It's difficult to believe they were so successful."
"You call that successful? Weren't they supposed to conquer the fifth?"
"You know very well that it was just an exploratory mission."
"Being able to survive down there for a few days is not nearly the same thing as making a safe path through to the sixth. If it were that easy, the Legion would have done it a thousand years ago!"
Marcus and Greyson argued back and forth as Morrelia sat and listened to both sides of the argument. They'd returned to their lodgings in the forward operating base, which had grown even larger and more elaborate in the time they'd been away.
More and more ants were arriving every hour. Every time she stepped out to survey the surroundings, their numbers had increased. Mostly carvers, but soldiers, mages, scouts and core shapers with their teams of pets also came down in a steady stream.
She'd seen the Colony at work before, of course, but this was on an entirely different scale. Over time, it became clear what was happening out there.
The ants were preparing a staging ground. The core shapers dispersed into the surrounding tunnels, hunting down monsters while the rest got to work defending and shaping the area. Although only the bare bones of it had taken shape, she could already get a glimpse of just how large the planned invasion force was going to be.
"Enough," she announced, cutting off Greyson and Marcus. "Both of you are correct. It is impressive what the ants have done here. Making any headway at all into the fifth is a challenge many fail to meet. It likely wouldn't be possible at all without the resilience of the tier seven ant, our target."
She turned to Greyson.
"At the same time, it is far from a sufficient show of strength to suggest they'll be successful at breaching the fifth. Let alone cleansing it, as they've declared they will. What we need to consider is just how many resources the ants are going to devote to this project? That will give us a stronger sense of their chances of success."
The Legionary leaned back and sighed.
"Do you really think they even have a chance?" Greyson said. "I'm not convinced and I think the Commander will agree."
"You're underestimating them," Marcus interjected quietly. "We should never be in the position where we underestimate our foes, Greyson."
"There's an easy way to solve this," Morrelia said. "I'll get permission for us to go up to the nest to see their preparations for myself."
Both Legionaries weren't happy to hear that.
"Are you sure, Tribune?" Greyson sputtered. "We were only asked to investigate the ants' operations in the fifth, and we've gone well beyond that mandate already."
"As he said, Tribune," Marcus followed, "we can't ensure our safety in the nest at all. How are we to ensure our reports even make it back to the commander?"
Morrelia rolled her eyes.
"If the ants wanted us dead, why wouldn't they just kill us down in the fifth? Be logical. If we want to make a complete report to Commander Chyron, then this is the next step. I'll be back soon. Pack your bags."
So saying, she strode out to find Anthony. He was, as expected, lounging about, apparently bickering with the ants passing him by, judging by the irritated waving of his antennae.
When he saw her coming, a mind bridge soon followed.
[What are they saying that's got you all riled up?] she asked him.
[They're accusing me of being lazy! Me! As if they have any idea how hard I had to work down there in the muck! Absolute nonsense.]
As she watched, he prodded an ant passing by directly with one antenna, but the much, much smaller ant seemed to brush him off, clacking her mandibles in a teasing way.
[You probably get more respect from the Legionaries,] Anthony sighed, [being an officer and all that. Must be nice.]
[I'm not sure I'd go that far…]
The Legion was an extremely well disciplined fighting force, but there was a reason for that. Insubordinate soldiers were treated… firmly.
[I came with a request,] she stated, getting down to business.
[Another one? How many favours am I supposed to do for an organisation that wants me dead, Morrelia? This is getting ridiculous.]
She winced despite herself.
[I know. I just want complete information so I can report to my commander. To be honest, the more I can say the Colony is likely to succeed, the more she'll feel restraint will be the best path. A little exploratory mission into the fifth over a few days is nice, but it isn't enough.]
[So you want to head up and see the troops being prepared for the campaign, eh?] Anthony mused as he rubbed his head. He sighed. [It's a bit of a risk for us, though. We'd be revealing exactly how many ants we plan to commit to the fifth, which could prompt the Legion to attack our nests.]
[As far as I know, there are no plans for any such attack.]
[But they wouldn't necessarily tell you if there were, right?]
[...Right,] she reluctantly agreed.
Anthony considered it for a moment in silence.
[Alright, fine. You have my permission. I don't trust the Legion, because why would I, but I do trust you. Head on up there and take a look, then go report to your commander. We're serious about this. The fifth won't have ever seen anything like it.]
[I hope you're right,] she said, heart heavy in her chest.
With permission from the Eldest, the rest flowed naturally. In short order, Morrelia, Greyson and Marcus were given an express trip up the Colony's expanding tunnel network into the deepest caverns beneath the nest.
There, they were escorted around by a little ant who called herself 'Solant' via the mage who connected them, along with a sizable guard.
They were led to a training ground where ten thousand ants were running through drills and practices, much like she would see in a Legionary parade ground.
Then another area just like it. Then another. And another. Another. Another. Another. Another. Another. More and more until she was no longer sure just how many they'd been through. They were shown vast forges that filled entire caverns, an army of ants hammering away at the metal, producing specialised equipment, armour, rings, weapons. Room after room of enchanters hard at work, chests full of cores coming in a constant stream to fuel their endeavours.
[Soon we will ramp up to full preparations,] the mage passed along the words of Solant.
Morrelia boggled.
[This isn't full?]
The little ant clacked her mandibles derisively, eyes glittering.
[Solant says… this is only half of the required material to complete phase one.]
[Phase one…]
[She says… the fifth is a dangerous place, and it does not like to be invaded. Didn't you know?]
When they descended back to the lower tunnels, Morrelia reported to Anthony that they were done, and he waved them off as the three members of the Abyssal Legion returned to their troops, minds spinning with what they had seen.
In all three of them, a seed of thought had taken root.
What if they really did it?
-x-X-x-
"Oh, I don't like this. I don't like this at all," Brilliant muttered.
"What have you gotten us into this time?" Experimant groaned looking over her leader's carapace.
"Th-th-that… looks nasty," Assistant agreed.
Brilliant clacked her mandibles in irritation.
"I'm not investigating this because I want to," she told them. "The Eldest asked me to work out what the Church of the Path were doing in their fancy, secret rituals, and that's what I'm doing!"
"The Eldest did?" Experimant said. "Then why haven't you finished yet?"
"Because it's difficult. Do you think just anyone can put together the pieces of an extremely complex ritual with only a few faded scraps to work with?"
The little ant looked at her two trusted aides sideways.
"There's only one type of ant who can…."
"Which type?" Assistant asked before Experimant could stop her.
"One that's BRILLIANT!" the little annoyance cackled, throwing back her head and flailing her front legs around.
"O-Oh… I sh-should have known…."
"Yes," Experimant growled, "you should have."
She looked around the lab they were currently standing in. At the moment, it was filled with little else but Brilliant's scratchings. Half-formed engravings, bits of slate with designs scrawled over them, several enchanting arrays, the purpose of which wasn't at all clear.
"Is there a reason you've pulled us from the projects we're managing?" Experimant finally sighed. "My team was on the verge of making a breakthrough."
"Without me? I doubt it!" Brilliant cackled once more, causing Experimant to grind her mandibles. "I called you here because I need your help, and because I don't want any other members of the team to work on this."
She gestured to the enchanting array she was working on with one antennae.
"As you can see, this is ugly stuff, potentially dangerous. I don't want any of our other work tainted by this… thing."
It was a first for the two followers to ever see their leader encounter knowledge that she seemed to find distasteful. Their own burgeoning sense of unease grew stronger.
"Only the three of us are going to work on it," she told them. "I want both of you here, full-time, to assist for the next week. Make sure your teams know what to do in your absence. Though they should barely notice."
The two ignored the jibe as they continued to stare at the array. It was… uncomfortable to look at it, for reasons they couldn't quite understand.
"What does this even do?" Experimant wondered.
"Oh, I can tell you that," Brilliant said offhandedly.
"If you already know what it does, then what do you need us for?" Experimant demanded.
"Because I need to know how it works!" Brilliant snapped back, uncharacteristically harsh. "It isn't enough to be able to say what it does, that doesn't give us a full understanding. I have to know HOW! It tells us so much information that we can't afford to leave on the ground and not pick up! This thing is the work of our enemies, would you have us ignorant of their methods?!"
"N-no. No, I wouldn't," Experiment stammered.
"W-w-what d-does it d-do?" Assistant asked hesitantly.
"It's a monster distillery. Put a monster in one end, get distilled essence out the other."
That didn't make much sense to either of the other two ants. They glanced at each other to confirm their mutual confusion, then turned back to Brilliant.
"Can you… elaborate?" Experimant asked.
"If I must," Brilliant sighed. "When a monster is killed, what happens?"
"They… die?"
"Obviously they die! But there's more, isn't there?"
"E-e-experience is granted to the person who l-l-landed the finishing b-b-blow."
"Precisely!" Brilliant declared. "In other words, something is taken from the monster and given to the slayer. Correct?"
"Do we know that?" Experimant interjected. "Could the experience not come from the system itself? Is experience even a tangible thing and not just a number tracked by the system?"
"It's both," Brilliant declared impatiently. "It is a number tracked by the system, but every individual on this planet touched by the system contains all the XP they've gained in their life."
She turned around and prodded both her team members in the head.
"The important point is this. When a monster dies, does its slayer gain all of its experience?"
That was a simple question.
"No."
"So where does the rest go?"
The question hung in the air, but neither Experimant nor Assistant could really grip it properly.
"Before we can even attempt to answer that, we need a better understanding of what XP really is," Experimant said, somewhat exasperated.
From being in charge of her own research team to working directly under Brilliant again. She went from teacher to student so quickly her antennae were spinning.
"Gah! Fine! Look, the system is not something that is only with us when we access it, right? It's with us all the time, intertwined with us at a fundamental level."
"D-d-d-do we actually kn-kn-know that?" Assistant wondered.
"Of course we know that. I proved it over… there somewhere," Brilliant gestured vaguely toward a stack of materials, arrays, slates and paper.
"When?"
"Three days ago. Doesn't matter. Focus. So experience, or XP is part of the system, and therefore bound up within us also. It's like information written on a slate, and then the slate is weaved into our bodies, our minds and our souls and becomes part of us."
"D-d-d-do we kn-kn-know that?!" Assistant gasped, a little wild-eyed.
"Yes," Brilliant replied, fed up. "I proved it two days ago! Over there somewhere."
Once again, she gestured to another, entirely separate pile of materials.
"Now, most of the XP we accumulate, which is threaded throughout our being, remember, goes back to the Dungeon when we die, in much the same way Biomass is absorbed if left alone. The process simply happens much quicker. Instantly, pretty much."
"When did you prove that?" Experimant asked.
She wasn't even surprised anymore, just tired.
"Yesterday!" Brilliant declared. "Finally, we come to the important bit. What this array seeks to do is extract all of that XP, or at least, a lot more of that XP, from a monster. By placing a monster within the matrix, they refine it, sift out those information slates, convert them to some other form, and then consume it."
She stated it all so matter of factly, yet the sheer… horrific nature of what was described did not pass by either of her two followers.
"So you're saying they… melt down a monster and extract XP from it?" It was so comically evil, Experimant almost didn't want to believe it. "How would that even work?"
"Slowly," Brilliant said, suddenly looking, of all things, sad. She looked at her two closest followers, all her usual enthusiasm burned away. "Slowly… and painfully."
-x-X-x-
A whirlwind of activity, a frenzy of organisation, and at the centre of it all, Solant dwelt, the eye of the storm, a calm and steadying presence who brought order to the chaos.
Washingtant rushed forward, a team of scouts behind her.
"General, we have three detachments of scouts arriving in an hour. They need deployment instructions."
"Speak to Leonidant, she has the details."
"I will, General."
Subutant stepped forward, with messages from the core shapers working below.
"Bella and Ellie send word that they have almost finalised the design for the Wuffers in tiers one to five. Soon, they'll begin promoting a few candidates to tier six to see where the evolutions take them."
"Thank you, Subutant. Congratulate the core shapers on my behalf and remind them to expend rare cores on every evolution. The wuffers are the key to this campaign. Without them at their best, we will surely fail."
"I will do so immediately."
Off she went, and Solant turned to look down on the battalion running through their drills in the chamber she was overlooking. She turned all of her lenses toward the fighting, each individual movement highlighted, not even the smallest detail avoiding her attention.
"Squads four through seven are a beat slow when turning. Have the battalion run through the entire drill another ten times. Even the slightest flaw will break the manoeuvre."
"Of course, General."
On to the next. Solant moved along the tunnel to the final drill chamber, speaking in turn to each messenger who rushed forward with another detail that needed to be sorted.
Each of these issues was dealt with in the same calm, logical manner as those which had come before. Then she turned her gaze down to the practising battalion. For two long minutes, she watched, her attention never wavering, while all of those attending her waited in perfect silence.
Ten thousand ants moved in perfect synchronisation beneath them, advancing, falling back, turning, swarming, rotating, each movement flowing flawlessly into the next. As perfectly choreographed as a dance, as flawlessly executed as a machine.
"My congratulations to battalion two-thirty-six," she said. "I see no errors at all. They are to be commended and rewarded."
She considered a moment.
"They will be the first battalion sent below. They'll perform an extra shift working alongside the construction crews."
The general in command saluted sharply.
"Thank you, General!"
Solant was normally extremely strict on work hours. She didn't want to lose any of her soldiers, from the most low-ranked scout to the highest officer, for even a single day of enforced rest. Yet, occasionally, as a special reward, an extra shift could be worked here or there without the torpor police growing more active.
Moderation was, as usual, the key.
"I'm returning to the command post," she announced. "Sumant, how much longer until the next rest period?"
"One hour and six minutes, General."
"Perfect."
It wasn't far from the drill chambers to the central command, but Solant was again occupied answering questions and directing traffic the entire way. She had delegated as much authority as she possibly could, but no matter how much she trusted the competence of her officers, there were still matters that needed the attention of the ant in charge.
And there was no question who was in charge. Every part of this exercise had her scent upon it, down to the finest detail.
She followed the scent trails, though she knew the way by heart, and soon stepped into the wide open central planning chamber. In the centre of the room, a large-scale model of the fifth stratum below drew the eye. There was only so much the scouts could sense while being trapped within the safe-zone, but with their high-rank tunnel sense, pathfinding and prediction fusion, coupled with several far-finding organs and mutations, they could detect an awful lot.
As it was, they had a model that spread almost ten kilometres from the incursion site, though it was certainly not reliable at the outer reaches.
Solant approached and considered it once again.
The tangle of tunnels resembled nothing so much as a web of veins, like the circulatory system of a living, breathing creature. There was a certain flow and movement to the shape of the fifth that had been revealed so far. The mana, guided by the tunnels, always flowed in a certain direction as if by design.
Even the rivers followed strict patterns, forming an internal cycle that ensured the filth was spread as evenly as possible.
It was into this perfectly corrupt ecosystem that Solant intended to drive a wedge nice and deep. Whatever the enemy wanted, she would destroy; whatever they held dear, she would take away.
All over the model, notations could be found, each indicating staging points, fortification to be constructed, the sites of future wuffer nodes, and to the side, a scale model of the grand nest that would be built within the fifth.
Provided by Cobalt and Tungstant, the model had been sliced down the middle to provide a clear cross section, allowing the viewer to see every detail of the internal layout.
This was already the seventh model, the previous six having been rejected by Solant and her team.
"What do you think of this one, Juliant?"
The carver twitched her antennae as she leaned closer to the detailed description provided on scent slate.
"It's better," she grunted. "They finally seem to be understanding how serious we are about security. You can see the triple lock entrances and exits we demanded have been implemented here and here."
"Are they still worried about throughput?"
"What do you think?"
Solant sighed. The two oldest carvers were experts in constructing and designing fortifications and nests, literally the best in the Colony, but they hadn't adequately adjusted their methods to suit the unique challenges of the fifth yet.
The entrances as designed would choke the number of ants able to move in and out of the nest to an uncomfortable level. It would take hours to move hundreds of thousands of ants in and out, harming their capacity to rapid-deploy in response to emergencies happening nearby, that much was true.
However…
"We cannot compromise on security," Solant stated calmly. "Even a speck of toxic mana entering the nest could be catastrophic, and every ant has to be counted in and out, every time, no exceptions."
"I know that, but you might have to go and talk to them again. I can see that they're trying to accommodate us, but they're still trying to find clever solutions which only serve to weaken the system overall. I want it so straightforward and simple that an aphid could figure it out. The error margin must be as close to zero as possible."
"Agreed. I'll speak to them tomorrow. Someone schedule that for me."
"Of course, General."
A single ant going missing within the fifth was a catastrophe of unprecedented scale. There could never be a miss. If a Krath managed to abduct an ant from within the nest, similarly, that would be a disaster.
Even if it weren't for the risk of Krath corrupting and enslaving ants, control over the nest would still need to be absolute. When the environment itself was a weapon, regulating it had to take priority, even if it meant great sacrifices in utility.
"Where are we on logistics?" she demanded, and a ripple ran through every ant in the command post.
It was the question she asked the most, and the one on which she was the most strict.
In a moment, data slates had been placed in front of her, each filled with numbers and details in neat, scented rows. A few seconds later, more slates, with diagrams of the tunnel networks and staging nests that needed to be built.
She pored over it for minutes, hunting down every detail, until finally she sighed deeply.
Every ant nearby braced.
"Not good enough," she declared, "not even remotely. First, item seventy-six…"
It would be another rough day for the logistics department.
"Then we need to discuss the schedule for allied soldier integration."
A very rough day.
-x-X-x-
The Templars of the Great One emerging among the followers of the New Path lent greater weight to their words and deeds, a manifestation of their belief and vindication for their methods.
The acknowledgement of the system had blessed the allies of the Colony in many ways. The special Classes that became available to the priests who trained under Beyn, the ant cavalry riders, the benefits provided when the Colony fought alongside their allies, all of it affirmed the burgeoning faith of the people.
When knowledge of the Templar was made public, that faith both exploded, and was cemented, as it seemed the system itself had acknowledged the divinity of the Great One.
The Templars themselves came to be revered, to which the various members of that august body had differing reactions. Some embraced their role wholeheartedly, being powerful symbols of the Great One and their divine authority amongst the people. Others rejected it, preferring their identities to remain secret, so they might continue to act to further the designs of their deity in the manner they had before being selected.
Regardless of their actions, each of the Templars proved themselves to be selfless devotees, pure of heart, thought and deed. No promise would they break. No faith would they betray. No dishonour would they leave unavenged.
- Excerpt from 'Observations on the New Path' by Rebecca
"Come, it isn't far now."
Jern, as usual, kept his sentences short and to the point, not a fan of using three words when two would do.
Alis shot him a disgruntled look, and he felt, on this occasion, it was probably justified.
"There's no need to be afraid," she said sweetly. "This is a dangerous place, but you will be protected. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise."
For their part, the three children didn't seem afraid at all. They looked up at Alis and nodded, calm as napping shepherds. There was something different about these three, and that was probably why Jern hadn't felt the need to coddle them much, but they were still very young. It didn't hurt to make a little extra effort to ensure they were comfortable.
Alis was a lot better at that sort of thing than he was. Jern operated on a 'I'm sure you can take care of your business just fine', sort of policy. As a result, he wasn't always sure if he should be lending help or not.
"Is everything alright?" the general leading the squad asked.
"Oh. Yes, everything is fine. We just wanted to make sure the children were calm."
"You're worried about them?"
"Shouldn't we be? They are quite little."
"The young must be protected at all times," the ant declared firmly. "However, some are more capable than others."
Jern considered that for a moment.
"I'm not sure I follow."
"I don't want to say too much. Just… don't overwork yourself."
Now this confused Jern.
"Don't overwork? Coming from you girls? I've been working hard, but you soldiers have been putting in day-long shifts…."
The general was now waving her antennae wildly, swinging her head from side to side, as if afraid something would leap from the shadows at any moment.
"Don't say that!" the general hissed. "I'm going to sleep straight after this escort mission is done," she announced… sort of… generally.
Jern looked confused, but nodded.
"That's probably a good idea."
"Is it long until we reach the Great One?" he asked.
"Not long now," a different soldier replied. "The Eldest said they would meet us beneath the nest. Luckily, they didn't want us to go all the way down. It's quite a trek from the nest to reach the forward operating base."
The lower they went, the heavier the traffic, but the three children didn't seem intimidated at all. Their eyes were tranquil as they took in the rushing columns of ants speeding about them.
"The Eldest is resting within this chamber," the general said as they arrived outside a large opening in the wall. "A different team will arrive to escort you back to the gate, since we are all going to rest."
"Enjoy your rest," Alis thanked them. "I hope you have a refreshing torpor."
The team of ants gave a quick salute, turned, and began to scuttle away. Jern watched as they turned into a shadowed area of the tunnel, and didn't emerge again.
Odd. He didn't think there was an opening there? He shrugged. He hadn't spent much time in these tunnels.
"Alright then, let's not keep the Great One waiting," he said, and strode forward.
After a second, he remembered he was supposed to be nicer to the young ones, but when he turned around they were right on his heels, with Alis bringing up the rear.
The Eldest, as usual, was an imposing figure, even at rest. The massive ant loomed out of the darkness, its razor-sharp mandibles, deep purple crystalline carapace and overall presence overwhelming to most.
Yet Jern could feel his connection to the enormous creature before him buzzing away in the back of his head.
Anthony was tired, a bit bored, and quite curious about meeting the three individuals behind him. Even being near the most powerful ant felt invigorating to Jern, as if his own cares and worries were being melted away and his body filled with strength.
"Hello, Anthony," he waved up at the ant.
"Managed to get the hang of the pheromones, eh?"
The scent of the ant was much the same as everything else about him, overwhelming. It blasted against Jern's newly awakened senses and rattled him down to his toes.
"I'm getting better," he said.
"Nice to see you again, Jern, Alis. I hope you've been well. Now please, introduce me to these three little Templars waiting behind you. I've been wanting to meet them for ages."
Without needing to be told, the three stepped forward, then silently knelt and bowed their heads towards the Eldest.
Jern and Alis were stunned for a moment, but Alis recovered quickly.
"Anthony, this is Allison, Trean, and Emilia."
"Oh, I know their names," the giant ant said.
Then he did something odd, raising up onto only his back legs, he performed a complicated motion with the other four limbs.
"Nameless Ones and Templars. What interesting children you are proving to be."
-x-X-x-
Three little squirts are kneeling in front of me. Honestly, it's kind of hard to tell how old they are. Recognising human features gets harder and harder the longer I live this new life. They're older than ten, but not eighteen. Probably.
These three have lived interesting lives up to this point, I can tell. Taken in by the Nameless Ones, and now this? I wonder how they got caught up in the crusade in the first place? Actually, I think I can guess. After all, we wouldn't want the crusaders to overwork themselves….
"You three can understand me?" I say, speaking to them via pheromones.
It's polite to be sure of these things.
All three of them nod.
How in the heck?
"You kids went through some tough training… didn't you?"
Again, they nod. Come on now, say something… anything. I'm a friendly ant, not scary at all!
Or perhaps they just aren't comfortable speaking out loud? After all, if they gained the Templar Initiate Class like the other two did, they won't get pheromonal language until they advance it.
Welcome.
I gesture to them with the secret language of the Nameless, and I see all three of them react, stiffening in place.
It is an honour to be before you, Eldest.
The way they move is interesting. After all, they can't move like an ant does, for obvious reasons, but they've adapted to make the required gestures using various other means.
You should probably get used to it, considering what you've now become.
The Templars need to be around me in order to level up, at least at the Initiate stage. Forging bonds with me or something? I don't know how it works. Honestly, I'm not sure how useful they are in the first place, but it'd be rude for me to cut off their potential because I found them inconvenient.
Alis and Jern were able to get the necessary levels to advance their classes during the trade mission, unlocking a range of new abilities including pheromonal language. Despite this, none of us are any clearer on how they're supposed to 'defend my sanctum' or from what.
These three were the second set of statues to turn up inside the Nave, and there will probably be more in the future. I'd love to know just what they're supposed to do, for their sake as well as mine.
It kind of feels bad to have these dedicated people hanging around without some sort of purpose.
We do not know what we have become, Eldest. We wish to serve the Sanctum of Sleep, as we ever have.
It's the boy who gestures this message to me, but the other two don't contradict him in the slightest.
Of course, you can continue to perform your role as Nameless. I wouldn't dream of denying you your purpose.
All three of them visibly relax. Clearly they were deeply worried about it. As if I would ever mess with the torpor police. Those ants are scary! They were inspired by Crinis, after all. I mean, do I even need to say more?!
But you have an additional calling now. Defending my sanctum… whatever that is.
That caused a little confusion amongst the three.
You don't know, Eldest?
No idea, I gestured back. It's not like I'm the one handing these Classes out. We'll figure it out as we go, I'm sure.
It's not like I've ever taken a hit and thought to myself 'oof! Right in the sanctum!'
Clearly, there's some manner of spiritual attack that can hit the Vestibule, Nave or Altar. Possibly all three. That seems like the only explanation, but I haven't come across anything like that before, so how can I be sure?
You three will need to get situated with the Sanctum here in the fourth, I gesture to them.
They could stay in the guest wings, but these three are a bit more than guests. I'm sure they'll be more comfortable amongst the ants who've accepted them as their own.
I'll find as much time for you as I can, but I won't be taking you down to the fifth with me any time soon.
Though I'll probably have to at some point… ugh. Exposing humans this young to that place? That doesn't feel good.
"Nameless One," I say to the chamber around me.
Sure enough, one of the shadows detaches from the walls and slides out toward me.
You called me from the darkness, Eldest?
Gah! They're so creepy!
"I want you to train up these three. They're already good, but they need to be better, considering where they're going."
There's a moment of hesitation.
They are already Nameless.
"Yeah, I know they've gone through that training. I'm talking about more… fighty type training. Sneaking and abducting is one thing, but they need to be able to defend themselves properly."
I consider for a moment then indicate Jern and Alis, who've been standing around looking confused nearby.
"Take them as well while you're at it. The more the merrier, I suppose."
There is a spark of hesitation from the shadow, and I can tell what they're worried about.
"I don't intend to interfere with your operations, and I know you aren't combat specialists. It's fine, just do what you can. I have complete faith in the Nameless to come up with something that will work. You're adaptable, after all."
It will be as you wish, Eldest.
"Great. I'll send Crinis along to keep an eye on things and pass along any ideas I come up with, alright?"
We will be blessed by the Shadow?
In a sense….
"Hey, Jern! Alis! Come over here."
The two Templars brighten up as I call them and jog over to me.
"What can we do for you, Anthony?" Jern asks.
Alis is still fairly intimidated by me, but Jern seems as unperturbed as always. He's getting better at pheromones faster than she is simply because he doesn't hesitate to use them.
"I've got good news and bad news for you."
"What's the good news?" Jern asks.
"I have arranged for some special training for you. When you complete it, I guarantee you'll feel more connected to the Colony and much more confident in yourselves as a result."
"What's… the bad news?" Alis asks, looking a little concerned.
I clack my mandibles happily.
"I have arranged some special training for you! It's going to be so hard, you'll almost wish you were dead!"
No sooner have I finished speaking than the shadows rise like a wave and swallow them all.
It'll be fine.
-x-X-x-
Alis went to scream, but something was placed over her mouth, preventing her cry from escaping. She struggled, but it was useless, she was gripped tightly by invisible forces.
Were they invisible? Or was it that she had gone blind?! There was nothing but darkness around her, so total and complete she couldn't see anything of herself, not even the nose in the middle of her face.
A scent reached her, so soft that it almost didn't exist, a breath of pheromones.
"You must be silent here. You are safe."
Alis concentrated hard, trying to use her newly awakened ability to interpret the scent-based language of the Colony.
"Am I blind?" she asked, desperate for an answer.
She got a reproachful tap of an antenna on her head, and again the whisper-soft scent reached her.
"Of course not, it is simply dark. Speak softly here. You are within the Sanctum. If you are calm, rise, and follow me."
The invisible forces binding her in place vanished, and Alis shakily rose to her feet. She wanted to ask the nearby ant where they were, what was happening, but they were already moving. How exactly she knew that, she couldn't say, but there was no doubt it was true.
So, step by step, she followed, staggering into the darkness with her hands waving in front of her face.
She hit her head more times than she could count, but the ant was patient, waiting just out of her reach until she was recovered and ready to follow once more. It felt like they travelled for days, but it could have been only hours, or perhaps minutes. Alis could feel her sense of time stretching and becoming thin as she wandered through this seemingly endless tunnel of pure darkness.
"Stop."
It was the first time the ant had spoken to her in… some time… and Alis felt as if she could detect the words more clearly than before. Was the ant speaking louder? Or had her 'hearing' adjusted due to being unable to see?
"It seems you are still unaware of it."
Alis frowned.
"Unaware of what?"
There was no response for a moment, as if the ant were weighing its words.
"You are no longer hitting your head as much as before."
It was a simple observation, a statement of fact, but it hit the Templar like a thunderbolt. It was true, she was hitting her head less, but how?! Walking through the dark didn't necessarily make one better at walking through the dark. No matter how practised she became, she still couldn't see.
She inhaled deeply through her nose.
It was there, ever so faint, words, messages, guidance. The scent had been so tenuous she hadn't even realised it was there, but subconsciously had begun to follow it, reacting without knowing.
"You've been guiding me this whole time."
It wasn't a question.
"Follow me."
Once more she followed the ant, now hyper-sensitive to any change in scent that she could detect. The steady stream of instruction came and she continued to react on instinct, moving more confidently and swiftly as she learned to trust what her nose was telling her.
"It isn't enough to simply have Skills, or practise Skills," the ant told her. "To truly achieve mastery, you must push. You must do things that take your abilities beyond what the rational mind says is possible. That is the first and most important lesson I will teach you. Now stop."
As instructed, she stopped.
"Why am I here?" she asked. "What is happening?"
"You were told by the Eldest, were you not? You have been brought here to be trained."
"But where is this? And who are you? I haven't heard of anything like this in the Colony."
She made sure to modulate her pheromones as softly as she could. For some reason, it seemed… wrong… to be loud.
"You have seen us many times, even if you didn't realise what it was you were looking at. As for where. You are in the Sanctum of Sleep, the sacred temple of rest here in the fourth stratum. The Eldest has asked that we teach you our ways and equip you for the struggle ahead. So we shall, as best we are able."
She felt the ant's scent fill the room, for it was a room, she could tell as the pheromone landed upon each surface. Small, with a bed, a basin, a chest to store things in.
"This will be your resting place while we train. In order to find it again, you must remember the scent it has been marked with; do not forget it. Now come."
As her guide began to walk away, Alis desperately drew deep in the air of the small room, trying to imprint this marker in her memory. Not far away, she was asked to halt once more.
"Can I ask, where is Jern? Where are the children?"
The poor things must be so afraid….
"They are safe. For now, we will train you separately. Later, we may bring you together again, depending on how well you learn our skills."
"And what are those skills?"
She could feel the ant walking in a slow circle around her, even before the monster released a single scent.
"We are masters of stealth, observation, subtlety and patience. We strike accurately, always. We do as we intend, nothing more, nothing less. We endure when others cannot, and we excel where others fail.
"It is not necessary that you learn all of our ways, for you are not to become one of us. However, I can see the wisdom of the Eldest in entrusting you to us. What we will instil in you is a state of mind. An unswerving dedication to your purpose."
This all sounded rather intimidating to Alis.
"I'm not even sure what my purpose is," she admitted softly.
"It does not matter," the ant dismissed her concerns, and Alis looked up, shocked. "When we are finished here, no matter what fate lies in store, you will be worthy of it."
She would be worthy? Would she no longer feel the crushing pressure of being chosen, the weight of expectation she felt whenever her friends, members of the crusade, looked at her?
"There will be no more idle talk," her guide stated. "From now on, I will instruct, and you will do. There is no failure, only lessons learned. There is no attempt, only achievement. There is no defeat, only triumph delayed.
"I am the Nameless One, and I will teach you until there is nothing left for you to learn."
-x-X-x-
Jern opened his eyes, though he wondered, not for the first time, why. It wasn't as if he could see anything. He hadn't seen anything in… days? Weeks? Months? Who could say? It was almost impossible to keep track of time here, and he'd stopped trying long ago.
He felt something brush against his senses, so he rose from his bed and emerged into the training hall. The Nameless One was waiting for him, as always, silent and still.
If he were to try and explain how he knew she was there, he would struggle to find the words. He just… did. Perhaps it was a faint scent, or warmth… or perhaps he could feel the changes in the shadows where she stood.
Or maybe she wasn't there at all and he was just imagining it.
"Climb."
The instruction was given, short and direct, as always. Knowing what he was expected to do, he climbed. The walls were fairly smooth in the training room, but he'd learned how to seek the minute handholds that revealed themselves along the natural grain of the rock. When he reached the top, he knew, of course, that he wasn't done, and shifted his hands to the ceiling, seeking purchase.
Slowly, he firmed his grip, fingers tensing as he made his way out from the wall and into the centre of the ceiling. He had to bring his legs up and use his toes to find additional holds before too long, his fingers simply weren't enough to hold his weight.
Once he'd reached the middle, he held, and waited, and waited, and waited. His arms burned, his fingers screamed, but he held, patient as a stone. Time passed, or didn't, who could say?
Then: "Drop."
So he did, landing lightly on his feet. While he had a chance, he shook himself out, trying to relieve the sting in his muscles for whatever came next.
"You have endured our training… better than expected."
More words? This was unusual. The Nameless One almost never spoke more than what it took for him to understand his task. Should he reply? He may as well….
"Good?" he replied, turning the word into a question with an inflection in the scent.
The Nameless One waited, but he didn't have anything else to say. He felt her shrug, then turn to the side.
The weapons were there. He hadn't noticed when they'd been brought in, while he was on the roof at some point…. It was always the same: a rack with a variety of choices, never the exact same mix.
"Choose."
Walking with complete confidence in the dark, he walked toward the rack and paused, letting his senses dwell on each choice.
The sword was here… except it wasn't the same one as before. This was heavier… and perhaps a little longer than the last one. A mace, simple and crude, some kind of… hammer? Next to that was… ah.
He reached out and grasped the hilt of the axe, raising it with one arm and resting it on his shoulder. Heavy and sturdy, he felt more comfortable with it in his grip, a steadying and familiar presence.
"You choose the axe again."
"I didn't pick it last time," he defended himself.
He was never allowed to choose the same weapon twice in a row.
"It is an advantage to be familiar with a range of weaponry," the Nameless One pointed out.
Jern considered that. It was true… but…
"I like this one the best," he said, patting his hand against the haft.
The Nameless One listened, but whatever she thought of his answer, she did not share. That was their way, Jern had learned. Whichever ant was instructing him, they only shared what they were sure of. He liked it. When they spoke, he knew to pay attention.
"You may begin. Remember, do not use any active abilities."
Were he to do so, blade light would be produced. He didn't know why, but no light was allowed in this place, so he wasn't allowed to use it.
With a deep breath, he steadied himself, took the axe in both hands, and prepared his mind.
Something flickered on the edge of his awareness, small, moving fast. Without thinking, he lashed out, a lightning quick two-handed swing, splitting the object straight down the middle.
The next was already in the air and he moved swiftly into another strike, controlling the flow of momentum with an expert touch. Another target shattered, another in the air.
Strike after strike, on and on it went. Sweat poured down his body, his muscles ached all over, from his shoulders and neck down to his toes, but still it didn't end.
There was a kind of peace that could be found in these moments. Jern wasn't afraid of physical discomfort, he was accustomed to hard physical labour, yet the mental side was what he enjoyed the most. Single minded, no thoughts, no wavering, perfect focus. Nothing existed except the target, nothing mattered except the perfect flow of his limbs, shifting from one strike seamlessly to the next.
Something descended from above!
A change disrupted Jern's focus and he frowned. He was partway through a swing, but if he didn't adjust, whatever was falling from above would strike him.
His hands slid along the haft, his posture changed and he brought his head down and his arms up. The object smashed into the haft of the axe with tremendous force, but he held firm, then adjusted again, shoving it to the side.
Another target, another swing, but now there were more strikes mixed in, forcing him to adjust and block.
If he was hit, he would fail. If he didn't strike, he would also fail. The Nameless One was tricky as well. Sometimes he would need to extend for a strike, only for an attack to come from the worst possible angle at the worst possible moment, forcing him to scramble to defend himself.
Once he was off balance, the following strikes became twice as hard and he had to work to regain equilibrium.
Soon, he learned to be suspicious of any strike that was a little too far away, or at a little too much of a poor angle. He could get them, but if he were attacked, the disruption to his flow would be tremendous.
The nature of the game changed.
When could he strike safely? How far could he extend while still defending himself? How should he shift his feet to maximise opportunities in those rare moments he had time to freely adjust his position?
The longer it went on, the more Jern realised he had to think several steps ahead, consider what may come as a result of any particular movement, and then after that…
It was hard.
Eventually, he'd thought so much that he didn't need to think at all anymore; he simply moved, correctly.
"Stop."
He paused, letting the axe head grind into the floor beneath him as he leaned on the haft, panting. He was exhausted, mentally and physically, but he felt… good.
"This is a promising start," the Nameless One declared. "You may use the axe for every session going forward."
Jern grinned. He liked the axe.
-x-X-x-
The Nameless who had been Emelia allowed her senses to roam across the room, taking in every possible spectrum of sensory input. Like a hawk, she watched, like an owl she listened, like an ant, she scented.
There was nothing, of course. The Nameless were not so careless as to allow the slightest hint of their presence to escape. Controlling body temperature was just one of the tricks they had learned under the guidance of the Sanctum, and holding themselves so still they did not shift the air was a rudimentary exercise.
She moved slowly, in the way of the Nameless. Not even the air stirred at her passing, nor the dust on the stone floor.
Even so, she was detected.
A blur from her right, shadow morphing into a leg that arced down from behind her head. Emelia twisted her body and used her forearm to deflect the blow, then leapt backwards to gain space. This was a gamble, after all, she still didn't know where the other combatant was hidden.
As it turned out, she had lost that bet. No sooner did her feet touch the floor than a hand darted out from the darkness, latching onto her leg and pulling.
More limbs extended from the shadow, trying to wrap around her leg and bring her to the ground, but Emilia was quick; snapping out with both fists, she struck multiple times in quick succession. The first hand slackened around her calf, numbed by the pressure point strikes, and she freed herself, spinning away from the first attacker, who had attempted a low-risk strike as he approached.
All three were exposed now. Even in the perfect darkness, they were totally aware of each other. They felt the movement of the air, the resonance of the slightest sound, even their sense of smell strained to its limits to track the movements of the others.
The three-way stalemate ended quickly. From her left came the first attack, and Emelia danced backwards, drawing the assailant in front of her to pursue. They were too wise to fall for such a shallow ploy, and restrained themselves, stepping quietly as each of the three tried to position one of the others in the middle.
Again, they did not wait for long; the moment the slightest opening was sensed, the battle resumed. Short, sharp exchanges followed, but none of the three was able to find a significant advantage.
"Break," the command came from nowhere, but everywhere at the same time, and the three sprang away from each other and waited.
The shadows gathered and resolved themselves into an ant, the Nameless One, who watched them calmly, but did not speak. The three continued to wait, and the darkness shifted once more. Immediately, they could sense a presence gathering in the chamber around them, an endless hunger, a fathomless rage, filling the space. The darkness itself was watching them.
All three bowed low as they felt the presence focus upon them. A moment later, it reached out to their minds.
[You are doing well.]
The three Nameless felt gladness well in their hearts at this praise. To hear such affirmation from the Shadow herself was… beyond words. Thin tendrils began to extend from the walls, lines of darkness that reached out to caress their faces.
[You have become connected to Him, and you must prove yourselves worthy of it. Doing well is not enough. You must be perfect, or as close to it as you can be. I do not want to ask of you more than you can give, but to achieve this standard, you must pull out all of your ability.]
Each of the Nameless nodded; they were ready, more than ready. Whatever the Shadow demanded, they would give. From the wall, the weapons rack was revealed, and each of the Nameless walked forward to take their armaments of choice.
Emelia did not favour any of the larger or longer weapons. She took two short daggers, their blades curved wickedly. They were agile and nimble, easy to conceal and perfect for the feint-heavy style she had grown to favour.
The Shadow gave them time to set themselves, and then she began. Tentacles extended, materialising out of the darkness, hundreds of them. Emelia breathed deep, pushing her instincts to their limit, and beyond. When the attacks came, they arrived in a flurry. Slivers of pure darkness shot toward her from a dozen angles, too many to block all of them at once.
She moved, a perfect step that avoided half the strikes, for the rest… her daggers darted left and right, slithering through the air with precision and speed beyond human comprehension. Beaten back, the tendrils pulled back, only to strike again.
Each of the three engaged in their own battle, trying to defend against the relentless attacks of the Shadow. No matter how many they cut, blocked or dodged, there were always more, seeking difficult angles, shooting through the weak points in their defence and forcing them into an ever more desperate defence.
[Do you think this is enough?] the Shadow demanded. [Do you really believe you can stand against me alone?]
Emelia felt her heart quaver as more, and more, and more tendrils of darkness manifested in the room around her. There must have been hundreds, perhaps thousands, far too many for her to defend against. As if to taunt the Nameless, the tendrils bobbed and waved like blades of long grass in a non-existent breeze. The Shadow was demonstrating her total control over this forest of darkness.
Then they surged forwards.
There was nothing left to do but rely on the instinct the Nameless had honed from the moment they'd begun their training, and Emilia's was screaming that there was only one way out.
Her fellow Nameless must have felt the same way, for as she leapt toward them, they leapt toward her, and they found themselves back to back against the wall of darkness pressing in all around them.
As though they had practised in advance, as though it had been their intended strategy all along, the three moved in perfect sync. They deflected, blocked, and dodged as a unit. When the tendrils darted toward one, the others would cover. If one couldn't recover in time, the others shielded them. No matter what the Shadow sent toward them, they moved together, and triumphed together.
Of course, this was the lesson all along.
The three Nameless stood panting, drained of strength, but triumphant, a sense of accomplishment suffusing their beings.
[Good,] the Shadow said, sounding pleased. [Alone, you are weak, and you will never be able to be of service to Him. Together… you may well serve a purpose. We will continue with this training. Until you are able to fight as well as possible alone, and together, we will train.]
The three Nameless bowed low in acceptance.
The Nameless One watched the three humans acknowledge the Shadow, then felt that powerful mind reach out to her directly.
[It may be worth training all of the Nameless for combat,] the Shadow said. [We must be able to defend ourselves, and deliver our wisdom more forcefully, where required.]
The Nameless One nodded. There was wisdom in this.
-x-X-x-
Well, Morrelia has gone back to the Legion, Brendant has said they won't be launching any more tests for the time being, and the subjugation of the lower tunnels is almost done. So… I find myself kind of rudderless and without purpose for the time being.
Which means, of course, there's nothing to stop me from tickling the grubs! Muahahahaha!
My precious stress relief, it's been so long! Now that Mother is present in the fourth, there's an active Queen down here, which means grubs!
Filled with joy, I race upward from the forward base, which has been expanding by the hour, and head into the shortcut network the Colony is still in the process of constructing.
It's always a bit of a risky business building these sorts of extended 'highways' in the Dungeon. Sure, it allows us to travel much more quickly from the nest to the entrance of the fifth, but the reverse is also true. When the next wave occurs, the monsters of the fifth and their toxic mana will have a direct road straight up to the base of the nest.
Naturally, the Colony is aware of this, which means a copious number of defensive emplacements, walls and forts are also under construction, each of which only face the downward slope. This network of direct tunnels is going to be the main focus of all the fighting in the next wave, and it's clear the carvers don't intend to employ half measures.
There's a lot of ants moving down the shortcut, in addition to the huge number of workers busily building away. Clearly, the troops are starting to move down to the staging ground. Hopefully soon, the invasion will be ready and I can start taking on the fifth properly. Those stupid slugs are going to have no idea what hit them.
Gweheheheh.
With joy in my heart, I burst into the inner chambers, ready to engage in a wonderful bout of tickling! Where are those grubs?
"What are you doing here, child?" A deep and warm voice calls to me.
"Going to play with the grubs!" I declare happily.
THWACK!
"Yeeouch!"
I was so preoccupied with my opportunity to indulge myself in harmless games with the grubs, I didn't even realise it was Mother talking to me!
"H-h-hello there, Mother! How are you doing?"
It's still weird to realise that I'm larger than her now. For most of my ant life, she's towered over me. I can still remember the first time I saw her, when I was… what? Tier two? She was huge, looming over all of the ants in the Colony. The past, present and future of the family, all bound up in a single carapace.
Despite being larger than her, The Queen is still an intimidating presence. There's sharpness to her gaze that seems to pierce straight through my exo-skeleton, no matter how many layers of diamond I have!
"I'm well, child. I am very busy, as all members of the family are. How is it that you have time to play with the brood? Surely, there are many tasks that you could perform?"
Well.... Probably? The lower tunnels aren't completely clear of monsters, how could they be? It's not like we're removing the Dungeon veins from that area, so there's a constant stream of new spawns. Not to mention, every time we find a local, high tier monster who's carved out a little territory for themself over the years and take them out, other monsters start to move into the area, looking for new turf. These skirmishes have played out hundreds of times down below and will go on for a while longer yet.
I could also help with the organisation of the troops heading down to the staging grounds. I'm not all that good at logistics, to put it mildly, but I'm aware enough to say that just having me around would help lift the spirits of the troops. After all, I'm the oldest and strongest, who doesn't want their big reliable older sis-BROTHER. Reliable older brother around.
Sheesh.
"You're right, Mother," I admit with a heavy sigh, slumping with defeat. "There are plenty of things I could be doing right now. I suppose I'll head out and… get back to it."
My Mother watches me gather myself slowly with an amused glint in her eye.
"You really are the most troublesome of all my children. Whether you are coming or going, there is always some difficulty."
I'm not exactly sure what to say to that. She already thwacked me, do I need a scolding as well?!
"As you say, Mother."
I can only agree with her in the hopes of avoiding more sharp thwacks of the antennae. As if sensing my somewhat cowardly mentality, The Queen's antenna twitches once more, but she doesn't lash out.
"There is nothing wrong with playing with the grubs, Child," she tells me warmly. "I do so at times myself. I only ask that you make sure to balance the needs of the Colony against your own."
That… is an odd thing for Mother to say. I mean, she's an ant. Not just any ant, she's as ant as it gets. What does she mean, balance the needs of the Colony against my own? The needs of the Colony are the needs of the individual, to just about everyone in this family, and especially to her. I turn to look at her directly, but I can't get a sense of what she's thinking. Does she see me differently from the others for some reason? Does she know that I wasn't always an ant?
Does it matter, considering she gave me permission to tickle the grubs?!
"I'll have you know, Mother, that it has been ages since I entertained the brood. I've been busy all over the place, doing all sorts of stuff for the family!"
"That is good," she says, and reaches out to pat me on the carapace encouragingly.
"I've even been taking part in the test assaults on the fifth stratum!" I boast.
Compliments from Mother are rare; it doesn't hurt to fish for a few more. She hesitates, confused.
"What assaults on the fifth stratum?" she asks, puzzled.
At this moment, I realise just how badly I messed up. She's not supposed to know about those! She's not supposed to know anything about it at all!
"Oh, you know… just… a few exploratory missions to see what's going on down there. Test out the waters… sort of thing."
If she were capable of narrowing her eyes, that's exactly what she would be doing right now.
"I don't like it when my children keep secrets from me."
"What? What secrets? That's… a perfectly… perfectly reasonable thing for you to say… of course. I mean… there's so much going on in the Colony at any given time… how could you possibly know about all of it? Nobody knows about all of it! Except maybe me."
The Queen remains still, as if processing what I said, so I take the opportunity to just… slide a little toward the brood chamber.
Then slide a little more.
I think I got away with that….
Smooth!
-x-X-x-
After my brilliant ruse with The Queen, Tiny, Crinis, Invidia and I manage to sneak into the brood chamber and spend some quality time entertaining the grubs.
Ah, it soothes my soul to see the little things rolling around, wiggling with excitement, trying to escape my tickling antennae. The biggest ones, pumped full of Biomass and almost ready to spin their cocoons, are the most fun to tease. So bloated they can barely move themselves, Tiny and I take turns rolling them back and forth while they chitter their little mandibles happily. Invidia hasn't really done this much before, but even he seems to have a good time, fluttering about the brood chamber on his little wings and landing on the grubs with his tiny hands. When they try to rear up and nibble on him, he deftly flies to the next, leaving them chasing after him.
Crinis is, of course, a favourite with the grubs. Able to tickle, roll and spin hundreds of young at the same time, she has to be careful not to overstimulate the little things.
All of this is, of course, watched over by the ever-present Brood Tenders, who clack their mandibles happily and spread their warm, calming pheromones through the chamber, bringing a sense of peace and comfort to all of us.
Ah, this really is a slice of heaven, it must be.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. When all the little grubs are tickled out and ready to nap, it's time for us to move on. I say goodbye to the Tenders, who shoo us out before turning back to tuck their charges in, and the gang and I find ourselves out in the tunnels, with no immediate purpose.
I do, however, feel greatly rejuvenated. A weight has been lifted from me, my spirit has been cleansed and my mind is refreshed. It's just impossible to get bogged down and worried about all the things going on in Pangera while surrounded by such innocent little creatures.
[What are we going to do now, Master?] Crinis asks, latching onto my carapace once more.
Well, it's a valid question. Realistically, it's time to go and spend some Skill points and Biomass. I haven't mutated in ages, and I've gone well beyond the targets Granin set for me regarding the fusions he wanted me to take. One of the advantages of so many minds is the ability to grind really, really hard, and I've been in combat an awful lot lately. There's no better time or place to get levels than a good fight, and to be honest, I probably should have done less grinding and more poison mana cleansing while I was down there, but hey, I'll take the gains.
Biomass isn't quite as stocked as I would have liked, considering there's basically nothing to eat down in the fifth. I might have to lean on the Colony a little and ask them to feed me. They'll do it happily, but I try not to ask if I don't absolutely have to.
With the invasion of the fifth coming up, I feel like it's probably a good time to ask for some help to get as strong as I possibly can, which means maxing out my mutations.
However, before I can get to that…
There's something going on in the Vestibule. The number of ants in the fourth is constantly swelling as more and more join us through the gate. Our territory in the third has reached its limit for the time being, as the deeper we go through the layers of that burning wasteland, the fewer unclaimed pillars we find. That means the numbers available to shore up our position here are rapidly growing, so I'm used to a steady increase in the flow of Will through the Vestibule.
What I'm not used to is what I'm sensing now….
What the heck are all these people doing in here?!
[There's something I want us to go and look at, Crinis, if that's alright with you.]
So saying, I lead the gang toward the Gate and arrive to find… of all things… humans, golgari, folk, the odd ka'armodo, marching through in neat ranks and being directed further into the nest by ant attendants.
To my surprise, Solant is present, going over slates filled with numbers and conversing with other generals.
I skitter over and loom over their conversation, causing them to cut off short.
"Solant, what am I seeing here?" I ask.
Technically, I could find out through the Vestibule, but it's much more polite to ask, right? I can't be wandering around just… knowing things all the time.
"Our allies are arriving to help with conquering the fifth, Eldest," she says calmly, as if it's obvious.
"You want to send these people down into the fifth?" I say, aghast. "They'll be food for the slugs down there! Do they even know what they're getting into?"
"Of course they do, they're all volunteers," she replies.
All of them? All of these people? There's thousands and thousands of them! Where the heck have they all come from?
Wait… are those demons I'm seeing? What is happening?!
"We've neglected these people for too long, and the benefits of fighting alongside them and the human ant-priests are too strong to be ignored," Solant states, as if it's all perfectly obvious. "We are taking on a challenge so great that I refuse to leave any possible advantage behind. Every ounce of our strength is going to be leveraged for this task."
"But where are they all coming from?"
Since when has the Colony been able to muster up a fighting force like this? I've fought alongside the refugees from Renewal many times, but there's only so many of those.
"Allied cities that have fallen under the Colony's influence, for the most part. Others have come to join us after hearing about our mission, still others have been sent from friendly parties. The Folk have sent several thousand of their people, as have the brathians. The bruan'chii are sending several Grove Keepers to help spread the Mother Tree's roots in the captured territory. Some demons, mostly those with conquering or exploration-based obsessions, have leapt at the opportunity to come. Even the Magpei sent a few people. It will be difficult to merge them into our existing battalions, but the process has already begun. There's nothing we can't account for with proper preparation and planning."
Holy moly. When I put Solant in charge, I knew she'd pull out all the stops and do things no other ant general was willing to do, but even I didn't think she'd go this far.
-x-X-x-
Well, if everyone else is winding up to go the distance, how can I do any less?
"Solant, I know you're busy, but can you get a message out? I want some hunting parties to rustle up some Biomass for me and the gang. It's time for us to get mutating."
She nods slowly.
"That would be wise. We need all four of you at your best. It may not be necessary for you to wait for hunts, there is a short-term Biomass storage kept on hand for The Queen, though she seldom uses it. I dare say it's fully stocked even now."
It's a good lead, so I thank the little general and head back into the nest. It doesn't take us long to track down the storage, and sure enough, it's packed full of food, enough to make Tiny's eyes light up.
As evolved as we are, it's not easy to rack up the Biomass now, we really need high tier food, and thankfully, that is exactly what the Colony has been providing to this storehouse. Only the best for Mother, naturally. Since she generally likes to hunt for her own sustenance, most of this is just sitting about until the ants stocking it give up, pass out the food, then go hunt for another batch.
There's a few soldiers waiting outside the storage when we arrive, and it isn't all that difficult to persuade them to let us eat. I certainly don't want to snatch food from Mother's jaws, but that's not what is happening here. No matter how well they stock this pantry, she isn't coming.
So the four of us settle in and get to chomping as the ants rush out to hunt down more food for us.
[Remember, you need to mutate as much as you possibly can, and spend any Skill Points you've got stocked up if you can find something that looks worthwhile. This conflict is going to be hard, and we need to push ourselves as far as we can.
[However, I don't want you to take a bunch of mutations that are only applicable in the fifth. That will only weaken you in the long run. Get me?]
[Yesssss.]
[Yes, Master.]
Thumbs up.
[You could say something, Tiny. Hand gestures aren't the only form of communication.]
[Thumbs up.]
[Alright there, wise guy. Settle down, you don't want to hurt yourself.]
Sheesh. Making him more intelligent is only making him more cheeky. That doesn't mean I'll stop. I'd rather him cheeky and alive than stupid and dead.
With four massive monsters such as us tucking into the grub, we quickly start making a huge dent in it, but surprisingly quickly hunting parties arrive with more food for us, dumping it into the mix while we keep on chomping.
As we eat, I multitask and start hitting up my menus. I've gained a reasonable chunk of Levels thanks to all the fighting, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to what I need for my next evolution. Level 52. I can accept that. It's respectable. I've little doubt the experience will start raining down once we get into the fifth proper.
Taking a look at my Skill levels, I can see that I've managed to reach the required ranks for both fusions that Granin had me working toward. So I might as well go ahead and purchase them.
The first one was a combination of Coordination, Balance, Six-Legged Defensive Footwork, Predictive Thinking and Grace, all at rank four.
It hasn't been easy, but I got there in the end! A five skill fusion is always going to be a juicy one, and I was hoping to push these to rank five for an even more succulent fusion, but I just don't have the time.
Fusing them together costs me a whopping sixteen Skill Points, but as a result, I'm given a brand new Skill: Precognitive Agile Defence at rank four.
Doing anything with Skills, particularly at this level, makes my brain feel like it's been rinsed with warm water. Things feel… liquid-y inside my head. It's not unpleasant, but I'm glad when it's all done.
I'll have to get into a proper fight to test the effects of the Skill, and get a few more ranks in it as well, but according to Granin, it's going to make me more agile, more balanced, faster on my feet, and more responsive to my existing precognitive abilities. All in all, a defensive boost that will help keep me one step ahead of the game.
For the second fusion, I need to merge Concentration, Mana Weave and Divergent Thinking together with Meditation.
Now this is a big one, taking some fundamental mana-handling Skills, along with Meditation, and sticking them all together to form Divergent Focus. This new Skill should, according to Granin, apply the benefits of Meditation and Concentration to each of my mind-constructs, instead of only to the brains handling them, multiplying the effect. In addition, it'll improve the ability of each of them to weave mana. In order to properly utilise my plan to manipulate mana within my enemies, Granin believed this would be a necessary step. The fusion takes place at rank four, but… gweheheheheh… I managed to get them all to rank five.
MUAHAHAHAHA!
I'm too good! Too darn good, Granin! I mean, it's not like it's hard to grind Divergent Thinking, you just have one brain think about more than one thing at a time. As if I've never done that before!
This one is going to cost me a whopping 20 Skill points, but I gladly spend it and eagerly wait to see the results.
Manifold High-Focus, eh? Sounds good!
I'll need to test it to work out what it does, get some Levels and ranks, but I'm hopeful it'll prove to be good!
Now… I need to get to mutating.
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Note: Going to retcon the Vestibule mutations, specifically the ones that allow him to turn Will into physical strength, since the altar allows him to do that, and he's basically never used it.
It's been a long time since I went on a mutating spree, and if the food keeps coming, there's going to be a lot that I can do. Without hesitation, I dive into the menu and start looking for organs to upgrade.
There's still a fair bit of work to be done to get myself fully mutated at +35 all around. My sensory organs, eyes and antennae, still need that final push to max out and it's definitely worth investing in both. The +35 mutations have been stronger and more versatile than those that came before, so I'm sure they'll prove exceptionally useful when applied to my senses.
First, let's take a look at my eyes.
My eye mutations have been fairly pedestrian up to this point. They've been really useful, don't get me wrong, but they've been very basic. In essence, all I've done is make my compound eyes really, really good. Each individual lens is capable of focusing, giving me incredible depth of vision, and my ability to track motion is excellent. The quality of each lens is also extremely good. Each of my eyes is comparable to a thousand human eyeballs, giving me incredible vision.
But that's it. There's nothing fancy there, no crazy, weird mana-related stuff or spirit vision. I just have super good eyes.
Which is great! Don't get me wrong, I love it. Recalling back to the early days when I couldn't see the tips of my own antennae when they weren't moving sends shivers running through my carapace. I swore I'd improve my eyes until it became bearable, and I stuck to that promise. However, it's time to look for some more esoteric and weird options.
Largely because I'll be cashing in my eyes for a reset next evolution anyway. I'm tired of having these massive weak points in the middle of my head. My eyeballs are becoming diamond, or something even harder. The amount of trouble I've had in fights due to enemies attacking my eyes is nuts. With future sight and my reflexes, I can get around it, but having to constantly change the angle of my head to dodge is a pain in the thorax!
So, firm in the knowledge I can pick something weird without lasting consequences, I dive into the list looking for… interesting options.
And I find them. Oh boy, do I find them.
I've got no idea if these mutations have been here all along or only popped up now at +35, but my guess is on the latter.
Do I want to see electrical energy? See thoughts?! How does that even work?! Future Sight is here too, which I'm fairly sure it wasn't before. Antennae seem to get that early for some reason. Go, ants! Oh look, I could see intent. Which is different from thoughts. Somehow. I can see the dimensional weave if I want. Not sure what I'd do with it… but sure. I imagine Brilliant has that mutation, or something similar. There's even mutations related specifically to the System, seeing 'Dungeon Lines,' whatever those are. This must be what Dungeon Seers do, or at least part of it.
After flicking through the lists for half an hour, the ones that seem most relevant to me are: future sight, gravity sight, intent and mana. There are several flavours of each, and the mutations tend to do more than one thing at a time at this level, so even narrowing it down to this amount still leaves me with dozens of choices.
For example:
[Gravity Density Vision: Allows the eyes to visualise gravitational energy and sense the density of the material they are looking at.]
Obviously, more gravity means more density, but this goes a step further, since anything I look at isn't necessarily uniformly dense. With this, I could hunt down less dense spots in an opponent's armour, for example. I'm also curious to see how it doubles up with my existing gravity sense on my antennae.
The descriptions of 'intent' are even more esoteric than I'm used to with Gandalf.
[Broad Spectrum Intent Sight: Allows the eyes to interpret various forms of intent.]
Yeah, helpful. Thanks, Gandalf. What the heck does it mean?
It's possible this would be very useful. But how could I tell?! Looking at the other variations, I can sort of work it out. There's Sword Intent Sight, Axe Intent Sight, Blade Intent Sight, even Mandible Intent Sight. Clearly, it has something to do with weapon Skill activations. I think.
After considering my options, I decide to throw caution to the wind and take the Broad Spectrum Intent Sight mutation. If it turns out to be useless, then I'll be getting rid of it.
Now, my antennae mutations I need to be much more careful with, since I would rather not reset these again unless I absolutely have to.
Twilight Filament, the material my antennae are currently made from, provides incredible bang for the buck, according to Granin. Better materials exist, but are pricey. Again, my mutations in this department have been fairly pedestrian. Sense the future, sense gravity, do both of those things, but better than before. That's pretty much it.
And I'm not sure I want to go too far away from that formula, if I'm honest. It's a working combo! The gravity sense has been very helpful in sensing things out and for assisting me wield my gravity mana, and the future sight has been integral at keeping me alive alongside my quick reactions.
Not sure what I want to do, I flip through the menu as I continue to munch, hunting for something that stands out. Again, there are many variations of future sight and gravity sight in here at +35, and I eventually find one that looks interesting.
[Prescient Ripple Antennae: Improve the antennae's sense of the future and gravitational waves.]
Now this… this could be good. I can already sense gravitational waves from the future, this mutation is covering both of the things I want my antennae to do! I'm a fan.
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Just those two mutations are going to cost me one hundred and sixty five a piece. It's so expensive to mutate at this tier… and it's harder than ever to get a decent amount of Biomass! Those stomach mutations are a lifesaver, seriously.
Moving on, I think it's time to take a look at some other, key body parts that could use some powering up. First of all, the Vestibule.
I've focused entirely on increasing the range so far, all the way to +30 and it really pulls in the Will, that's for sure. At the +35 level, I have no idea what sort of options are going to show up, but I probably don't need any more range? Surely there'll be something interesting.
I mean, all the Vestibule does is pull in Will, or receive Will, or whatever, and send it into my body, which gives a variety of effects. My remarkable endurance is due to the Vestibule, after all. The only thing it doesn't help me regenerate is mana.
Improving the range is amazing, but there has to be a limit. I mean, no matter how much I mutate it, it'll never reach the second stratum from the fifth.
Diving into the menus once again, I look around for anything that might prove useful. Despite its seemingly limited function, there's still a lot of options for the Vestibule, and I take the time to read a selection to try and get a sense for what is possible.
There's a few options that take me by surprise, such as one which effectively lets me aim the vestibule? From the description, it seems to… direct the opening in order to extend the range even further? Right now, it doesn't matter where a member of the Colony is relative to me, so long as they fall inside the area of the Vestibule's effect, I'll receive the Will they send me. With this mutation, I could point the Vestibule 'up', and only receive Will from ants above me. It sort of makes sense, since most of the Colony are generally above me in the Dungeon, but even if it doubled the range, I still don't think it's worth it.
Another option lets me shut the Vestibule? I mean… why? If I think of the Vestibule as a gateway, this mutation lets me put a door on it? I really don't see the benefit… but hey, it's in the list, so it must have a purpose… probably.
There's one that puts some sort of… watchdog on the Vestibule? It says it defends it in the description, but again, from what? And how? This, along with the Templars showing up in the Nave, tells me that there's a lot more to the Vestibule than I know. Clearly, it's possible to interfere with the energy in a nefarious way, but I can't imagine how that works.
Eventually, I narrow down the options to a few I feel I can live with.
The first is an Infusing Mutation that will improve the regeneration rate provided by the Vestibule. Faster fatigue reduction, stamina replenishment, organ refill… it hits a lot of boxes and makes the Vestibule better at what it does.
It'll also be extremely useful down in the fifth. The more I can regenerate, the longer I can stay in the toxic environment. With the number of ants heading down there, I'll be able to refill my regeneration gland every few minutes. Gweheheheh.
The other mutation that catches my eye allows the Vestibule to pull in Will faster… which is… interesting? I didn't realise it had a speed or anything of the sort, but effectively, this will allow me to take in more Will over time from the same number of ants. This will also have the effect of improving my regeneration, but from a different angle. The Will isn't used more efficiently, but there's more of it. This mutation will also help refill the Altar faster, which is obviously a win.
Come to think of it, these two would be excellent when fused together. If I reach +45 and combine them, my regeneration will skyrocket. Planning ahead! How fancy!
For now, I choose the Accelerated Absorption mutation and move onto the Nave.
So far, my Nave mutations have been focused on two things, increasing the number of 'seats' in there, though I'm not completely sure what that does, other than allow me to talk to them directly without any sort of mental link, and condensing the energy that flows through. Looking through the list of mutations now, I can see there's a lot of new options, and a few that I don't necessarily like.
There's one that makes those providing Will more susceptible to suggestions by the receiver. Uh… no? What the heck?! There's another one that drains free will along with whatever Will is already being provided. Excuse me?! What the heck is going on here?! Just what is this organ for?
It's almost a relief when I find one I like.
Empowering Nave, which allows me to direct the flow of Will to those with a place inside the Nave. It doesn't help me out, but it will allow me to powerup anyone who's inside the Nave, which should include the Templars as well, unless I miss my guess. This is a nice way to give something back to the Colony, which makes me happy. I took the Altar of Self so I could turn myself into the defender of my family, but there are plenty of others out there doing work for the Colony. This mutation lets me help them out, even just a bit.
Lock it in!
Finally, I turn my attention to the Altar.
Again, two different mutations have been my focus so far: capacity, and cost reduction on Gravity-related abilities. The Altar holds more juice, and using it to empower my gravity spells costs less, both great choices, and I'm a big fan. However, at +35, we need something a little more show-stopping.
I dive into the expanded list of options, hoping to find something that has a bit of punch. The Altar is already my trump card, turning me into a pseudo tier eight monster with my absurdly beefed up attacks. What could tip it over the edge? I'm hoping the more powerful mutation options at this tier will provide an answer.
And they do.
Impregnable, which allows me to directly empower my carapace. Gweheheheh. I'm going to be invincible!
I confirm those mutations with glee, then immediately collapse as the fiery itch erupts all over my body.
DAMMIT!