Chrysalis

I can feel it. I’m not sure exactly how, or why, but I can feel it. Far, far below where I stand, something has shifted. I feel as though I’m standing in a rail tunnel and somewhere out in front, the very first rumblings of the train coming my way can be felt.

My antennae tingle at the intensity of it. It’s like a rush of blood to the head. I can practically smell the rush of mana building far below.

[Ever lived through a wave, Mr Odin?] I ask my new demon friend.

We’ve made our way to the border city where Sarah lives. I thought it would be useful to introduce him to another human survivor like himself, other than me of course. He seems to be someone who’s struggled a fair bit in his time on Pangera, so he might get something from a meeting with Sarah, who similarly struggled.

I’ve been doing great here, so I can’t really empathise as well as I’d like to.

Trying to teach Odin what he needs to know is a draining process. There’s just so much that he doesn’t know, and a great deal that I don’t know either. Which are the greatest human kingdoms? Why would I know that? Why would I want to know that?

I can say which is the greatest ant kingdom in the Dungeon! Why bother with anything other than that?

[A wave?] he replies, acting cagey.

He’s always acting cagey.

[Think of it as a period of intense monster spawning. The mana level rises throughout the entire Dungeon, which results in all spawns going absolutely nuts. The number of monsters being created every hour goes up by about a hundred fold. It’s quite intense.]

The demon blinks. He has eyelids, dammit. I wish I could blink.

[That sounds… dangerous,] he says, narrowing his eyes.

I can’t do that either!

[Of course it’s dangerous. Things are going to get wild. What’s worse is that monsters from deeper in the Dungeon are able to climb up, since the mana level can sustain them.]

[When is this going to begin?] Odin asks, and I can already tell he’s planning how to profit from the situation. His brain is like a mess of gears, always turning, hunting for advantage, no matter what gets fed into them. The more serious the situation I describe, the faster the gears turn.

life has

to judge? He probably had a much harder life than I did, I

[Couple of hours?]

[What?!]

like never before and I give him a friendly slap

You’re in the safest place a monster could hope to be. Going it alone out there would be a nightmare, but here, me and the family

a

what

I’m confused.

number of us are born from the same mother. If not, then we’re born

I was thinking about a

any questions about it, he has a far off look in his eye and I swear I can hear offers that cannot be refused

There she is!

How’s things going,

trots over to us with a

me that,] she complains. [I

I got carried away. I came over to introduce you to another

give Odin a nudge, but he doesn’t introduce himself. He’s too busy staring up at the intimidating ursine

say your

killing machine the world has ever

You what, mate?

as she looks down on the much smaller

sling a leg around his shoulder and pull him toward

bit miswired in the