[Then he’ll go and challenge Grokus, and I’m going to assume that this challenge is a fight to the death.]
[It is so.]
I clack my mandibles.
[You demons sure don’t mess around.]
[As I said, simple, yet complicated. I have been hiding from Mongu’nin for weeks, just as I have hidden from Grokus and his minions, but the constant attempts to track me down have become… tiresome.]
I give Al a bit of side-eye, which isn’t hard given the nature of my compound eyes.
[In other words, you wouldn’t necessarily be averse to the city coming under new management?]
The eye narrows.
[I would not…]
[More on that later. What you’re saying is, the big guy, Mongo, is trying to find and kill you, so that he feels justified in going and killing Grokus. Meanwhile, Grokus probably wants the pair of you killed, and is not shy about attempting to make that happen.]
[This is the case.]
[Is it safe for you to be wandering around town with us then?]
Sounds like all the powerful demons in Roklu want Al dead, so I’m surprised he’s so comfortable out in the open like this.
[In this instance, I am counting on you and your twenty-three companions to dissuade the others from making any moves that might be considered… too bold.]
That’s fair enough. I’m a little shocked that Al was able to penetrate the incredible abilities of my bodyguards to stay unnoticed. However he did that, I’m impressed.
Wait a second… twenty-three?
I rapidly turn to better focus on Tiny, and the big ape looks back at me with confusion written plain on his face.
[Tiny! Where’s the hatchling?] I yell, panic creeping into my mental voice.
He looks at me, looks down at his empty hands for a long moment, then back at me. Very slowly, with great care, he lifts his feet and carefully inspects the soles.
[You didn’t stand on her, you thick shake! She snuck off!]
Because of course she did!
115. Where?!
I don’t mind sharing with you, my dear readers, that as much as I enjoy travelling around the wonderful world in which we live, exploring its many incredible, unbelievable sights and relaying them to you in my own quirky fashion, I do miss my bed.
Oh! Such comfort! Such bliss! The means with which you have so graciously afforded me, my readers, they have not gone to waste! Enchanted stone-wood frame, carved ever so intricately with doves and vines, the mattress, with its three-layered structure providing the perfect level of support and softness. The bottom layer, made from earth infused deep sponge, is my personal favourite. Stern and unyielding, yet forgiving and with a warm heart. This is topped by the second, a cheeky four inches of water infused sea-king reeds which give the mattress that slight wobbly feel I love so much. Finally, the top layer, a full, luxurious six inches of tightly stuffed down from the Cloud Ranging Sky Goose. It’s like resting atop the fluffy pillows of the sky itself, dear readers.
Needless to say, this was not the level of comfort I enjoyed when staying at the Hill of Rest in Renewal, but Mrs. Bellweather’s establishment comported itself far better than I anticipated this distance from civilisation. I awoke refreshed and excited, ready to face another day in this remarkable land of ant and human.
After a short yet hearty breakfast, I was greeted just outside the establishment by my guide for the day, arranged by Mr. Bellweather the previous day. A chatty know-it-all who would be more than happy to spend hours answering endless questions from an old duck, he assured me.
I was quite pleased to find this was indeed the case when the young girl in question, a Ms. Emilia Cretherton, greeted us with a warm smile the moment we stepped out the door. The first thing I had to ask was the nature of the particular garment she wore, which included a rather striking set of antennae-like attachments to a band she wore through her hair. As Emilia was delighted to share, all members of the community who chose to take the ant related Class line wore such a headdress as an indication to others that they are available to work as translators between the ants and the residents!
A special Class line! I was stunned to hear of such a thing. Especially being shared so openly! Of course, I had to know more. Luckily, the cheerful young girl was all too willing to share. Supposedly, this information isn’t even an open secret throughout the city, it is merely something that was freely shared.
Emilia informed us, quite proudly, the dear young thing, that she had reached the first Class evolution, turning her Antmancer into the well regarded Antspeaker. This Class gave her the incredible ability to utilise Mana to produce pheromones, which in turn allowed her to communicate with the ants without the need for any sort of Mental Magic! Incredible!
Indeed, this ability was soon put on display as we made our way throughout the town. Some might have thought the residents would hide their close affiliation with their insect monster allies, but nothing could be further from the truth. Ants roamed throughout the city, walking right alongside everyone else. The monsters themselves were of various sizes, ranging from large dog all the way up to a bull.
When one of them walked past us, I just had to know, so I turned to our guide and asked if she could please interpret for us so that we might converse with the fascinating creature. My two bodyguards were not at all happy about being so close to a monster they weren’t allowed to kill, and I was repeatedly warned from this course of action, but I heeded them not!
If you have a chance to speak to a giant ant monster, reader, you take it!
Through our interpreter, I was to learn that this particular individual ant—unnamed, though I discovered that many ants choose to take a name, a fascinating subject all of its own—was in town to study the growth of crops. Of crops! She had recently graduated from the ant ‘Antcademy’ and desired to study agriculture on the surface before attempting to take the lessons learned and apply them below ground.
I had to ask, as I’m certain you are also wondering, reader, what on Pangera an ant would need crops for. She replied it was for the sapient population living under the care of the Colony, as if it were the most natural thing in the world!
And watching our Antspeaker communicate was a fascinating thing all of its own! Both Emilia and the ant made no sound, all our human translator did was raise one hand, glowing softly with the tell-tale light of Mana to produce the pheromones, the scent that the ants use to communicate with one another. Just incredible!
After a brief chat, our ant friend went on her way, and we continued our jaunt around town. Fear not, dear reader, for there was so much more to see!
Brilliant? I should have named her Idiot! Has her insane level of curiosity not been sated yet? I thought she’d been cured of the worst, yet here we are, in the middle of a literal city of demons, and she runs off on us? If I hadn’t been so distracted, she never would have been able to slip from our grasp.
[Dammit! We need to find her!]
“Protectant! Are you telling me that none of you saw her sneak off? How is that possible?”
A rather disgruntled-looking Protectant appears behind me.
“Our role is to watch you, not her. Though it is remarkable that none of us noticed…”
“She doesn’t even have the Stealth Skill! I looked at her core myself! How is it that one little ant can be this slippery?”