[Harr!]
[Seems good. Let’s see what we can see then.]
“Wait a minute! Wait for me!”
I turn around impatiently.
“Come on, Brilliant! What the heck have you been doing back there?”
“DASHING!”
“Still! How slow are you?”
“I’m only a few days old! Unlike an ancient ant like you!”
“Whoa now, don’t call me an ancient.” I glance around shiftily. “That word has different connotations around here.”
“What do you mean?” she asks whilst trying to stop herself from flopping onto the ground in exhaustion.
“I’ll explain it to you later, but yes, I get your point, I am very old compared to you. We’ll have a rest.”
[Quick break, everyone.]
Tiny slumps over a little in disappointment before taking up his now accustomed rest position near Brilliant, making sure the little thing remains protected as she gathers herself.
“Come on, I’m bringing you all the way down to the third stratum! You’re going to be the second ant in the Colony who gets to see this. Aren’t you excited? Pumped up!”
“I am… I’m just… so tired.”
“Crinis worked you pretty hard, huh.”
Defence training basically consisted of Crinis chasing Brilliant around and whacking her with tentacles, helping to train the Exo-Skeleton Defence Skill through repeated impacts whilst making the young ant Dashed to avoid getting entangled in a constricting mess. When she failed to Dash in time to avoid her clutches, Crinis made sure she regretted it. The things we need to do in order to raise our young to be strong in this cruel world! It’s almost enough to bring a tear to my eye!
“On the plus side, your Skills have come along nicely! It’s time for you to start working on what you really wanted to be doing, Mana Manipulation! You’ve bought the Skill yet?”
“I have.” A little energy comes back into her eyes. “I bought it along with Mana Sensing.”
“Excellent. These are going to be your fundamentals of magic. I want you to use them as much as you possibly can until your headache gets too bad. When that happens, let me know. You need to keep your wits about you where we’re going, and I don’t want you to get careless.”
Just because she has the very basics of self-preservation abilities doesn’t mean she’ll be able to get away from anything down here. The demons mean business.
“Is there anything you can tell me about the third stratum? So I can be forewarned?” she asks, quite reasonably.
“Nope,” I cheerfully reply. “At least, not much that I’ve been able to confirm with my own eyes. In terms of things I’ve been told about it, there’s rather a lot, but not that much of it will be useful to you. In essence, the third stratum is the realm of demons—if there are any other types of monster there, I’ve not heard of them or seen them. The primary elements are fire and ash, although there are other variants as you get deeper.
“The whole place is very open. Almost the entire thing is considered to be one vast Expanse with small offshoot tunnels in the floor and in the side of cliffs. Lastly, the key feature is the pillars that connect the ceiling to the floor. Kilometres high, they’re made from an apparently unbreakable stone. The higher tier demons form societies and cities attached to the side or around these formations, one of which sits beneath us right now.”
“A whole city of high tier demons?”
“Yep. I’m not suggesting we go and pay a visit, but I’d like to get a bit closer and lay eyes on the place. Now, let’s get going!”
Impatient with all the delays, I urge Brilliant forward, along with my pets, and we make our way deeper to the threshold between the stratum. Just like the first time, the shadows, darkness, and stench of death boil away, replaced by the searing heat and burning air of the third stratum.
[How are you holding up, Crinis?]
[I-it’s better than it was before, but it still feels very uncomfortable.]
[I’m sure you’ll be able to manage. Let me know if it gets too bad. We don’t need to be here for a long time.]
[I will, Master.]
The tunnel connecting to the vast open space that lies below isn’t very long, and we soon find ourselves greeted with a familiar sight. The bridge to the top of the pillar. On either side, the drop falls sharply away, the air filled with ash and flame. I can’t see the bottom very well at all this time, but I can still see the pillar as it descends to the floor.
“This… is quite something,” Brilliant’s scent is almost disbelieving.
“It’s different alright.”
Nothing to stop us now, I lead the way along the bridge until we stand at the point the pillar connects to the roof above. It’s a fearsome sight, thinking that this stone holds the weight of billions of tons. The Colony, the stone, the dirt, the town of Renewal and everyone in it, all of it sits atop this pillar. It’s… insane. How the heck is it so strong! Another mystery of the Dungeon.
Far below, there’s a plate with the demon city resting atop it. The haze in the air is so thick I almost can’t make it out, but it’s there for sure.
Breathing deep, I extend one leg onto the surface of the pillar, making sure to grip tightly with my claw. Confident of my hold, I reach out with another leg and grip tight, repeating the process until I find myself vertical, the full weight of my massive body concentrated in my claws. It’s a strain for sure, but I can take it!
I seriously need to train Grip some more…
109. Descending
It’s a heck of a lot easier for Brilliant to walk down the face of the pillar than it is for me, her light body proving no challenge for her claws. Tiny has a rough time of it, having to climb on the rock much like a human would, having to find hand and footholds, but thanks to his unbelievable strength, it doesn’t prove too much of an issue. Invidia and Crinis have no problem at all, the demon fluttering along beside us as we make our way down, with Crinis attached to the back of my carapace as usual.
I have to say, facing directly down into a several-kilometre-high drop is intimidating stuff. The air yawns open like the maw of a furious beast, vast and empty. Flickers of flame and ash constantly brush past us, the heat as thick in the air as the Mana. It’s almost energising to my body, though perhaps if it gets too hot, I might run into trouble.
Ants can’t sweat, so temperature regulation is a real issue. I wonder if it’s an issue for monster ants? I can’t say that it’s been a huge problem before… The cold of the second stratum was unpleasant, to be sure, but as far as I know, it hasn’t put any ants to sleep. If it did, the torpor police would be having a much easier time than they are. The farther we go, the clearer it is that we’re not the only monsters on the pillar. Far from it.
Despite the wave subsiding, there are still demons climbing up. Nothing like the bottomless swarm I saw the last time I was here, but a steady trickle. Perhaps they’ve sensed that the Mana above is still high enough to sustain them? Given that they’re only tier four or below, I wouldn’t be surprised if they can survive up there, not that they get the chance.
Any monsters we come across are blasted off the pillar in short order, either by Invidia detonating them, or me smacking them in the face with Gravity Magic until their own weight is too much for them to handle. Something that surprises me is that I don’t see any evidence of flying demons as of yet. Obviously, some of them can, Invidia is living proof of that, though I wouldn’t call his stilting flutter anything like actual flight, he’s still proof of concept. Considering all this open space, the third stratum is by far the best place in the Dungeon I’ve seen for a flying type monster to exist. So where are they?