Chrysalis

Another expanse conquered, the great web has been brought low. Vibrant and I lead our group back out into a new section of tunnel as we prepare to launch the next leg of our advance party scouting. The first item on our list of jobs is to retrace our steps, filling in our Tunnel maps and checking that nothing has passed us by during our battle. After climbing through the Dungeon, we reconnect to the point we entered the expanse and find a group of three scouts sneaking about on the roof.

With a quick salute, they report that no changes have been reported to the main nest at this stage. The scouting and expansion mission goes on in all directions around the main nest. The two new nests are under construction, new Queens almost ready to move in. Sounds like great progress is being made on all fronts! There's some news regarding Leeroy and a new squad being sent to fight and level up in the second strata, which is a bit surprising.

A squad with Leeroy in charge? Sounds like a bad DC movie with a band of mildly super-powered criminals banding together. I hope the generals have some idea what they're doing. If I get up there and Leeroy has managed to get herself killed, I'm going to be super annoyed. I've spent a lot of effort keeping that ant alive and I refuse to let all of it go to waste! I'll make a sensible **** member of the council out of her yet.

With all of the news being positive, we pass our update to the scouts so they can return it to the Colony and resume our mission. The time for the next meeting of the council isn't far away and we probably should head back, but since there isn't any major news, I feel comfortable extending our search to the nearby tunnels. Levelling up is one of our objectives, checking for signs of an approaching force is the other! Plenty of the first has been done, but not much of the second.

In terms of powering up Vibrant's squad, we've been an unmitigated success. Every last one of them has reached tier four and are well on the way to maxing out their mutations. There were even plenty of cores to soak up in there, meaning that a lot of them have solidly reinforced their internal gems.

I'm becoming certain that a larger core does more than simply increase the maximum amount of mana that can be stored. The more sensitive my mana sight becomes, the clearer I can detect the flow of mana in my fellow monsters and it's clear that larger cores equate to more mana moving throughout their bodies. It's difficult to examine myself, but my pets are clearly circulating a great deal more energy throughout themselves.

As I continue to think about the nature of monsters and mana (without getting anywhere) and practice my elemental magic, the group spreads out through the tunnels seeking signs of habitation or a force on the move.

[Blue fire magic affinity (IV) has reached level 40, upgrade available]

[Advanced Blue Fire magic affinity (V), cost 1 sp. Enables those who possess skill access to more advanced manipulations of the greater flame. Concentrating heat to finer points and generating greater heat at the point of ignition are key elements of this skill.]

So I can what… create a blowtorch? Whatever, gotta buy it anyway. As I confirm the choice, the usual trickle of knowledge seeps into my brain, drowning out the endless chatter that streams out of Vibrant for a precious few seconds. This is the first of my basic elemental magics to reach rank five, a cause for celebration! Although I can't dwell on it for long. I can almost feel my sub-brains sigh wearily as they whip up a new construct, releasing the fire mana converter they've been holding for several days now. Water next, I suppose, go with the opposite, just to keep things interesting.

I regret going for the rank five fusion. It takes sooo many levels! I've been grinding away at these **** elemental Skills for weeks! I mean, that's rapid progress compared to what most would be capable of, due to my Vestibule and multiple brains setup, but it's getting more than a little tiresome. At least fire is done. I can cross that off the list. Another thirteen levels of ice, and that'll be in the cooler too.

"Hey-hey senior! The scouts think they might have found something! Over here, over here!"

Before she's even finished talking, Vibrant has zoomed off, leaving me to trail along in her wake, as usual. When I do finally catch up after ten minutes of solid running, I find the scouts have indeed managed to find something interesting. In a wider tunnel, already cleaned out by Vibrant's squad, we find clear signs of civilisation. Built into the wall appears to be some kind of way station. A solid, curving wall that tucks the door tight against the wall, concealing it from casual monster investigation is all that can be revealed from this side, but from the size of the entrance, it doesn't seem as though too much would fit inside there.

Perhaps this is a kind of resting point for delvers? Giving shelter and a place to resupply? I haven't seen any such thing before, but that certainly doesn't mean that they couldn't exist. How else would soft humans get around down here? At least the Golgari have the common sense to cover up their spongy flesh with something approaching a carapace.

"What are you thinking, Vibrant?" I ask the hyper-excited ant.

"We crack it open and take a look! Why wouldn't we? Right?! Don't you want to know what it is? I do!"

"But what do you think is going to be - aaand she's gone."

Without waiting for me to finish my no doubt boring sentence, Vibrant leaps forward to engage her loyal squad.

"Open it up! Let's gogogogo!" she cheers.

The ants salute, snapping an antenna to their heads and in less than a minute the wall has been chomped and magicked out of the way to reveal, much as I suspected, a rather small open area with space to lay out a few bedrolls, tightly packed shelves set into the wall with neat packages and jars. There you go, what a nice little design. It's almost like an igloo carved into the wall. A little safe haven for those who need a break from the rigours of the Dungeon. I can imagine how it would feel, for a delver, to make it to this place. Drained, tired, arms heavy and burning after hours of fighting. The horrors of the Dungeon behind you, for just a moment, you crawl through the narrow entrance, muffling all sound, for even here you aren't truly safe. A comfortable meal, a restful sleep. Must be worth more than a person's weight in gold, that sort of rest, down here.

Then imagine that peaceful rest being interrupted by an army of giant ant monsters tearing into the shelter and exposing you to open air. What sort of look would you have on your face?

Turns out, I don't need to wonder about that, since I'm staring at two examples right now. A naked pair of strange furred humanoids stare out at us in utter terror, shock and perhaps embarrassment, before they pass out. Prisoners! How convenient!