Chrysalis

When I 'wake up' from my torpor, Crinis, Tiny, Invidia and I spend a pleasant time chatting and catching up with each other. Everyone has struggled to some extent over the last little while. Defending the platforms has been a gruelling task, and none of us are so powerful we can comfortably shrug off the increasingly dangerous environment.

Tiny's had a hard time, since he has the shortest range of all of us, if we discount his ability to shoot lightning. Blasting things with large amounts of electricity has always been his least preferred method of doing things. After all, why not use the electricity on your fists, then punch and zap things at the same time?

The big ape mimes for us how he had to fight, ducking and weaving as he dodges imaginary blasts of slime and mucus, occasionally unfurling his wings for a dramatic leap into the sky before crashing down with mighty blows. It becomes clear just how hard it's been for him. Fighting at such short range, and with such pitiful defence, he was constantly forced to dodge and move to avoid being deluged with slime. Once monsters got close enough to the blue mana, he could finally unleash strikes from his hands and pummel them into oblivion, but the closer the monsters got, the more he had to dodge.

No wonder he's so irritated.

Invidia, of all of us, had the easiest time. He's been putting his combustion magic to good use, exploding swarms of enemies one after another from a safe distance. Even taking into account the capacity of the fifth to eat away at mana, his mind is so powerful he could still force his spells a good distance into the toxicity, far enough he was never in any real danger. However, even his massive brain has been pushed to the limit after fighting for such an extended period of time, and the monsters of the fifth have been unusually resistant to going boom.

Considering how squishy they are, I would have thought they would suffer a lot from his power, but with their layers of slime and resistance to fire, they've been able to avoid being burned as well as absorb the concussive force of his spells. So he had to work twice as hard to get things done.

has had it the worst of all of them. She literally has to reach out and touch her enemies to hurt them, which is a bad idea in the fifth. She's more than happy to demonstrate how her fights went, showing us how she would drag monsters into the blue zone before… doing what she does. However, every bit of her Darkness Flesh that was exposed to the fifth had to be cut away, lest the corruption spread throughout her entire body. Her body is closer

a heck of a lot of her own flesh, which means getting fed a lot of Biomass to help her get it back. I give her a pat with an antenna, proud of what she's

inside my leg, and I have to shake it until she can't

by the dewy-eyed looks she's getting from Odin, who still follows her around, she unleashed some rather spectacular violence out

comes to find me,

busy right now?" I ask

defenses complete and the fortress functioning correctly, there is a rare opportunity for me to step out of the command

this precious time talking to

so I thought I would do it myself,

ouch. Second, a visitor? Who is coming down to the fifth

during your tour of the fourth stratum. A mage from

mere mention of that place, but I push my anger aside and think. A mage from the Silver City?