'll understand when you see me. I'm coming up!]
Below?
Twenty metres away the ground begins to rumble before abruptly bursting upwards to reveal a weird, pointy mash of flesh that bulges outwards to reveal a giant... worm? A body divided into segments, a bright pink colour, a distinct lack of eyes. He looks nothing like the intimidating worms of death but rather a squishy style worm ready for the end of a hook. The only remarkable thing about him is his size, more than twice as long as myself, possibly as much as fourteen metres in length.
[Soo... you're a worm James?]
[Yep!] His voice rings happily in my mind. [Check out this glorious body. Have you ever seen anything like it? I mean, technically I'm not a worm, I'm a Mature Elemental Worm of Earth.]
[Earthworm James?]
[Well, I mean, most of my friends call me Jim.]
[Nice to meet you, Jim. I'm Anthony. As you can see, I'm a big 'ol ant.]
[I do see! Spines are overrated!]
[Agreed!]
Finally, someone who speaks a little sense.
-x-X-x-
[Yeah, these Cultists are crazy. I shouldn't have to say that should I? They're Cultists. Just because they worship the biggest and baddest worm in this world doesn't mean they get to skate on that.]
[You make a solid point. Sarah didn't seem to share your point of view though. She seemed a little more forgiving of them.]
The massive worm gives a little wriggle that I can only interpret as dismissal.
[Sarah's just too nice. They took her in when she was desperate, gave her rest and someone to talk to and she was won over inside a year. They basically let her get out of the monster life, go back to being civilised. I can't blame her too much.]
[What about you? You've been here for a few years, so I hear. Gone native? Out of the monster game?]
[Me? Hell no! This incredible specimen of a Megadrile is still in the game! I'm just taking a rest and grinding my Skills. I had it rough out there, man. You think you had it tough as an ant? Try being a worm! How am I supposed to fight?]
The man has a point. Actually, the former-man-now-worm has a point. How exactly was he meant to fight?
[So how did you fight?]
[I didn't! I hid underground and snuck up to steal scraps of Biomass like the gorgeous detritovore that I am.]
[Not too dissimilar from my own early strategy to be honest. How long did you have to keep that up?]
[About a year.]
[A YEAR?!]
[Took a long time! Food was hard to come by, I spent most of my time starving, buried under the ground in the dark. The only way I could tell when monsters were near was through the tremors they sent through the ground.]
[That sounds rough. How the hell did you even get to this point?]
This is compelling stuff. I really didn't think that I'd ever run into someone that had a harder start than I did. It seems impossible that someone would be able to go from a blind, almost completely harmless worm to evolving at least three times by the look of him.
[Once I'd gotten up a few mutations I started to gain confidence. Defence was a little better, sneaking skills levelled up a bit and I was able to inject a poison with a bite.]
[You have a mouth?]
[Of course I have a mouth! You think worms can't eat?]
[You're right. Stupid question. Go on.]
[So I was able to start doing a little hunting. Small creatures here and there. Took another year before I was able to evolve.]
[Wait,] I broke in, [you didn't form your core first?]
The giant worm in front of me twists angrily.
[How the hell was I supposed to know that core first is better!? I spent two years getting to level five! You think I had the patience to wait before finally getting some safety!?]
[You make a good point, again. I apologise, Elemental Worm of Earth Jim. Do go on.]
Worms can't shrug, the lack of shoulders makes it difficult, but somehow Jim manages to convey the general sense of one.
[Not much more to it. Kept slithering, kept grinding. Got my core, evolved a few more times, snuck my way down here and got picked up by the Worm Cult. They like having me around, being a worm helps with that I suppose. Wouldn't mind meeting the big fella one day. Yarrum? Would love to know what sort of species he is? Wonder if he'd be willing to accept a worm bro. Worm son? Mini-me? I'll work it out.]
This guy seems to have bottomless confidence in his way of the worm. It's kind of inspiring. This is someone who has stuck fast to the path of loving the skin he's in, just as I have. I need to stick to my guns, not that there was much chance of me doing any different! My ant soul burns bright, too bright! James and his worm obsession have nothing on my love of ants. I literally died for ants, dammit!
[So you plan to just keep grinding here before leaving? Do you think they'll let you leave?]
[The Shapers? Oh yeah. They might be nuts, but they're usually on the level. Well, except lately. This whole death tournament thing? What the hell is this? Madness! They've lost what little they had left of their minds. Nuts, I'm telling you, nuts.]
[So you still think they'll let you go?]
James spoke slowly, as if he were explaining something to someone very young. Or very dim.
[Anthony. I'm a worm. I literally eat rocks and dirt. At this point of my evolution, I think I can melt down metals and eat that as well. How would they keep me here?]
I think he's being a little naïve. These Shapers have a whole lot of tricks up their sleeves, even though they don't wear shirts. The moment he tries to wriggle out of their sight, I bet they knock him senseless with mind magic and drag him back up. Heck, maybe Jim knows that and he's working on his mental defence Skills. It's not really my business I suppose. Just like with Sarah, other than being formerly human, what do we have in common? James is living his best worm life and I have a new family, one that actually loves me.
God damn that stung me in the thorax. Something I ate?
[Well, judging the by shifting feet of my escort over here James - ]
[Please, Anthony. Call me Jim.]
[Alright, Jim. I think they're going to drag me back to my cell where I'll resume grinding away at my Skills in the hope that I won't die. Any advice before I go?]
[Yeah, I think you're right. Their faces don't change much but you can tell when they get fidgety.] Jim sounds a bit depressed as he confirms my suspicion. [Look, just try to cover your bases, alright? From what I know, the members of this Cult have been trying just about everything to create a new ancient. Which means that there's all types of crazy monsters in this place. Just be aware that they can come at you from weird angles. You're still young on Pangera, you haven't seen how crazy stuff can get. So just, be careful.]
[That's... given me something to think about. Thanks Jim.]
[Anytime.]
The giant worm in front of me coils up like a plump snake and waves a friendly tail at me. I can't help but wave my antennae back and with a happy little wriggle, the worm dives, literally dives, into the ground and in a flash, he's gone. He can seriously move through that dirt! He might actually be able to do what he says. If he ever meets up with Yarrum, I hope he doesn't get eaten.
[Alright boys and girls. I'm ready to go back to my cell! And when's dinner around here anyway?]
Another march through the tunnels and back to my cell where Granin is waiting.
[Did you have a good conversation with James?]
[Oh yeah. He thinks you lot are as crazy as I do.]
Even Granin cracks a smile at that.
[I know. He's smart. If you survive the next fight then I'll try and get the three of you together. The least they can do is let you all talk together. That I had to fight so hard to get you to meet James is a disgrace.]
Wait, what?
[They don't want me meeting the other former humans?]
[Hmph. I get the impression they think you're a bad influence.]
[Ah. I definitely am.]
[I know.]
-x-X-x-
Vibrant bit down hard on her prey and the System notification rang within her head a few moments later. Without pause, she flung the Biomass behind her and pressed forward whilst a silent throng of furious monsters swarmed in her wake. Her group was all around her, she could feel them now, ever since her latest evolution, sharing her strength. She'd become something between a Soldier and a General now, empowering those members of the colony who were willing to join her group. Not only their speed was enhanced, but also their Skills, an increase to movement and bite-related abilities that turned them into Dashing, Dodging and Chomping machines with boundless energy. Vibrant pushed hard and they pushed hard alongside her. Always the vanguard. No retreat.
The Eldest had called them, and the family had answered. In all directions, the colony had exploded outwards in aggressive expansion. Thousands of ants filled the tunnel, ripping and tearing everything in sight and dragging it back to Queens to fuel future expansion. The academy had graduated many new siblings for Vibrant and her fellow council members and all were hungry to work for the family. The colony was exploding with energy right now and the catalyst had been the arrival of the guardian.
"Vibrant!"
"Who's that?"
The pheromones were thick in the air as ants battled and communicated with each other, trying to coordinate, calling for assistance, it was hard for Vibrant to make out the scent of who was trying to contact her. Frustrated, she backed out of the fight and allowed others to climb over her to reach the front.
"Over here!"
The tingle in her antennae told her what she needed to know and she turned to her left to find Victor waving in her direction. At first, Vibrant didn't recognise her sister, there had been quite a change.
"You've evolved?"
A nod.
"Just yesterday."
"Nice. We need more Tier fours in the deep."
"That is why I have come. The Soldiers have already evolved, and we are pushing hard to evolve as many support roles as we can, but it's going to take more time."
"We can try and feed more experience to the healers, in particular," Vibrant proposed, "we need them more than anything else right now. They're keeping our momentum up."
Victor considered for a moment before she agreed.
"You're right. I'll tell the scouts to get the word out. That's not why I'm here though. The guardian found something and we need you to take a look."
"Where?"
Vibrant wasted no time and asked where she needed to go. Not a single member of the colony was willing to wait for even a second whilst the Eldest languished in need of help.
"Follow me."
As Vibrant followed closely behind the newly evolved General a hundred other ants peeled off the fight to follow in her footsteps, quickly replaced by fresh soldiers who had been hovering behind the front lines. Off they raced, through the dark and cold of the second strata. All around them the air was thick with the scent of pheromone trails. The colony was battling on many concurrent fronts, in tunnels, in various expanse' and every battle was being fought with overwhelming numbers.
The colony had quickly realised that teams of ten members weren't going to be enough in the Second Strata, tier three and intelligent they may be, but the danger in this world of shadow warranted greater security. After all, wasn't it the Eldest who had taught them that every death of a colony member was a waste? A waste of potential, a waste of labour, a waste of resources! It couldn't be borne! As new soldiers, scouts, generals and healers had poured out of the academy the number of ants in each conflict swelled instantly. With hundreds of ants working together they'd swept everything before them.
It didn't take long for them to arrive. Vibrant started when she noticed the huge, menacing form of the Eldest's guardian looming in the tunnel. Powerful, writhing tentacles filled the space around the gaping mouth filled with razor teeth. It would be intimidating to any creature not of the colony, it certainly wasn't going to cause any fear in Vibrant.
"Crinis! How've you been? I haven't seen you for a few days!"
The two monsters were much larger than they'd been when they'd first met but their friendship remained strong. Neither could suppress a burst of happiness at seeing the other, Vibrant bounced up to her friend full of energy and Crinis's tentacles wriggled with joy for a moment before they returned to their aggravated lashing at the air.
A nearby mage ant struggled hard for a minute before connecting the two of them with a mind bridge.
[I keep forgetting you can't talk ant. What have you found, Crinis?] Vibrant quickly asked.
[This is the place where Master vanished, I'm sure of it. At the end of the tunnel.] She used a tentacle to indicate the solid wall in front of them. [I couldn't get close enough to see what happened, but this place is a dead-end and when I followed after they were gone.]
[Great! We're finally getting somewhere!]
[No, we aren't!] That massive mouth snapped at the air in frustration. [I don't see anything! There's no hidden door or tunnel here, I'm sure of it!]
Already a team of ants were combing through every inch of the tunnel with their antennae tapping furiously at every surface. If there was anything to find, they would surely find it.
"Do we have any of the mage caste coming?" Vibrant turned to Victor.
"We do," she nodded, "I think Propellant is coming personally."
[The mages are the way. There's bound to be something here. We'll find it.] Vibrant assured her friend.
[This is taking too long. I need to get to my Master. I feel strange Vibrant, I'm worried.]
Agitated, the guardian of the Eldest, Crinis, become more and more knotted. Her tentacles extended and split before they twisted back on themselves again and again until she'd become little more than a gigantic mass of tentacles. Vibrant could easily sympathise with the sentiment. Ever since Crinis had arrived at the colony and told them the Eldest had been abducted, every member of the colony had felt as if their core had been gripped by an icy pair of mandibles. The already obsessive and workaholic ants had become infused with a desperate frenzy. Every project had been pushed forward and caution had been thrown to the wind.
[Don't' worry Crinis. We'll find the Eldest and return them to the family. Anything that tries to stand between us will be annihilated, be it the Dungeon or anything else.]
A cold fire burned in Vibrant's eyes as she spoke. The Eldest had sacrificed all for the colony. The colony was prepared to sacrifice all in turn.
-x-X-x-
The history of enchanted equipment is as long and storied as that of Classes themselves. Though many gloss over or even ignore the manifold achievements of the crafters, it is an undeniable fact that without their expertise in producing powerful weapons and armour, the Sapient races of the surface would have had enjoyed none of the success in delving that they have achieved.
The early records of System made equipment are completely lost to us, of course, but following the Cataclysm there are many records of scavenging the strange wonders that had been attempted and constructed in that time. A society put itself back together, the uptake of talented individuals into the crafting fields was slow, as the surface needed to be reclaimed and with the recent memory of the disaster fresh in people's minds, martial and magical classes proliferated.
At first, progress was slow, staves that allowed mages to recharge their mana faster, shields that were enhanced to improve their durability. Weaving mana into objects is as much an art as it is a science, but slowly the Skills of the artisans rose and so too did the demand for monster cores. A demand that quickly became voracious.
With more hands at the till and more resources, developments came thick and fast. Agni Ruffterson developed the first reflective shield, the lauded Ms Bromina Steelhand was the first to channel elemental mana through a weapon, building the construct within the weapon itself. It was the great mage artificer Wyrrin Lella who discovered the secret of enchantments that could directly increase the Stats of a person, and his research lead directly to the uncovering of Skill enhancing enchantments. These breakthroughs changed the world and now even the meanest mercenary delve will be equipped with such gear, as even a paltry +1 can mean the difference between survival and an ignoble death.
• Excerpt from 'The historical significance and progression of the Crafting arts' by T.J. Smithinson
"Why are five of my best smiths passed out in the tunnels?!" Cobalt bellowed.
The artisan in charge of the new forge was just as indignant.
"I told them to wait until the chamber was properly prepared! The air vents aren't in yet and neither are the heat sinks! The second I turned my back they rushed in and started working!"
Cobalt slapped herself on the forehead with an antenna. These morons. She understood why they'd do it, the pressure piling up on the worker caste becoming a mountain that pressed down on their backs. This was the second forge they'd constructed inside the nest in the past week and it wasn't finished yet. Putting in the air vents required specialised enchanted cores that drew the air in so it could expelled on the surface, and the heat sinks were yet more enchanted cores that sucked the heat and allowed it to be dispersed into specialised cooling channels.
It was all work, work, work! The demands never stopped coming! More nesting space, more brood chambers! Construction on the new deep nest, a secure location for the three queens and a new launching point for the offensive, just inside the Second Strata, had already begun. Combined with the relentless push for new territory which demanded even more time for the carvers, they were pushed to the breaking point!
And they loved it! Cobalt and Tungstant had been relentless, chewing through work faster than they chewed through dirt and their fellow caste members had done the same. The council had to step in and send detachments of soldiers to enforce the mandatory rest periods before the carvers had worked themselves to collapse. Seeing their fellow caste members being forcibly dragged away, legs kicking at the air had only spurred the remainder of the carvers to work harder! If they were going to be forced to rest then they needed to complete more work in less time!
"Why are five smiths lying down in the middle of this work avalanche!" The angry rush of pheromones blasted down the tunnel.
"Hey, Tungstant, what brings you down here?"
"Cobalt! I came to complete the installation of the cores for the new forge. Did these idiots try and work in there before it was ready?"
Cobalt gave a solemn nod.
"Damn fools! Everything we've learned about ant biology tells us how dangerous that is! Not to mention they're losing work time!"
The colony had been furiously learning all it could in a huge number of fields but one which had been the most impactful had been ant physiology and beyond that, monster physiology. Things that they had known instinctively, preferred temperature, moisture levels, humidity, where now being explored to discover the reasons why. One of their primary discoveries as they'd ventured into the world of forging, is that the damp environment they enjoyed in the nest didn't mesh very well with a blazing hot furnace for shaping metal. For the ants to work with such tools, a specialised environment needed to be constructed. Experimentation had started immediately, the heat sinks and air vents where the early fruits of this labour.
"No help for it. Come on then, Cobalt. You and I can get this done as fast as possible, we need this forge operational."
The two council members got right to work. Tungstant had brought the required materials in a carry bag slung over her neck, yet another creation of the carver caste, and the two began installing the precious enchanted arrays with their empowering monster cores in key locations around the forge. After an hour they were finished and stepped back as the enchantments hummed into life. The air immediately began to move within the chamber as the temperature dropped. Everything seemed to be working properly.
They didn't even have time to congratulate each other before the five smiths barged into the chamber and began to fire up the forges, preparing to heat metal and shape it to suit the colony's needs.
"Work hard to make up for the wasted time!" Cobalt berated them before the two left the chamber.
"What's next on your agenda?" Cobalt asked as they sped away down the tunnels.
"I'm headed to the new nest to oversee construction there. Things are getting to a critical point and we need to make sure it's secure."
"Isn't the Queen already stationed there?" Cobalt asked, concerned.
"She is," Tunstant confirmed, "but the Core Shapers have set up their new workstation down there and are acting as defence whilst the Soldiers are out, From what I hear the entire area is crawling with their Shadow Pets. They perform excellently in the Second Strata I'm told."
"Makes sense I suppose. How about the brood transport tunnel? We don't want to risk moving them through the regular tunnels, surely?"
"Work finished on it yesterday and the scouts have started transporting brood already. Once they've cleared the backlog the tenders should be able to handle the load. Getting Carvers to learn some Earth magic has been a great call."
The two ants quickly reached a branch in the tunnel where they would need to part ways.
"Don't forget to take your mandatory rest periods, Cobalt," Tungstant warned her sister, "think of what the Eldest will do when they get back and finds out you were skiving on taking breaks."
Cobalt shuddered.
"Same goes for you. Work hard for the colony."
"For the colony."
-x-X-x-
I need to prepare. Granin's gone to check my draw for the next round and time is going to be short. I was up first for the first round, the second is likely to be the same. I've done what training I can to improve my elemental magic and there have been definite gains. The temptation to fuse them is real. I'd have a weapon in my hands that I could employ right away. The fact that the weapon would be so flawed is holding me back. It might be useful to me right now, might even help carry me through this tournament of death. After that? It'd fade in power quickly and become a waste of Skill points. I refuse to allow the effort I've put in go to waste! Instead, I'll use it as the foundation of even greater strength in the future.
All I have to do is survive.
To that end, I need to make use of the resources I have available to me right now, and the resource I have in greater abundance than any other is Biomass! It's itchy time! After the hunting that I did with Tiny and Crinis, the Biomass I secured from the Rhino, as well as the food Granin was able to secure for me here in my cell, I've piled up quite a little money bin of points. As I've already begun, I'm going to push my upgrades to +25 for the maximum effect I can get. With a little bit of time, hopefully, I can become accustomed to my new mutations before the fight begins.
Alright then, let's see what we need to upgrade. At one hundred and fifteen Biomass a pop, upgrading from +20 to +25 is so costly it makes by carapace hurt, but there's nothing for it. I want to get all my mutable organs up to +25 as soon as possible. I still have quite a few at +20 that need to be given that final push. My Carapace plating, my eyes, my antennae, my legs, mandibles ... GAH! So many! It's going to take thousands of Biomass to get all this done... Luckily I'm getting some nice and dense food from this tournament I suppose.
I think the first thing I want to upgrade is my mandibles. My primary physical attack option and certainly a powerful one. I think the best choice will be to continue the emphasis of the mana channelling. The more types of mana that I become able to fuse into my mandibles the more variety I'll be able to introduce to my attacks. Being able to target the enemies weakness will certainly help me. When I eventually fuse the elemental Skills to create some powerful new Skill then I assume it'll propel my bites into a new realm along with the rest of my magic.
Alright. Just to be sure, I'd better take a look at the options.
As usual, taking a glance at the menu immediately creates a list that is far too long to manage. Scrolling through shows me so many options that are tempting, including a few new ones. Cursed mandibles, diamond mandibles(!), Paralyzing mandibles, extending mandibles and so much more. Making my mandibles as shiny as the rest of me is certainly tempting, I take a great deal of pride in my diamond exterior. The extending mandibles are pretty cool. A new part is added to my face that essentially allows the mandibles to extend outward from my head, increasing the range by almost fifty percent. I assume it would do the same for the energy projected by my Skills which would represent a powerful extension in my range. Alas, I can't allow myself to be distracted by these baubles. I have to knuckle down and get my mana infusion on.
[Do you wish to improve Bright Empowered Mandibles to Mana Flooded Mandibles? This will cost one hundred and fifteen Biomass.]
Put a pin in that one. Although this means I'll become more reliant on my mana infusion for damage as opposed to raw physical power, I think the versatility will make it a worthy trade-off. Onto the next!
I'm anticipating a lot of pain in this tournament, so I suppose I should prioritise working on my defences. I'm not as reliant on the healing gland now that I have healing mana, but it does give me a massive burst of healing without requiring me to form a mana structure in the middle of a fight, which is certainly more convenient. What I'm longing for is the day I can pass off my healing duties to my third pet, but I still haven't come across a creature that is suitable for the role. Hopefully, I'll find one soon. In the meantime, I'll look to upgrade both my Inner-Carapace Plating and my Regeneration gland.
First, time to dive into the Carapace plating. The list is always long, no matter how specific the body part and some of the options are just weird, whereas others are questionable at best. My focus with the plating has been to increase its capacity to absorb damage and tack on a little healing. The idea is to increase the physical defence of my carapace to an almost unbreakable point whilst giving it some in-built healing. The trick here is, do I want more damage absorption or more healing? Hmmm. Last time I went with healing, so this time I think it's time for hardening.
There are a few options that serve my purpose, the first being upgrades to my earlier defensive choice, distributive. These options give the plating more flex, which will help disperse more force and prevent the connected carapace from cracking when struck with direct force. After sorting through the options, I decide to take one of these. The idea behind the carapace plating was a good one. If the carapace is excellent against a blade, then it's weak against a hammer. The plating exists to help shore up that weakness.
I lock that choice in and then move onto the next organ, the regeneration gland.
So far my choices regarding the regeneration gland have been to allow it to regenerate faster and to increase the speed of limb regeneration. Trying to cover up the weakness of my legs wasn't the wrong choice. Although not as thin and spindly compared to the rest of me as normal Earth ants would be, they're still very weak and not nearly covered by the same level of protection as the rest of me. Right now the limb regeneration is pretty darn quick, but not quite enough for me to be able to pop out new legs in the middle of a fight. I have healing magic now to compensate for that, but perhaps it isn't enough...
If I think about it though, my Collective Will Vestibule helps to recharge and refill the gland faster when more ants are around me. This might make me look at faster recharging mutations as a waste, but instead, it makes me think of what Granin spoke to me about. Synergy. If I can stack recharge effects on my healing gland, won't I be able to repeatedly heal myself throughout a single fight, thus transforming myself into some sort of unkillable juggernaut of death? If my defences continue to strengthen and my healing continues to pile up, isn't that a powerful example of synergy right there? I quite like it! Let's go down that direction!
[Do you wish to improve Supportive Healing Inner Carapace Plating to Braced Healing Inner Carapace Plating +25? Do you wish to improve Potent Regeneration Gland +20 to Frequent Potent Regeneration Gland +25? This will cost 230 Biomass.]
All up an expenditure of 345 Biomass. Ouch. That's going to leave me with... fifteen. Yikes. Hopefully, my next opponent is; a: delicious and b: doesn't kill me.
Time to bring on the itch!
I confirm my choices and wait, tense.
SHAGGABAGARNIFLOP!
-x-X-x-
I don't have that much time to recover before Granin returns to my cell. I suppose I should count myself lucky that he didn't walk in whilst I was mutating, that would have been embarrassing. I'm tempted to ask him about it actually, something I really should have asked the Sophos when I had the chance. My pets don't seem to have any issues when they mutate, and my siblings in the colony don't seem to either. Is this something that only reincarnated Earthlings suffer from? Next time I speak to Jim and Sarah I should ask. I'd rather not ask Granin and have him make fun of me or something.
When he arrives, I can tell something isn't right. His craggy face is even more miserable than usual and he wastes no time in climbing down to meet me.
[Hey Granin, you look like you were carved out of granite. Something go wrong?]
[You're not funny.]
[You have no sense of humour, how would you know?]
Granin sighs and throws himself down onto the only suitable chair in my cell. His stone body thuds down with significant weight and he raises a hand scrape across his brow. This doesn't look good.
[That bad?] I ask, feeling trepidatious.
[It's not great,] he admits, [They're still looking to set you up with unfavourable matchups. After stuffing up the first round, it appears they've become determined to correct the mistake.]
[What have we got? Some brutal physical specimen? Ready to crush me beneath its iron heels?]
[Worse. This time they've gone after your strength. They tried dumb force last time, this round they've gone with a highly intelligent magic using monster. Difference being that its raw stats and Skills are far above yours. You'll have no magical advantage in this one, in fact, you'll be at a massive deficit.]
That doesn't sound good. I've invested a lot in my magic. If this monster is a tier higher than me and even more invested in it, then that's going to neutralise my greatest strength. Does this mean that I need to rely on my physical ability to carry me through? I may have to.
[The other thing I need to tell you is that your opponent is a demon.]
...
[Like... from hell? What does that mean? Pitchforks? Will I get pronged?]
Demons? What the heck does he mean by demons?! Have they opened the gate on mars and sprung forth beasts from the very depths of the infernal plane just to roast an ant?! What am I supposed to do?! Where's DOOM guy?!
[No. What's hell? And pitchforks? Aren't those for farmers? Shut up for a minute. Demons are what we call the monsters native to the Third Strata. It's a place of nightmares, ash and fire, in that order. The creatures there attack the mental and emotional weakness that all mortals possess to try and demoralise us and make us weak. They are powerful, tricky and have a distinct strata advantage over you.]
I'm not sure I've heard him use that terminology before.
[What do you mean by that?]
[You know how the Shadow monsters, like that pet you don't remember, are made of shadow flesh? Since it's a substance that requires more dense mana to create, the monsters of the first strata don't have access to such a thing when they're made. In our trade we would consider shadow monsters to have a strata advantage over monsters of the first layer, they have access to body parts and materials that are ... better.]
[So the same thing goes for the demons of the Third Strata, right? They've got stuff that requires an even higher mana density to spawn. Stuff that I can't even see in the menu?]
A nod.
[Right,] Granin says heavily. [It's going to be hard to overcome the gap. I firmly believe that you have a shot, but I'm not going to say it'll be easy. We only have a few hours before the fight starts. We need to do all the work we can on your magical defences between now and then. If we can squeeze out even one Skill level up, it'll be worth it.]
For the next few hours Granin continuously shaped mana in the air whilst I tear it apart using external mana manipulation. Desperate to make gains I use all of my brains for the task, reaching out and taking hold of the mana outside my body before trying to unravel it. It's gruelling work, but we're successful in gaining another level before my 'escorts' come to take me out to the next match.
My ant heart begins to pound in my chest as I take the now familiar march down the long tunnel, around the bends and past those many other locked cells that house my competition. It doesn't take long to reach the gate before the combat area, the three shapers behind me watching my every move. With a slow rattle the gate opens and I force myself to walk through into the relatively open air and wide space on the other side. Interesting, it appears as if they've repaired all the damage to the outer wall between the rounds. The work was way too complete to have been done by hand. Earth magic? Stone magic? Combination of the two? Some of the obstructions have also made a return, rocky obtrusions that burst upward from the sandy floor. I can see the Shapers watching from the viewing stands, their mutterings barely audible at this range.
Perhaps most importantly I can see my adversary, already present at the other side of the area.
My first thought is that it's a bat. Two leathery wings extend from its body and flap lazily to keep it mid-air. My second thought is that it's small. Really small. The body of the thing is probably only as large as a watermelon, the two wings stretching out to either side of it. My third thought is: 'that is a freaky looking eyeball.'
The 'body' of the creature appears to be little more than a giant, swollen eyeball, rimmed in dark red flesh that is absurdly bright. The flesh doesn't really capture my attention though, since the eye itself is far more striking. It's luridly, sickeningly, mind-bendingly green. To complete the picture, the last thing that comes to my attention are the two thin, dangling arms that drop down from just beneath where the wings connect to the ... body/eye.
All of my senses tune to their fullest. I'm tense, I'm ready. Even so I almost miss the thread of mind mana that slithers toward me from the monster opposite. I don't even have time to take it apart before it connects and I brace myself for an onslaught. Instead, I hear a low, sibilant voice echo in my mind.
[I see you.]
Well ... yeah? When I reply, I can't help but lower my voice and mentally 'whisper' back.
[Of course you can. You're basically just an eyeball with wings.]
[I see your family. I see your siblings. The warmth. The support. I see how nice it issssss.]
I'm just confused at this point.
[Yes. It's nice. How do you see that anyway?]
The green eye blazes brighter and the voice suddenly booms in my mind.
[I WANT IT. I WILL TAKE IT ALL!]
Seems stable.
-x-X-x-
The little winged demon continues to idly flap and hovers in place as it glares at me with its maddened eye whilst I try to figure out exactly how this thing is higher evolved than me. If it poured all of its evolutionary energy into mental stats and organs that enhanced its magical ability, how the heck is able to fit all of that into such a tiny body? I know for a fact that my brains occupy more space than the tiny monster occupies and it supposedly has a much bigger mind than I do! Where did all that brain matter go? Does it have access to some sort of mega compressed neurons or something? If so, it's not fair! That sounds like it would be really useful!
Besides that, I need to focus. My sub-brains have already put together the mana constructs I feel I'm going to need for this battle. Firstly, condensed ice magic construct. Since the creature is a 'demon' from the Third Strata, a place of fire and ash, it stands to reason that fire magic wouldn't be too effective, therefore it seems as if ice will be the best bet. Granin supported the decision so I can't be too far off the mark. For my secondary option, I've actually gone with healing magic. If I'm going to get close to this nasty fellow and bite him to death, then I suspect that I'm going to take an absolute battering on the way in. With my newfound regenerative abilities, combined with healing mana, I'm hoping that I'll have enough staying power to absorb the punishment that's sure to come my way.
The real problem I have is that Granin wasn't able to tell me what sort of magic this little beast might be capable of. It's been trained by a triad of Shapers, just like every other monster in this place, but what they decided was the most effective use of that brainpower was I have no idea. I'm going to have to find out the hard way I suppose.
This is going to be rough.
I can't believe such a small monster is giving such an intense feeling of pressure, but even beyond what I've been told about it, the insane looking little bugger just creeps me out. The voice in my head sure isn't helping.
[Ahhhhh. I know you now. I can see your tasssssste.]
[You are one weird unit buddy. I think we're done here.]
Before the Shaper in charge of the fight can declare it's begun I reach out to the mind bridge connecting the two of us and flex my will, tearing it to shreds. The feeling of having the mental connection cut so suddenly is jarring but I'm certain its significantly worse for the mini-demon. A moment of triumph before the start of the bout! Good start. Before I can even finish congratulating myself I sense another mind bridge worming its way toward me. I don't know how he does it but the spell is so hard to sense as if he were using stealth mode or something. Reaching out with my mind I seize the threads and tear it apart once more, but before I'm even done I sense another bridge coming, then another, and another one after that!
Holy moly!
Launching into action mode I sink my minds into meditation and put my main mind as well as my biggest sub-brain to work on tearing the spells apart before they reach me. Tense seconds pass as I focus all of my attention on cutting apart the spells that seem to fly at me without end. Every single one of them comes from a different angle, feels slightly different and moves at a different speed. It's impossible to sense any sort of rhythm or pattern and the demon is relentless. Each moment that passes brings the bridges that little bit closer to connecting and redouble my efforts. 0I focus so hard on the mental battle that I barely register the Shaper sweeping a hand to indicate the start of the fight.
Oh right! I need to atta -.
BOOM!
I fly back from a tremendous impact that sends me reeling, my legs scrabbling in the air as I struggle to gain my balance in the air.
THUD.
I land heavily and try to put my feet under me as fast as I can. What the hell just happened to me? Am I damaged?! What's going on?
[I sssssee your pain. It's sssso nice!]
When the heck?! Speaking of pain, my freakin' head hurts! Just ignore it, Anthony! You need to move!
DASH!
BOOM!
Another explosion rocks the position just behind me, once again lifting me off the ground. That first shot hurt. Checking my HP I can see I'm already down twenty points, a large chunk has been taken out of my carapace right between my eyes. Yeeouch! Don't want to get hit with another one of those, need to keep moving!
DASH!
I try to collect my thoughts as I move around the outside of the ring. I think this little devil battered me with mind bridges just so I'd be distracted, then bopped me right in the face with a spell the second the fight started. How dirty! This damnable demon is sneaky! I don't think I've ever faced a monster this smart. This is going to be hard.
I decide not to pull the trigger on my healing gland just yet. Internal damage isn't too bad and external damage will be healed over time, I just need to give my plating a little time. If I get hit in the same place again it might be lights out, but I need to risk it to win the biscuit. The biscuit in this instance being some delicious demon meat.
[Give it all to me. All your thingssss are for me!]
BOOM!
I can barely see it. The little monster hasn't moved since the fight started and his spells are as fast as lightning. It's a small red orb that zaps out from the eye in a straight line and detonates when it contacts something. I've never even heard of that kind of magic! Dammit Granin, what the hell is this?!
No point getting mad, I just need to focus and get closer enough to chomp the damn monster into shreds. For now, I'll leave the mind bridge alone, it hasn't attacked me across the bridge yet so I'll leave it alone whilst being ready to sever it at a moment's notice. Instead, I'll use the brainpower I have to get my own offence going. If the floaty eyeball wants to talk smack then I'm happy to oblige.
[I've heard eating eyes is good for the brain. We're going to find out if that's true today!]
Eat ice!
Start with the basics, I fling out a shard of ice, aiming to skewer the damned demon and pin him to the wall but before it reaches the target it dissolved to nothing in mid-air.
Dodge!
BOOM!
Another explosion sends sand and dirt flying in every direction and I scrabble to keep my feet. Can't stop moving, even for a second. The nasty little creature is clearly aiming for my head, trying to score the knockout punch. As if I'd let you! More Ice!
Weaving condensed mana takes more effort and energy on my part, but it's also harder for the demon to break apart, requiring more effort on his part. Judging from his earlier performance, he can shape a heck of a lot of spells at once when he wants to if I can distract his attention even a little then that's going to help me close in.
This time two bolts of deep blue ice fly through the air like spears. They dissolve once more but I notice they get much closer to landing than the single-shot did. When the monster is distracted breaking down my magic I angle my dash to reach a little closer. I'm coming for you!
-x-X-x-
The second I put a leg within twenty metres of the demon, it suddenly acts. One of its dangling arms flicked in my direction and three of the red balls flew in my direction at once!
BOOM!
Arrrgh! Pain blossoms along the side of my abdomen as I manage to turn my body at the last moment, protecting my head. The unfortunate result is that my legs are exposed and as the three balls detonate alongside me they are immediately ravaged with pain. That little beast has been acting weak this whole time! I should have known that throwing one spell at a time was way too easy. I've fallen for his trap again. His stupid spells are so fast that I barely have a chance to start breaking them apart before they land. Not to mention he weaves them together with such speed that the moment I sense the mana build-up he's almost ready to shoot. This stupid little gremlin is giving me a headache!
[You have it. I will taaaake it! Give it to meeeeeee!]
[Get bent!]
I've no choice but to trigger the regeneration gland. Two legs on my left side are heavily crippled and are impeding my mobility. If I leave it like this I'm only going to be food for more of those ridiculous explosion balls. Just what sort of magic is that anyway?! Once again put on the defensive I focus on dodging and moving in unpredictable patterns as the healing fluid rockets through my system, creating new tissues and connecting them at an absurd pace. To speed the process I fire off my latest Ice Spears and then begin to weave a healing spell to lay onto myself.
Of course, the little demon doesn't want to make life easy for me. Now that the jig is up, he's more than willing to toss multiple spells at the same time but with greater distance between us, I've got much more time to dodge. I watch the demon carefully each moment and I can see he's enjoying this. The sadistic little imp. Even now I can't be sure that he's not toying with me. Regardless, I've managed to survive long enough to get the healing spell off and combined with the effect of my healing gland, my body is knitting itself together at a stupidly fast pace. Watching my HP climb so fast is certainly a good feeling. Granin was right. Stacking effects on top of each other is the way to produce a better effect!
With my legs back under me, I take my distance from the beast to prepare my next offensive. Sensing my defensive posture the monster takes the pressure off and starts talking some smack.
[Come back to meeee. Is it better where you are? I want iiiit!]
[Oh, don't worry eyeball, I'm commin' back over there. Don't worry about it.]
The creature's wings do a little wriggle of glee as I talk back to it and the eye widens even further if that's at all possible. I swear that eye is starting to become darker and it looks a little .. Broken. As if it were a window that was starting to crack. No matter. If it means something, I don't know what and there's little point guessing. I just need to focus on my next offensive.
Keeping an eye on my opponent and making sure that I never stop moving, I focus my main mind and strongest sub mind on shaping my next offensive ice spell. Handling the condensed ice mana is difficult and it takes quite a bit of work to put this spell together. Hopefully, it's strong enough to make it difficult for the mini-demon to break it apart.
Once I have the spell ready, I don't fire it immediately. It takes about ten seconds to ready that magic, enough time for my enemy to weave any number of hideous constructs to inflict on me. I've no doubt that he can sense the magic I've built up and he must be ready to retaliate the second I unleash it, so instead, I hold onto it and begin to close the distance between us bit by bit.
Dashing head-on is just asking to get a death ball to the noggin, so instead I angle my dashes to bring me a little closer after each one as the monster and I engage in a little game of chicken. If I can bait out his counterspells whilst still being at a reasonable range then the chances of a successful dodge are much greater, the closer I get the less time he'll have to break my spell apart. My heart is right in my mandibles as the gap between us continues to shrink. The sand flies out from beneath me and out behind me as my legs kick up a trail as I run, getting closer every time I move.
The monster finally decides to act and flicks its hand out once more as I close within thirty metres. The second it does I kick my legs hard and rise into the air, the moment I do so I unleash the spell I've held onto. The spell drops down into the ground in the form of a bright ice blue light that starts to race through the sand toward the monster as I raise my legs high to keep them from the inevitable explosion. The monster unleashed four of the deadly balls of death this time and threw them out in an arc that would have surely caught me had I continued to run forward, instead they detonate beneath me, throwing me further into the air.
The concussive force is absorbed by my carapace plating but even so, I take some internal damage from the blast. Those spells pack a punch! Still, my spell should distract the monster long enough for me to get back onto my feet and close in for a juicy chomp!
I reorient my body and catch sight of my opponent and my spell racing through the ground toward him. To my surprise, the imp doesn't seem too concerned with the ice magic making its way to the sand beneath it, instead, its eye glares at me even harder. At this range I can see that the eye isn't broken but filled with thick, pulsing capillaries that appear like cracks in a mirror, threading their way through the iris. Just as I make this disgusting discovery, something else happens.
The air beneath the flapping eyeball ripples before it seems to unfold, revealing a huge grinning mouth suspended in mid-air, full of gnashing teeth. Just before my spell erupts the mouth opens wide to reveal a bright green, fleshy tongue that unfolds to taste the air as the eye flashes dangerously.
Not good!
POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!
Angling my body I unload a barrage of acid toward the monster as the eye flares dazzlingly bright. The ice magic flares in the ground and a sharp pillar of ice spears out of the ground to thrust toward the flying monster just as a searing beam of bright green light lances out from that eye and pierces my body. The ice pillar stabs home and scrapes the side of the monster, unleashing a spray of sizzling black blood into the air. The shock of the strike throws the monster off balance and the beam sears through my body, cutting a deep gash in me before glancing off into the stands.
OUCH! That stings!
OOMPH!
Hitting the ground stings even worse! Desperation explodes in my mind as I take stock. I'm hurt, I'm hurt real bad. It's only been a minute since I last used my healing gland and there's precious little juice recharged back in there but I fire it off anyway. Every little bit helps! My legs feel weak as I push them beneath myself and start to haul my body behind a rock. Healing mana, do your thing!
-x-X-x-
Hmmm...
----------------
Sunk deep into meditation, by mind is cool and composed, the pain ringing on the outside of my awareness. I can take this, I can handle it. Get that healing spell going ASAP and worry about everything else later. I push my legs to drag my damaged body to some sort of cover as my two most powerful minds cooperate to throw together some healing magic. It only takes a few seconds but it feels like an eternity before the spell is complete and my flesh begins to knit back together. It isn't enough though, the damage this time is severe. Whatever that damn eyebeam was, it was strong enough to cut through my carapace like it was paper. I think a piece of stomach is hanging outside of my body. Yuck. I can only hope that the demon was hurt bad enough to keep it from coming over here and finishing me off. I know that my spell managed to slice it, hopefully my acid will help cause a distraction as well.
I hunker down for a few tense moments as I spin together another healing spell to lay onto myself. The second it starts ticking I flex my legs and dash out from behind the rock I'd used for shelter.
BOOM!
Just before the thing explodes. Nice timing, Anthony! Shards of stone clatter off my carapace and fall like rain across the whole combat area in the wake of that explosion. The sand kicks up into a wave of precious vision blocking dust that allows me to jink once more as I reach out with my mana sense to grasp the location of the creature.
Every second brings me closer to full health! Hold on, ant! You can do it! Even as my health increases, there's another problem that is becoming more and more urgent. My stamina is falling. I've been dashing about like a mad thing ever since this fight started and I'm getting pretty darn tired! Although I can keep healing myself and drag the fight out, I'm pitting my own physical stamina against the little demon's mental stamina, and I'm not confident that's a battle I can win.
Before my situation becomes too desperate and I can no longer run, I need to heal up and then bet everything on the next strike! Luckily that last exchange gave me a hint! This is going to get crazy.
I keep dodging about to buy more time as the dust clears and I get a clear view of my opponent once more. The acid does appear to have done some work along with my ice pillar. Dark blood is dripping down the monster's arm and one of its leathery bat wings has a gaping hole. Oddly enough the hole doesn't seem to have any effect on the creature's ability to stay airborne. There must be some sort of trickery there. It still isn't nimbly flying about however, rather just hovering in one place. There must be a reason for that. At least, I hope to heck there's a reason for that.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Seemingly enraged, the creature throws out blast after blast, forcing me to dodge and dash with all of my strength as my healing spells stitch me back together. That eerie mouth that appears to be suspended in mid-air, attached to nothing, keeps grinning at me, as if it were the Cheshire cat but the mouth was large enough to swallow a sheep whole.
It's creepy!
Still, I think I'm just about as ready as I'm going to get. Dragging this out is only going to make things more disadvantageous to me. The eye appears to be drained of energy, the green no longer as bright and glaring as it was before, but over time it's been recovering. This could mean that the eye can't use its mega-beam laser continuously, having to wait for a recharge. Or it could be a trick. Either way I still have to go for it. Reluctantly, I let go of both the mana constructs I've held onto so far. For the plan I have in mind, I'm not going to need them and if it doesn't work out, I'm still not going to need them!
With all four of my brains free and focused and I hone my senses in on the floating beast with razor sharpness. I can see it all. The heat, the movement, the mana, even that little whisper of the future. I'm going to need all of it for this. If things go well, this scene is going to detonate under the watching shapers like a quake.
Breathe, Anthony. Just breathe. Focus and bring it home.
FOR THE COLONY!
[I WANT YOUR PAAAAIN. I WANT YOUR FLESSSSSH! I WANT YOUR SOUUULLL! GIVE THEM TO MEEE!]
[I hope you taste nearly as good as you fight!]
Once again the high speed dance begins as I try to close in on the monster, dashing and dodging ever closer as he fires exploding missiles of death my way. With all of my brains on deck, the three sub-brains cooperating with the aid of the coordination cortex, I can follow the flow of the fight much better than before. I sense the spells faster, my body reacts quicker and those echoes of the future are more helpful when I have the available brain power to take them in.
POW! POW! POW!
I weave in acid blasts to keep the monster distracted as I move, trying to throw the monster off its game. Every little bit of attention I can distract from myself will help in the long run! My enhanced reactions are firing on all cylinders and even the eyeball seems to be getting frustrated as his eye glows brighter and brighter and his little gestures get angrier every time he waves his hand. Feeling pressure yet, little demon? I'm coming for you!
CLACK!
I snap my mandibles hard and the sound echoes around the combat area.
CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!
As I race from place to place, narrowly dodging and skirting around the explosions I continue to clack my mandibles to taunt the demon. The eye bulges with rage, the worm-like capillaries swell with fluid as the once smiling mouth now snarls.
GWEHEHEHEH! Yesssss. Get mad, get distracted. I'm coming for you!
As I close to within thirty metres I can sense the time is coming and my mind sharpens to a point like a razor. It's coming, any second now! I'm dashing across the creature, moving from the creature's left to its right at high speed. This manoeuvre is going to be tough as heck. Elders of the past, give me your strength!
The eye starts to flare bright once more as the creature raises its hand. I'm so focused that the limb almost appears to move in slow motion. It raises up and with a flick of that little bony wrist I feel six flares of mana from the monster. Six huh? You were still holding back on me! No matter, I have you now!
Before the small spheres of destruction appear, I can already see them. Little echoes of the future, almost transparent, fly outward in a broad arc, trying to entrap me in a wall of explosions. Every nerve in my body fires at once as I leap into action. My legs kick and dig at the dirt as I try to arrest my momentum and change direction. My body turns to face the monster as I slide. Those ghostly future images of the deadly spells are quickly followed by the real thing as the six spheres materialise and blast outward. My minds are wound so tight I can feel them screaming in pain. I can't breathe, I can't think. All of my focus is on those spells and the feel of my body.
The time is coming! Don't miss it. Miss and I'm dead. Don't die. Don't die! DON'T DIE!
JUMP!
The moment I stop sliding through the sand and feel my claws dig into the ground, I calculate the angle and jump. The future echo of the spells is already right in front of my face, the real thing only a heartbeat behind. As I leap, my legs spread wide to allow one of the spells to pass through them before it impacts the ground beneath me.
The detonation sears the underside of my body and pain sears my minds, but more important than that, the force of the explosion combined with the lift from my own jump propels me straight toward the monster with impossible speed.
[IT'S A ROCKET JUMP FOOL! DOOM GUY LIVES IN MEEEEEEEEE!]
-x-X-x-
My massive ant body hurtles through the air as if I've been fired out of a cannon with my mandibles open wide. The air whistles past, pushing my antennae back against my head with the force. I'm seriously moving now, I can almost taste that demon now! Even as I prepare for the chomp, the monster doesn't appear to have given up. Resentment and anger are accumulated in that eye and it flashes blindingly green once more!
I knew it would come down to this! I've no way to dodge and no way out. Flying head on, if that laser hits me it'll drill straight through my head and roast my brain, I can't allow it to happen!
All four of my brains reach out toward the demon and grasp hold of the immense mana flooding into that eye. Being so close to it, I can feel the weave of mana being concentrated in that eye and even in this situation I can appreciate the sheer skill on display. The dense threads of mana are weaved with such speed and precision it shocks me. The little demon is painting a four dimensional masterpiece with thousands of individual brushstrokes in a matter of seconds. The mastery such a feat requires is astounding! Not that I can allow it to happen...
Desperate to prevent the spell from firing I use every bit of my Will to take hold of the mana and rip it apart. As I fly through the air, my jaws prepared to crunch, a contest of minds takes place and I'm severely outmatched. As I try to seize the mana taking shape within the eye and break it, destroying the fragile work the demon has created, it tries to lock the mana in place, holding it firm and denying my attempts even as it races to finish the spell before I can bite it.
Once again I'm left in awe at the sheer mental power of the creature. So this is what a true master of magic looks like! Even though it has evolved one more time than I have, I really didn't expect the difference to be this severe. How the hell does it pack so much raw brain into that tiny body?! It's insane!
It might be an unfair arm wrestle, but it's one that I have no choice but to win! Victory or defeat is measured in a matter of milliseconds. In this strange slow motion world that we occupy I can already see the dark energy that manifests my omen chomp taking shape at the edges of my mandibles. In less than a second they'll expand outward and close on the soft, squishy body of this demon, ending it. I just have to delay the laser beam until then!
Frantic, I redouble my efforts! If you can build, then I'll destroy! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! Every mind I possess is working at its maximum capacity, my entire body is screaming in pain. We have to get there in time!
To my horror, my antennae begin to tingle and something I really don't want to see begins to take shape in front of my eyes. From the centre of that bulging eyeball a phantom laser blasts outwards, lancing toward my head, directly between my eyes.
NONONOONONONONONONNONOONOONONONONONONONO!
I'm so damn close!
Tear! Destory! Demolish! Anything! Like an insane child going to town on a pinata I cannot be stopped, recklessly trying to destroy every piece of mana I can get my mental hands on.
But it's not enough! The Will of the demon is as solid as Iron and the real laser blasts out from the eye, spearing down the trail left behind by its future echo. AHHHHHHHH NOOOOO!
MOTHER!
CHOMP!
Silence reigns over the combat area as the dust settles. For a brief, paralysing moment I'm not even sure if I'm alive or dead. My body feels dead. Am I dead? Is Gandalf going to speak to me again or will my soul just dissipate into nothing? Geez, my head hurts. The worst part of four brains means four simultaneous headaches is a real thing I have to deal with. It sucks.
If my head hurts... then I must be alive. Surely you don't get afterlife headaches?! I attempt to wiggle my antennae and to my joy I find I can still move them! Aha! I live! I'M ALIVE! Almost unable to believe it, I start tapping my head all over with my antennae, just trying to confirm that my head still exists. I swear I saw that laser zap straight into my head...
Creepily, I find that it actually did. Right between my eye orbs a significant hole has been drilled directly into my carapace. In a thousandth of a second it probably would have tunnelled all the way through and into my brain. My body goes completely weak with relief. That was way too close. Holy moly, I can't take many more of these!
At the same time I can feel a giddy excitement welling up inside me, making me shake with silent ant-laughter.
I live! Against all the odds, I still live! Screw you Dungeon! Get stuffed Shapers! I roll with all the punches and I'm still kicking! This insect is here to stay! BWAHAHAHAAAAA!
Wait a second... I haven't received the Dungeon notifications!
I roll to my feet and scrabble to turn around. Where the heck is the demon?! Heart in my mouth, I rush to where I'd collided with it and breathe a sigh of relief. It might not be dead, but it's not looking so hot. The eye has been crushed and its body is a wreck. It's a minor miracle that it's still alive. The tenuous connection between us still exists and I feel a voice whisper in my mind.
[I wanted ... your everthinggg.]
I look down on the now pitifully broken body of the demon.
[You... are freakin' weird man. I can't lie.]
CHOMP!
[You have slain level 57 Luminare Daemon Invidia (VI)]
[You have gained experience!]
[You have reached level 24.]
[You have reached level 25.]
[You have reached level 26.]
[You have reached level 27.]
[You have reached level 28.]
The moment the demon is confirmed dead, something bizarre happens. As if a hole connected to a world of grossness opened, a flood of brain matter and bits explode out the back of the demon's head. The creepy mouth also materialises a connection to the main body and launching out from behind comes a gigantic, distended stomach. In a matter of seconds a huge pile of offal has appeared, steaming in the dim light of the combat area.
Uh ... delicious?
-x-X-x-
Up in the stands Granin can't help but chuckle in relief as he watched Anthony gingerly approach the disgusting pile of Biomass that had seemingly been vomited from thin air. Perhaps at some point he could have told his charge that demons stored body parts in self-contained micro-dimensions, allowing large and powerful monsters to appear small and harmless, the bulk of their body mass shunted off into a pocket space. The Shapers would dearly love to be able to control such a piece of magic but it had eluded them for eons. The demons seemed to have access to it as a matter of course, simply for being born demons, as if it were a natural part of their biology. Whatever the case, it certainly made them creepy and deceptive enemies to fight against.
That had been close. Far too close. Going into the fight he'd given Anthony a ten percent chance of coming out on top, but even he'd been shocked by the amount of power that'd been packed into that little demon. A monster fully specialised in physical stats with great speed and power would have been much better off than the ant. Not only were his stats lacking, his Skills were also weak when compared to a more specialised monster since he'd spent so much time grinding his magic and mental abilities. This tournament was almost fiendishly set up to target his weakness as a generalised creature. But still, he'd been able to win.
That final manoeuvre had been dreamed up on the border between genius and insanity, Granin was sure of it. Who would think of using the blast from an explosion to propel themselves toward their enemy head first? It was insane, tremendously difficult to pull off and almost certainly suicide. And yet Granin was now looking down at a monster cheerfully chowing down on its defeated foe having utilised just such a move.
As the tension slowly drained out of Granin he couldn't help but become increasingly aware of the shock and disappointment radiating from the Shapers around him, particularly from the figure on his left.
"Incredible. A truly brilliant tactical decision." He mused out loud, seemingly to himself.
Gravus immediately blew up.
"Tactical decision?! It was a FLUKE! Pure luck! I've never seen such a disgusting display! That inferior creature had been outclassed the entire bout until that - that - idiotic display!"
The vehemence at which Gravus spat his vitriol shocked even Granin and he couldn't help but turn to look at the elderly Shaper directly. The old man was visibly livid, chest heaving and eyes ablaze, his hands were gripped in fists so tight his true skin was starting to crack. A sensible and sane Shaper would clearly not poke the tiger and tastefully retreat in this situation. What profit could be had out of provoking a viper like Gravus? Sadly, Granin had never considered himself particularly sensible.
"An idiotic display? Are you daft, blind or both? That idiotic display secured victory from a clearly disadvantageous position. I demand you acknowledge the genius that has been displayed before you here today!"
If he was a roused tiger before, Gravus transformed into a volcano now. He turned toward Granin, face twisted with rage and arms flying wildly.
"Demand? DEMAND?! You don't get to demand anything from me Granin you half qualified excuse for a Shaper! You're just a big a piece of TRASH as that insect that you sponsor! You're very presence in this cult makes me sick."
Granin blinked slowly. The fire had begun to burn in him now, the other's words had said too much that was usually left unspoken. He took a step towards the other Shaper until they were almost bumping foreheads and his voice dropped to a menacing whisper.
"And why might that be, Gravus? Is it because we get things done? Is it because we actually achieve something, instead of sitting on our ossified asses in a tower, cowering like a little grub? Why don't you say it? Why don't you tell me exactly why you don't want me and my charge here in this cult? Hmm?"
Gravus was too lost in his rage to notice the dangerous glint in the other's eye. Puffed up on indignation and anger he blustered forward, unafraid.
"You know exactly why you're unworthy, Granin! Your family is a TRASH offshoot of a TRASH clan! And you, you are the perfect descendant of that line. The ultimate trash! Don't pretend you don't know it!" He sneered. "Your true skin announces your status for all the world to see! Filthy base stone for a filthy base Shaper! I'm still shocked you weren't abandoned by your family in disgrace but it goes to show how little morals they have!"
Hold onto it Granin. Hold it in. You can't be the first to swing. He took in a slow breath before he returned fire.
"Yet my achievements in the cult are piled high whilst you have done nothing to earn your exalted position. I bet it burns you deep inside, knowing just how much a fraud you are. What do you know? Nothing. What have you done? Nothing. You aren't wrong. That insect down there and I are very alike. We keep getting things done despite you. Just how powerless are you Gravus? It kills you, but you know it's true. At the end of the day, it's going to be that ant and I standing at the top whilst you and your vaunted clan clap from the sidelines."
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
He'd achieved his goal, the old man had completely snapped. With that final roar, Gravus threw aside his dignity, drew back his fist incited the first brawl to have ever occurred in the viewing area of the combat arena. The onlookers, stunned by the vicious display of words between their two colleagues who had been preparing to retire from the arena to spread this delicious gossip, but soon found themselves gobsmacked as they witnessed a full on fist fight. Even more than this, the words spoken on both sides had ignited the passions of more than a few in the stands, and as the fists flew more than a few arguments began which quickly descended into an all-out battle that drew in everyone in attendance.
Down in the pit, the ant couldn't help but pause its meal for a brief moment as it watched the developing spectacle before dismissing them all with a flick of its antennae and returning to its meal.
An hour later Granin was grinning broadly as Anthony finished his meal. Torrina Laksham alternated between looking at the giant ant with an approving gaze and glaring at her triad leader with smouldering anger.
"You punched Oridene Gravus. The Oridene Gravus?" Corun asked, bewildered.
"I did more than that!" Granin boasted. "I thrashed him!"
He chortled delightedly at the memory. Gravus had never worked much in the field, he was a classic scholar, as physically weak as a Golgari could get. Combined with his advanced age, it had never been close to a fair fight. Granin had beaten down on the loathsome spectre until his low class granite fists had started to powder.
"And what are your heroics going to do for Anthony's chances in this tournament?" Torrina asked sharply. "Gravus will stop at nothing to humiliate you now!"
Granin harrumphed.
"He was already doing everything he could to make things hard for Anthony. Nothing is going to change except that now everyone knows what's going on since he admitted it openly. If anything, it'll be better now!"
Corun looked at him, wide eyed.
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course it won't!" Torrina snapped at them. "The bias is open knowledge now and so is the grudge. Gravus will pull the whole weight of his triad behind him to settle this now! We're going to get squeezed for every resource between now and the next fight and you better believe they'll be pulling out all the stops to put the hardest matchup they can find in front of us!"
As if her words had punctured him, Granin slumped forward.
"You're right." He sighed. "I know you're right."
He looked up at his two triad members and his charge.
"I'm sorry. I let myself get carried away."
"Don't be sorry, be better. We're going to have to pull in every favour and get as many eyes on our candidate as possible if we want to pull through. We need to ensure Anthony gets the best of everything from now on. We need Biomass, training, cores and we need it yesterday!"
Granin wearily pulled himself to his feet.
"Come on Corun. You and I need to hit up the quartermaster before Gravus can wake up."
"YOU KNOCKED HIM OUT?!" Corun shrieked.
"What does it matter now? Let's go. Torrina, you talk to Anthony and work on a plan for training."