Chrysalis

[Fortis Adamas Scolopendra: Strong Diamond Centipede (IV). These creatures are an advanced breed of a simpler species. A Living Diamond carapace and claws are their primary attributes, along with enhanced mana sensitivity and a potent mana toxin in their tail spike. Be warned, this monster hits much harder than it looks.]

Stupid system and your stupid favouritism! Straight up Living Diamond for a carapace, along with all sorts of other fancy bits and bobs only available to monsters born in the deeper sections of the Dungeons.

Meanwhile, most of the ants in the Colony are walking around with basic, first stratum bodies with nary a reset to be seen amongst them. This level of bias is unacceptable. Next time I see Gandalf, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. I mean, I know he said that he’s not directly responsible for this stuff, but he won’t tell me who is, so he’s the one who’s going to cop it.

The journey back to the former termite nest is as smooth as one might expect when moving through territory controlled by the Colony. Already the patrols are out, marching along paths created by the carvers, culling the monster population and harvesting Biomass for the family.

When the mountain itself comes back into view, I can’t help but clack my mandibles in appreciation. Those crazy ants, they really went ahead and did it. We’ve only been gone for a few days, but the work is basically done, as far as I can tell.

As expected, they’ve reforged the entire mountain into a giant anthill, the sides smoothly rising to the main entrance close to the top. It’s not so simple, of course, the carvers can’t help but add complexity to their designs. There are walls, parapets, towers, wrinkles and folds all over the place, somehow arranged in such a way as to be pleasing to the eye, even from this distance. This is a grand fortress even beyond what they constructed on the third stratum beneath the demon city of Roklu. Imagining trying to launch an attack makes my head hurt.

We head under the water, taking a reinforced tunnel that the Colony has created that connects to the neighbouring mountain we were hunting on. Basically an undersea highway. How on Pangera did they manage to engineer it to withstand the incredible pressure?

I won’t even bother asking, there’s no chance I’ll understand the answer.

Wait a second!

I freeze for a moment and turn my many minds inward, sifting through the hundreds of thousands of strands of Will flowing into me. I thought I’d spotted something, something I’ve been looking for… there it is!

Finally found you! I seize the thread with delight and work out where it’s coming from. Of course you’d come to this new fortress, so much space, so many walls for you to work on, it’s basically a blank canvas, one that you could never resist!

inside the mountain! I’ve been wanting to catch her for ages, and try to get her to agree to stop making so many damn statues of me! Not to mention the murals! I don’t even want to think about the paintings. Those are new and even more embarrassing. The Colony’s continual absorption of new cultural artefacts from the various races we encounter has only accelerated with time, and the main way they seem to be applied is in finding new ways to depict me

with me painted on the side the other

A VASE.

need vases for?!

won’t get away without getting an antenna-full of complaints from the subject

a crack, just wide enough for a constant stream of traffic to move both in and out, but due to my unusual size, I don’t fit. Tiny can suck in his gut and

I’m stuck while they open it up a touch, a rather difficult feat considering the things must weigh thousands of tons. Another remarkable

nest properly, I make to rush off, ready to hunt down that damned artist, but I’m held up

there, Eldest! It’s your lucky

the tiny ant

are you here? What’s

get to talk to me

THWACK.

why you’re here,” I tell her irritably. I need to

necessary. I was asked to tell you

My curiosity

“Go on then.”

started to sense the tier eights rising up through the layers. The fighting is getting more intense all the

chance? My antenna twitches and Brilliant vanishes