Chapter 31 Unwelcome guests (1/2)

The trail has been detected!

It looks the members of my colony have been to this lake after all! This is incredible news, I could possibly just wait here next to the lake for them to show up and follow them back to the nest!

Staying close to the lake I tip tap my antennae on the ground and follow the trail away from the water. It absolutely seems like a solid trail has been lain down here. The more often ants use a particular path the more they will reinforce the trail with pheromones, making the trail more and more solid.

I don't think this path this path has been in particularly heavy use but members of the colony have certainly been here a few times.

I retreat back to the safety of the lake and can't resist a small dance of happiness.

Nearby monsters are looking at me funny out of the corner of their eyes. It probably isn't very often they are treated to some amateur ant freestyle tap.

My new family is with reach!

After being on my own in this Dungeon for days on end it'll feel so nice just to see another ent.i.ty that doesn't want to eat me!

I'll get to see my Mother in another world, the Queen. I wonder how big she is?

I really didn't get to see my mother much back on earth, most of the time I'd been on my own. Hopefully this time I'll be able to help out a bit more and we can work together!

Gah! I'm too excited!

Need to chill, need to calm down.

It's important I don't forget where I am, this environment is incredibly dangerous. If I run about whilst this distracted I'll just get myself killed.

I scout around for a few minutes until I find a nice nest site and dig myself my now patented L chamber and close over the top.

Ensconced in total darkness I once again begin the exhausting process of training my Mana Manipulation.

*puff*

The chamber is briefly illuminated every time the small cloud of mana is released from my mouth.

*puff*

Eventually I exhaust my mana, once again failing at my last attempt, unsuccessfully directing the energy due to my exhausted mental state.

The road ahead is still long.

Once this is done I decide to rest, entering the state of torpor, the sleep equivalent of the insect. I'm getting more and more accustomed to this rest. Without closing my eyes, just going still and sort of zoning out for an extended period of time.

Eventually I wake up feeling much more rested and calm.

Phew.

Too many exciting development have happened here. I need to continue to take it slow for a little while and take stock of things.

My original plan of staying here to level up Mana Manipulation isn't a bad one, the added benefit now is that if I keep track of the lake there is a chance I'll be able to join up with a group of my colony mates and follow them back home to the nest!

The other option available is to try and follow the trail back to the nest on my own but I'm reluctant to take that risk when it may not even be necessary.

I'll stay here and continue to train up a few skills!

The other skill I want to increase is Dig. It may not be the flas.h.i.+est skill, the best use in combat or indeed, particularly useful for anything really.

But I like it!

If you had to ask me what the fundamental skill of the ant is, it would be their incredible capacity to construct their nests and at the center of this is the ability to dig like a boss!

Besides, it is super easy to level up, all I have to do is dig about. With this in mind I start to make extensions to my small chamber, digging small, narrow tunnels in a few directions just a meter under the surface, diverting around, under or stopping a tunnel completely when I run into rock. For some reason the work is soothing, I'm almost humming to myself as I s.h.i.+p loads of dirt back and forth in my mandibles.

The ground here is particularly wet as well, I have to extend away from the lake and it isn't long before I encounter tree roots the buried stems of the giant mushrooms in my tunnels.

Every now and again I dig up to the surface to create a little ventilation and also just to scope out what is happening around the place. This mini exits also provide a nice place to ditch my soil as I go.

I get so engrossed in digging that I didn't even notice when the notification for the skill reaching level came through. When I stop working and try to think about how much time has pa.s.sed I realise I must have been digging for almost six hours.

Level five Dig!

If only I had a skill point, I'd be super curious to see what this skill will upgrade into!