Chrysalis

Ever since I arrived in this strange underground forest it has been bustling with activity, monsters appearing from all over the place, coming out of goodness knows where and fighting constantly.

But now … something seems a bit … off.

As Tiny and I emerge from within the nest to the top of the anthill we are greeted with a sheer wall of sound. The cacophony from the surrounding trees and giant mushrooms is piercing. Howling roars, filled with endless bloodlust and thirst for battle echo from the ceiling and the distant walls over and over again.

The forest, has lost its chill.

I think we can officially call it, there is absolutely nothing calm about this forest in the present moment! Is everyone having a bad hair day? Wake up on the wrong side of the … cave?

Even as Tiny and I stand and stare from the top of the hill, elevated above the tree line I notice a few things have changed from the colony perspective.

I don't notice any trails of ants leading off into the forest right now. Having a quick sniff around I notice the scent paths have dissipated as well. It seems that conditions out in the woods have been too hot for the workers to handle so they've retreated back into the nest. Even the ever present guard detail is positioned much higher up the mound than before, retreating from the trees edging up to the base of the ant hill.

For whatever reason, the place is going completely gonzo.

Every time I come up here I think the monsters have reached peak crazy town but it seems there is always further to go!

Tiny doesn't seem to care, his somewhat glassy eyed stare darts from sound to sound, almost as if he's calculating the nearest fight he can hurl himself into. If you start running off into the forest Tiny, I swear on the facial follicles of the bearded one I will drag you back into the nest by your head!

Almost as if he can feel my simmering rage the bat faced ape slowly settles onto his heels, adopting a waiting posture.

Damn right!

however. The fact that the workers have effectively abandoned food gathering operations up here means the colony is even more reliant on the trap network than I thought. Without me to undertake the tedious work of resetting the pitfalls that food

myself a few hours, see what I can see and then

Tiny! Let us move

tow I cautiously begin to make my way into the forest, ensuring Tiny stays behind me at all times so I

show its

all kinds. Some types I'd seen before but others were entirely new. Possibly the most fearsome was a silver panther looking creature. With each swipe of its paws blades of air

No thanks!

going on, Tiny and I backed up slowly and then skedaddled

I finally come across something I'd been wanting to find for a long

a small clearing in the forest is an ugly looking mound with several holes punched in

is three metres high and I suspect the space inside extends down in the

is a centipede

far from the nest here in this location, if possible I don't want

are here, I'm not convinced that we can take on every centipede inside that mound, there could be as many as fifty in there, slithering over each

Yuck!

little distance away from the mound and slowly creep forward, antennae pointing directly

mound. No

briefly engage my mana detection skill and what I see is quiet