The dazzling rush of machine gun pheromones from Vibrant finally subsides when Crinis extends a few tentacles to start tickling and poking the big soldier, and the two are rapidly caught up in a game of tag, with Vibrant vanishing from my sight as she dashes from place to place as Crinis pops tentacles up through shadows created by the ever-present demon larvae.
“So, you’ve been tracking the comings and goings?” I ask the general, Emilia.
“That’s right, Eldest. I have all of our observations recorded on a scent tablet as well.”
“Good work, General. Any particular point of interest? Any one location where more discs have gone than others?”
“I think so,” she wavers her antennae a little to show uncertainty. “The traffic seems rather spread out, and we aren’t sure if Orpule is dispersing forces that will converge on our city closer to the date or if they’re gathering allies.”
“They could just be hunting,” I suggest, “squeezing out some extra Skill Levels before the conflict.”
“This is also true.”
“Alright then, show me what you’ve recorded, and I’ll have a quick think.”
She gestures to a nearby soldier who is carrying packs slung over her back, one of which contains the tablet. After drawing it out, I flick my antennae across the surface rapidly. There’s been quite a bit of movement from the city; looks like they aren’t willing to sit back and wait for us, which is fine. The more forces they send out of the city, the more of them we can hunt down before time runs out. Battling in the field is perfectly acceptable according to their traditions, so there’s no foul. Gwehehehehe.
They’ve sent groups out on discs in pretty much every direction, though slightly more to the west. It’s possible they have a staging ground of some kind out that way, or perhaps the best hunting grounds are found over there.
“Okay then, we have a destination. I’m going to head west. Keep up the good work, General!”
[Come on, Crinis, time to go.]
[Yes, Master…]
[I’ll make sure you get time to play with Vibrant after this assault on Orpule is done. I know you two haven’t gotten to see each other much.]
[Thank you, Master!]
The two of them are friends from way back. I can still remember mini-Crinis and hatchling-Vibrant getting up to hijinks. It’s a shame they don’t get to hang out more. In fact, this is one of the few times that Crinis has shown a willingness to do something other than what I’ve told her to do, which I definitely need to encourage! Tiny is a bit more likely to act independent, but when he does, it’s only to fight, eat, or sleep… which I don’t feel like I need to encourage at all.
[Time to hit the road, gang.]
[There are no roads here,] Al points out.
[It’s an expression. I just mean, it’s time for us to run.]
[I will not be running. I have no legs.]
[I know that! Let’s just get going!]
Getting our legs moving, or wings, or however the heck Al moves, we rush onward in our chosen direction, leaving Orpule far behind. The vast Plains of Leng open up, with the endless carpet of demons rolling out before us.
[You have any idea what they might be looking for out this way, Al?] I ask the flaming eye.
[I cannot be sure. My knowledge of the area around Orpule is… lacking.]
And that’s bugging him, I can tell.
[Well, maybe you’ll learn something on this trip.]
As we run, we make sure we annihilate any tier four or above demon we come across, falling upon the hapless monsters with ruthless aggression, absorbing the experience and consuming the Biomass. Despite being lower tier than me, it’s clear that demons provide more Biomass than prey from the second stratum did. Thanks to my stomach mutations, I get a reasonable income from just picking on tier fours. Quite the side benefit.
As we travel, the remarkable terrain of the third stratum continues to roll by. It’s not as if the plains are completely flat, don’t let me give that impression, there are huge pillars and mounds of stone the thrust upward a mighty way without ever coming close to touching the ceiling. These too are covered in demons, and the constantly shifting surface almost makes them seem alive.
After a solid hour of travel, we find ourselves poised in front of another cleft in the ground, one that emits heat like a boiling cauldron.
[Not another demon crack! I bet they’ve gone down there again, haven’t they? Creeping around in the tunnels filled with powerful demons and ghosts. Gah!]
[You’ve been down one of theses before?] Sarah asks as she eyes the opening in the ground with a wary eye. [And did you say ‘ghosts?’]
[They are not ghosts,] Al huffs, [they are ghasts. The lingering obsession of demons that has fused with ambient mana.]
[That’s a ghost,] Sarah and I say at the same time.
I sigh.
[Well, Sarah, we’re going to be putting your enchanted cooling system to the test. Things get a little spicy down there. And by spicy, I mean boiling hot.]
The giant bear droops.
[Probably beats all this running,] she says. [I’m not built for endurance. Let’s just get to it.]
19. There’s a Bear in There
“GRRRRRRRRRR. GARRRRR!”
With another stone-shattering roar, Sarah brings the full weight of her body behind a vicious slash of her right forepaw, rending the sorry ghast that had risen in front of her to pieces. Far from her valiant and intimidating voice, her thoughts are rather less impressive.
[AHHHHH! I hate these damn things!]
I can totally sympathise.
[It’s the way they float, right? Sends shivers down my spine.]
[And the look in their eyes! It’s so freaky!]
She’s not wrong. The ghasts are beyond even regular demons when it comes to their obsession. Normally the obsessions drive the behaviour of the denizens of the third stratum, but for the ghasts, there is literally nothing else. Each is a maddened ball of living energy that contains a single thought, which makes them a little… manic.
[Good experience, though,] I note. [Even if they don’t leave behind any Biomass.]
It’s an interesting dichotomy, the relatively rich reward in XP as opposed to the total lack of food they leave behind. Since their bodies consist entirely of mana, it’s not like there is anything that could be eaten anyway.
Which leads me down an interesting line of thought. I mean, isn’t my body made of mana? And every other monster for that matter? Born from the Dungeon, it’s not like we were created from anything else. You could make an argument that I came from The Queen, who had to sacrifice Biomass to create my egg, but then I could just turn around and say, where did The Queen come from, then? She came from mana. I suppose the Dungeon must create the Biomass that makes up our bodies out of mana, meaning they are two distinct substances. I wonder if it’s possible to learn that. Is it possible to learn a mana speciality that will transform the pure energy of the Dungeon directly into Biomass?
That would be pretty nuts if you could do it… You’d be able to create monsters at will. Maybe the reverse is also possible, turning Biomass into mana. If that’s possible at all, I’m sure it’s some high tier nonsense, nothing I could touch at my current Level. I need to keep my mind occupied with the types of magic that are accessible. Namely, Force Magic. As we make our way through the tunnels, I rely on this branch of spell exclusively, which limits my input to the fighting but sure as heck contributes to Levelling it faster. I’ve already managed to raise it to rank three, which is helping to unleash a tiny portion of the mana type’s potential.