The man in question smiles as he pictures the scene in his mind. [I wasn’t sure I’d get there, to be honest,] he admits. [I saw the lightnin’ buildin’ in the cloud over ya head and figured you’d be toast if that hit ya. My throwin’ Skill isn’t the best, so I was worried I might skewer ya, but I couldn’t think of another way to divert that lightnin’.]
The more he concentrates on the image in his mind, the more his rustic accent comes to the fore. It’s one of the more interesting things I’ve noted about direct mind to mind communication, is that a person still tends to think messages in much the same way they speak them, accents and all.
[Well, let’s say I owe you and leave it at that, Isaac.]
[As you say, Anthony.]
We sit in silent contemplation for a time.
[What’s the play now?] Isaac says, breaking the peace first.
[I’m not exactly sure… We need to keep killing stuff, but it’s going to get more dangerous the longer this goes on.]
Isaac grins. [Danger, I can handle. As for the rest o’ my people here, they seem mighty devoted to keepin’ your shiny shell in one piece. I think they’ll stick around.]
[It’s not a shell. It’s a—never mind. The first thing we need to do is change our position and wait for the heat to die down. We’ll have to be extra vigilant at all times. The Ka’armodo could be scrying us and those mage servants have a habit of appearing rather suddenly in awkward places.]
[We should stay spread out as well,] Isaac points out. [If they try to spring another cage on us and we all get caught inside, things’ll get ugly.]
[Right you are,] I agree.
With the basics of our next steps planned out, we shuffle off with Isaac and his group to find somewhere to recuperate not far from the horde, but far enough to be comfortable. I desperately need that XP, and I’m going to have to keep taking risks in order to get it.
111. Council Councils
“How’d it go, Tungstant?” Cobalt asked.
The Carver ant slumped into the council chamber, exhausted but with a glimmer in her eye that suggested she was more energetic than she appeared.
“Well enough, I suppose,” the small ant replied, wearily dragging her antennae through her front elbow joints.
“Will she be able to move more freely now?” Antionette asked, her concern for her mother bleeding through.
“Should be fine now,” Tungstant replied. “We had to be a little careful in places, seeing as the structure is more complicated than it was before, but with a bit of care, we were able to widen the main shaft and strengthen the walls to bear her weight. She should be able to move vertically within the nest without too many issues.”
Each of the ants relaxed slightly upon receiving this news. The evolution of the queen had been a major event in the life of the colony, and one that required several adjustments the moment the queen had awoken in her new form. For one, she’d needed to retreat slightly lower in the Dungeon, meaning a new chamber had to be prepared and more soldiers placed on guard to ensure no harm came to her or the brood.
Secondly, the Carvers needed to make several adjustments to the main body of the nest to ensure the main pathways were able to accommodate the queen’s new size. The main shaft had been dug just large enough for her to move through before she evolved, as she was by far the largest ant in the colony. Her new size had necessitated some careful work to ensure the widening project didn’t collapse or disturb any other chambers.
“The newly discovered Architecture Skill is already paying dividends to the Carver caste,” Cobalt observed. “Along with Engineering, our ability to make precise structural changes is vastly improved.”
“I agree, sister,” Tunsgtant responded with building enthusiasm. “But you know, I think we also need to investigate the possibilities behind the utilisation of Earth Magic in nest construction.”
“You aren’t worried about the increased Skill training load?”
“I think the Brood Tenders may be able to offset that.”
“With the education Skills?”
“Exactly!”
“It may be worthwhile, even without. It feels like there is sure to be a Skill unlock in there somewhere.”
“I quite agree.”
“Do you two want to save that conversation until after the council is finished?” Coolant asked, amused.
“Apologies.”
“Sorry about that, sisters.”
The twenty took a moment to clean their antennae and settle into their spots as they prepared for perhaps the most important council meeting of the colony’s history. It wouldn’t be long until the horde arrived at the nest and the family would engage in a battle for its very survival. To make matters more complicated, the eldest was still engaged in Levelling up and had yet to return. Meaning the twenty would be forced to make the final preparations on their own.
They were arrayed in a circle in a similarly shaped room that sloped down slightly toward the centre. Each of the council members had their own place, including two spare positions for the eldest and Vibrant, should either choose to attend.
For the time being, Vibrant had chosen to attend to the queen, ensuring her safety and providing food to pick up the pace of egg production. One of the things to come out of the queen’s evolution was an increase in her daily maximum egg production from two hundred to three hundred. Not a massive increase, since the queen had emphasised other aspects of her form with her chosen evolution path, but it would make a difference over time.
Every member of the council knew that casualties were going to be inevitable in the upcoming battle. Perhaps as much as half of the colony would be destroyed, maybe even more. By ensuring a healthy amount of brood was prepared in advance, the colony could ensure they would regenerate as fast as possible.
“How far from evolving are you two?” Mendant leant over and whispered to the two Juvenile Queens to her side, Antionette and Victoriant.
“Still quite a ways, I’m afraid,” Antionette whispered back. “The jump for tier three to four is large, only the eldest has reached it.”
“Yes, but the eldest hasn’t had the colony-force feeding experience down their throat,” Mendant pointed out.
“Due to the oncoming conflict, we’ve asked that the combat castes and members of the colony be given priority over our own growth,” Victoriant chimed in. “Every advantage must be seized in order to achieve victory. Even if we were to evolve before the battle, which we couldn’t, our eggs wouldn’t have hatched by the time we had to fight.”
Mendant nodded.
It was a fair enough stance. The colony had placed great importance on evolving these two queens into an egg-laying state, but even with the support of the colony during the wave, reaching Level forty was no easy feat. Once the threat had been dealt with, then the family would return to funnelling resources into the two young queens.
“I believe our preparations are almost complete on the construction side of things?” Sloan spoke out to get the discussion rolling.
“Absolutely,” Tungstant agreed. “The traps are done, the ambush tunnels are ready, the wall and moat have been prepared. Without any brilliant ideas popping up, I’m not sure what else we’ll be able to do.”
“Great work. Our gratitude goes to the Carver caste.” Sloan dipped her antennae in a show of respect, a gesture which the two Carvers reciprocated.