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 of my birth. Fighting in tunnels was my first experience in the Dungeon,

efficient to bite all these monsters one by one, which is why Gandalf brought us awesome

VOID CHOMP!

the 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 one of them. Infused with the Will of the Colony, the spell is so searingly hot, and travels so far, that

Neat.

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

it. Someone 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 antennae have become so large I

relieve the pressure 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 your thing too. The experience and Biomass you can

don’t seal the tunnels and close off the nest?” Solant

of, the wave. How many thousands upon thousands of Biomass are being harvested in the

in understanding, but

With every wave, we supercharge the development of the family. Who could say how long

only to find a horde of reinforcements rushing down a

“I assume–?”

“Hurry up!” Victor yells.

a little

between different tunnels, helping to roll back the encroaching monsters and

everything, discussing amongst themselves as they develop ideas and strategies

during a wave. No matter how far back I push the hordes of ravenous beasts,

we make our way back to the central hub this time, the activity inside is even more frenetic

to work out