Chrysalis

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Ah, the satisfying feeling of having my face hands clapping fools. The monsters of the fourth stratum are tough, there’s no doubt about that, but these are all spawned during the wave, without enough evolutions or mutations to really threaten a highly developed monster like me.

A mass of boulders rumbles towards me, acting in harmony as if connected by some invisible force. An earth elemental?

Chomp!

I shatter it.

“Skreeeeee!”

A feathered worm bursts out of the soil in front of me.

Chomp!

Not today, worm!

A weird, dinosaur-looking thing charges at me, waggling its little arms.

Chomp! Chomp!

Needed two that time!

the relatively narrow confines of the tunnels just feels more like home to me. Part of that is likely my ant nature, and the other is probably down to the circumstances of my birth. Fighting in tunnels was

bite all these monsters one by one, which is why Gandalf brought

VOID CHOMP!

frothing beasts and I follow up with a scorching blast of Dragon’s Breath, the hyper-potent jet of flame superheating even the rock of the tunnel wall. There’s a lot of spells I haven’t juiced up with the Altar to see their full effects, and this is merely one of them. Infused with the Will of the Colony,

Neat.

retake the next layer of walls at this rate, but if I pour water over it all, won’t the rock crack? I

shoulders can make

to the defensive line, exchanging ant high-fives with the stout warriors of the Colony as I pass through. I have to be careful with those now. My antennae have become so large I can

and her gang. “After you’ve evolved again, you lot will be able to get in there and do your thing too. The experience and Biomass you can

seal the

harnessing of, the wave. How many thousands upon thousands of Biomass are being harvested in the second and third strata right now? How many cores? All of that is

in understanding, but I have more to

that real combat is the fastest and most effective way to train your Skills, as well. With every wave, we supercharge the development of the family. Who could say how long

little ants and my crew back to the command centre only to find a horde of reinforcements

“I assume–?”

“Hurry up!” Victor yells.

a little

the next few hours bouncing between different tunnels, helping to roll back the encroaching monsters and allowing the Colony to reclaim

and strategies together. When I feel it’s safe,

a wave. No matter how far back I push the hordes of

the central hub this time, the activity inside is even more frenetic than usual. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that things are a

not hard to work out