Between a Rock and a Carapace

75. Eye of the Tiger, Mouth of a Teamster

Hmmm…

He… hehe…

HeheHA… Hoo…

Ha! Hahahahaha!

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Victory! Sweet, sweet victory has been secured! For the colony! For all of ant-kind! I almost felt sorry for that stupid rhino monster. I rate the monster as little more than a ridiculous concept. It was too slow when it mattered, and unable to defend itself in so many situations. Hardly the kind of thing that could be depended on in any sort of situation. After battering it with a hail of condensed Gravity Bolts, it was unable to muster any sort of resistance at all!

When the monster can’t even move, surely they couldn’t have believed I wouldn’t be able to break through that tough defence eventually? Morons! Pure morons! Now they’ll be forced to bow before the mighty strength of the ant! They have no choice but to acknowledge our superiority.

GWEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

[They still think you’re useless,] Granin broke into my triumphant internal monologue.

WHAT?

After the battle, I’d eaten my fill of the rhino and been escorted back to my cell. Fortunately, the Shapers weren’t cheap enough to rob me, and my hard-won Biomass was delivered to my cell, along with the core of the slain monster. Granin appeared shortly after for a debrief, radiating smugness.

[How did you even know what I was thinking?] I demand.

[It’s not hard to work it out. You’re very prideful of your species, and your antennae do this weird twitchy-thing when you get overly happy.]

Dangit.

[Though it is nice to see you in a better mood, at any rate,] Granin continues. [You’ve been a little unsteady for a while now. If you don’t mind me saying so.]

[I wonder why that would be?]

He does have a point. Being captured and thrown into this terrible situation has thrown me off-balance. It’s been a real struggle to adapt to the rapid change in my circumstances and face being put at the mercy of others for the first time since my rebirth. My stress has been building to dangerous levels. Although it would be weird for a human to say, having the opportunity to battle and triumph has really helped me settle down. I’m thinking more clearly, and I feel calmer.

I can’t hold onto the grudge. That won’t help me get out of this situation. That’s something I need to keep on reminding myself. The time to hold tight to the grudge is after I’ve made my escape and make contact with the colony…

[See, you’re doing it again—the happy antennae wiggling-thing.]

[Ah… How curious.]

[Don’t waste the core of this beast either. It’s a tier six, and they made sure to stuff it full at every Level. Could even make an interesting pet—]

[Rejected. I already have a meathead, power pet. I don’t need another.]

[You mean the ape? This creature is far superior to that—]

[Rejected.]

[Fine.]

Granin shakes his head and dismisses the thought with a wave of his hand.

[Have you taken any time to look at your status since the fight?]

[I haven’t, actually. I know I got a few Levels…]

[May as well take a peek. Then we can work out what you need to do before the next battle. We should have a few days.]

[Right.]

I quickly bring up my menu and check out my status.

Name: Anthony

Level: 23 (Rare) (V)

Might: 91

Toughness: 79

Cunning: 64

Will: 55

HP: 158/158

MP: 280/280

Skills

General:

Expert Excavation Level 7 (III); Expert Grip Level 2 (III); Expert Stealth Level 1 (III); Tunnel Map Level 10 (II); Iron Mind Level 6 (IV); Expert Stamina Level 12 (III); Profound Meditation Level 16 (III); Flicker Dash Level 10 (III)

Mana:

Mana Transformation Level 20 (III); Advanced Condensed Mana Level 11 (III); Finer External Mana Manipulation Level 15 (III); Mana Coveter Level 7 (III); Expert Water Magic Affinity Level 3 (III); Empowered Mind Magic Affinity Level 6 (III); Expanded Mana Sensing Level 8 (III); Empowered Healing Magic Affinity Level 4 (III); Advanced Fire Magic Affinity Level 5 (II); Advanced Earth Magic Affinity Level 2 (II)

Pet:

Distant Pet Communication Level 5 (II); Core Crafting Level 2 (IV); Pet Growth Speed Level 1 (I)

Defensive:

Master Exo-Skeleton Defence Level 2 (IV); Advanced Dodge Level 8 (II); Advanced Endure Level 4 (II); Advanced Grace Level 3 (II)

Offensive:

Deadly Acid Shot Level 9 (III); Expert Precise Shooting Level 2 (III); Omen Chomp Level 8 (IV)

Mutations:

Senses:

Heightened Perimeter Eyes +20; Oracle Antennae +20

Defence:

Complete Diamond Carapace +25; Supportive Healing Inner Carapace Plating +20

Physical:

Tough Rapid Osmotic Legs +20; Bright Empowered Mandibles +20; Potent Regrowth Regeneration Gland +20; Convincing Pheromone Gland +20; Vast Hungering Stomach +25; Blink Musculature +15; Transmission Sub-Neural Network +15

Acid:

Mana Feasting Bind Acid +20; Hyper Pressurised Acid Nozzle +10; Thickened Potent Acid Concentration Gland +10; Rapid Fatiguing Acid Stimulation Gland +10

Mental:

Indomitable Coordination Cortex +20

Mana:

Unending Gravity Magic Gland +20; Vast Collective Will Vestibule +5

Species: Juvenile Colony Paragon (Formica Sapiens)

Skill Points: 6

Biomass: 327

A lot of progress has been made! Having my sub-brains grinding away at Skills has been worth it. My Mana Manipulation has maxed out, which is nice. I’ll rank that baby up immediately. External Mana Manipulation is climbing particularly well, this can only be a good thing. Tunnel Map has also hit the cap, but since I can’t go anywhere, I’m a little reluctant to upgrade it… The elemental magics are chugging along. I haven’t started on air yet, but I should get there at some point. Some point soon in fact, so I may as well go ahead and purchase that. After grinding for food and chomping on most of the rhino, I’ve piled up a good bank of Biomass as well, all of which needs spending!

A heck of a long way to go for my next evolution. Level eighty seems forever away. I doubt I’ll get to it during this darned competition, at any rate.

I’m not willing to reveal too much information to Granin, but I feel as though the rock-man has earned at least some degree of trust from me. Certainly, there is a lot I can learn from him. Whereas the sophos were willing to share their secrets of Core Shaping and pet rearing, they were more closed-mouthed on general System knowledge.

I was able to learn some stuff from Beyn, but his knowledge is specialised for humans. These guys, the cultists, have an incredibly in-depth understanding of the System from the monster perspective. I’m not likely to find another opportunity like this for a long time!

After I share some of my information with Granin, he thinks about the awesome specimen of ant that is me, and all of my fantastical achievements, no doubt.

[So… you have a total of four brains inside that shell of yours?]

[Yep.]

[And a coordination cortex?]

[Sure do.]

[…Why?]

Isn’t it obvious?

[You aren’t convinced of the glorious power of multiple brains after that display? The answer is simple! So I can think about multiple things at once! I can cast multiple spells at the same time, maintain multiple Mana constructs. It seemed like an inevitable choice if I wanted to use magic in fights.]

[Except you could have taken the Split Thought Skill and achieved the same result with one, powerful brain. In a way, you aren’t wrong. There is plenty of value for a monster to have multiple minds. The reason we don’t see it often in monsters that occur in the Dungeon, or even those we raise in the Cult, is that it takes a tremendous amount of evolutionary energy to develop mental stats, brain matter being as complex as it is. By investing so much into your brains, you’ve sacrificed a lot in other areas.]

[I mean, yes. I did go very much in a magic-focused direction to begin with.]

[Right, but what’s happened is that your other stats have lagged behind where they need to be in order to be competitive at your tier of evolution. I also doubt your mutations focus in one direction, but rather have all sorts of effects?]

[Maybe…]

[Mhmm… On the multiple brains, did you ever consider how the surface races raised powerful mages, seeing as we can’t develop new brains?]

[You know what, I never considered it.]

[No reason why you should, I suppose. For those of us with magic-related classes, we gain mental stats with every Level up, which can lead to some big numbers. Even so, we can’t think of multiple things at once without the Skill I mentioned, but even that has limits. If you Level up External Mana Manipulation and Mind Magic far enough, you’ll be able to use external mind constructs. Essentially, they’re constructs made from Mind Magic that simulate a brain. They still rely on the thinking power of the brain which cast it, but it allows a Shaper to think about multiple things at once.]

[Wait a second. If I have four brains, and each of them is able to create these simulated brains…]

[With high Level Skills, you could have each brain running three constructs, for a total of twelve.]

Holy moly!

[Don’t get too excited,] Granin warned. [Your brains are more than likely too weak to make effective use of the technique. A small amount of mental power divided into three means you’ll have three useless mind constructs. Having powerful minds that utilise this technique isn’t any better than simply creating more brains, but it is more efficient by a decent percentage. You’ll want to develop in this direction in the future, so you’ll have more evolutionary energy left over to supplement your other stats.]

[I thought you’d want me to pour it all into mental stats.]

[That would be better,] Granin admits. [However, you aren’t an unthinking monster I get to shape. You have your own mind, and you can do what you want.]

[I knew we were friends, Granin!]

[Oh heck, no. I hate you—deeply.]