I’m becoming certain that a larger core does more than simply increase the maximum amount of Mana that can be stored. The more sensitive my Mana sight becomes, the clearer I can detect the flow of Mana in my fellow monsters, and it’s clear that larger cores equate to more Mana moving throughout their bodies. It’s difficult to examine myself, but my pets are clearly circulating a great deal more energy.
As I continue to think about the nature of monsters and Mana—without getting anywhere—and practise my Elemental Magic, the group spreads out through the tunnels seeking signs of habitation or a force on the move.
[Blue Fire Magic Affinity (IV) has reached Level 40. Upgrade available.]
[Advanced Blue Fire Magic Affinity (V): Cost 1 SP. Enables those who possess the Skill access to more advanced manipulations of the greater flame. Concentrating heat to finer points and generating greater heat at the point of ignition are key elements of this Skill.]
So, I can what… create a blowtorch? Whatever, gotta buy it anyway. As I confirm the choice, the usual trickle of knowledge seeps into my brain, drowning out the endless chatter that streams out of Vibrant for a precious few seconds. This is the first of my basic Elemental Magics to reach rank five, a cause for celebration! Although I can’t dwell on it for long. I can almost feel my sub-brains sigh wearily as they whip up a new construct, releasing the Fire Mana converter they’ve been holding for several days now. Water next, I suppose, go with the opposite, just to keep things interesting.
I regret going for the rank five fusion. It takes sooo many Levels! I’ve been grinding away at these damn elemental Skills for weeks! I mean, that’s rapid progress compared to what most would be capable of, due to my Vestibule and multiple brains setup, but it’s getting more than a little tiresome. At least fire is done. I can cross that off the list. Another thirteen Levels of ice, and that’ll be in the cooler too.
“Hey-hey, senior! The scouts think they might have found something. Over here, over here!”
Before she’s even finished talking, Vibrant has zoomed off, leaving me to trail along in her wake, as usual. When I catch up after ten minutes of solid running, I find the scouts have indeed found something interesting.
In a wider tunnel, already cleaned out by Vibrant’s squad, are clear signs of civilisation. Built into the wall appears to be some kind of way station. A solid, curving wall has a door tucked tight against it, concealed from casual monster investigation. From the size of the entrance, it doesn’t seem as though too much would fit inside there.
Perhaps this is a kind of resting point for delvers? Giving shelter and a place to resupply? I haven’t seen any such thing before, but that certainly doesn’t mean they couldn’t exist. How else would soft humans get around down here? At least the golgari have the common sense to cover up their spongy flesh with something approaching a carapace.
“What are you thinking, Vibrant?” I ask the hyper-excited ant.
“We crack it open and take a look! Why wouldn’t we? Right? Don’t you want to know what it is? I do!”
“But what do you think is going to be—aaand she’s gone.”
Without waiting for me to finish my no doubt boring sentence, Vibrant leaps forward to engage her loyal squad.
“Open it up! Let’s go-go-go-go!” she cheers.
The ants salute, snapping an antenna to their heads, and in less than a minute, the wall has been chomped and magicked out of the way to reveal, much as I suspected, a rather small open area with space to lay out a few bedrolls, tightly packed shelves set into the wall with neat packages and jars.
There you go, what a nice little design. It’s almost like an igloo carved into the wall. A safe haven for those who need a break from the rigours of the Dungeon. I can imagine how it would feel for a delver to make it to this place. Drained, tired, arms heavy and burning after hours of fighting. The horrors of the Dungeon behind you, for just a moment, you crawl through the narrow entrance, muffling all sound, for even here, you aren’t truly safe. A comfortable meal, a restful sleep. Must be worth more than a person’s weight in gold, that sort of rest, down here.
Then imagine that peaceful rest being interrupted by an army of giant ant monsters tearing into the shelter and exposing you to open air. What sort of look would you have on your face?
Turns out, I don’t need to wonder, since I’m staring at two examples right now. A naked pair of strange, furred humanoids stare out at us in utter terror, shock and perhaps embarrassment, before they pass out. Prisoners! How convenient!
60. Gathering Once More
Thankfully, this awkward moment is resolved in the best way possible when both humanoids pass out. My siblings around me react with general confusion before they shrug their collective antennae and grab the prisoners to take back to the colony for questioning. I step in to ensure we take their supplies back with us, which a few soldiers and scouts handle. I imagine these two are going to want some clothes when they wake up.
A detachment of thirty return to the nest while the rest of us continue to make our sweep. The monsters are densely packed here in these tunnels, and even with our mage ants teaming up to firebomb the hazardous corals, webs, seaweed, and various other deadly things filling up the space here in the second stratum, it takes time.
It’s taken me a long time, but I’m finally starting to get the hang of this place. It’s always freezing cold, which isn’t ideal for us ants. There are many species of ant who hibernate in the winter, and we aren’t fans of low temperatures at all. Fire Magic provides some relief, the ants huddle around flames that burn constantly around the mages when they need a little warmth. Apart from the cold, the dark is the second issue. It’s oppressive, and every ant who’s come down here has been drilled to train their Mana Sense, regardless of how poor their mental stats may happen to be. Relying on our completely rubbish natural eyesight would be a recipe for utter disaster!
I know some members of the colony have been experimenting with different mutations for vision. Rather than doing as I’ve done, and just brute force quality mutations to try and bring back something akin to human levels of focus from a compound eye, they’ve been switching to infrared, or hyper-sensitive movement detection, or vibration vision.
Almost all of which sound cooler than what I chose. Not being able to see was a real point of stress for me after I spawned in the Dungeon. I needed that comfort!
After spending another half day poking deeper into the Dungeon, sweeping out tunnels, and expanding our map, I decide to pull the plug and drag Vibrant back to the nest. We profited a lot in terms of experience and Biomass, I even managed to force the secret squad to Level up, which is a hidden bonus, but we failed to detect any sign of the coming invasion, and meeting aside, I don’t want to get much farther away from the rest of the family in case the invasion sneaks past us.
So back we go. It takes a while to retrace our steps, we pushed a fair way down, but after nearly a day of climbing, we make it back home.
“What. In the name of heck. Are you wearing?” I say to Leeroy.
“Armour.”
“But… why?”
“To keep me alive.”
“I get that… Just… I mean, has it worked?”
“Extremely well.”
She sounds miserable admitting that.
“And there’s a group of you that wear this?”
“Five of us now.”
That is literally tons of metal being forged to make that much armour…
“This is the Leeroy squad then? Your team? What are you called?”