Chrysalis

"Nice work, Brilliant! You're getting a lot quicker with that dark magic."

"I quite like it, to be honest. Watching Crinis jump through shadows has been an inspiration for me!"

"What's it like to be able to perceive the shadow dimension?"

The smaller ant thinks for a long moment.

"Weird," she says.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Trying to explain another dimension to a person who can't see it would be quite the challenge I imagine. How do you explain colours to a blind person?"

The little ant has been hard at work over the last week improving her skills rapidly and showing her usual obsessive focus when it comes to getting into places that she shouldn't. After carefully studying Crinis and her method of slipping through the shadows she has taken it upon herself to master the same technique, drilling herself with shadow magic until it ranked up to dark magic.

According to her, being able to perceive the shadow dimension all around her is quite the benefit since she can tell where it is strong and where it is weak, thus allowing her to more easily create 'gates' from one shadow to another. I've had a few discussions with Crinis and she believes that she could benefit from something similar. During her next evolution I'm sure she will explore the possibilities in great detail.

What it's allowed the little ant to do is employ a wide range of tactics that involve, for the most part, keeping herself hidden in a shadow whilst launching sneaky spells by poking her head out of the darkness.

Whilst it's certainly powerful, there are many drawbacks. The mana cost is prohibitive and difficult to maintain, this goes doubly so since she can't absorb nearly as much ambient mana whilst hiding in a shadow pocket, so even her impressive mana intake isn't enough to sustain it for long. Also, since the bulk of her attention is focused on maintaining the shadow portals, her offensive output is still lacking to say the least. She's still working on bringing her mind magic up to the point that she can use mind constructs, but once she gets there I'm sure her ability to multi-task all these spells will increase dramatically.

For our purposes though, it has proven to be an excellent way for her to engage in our hunts and continue to develop her combat skills, since she can remain very safe for the duration of a short sharp fight.

All we need now is for the damn kaarmodo to get off our backs.

[Leave! This area is claimed by the people of the sand! Your kind has no place here!]

[Alright already! Sheesh.]

I have a careful look around the area in which our last fight just ended. It's true that I kind of lost track of where we were headed as we chased a tier four demon around. He was a speedy bugger but we managed to chase him down eventually, but even so I didn't think we ran into lizard land.

[Is it just me or are your borders shifting? I didn't think this spot was claimed by you…]

[Whatever we say is ours is ours,] the pugnacious reptile replies. [Now leave!]

Seriously, all the giant lizards I've run into down here have a serious attitude. I mean, if I was a giant lizard several hundred years old with a bunch of slaves who waited on my every whim I might develop a stunted personality too, but it gets grating after a while.

[We're leaving, alright? We're leaving!]

Yikes.

We turn around, but not without making sure we drag the Biomass with us. Even if it's only a tier four, I refuse to leave the prize behind!

As we go I watch the big lizard and its entourage from the back of my eyes, a little suspicious of their rapid appearance. We've been skirting the edges of their turf for days now, poking our noses where they probably don't belong but always making sure to pull back before we cross any lines. Despite that fact, they always seem to be there waiting for us, ready to deliver an ultimatum and declare that we need to vacate the premises with all haste.

I'm going to have to check in with the scouts, but I swear to Gandalf they are appearing further and further from their cities each time they show up. If things continue at this pace then by the time another week has gone past we'll be standing under the shadow of Orpule getting told to shove off. Naturally this behaviour has failed to penetrate my calm…

Who am I kidding! It's aggravating in the extreme! These damn lizards are clearly provoking us! They dare to try and stomp on the Colony?! I bite them on the ankles! I'll tear down their cities and turn their hides into shoes for my non-existent feet!

Clearly, I'm getting frustrated.

But I've managed to hold my temper and back away each time. It's been incredible to bear witness to my own growth! No, it won't be me that throws the Colony into a mess this time, it's someone else's turn. This time I'll be able to swoop in at the last second and save the day, with a quip and slightly condescending attitude I'll be able to look down on the others a bit as they all praise me for saving their carapace.

Gweheheheh.

Nothing is going to get in the way of my dreams, no matter how irritating these kaarmodo get, I won't budge!

With all the Biomass that I've managed to haul in over the last while I probably have enough to mutate a reasonable amount of things, I should probably check in on my skills as well since I haven't done that for a while. I make a snap decision on the spot.

[Alright then gang, we're going to head down into the tunnels for a bit of hunting and then look for a quiet spot to bunker down. I've got plenty of Biomass to spend so it's probably time I went ahead and got it done.]

[What do you want to do after that, master?] Crinis asks.

I consider.

[I wouldn't mind sweeping about through the tunnels to see if we catch a trace of the worm one more time. Once that's done we should check in with the scouts to see if they're having the same troubles as we are with pushy lizards. I'll be interested to see if these issues are more widespread than just us.]

If it turns out that they are then we might be seeing a prelude to another war.. The kaarmodo shouldn't have any reason to be aggressive against us, unless perhaps they think they might be capable of cashing in on the massive fortune that the lives of my siblings represent. Why go hunting for cores when literally tens of thousands of them can be found right on your doorstep?