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!

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

these monsters one by one, which

VOID CHOMP!

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, the spell is so searingly hot, and travels so far, that

Neat.

retake the next layer of walls at this rate, but

with a clearer head on their shoulders can make those sorts of decisions, my work here is

with the stout warriors of the Colony as I pass through. I have to be careful with those now. My

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

don’t seal the

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?

but I

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

back to the command centre only to find a horde of reinforcements rushing down a different tunnel this

“I assume–?”

“Hurry up!” Victor yells.

yourself a little bit,

helping to roll back the encroaching monsters and allowing the

They study everything, discussing amongst themselves as they develop ideas and strategies together. When I feel it’s safe, I bring

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

the central hub this time, the activity inside is even more frenetic than usual. In fact,

hard to work