Chrysalis

She's really gonna kill me this time. I mean, Crinis was clingy to an absurd degree before based on my last disappearance, what's going to happen this time. I'm afraid, afraid GANDALF! The image of Crinis burrowing her tentacles through my carapace and taking residence within my skeleton rises in my mind, causing me to shudder.

She would do that! She would totally do that!

Nononono. Having her stuck to my carapace all the time was bad enough! It was like having a second skin that disapprove of my every decision. Imagine what that’s like! A disagreeable SKIN! I can't handle it getting worse, I just can't!

BOOM!

An impact detonates under my claws, sending me sprawling and I scramble to get my legs back under me and run. Can't you guys leave me alone? I'm trying to deal with real problems here!

The five heavily armoured soldiers chasing me don't seem all that sympathetic to my plight. In fact they seem rather insistent that they continue trying to poke holes in me with various pointy implements. Having foreign objects inside my carapace is exactly what I'm worried about right now. I don't need this as well!

I fire a quick air blade hoping to scatter them, but the big one steps forward with his shield, absorbing the impact as the others run around to flanking positions. Come on! How is this fair? If I had my full squad here, I'd show you!

With my legs under me once more, it's time to DASH! Blows slash into my carapace, carving deep slices into the precious diamond as I run down the tunnel, fleeing into the dark. Stop marking my shiny exterior, dammit! How am I supposed to lie to Crinis about this if she sees me covered in blade marks?!

DASH! DASH! DASH!

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

Acid launches from the rear zone as I run away into the darkness, trying to shake my pursuers. Just my luck that I decide to poke my antennae at the camp right when a patrol was coming back. How the heck was I supposed to know?! All I wanted was a little peek, just to see if I was needed, and I was being careful! They must have been using some kind of Skill or technique, because they practically tripped over me before I noticed they were there.

Not even heat signatures! How the heck are these people so damn cold?!

HAP!

BOOM!

head. These people don't play around. In

you like this

I've explored these tunnels before, at least somewhat, and I know that the tunnel wall right over there is super thin! I run with all speed, firing more acid and wind magic as I

it to the wall! Here

CHOMP! CHOMP!

bites I manage to open up a hole and dive into it!

force with my legs until I squeeze through the gap with a 'pop!'

Gweheheheh.

won't be able to catch up to me.

BOOM!

blade light cuts through the

DAMMIT!

RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!

the way) and I don't know that I would win, especially without my pets! Gah! They've

Not to mention a decent number of what I've started to call 'dead fish'. Smaller creatures full of Death Mana that can swim through the air riding on the mana currents. They're a right pain in the backside, but I've not time to deal with them now.

caused by these damn murder

in time to avoid another coordinated strike that slices into the rock as if it were paper. Yikes!

tunnel opens up into a major passage and lo and behold, right in the middle, I find a HUGE root that connects the roof to the floor. I've never seen anything like this around this area, but this could be my chance! The soil around tree roots is usually far more loose than other places, since the ground gets broken up by the roots pushing through. I might be onto

run and then skirt around the blind side of the root. This thing is massive, it must be thirty metres in diameter at least! Easily enough to block sight

even as my sub-brains weave mana to help drill into the ground as fast as possible. DIG! DIG! DIG! Gotta get as deep as possible! No chances

body can muster, burrowing into the soil at a rate that would make Jim proud. Only when the business district has been fully submerged do I feel even remotely safe, but even

I feel I've reached a significant enough depth, I freeze, hoping against hope that they won't be able to find me. I expand all of my senses, trying to get a sense of what is going on around me, only then do I notice something I really should have picked