Chrysalis

After Solant returns and the news spreads of the results, there’s a mixed response amongst the Colony. Most of the generals, including Sloan and Victor, are concerned and cautious at the aggravated response of the slugs. So far, these are by a long stretch the most difficult to kill monsters the Colony has encountered.

The rate of attrition is downright awful. Soldiers, scouts and generals are on a constant rotation, recovering from awful burns to their mandibles. Mages are struggling to penetrate the slime defence using their basic elemental magic, leading to horrendously inefficient fights where we pour out ten times the amount of energy their opponents use to attack and infect our tunnels. Even the carvers are in fits, since designing defences that keep out the damned slugs and their corruption is proving to be all but impossible.

Me though? I’m absolutely thrilled.

We’ve proven that the incredibly infectious mana these monsters spread can be countered. That’s massive. The weird jelly-pillars that Solant, Ellie and Bella came up with are pretty much useless for doing anything else, due to just how expensive it is to buy the organs that allow them to perform their cleansing function, but who cares? This is the Colony! We can spoon-feed them xp and cores until the cows come home if we have to.

I don’t think they should even try to make them combat capable. If they get faster at vacuuming up goop and purifying it, that’s all we need. When they get down to the fifth, they’ll have to absorb literal tons of the stuff, gigalitres of toxic sludge just waiting to be cleansed. If they can counter-terraform, fill an area with self replicating anti-sludge, then they’ll have achieved everything they need to.

And as for the super aggro response by the slugs? I’m with Solant, that’s excellent.

“Bella, Ellie! Get me your wuff-squad, we’re going out! You come too.”

“What?” Ellie boggles at me. “Our teams just got back a few hours ago! They need to rest!”

“Don’t give me that, they weren’t even out for that long. I need you for a few hours, tops, and we need to powerlevel the little jellies anyway. These dudes need another two evolutions at least.”

“But we haven’t prepared for that,” Bella tries to reason with me. “We need more time to study the organ and Skill options that will maximise their performance.”

learn as we go. Hurry

shapers can only sigh and begin to round up their people

off your tunnels and come to me as soon as you

[Fight?] Tiny asks.

It’s going to

ape huffs, and I can feel his grin over the

we going, Master? Are you

just get

an hour, all the required parties have gathered and it’s time to depart. The moment Crinis arrives, she glomps

and their charges, who are, I have to say, rather adorable.

down into the deeper levels, heading down the spiralling tunnel that leads roughly straight down from the

us long, once we leave the defensive line behind

I demand and the core shapers, somewhat

wiggle their way forward, happily huffing and swinging their face tendrils, Ellie, Bella and the others watch nervously,

into the sludge with reckless joy and I look on, fascinated, as they begin to draw it into themselves and purify it, releasing their cleansing mist from their tendrils. As the mist fills

Seriously impressive!

second we get spotted, by a slug, it goes completely berserk, gurgling and shrieking as it rushes towards

VOID CHOMP!

CRUNCH!