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.

the tunnels is

tendril of his ever-burning corona to our right and so off in that direction we

kilometres from Roklu already. Are entrances to the tunnels that rare? Seems like they might be

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

and as we push our way through the ever-shifting carpet of infant demons I take a

get out here and answer a few

to me as light as a

"Do I have to?"

talk to thin air when I know

to hide despite being in plain sight. I wonder if they bother to train their stealth skills at all, considering they rely on a

there? The 'take down protocol'? This a change in the stated policy

She shifts uncomfortably.

onward during combat. If we can end fights more quickly with a precision strike, and

some experience and Biomass on the job," I approve, "I

expose ourselves more often, which many of us are not

with

right? You have to expose yourselves at points in order to perform your role at all. It's just a question of working out when and how much. I think this is a sensible shift. Keep up the

being praised, Protectant stumbles a little before 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

Speaking of other ants.

her out,] I

bedraggled looking hatchling. Brilliant gives herself a quick shake, much

"Oo! What's all this?"

five seconds, she's already spotted the carpet of demons crawling around our feet and pounced on one, holding down the struggling creature with her mandibles so she can inspect