Another meeting? The enemy is at the gates! How many of these damn meetings are they planning on having?
“I will definitely be there,” I lie. “Just give me some time to finish my mutations up.”
“Of course, eldest.”
The soldier turns to leave me in peace for the time being, and I immediately bring up my menu in order to rush through the mutation process. If I get it done quickly enough, I can vanish somewhere before the meeting starts. They’re the council! I don’t even technically have a seat. At least, that’s my view and I’m sticking to it. Alright now, how much Biomass do I have to work with?
A quick perusal tells me I have a grand total of 251. More than I thought I might have at this point. Nice! What lucky body part is going to get the upgrade? I can probably afford two here. Personally, I think it’s time for legs. Legs are a must!
My legs are absorbing all the Mana I need. Especially down here in the second stratum. Only heavy-duty spell slinging can drain me. Especially once I get to using External Mana Manipulation. It may become a problem in the future, but for now, I’m solid. In the +20 upgrade, I wanted to improve their ability to absorb damage, resulting in the Tough Rapid Osmotic Legs +20. It must be noted that not having my legs cut off has been a welcome experience.
Because the Legion for sure targets our legs. The carapace is hard and tough to deal with, but if you take off an ant’s legs, what the heck are they going to do to you? Even insects on Earth know this much. When ants fight each other, they’re always going for the legs, with a few notable exceptions.
With my potent reflexes and foresight, I’m almost always able to move my legs out of harm’s way, but sometimes it just isn’t possible. During the grand melee after Tiny smashed the Legion shield, I had absolutely no room to dodge and had to rely on natural toughness. Which is why I’m going straight to Hardened Rapid Osmotic Legs +25! Which is going to set me back a cool 115 Biomass.
I have enough left to take one more body part from 20 to 25. Only question is, what shall it be?
I still need to upgrade a few things, but perhaps the one I’m leaning into the most is my musculature. So far, I’ve poured all of my mutations into increasing the speed at which my muscles can fire, which has given me the superhuman reflexes of a radioactive spider, although I’m not certain I want to keep pushing down this road exclusively.
My reflexes are already super fast, especially when connected to my limited pre-cognition. My nervous system can probably carry the load of increasing my reflexes further. What I need from my muscles is more power! I need some OOMPH! Tiny’s mutations focus almost exclusively on the amount of strength he can punch out, and although I don’t feel like I need to match him in that department, I’d love to get myself a little slice of that.
Of course, my need for power is isolated in terms of where it needs to be applied. It’s all about the face-hands. Biting harder is a no brainer. Mandibles are great, everyone should have them, but I need to be biting harder if I want to crack open the real tough nuts out there. Even the dedicated tier four soldiers haven’t been able to get through the Legion armour, and all their stats and mutations are directed to the purpose of tanking and biting. Even if I have the benefit of special evolutions and bonus stats, I can’t get through either. There has to be some mutation here that can give me an edge!
I pour through the menu, going through hundreds of options until something catches my eye. Lock Musculature. From the description, it acts similarly to the famous trap-jaw ant from Earth. It allows the muscles to be ‘set’ in a certain position, poised to fire almost like a bow string. When the tension is released, it can occur with tremendous power! The trap-jaw has, pound for pound, one of the strongest bites on the planet!
This also has synergy with my existing muscle mutations, since they can fire so quickly! Using this, I’ll be able to pull my mandibles back and ‘lock’ them, stretching the muscles in my head and then releasing that pent up power all at once. Except with only one mutation, the elasticity of the muscles isn’t going to be much, but it’ll help!
Lock Hyper Twitch Musculature +25, here we come!
That’s 230 Biomass gone. Yeesh, easy come, easy go these days. Lock those choices in, Gandalf! I’ve got a meeting to dodge!
Although I feel like I’ve forgotten something…
CHADANGADANGALOOZA!
THIS freakin’ ITCH!
121. Daughter’s Fear
The Legion war machine had swung into motion. Warriors of the Abyss, the Legion remained in a constant state of war for over a thousand years. The struggle against the Dungeon did not end with the Cataclysm, it merely changed, and over all that time, they’d become very good at what they did.
That machinery was now within Titus’ hands, and he directed it with precision and confidence toward meeting his ends. From his side, Morrelia watched with mounting dread as her father drew the noose tighter around the neck of the colony. In her heart, a storm brewed as the conflict had drawn on, and her emotions boiled to the bursting point without having any solid idea of what would happen after.
She’d finally reconnected with her father, with her mother. The pain and hurt she felt after the death of her brother had finally begun to heal. Even as she rebelled against her family and the Legion, she’d hoped for this feeling of resolution. She had the answers she’d wanted all along. Slipping back into her place amongst the family she had grown up with, not just her parents but the army they served, felt like such a homecoming. She was whole once more, no longer angry at the world with nowhere to direct her rage.
But now, that comfort had been stripped away by harsh reality. Where once she’d been convinced that killing monsters was always the correct decision, she was no longer so sure. The colony had done no harm in her eyes. In fact, they’d done so much good.
They protected the lives of the Liria refugees when the Legion itself failed. Not only had they saved those people, they assisted them, helped them to thrive where normal monsters would have only killed and eaten. It was something that fundamentally challenged her understanding of monsters and the Dungeon forever.
Yet now she stood on the brink of participating in an assault to kill those very saviours.
It wasn’t right. It couldn’t be right. The only question left to answer was if she was willing to throw away what she regained in order to stand up for it. She didn’t have an answer to that question, and she was running out of time. The pressure had built within her to a point where she feared to move, lest she explode and lash out at those she cared about.
A subdued Morrelia checked over her armour, once more surrendering to the familiar routine. The Legion camp had been moved forward over the previous day with the help of the reinforcements that arrived. Not an hour’s march away, the great nest of the colony awaited them. Titus had ordered the assault and informed his guard that he would participate on the frontline, personally. There was nothing left for her to do but prepare to take the field. Desperate to avoid her traitorous thoughts, she was all too happy to engage in a mindless task.
Her check complete, she began to put the armour on. Piece by piece, she strapped it over the thick padding she already wore, ensuring each section clicked into place, locked in with its neighbours. Her two weapons found their sheaths and she secured her helmet on her head. She was ready. For what, she wasn’t sure, but she was ready.