Chrysalis

At this moment, with my head filled with the glorious victory of the new super-ant race, I notice something a little odd.

There is a dull ache coming right from my core.

What the heck is with that? What on Pangera makes your core hurt? Do I have core-itis? Flu of the core? Seasonal Core swelling?

I’m unusually disturbed by this inexplicable pain. Once formed, the core is attached to a monsters life force. If anything where to happen to it I’m not sure how long I’d last!

Focusing intently on this feeling I try to analyse it. When I carefully sense the area around my core the issue becomes clearer, there is more going on than meets the eye. Almost like a lung that is slowly leaking, as time passes my core is slowly draining energy out into the air. Almost as if when my body tries to draw in mana there isn’t anything there and then I ’exhale’ mana out.

I’m losing mana!

As time passes the loss becomes more noticeable until I was stuck with this pain that I can now feel. It’s literally my core gasping for air! I need mana! Whilst the pain is completely debilitating now it’s only going to get worse the more energy I leak.

I suddenly realise that this must have been what was inflicting the Queen! Weakened and in pain by the lack of mana she had literally been bleeding her life out into the air until I had finally noticed something was wrong.

I can’t help but get a little emotional.

Dammit Mother! Just how self-sacrificing can you be!? Just because I’d said the colony would be safe on the surface you were willing to bleed mana from your core until you died?! Why is it the best Mother I’ve ever had is a giant ant?

Well now I feel like garbage. Not only because my core is increasingly pained but the guilt of unknowingly causing such suffering to a dear parent. I’ll make it up to you Queen! You’ll be the mother of the most successful ant colony in the history of the entire .. Wherever we are!

I’m not really sure if this is the same universe as the one I was born it, come to think of it. Something to ask Gandalf if I ever see him again.

Well now that I know about this problem, what am I going to do about it? The fact that it took a few days for the problem to grow this severe means I’m not completely unable to operate on the surface, I’ll just have to take frequent trips underground. Actually, is this the reason that Tiny has relocated himself underground? It’s possible that his core has also advanced to the point where he can’t sustain himself on the surface level of mana.

Sighing to myself I grasp my bag of unworked on cores in my mandibles and make my way down to where Tiny is currently sitting munching on some low level plants that leapt out of the walls and into his waiting hands.

Dungeon proper I can feel a sense of relief. As the light emitted by the mana veins washes over me and my feet begin drinking energy in a steady flow the pain in my core begins to ease. I can feel myself getting a little more

him one day he suggested I might have a choice but to go further down. Is this what he meant? Every time I condense my core and evolve I’ll have a higher requirement for mana, forcing me to live deeper and deeper in the Dungeon? I guess this explains why the

Obviously evolving is the best thing in the universe

....

Think about

and I’ll

seems quite relaxed down here, his silvery hair taking on a distinct blue shade in the reflected light of the Dungeon. I pass him the bag and then take some time to hollow out a chamber for us to use, shoving the loose soil further down the tunnel. Once that’s done I ask Tiny to keep watch for me and rest a little before resuming my core grinding. I don’t want to rush over and start working on the Queen’s core straight away with Core Surgery at level 1. If I can push a few more levels out of it then I’ll be more confident at being able to

Back to grinding!

my improved mental power, grinding through so many cores in such a short time has pushed me right up to the wall. This kind of

has one hundred cores

at making nuanced changes to monsters and grinding that precious xp to get to this point. How long

wanting to waste the opportunity I flick cores at Tiny until he’s full up. He’s at the same level of evolution as I am so it takes fifty cores for him to top out, then I do the same

reached max capacity

Hue hue hue hue.

maxed out. It feels so good! All we need now is the special cores but there is no way I’m going to put up with

If you give it enough time would you get used to it enough that you could absorb

reading my thoughts Tiny raises his head a glares at me with his dark red

....

Never mind!

for the short term, so I take good nap, getting Tiny to defend me from the spawning monsters and making

Time to head over to the Queen

face to face with Mother once again. The giant ant is quite placid at the moment, perhaps enjoying this interlude of relative

are

head. "I am well little one. The colony has been safe here, you have done

to this sort of praise. If I

beam, "I’m