Chrysalis

We warred for survival. That was our driving motivation for so long that when we eventually reached the point that survival wasn’t threatened, we almost didn’t know how to act. We had established enough power, enough allies, that the forces who sought to exterminate us were unwilling to pay the cost, and thus secured our ongoing existence.

Some theorise that it is only when one doesn’t have to struggle day to day that their true personality can shine through. In that case, this period would reveal who the Colony was, what our priorities were, and who we saw ourselves being in the future.

Even the Eldest, so often the driving force behind our development and direction, stepped into the background. Left to our own devices, the Colony had to search deep within itself to find a new direction, a new channel in which to place its bottomless energy.

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• Excerpt from the private notes of Historiant

Turns out, it takes a lot of mana to create a volcanic eruption.

[Stay away from the master you trash! Die!]

[GRAAAAAH!]

[Ssssurrender your livesss to me!]

BOOM! BOOM!

And it requires an extreme level of concentration and focus.

[Succumb to fear! Retreat from the shadows!]

[Ahhh. The experience isss mine!]

[HRAAAAAAAAA!]

[Can you keep it down, dammit! I’m trying to focus!]

[Sorry, Master!]

away my irritation. It’s not exactly reasonable to expect them to be quiet as

Do your best up there and I’ll try and

[Okay!]

workers are capable of nibbling at the stone

demon could divert his attention to whipping up some stone, but personally I’d rather have

This spell is such a freakin’ pain in the

at a constant rate, each seized by my mind constructs and condensed before they are added to the intricate weave that is this spell. Its structure is almost like a spherical cake, one with dozens of wafer thin layers that

next to when it goes off, but I don’t

Exciting!

more of them

of all that is ant can there

know, but they

tunnel corner like literal water, a densely packed wave

no matter what is happening, to come and defend the queen. In fact, the ka’armodo

there’s a few lizards with mighty headaches out there right

nothing I can do about it!] I tell

[I-I’ve got it, Master.]

it! Givesss it to

unleashes his devastating eye beam. In fact, he appears to have supercharged it this time, the green light shredding through everything it touches. It looks like it’s shredding anything that even gets close to it!

now his eye is bleeding, thick ichor dripping onto the tunnel floor beneath his hovering form. That is

I tell

he replies with

worry about him, I can’t. Instead, I turn and pour all of my attention into the spell, weaving threads with all the delicacy and speed I can muster. Within, the omni-elemental construct spins and whirls as raw mana is pumped in one end and

damn thing is

on mana, just…

out in triumph.