Chrysalis

Exploration of the Dungeon has been the task of all the civilised races who make their homes above the ground ever since the first opening was made known to us.

However a unified approach and the free sharing of information has proven impossible to facilitate. Each kingdom, church, organisation or private army or noble house than has devoted resources into plumbing the depths and secrets beneath our feet has withheld their own slice of information from the common perception. Hoarding slivers of information like family treasures.

There Is much information that has been publicly confirmed, however, enough that all citizens have a reasonable awareness of the world below, the dangers and opportunities that can be found there.

Some the key information regards the various Strata, the levels, defined by both their depth and the concentration of mana found there.

The First Strata is generally accepted to lie from the surface to five kilometres deep. It is frequently referred to as the Strata of Beasts, since most of the monsters found there are exaggerated, terrible hybrids of creatures that have long existed on the surface.

As for the lower Strata, the second and below, information is much harder to corroborate.

From the ’Knowledge of the people, a series of essays’ by the Magio Scholar Tarius.

I manage to pass a fairly profitable day in this manner.

During the quiet moments I manage to construct a third pitfall trap and add it my expanding network, excavating another tunnel to connect it all together and gaining another level of excavate as my reward.

My fairly crude traps have proven surprisingly capable, netting a consistent flow of prey that I have been able to finish off quickly and conceal within my tunnels, feeding the majority of the Biomass to Tiny and taking a little for myself.

Over the last day I managed to take four Biomass for myself, which I’ve stockpiled for the time being. I could take two upgrades to pheromones immediately but I don’t particularly see the need. It isn’t as if I’m cooperating with the colony at the moment so the pheromones won’t help achieve anything.

I did start to feel a little guilty about leaving the colony to its own devices for this long. After digging out the third trap I decided to start the arduous process of connecting my small network of pitfall traps to the main nest by way of a rather long underground tunnel.

This particular project will take a long time to actually complete, particularly since I have to return to the traps to check on the situation every now and again, as well as making frequent, ever longer trips to transport the dirt and rock I’ve dug back to the surface.

this dirt is proving more and more difficult. I’ve had to travel ever further away from my pitfalls to find a space to dispose of it and the area

tend to scatter the dirt and pound it into the ground, concealing my work to

life of luxury, waking up in time to feast and then sleeping immediately. Every time he wakes up he’s grown

is finally here Tiny! Entering the growth phase is an important time for any monster. Perhaps Tiny is now in his teenage size, all he wants to do

I can continue to feed him up at this pace he’ll be able to display some strength in combat fairly soon. I can already see

haven’t managed to get that crucial level ten. Every time I finish off a monster

required but it’s so

dig some more, let the feeling of ant-zen wash over me

return to digging out my tunnel, eager to connect my small network of traps to the colony. Gradually I lose my sense of time as

is no need, no desires, or wants. There is

CRASH!

PREY! GETTEM!

my traps. So eager am I that I reach

and tearing apart the branches that have fallen

during the brawl next to the ant hill this one is larger and more brutish, it’s fur is thinner and patchy, almost as if the creature were sick. The thickly muscled limbs testify

more beastly and hideous face I haven’t seen yet. A fetid, diseased pallor,

monster’s body, filling the air and washing into the tunnel. I

Wait a second...

quickly learn that I AM in pain! I’m losing health just by being near this damn

being nearby? I’ve never seen anything

I delay I more health I’m going

POW! POW!

prey, eyeball it over my shoulder and unleash two blasts of

don’t want to take to many chances with this beastie so I give it two shots of the acid straight away to try and restrict its movements. Looking at the monster I’m concerned I may get poisoned or diseased if I were to be bitten or scratched during the