Perhaps this has something to do with the ka’armodo? If they cultivated their own queen, or queens, to produce a species of termite carefully designed to fight the Mother Tree and bruan’chii, then it stands to reason they had to engineer a food supply as well. Only, it would appear as though they failed to contain it. Or perhaps they didn’t try.
[It’s a fungus garden, a massive one,] I confirm for the others when I get back down.
[You mean this is all fungus?] Sarah sounds appalled.
[Yep, and you haven’t seen anything yet. The forest ahead, all the way up the mountain, is covered in the stuff.]
The giant, fearsome bear, shudders delicately.
[That’s terrible,] she says.
[I mean, it’s probably a viable source of Biomass. I doubt it’s a fungal trap designed to take over our bodies from the inside.]
[Don’t even mention that!] Sarah squawks.
I look at her oddly.
[You seem really adverse to the stuff.]
[I hate moulds and fungus,] she confesses. [Always have.]
[Is that a bear thing?]
[It’s a Sarah thing,] she tells me firmly. [Doesn’t matter which life.]
I shrug. [Fair enough. Anyone prepared to give it a chomp?]
Silence descends for a few long seconds before Tiny decides he’s game enough to try and wanders over to a clump of the stuff. He gets a good chunk in his massive, meaty hand, and tears it off the ground. It almost appears fluff-like, kind of cotton candy-ish in texture.
In one smooth motion, the giant ape stuffs it into his cavernous mouth. Breathless, we all watch him, awaiting his response. After chewing thoughtfully, Tiny looks at us, then shrugs. Seems like a fairly middling report from the big guy, which must mean it tastes absolutely disgusting. If Tiny isn’t enthusiastic about eating it, then I can only assume it tastes like radioactive waste.
[Well, if we aren’t going to eat it, we could burn it all as we go or just leave it alone, I suppose.]
Sarah considers my suggestions. [We’re on a rescue mission here, we don’t have time to be trying to burn down a giant fungus garden. If you still have the trail, then I suggest we just keep moving.]
[Sounds good,] I agree. [I’ve still got the trail, and it’s mixed with a ton of termite scent, so we should be careful. We can probably assume this mountain holds the termite nest itself, which means there’s likely a lot of them underfoot.]
Understatement of the century. There could be millions of the critters in this mountain, for all we know. Having made our decision, we set off again and are soon engulfed on all sides by the fields of white. It’s so weird, the natural vegetation is still alive underneath it, if somewhat diminished by having this white stuff growing all over it, but the mould is everywhere, to the point we have to walk through it. Tiny carves a trail through the stuff as if wading through powdered snow, a wide path of broken fungus stringing behind him.
Actually…
As I watch, the fungus begins to reform in his wake, coming back together ever so slowly. It grows so fast! That makes a lot of sense when I think about it. Vibrant came through here with hundreds of ants, there should be a wide path where they stomped through all of this growth, except there’s no sign of their passage at all! In the time between them running through and us arriving, it’s completely grown back over.
It seems the ka’armodo must have turbo-charged the growth of this particular fungus in order to feed the voracious appetite of their termite colony. What better way to pump them full of easy Biomass before sending them off to fight the tree?
My antennae waggle back and forth as we push determinedly forward, desperate to stay on the trail that Vibrant left behind. Only, the farther we go, the more concerned I’m becoming. Where the hell is she? Her scent remains strong, but I haven’t seen any sign of her or her followers at all.
Then I feel something. Is the fungus… shaking?
93. Hunting for Speed
The fungus rattles around us, and we all still ourselves, casting our senses about to identify the source of the movement.
[Crinis? You got anything?]
[It’s difficult for me to see,] the usually reserved Crinis sounds frustrated and irritated. [The fungus has a mana signature that blocks my sight.]
Dammit.
[What about shadows? Are you seeing anything around us?]
[I think there are tunnels beneath us, but it’s hard to say.]
That’s not unexpected, considering where we are. I have little doubt the termites have tunnels underfoot, and all over this mountain for that matter.
[Stay sharp, everyone. I think we might have company soon.]
The fungus continues to rattle and shake as I eye it warily, my minds already spinning up the constructs necessary to fight. I decide to start pumping out Fire Mana, since it seems like it’ll have the biggest effect on the mould as well as on whatever comes out to fight.
The surrounding rattling continues to intensify before it suddenly grows still, the five of us left watching the field of white in perfect silence.
SNAP!
A second later, something beneath us breaks before the fungus begins to bulge in certain places, pushing upward as something erupts from underneath.
[Termites!] Crinis yells.
The surface layer splits to reveal the massive insects bursting through, their jaws filled with fungus and their antennae swivelling wildly. In truth, they seem just as surprised to see us as we are to see them, but that doesn’t stop either side from rushing in as soon as they realise what’s happening.
My jaws snap back and lock into position as I Dash forward, hoping to catch the termite on my right by surprise as it emerges from below ground.
[Crinis, how many are there?]
[I-I’m not sure! I still can’t sense underground through the mould.]
[Nards. We’ll stick here and fight for now, but don’t let yourself get cornered! If things get too spicy, we’ll have to back out and retreat to safety over the water!]
ROAR!
With a mighty bellow, Tiny’s frightening mass towers over the termites as he swings with colossal force, his fists tearing through the air to crunch into the chitin-covered insects, shattering their shells and sending them flying through the air.
CHOMP!
My mandibles slam shut on my chosen target, catching it across the head as it doesn’t turn in time to get its jaws between itself and me. With a satisfying crunch, the barbs on my mandibles punch through its shell, but without activating my Skills, a single bite isn’t enough to put one of these creatures down. Chittering with indignation, my opponent tries to pull back and snap onto my front left leg. In a normal fight between ants and other social insects, the battle for the legs is everything. With huge numbers available on both sides, fighting one-on-one is basically unheard of. Teams will try to gang up on an individual, latching onto their limbs and holding them down so others can move in for the finishing blow.
I don’t have the luxury of pinning this termite down for my ant allies to finish off, but the termite does!
No you don’t! With a heave of my mighty frame, I send the bug staggering back, its six legs flailing as it corrects its balance, jaws snapping shut on thin air, only to be met with my ferocious Charge a second later. The impact of activating the Skill is staggering, and the termite’s shell cracks further as my own diamond carapace slams into it.
Ha! You might be born on the fourth stratum, but even you can’t handle my shiny glory! Unwilling to play with it any further, I spin up the mana I’ve kept in reserve and unleash a torrent of blue flame, roasting the termite where it stands. What I don’t expect is for the flame to spread to the mould, melting it like wax even as it catches fire. If it were only that, perhaps it wouldn’t be much of an issue, but unfortunately for us, this fungus likes to burn, because the blaze spreads in an instant.