Not bad! All things considered, that’s not half bad! I mean… I only need to reach… Level one hundred… and sixty…
Holy moly! That’s another hundred and twenty-five Levels! Are you kidding me, Gandalf? That’s unreasonable! An outrageous demand! Actually, wait a second… that means in order to reach tier eight, a monster needs three hundred and twenty Levels. And tier nine would take six hundred and forty. Are there really any monsters like that?! It’s absurd! Complete madness! Who would come up with such a stupid requirement?! How could it possibly be achieved?!
Then again, if we imagine that the Ancients are tier ten, which I have no idea if they are, but let’s go with it for now, that would mean they’d need one thousand two hundred and eighty Levels to get from nine to ten…
I get that monsters don’t really age and will live forever if we don’t experience death by violence, and that the Ancients may have had literally thousands of years to Level up and achieve their current level of power, but it still feels ridiculous. If I had to grind Levels and Biomass for even a hundred years, I feel as if I’d go insane.
No, I think I will continue my current policy of sharing the love and refusing to hog the XP, although I do think we need to accelerate our efforts. The closer I get to the next tier, the safer I feel running around down here, although, aside from the few tier sevens I’ve run into, I haven’t really felt threatened by anything we’ve encountered.
Luckily for us, the bulk of the ‘wild’ demons that we run into are lone wolves, operating on their own until they reach the sixth tier and join a city and demon society more broadly, making them easy pickings for our hunting party.
[All right, gang, everyone doing well? All ready to go? Manage to deal with the itch?]
Each of the pets gives me a slightly odd look, but I brush it off; coming out of a mutation can have that effect on a monster.
[It’s time to head out again. We’re going out towards ka’armodo territory, being careful not to tread on any scaled toes and irritate the touchy lizards. Even so, I think it’ll be a good idea if we can get a general picture of how strong they are and how many cities they control in this area. If we manage to pick up the trail of that traitor worm, all the better. Sound good to everyone?]
[Do I need to evolve on this trip as well?] Brilliant asks, one antenna in the air.
[No. No you don’t,] I sigh. [It would be nice to push you to tier six, but I don’t think you’re quite ready for it yet. You need to have a better idea of what it is you want to do and what you want to become before you commit to those decisions. Anyone else?]
Tiny, Crinis, and Invidia don’t seem fussed either way, so we quickly make ready and exit the city once more.
58. Scout’s Honour
Burke wouldn’t say she disliked the company of other ants, not at all, but it couldn’t be denied that she, and quite a few other scouts, had developed a strange sense of independence over the months. More than any other group, except perhaps the far-ranging core shapers who spend more time with their pets than others of their own kind, the scouts spend huge periods outside of the comforts of the nests, patrolling, carrying messages, scouting—obviously. All of this alone time had made them a little reclusive, a little uncomfortable when exposed to the crush of the nests and the tightly packed ranks of their kind.
She herself could admit that upon leaving the demon cities and climbing down to the plains below, she’d felt a certain tension unwind within her thorax, a subtle pressure relax within her mind.
Burke breathed deep of the third stratum air and allowed the heated mana with a tinge of destruction swirl around her core. It felt good to be back out in the wilds of the Dungeon with only herself to rely on. A little peace. A little quiet. It was important to enjoy these moments whilst they lasted.
She detected a slight vibration through the ground being transmitted to her legs, the fine hairs there thrumming at an increasing pace.
Just breathe. Take in the peace.
The vibration had now become a faint rumbling. Even the demon larvae on the ground were starting to shimmy and shake as they engaged in their eternal tussle, yet Burke tuned it all out. Until the very last moment, she would concentrate on the here and now.
So soothing.
“—hhhhhHHHHHHEY-THERE-BURKE! HOW-ARE-YOU-DOING-YOU-LOOK-TIRED-MAYBE-YOU-SHOULD-RELAX-A-LITTLE! BUT-DON’T-LET-THE-SHADOWS-CATCH-YOU-THEY’RE-WATCHING-FOR-SURE! I-THINK-THEY-FOLLOW-ME!”
An assault of pheromones washed over the suddenly exhausted scout leader as the vibrations ceased when Vibrant and over a hundred of her loyal crew slid to a stop right next to her.
“Vibrant…” she started, “aren’t you supposed to be inspecting the territory to the east of here? Isn’t that what you said you would do for the Council?”
All of that serenity, all of that quiet peace, gone in an instant. Already, she could feel the burgeoning pressure as over a hundred ants packed in around her. Burke loved to be around her kind, she just needed a break from them every now and again, and this wasn’t helping.
“And don’t forget to talk slower,” she reminded the much larger soldier. “I can barely understand you at that speed. I mean, can your followers even understand you? Can you figure out what she’s talking about?” she asked a nearby general.
“I-don’t-know-what-you-mean. It-seems-fine-to-me. Are-you-sure-you-aren’t-just-a-little-slow-maybe-you-should-speed-up-a-little. Aren’t-you-scouts-supposed-to-be-fast. I-mean—”
“I get it,” she cut her off. “Vibrant, please.”
“Fine-fine,” Vibrant cheered. “Though it feels so much more natural to go fast. How are you, Burke! I finished looking over the east side, it was really cool! Lots of demons, a few tunnel entrances, and some strange crystal thingies that some golgari and humans were mining. We ran up to say hello, but they all screamed and fled from us. So funny! Before you ask, no, I didn’t map it out or write anything down, but I think someone did.”
“I-did-leader-Vibrant. I-have-it-right-here.”
“Great! Thanks so much! There you go. So, I thought I should head over here and see if you needed any help!”
The scout leader deflated just a bit as she took it all in. Crystals, golgari and humans mining? So many questions. Although one issue did stand out to her.
“You do remember that you were supposed to remain hidden as much as possible during this scouting mission, right, Vibrant? During this period, the Eldest has explicitly stated we should avoid bringing unwanted attention to the Colony, right? You remember that? Vibrant?”
The more she talked, the more still Vibrant became, until even her antennae weren’t moving, as if every hair on her carapace had gone still.
“Vibrant? Anything to say?” Burke pressed.
The big ant shifted on the spot, her front legs brushing through the air in front of her as if sweeping the scout’s words into the bin.
“I forgot!” she cheered. “It’s fine-fine! We didn’t fight anybody and there wasn’t anyone around to chase us or anything.”
Burke wanted to slap herself in the face with one leg.
“That’s not the point, though. Just try and be more careful, please?” she begged. “We don’t want to ruin things in this important moment for the Colony, do we? There’s a lot going on right now, and a ton of things are getting fixed up above us, it’s just going to take a bit more time, time we can’t afford to lose dealing with extra hostilities from extra adversaries!”
Vibrant nodded and reached up to pat her on the back.
“Of course. Don’t worry, Burke, I’ll be sure to take care of things here for you.”