Chrysalis

Any records from the time of Rending are unreliable at best and complete fantasy at worst. The Magio-scholars from the tower of Rannaleth have spent decades pouring over the old documents, attempting to piece together a cohesive picture of the state of the world at that time.

Their findings are frequently controversial and often disputed but I myself tend to believe that the views they have published are reasonable conjectures based on the evidence. The first, generally agreed principle is that the ambient mana level on the surface of Pangera rose greatly, more than doubling immediately before the crises struck.

The rapid advancement and reliance on magical techniques exploded in this time, a brief period that the scholars refer to as a ’golden age’.

They also postulate that at this time the Dungeon was already fully formed underground something that other scholars hotly dispute. The logic appears to be sound however. It is known that gargantuan, mighty monsters emerged from beneath the surface shortly after the cataclysm began and there are no known records of such monsters spawning ever since. If they hadn’t been battling and evolving in the Dungeon for many years, perhaps even hundreds of years, then where did they come from?

Excerpt from "The origins of the great beasts, a historical treatise" by Oliander.

Dreams of the upcoming ant conquest will have to wait for a while though, there is a massive amount of work to be done before then.

With Tiny by my side I pause to consider what my next move should be. I have a few options for my next course of action and I should consider carefully before I simply run off and engage in something without thinking it through.

The war turned out ok for the colony this time but even so, there are the deaths of tens of workers resting on my head and it could have been much worse. Even I didn’t know that the forceful mana ball would be able to one shot the Titan-Croc and if it hadn’t the entire battlefield may have become a sea of flame, barbequing dozens more workers.

I should carefully consider my options this time to avoid making such errors. I certainly don’t want to get belted on the head by the Queen again!

The tunnels leading further downwards that connect to the Queen’s chamber concern me. The Berserkers were able to invade through those tunnels and caused major problems, if I hadn’t been able to intervene the colony would have suffered far worse than it did. I’m a bit scared to go down there though. If tough monsters like the berserkers are running away from down there, I’m not really prepared to go and scout it out by myself.

I think after I’ve successfully evolved I’ll be a little more confident to explore those deeper areas, hopefully my stats will receive a sizeable boost that might enable me to be a bit more survivable against whatever threats lie below.

I’ll just have to hope that the Queen and the rest of the workforce can fend off any threats from down there long enough for me to reach the required level.

The next option is to continue the colony growth plan and start fights, using pheromones to bring the workers into the battle. This strategy revolves around feeding large amounts of experience into the workers to increase the overall strength of the workforce.

I’m concerned though. With the area above being so dense with monsters it will be almost impossible to start an isolated fight in which I can accurately judge the odds in advance. The war was a perfect example of this. If I try to bring the colony to fight something it is almost certain that more and more monsters will show up, drawn by the noise and the promise of food.

is too risky, I’ll have

should

have

absent-mindedly scratching at his leg. Those large eyes of his are completely vacant, appearing almost devoid of thought.

Tiny, even if you are dumb as

Take care of the brood? Not really my style, there are plenty of workers for that. Defend the nest? I’m the best fighter in the colony for sure but I don’t want to just stand

Scout?

role of ranging far from the nest and locating food, identifying threats and bringing information back to the

well built ant such as myself is perfect for a role like this? I’ll be able

Rather than starting

not be as agonising as it was before, but it still hurts! Like a persistent tooth ache the pain is constant

it to go

team of the colony and venture forth into

down into the Queen’s chamber to check things out and predictably she’s sleeping, probably exhausted by

Not to worry.

Onwards Tiny!

tunnel towards the ant hill and open space above. It takes Tiny much longer to climb now that he can’t ride on

been trying to adjust to my new antennae

to understand the information my antennae are passing to me. I mean, if you compare it to my human body, the only way a

me sources of heat in my mind that my eyes can’t even detect. For example, I can ’feel’ the heat given off by a worker even before I see them. This is particularly disorientating when that worker is around a corner or in a

experience I’ll be able to react quickly to the information my new

Tiny manages to make his way to the top of the ant hill, looking

group of workers are milling around the hill on defensive duty, moving this way

the woods but I don’t join them,

area the battle against the rabbits and centipedes occurred at and I move in the direction that the centipedes joined the fight from. The huge number of crawlies that joined in on that fight and how quickly they did

attack the nest itself but I also want to

monsters everywhere I turn, battling and hunting each