Chapter 102 The great dig! (1/2)
He certainly looks d.a.m.n strong!
The size of the guy!
I think it's fairly clear to tell that almost all of that evolutionary energy went into Might! Somewhat sadly. I really wish even a sliver of that energy had made it to buffing up his brain power.
Well, it isn't all bad I suppose. Since Tiny has me to help him do the thinking, and he can now receive my instructions, being as good as he can at fighting is probably for the best, especially when considering the upcoming crises we will soon face.
The final thing I need to do is complete my mutations. With eleven points of Bioma.s.s to spend I'll be able to select a mutation advancement for my legs and then upgrade my Gravitational Energy gland twice.
I open the menu eagerly not even listening to the prompts of Gandalf. Lemme check out dem legs!
Ho boy! Look at all these juicy options!
So many selections that I can choose!
Let's see now…. Legs that stick to surfaces? Peh I can already do that… Legs with barbed spines emerging from them to stab enemies? Ouch! Legs with extra running speed, frictionless feet for sliding, legs with skin between them to allow for gliding? What the heck?
I'm tempted to take an option that just makes me faster or something plain like that but then my eyes fall on a choice that piques my interest.
[Absorption Legs, connects the core to the feet, allowing the monster to drawn in mana from the surface it is standing on].
So, if I'm running around in the Dungeon, this option will let me draw in mana from the walls and floor?! If the absorption rate is decent then this could provide the missing link to my magic practice! If I can refill my core and the even more mana hungry Gravitational Energy Gland faster they will become much more useful!
I'll take it!
[Do you wish to select Absorption legs and improve Gravitational Energy Gland to +3? This will cost 11 Bioma.s.s]
Hit me!
FLANARGLE!
AHhhhH! The Itch!
Stupid thing!
….
Most of my preparation in this place is done for now. With Tiny's successful evolution it's time to re-join the colony and do our part to a.s.sist the digging efforts! I ask Tiny to bring along the remain cores and we leave the trap network, heading back to the main shaft before we make our decent to the main nest.
The tunnel walls have grown eerily dim. I haven't experienced this low a light level ever since I was reborn in this Dungeon. The change in condition is disturbing, making the tunnels feel much more threatening and oppressive. Shadows dance menacingly across the walls as Tiny and I pa.s.s through, the patterns of light breaking every time we move.
Tiny is squeezing through the tunnel, hunching his shoulders forward to the point he's almost kneeing himself in the face as he walks. In one hand he cups the remaining cores protectively against his chest.
We descend down the main shaft in silence. The absent workers and darkness press down on our mentality. The only sounds we hear are the echoes of our movements as we descend.
It seems insane that in a few short hours this empty place will become a monster filled death zone.
I'm almost pathetically grateful when arrive towards the lower end of the shaft and the noises of the colony reach my ears.
Being ants and incapable of any sort of speech, it isn't chatter that I hear but scritching scrabble of thousands of legs and grinding of dozens of mandibles as the colony hauls dirt, working at a ferocious pace.
Tiny and I finally descend into the Queen's chamber to discover the room is completely packed with workers, hundreds of them together. Other than a few workers tending to the brood almost all of the ants must be here in this tunnel.
They climb all over each other, some of them heading out and down to the lower tunnel with jaws full of dirt and others running back to collect another haul.
”Keep working children”, the warm voice of the Queen sings out, gently encouraging the colony.
I honestly don't think the workers could work any harder! They are practically vibrating with energy, so eager to work at the side of the Queen as she digs.