Chrysalis

We continue to progress further into the Dungeon, ensuring we stick with the larger paths at every opportunity. Even though we walk passed dozens of smaller tunnels we ignore them all. If we want to quickly progress downwards or locate an expanse then by far the best way, according to what I’ve learned from my interrogation, is to stick to the larger passages. The bigger the better.

Not wanting to hand about too much and waste time I let Tiny smash his way through the various plant creatures that fill the tunnel on the way. Able to pulp these vegies with one fist the big fellow doesn’t even appear to be getting tired when we start to encounter some more nasty looking creatures.

It really does give a different vibe these plant filled sections of Dungeon. Used to seeing cold stone, dark earth and waves of beast or insect type creatures its almost refreshing to have such a leafy environment. Never mind the fact that such plants would obviously normally require access to sunlight in order to survive. I presume that since they eat Biomass like everything else in the Dungeon there really isn’t any need for them to photosynthesise. That being the case then, why are they still so leafy?

After an hour of pushing through the riff raff and following the many bends in the Dungeon we finally encounter some creatures that I suspect have evolved once.

Larger flowers with mouths, a bushy plant that actually rushed about on its roots as if they were legs, even a bizarre reed type creature that cast water spells at us, great jets of water blasting out of thin air.

Tiny punched all of it to heck and we even collected a core from the magic one.

Every now and again I continue to flick on my mana sense to inspect the creatures growing within the walls. They are clearly still there and growing. Every now and again we see a plant monster push its way out of the wall and fly at us in a rage.

What’s curious is that the regular plant type monsters we find don’t seem to attack each other much. I can only presume they feed on something else that comes this way that just isn’t present at this moment in time.

Constantly doing this has thankfully levelled my mana sense up to level 5. With every level the range and sensitivity of that strange sense becomes sharper and more useful.

Eventually we reach a wide tunnel space filled with greenery and vegetation, large plant monsters dotting every surface with other more mobile creatures wandering about seeking prey. I can see some fairly nasty looking individuals in here, this might be good enough.

Quickly checking my Tunnel Map I can see that we stuck to the plan and roughly descended down beneath were the colony has settled. In terms of lateral distance we have moved about one kilometre despite rushing into the Dungeon for two hours.

This is the spot.

[Ok! Tiny, this is the next feast zone. I hope you’re hungry]

Tiny nods his head rapidly as he stares at the monsters before him. You’d think he hadn’t eaten in days.

[Tiny ready to eat!]

[Go get ’em!]

fists over his head and bringing them

smash his way through the Dungeon with ease. Charging up my mandibles with gravitational mana I try to test their effectiveness on a large, dark purple flower on

YOINK!

...

Or not?

but it’s many roots cling tenaciously to the rock and soil. Even that might not have been enough had the

to my mandibles and release the pressure on the plant. Looks they can hold on

try something

moment I get the spare time I’ve been practicing my shaping skills, becoming more and more familiar with these basic spell shapes. How many thousands of Gravity Bolts have I constructed, only to let the shape dissipate and start over again? Not even I can

more reflexive and faster. Where it may have taken me a minute or more the first time I used the spell I can

Gravity Bolt!

the result of this experiment. I’ve been wanting

all, a plant can’t dodge too effectively. Once the magic takes effect the purple flower,

keeping the flower firmly attached to the wall but even so the struggle is real! If plants could sweat this

leaves and petals drooping with exhaustion yet somehow emitting a triumphant feeling, the plant creature has held on against

Good!

to bust out

thinking on the forceful mana skill for a while now. Is its purpose really only to create devastating bomb spells? The skill description says that it is used to compact mana, so thinking logically, that compacted mana ought to be able to be used in

Time to test!

within my mind the spell is a three dimensional shape of dizzying intricacy build wholly

deep purple energy responds to the direction of my will and begins to drift towards the construct. This time however I

begin to condense

after it, compressing the mana as much as I can. My mind begins to shake with the effort of controlling the fluctuating energy as it roils and shudders within

on my control, both brains straining to the

being formed within my body remember.

think

the construct. Over time the shape I had built seems to be straining, struggling to contain the sheer density of the mana

purple flower is slowly recovering from the fright it had earlier, blissfully unaware of the nearby ant