Between a Rock and a Carapace

22. Gate to the Second Strata

The air tickles against my Mana Sense, a new sensation, like a pool of shadow lapping against my mind. There’s something else that’s off about this tunnel. It’s too… civilised. The usual crags and stony pillars that jut upward or downward are curiously absent. It’s almost as if someone curated this section of tunnel to make it more palatable to move through.

Oh, snap!

Have we come across another section of tunnel the humans use? Or does someone else live around here? There’s no ruling it out. Time to engage stealth mode! Which I have to say, I’m not nearly as good at now, given my size…

It’s better than nothing!

[You guys hang here for a minute. I need to go and explore this tunnel to make sure it’s safe.]

[Hurr?] Tiny grunts.

[No, we can’t just fight everything. If we run into those Legion guys, they’ll be more trouble than we need. Use your head.]

[Harr!]

[Yes, I was a bit harsh there, I apologise.]

For an ape so thickskulled that his head might have been condensed within the heart of a neutron star, which itself was the bastard child of another, even denser neutron star, he really could inject plenty of emotion into a grunt.

Crinis, ever obedient and eager to please, was happy to hop off my back. I’m certain she’s planning on keeping an eye on me with her Mana Senses, though.

Stealth mode—activated! Come on Grip Skill, strain! My claws groan as I journey up the wall, my vastly increased mass causing all sorts of trouble. With a bit of effort, I make my way to the ceiling of the cavern and start snooping down the side.

With every step, the Mana thickens and changes, my legs drink it in from the walls and my core soaks it in, recharging at a rapid pace. Nice! We must be close now.

This tunnel is truly massive. It gapes, more than a hundred metres wide and easily more than twenty metres tall. It’s quite the drop from up here, even for me. But fortune favours the bold. Forward, Anthony, go boldly! Where no Formica Sapiens has gone before!

The farther into the tunnel I travel, the clearer the signs of civilised intervention are. The floor hasn’t been carved into stairs, but it’s clearly been flattened and smoothed out, especially in the middle. Perhaps some kind of road? I’m intrigued!

Slowly and carefully, I shuffle step by painful step, even gaining a new Level in Grip along the way. Which helps, but not much. Damn. I’ve got six legs, I should know to never skip leg day. Tough it out, Anthony! Breathe through it!

A few hundred metres down, I spot something that makes me do a double take. It’s a wall. Normally not cause for a whole lot of excitement, but when I say wall, I mean an actual, constructed wall. I might not have spotted it if I hadn’t noticed the smooth curve as it met the tunnel wall on the other side. Bless you, eye mutations. All of those itches were worth it!

Like a stalking tiger, which is actually an upside down ant, I creep forward one leg at a time. I’ve learned since the last time I snuck up on a guard post, they have monster detecting crystals. Considering I can detect a few small critters creeping about, suspiciously few, to be honest, I don’t think they know I’m here, but I don’t want to get much closer.

Instead, I creep around the perimeter long enough to establish that this isn’t some tiny guard post, but rather a more substantial fort-like structure. There’s a rampart, a gate, narrow windows for firing out of. What I don’t see is any people hanging around, but to be honest, I don’t need to. I’ve seen enough!

Time to hightail it out of here! Stealthily…

I turn and sneak my way back to my waiting pets. Tiny is asleep and Crinis is quite anxious. Typical.

[We have an issue, guys.]

[What is it, Master?]

[The way forward is guarded by a big ass fort.]

[HARR!]

[One we won’t attack, you abs for brains!]

[How will we proceed then?]

[We’ll do as any good ant should—prepare the digging formation!]

What else would an ant do? All problems can be solved through the power of digging! The tunnel won’t even have to be that long. A couple of hundred metres and I should be able to pop out past the fort and home free to the second stratum! Gwehehehe.

The deep calm of ant zen washes over me as my face-hands get busy in the soil and rock. With my Tunnel Map, it’s trivial to angle our little tunnel so it meets up with the main passage past the fort.

Post evolution, all that extra power I have goes a long way to speeding up the digging process. My mandibles dig huge grooves, crushing rock with ease and making rapid progress. Tiny and Crinis take up position behind me and haul the dirt out. Tiny with his massive ape hands and Crinis with her hundreds of tentacles are able to scoop and shove the loose material behind us at a rapid pace.

At this speed, we’ll be through in less than a day. Muahahahaha! Stupid fort! Did you really think you could stop me?