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.

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

a human clock, flipping the monster 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, jaws scissoring and tearing through the burning

kilometres,” Solant ordered, “retreat and triage. I want

seconds, instead they simply leapt to their task. The mages, accompanied by their dedicated support troops, rushed to the front and began to work their elemental magic to push back the corrupted mana. Freezing followed by burning had proven to be far more effective than pure flame when purging the sludge the monsters of the fifth

that would stop all the experience, cores

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 every movement became. Solant felt true

on the training ground

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

treatment, they would be back on the frontlines in only a few hours, but having to rotate so many members of the army was putting

tool that more specifically countered these sludge monsters, something

spent a great deal of time working with the core shapers lately. There were many things they could be used for in specific niche roles, something the ants weren’t always suited to do. Now here was a monster that was difficult for them to defeat, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t

to continue their drills under the guidance of her broodmates before she set off to

time to take her concerns to the two of them directly. Surprisingly,

to see you!”