Chrysalis

I'm so damn hungry!

As I human I never would have expected that digging would be so tiring. Although, unlike when I was a human I've been able to move a hell of a lot more dirt. With my excavation skill targeting my instincts and my mandibles acting as a movable super shovel, I can really smash out some tunnel space.

All the work is really putting a strain on my empty stomach. When Tiny awoke I had him collect my monster cores and then put him to work compacting the dirt at the rear of the tunnel, despite having eaten relatively recently my ape buddy is also starving.

I can only imagine how the Queen is feeling. She appears to be fine, cheerfully chomping away at the earth and encouraging the workforce with her seemingly endless positivity.

My mind isn't completely focused on the digging I have to admit. As often as I can I activate the mana sensing skill, desperately searching for some sign of a source of food! On the positive side my constant scanning and digging has raised my skills, mana sensing by two levels and excavation by one, on the negative I'm yet to find anything.

In my tunnel map the escape tunnel continues to spear upwards and outwards into empty space. I am somewhat worried about where exactly we will surface, the best I can say is that it will be several kilometres away from the guarded entrance I ran into at the very least.

As I grow more and more depressed with the failure to locate anything I finally get a response.

At last! A bite on the line!

As the skill level has risen the range I can detect mana successfully has likewise increased, which is lucky since I doubt I would've been able to reach this response otherwise. Very faintly on the edge of my awareness I can barely sense the ripples of mana. Strong or weak I can't tell at this stage, the only way to get a more accurate reading would be to get closer.

a number of hours since the last time the colony had access to any sort of food, not to mention, if I pass up this reading there is no guarantee another one will come in range

to be diverted. I turn to the

have to divert the tunnel

pauses in her digging to turn her face towards me, I take it as I sign of politeness since, as an ant she doesn't need to turn her face

you have found, child?" she

clue, but we may all starve to death in a few days if

this for a moment before waggling her antennae in agreement.

the ground with my excavation skill I adjust the angle

be able to arrive above the source and then

metres away. Tunnelling through two hundred metres of solid earth and rock is not a casual endeavour by any means, even for a colony on monstrous earth moving machines

source. I continue to sink my consciousness down into my core and reach out

becomes more clear and it isn't long before I know just what it is that we have found, a tunnel, and a fairly narrow one at that. Joy blooms within my ant thorax when I confirm the shape of the source. This is perfect! A tunnel, covered in mana veins is sure to be packed with monsters, aka lunch, and due to the narrow width of this tunnel the size of

can detect only a few small cores moving about before they shift out of

correct angle to get the tunnel back on track and start digging a