Chrysalis

After collecting a few choice cores and chowing down on Biomass, all we could really do was shrug and get back to business. Even so, I can't help but feel like this incident is going to come back and bite me in the backside somehow. At least this time I can proudly wave my antennae and declare that it wasn't my fault! How am I supposed to know some random pride demon is going to get it in his head to attack me? There was clearly no getting out of that situation.

Now, where were we?

[How far are these tunnels, Al? It's getting hot out here!]

That's a lie. It's constantly been hot out here.

[If you find the temperature disagreeable then it may be a good idea not to descend any further. The heat will only increase.]

[I'm guessing that you don't have an issue with it…]

[The portion of my body that extrudes into this dimension is comprised of 65.37 percent heat energy. It does not bother me.]

[Invidia, when you evolve, try not to become a floating eyeball of fire, alright? If you really want to pick an element, do earth or something.]

[Hisss flame isss powerful. I wantsssss it!]

[It literally doesn't matter what he has, you'd have wanted it anyway! Just consider, alright? I don't want to drag this kind of heat through the entire Dungeon! I can't even sweat!]

Ants aren't particularly good at temperature regulation internally. Although some colonies are incredible at utilising the flow of air within their nests to control the heat, basically building automated air conditioning systems to make sure the inside of the nest is never too hot or cold and ensuring the air doesn't become stale. Pretty clever for creatures with a brain the size of a pinhead!

Of course, our eternal foes the termites are the best at this sort of thing. Those blind little bugs create enormous mound nests that can bring fresh air all the way down to the heavily protected nesting chamber of their massive, chonky queen.

[Alright then, where to now?] I ask.

to the tunnels is

his ever-burning corona to our right and so off in

entrances to the tunnels that rare? Seems like they might be more

hyper concentrated sources of fire mana between the layers. The tunnel entrances are gaps in the

we push our way through the ever-shifting carpet of infant

well get out here and answer

to me

"Do I have to?"

to thin air when I know for a fact that you're right here!

shrunk, as if she were still trying to hide despite being in plain sight. I wonder if they bother to train their stealth skills at all, considering they

what was that back there? The 'take down protocol'? This a change in the stated policy or

She shifts uncomfortably.

be a bit more active from this point onward during combat. If we can end fights more quickly with a precision strike, and therefore

you guys get some experience and

we expose ourselves more often, which

dismiss those concerns with a flick of my

yourselves at points in order to perform your role

vanishing from my sight again. I meant what I said though, if they can be a bit more proactive, having these twenty follow me around won't be as much of a pain. It's nice to have more ants to talk to, for a start, something I can't really do if they refuse

Speaking of other ants.

spit her out,] I

moment later we are joined by a rather bedraggled looking hatchling. Brilliant gives herself a quick shake, much like a puppy would,

"Oo! What's all this?"

crawling around our feet and pounced on one, holding down the struggling creature with her mandibles so