Chrysalis

[These filthy termites have been busy…] I complain.

[I'll say,] Sarah agrees, [they've dug all through this area. I'm not sure ten thousand of us is going to be enough.]

[It'll have to be. The Colony has sent the best and brightest down here, which is going to make us more vulnerable to retaliation from the kaarmodo in the third stratum and slow our expansion there. Sending any more is out of the question.]

[I suppose you're right. Hopefully we can hold with what we have.]

[Hey, we have the mighty Asura bear! Able to squash a million termites on her own, what could go wrong?]

[Shush you.]

She swats me with one paw and I brace to prevent myself from flinching as she rocks my carapace with one swipe. Dammit Sarah! How the heck did you get so strong?! Is this the kind of power that Garralosh would have been capable of had she managed to escape into the second stratum? She might not have even needed to evolve in order to display a far greater power than she did, simply having enough mana to properly fuel her core might have been sufficient. If she'd stayed in the Dungeon rather than rising to the surface then I might never have won that fight.

Bah! Who wants to think about that croc now? We've got termites to slay! I turn to the Grove Keeper who's been leading us around.

[Surely this is all of the sites? We've been to dozens already!]

[Hmmmm. This is the last one. Well done, there aren't any active incursions at this time. Mother is pleased that her roots are not being gnawed on for the first time in weeks.]

The plant life around us rustles in agreement, but this time they lack their usual vigour and spite, as if the Mother Tree was fatigued. Perhaps the constant nibbling of the termites has had more of an effect than I thought. I suppose it only makes sense, she pulled her children back from the front and took on an enemy designed specifically to defeat her usual methods. It was only a matter of time until they wore her down, no wonder she was so desperate for us to get here as quickly as we could.

I broadcast as widely as possible, [your useless mother can be mothballed in an aged care facility now. We've got

[Anthony!] Sarah gasps.

good,] the Grove

my head but

old bag!]

Rumble.

vibrate as if something truly ridiculous were coming. I switch over to my mana sight and clack my mandibles in admiration at what I behold. The stupid tree is shifting her main roots to squash

yourself too much you'll leave the bruan'chii

The shaking stops.

you going to do about it you old bag? You might be the biggest plant on the planet, but I have you in the grip of my claws! Take that,

a nearby leaf savagely with one leg, watching as the vegetation

to cease my relentless attack, [my Mother has been known to make

children for a while. Once we have the strength, I'll personally ensure that the termite nest

careful she doesn’t get back at me once her children are

just in terms of soil reinforcement and compressing we're talking about hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of tons of material. We've got a lot of talented mages and carvers here, but it's still going to take a long time, and we have no idea when the termites will detect our presence and begin to launch a counter offensive. I get the impression

our detection measures in place. We can worry

"What?"

are properly rotating

pauses in the process

think… they… are