[Granin, you old fogey!] I greet him jovially. [Torrina, looking wonderful as always. Corun, wonderful to see you!]
[Very funny,] the old Shaper grunts. [It’s great to see your big insect mug as well.]
[Is that any way to talk to a future Ancient?] I chortle.
He peers at me.
[Becoming an Ancient is no laughing matter,] he says. [You’re talking about becoming one of the most powerful entities on the entire planet. Or are you telling me you’ve actually decided to do this old rock a favour and make it your goal?]
[Hell no. I’m just trying to support my family and make it to my next evolution in one piece.]
He rolls his eyes and glances at Torrina and Corun, who are both radiating a noticeable level of ‘I told you so’ energy. It’s interesting to me that the three golgari give off much stronger gravitational waves than one would expect given their size. I suppose the ore they cover themselves in isn’t just for show after all, but even taking that into account, I feel like their bodies underneath that rock and metal are denser than I might have expected. The golgari are rumoured to be naturally very strong; I suppose that’s no joke.
[Oh, by the by, I’ve been playing around with a few new things. Check this out!]
I infuse Stone Mana into my mandibles and wave them threateningly in the old Shaper’s direction, and to my surprise, he reacts, leaping back from me with a scowl on his face.
[What the hell is that? My danger senses are going crazy!]
[You have danger senses?]
[Never mind that!]
I can’t help but give him an odd look.
[I infused my mandibles with Stone Mana. I tested it on the way over, helps me cut through rock like it’s not even there,] I explain.
He shivers.
[No wonder. Made me feel like my skin was about to peel off. The golgari fought monsters with a similar power a long time ago. Stone Mantis. Except they infused the blades on their arms rather than their mandibles. We ended up driving them to extinction because of how threatening they were to our people.]
[Didn’t mean to stress you out,] I apologise. [I just thought it would be funny.]
[Don’t worry about it, Anthony,] Corun laughs. [It was plenty funny for us!]
Granin shoots them a dirty look.
[Enough of this. How is progress toward your next evolution?]
[Give me a break! I only just evolved! You think experience rains down from the sky?]
[No,] he frowns, [but it’s still risky for you to be down here as a tier six. Tier seven demons are no joke, as I think you’ve found.]
[I don’t know,] I shrug, [we managed to handle Grokus alright.]
[This is what I was worried about,] the big Shaper harrumphs, and even Torrina looks a little disappointed.
[We heard about that fight,] she says, [and from what we understand, you were almost eaten from the inside out despite having your opponent surrounded and outnumbered. If it weren’t for your strange gravity spell, you would have lost for sure.]
I mean, they aren’t wrong.
[And that big moron was an excess demon. Not exactly the most feared combatant you can encounter down here,] Granin says.
[What is?] I ask, curious.
[There are a few tier six demons who are straight up designed for killing. Slaughter demons are among the worst, but they aren’t alone. Wrath demons are a pain to deal with, blade demons, let’s not forget torture demons, those are a literal pain to deal with.]
It’s almost humorous how quickly the Shaper can fall into a lecturing tone. The guy was born to be a teacher.
[None of those sound pleasant. We had a tier seven war demon down here as well.]
[Those are massively dangerous. Don’t forget that the one you ran into was only recently evolved; they can get far more deadly than that. At the tier seven Level? Pride demons can evolve into vain demons or emperor demons, both of which are far more threatening than the tier six variant. Slaughter demons usually evolve into massacre demons, which are as bad as they sound. Blade demons can become slasher demons or sometimes violence demons, those are particularly nasty. At tier six, you can find blood demons which can evolve into bone demons. If you see one of those, I want you to get the hell away from it.]
That is unusually serious.
[What, why? What do they do?]
He tells me.
[Understood. I shall never go near them!] I vow within my mind and simultaneously within my soul.
That’s just nasty!
[Keep pushing for your next evolution,] Granin advises me seriously. [Tier seven monsters are the real threats on this stratum, and as a first stratum monster, you are far below them. Your next evolution will give you two or more resets that can not only level the playing field, but push you past them with good choices. I won’t feel confident for you down here until you reach that point.]
13. A Spoonful of Sugar
Enid looked down at her tea with a slight smile. Not only had the ants secured a source of truly delightful tea leaves, they also managed to procure sugar, goodness knows from where. In the same manner in which they tackled every issue, namely head-on, they had begun cultivation and experimentation of the substance the moment they had the free resources to do so. One would have assumed the ants would care little for such frivolous items, instead concentrating their efforts in other directions, yet she had visited the tea plantations herself, seen the vast amount of energy they put into the care of their leaves.
The Colony truly didn’t believe in outsourcing labour. The idea of having someone else grow the leaves and then purchasing them seemed almost alien to their insect minds. To be fair, labour wasn’t exactly something they were short of, but she could only imagine how frustrating she would have found it to deal with these monsters as a merchant. The second you found something they wanted to buy, you also created a competitor, because no sooner did they purchase it than they started trying to make or grow it themselves! Then, they would turn around and start selling your own merchandise back to you, and probably at a higher quality than you yourself had been able to obtain!
Infuriating.
The tea fields couldn’t be described as vast, but they were certainly extensive, and now with the sugar plantation added alongside them, they almost extended over an entire expanse, with further expansion planned. Not only had her own people in Renewal become addicted to the pleasant flavour and delightful sweetness, but so had Rylleh and an increasing number of the ants themselves, most particularly the Queens. And if the Queens wanted something, they were going to get it.
“Mayor, are you ready?” the calm voice of her secretary reached her through the door.
“Yes, Terrence. I’ll be there in a moment.”
With a groan, she forced her old bones to move up out of her chair. She’d been feeling her age more keenly than ever over the last few weeks, ever since the Siege ended, but she’d long gotten used to forcing the niggles and aches that plagued the elderly to the back of her mind. She gathered her things and regretfully left the plush and comfortable lodgings the Colony had provided for her in the nest behind. They’d even installed heating sigils that kept the room at a comfortable temperature at all times! Such an extravagant use of valuable cores was something only the royalty and noble class would dare contemplate in Liria before the wave, and now she was able to enjoy it.