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

another

savage mentality rising amongst my siblings. And, if I'm honest, within myself also. The termite! They're so close now! The hated enemy, the war that has lasted on Earth for over a hundred million

us away from the settlement and the nervously peeking bruan'chii who watched a force of ten thousand

and deeper still we travelled, 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. Precious dirt. As the lead ant, I set foot on the

they have been incurring against our Mother,] the 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 not allow us to fight. She takes on the burden herself, but mighty as she is, she is not built to

[and for some reason I feel like

Keeper eyes me

is mighty,] he

mightier. Exactly how much evolutionary energy did it take for her to

Grove Keeper does not reply, but I don't really notice, the termites are close

we meet the enemy, it will be a savage brawl like you've never seen before. Remember, there are only two things that you

of agreement through the Vestibule. There will

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?