Chrysalis

Solant watched the battle unfold from amongst the very thick of it. Close enough to the front that her own mandibles had seen their fair share of action, she looked into the jaws of the enemy and directed the fighting from amongst the thick of it.

“Burn and slide,” she ordered.

“BURN AND SLIDE!” roared the troops around her.

Instantly, powerful blue flames erupted, igniting the air in front of the line. Monsters cried out in the heat, but the flames continued; they had learned not to underestimate these creatures.

For a further ten seconds, the mages continued to burn the tunnel as the soldiers and scouts massed behind them with generals for support.

At the same instant, every mage cut off their burst to reveal the tunnel ahead had become a searing wasteland, the rocks still smouldering as they glowed cherry red.

For a single second, the ant force assessed the field ahead of them, then launched their slide manoeuvre. Soldiers dashed, forcing their bodies forward, building speed until the front rank lifted their legs completely off the ground, held aloft by the momentum of the ants locked behind them. The moment they cleared the searing stone, their feet touched the ground again and the soldiers behind lifted their feet. Across the walls and ceiling, the scouts and generals surged, mandibles gnashing.

Solant had found that fire, while not sufficient to burn through the sturdy defences these monsters coated themselves with, did slow them down. Burning away the outer layer of sludge and clearing the rock allowed the ants room to approach and attack with their natural weapons.

tight with their jaws. Acid hissed and steam filled the air, but the soldiers endured. From the flanks, the

onto its back. Far from the devastating barrage of goop, the creature unleashed the acid directly onto the stone floor of the cavern. With its belly exposed, the remaining ants dove on its weakness,

and triage. I want

had proven to be far more effective than pure flame when purging the sludge the monsters of the fifth left behind, but such rapid cooling and heating of the rock was dangerous. Since it wasn’t in the

all, if they collapsed and closed off the nest, that would stop all the experience, cores and Biomass from

in many directions, yet there was no chaos, it was almost a dance, as ants filed into neat lines with perfect synchronisation, flowing between each other with effortless timing. The more time she spent with them and the more time they drilled, the smoother each and

training ground that wars

and determined, the soldiers and scouts who had closed with the beast marched back to safety, despite the heavy burn wounds they suffered. As they passed, each was blasted with water magic to cleanse them of the offending slime and doused in healing fluid to kick-start the mending

only a few hours, but having to

She needed a tactic, method, or tool that more specifically

a great deal of time working with the core shapers lately. There were many things they could be used for

at the end of her shift, Solant bid her troops to continue their drills under the guidance of

them directly. Surprisingly, she

How nice to