I’m not wrong, all of Vibrant’s followers were there. The tale will be all over the fortifications before long.
“What is relevant,” I continue, “is what the reaction of the ka’armodo will be after we spat directly in their faces like this.”
“What are your thoughts?”
My thoughts? It always boils down to the same few options in the end.
“They’ll either back off or double down. If they reflect on what happened and conclude they might have bitten off more than they can chew, they’ll retreat, hit the pause button on their termite strategy. Or, they’ll get angry and invest even further in the termites before they come after us with a vengeance.”
“We should start preparing, then.”
“Indeed. We probably need another ten thousand ants to come down here, to be honest.”
“I’ll get the word out.”
Out of the two options, is there really even a point considering which they might choose? When have the enemies of the Colony done anything other than come at us harder? It’s predictable at this point.
“You do that. I’m going to go have a snooze.”
And check my status, I haven’t done that in ages. Me and my four comrades pile into a separate chamber, out of the way of the main worker thoroughfares, and fall into a long session of torpor. Sarah waves us goodbye before we stumble in, not an easy feat with a bear paw, before she lumbers off to help with construction. When I awake, it’s with a start as my insect body zaps itself to alertness once more.
HARRAZ! I’m up!
What was I going to do? Oh yeah! Status update. Man, I haven’t checked it in ages, there should be some juicy stuff in there. I don’t know the exact number of announcements I got after that Gravity Bomb, but it was a lot. Hopefully, I’ve managed to climb in Levels at least a little. Come to think of it, I haven’t really looked at it since my last mutation, which was weeks ago. So much hunting and fighting lately!
Name: Anthony
Leveclass="underline" 46 (Rare) (VI)
Might: 205
Toughness: 180
Cunning: 145
Wilclass="underline" 100
HP: 360/360
MP: 646/646
Skills:
Generaclass="underline"
Master Excavation (IV) Level 31; Expert Grip (III) Level 20; Expert Stealth (III) Level 10; Tunnel Compass (IV) Level 9; Iron Mind (IV) Level 40; Master Stamina (IV) Level 14; Still Meditation (IV) Level 21; Snap Dash (IV) Level 31
Mana:
Mana Craft (V) Level 56; Master Condensed Mana (IV) Level 40; Grandmaster External Mana Manipulation (V) Level 31; Mana Hoarder (IV) Level 31; Layered Mind Magic Affinity (V) Level 24; Directed Mana Sensing (IV) Level 36; Expert Healing Magic Affinity (III) Level 20; Omni-Elemental Affinity (V) Level 80; Expert Mana Masking (III) Level 15; Expert Force Magic Affinity (III) Level 16; Expert Barrier Magic Affinity (III) Level 3
Pet:
Further Pet Communication (III) Level 20; Core Crafting (IV) Level 18; Pet Growth Speed (I) Level 5
Defensive:
Grandmaster Exo-Skeleton Defence (V) Level 45; Master Dodge (IV) Level 40; Master Endure (IV) Level 16; Expert Grace (III) Level 20; Advanced Mandible Parry (II) Level 10
Offensive:
Unerring Acid Shot (IV) Level 26; Master Precise Shooting (IV) Level 38; Doom Chomp (V) Level 55; Advanced Mandible Spear (II) Level 8; Advanced Chomp Combo (II) Level 10; Expert Charge (III) Level 6
Mutations:
Senses:
Focal Compound Eyes +30, Future Wave Sight Antennae +30 (Twilight Filament)
Defence:
Thickened Complete Diamond Carapace +30, Fortified Healing Inner Carapace Plating +30
Physicaclass="underline"
Hardened Rapid Absorption Legs +25, Mana Drenched Mandibles +30, Hastened Potent Regeneration Gland +30, Loud Convincing Pheromone Gland +25, Expanding Discerning Stomach +30; Coiling Hyper-Twitch Musculature +30, Distributed Instantaneous Sub-Neural Network +30
Acid:
Propagating Mana-Feasting Bind Acid Gland +25, Guided Hyper Pressurised Scattershot Acid Nozzle +25; Thickened Draining Acid Concentration Gland +25, Exhausting Thickener Acid Stimulation Gland +25
Mentaclass="underline"
Steadfast Coordination Cortex +30; Condensing Gravity Main Brain +15; Mind Mana Focused Sub-Brain +15; Mind Mana Focused Sub-Brain +15; Mind Mana Focused Sub-Brain +15
Mana:
Forceful Unending Gravity Magic Gland +30; Limitless Collective Will Vestibule +30 (Soul Crystal); High Purifying Communal Spirit Nave +30
Species: Colony Paragon
Skill Points: 38
Biomass: 653
Oh, shoot! That is a lot of Levels! Up to Level forty-six already? This is already past the halfway point from my last evolution. Nice! I’ve also got a ton of Skills that I need to rank up. I really should have checked my status ages ago.
Most interesting of all is the Level of my Omni-Elemental Affinity! All of my diligent practice has finally paid off! Muahahahaaaa! Better rank up these Skills and see what happens!
101. Awesome New Toys
Ranking up my Elemental Magic after such a long time is a nice milestone and one I’m super pleased about. What sort of delicious new spells will I gain access to? I’ve only very recently seen what dumping all of my Gravity Magic into a bomb can do, and whilst it’s obviously mega powerful, I can only shoot one of them! I need other options, which is the whole reason I worked so hard on the basic Elemental Mana Skills!
As the trickling sensation blooms in my brain, I eagerly reach for the knowledge that is being created there, grabbing it in dribs and drabs as the Skill upgrades.
Oho! Some juicy things indeed!
And so many spells! New combinations of elements that I couldn’t perform before! More potent, more destructive, more awe-inspiring DEVASTATION!
Muahahahahaha!
Wait! Is that the long-suppressed resurrection of Dark Anthony? Down! Down, you fiend! Back into the pit from whence you came!
Now. New magic, what can I do?
Bubbling away in my brain, new spell forms continue to take shape, and I enjoy the process as they blossom into their final forms. Sometimes, ranking up in magic just makes you better at it, helps you handle the existing spells and constructs better than you could before, and sometimes, like on this occasion, new spells come into play, but I didn’t expect to see this many. I suppose it makes sense, since I’m technically ranking up eight different Skills at once.
Blue Fire, Ice, Stone, and Gas Magic being the four foundational elements and their combinations making up the rest.
The first new spell I investigate is one that seems to hold a lot of promise. A blend of Fire and Air, it takes a lot of mana, but can devastate a wide area with what looks like a fire tornado. Nasty. A base of twisting wind, a sprinkle of combustible gas, and a rip-roaring fire when mixed correctly will produce a towering pillar of wind that burns with a furious heat.