Seeing all this water is just a special type of bizarre. I mean, where the heck are we right now? We’re in the Dungeon! We are deep, deep underground. I don’t even know how far down we are now, hundreds of kilometres? A thousand? I have no idea how deep the third is, since we only touched its first layer, but how in the hell am I looking at this freakin’ lake right now? It’s insane.
From far overhead, some unfathomable distance up in the air, water falls in a fine mist. I presume that somewhere up above, there are a few of those islands that somehow manufacture limitless amounts of water. I’m super keen to figure out how that works, but for now, we need to get over this water.
I can smell the scent trail laid down by Vibrant and her crew, it’s right here in front of me and leads directly over the water. How in the hell they got over there, I haven’t the foggiest, but I’ll have to head to the mountain opposite to see if the trail gets picked up on the other side.
[Any ideas, folks?] I ask the group.
[We can ussse a platform to carry usssss,] Invidia hisses.
[Ah! Good call, I forgot you can do that now.]
[Your helpsss. Givesss it to me!]
[I’m happy to help, but that’s a rude way of asking, man, you need to work on that.]
Some things will never change.
Working together with my faithful envy demon friend, we construct a platform-shaped shield that everyone piles onto, and we lift off, beginning to float across the water. Sometimes I forget how heavy I am. Keeping this thing aloft is serious work. I mean, Sarah is most definitely heavier than I am, not that I’ll ever say that to her out loud, and she happens to be wearing her armour, which doesn’t help. The end result is that I spend the time drifting over this vast lake straining all of my brains until they start to steam rather than admiring the scenery.
[Master, this water looks very deep,] Crinis observes.
[Can you see much moving around down there?]
[There are many sources of powerful mana within range that I can sense. The water itself is also a potent source of mana; it’s not like anything I’ve ever seen.]
[Yeah, I can’t imagine what sort of things the monsters here are born with when the mana is this thick. Come to think of it, imagine what it’s like two strata down from here. It’s going to get crazy down there.]
[Do you really intend to go that deep, Master?]
I shrug, more focused on the platform than on the conversation.
[Why not? I feel pulled in that direction. May as well go deeper if it’s there, right?]
[If that is what you want, then I’ll follow, of course.]
[How about you, Tiny? Want to go deeper and punch some super powerful monsters in the face?]
I get a big thumbs up from the bat-faced ape as a broad grin spreads across his face.
[Nice one, big guy. Invidia? What about you, champ? Actually, never mind, I know what you’re going to say.]
The big green eye flashes with energy, then looks away, as if disappointed he didn’t get to chime in.
[Miiiiiiine,] I hear a whisper trickle across our mental link.
Despite my concerns, we manage to land on the other island without incident, passing beneath the falling mist to get my first shower in this new life. Didn’t take long, only… you know what? Doesn’t matter. Personal hygiene standards are different for ants. Just to be sure, I clean off my antennae.
Before us, a brand-new mountain looms, one not topped by a possessive plant. It doesn’t even feel right to call it a mountain, really, it’s so damn vast, and so stupidly tall. And these things probably ring the entire stratum, all around the planet. This whole world is just insane, how in the heck does it stay together.
Magic. It’s good stuff.
[Master, have you located the trail?]
Oh, right. I waggle my antennae this way and that, patrolling up and down the edge of the lake until I manage to catch the scent.
[Right here! Seems to head up that way.]
[That’s good,] Sarah says. [Hopefully we can find them soon.]
[I sense something strange up ahead. A mana reading I haven’t seen before,] Crinis announces.
Curious, I wonder what she’s spotted?
[Any clues for us, Crinis?]
I try to look around but can’t see anything that might be considered dangerous. In fact, I hardly see any monsters at all. The mountain slopes up ahead, the rock being overtaken by greenery and forest, vibrant and lush as only a realm filled with Life Mana could be.
[It doesn’t feel like a monster,] the ball of shadow says. [I can’t sense a core, but it feels… big.]
Well, that’s ominous.
[Let’s proceed cautiously and follow the trail,] I tell the others. [If it’s something we can’t handle, we go back and get reinforcements.]
They agree with the suggestion and we advance, leaving the water’s edge behind and entering the forest. It isn’t long before I begin to notice something is off. The trees don’t look quite right, less healthy than they should. Even the ground has a strange sort of feel, almost sticky under my claws. Shortly after, I start to notice patches of white mould clinging to every surface. The stuff pings strangely to my mana sense, as if it were part monster, part plant, part… something else.
And there’s only more of it the farther we go.
[Something is definitely off,] I announce. [Hold here for a second, I want to climb a tree and see what I can see.]
A tough-looking behemoth of a tree isn’t far away, so I wander over and claw my way up the side somewhat laboriously. Trees this large would be a rarity on Earth, but here they seem to be a dime a dozen. My legs strain to carry my weight, but eventually I clear the foliage around me and get a good glimpse of what lies ahead of us.
And it’s white.
An endless sea of white.
Come to think of it, don’t termites cultivate fungus?
92. Lingers on the Palate
It appears as though we’ve stumbled into the fungus gardens of the termites, and boy oh boy, are they extensive. From my perch up in the tree, I can see that the entire forest on this slope of the mountain has been overtaken by the white mould. From this distance, it almost appears as if the land has been blanketed in fluffy snow, but knowing what I know, the scene draws only vague disgust from me, rather than wonder.
Aren’t they supposed to keep the fungus garden inside the nest? Why are they letting their mess out all over the place?!
Gross.
I contemplate the act of fungus-growing as I pick my way down the tree. There are ants who live off the stuff as well, herbivorous species that don’t need to raid and consume other insects in order to survive. Probably the most well-known would be the leafcutter ants. In massive colonies of up to two million individuals, some of the largest of all ants, the leafcutters are so named due to the way they farm their food. Enormous work convoys exit the nest to find trees, where fat-headed majors use their thick jaws to scissor up the leaves for the smaller workers to carry back home. Once they get it all underground, they feed the foliage to their precious fungus gardens that they feed on. I remember reading that new leafcutter queens even take a small chunk of the Colony fungus with them when they leave, so they can begin to cultivate their own garden once they settle down.
In those instances, the fungus is carefully tended in the depths of the nest, protected by obsessive workers who have to make sure not a single speck of mould invades and corrupts the food supply. They certainly don’t let it hang out all over the place!