Looking at her skills and upgrades, it’s clear the direction Vibrant has been taking. Physical strength, hearty defence, looks like she picked up an Aura Gland during her most recent evolution, speed naturally, being Vibrant.
She’ll likely be taking the path of pouring her Mana into fuelling a range of Aura Glands rather than using it to directly fuel magic. I should look at recommending that path to Tiny, actually. The lightning Mana he has is put to good use, but the all that raw MP sitting in his core doesn’t do anything, while his lightning glands are topped off. He’d be more effective in a fight if he had somewhere to put that energy.
I’ll have to think on it.
Due to his low intelligence, I’m worried about Tiny’s future evolution paths. Every time he’s evolved, it’s like he’s lost Cunning. If it continues down that path, he’s going to wind up an extremely well-muscled, bat-faced vegetable.
“Well, you’re probably strong enough stats wise to fight in the front line,” I muse.
“Yay! I can fight with Crinis!” The no-longer-little ant cheers with delight, her antennae wiggling in the air uncontrollably.
I can only be pleased for her pure enthusiasm. As exhausting as her seemingly infinite energy can be, she is as pure as a diamond compressed from snow made of glass.
“You’ll need to be careful,” I warn her. “Nibble at the edges, don’t go straight on. You’re fast and reasonably tanky, but you can’t take the horde face on. If you get in trouble, pop your healing gland straight away, don’t save it. We can get you to safety and let it recharge before you need to go again.”
“Yep-yep!” the still wiggling ant exclaimed.
She’s doing her best to listen to my advice, but her energy is just way too high right now. Sigh. I’ll have to remind her again later, hopefully she won’t do anything too stupid in her excitement.
[Tiny, Crinis, Vibrant will be joining you on the front lines for the attack. Try to keep an eye out and keep her safe. I want her on the edges of the fight and not in the middle. If she gets buried in the melee, try and get her out.]
[Hurr!] Tiny grunted affirmatively.
[Of course, Master. No harm shall come to her,] Crinis declared with confidence.
I’d be more assured if you could actually see her… maybe she should keep a tentacle on Vibrant or something?
I’m sure it’ll work out.
[“All right, everyone, it’s time to form up for the attack. Tiny in the front, Crinis with me, and Vibrant on the flank. Our mission is complete subjugation. All crocs must be handbags or tasteful jackets by the time we’re done. Nothing too out there, I’m fashion conservative.”]
The others look at me strangely.
[What is a jacket, Master? Explain it to me and I shall prepare a thousand for you this day!] Crinis cries.
I should give up on the jokes. My talent is wasted on this room.
[“Just kill all crocs. They’re our primary target. If we remove them all I think the wave attacks on the colony will stop.”]
“Okay!” Vibrant says, almost shivering out of her carapace with excitement.
Crinis wiggles her way onto my back before retracting her tentacles and entering her deceptive, innocent tennis ball mode. Tiny eagerly takes his place in the front, already sparking with anticipation and occasionally thumping his chest, trying to contain his energy.
I don’t think the marsh is expecting what’s coming.
The oppressive aura is still here, bearing down on us with full force. But we are stronger than before, motivated to protect the colony. I don’t care what sort of monster sits in the middle of this Expanse, suffocating the area with its baleful aura and sucking in the monsters. I have a few tricks up my carapace that should fix its little red wagon!
Full of motivation and gusto, we depart our little hidey hole and advance into the marsh Expanse. Before us the lush green of the vibrant plant life stretches as far as the eye can see, from one side to the other. The hillocks of sodden earth that rise out of the dark waters look like moss encrusted tortoise shells, covered in vibrant flowers and the occasional tree.
Overhead, the tall mangrove-like trees, with their enormous webbed roots, spread a wide canopy. Half glimpsed shadows can be seen shifting about on the broad green leaves here and there. This right here. This will all belong to the family.
100. Contact
The marsh Expanse is teeming with monstrous life. Monsters creep out of connected tunnels, making their way deeper into the recesses in order to meet up with whatever is compelling their behaviour. Even without the steady trickle of captive beasts, there is plenty of stuff to fight around us.
The ever present, ever hungry flora dot the mounds and regularly rise out of the waters. The plants don’t seem to want to eat each other much, but they are always waiting for a juicy meal to wander past, ready to fall into their clutches.
Then there’s the crocs.
Lounging here and there, yawning mightily with their enormous jaws, the croca-beasts, titan-crocs and beyond can be seen almost everywhere. Never too many in one place, just little posses of three or four, wading through the waters or lying on the raised earth.
I think there’s more of them here than the last time we came. Maybe they’re gathering on this side since we’d raised a ruckus.
At any rate, they don’t seem to have spotted us.
I think the best course of action is to lure them into the tunnel group by group, keeping the combat out of sight so we don’t draw the lot of them down on our heads at once. Nice and steady, that’s the play.
So why is Tiny over there punching a titan-croc in the face?
DAMMIT!
[“Let’s go! Move quickly to support Tiny! Crinis, don’t let him get surrounded and try not to get flame-throwered!”] I cry as I rush forward.
This stupid ape! How could I forget his habits so quickly? Last time we were here I was pleased by his self-control and ability to control his seemingly endless hunger for battle. The reality is he was unsettled, even a little intimidated, by the oppressive aura hanging over this Expanse.
How did I expect a maniacal, famously thick battle addict to react to his first taste of fear? An emotion he probably hadn’t felt in his entire life. After taking out his frustration on smaller, weaker, unsatisfying foes and getting a power buff from actually increasing the Level of his skills, not to mention the massive boost he received from finally mutating to over +5, he’s pumped.
He’s back, large and in charge, and couldn’t wait to punch some face in.
So, he didn’t!
The second he laid eyes on a croca, the urge to redeem himself in a battle of old-fashioned fisticuffs must have been irresistible.
He didn’t get far. The closest group of croca-beasts was within a hundred metres. When they saw the giant ape eagerly flinging himself forward, swinging from tree branches like a demented, overweight Tarzan, they roused themselves to fight. Claws out and jaws agape, they met Tiny’s charge with all the fury they could muster.
Fists ablaze with light, Tiny smashed their faces within ten seconds and stood pounding his chest as he roared out a challenge to the Expanse as a whole.
Because… of course he would.
When we rush up to his side, Tiny is still bellowing his challenge, and it’s safe to say he’s drawn a fair bit of attention.
All around us small gangs of crocs are staring with undisguised hostility at us. I’m quietly confident even the plants are giving us a full dose of the stink eye, even though they don’t have eyes.