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!

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

monsters one

VOID CHOMP!

Altar, the bite shatters entire ranks of 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

Neat.

ants aren’t going to be able to advance and retake the next layer of walls at this rate, but if I pour water over it all, won’t the rock crack? I don’t want

with a clearer head on their shoulders can make those sorts

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 cause some real damage if I’m not

least,” I announce to Solant and her gang. “After you’ve evolved again, you lot will be able to get in there and do your

the tunnels and close off the nest?”

right. Despite the danger, despite the casualties we inevitably suffer, it’s worth it. The Colony has only grown as fast as it has thanks to our successful defence against, and 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 fed back into our growth, powering our mutations and evolutions, producing

but I have more to

your Skills, as well. With every wave, we supercharge the development of the family. Who could say how long it

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

“I assume–?”

“Hurry up!” Victor yells.

a little bit,

helping to roll back the encroaching

all, Solant and her broodmates watch everything like insectile hawks, especially their leader. They study everything, discussing amongst themselves as they develop ideas and strategies together. When I feel it’s safe,

during a wave. No matter how far back I push the hordes of ravenous beasts, they return in less than ten minutes, baying for the sweet,

inside is even more frenetic

to work out why,