Chapter 2955 - Chry 170

C1866 - Tiny Fights the Storm Fang

Filled with glee, Tiny sped through the fortress as quick as he could, bounding over the top of columns of ants and leaping through open doorways. When he burst out of the front gates, he found his two siblings already arguing.

[You shouldsssssss defeat thissss thing,] Invidia said, [I insisssssst.]

[No, you should,] Crinis said. [I can't destroy it, because the master has found out about my clone and he'll force me to take it out if I destroy it!]

[How do you knowssss that?]

[Because of the clone I hid inside our master!]

[Hiding thingsssss issss bad,] Invidia reproached her gently.

[If I didn't hide it, then he wouldn't let me do it,] Crinis rebutted weakly.

[That meanssss you knowssss it'sss bad.]

Tiny bounced up, flexed his legs, then slammed them into the ground, sending his frame flying dozens of metres into the air and sailing over their heads.

[I FIGHT!] he declared. [My battle!]

Crinis sighed.

[Yes, fine. That also works.]

[By all meansssss,] Invidia hissed, well satisfied that someone else was stepping forward.

Tiny was glad to have their approval, but he hadn't really needed it. He was going to fight this opponent no matter what. The only possible way he would give it up was if he slept through it. He would have to repay the master at some point. Maybe Tiny wouldn't include the organ he'd been secretly studying that converted brain matter into muscle fuel in his next evolution.

Leaping away from the fortress, Tiny swung and rampaged his way through the tunnel, heading toward the foe that he could sense drawing closer with every passing second. Excitement thrummed in his chest almost as much as the lightning surged through his frame. Sparks were flying off his fur and crackling around his fists as he moved. This was going to be fun!

Finally, he saw it. Already engaged in battle, the monster was slaughtering its way through the Dungeon spawn, smashing them apart as it progressed further up the tunnel. That must have been what Master sensed. Impressive! Tiny hadn't felt a thing.

Furred, like he was, but on four legs, with a powerful-looking muzzle filled with teeth, three tails, and feet made of lightning, Tiny was delighted to see that the monster looked strong. Hopefully it wouldn't be over quickly.

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He hooted his challenge as he landed heavily, his fists cracking the ground with the force of his arrival. Drumming his palms against his chest, he roared and bared his fangs, announcing his intention to fight.

Shaking off the weak challengers, the hound-like beast stared at him, fury and a strange dignity in its eyes. It carried itself proudly, a powerful monster driven from its home, not some savage and wild slug-thing. Tiny grinned. That was good, it would fight smarter.

His eyes burned red as power surged throughout his frame. He could feel every fibre of his flesh bursting with energy as the will to fight suffused him. Lightning writhed over his arms and chest like snakes, burning so brightly he almost couldn't see.

He raised his fists and began to bounce on his feet. He was ready.

The hound watched him for a moment, then blurred out of existence. Like a lightning bolt, it streaked through the air, faster than he could see. Tiny's body reacted before his brain could, a neat left hook, compact and fast, his knee rotating inward to put the power of his hips into the punch.

Materialising in front of him, mouth open wide and ready to rip Tiny apart, the monster didn't see the punch coming. It slammed into the beast's head, a discharge of electricity sending it flying away as if it had been struck by thunder.

As quickly as he could, Tiny recovered his form and curled his body a little tighter, covering his head with his arms.

Fast. It was much faster than him.

The beast refused to stay down, leaping up with a snarl and shaking its head, now looking more wary than before.

Tiny couldn't stop the broad grin from splitting his face. It wasn't over with one punch. It wasn't over!

With a roar, he rushed forward, keeping his form tight. Once he was close enough, he flashed out with his left, three rapid punches, faster than an eye-blink and with enough power to smash down a castle wall.

Those paws of lightning flashed and the beast retreated out of range, avoiding the blows, but Tiny pursued. From his shoulders, his wings of shadow emerged and beat down powerfully, giving him greater speed as he continued his forward rush.

Always lead with the left. Tiny's fist flashed through the air, each punch a precise work of art, blasting energy forward dozens of metres. Against an opponent this fast, he needed to keep himself mobile, but defensively solid. Lock the enemy down with rapid punches, and then, when they were still, he could deliver the damage.

His right fist ached, ready to unleash mayhem.

Again, the monster flashed, and again, Tiny reacted on instinct, swivelling to his left where the monster appeared, slashing out with one leg. He slipped the blow, getting his body low and leaning to the side while stepping forward, his fist already in motion.

A right hook this time, coming back with the momentum of an avalanche. Tiny pivoted, his teeth pulled back to reveal his fangs.

The punch connected, lightning cracked and again the beast was sent flying, twenty tons of wolf slamming into the wall.

Watching and waiting, Tiny recovered his form and rolled his shoulders, wanting to make sure his muscles stayed loose.

From the cloud of debris and dust, a deep growl emanated, the air itself beginning to crackle as power flooded the tunnel.

When the hound emerged into the light, it was transformed, its hair standing on end as dense mist flowed outward from its body and clouds gathered over its head. Lightning crashed and thunder rolled, deafeningly loud in the tunnel.

Tiny grinned. This was everything he could have hoped for.

-x-X-x-

[Master. I can explain.]

[Explain what?]

It's funny to see her like this. Crinis can take almost any form at this point. Her body is basically liquid shadow, so she could look however she wanted. Most of the time, she just looks like a little ball, no larger than a person, with a few tentacles so she can move herself about and point at things.

Right now, she looks like a shivering pool noodle, grovelling on the ground in front of me.

[Explain about… you know. The thing.]

She writhes uncomfortably and it's difficult not to clack my mandibles in amusement. I should probably feel bad for putting her through this, but she did it to herself in the end.

[No, Crinis,] I say innocently. [I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about. You'll have to explain it to me. In detail. From the beginning.]

[... You're being very mean, Master.]

Hah! As the saying goes, Crinis, don't start none, won't be none.

[You are being rather mean,] the Clone says.

[Says the copy she melded into my nervous system in order to listen to my thoughts! Give it a rest!]

Crinis, the real one, flinches, then grovels a little harder. I wasn't sure if she just experienced what the clone did, or if she had to communicate with it somehow. It looks like she just gets everything it does as long as she's close enough.

[Now, I think it's time for you to explain yourself,] I tell her, a little stern this time.

I'm not going to be guilted into feeling like I'm the one who stepped over the line. Sheesh!

[Do you remember, Master, when you told me I wasn't allowed inside your carapace?] Crinis says, very hesitantly.

She knows I'm pretty mad at her.

[I remember telling you that rather a lot of times, actually. Eventually I had to order you to stay out of there because you wouldn't listen to me.]

[You kept putting yourself in danger! What if I couldn't help you?]

[I'm not justifying myself all over again. Continue with what you were saying.]

[Well… well…] she really doesn't want to continue, but she doesn't have a choice. [You told me that I couldn't be inside your carapace, but you didn't tell the other me that they couldn't be in there. Right? It only applied to me… me.]

[So when you evolved, you gave yourself a mini-clone that you could implant inside my carapace to get around my order.]

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[Y-yes.]

What can I do but sigh? Seriously?!

[That much I get, but then why did you make it able to meld into my nervous system and listen to my thoughts? Feels like you really decided to take the invasive train all the way to the last stop.]

[What's a train?]

[No distractions, explain yourself.]

She grovels all the harder.

[You're always thinking of dangerous things and you won't tell me about them! How else was I supposed to know and then keep you safe?]

[You aren't! You're supposed to learn to deal with the uncertainty and let me have some autonomy!]

[Noooooo,] Crinis sobs, tentacles thrashing. [That's too hard!]

[You're going to have to learn to live with it,] I tell her grimly. [I was going to ignore this situation for a while longer as a reward, but since you've brought it up, we're going to resolve it here and now. I'm going to make some very specific orders and you are going to be following them.]

[Master,] she begs, [please!]

[Absolutely not! I won't be moved by your cuteness.]

Adorable little murder ball that she is.

[First, you need to get this dang clone out of me.]

[B-but Master!]

[What?]

[If I remove her, then she'll die… she can't live outside of the host I put her in.]

[Crinis… is it feeding off of me?]

[Well… t-technically.]

Dammit! That's so many levels of creepy. At this point, I can only hope I don't learn anything else that makes this situation even worse. At the same time, there's no reason for clone Crinis to lose her life. She didn't do anything wrong.

[Oh, thank you!]

[Clone Crinis, now really isn't the time.]

[... Sorry.]

I clean my antennae to settle my nerves.

[Fine,] I say finally. [The clone can stay, BUT, you are ordered to remove her from my nervous system. No more spying on my thoughts. And that's an order. To you as well, Clone Crinis.]

[Fine.]

[... Fine.]

I'm not sure which of them sounds the most reluctant there. Actually, do my orders even work on Clone Crinis? She's technically not my pet, right?

[Crinis, I order you to make Clone Crinis remove herself from my nervous system, permanently.]

[... Dammit.]

Aha! I knew it!

[And as punishment for disobeying the spirit of my order and violating my privacy… in pretty much the worst way imaginable, Crinis, you are banished from my presence. For three days.]

[NOOOOOOOOOO!] she shrieks. [Please, Master. Anything but that!]

[Three days! And you have to stay far enough away that you can't communicate with the Clone.]

[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!]

A full blown Crinis tantrum. It's been a long time coming, but we're here. I remember when she was so shy she basically couldn't speak to me and wouldn't make a single decision without my input.

As the writhing mass of shadow and tentacles flops and thrashes on the ground, Tiny limps back into the chamber, covered in bloody wounds and missing patches of fur. I'm pretty sure he's also smoking.

[Hey, Tiny. Good fight?] I ask him.

He gives me a weary thumbs up, but his smile is so immensely satisfied. He stays like that for a beat, then wavers, then falls flat on his face, revealing the healers already hard at work on his back.

Man, it can be hard work looking after pets. Maybe this is why most people don't let them evolve to a high level.

-x-X-x-

Why hello my dear readers! It's been some time, but I, Travelling Tolly of the Pangera Gazette, am never one to disappoint, and so I return to you with another tale of my travel in the lands of the Colony.

My last missive detailed just a small snapshot of my time in the fourth stratum amongst the ants and those who live amongst them. I dare say you were as shocked as I was at just how many people worked and lived within the great mountain home that they had carved for themselves. My impression, living where I do and speaking to the old biddies over tea, was that the ants were quite closed off from the world and insular by nature, yet it seemed that wasn't necessarily the case.

I made this point to my dear and precious guide, young Emilia Cretherton, one day over biscuits.

"How is it, my dear," I asked her, "that the Colony seems so open to visitors and yet has a reputation for being stand-offish and mysterious?"

She nibbled for a moment before sipping her tea, a wonderful, aromatic blend infused with dried fruits and a subtle mix of spices.

"I think that the Colony is far more accessible than most people think, but there are many who are still unwilling to give them a chance. Most people, by far, would rather avoid being around or engaging with monsters when given the chance. The bruan'chii suffer from this bias, and they aren't technically monsters at all."

"It seems a little odd is all," I said, my brow furrowed. You know how little I like to furrow my brow, reader, it's unseemly! "They've been here in the fourth stratum for over a decade, doing trade, commissioning delves, exporting sport apparently. Is bias really enough to explain how unknown this is?"

It seemed to me, reader, that I wasn't breaking any news at all with my travels, given just how many people I had seen and met amongst the Colony. I wouldn't say my travels felt like a waste of time, the trip was worth it for the tea alone, but perhaps I wasn't being as adventurous as I first thought! I have a reputation to maintain after all.

Emelia could only shrug.

"I think that prejudice partly explains it, but also there are many out there who don't want people to know what the Colony is truly like. There are those of us inside the circle, which includes you now, Tolly," she flashed me a wonderfully charming smile, "and those outside. Most people are outside, even after ten years."

That was when she seemed to come to a decision.

"Come with me," she said, suddenly determined. "There is something you need to see."

I've said it before, reader, but the mountain nest of the Colony is rather large, as these things go. There is a great deal of structure outside, on the surface of the mountain, that's where my room is, for example, but the vast majority of it is inside, an enormous organised network of tunnels, rooms, chambers that many never get to see.

With confidence, Emelia led myself and my guard associates deep into the mountain, to places where few two-legged visitors ever pass.

"There are parts of this nest that we won't visit, not because we aren't allowed, but because they are designed for the ants exclusively. There's hardly any light there and the spaces are incredibly cramped. However, the place we are going is still accessible to people, even if the ants built it for themselves."

She seemed to think for a moment.

"Well, mostly for themselves."

It was quite a journey into the mountain, reader, and I must say it gets quite warm in there. I was quite flushed by the time we made it to our destination, though any thought of discomfort was chased from my head by what we found.

A solemn, quiet place. That was my first impression. Ahead of us, our tunnel met with several others that seemed to lead off in other directions, and from each of them came a steady stream of traffic. Ants, of course, but also golgari, humans, bruan'chii, a surprising number of brathian and even ka'armodo with their servants in tow. From each I sensed a sombre and serious state of mind as they gathered here in this place.

All of a sudden, I wondered if I was underdressed.

It's a serious concern, reader! I would hate to have been dressed insensitively for a visit to what was clearly a place of reverence.

I whispered a quiet inquiry to Emilia, but she only laughed off my fears.

"There's no need to worry about that. She wouldn't have cared."

"She?"

"I should explain before we enter. This is the final resting place of one of the Colony's most beloved figures. They don't really have the concept of a tomb in their culture. There are a few memorials here and there, but for the most part, when members of the Colony fall, they are allowed to return to the Dungeon. This is one of the very, very few instances where they interred someone's remains."

"She must have been very special."

Emilia could only nod, the beginning of tears welling in her eyes.

"Oh yes," she said eventually, "she really was."

-x-X-x-

I wasn't sure what to expect when we entered the room beyond the large, yet simple and unadorned doors. Emilia had described it as a tomb, a final resting place, and I now understood that all of those before us had come to pay their respects to this individual, whomever they had been.

So it was with appropriate solemnity but not a little curiosity that I waited for our turn and then stepped within, my head lowered, but eyes darting.

What I found inside quite took my breath away.

I have said before that the Colony has shown a surprisingly adept hand, or mandible, when it comes to aesthetics. Despite their own interests being almost purely functional, they have created breathtaking and skillful works of art, from frescos, carvings, statues, all the way up to architectural marvels that have taken me quite off guard.

As a resident of the Silver City, reader, I am no stranger to beautiful surroundings, living in what is widely considered the most appealing and wondrous city in the world!

However, what I saw in the chamber struck me to the core.

It wasn't too large. There was no enormous, vaulted ceiling supported by pillars rising up hundreds of metres. The scale of the chamber spoke to the humility of the one interred within. I sensed immediately that the ants had built it to be as large as they could without offending the sensibilities of the individual they chose to honour.

Nor was it too decorative. They could have covered every inch of it with detailed carvings and paintings if they so chose, and I sensed that they would have, if they thought it would have been appropriate. They did not memorialise an ostentatious person here, one who appreciated a simple sort of beauty.

It was a circular chamber, with the memorial and burial site sitting in the centre, a single column rising up from it to support the roof. Using magic, it was softly lit from every angle, recessed globes of light directing one's focus always towards the centre of the room.

Reader, the quiet beauty and serenity of that place struck me right to the heart. I felt tears come, unbidden, as I took in the deep, deep sorrow and commensurate love that had gone into its design and construction. Gently, Emilia pulled me aside, and we moved toward the outer wall of the chamber. There, she showed me a series of stained glass windows, each lit from behind, showing me important scenes of this person's life.

Around the outside of the chamber, the windows told a story, wrought in vibrant glass and intricate iron threads. Beneath each, an inscription rested detailing the events depicted.

The first showed a young boy with brown skin, wooden sword in hand training with an older woman. The inscription read: Age five, delver training begins.

We moved quietly to the next window and I silently took it in. Another scene, forward in time. Older now, perhaps in his mid-teens, the young man was shown doing battle within the Dungeon, fighting a centipede and skewering it with his blade. Age fourteen, the first Dungeon Delve.

Ten windows in all and it appeared indeed that this man had lived a worthy life, getting married, growing old together with his wife before passing away, a respected and worthy Delver.

Yet, I was confused. No ant had been depicted in any of the scenes. Why was this person so deeply revered by the Colony?

Emilia saw my confusion.

"We've only gone half way around," she whispered to me. "There are two people buried here."

It was true, we had not yet completed our circuit of the chamber. The second half indeed depicted another life, another individual and soon I realised that this was the woman who had married the dashing delver, the window depicting their wedding was exactly the same.

Yet her story continued after he passed away, the scene of her meeting the Eldest of the Colony revealed the moment her life had intersected with the Colony's. It was for her that they had built this space.

Silently, I walked the remainder of the perimeter, and then by silent agreement, Emilia and I approached the memorial in the centre of the room.

A woman sat in a chair, advanced in years, but with energy and vigour in her face. There was a fierce intelligence in her eyes and a warm smile on her lips. One hand rested on the arm of her chair while the other was raised to her chin, giving her the impression of assessing whoever had come before her. The weighing gaze of a merchant at heart.

Behind her stood her husband, powerfully built, sword on his back and hand resting on her shoulder protectively. He too looked down with an intense gaze but a welcoming expression. The couple radiated a warmth and comfort that was almost palpable.

At the foot of the statue sat a garden of luscious flowers and sweet smelling herbs that ringed the memorial.

"There are tributes here from many people engraved on the floor, but there are two you should see," Emilia whispered.

Startled, I looked down and indeed, there were words of loss and praise engraved on the tiled floor that I hadn't noticed. Emilia brought us right to the foot of the statue and directed my gaze to the floor. To the left I saw the first inscription.

"Beloved teacher. I wish you hadn't gone - Merchant."

To the right, I saw the second.

"Two-legged mother to us all. None can replace you - Anthony."

Above these, at the statue's base, a plaque could be read.

Here lie Enid and Derrion Ruther

Rest together, with all our blessings

AMATUS SINE METU

Loved Without Fear

"They found her husband and moved his remains so that they might be buried here together," Emilia said softly. "People are afraid of the Colony and what they might do, but this is how much they love those who are prepared to love them back."

She bowed low at the waist towards the statue, and I did the same, offering my regards to what must have been a truly remarkable woman.

-x-X-x-

I find it endlessly fascinating to study the moral and philosophical structures that underpin non-monstrous society. Such a tangled web of contradictions, broken promises and expectations that I wonder why most of the so-called 'sapients' don't go completely mad.

Even the demons, a loose association of chaotic individuals, make more sense to me than the average human or golgari.

If you were to ask why an individual behaved a certain way in the Empire of Stone, the answer would involve an exhaustive analysis of upbringing, societal expectations, formative experiences and cultural norms, along with genetic markers that inform and influence moods and predilections. An absurd exercise that is unlikely to yield a satisfactory explanation at the end of it.

Why does a member of the Colony behave a certain way? We don't care, as long as they aren't being selfish.

- Excerpt from 'Musings' by Immanuel K. Ant.

"Look at meeeeeee," the hatchling giggled with glee as she flitted across the room. She would land lightly, her six legs flexing, before her wings would start thrumming and once again she was off, zooming to the other side of the chamber.

"I'm looking," Demetant said, pleased that she was so happy, but starting to worry when she was going to get tired. This flying exercise had been going for hours already, ever since she'd emerged after her tier four evolution.

"Don't worry too much," the other hatchling said, not bothering to look up from the pheromone book she was reading with her antennae. "She's got a few minutes left."

"You can tell that?" Demetant asked, surprised.

"My evolution included an ocular mutation that enables me to visualise the vitality in a living creature. She's running on fumes but is having too much fun to realise how tired she is."

"Oh… is it safe?"

From one worry right to the next. The work of the Brood Tender was truly never done.

"I'm here," the second hatchling said, turning the page with one leg. "She'll be fine, I can heal now."

It was starting to become inappropriate to call the two of them hatchlings any more. Both were larger than Demetant herself now after their fourth evolution and would only get bigger and stronger from here. Brood Tenders remained quite diminutive among the castes, as they didn't need size to perform their function and put most of their evolutionary energy into nourishing auras and organs that helped them be more effective teachers.

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The first hatchling had insisted on achieving her dream of flight at the earliest opportunity, against the advice of most of the specialists. She had grown to be a variety of scout, as predicted, and adding wings at this early stage of development had taken a significant chunk of her evolutionary energy, apparently. Not to mention the exhaustive work that had been done to try and help her optimise her musculature, a rather intricate task, apparently. And one that would need to be repeated for each subsequent evolution if she wanted to remain balanced in flight.

Considering how much she yearned for it, Demetant was glad that the little one had held firm and gotten her wish. The end result was a set of gleaming, translucent wings that buzzed audibly as she zipped from wall to wall.

For her part, the second hatchling had been much easier to deal with. After several sessions of working alongside the healers as an assistant, she'd taken on advice, done extensive reading and made thorough preparations for her own evolution. In every way, a model student, even if she was a bit grumpy most of the time.

"I'm flyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiii—zzzzzz."

Thunk.

Demetant started as the first hatchling fell asleep mid flight, rapidly losing altitude before she fell to the floor and skidded over the stone. She only came to a stop when she thumped into the far wall.

"Oh my!" Demetant cried as she rushed over.

"She's fine. Very minor structural damage to her carapace. It'll heal itself after a meal," the second hatchling said, not bothering to rouse herself from her text.

"You mean you aren't going to heal her?" Demetant asked, fretting.

The second hatchling clacked her mandibles in amusement.

"Absolutely not. She's the moron who flew until she passed out, she can live with a few sore spots when she wakes up. It's the most mild lesson she could learn."

"Well, I suppose it won't hurt her to get some rest before we leave," Demetant said.

"Oh? Where are we going?" the second hatchling said, finally sounding interested.

"We're going down to visit the Eldest and a few of the other Champions. Just to give you a sense of what they're like and how they help the Colony."

"Do they even want to see us?" the second hatchling asked, showing a hint of her uncertainty. "I'm sure they're very busy, and it's not like we've actually achieved anything. She just has wings and I'm basically the same as any other healer at this point."

Demetant skittered over and gave her a reassuring pat on the head.

"Stop it," the hatchling muttered, but didn't brush her away.

"They are interested in helping the Colony, and you are going to help the Colony. There's no need to be worried. If anything, this is an opportunity to ask questions and learn the things you want to learn. If you have doubts, then these are the only members of the family who can resolve them for you. Besides, we checked if they were available and everyone said yes. There's no need to worry."

"Well… who are we going to see first?"

"Brilliant," Demetant said. Then hesitated. "You… you should probably worry a little."

-x-X-x-

"Damn you!" Experimant yelled as she ducked for cover before a control panel. "There's no way it can handle this much power!"

"I-I-I think it's going to explode," Assistant stuttered as she tried to rush toward the emergency shut down lever, only to be dragged to safety by Experimant latching onto one of her legs.

"That's what she wants," Experimant grouched.

"Yesssss. YESSSSS! I see it! I see it all!"

Brilliant cackled madly, standing over her creation, an amorphous blob of flesh, which jumped and flopped on the table as a truly absurd amount of mana and electricity ripped through it.

"Rise! RIIIIIISE!"

The only thing that rose in this instance was the temperature of the room. In fact, it rose rather precipitously as a fireball detonated, blasting the mad ant through the air while reducing her current experiment to loosely associated chunks.

Emergency shutdown routines, the ones that Brilliant hadn't disabled, cut in quickly, shutting off the flow of power and plunging the chamber into darkness. Experimant waited a few moments, checking for any further explosions, before she rose up to survey the damage.

All in all, it wasn't too bad, and as the backup systems whirred to life, once more illuminating the lab, she saw Brilliant had already picked herself up from where she had landed against the wall.

"Now THAT was a successful experiment!" she warbled, clearly a little unsteady.

"Was it really?" Experimant replied doubtfully. From her perspective, it looked much the same as the last twelve they'd run. There were so many more promising projects they could be working on, but Brilliant was currently obsessed with Bio-mana and trying to find applications for this new form of energy.

"Of course! The test organism lasted three tenths of a second longer than previous tests! Think of the data!"

She leapt over to a readout station and pulled on her goggles with visible glee. A new invention from Smithant's shop, they were one-of-a-kind, designed to fit over Brilliant's eyes precisely with literally thousands of individual displays painstakingly carved on the inside. Brilliant had done a lot of the enchanting work herself, linking the goggles to her own instruments, meaning when she put them on she was able to see thousands of readouts at once.

Experimant had taken a look inside and all she'd gotten was a headache.

"Is it… really alright to explode an organism every time you perform this experiment?" a small scent interjected.

A Brood Tender and two hatchlings had watched the proceedings from behind several layers of safety screens, and now they emerged to survey the chaotic scene.

Brilliant was too busy poring over the results, so Experimant answered for the little one.

"It's essentially a blob of meat. No brain, no nervous system, no capacity to experience pain. We aren't actually hurting it. Technically, there isn't an it to hurt."

"Still… it seems… bad?"

"Bah!" Brilliant huffed, throwing her goggles off, only for Assistant to dive and catch them before they hit the floor. "I won't be lectured on ethics by a hatchling! What caste are you anyway?"

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"A… healer," the hatchling replied.

"Aha! Of course it's the… wait? A healer? Really?"

The hatchling looked to the Brood Tender for reassurance, who gave her an encouraging nod.

"Yes," the little one replied, more firmly this time. "I'm a healer."

"Well that is fascinating. I didn't expect a healer Champion. They're so grumpy I can't tell if they actually like what they do or not. That's beside the point! Has anyone told you about Bio-mana?"

"No… they haven't."

"Wait, wait! Do you know what caste I am?" the other hatchling asked, hopping about, her wings buzzing with excitement.

"Scout," Brilliant replied without turning her head.

"I'm a scout! Wait, how did you know?"

"How did I know?" Brilliant asked, rounding on the winged-ant hurriedly. "You want me to tell you how I knew?"

Experimant sighed.

"I do!"

"Because I'm BRILLIANT!" the ant declared proudly, striking a dramatic pose. "Now, where was I? Bio-mana! Yes. Has anyone explained it to you?"

Back to the second hatchling.

"No?" she said.

"Excellent!" Brilliant leapt forward and seized the little one, dragging her forward to the centre of the lab where the now-exploded experiment table had once stood. "It's a fascinating new field of study, and I do mean new. It's the form of mana natively generated on the fifth stratum, which nobody has seen for thousands of years! We're the first to get to experiment with it on the entire planet!"

"And you're using it to… blow up meat?"

"What? No! Well… yes. Sort of. But don't you see, this form of mana is most applicable to the healers! It's the energy that is used to create monsters in the first place! Mana into flesh! Doesn't that sound interesting?"

The hatchling looked at her askance. It was interesting, but she had questions.

"Doesn't healing mana do that already? Create flesh using mana?"

Brilliant hopped with excitement, clacking her mandibles.

"Yes! Good question! You're completely wrong, but a good question nonetheless. Another smart Champion? It's about time!"

"Isn't Solant very smart?" the hatchling said doubtfully.

"Yes, but she's boring so it doesn't count. No, healing mana stimulates the body's natural properties. It isn't creating new cells, new flesh, but providing the energy to let the cells create new cells. Bio-mana is entirely different, making something out of nothing!"

"And… what can we use it for?" the hatchling enquired.

"I don't know!" Brilliant cried wildly. "Isn't it great?!"

"So what are you testing here?"

"Testing the limits and properties we can imbue into the created flesh," Experimant filled in. "Can we make it armoured? Can we make it resistant to different types of elemental damage? What are the tolerances and how efficiently can we push them? Our work is in the very initial stages, so we're trying to build a base of knowledge starting from first principles."

She looked at Brilliant.

"We likely won't be successful because it's only a matter of time before someone gets bored."

"Yes, yes, yes," Brilliant said, waving off her follower, "but then we pass our findings onto someone else and see what they can come up with. At least they get a running start. And that someone could be you, little hatchling!"

An hour later, as they left the lab behind, Demetant looked worriedly at the two hatchlings.

"Was that an interesting experience?" she asked them.

"It wasn't as fun as flying," the first hatchling said, wings buzzing. Then she brightened. "But the explosion was fun."

"It was interesting," the second hatchling said, thoughtful. "Brilliant seemed… a little… difficult to work with. And probably hurts herself a lot more than necessary."

"Very tactful."

"Thank you. But what she said about Bio-mana could have some applications. I might need to investigate some more…." she trailed off, staring blankly into space.

Demetant nodded, feeling well satisfied.

-x-X-x-

"You can't go faster than me, even if you can fly!"

"Bet I can!"

"No-no you can't! Let's race!"

"No fair, I'm only tier four!"

"Hah! Slow-slow!"

The hatchling flexed her wings and pushed them as hard as she could, racing through the air, but it wasn't enough. Not close to enough.

Despite being so much larger, Vibrant blurred as she raced off into the distance, quickly running out of line of sight. Although she was left behind, the hatchling wasn't discouraged, rather she found it delightful.

She couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she might be that fast one day.

"What's taking so long?" Vibrant laughed, returning so she could run alongside the much smaller ant. "I got so far ahead, had a nap and you still hadn't caught up to me!"

"You had a sleep?"

"Yep-yep! Micro-naps! That way I can take a quick snooze when I don't have anything to do. Like now!"

"You're napping right now?"

"Yep!"

The hatchling looked at Vibrant, who seemed completely awake and full of energy, practically vibrating in place and filled with the need to move.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" the hatchling asked hopefully.

"Of course! You need to change-change your brain quite a bit to make it work, though!"

"Is it worth it?"

"Yes," Vibrant replied emphatically. "Nobody chases me and tries to make me sleep anymore. I liked the chasing, but not the resting. Not at all."

When the hatchling's wings began to hurt, she reluctantly lowered herself down to the ground and the two came to a stop for a rest.

"Do you… like being a Champion?" the hatchling asked, recovering.

"I don't think-think about it!" Vibrant laughed. Despite her enormous size, she was so agile and fluid that it almost seemed to defy the laws of reality. Constantly in motion, her legs twitching and skittering individually, her antennae waggling and waving wildly in all directions.

"You don't think about it?" the hatchling wondered. "How? That's all everyone wants to talk about with me."

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"So what?" Vibrant said. "Do you like to fly-fly?"

"I do!"

"How much?"

"The most!"

"Do you want to help the family?"

"Of course!"

"Then that's fine, isn't it?" Vibrant said, zipping from side to side so quickly she started blowing up a dust cloud. "If you can help-help and do the thing you like doing, isn't that the best?"

She turned, braced her legs and then blasted up the wall of the tunnel. Here in the fourth stratum, the tunnels weren't as large as they were below, in the fifth. It only took her a few seconds of running to complete a whole circuit around the walls of this tunnel.

Screeching to a halt, she laughed joyfully.

"I am the fastest in the Colony!" she boasted proudly. "That means I can run real fast and help-help as many as possible."

She reached out with a single antenna and prodded the hatchling.

"Do you think you can help-help with your flying?"

The hatchling buzzed her wings.

"Of course I can. Flying is the best! It's super useful!"

"You're still slower than me!" Vibrant said, teasing.

"Not for long!"

"Always! I'm the best-best at going fast."

"Just you wait. When I evolve I'm going to be even faster than you!"

The two raced off again, Vibrant easily keeping ahead as they zipped through the tunnels beneath the Colony's mountain nest. They passed so many others who turned to see what was happening, only for the pair to vanish around the corner.

It was clear to Vibrant that the hatchling lacked the stamina to keep up her top speed for long. Not enough evolutions, mutations or Skills to allow her body to maintain that level of exertion. Not yet, at least.

"Land on me-me!" she laughed.

"What?"

"Land on me! Then hold on tight-tight!"

The hatchling landed, gripping tight to the smooth plates of Vibrant's carapace as best she could. The big ant laughed, clacked her mandibles, then lowered her head.

In truth, she barely needed to try in order to beat the hatchling. Now she would show her what real speed looked like!

Power surged through her legs and the sleepiness cleared from her head. No need for naps, now it was time to focus!

BOOM!

She surged forwards, accelerating at an absurd pace, leaving a shockwave in her wake. A hardened cone of air split the air in front of her, allowing her to rocket forward and build up more and more speed. Muscles burned as her body began to heat up, systems built upon systems providing the absurd level of energy required to sustain the incredible effort she was exerting.

But she could go faster.

Concentrating, Vibrant took in everything around her—even moving at this incredible speed, her mind was faster. She zigged and zagged, dodging left and right as she moved around pillars, obstacles, other ants, reacting at almost preternatural speeds.

Just when she was really getting into it, she realised the hatchling was barely holding on. With a sigh, she slowed down again, letting her reclaim her grip.

"Was that fun-fun?" she asked, eagerly.

It took a second for the hatchling to recover, but when she replied her eyes were shining brightly.

"That was amazing!"

"Right-right?" Vibrant cheered. "It's the best!"

"How do you go so fast?"

"It's really hard!"

"Can you teach me?"

"Yep-yep! Nobody can teach you better than me!"

-x-X-x-

"Are either of you likely to have a speciality that is, in some way, monetisable?"

The two hatchlings looked at each other, confused. Seeing their dilemma, Demetant stepped in.

"Perhaps you could explain what you mean?" she suggested gently. "These two are still very young and aren't sure what you're talking about."

It seemed as though the little ones were a little more uncomfortable around Merchant in a way that they hadn't been with Vibrant or even Brilliant. She supposed it was probably because Merchant just looked different than any other ant they had met. She was so expressive, so human-like with her mannerisms and way of communication, that speaking to her just felt different.

Then, of course, there was the clothing.

A gleaming monocle made of a gold rim and sparking crystal glass sat over her left eye, while she had a… cloak… or back covering woven in some sort of highly reflective silk covered in elaborate stitching. Combined with rings that covered the joints in her legs, Merchant was rather dazzling to look at.

The Champion sighed.

"It's kind of hard to explain, because for the most part I'm the only member of the Colony who actually understands this stuff."

"You can try," Demetant encouraged her.

"Fine. Well… now that I think about it, it's not that complicated. Are either of you going to be able to use your abilities to make money? Because that's what I do, I make money for the family and then use that wealth to get things that we can't make or get ourselves."

"Are there things we can't make?" the first hatchling asked, confused. "I thought we made everything!"

"I wish," Merchant grumbled. "We can make pretty much all the simple stuff, but there are still materials we don't have access to in our territory and specialised designs and techniques that we haven't been able to figure out yet. The world is a big place, after all."

The two hatchlings considered this for a moment.

"I have one main question," the second hatchling said.

"Just one? That's good, time is money."

"Is there any chance you could tell me what money is? It seems like a core concept that you have built your speciality around, but I've never heard of it."

Merchant slumped.

"Yes… yes, I suppose that's where we would need to start. I thought that the idea of commerce might be spreading through the Colony a bit faster by now, but hatchlings wouldn't be learning about it, obviously."

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"It's not part of the antcademy curriculum," Demetant apologised.

"No, no, I understand, there's no need for you to be sorry, Tender. Most ants aren't going to encounter the concept through their lives."

She sighed.

It didn't take long for her to give a basic primer on the concept of commerce and when she was done, the second hatchling nodded in understanding.

"I understand your question now. You're asking if our abilities and interests are likely to be in demand outside the Colony in a way that you can sell."

"Exactly," Merchant nodded with relief. "I'm glad you both get it."

"Yes…" the first hatchling said, wings buzzing nervously, "both of us."

"I am looking to specialise as a healer. I'm not certain anyone outside of the Colony or its direct allies are likely to accept healing from a monster. Perhaps there may come something in the future that I learn or develop, and if I do I'll be sure to let you know. If I might say so, my sister has a particular interest in flying, which I don't see as being valuable to you."

Merchant stroked the bottom of her head in an odd motion with one of her forelegs.

"Hmmm… yes, I see what you mean. Flying isn't all that interesting from my perspective."

"Flying is interesting from all perspectives!" the first hatchling insisted, rising off the ground a few centimetres as she flapped her wings.

"You sound like a magpei," Merchant laughed. "They can all fly and they look down on everyone who can't. Come to think of it, you should probably have a talk to Diplomant. Showing those big-mouthed bird-brains a flying ant is probably a good idea."

"I'll let them know," Demetant said.

"As for you," Merchant said, turning her attention to the second hatchling. "The possibilities are a little more open. You're right that people might not want to accept your healing, not at first anyway, but in future? If you get good enough, they'll line up and bury you in money for the privilege of having you treat them. With the advantages of powerful evolutions and mutations, who can say what might be possible?"

The second hatchling shrugged. She certainly didn't know how she might develop with future evolutions, but she wasn't all that interested in trying to heal anyone from outside of the family. As far as she was concerned, the rest of the ants did enough stupid things and got themselves hurt at a fairly constant rate. If she worked as a healer, then she would have more than enough to do just taking care of her siblings and cleaning up their messes.

"But the healing is just the beginning," Merchant enthused. "Healing methods. Medical technology. That sort of thing is extremely valuable."

As she got going, the Champion's eyes gleamed as she began to consider all the ways in which they might generate wealth.

In a way, the hatchlings were now able to identify with their fellow Champion more than they could before. That fascination and focus was something they both understood to differing degrees.

"If something comes up, I'll be sure to let you know, sister," the second hatchling said.

"Yeah, and flying is amazing!" the first hatchling insisted.

"I believe you," Merchant laughed, then another look came over her face. "Now, perhaps I can convince you to try wearing some of my bespoke line of ant clothing? A dashing vest? A nice back covering?"

"Uh, no?" the second hatchling said.

"Hah… I'm trying to get a business started developing an ant clothing line, but getting clients is proving difficult."

"Why would you sell to us?" the second hatchling asked, confused. "None of us have any money to pay you."

"It's something I'm doing for free, not to generate profit," Merchant sighed. "It would be easier for outsiders to look at us as something other than monsters if we wore more items of clothing. Make us look a little more civilised in their eyes. Also, my siblings deserve to look their best!"

-x-X-x-

Solant was not the largest Champion, an honour that went to Vibrant the soldier, but neither was she the smallest, which was easily Merchant.

She was, however, the most intimidating.

In the centre of the command centre in the highest fortress of the fifth stratum, Solant was surrounded by activity. As the hatchlings watched, it became clear that Solant was more than just an individual, she was the beating heart of a vast operation that extended far beyond her. Much of it ran without her input, but if she wasn't there, present and working, then the entire thing would instantly die.

As the two hatchlings and their Brood Tender attendant spoke to the little general, dozens and dozens of ants stood to the side, watching, waiting, impatient for a chance to pass on their messages. Scouting reports, requests for reinforcements, tallies from the field hospitals, news from the depths below, all of it waited, just for them to finish their conversation.

And Solant did not hurry them, did not urge them to speak quickly or give them anything less than a measured and thoughtful response whenever they asked a question. She simply watched them, carefully, weighing, measuring and reassessing with each passing moment.

"I'm sorry I couldn't arrange a more private place for us to converse," Solant said. "In the throes of the wave, this is as far as I could travel and I cannot be away from my responsibilities for long."

She turned to Demetant.

"I understand you intend to take these two down to see the Eldest? It's dangerous to do so at this time, but so long as you don't stray from the shortest path, we should be able to ensure your safety."

"That is appreciated," Demetant said gratefully. "We think it's important that these two get a chance to seek advice from the Eldest before they evolve too far."

"I quite agree," Solant said, once more eying the hatchlings who felt that they'd been put on a pair of scales. "I'm told you are taking your first steps on exploring your specialities? Flight and healing?"

"That's right!" the first hatchling said brightly. "Flying is very useful!"

She hopped from side to side enthusiastically while Solant watched patiently.

"So far flight has proven to be largely unnecessary in our defence of the Colony. Certainly it would have some application in the fourth stratum, possibly the third, but not in the fifth."

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There was no judgement from the general as she spoke, merely honest observations and that ever-weighing stare.

"However," she went on slowly, "there is a new opportunity in which flight may prove to be extremely valuable. I had already begun to explore the possibility of assembling a flying corps to assist with the exploration of the sixth stratum. How curious that a Champion with your particular predilection would happen to be born at this time."

Initially the first hatchling had been discouraged, but by the time Solant had finished speaking, she was hovering off the ground in her excitement, literally.

"The sixth? I knew flying would be useful! How could it not be? It's flying!"

"Yes. As for you," Solant said, turning to the second hatchling. "I'm quite confident that you could prove to be quite the asset to the Colony. Fighting in the fifth stratum has strained our healers like nothing before in the history of our family. I'm also not surprised that a Champion such as you has been born at this time."

"You mean… our births aren't random? Does the Dungeon… produce us when we're needed?" the second hatchling asked sharply.

"I don't know," Solant noted, "nobody could give you an answer to that question. I have theories. In truth, it isn't important. You are here now and what matters is what you can do."

"Right now, not much," the second hatchling said.

"True… but I think you'll be surprised at how quickly that can change. I myself knew that I was destined to be a great general shortly after I hatched. I excelled in every task put before me, but I didn't truly understand how I was different from every other general until the Eldest showed me. That was when I was truly able to find my purpose."

She stared at the two young ants.

"I suspect it may be the same for you two. Things have a habit of being resolved one way or another once they get involved."

Her antennae flicked towards the many waiting ants.

"If you have no more questions for me, then I should get back to my duties. However, if there is something you want to know, then please ask, this is the last time I'll have available for you for quite a while."

The first hatchling shook her head, but the second stepped forward.

"What loses us the most of our siblings in battle? What do we need in order to save them?"

Solant clacked her mandibles.

"A good question. In short, catastrophic injury sustained in battle. If one of our siblings is able to make it back to safety and receive medical care, then we can bring them back from almost anything. There are very few things that can cause an injury that a monster cannot heal."

She nodded.

"The first five minutes are the most crucial. Frontline medical care is the most important but also the most dangerous for the healers. They force their way out there sometimes, but we would rather they didn't. Healers are far too valuable to risk."

They hadn't even left the chamber before the flood of pheromones overcame them, a veritable storm of noise around Solant, who absorbed it all with equanimity. To different extents, both hatchlings felt encouraged by the meeting, but also a little nervous as they looked towards their upcoming visit to their most important relative.

The Eldest waited in the depths.

-x-X-x-

Travelling safely through the fifth stratum during a wave was easier said than done. Despite the network of fortresses and the vigorous defence against the Krath, the tunnels were still unsafe due to the regular behaviour of the Dungeon. Strange and never before seen monsters were spawning in absurd numbers, fighting and consuming each other with wild abandon, growing stronger at a phenomenal pace.

Of course, the Colony had long been at work creating a network of vertical shafts connecting their forts to move through the fifth, but they weren't all complete. It was necessary to move through several long stretches of tunnel, and they only did so under heavily armed guard.

By the time they finally made it to the bottom of the fifth stratum, nearly three hundred vertical kilometres deep, they came to the final fortress of the Colony. Descending from above, they avoided the worst of the fighting, but they could hear it. Their antennae shook with the force of the vibrations emanating from the never-ending battlefield, fighting off the hordes from the depths.

Demetant, for one, was quite relieved when they finally completed the journey.

"Apparently the gate network is going to be up and running soon," she said to the hatchlings. "So we should be able to use that to get back."

The first hatchling was quite excited by the adventure they'd been on and was perfectly happy to return the same way. Her enthusiasm wasn't shared by the second, who was impressed that the Colony had been able to get them here safely in the first place.

After travelling such a vast distance, they thought they might have a chance to rest and refresh themselves, possibly over tea, before they went to see the Eldest, but it wasn't to be. No sooner had they arrived than they were ushered deeper into the fortress.

"The Eldest is resting in a chamber on the lower levels," they were told by the sister tasked with guiding them. "Since you came all this way, you may as well go and see them now."

"Isn't the Eldest busy?" Demetant protested and their guide laughed.

"Not really. Well, sort of, but also not really. I think Solant has them here so they can fight anything super scary that comes up from below, but so far that hasn't happened."

Unlike some of the other places they'd travelled through, this was clearly a fortress on the front lines of the defence against the wave. Ants were constantly in motion, moving to and from the battleline. There were injured siblings being moved, supplies being delivered and stored, and the constant hustle and bustle of the Colony at war. The deeper they went into the fortress, the more crowded and active it became. They were constantly jostled by much larger ants, the most highly evolved in the Colony, rushing to and fro, but none would disturb them, especially not once they noticed a Brood Tender.

Down into the depths they went until finally, without a hint of ceremony, they were ushered into a large chamber. Within, a giant ant, the largest any of them had seen by far, stood perfectly still, the only sign of movement being the slight twitching of its antennae. Covered in a layer of purple crystal of some sort, its carapace refracted light all around the chamber, creating a tapestry of light and shadow. Its mandibles were enormous, larger than either of the hatchlings' entire bodies, and savagely barbed.

Both hatchlings, and indeed Demetant herself, stared up at the enormous creature in awe.

"I didn't think we could get that big," the first hatchling muttered.

"We probably can't," the second hatchling muttered back.

"Why not?"

"Do you think you could fly if you were that heavy?"

"Oh… oh! So the Eldest can't fly? Poor thing…"

The giant ant twitched, then turned slowly towards them.

"I can fly! Sort of. Let's agree to call it graceful floating."

Stunned at seeing the massive creature actually moving, the little ones backed up as the Eldest leaned down towards them.

"Well, well! Two new Champions for the family, eh? That's exciting! And neither of you have been causing so much trouble that I have to look after you myself! That's a win. Since I'm so busy and all."

"You are?" the second hatchling said hesitantly, then cursed as that massive head swung toward her.

"I am!" the Eldest said defensively. "I've been working on my spells like crazy. It's hard work, but it's paying off. I'd show you the fruits of my labour, but I think the fortress would explode. Well, half of it. Probably not a good time to go drilling holes through the walls either."

Clacking their mandibles thoughtfully, the Eldest didn't seem to realise that each impact of their jaws sent violent vibrations humming through the hatchlings' antennae.

"And a Brood Tender, all the way down here! You must be the first. Demetant, nice to meet you. Thanks for taking care of these two so well."

"Of course, I'm happy to," Demetant replied, then hesitated. "You… you know my name?"

"Of course I do, don't be absurd."

Then the Eldest turned back to the little ones.

"But you two don't have names yet, do you? Hatchling one and hatchling two aren't proper names for a pair of Champions! Let me see here… I think I can come up with something…."

The Eldest fell silent for a moment as they pondered, leaving the three guests feeling uneasy and restless while they waited.

"Got it!" the Eldest said. One giant antenna descended down to point at the first hatchling. "You're all about flying and stuff. Ascendant. You're welcome."

"I have a name?" Ascendant said wonderingly.

"You do now," the Eldest replied.

"Where did it come from?"

"Me."

"Okay!" the hatchling cheered, wings buzzing.

The Eldest turned their ponderous antenna towards the second hatchling.

"A little medical marvel down here. Newly minted. Your name is Hippocrant. Welcome to the family!"

-x-X-x-

It feels like it's been too long since I've seen some honest to goodness hatchlings. Obviously, these two aren't hatchlings, they're tier four at this point, newly minted graduates of the antcademies, but they're still so teenietiny compared to everyone else I've been seeing.

The ants down here in the fifth are tier six for the most part, even the healers and carvers are a decent size so they can fit in the brain power and organs they require to do their more mentally demanding work.

"Still, two new Champions at the same time, that's rather different," I say looking at the two little ones who huddle down before me, their Brood Tender standing behind them protectively. "And they were born from the same clutch of eggs?"

"These two were born almost one after the other and raised in the same group of twenty. I was looking after both of them," Demetant tells me.

"Well, isn't that something?"

Apparently there hasn't been a Champion born in the Colony for a while, and now we have two come out at practically the exact same moment. There must be some sort of rhyme or reason about it, but I have no idea what it is. As I understand it, Champions are exceptionally rare amongst species like us, which seems to have borne true. There are millions and millions of us at this point and only a handful of Champions.

Honestly, I wonder just how many of us there are right now? At some point we have to cross over the billion mark. A billion members of the Colony is a sobering thought. That's a heck of a lot of siblings. I've got no chance of remembering all their birthdays….

"What are your plans for these two from now on?" I ask Demetant. "Or, do you two have your own ideas?"

Hippocrant considers my words for a moment. Of the existing Champions, she reminds me of Solant the most. She's smart, considered, but isn't as coldly logical as the little general. Nor does she have the maniacal desire to know things that Brilliant is inflicted with. Despite her gruff exterior, she cares about her siblings, especially about her fellow young Champion. It's kind of sweet.

The other, Ascendant, is obviously more like Vibrant than any of the others. She's simple-minded, enthusiastic and filled with a naive optimism. Although perhaps she doesn't have Vibrant's unending obsession. Vibrant will never be satisfied with how fast she can go as long as she thinks faster is possible. This new hatchling really wants to fly, but she can already fly. I'm very curious to see what she decides to make of herself from this point forward now that she's achieved her main focus.

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"I think I would like to remain in the fifth for a time," Hippocrant says, answering my question. "I want to learn as much as I can about healing and I'm quite curious about what Bio-mana is capable of."

Oh, the Bio-mana, eh? That's a new and developing field of study.

"I assume Brilliant told you about it?" I say.

"Yes," she confirms, a little tiredly.

"She wants to offload her research onto you. Am I right?"

"She does," the new Champion grumbles and I laugh.

"Hah. She's a smart one, but she struggles with her focus. I'm sure she has another idea she wants to dig her mandibles into. Well, if you want practice healing and grinding your Skills, there's no better place to be than the fifth. What about you?" I say, turning to the other one.

Ascendant hesitates to answer my question, turning questioningly towards her sister.

"I… uh… don't think I can stay in the fifth," she says sadly. "I'm not strong enough to fight the monsters here."

"Even wings are not going to be enough to help you on that front," I say with a laugh. "No, fighting here is not a good idea."

If she tried, the Colony would throw a fit. These two have no idea the amount of energy and effort that's gone into keeping them safe while they've been travelling around. Risking Champions is not something the family is keen on.

"I think you should go into the third stratum and fight with the wave defense there," I tell her. "Plenty of space to fly, lots of monsters to fight. You'll get a lot of experience, Levels and opportunities to get stronger. The fighting never really stops on the third."

From what I've seen from the sixth stratum, having some ants who can fly is going to be very helpful. It's going to take a long time, though, before Ascendant is strong enough to go down there, and even longer before she has followers who are strong enough to come with her.

"I'm looking forward to what the two of you will be like by the time the wave is finished. Probably tier five and with a bit more experience of what it's like to be a member of this family. However, I don't recommend you remain at this depth for much longer. Things are fairly spicy down here."

I can already feel some strong vibrations with the fine hairs on my legs. The floor is shaking ever so slightly, very small tremors, but growing stronger. Something is coming up from below.

[Crinis, something is headed your way. You're on duty right now, right?]

[Master? Are you talking to me now?! Finally!]

[Hey! No talking back. You still have one more day of your punishment to serve.]

[Nooo,] she sobs, but at least she's ready for the fight to come.

"It's been wonderful to meet you," I say to the two hatchlings warmly. "Hopefully I'll see you again soon."

-x-X-x-

When the investment into the invasion of the fifth came, it came in a tidal wave. Almost overnight the entire world went from no appetite for the invasion to a seemingly infinite one. Once the Atreum Empire opened up their bottomless coffers, every major faction across Pangera followed suit.

Most fascinating was the manner in which the relatively stable alliances of powers began to shift and evolve as a result of this almost reckless drive to conquer the fifth.

A longtime ally of the Golden City, Forrensith, was reluctant to enter the race and dragged their feet, fearful of the catastrophic attempts of the past. As a result, the independent United Mountain Alliance were invited to join the invasion as a co-investor and did so with gusto.

Years later, who does the Child-Emperor favour? The answer is obvious to all.

- Excerpt from 'Events and Ramifications' by Xinci

Crinis wallowed deep in her misery. Two whole days without contacting her Master, or even being allowed to speak to her clone. It was torture. Agony! Even worse was that she knew she had brought all of this down on herself. If only she hadn't gone behind her master's back, then she wouldn't have to suffer like this.

Trust had been broken, and the fact that it was entirely her fault made Crinis furious at herself and even more depressed.

All she could do with her bottomless sadness and frustration was take it out upon the hapless monsters who found themselves in front of her.

DIE! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!!!!

Her hundreds of limbs orchestrated a deadly symphony, each of them articulated by the dispersed neurons and specific organs designed to control them independent of her own thoughts. She grappled and wrestled monsters, snatching them up before her tentacles flexed, digging into her victims with their savage teeth or dragging them over and throwing them into one of her cavernous maws.

In the distance, she could sense her foe approaching. Master had asked her to deal with the creature, so deal with it she would. She would annihilate it with a savage vengeance!

[I'm going to head deeper into the tunnel,] she warned the ants on the defensive platform with her. [Something powerful is coming.]

They acknowledged her and began to reform the ranks while Crinis compressed herself down and began to enter into the shadows. Sinking into the shadow realm brought her a little comfort, as it was the only place as dark as her mood. Through the slivers of light, she could see through the gathered shadows in the tunnel, and she tracked her way towards the approaching monster until finally she was able to see it.

It was powerful, with a core comparable to her own. She could feel the strength of its mana radiating from it as it ripped through the weaker monsters of the tunnel with contemptuous ease.

Yes… this was something she could properly vent her anger upon.

Surprisingly, it was able to detect her, leaping back before she emerged from the shadows. Something slashed out towards her; rending claws, metres long and wickedly curved, tried to carve into her flesh. Crinis manipulated her shape, blobbing around the strike as she continued to climb out of the darkness and expand to her full size.

Limbs reached out, splitting and expanding as she reached for the creature, eager to take hold of it.

With her mind's eye, she studied its form and shape, trying to understand her foe.

It was large, easily over ten metres tall, and long, with rounded shoulders, a long snout extending from its head and a tail lagging behind. Sneaking limbs from behind it, she managed to snake a tentacle around its leg and immediately felt something strange about it.

This creature was covered in scales formed of some sort of metal. Layered over each other to form a natural armour that her tentacle barbs scraped against ineffectually.

Cautious, the monster eyed her before it raised up its tail and slammed it heavily into the ground. The tunnel rocked from the force of the impact, rock shattered and rose up into the air, only to slam down again as a powerful force rippled outwards, dragging the debris to the tunnel floor.

Crinis recognised that magic… that was the power that her master wielded!

How dare you, she seethed internally. Disgusting filth… you don't deserve to touch that mana!

In a flash, Crinis sucked the light out of the tunnel, dragging it into herself and annihilating it. Both monsters were plunged into almost total darkness but only one of them was at home there.

At the same time, Crinis wove her own spells, conjuring a withering curse to weaken her foe.

With an angered trill, the monster curled up defensively, but it took Crinis a moment to realise that it had folded itself almost completely into a ball. With a slam of its tail, it projected itself into the air, tucked itself in and started rolling.

Crinis tried to take hold of it, but her enemy was possessed of an unstoppable momentum, ripping her grasping limbs apart as it barreled towards her.

What sort of strange creature was this? Able to turn itself into a ball?! Irritated, Crinis flattened herself down, using the amorphous property of her flesh to compact herself and allow the monster to roll over her. As it did, the edges of the metal scales dug into her body, tearing away chunks of Immaterial Flesh.

Crinis was furious, but she remained rational. This was not a good matchup for her. With its outer layer of metal scales, the rolling monster was too hard for her barbs to rip into, which would make it difficult for her to deal significant damage.

Luckily, she had other methods of tormenting her foes.

Manipulating the darkness, Crinis extended her tentacles into the shadow below, only for them to emerge from above. As the monster rolled up the wall of the tunnel, it slowed, then reversed its momentum, shaking the ground with its force.

As it rolled over her again, Crinis struck.

The Soul Seeker Cillia phased through the outer armour and sank into the creature's head. It shrilled with anger, but it was too late.

Sinking her limbs into the monster's brain, Crinis felt fierce resistance as it fought back against her, but she didn't need to control it for long. It lost its momentum, unwinding from its rolled over form and sprawling ungracefully on the ground.

With delight, Crinis realised that the monster's chest and belly were not covered in hardened metal scales, but soft fur and tender flesh. She didn't even mind that her cilia were forced out of the creature's mind.

It was too late for it anyway.

-x-X-x-

Friendship was a difficult thing to covet, Invidia had found. While he now considered himself to have many friends, his very nature as a demon demanded that he have more.

His obsession was an intrinsic part of his being and not something he could rid himself of even if he wanted to. Indeed, he couldn't imagine living without it.

Yet when one began to exceed a certain number of friends, it became increasingly difficult to maintain them. Invidia had his duties to perform, which he did, gladly, and he enjoyed spending time with his master and his siblings, naturally, yet that left little time to cultivate friendship with others.

He had recently joined a bookclub, which was enjoyable and allowed him to spend time with some of his friends. Taking his Biomass in the mess hall with the third battalion allowed him an opportunity to spend time with others, and resting with the fifth battalion when they took torpor afforded him a chance to enjoy the company of yet more.

More and more, Invidia was a victim to the tyranny of time. There simply wasn't enough time for him to spend time with his current friends, let alone make new ones!

Even worse, he found that if he didn't spend time with his friends, then over time they would no longer be friends, deteriorating into nothing but acquaintances. This was intolerable to the demon.

He'd become so worried about his friends higher up in the Dungeon that he wasn't able to see and possibly wouldn't for a significant length of time that he had begun spending what precious little time he had remaining writing detailed letters to send to them. Via the exchange of such missives, he hoped to stay abreast of events in their lives and keep them informed of the things he was doing.

In this way he would be able to maintain his friendships even though he wasn't physically present. An ingenious plan.

And it worked! Already he was receiving replies, a rich harvest of friendship that Invidia delighted in. He had taken to carefully filing the letters in a storage unit the ants had supplied for him, indexed by the names of the senders and the dates they had been received, in order to better hoard his treasures.

Yesssssssssss.

Invidia was not happy to be disturbed from his pleasant contemplations by the arrival of a strong presence rising up from below. Abundant mana flowing out of a rich and potent core, this was undoubtedly another invader rising up from the sixth. A worthy adversary and not one that his friends on the platform were equipped to handle.

[Massster. There isss a presence approaching the fortress.]

[Oh! Right then, I hadn't felt it arrive yet. Your senses are still the sharpest amongst us. Are you going to be able to handle it?]

[I believesss ssooo.]

[Let me know if you need help, but these battles will give you the most experience and Biomass. Push towards tier eight! I believe in you!]

Invidia didn't feel as though he needed the motivational speech, but he appreciated it nevertheless. After informing the battalion on the platform what he was doing, Invidia fluttered his wings and began to drift out into the tunnel.

He couldn't move very quickly; that was a weakness that had been built into his design, a trade-off in order to make him as powerful mentally as was reasonably possible. Invidia had studied some of the notes that Granin and the others had retrieved from the Shapers regarding his own design. They were interesting to study, but contained nothing too unexpected.

As he drifted, Invidia allowed his myriad of mind-constructs to weave spells, detonating anything that he deemed threatening with air-shattering explosions.

He was also extremely weak physically, unable to suffer so much as a single solid blow. That meant he needed to be cautious while he fluttered through unsecured territory. His prodigious mind was on high alert, constantly scanning for unseen threats while mana thundered through him at a constant pace, ready to be used at any moment.

After a while, he began to feel tired, so he dropped down to the tunnel floor and held himself up with his hands in order to give his wings a bit of a rest. Perhaps in his next evolution he could stand to work on his physical form a little? It wasn't his focus, but surely a little more endurance could be tolerable?

After five minutes, he once again fluttered up into the air and prepared to depart. He had a task, after all.

When he finally saw the creature, Invidia narrowed his eye. This wasn't going to be simple.

It took the form of a swirling cloud of purple. Lightning cracked and crackled around it, and when he looked closer, Invidia saw that metal shards swirled about the monster's form in a never-ending loop, thousands upon thousands of them.

He could sense the powerful mind at work within the creature—it was holding those shards in place with mana, not an organ. Intelligent, able to utilise magical constructs, and it likely had sensed his own approach long ago.

This monster was very similar to himself. That would make it more interesting.

Invidia grinned, his mouth tearing a hole open through space to reveal itself as he expanded his will to seize control of the surrounding mana. Almost immediately, he felt himself crash into another mind, and the two began to wrestle to and fro, trying to gain control of the ambient mana, which would become a precious resource between them.

As a humble creature of the third stratum, Invidia did not underestimate what this wild monster of the sixth might be capable of. His minds heaved, weaving together threads of power at a dizzying rate.

A series of cataclysmic explosions rocked the tunnel, sending debris flying and dust scattering everywhere. In an instant, a harsh wind blew all of the dirt downward, revealing the invader, untouched. It had gathered the shards of metal around itself to deflect the force of the explosions, creating a partial shield.

Interesssssting.

Invidia's eye gleamed as power began to accumulate in it.

He might have some fun playing with this one.

-x-X-x-

Of Tiny, Crinis and Invidia, it's easily the third one who I have the most faith in when it comes to battle. Tiny is the strongest by a long way, that's not a question. The bat-faced gorilla has the utility of a stepless ladder, but when it comes to fighting, he is an absolute powerhouse. When he evolves to tier eight, he might even be stronger in a straight up fight than I am.

But he has all the subtlety and creativity of a brick being smashed into its own face.

If we actually fought, I'd win, because I have ways to mitigate his strengths and cover my weaknesses. Tiny's only option when he comes up against hardship is to punch harder but with lightning. If he ever runs into an opponent that is lightning resistant and can't be punched to bits, then he's straight up out of luck.

Crinis is much weaker than Tiny, especially against tough, individual monsters, but she can always escape if things get too dangerous. She can slip into the shadow realm, blind her opponent, delay them or even just ball herself up and hide. There's options there, and she certainly has the cunning and sneakiness to pull it off.

Invidia, on the other hand, is just smart. He won't put himself into a situation he can't get out of. He's slow and can't hide at all, but he knows that just as well as I do. With his powerful senses, he would have carefully weighed the odds against his opponent and only engaged if he believed he was going to win.

When I sense his return, slowly floating along on a platform of Force Magic that he's manipulating with his mind, I'm unsurprised that he survived the encounter. Still diligently practising in my chamber, I wait until he finishes out his shift and returns to report before asking him any questions.

When he finally floats in, I realise that he's actually taken a bit of damage. There are slight cuts in the flesh of his eyelid and one of his wings is shredded, which explains why he's not trying to fly.

[Holy moly, Invidia! Was it that rough?]

[It wasssss, enjoyable,] he purrs back to me, his eye gleaming in the light.

[Oooookay. Well… that's good then, I suppose. Glad you got something out of it.]

[It wasss delicious.]

[Uh… the Biomass? Or… the sense of triumph from defeating a worthy foe?]

[Yessssss.]

Right then. Well, he might have changed in many ways, but Invidia is still a weird one.

[I've been meaning to ask this, but do you have something you're cooking up other than Explosion Magic to help you fight? You may need something else to fall back on in the future.]

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He blinks his one eye.

[I will thinkssss about it,] he replies.

Well, since he's reliable, I can probably trust him to do just that. Unlike Tiny, who won't do any thinking at all if he can help it. I bet he's been trying to find a way around my command to maintain his intelligence, just like Crinis went behind my back. I'll have to remember to make that order a bit more strict before he evolves. Who knows what tricks he might have cooked up?

It doesn't seem like Invidia wants to keep talking, so I let him wander off to wherever it is that he goes when he isn't on the platform. He spends a bit of time here with me, naturally, but of all of us he seems to be by far the busiest. I should probably ask him about it a bit more.

After a few more days pass and, right before I go terminally insane from practising the same drills over and over again, I get a pleasant distraction when the Templars drop in to say hello.

"Hey there, gang! Nice to see you again!"

Jern, tall and hulking with his axe thrown over one broad shoulder, light-coloured hair and plain face, doesn't really look like the fighting demon I know he can be.

Alis, with her fiery temper and nervous energy, stands next to him, as if drawn to his side with invisible magnets. With her hair cut short at the shoulders, she looks serious and businesslike, an impression that is lightly spoiled by her freckled nose and timid expression.

She always gets nervous around me. Why?

Bertran Gerond is there, a warm smile on his weathered face. Once a travelling tinker, he's now the grandfather of the group. Tanned, balding and thin as a rake, he doesn't seem like the kind of person to be out fighting battles on behalf of anyone, but the man has taken to his new role with a can-do attitude, applying his startling variety of skills to warfare with aplomb.

And then there's the three children.

Allison, Trean and Emilia. Honestly, the only time I ever see them with an expression on their faces is when they look sullen and plot to get around the restrictions placed on them due to their age. Right now, their faces are blank to the point that I can't see if there is a single thought going on in their heads at all.

Not through their faces anyway, but thanks to the Vestibule and Nave, I have other ways of getting a sense of what they're thinking.

"Yes," I tell them, "I think we received a shipment of cake not that long ago, so there should be some available at the mess."

All three of them narrow their eyes, then flick sharp glances to each other.

"No, I can't read your thoughts, not exactly, and no you don't need special training to be able to avoid it. Sheesh, why does it always come back to special training with you three?!"

Probably because of the upbringing they received from the Nameless. That can't be a healthy environment for young minds.

"Jern, Alis, Bertran. Nice to see you all again. Have you been well?"

"Well as can be, Great One," Jern shrugs as he grounds his axe and leans on it. "I've gotten a bit tired of fighting the slimy things in the fifth to be honest. Looking forward to going into the sixth for a change of pace."

"When are you going there?" I ask, confused, ignoring his use of the term 'Great One.'

"When you do," he says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. The three children nod emphatically.

I stare at them.

"That is not happening!"