The Antventure Begins

111. The Reality of the Wave

After eating, I now have enough Biomass to advance my Gravity Magic Gland to +5, thus completing my perfect, all +5 physique. Sadly, due to the wave, I’m too tired to take the full measure of joy from the accomplishment. The omnipresent threat to the colony, my adoptive family, and myself is simply too pressing to allow much room for other emotions.

Heading down the far end of the tunnel, even the indefatigable queen is flagging, in desperate need of food and rest. Without the ability to transport the dirt out of the tunnel itself, the workers have been piling it close to the entrance, narrowing it considerably.

At some point we’ll have to try and shove as much dirt as possible out into the chamber and perhaps seal the entrance.

I’m in two minds about sealing the entrance to the queen’s chamber. On the one hand, we’ll be protected from the monsters, at least a little. On the other hand, we need to fight monsters to eat. We might be digging this tunnel for several more days. Food supply is going to be a problem if we cut ourselves off from the Dungeon.

After I’ve seen that the digging is continuing as quickly as it can, I return to the tunnel entrance where Tiny has fallen asleep. The massive ape blocks off almost half the tunnel space with his prone frame, not that the workers seem to mind. Any traffic simply walks over him or climbs up the walls to go around the slumbering brute.

He needs a good rest, he worked hard.

With a little time and space, I need to spend my Biomass points to improve myself. Every advantage must be sought in order to combat this threat!

[Do you wish to improve Gravity Magic Gland to +5? This will cost 9 Biomass.]

[At this Level you may choose a mutation advancement. Please select from the menu.]

I can’t even muster my usual glee at being able to peruse the menu of available options due to this gloomy atmosphere. Though there are more choices than I’d imagined available.

I can cause the gland to regenerate the energy faster by increasing the conversion speed, have the gland draw in ambient Mana to regenerate on its own rather than siphoning energy from the core, increase the density of the Mana, whatever that means.

I think the option I want is as unexciting as I think it will be effective. I haven’t found a way to use the gravitational energy that is cheap in terms of the amount of Mana required and for some reason I don’t think I’m likely to. The gravity effects of spells seem to be rather powerful or grandiose, which makes sense. It’s gravity after all. To achieve those effects the cost must also be considerably high.

[Deep Gravitational Energy Gland: Greatly increases the capacity of the gland, immediately doubling the capacity and further increasing the capacity with further mutation.]

That’s right. When it comes to Gravity Magic, what I need is more!

More spells! More time! The thirst of these spells is no joke. It must be slaked.

Maybe being able to fill up the tank faster would be better for the short term, but I still think this mutation will prove useful during the wave and be more effective afterwards.

Confirm it!

Bugaaaa!

The Gravity Gland is positioned right next to my core, deep inside my thorax. Needless to say, it’s an extremely awkward place to have an explosive itch.

Rolling around on the ground enduring the mutation process doesn’t prevent the colony from doing its work. Workers delivering food to the far end of the tunnel simply climb over me or, at one point, stop walking entirely and drag me to one side so I no longer block the traffic.

How rude!

I’m too absorbed with my own struggles to take much notice though.

As it always has before, the feeling eventually fades leaving me even more exhausted and simultaneously satisfied. It always feels like an accomplishment when I manage to reach the +5 milestone. Now that I’ve achieved +5 across the board, I suppose my next goal is +10?

I don’t know when the next mutation advancement happens. Could be +10 or even +15… I’ll just pick something and keep improving until I hit the advancement, if it comes.

As much as I want to lie down and rest next to Tiny, I don’t. Instead, I drag my sorry self to the entrance and push my way past the smaller workers until I’m standing on the front line. The sudden glare of the light, which had mostly been blocked by ant bodies, is almost blinding compared to the darkness of the escape tunnel. The veins of Mana are so bright they almost blend, the walls becoming one complete light source.

Monsters have continued to spawn in the chamber, even if only a few minutes have passed since it’d been cleared. Already six creatures are engaged in a desperate struggle.

Seriously, I wonder what on earth the forest is like right now? We’re far from any spawn points that I know of down here and there are monsters popping up constantly! It must be sheer madness.

I leave it all to my imagination. I’m certainly not going up there to check…

The sounds of battle still echo out from the chambers above and the tunnel below with a new sound also ringing through, eating. Seems some monsters have been able to defeat enough enemies and secure some space for themselves to take in Biomass. With mutations and the experience gained from surviving the first wave, these monsters will have a decisive advantage over any newly spawned creatures. If they can stay alive long enough and heal from their meal, they’ll be able to quickly advance, possibly mutate or condense a core.

The wave will send the usual cycle of monster growth into overdrive. The freshly spawned Level one creatures will be shredded by those that managed to survive before them. The lucky few who can survive deep into the wave will have had their growth accelerated dozens of times.

Dammit. I’d love to go out and hunt those monsters down, kill the threat before it can become too serious, but I dare not risk it. Exposing myself to such danger when I’m this weak, potentially bringing harm to the colony as well, is simply not acceptable.

Until Tiny wakes up, I’m going to take responsibility and defend the colony. After a few hours I’ll get him to take over for a while so I can sleep. The tunnelling must continue at all costs!

Very slowly I advance until half of my body is in the chamber with the other half sitting in the escape tunnel. Rearranging my legs slightly I manage to balance myself so the front four are in contact with the chamber floor, keeping the back two supporting the business district.

Immediately that fiery sensation fills my feet. The feeling doesn’t go away either, it spreads up my legs and the absorbed Mana is transported towards my core. From there, a steady stream of Mana is being sapped away into the improved Deep Gravitational Energy Gland, there to be converted over time.

There is just so much Mana here! I just can’t explain how it makes me feel. Insignificant, in a way? Impressed—awed even?

A piercing hiss intrudes on my thoughts. Not from inside the chamber but from above. What the heck? My body tenses up.

Even the monsters already fighting inside the room flinch and step back, giving each other some space as they assess the situation.

From the shaft above, first one, then three, then dozens of dark tentacle-like appendages descend into the chamber, licking at the walls and curling around the rock outcroppings.

Supported on these limbs, a writhing mass which somehow connects to form one whole, enters my sight, that sharp, almost metallic hiss cutting the air.

Holy. Moly.

That thing is hideous.

Either this creature was spawned in the last few minutes or it’s a monster that has been victorious against those that it spawned with and evolved already.

It doesn’t really matter. This thing looks nasty!

Luckily, I have an answer for it.

Hopefully, it doesn’t attack too quickly…