Chrysalis

"I'm really not sure about this," Isaac muttered under his breath.

[That makes two of us…] his new partner replied.

"I really didn't think they would go for this as enthusiastically as they did."

[It's how we are. If there's an advantage in it, we're more than happy to explore it. Even if it does prove to be… unconventional.]

Isaac felt the massive ant shift beneath him and tried to adjust his position to roll with the movement. The saddle they'd created wasn't quite the right shape, the craft ants having never made anything of this sort before, and it chafed him ever so slightly in an area he would prefer didn't see any chafing.

"I just never imagined that I'd ever be riding on the back of one of you. I mean, I didn't expect that I'd be fighting alongside any monstrous ants, but I got used to that well enough, but to be riding on one? Feels kind of weird. You aren't horses."

[What's a horse?]

"Have you seen a cow?"

[I have, in the farms around Renewal.]

"Right, so think of a cow that's prettier and faster."

[… I do not like this comparison.]

"That's what I mean!"

The once former guard captain heaved a sigh and once again fruitlessly tried to protect his most vulnerable zones from the pommel that rose too sharply between his legs. If it was made of cured leather, that'd be one thing, but that damned armour ant had decided to cover the thing in folded steel. To say he was sweating would be an understatement.

count

then, here we

don't

are at least half

[That is somewhat true.]

and hefted his lance once more. He surveyed the course ahead again, a dizzying trail of loops and whorls that took them between pillars of rock, up the walls, across the roof

surface it was a noble's weapon and down below no idiot would be fighting on horseback.

Cavalant

connected to the ant he rode, to the point he didn't need to speak aloud if he didn't want to, but to an extent their senses were shared as well. Combined with a quite respectable combat buff, the Class might prove to be a powerful asset, if

as she lowered her centre of gravity.

Cavalant launched

almost top speed in a matter of seconds and this time he was sufficiently braced to hold on. Gripping with his legs, Isaac desperately clung to his partner's back, straining to hold his lance steady as they

up,]

could I forget," he

raced directly for the tunnel wall. The image of himself splattered across the rock flashed into his mind, then, with a mind bending

relationship, but he did have a strap to

plops," he swore as he struggled to

his part, Isaac held fast to his lance and aimed it as best he could, every day of his life spent wielding

Crack. Crack. Crack.

with one

hurried to tighten his legs, desperate

think I’m going to be

[Don't you dare!]

Crack. Crack. Crack!