Chrysalis

Suffer not the termite to live.

• Excerpt from 'Wisdom of the Eldest'

[No, we don't need to get settled or any such thing. We came to kill termites, lead us to the front, we are keen to begin the work,] I tell the Grove Keeper, who seems a little disconcerted.

[You should adapt to the mana level before fighting,] he warns me, his slow, deep tones ringing in my head. [You aren't used to what it's like on this level. It can affect this in strange ways.]

He's not wrong about the mana level, it feels as if it's so thick I could swim in it. My legs are on fire, sucking incredibly dense energy out of the ground, which isn't even the Dungeon, I'm just pulling it from the roots of the Mother Tree! What it feels like to actually step on the Dungeon floor where the veins are present… I can't begin to imagine.

[My people hunger to taste termite and even I may not be able to hold them back,] I confess to the large wooden figure, [it is best that you lead us to the enemy, otherwise we will run there on our own.]

He frowns down at me.

your kind were

another insect?

The hated enemy, the war that has lasted on Earth for over a

peeking bruan'chii who watched a force of ten thousand mighty insects march passed their community, each one burning with the need

along winding paths of intertwined roots that seemed an endless maze that plunged into the heart of the world. The sheer size and scale of the mother tree seemed endless, but at last we came to something that spoke to me. Dirt.

Grove Keeper sounded grim as he pointed to a nearby tunnel, [the beasts have taken a toll on my people and now the Mother will

to fight her,] I point out, [and for some reason I feel like your mother isn't as good at fighting as she is

eyes me

is mighty,]

mightier. Exactly how much evolutionary energy did it take for her to be able to create children of her own soul? I'm guessing,

does not reply, but I don't really notice, the termites are close and it is

you've never seen before. Remember, there are only two things that you need to do: stay alive, kill

ten thousand thrums of agreement through the Vestibule. There will

travel. Soon I begin to notice segments of root that have been chewed on, clear evidence of the termite presence. The tree is regenerating the damage, but slowly, judging by the various wounds I see. It's possible the termites are using some kind of saliva or mandible mutation to slow her healing process. Just how far did the kaarmodo go to prepare this enemy? From the signs it seems as if