The Antventure Begins

17. The Deep Roads

That centipede was not a pretty sight. Ripped right in half with its internal organs spilling out. Urk…

However, I couldn’t pass up the precious opportunity that those hideous remains represented. Sweet, sweet Biomass!

Using all of my guile, I retrieved the corpse, one half at a time and returned to the security of my nest for the… feast.

Holy moly, this is awful eating.

Almost so disgusting I would rather starve. Almost. This is a very keyword, almost. Would you like to starve to death, Anthony, or eat this pile of smashed centipede? I would rather eat, but only just!

[You have gained one Biomass.]

Huh, it seems each creature usually contains one Biomass.

Something interesting that I paid more attention to this time is the leftovers. I can’t eat every part of these monsters, the fangs, carapace, teeth and anything else that is too hard for me to ingest, so what happens to these pieces?

After waiting more than an hour, a faint blue glow begins to surround these chunks and before my very eyes they sink into the ground.

What the… Creepy!

These leftover materials are being absorbed straight back into the soil? Does that mean this cavern network is absorbing monster pieces from all over? What for!

The more I learn, the more questions I have.

Well, now for the important business. I currently have three Biomass and one Skill Point to spend. Firstly, the Biomass. Despite my current level of improvement, my vision remains officially awful. My policy of assessing before fighting is unchanged, so improving my senses is a must!

[Do you wish to improve Eyes? This will cost 3 Biomass.]

Ugh. Here we go… Yes…

GUOOOH! The itch! It’s worse than before-eee! How? How can it be WORSE!

As if an entire swarm of bees decided my eyeballs were the greatest offence to their species, my eyes lit up with spectacularly intense itching. After much scrabbling, rolling, and beating my head against the wall, the feeling eventually fades away.

Phew… Now to the next task, assigning my Skill Point!

[Would you like to spend your Skill Point?]

Yes indeed!

The usual menu appears and another mystery is quickly solved. Now that my stealth has reached Level five, an upgrade is available. Looking through my list of skills to purchase, along with dash and the skills I’d seen before, is a new option.

[Stealth (I) [?] Advanced Stealth (II): Cost 1 SP. The upgraded Stealth skill further improves the skill holders’ passive ability to avoid notice, while greatly increasing this ability when remaining still.]

Oh ho! When my skills reach Level five, I can upgrade them to an improved version at the cost of another Skill Point? Interesting! I’d be an idiot not selecting this skill. Not being seen is the same thing as being alive! The new passive seems very handy as well.

Now my status is like this:

Name: Anthony

Level: 3

Might: 15

Toughness: 12

Cunning: 25

Will: 18

HP: 30

MP: 0

Skills: Digging Level 4 (I); Acid Shot Level 3 (I); Grip Level 3 (I); Bite Level 3 (I); Advanced Stealth Level 1 (II); Tunnel Sense Level 3 (I)

Mutations: Eyes +3; Antennae +2; Acid Gland +1

Species: Hatchling Ant Worker (Formica): Skill Points: 0

Biomass: 0

Finally, Level three! I’ve come so far, I could almost cry.

This is my pride, my determination. I will conquer these caves and they will bow to my incredible strength!

…At some point in the future.

For now, I need to lay low and continue to scout. In a one-on-one fight with almost anything I’m going to flat out lose. But with Advanced Stealth, I feel more confident exploring the shaft, heading deeper into this place.

I wasn’t able to detect a pheromone trail in the cavern, and although I haven’t been able to scout it properly, I can’t deny I’m very curious to see what lies down below.

If I didn’t have the new upgrades to my eyes and stealth, I probably wouldn’t chance this.

Time to witness what lies in the depths!

Giving my antennae a quick clean—got to keep them shiny—I make my way out of the nest and back towards the vertical shaft. Okay, this is a little tricky. Moving directly downwards still makes me a little nervous. It isn’t something humans can have a chance to do after all. Walking down a wall is one thing, but walking down a black hole where I can’t see the bottom is another entirely.

Steady now, steady!

Making my way down the shaft, I realise it’s actually quite bright in here. The pulsing veins of soft blue light run the length of the walls, illuminating the rock in their glow. Although not as bright as regular daylight or a light from my own world, it’s a well-lit environment compared to what I’ve experienced so far in this place.

The walls pulse every minute or so, the light waxing and waning in intensity, giving the shaft a very organic feel. Also, it’s hard to detect, but I think the light is ever so lightly becoming brighter the farther down I go.

After cautiously climbing down fifty metres, something surprises me greatly.

What the heck is this!

Growing out of the wall, directly atop a light vein, is a small tuft of something similar to blue grass. Except in the centre of the small mound of plant matter, is a stalk atop which is a tiny blue crystal flower.

There’s plant life here in these caves! How? There isn’t any sunlight. Perhaps these veins are able to provide some kind of sustenance? The blue flower is extremely small, but by shoving my ant face right up to it, its exquisite detail comes into focus.

Just beautiful.

Leaving my discovery behind, I continue down the tunnel only to discover the small patches of grass with their accompanying flowers are appearing more and more often. Followed by the detection of another welcome surprise.

Pheromones!

My antennae waggle like crazy detecting the scent of the chemical trail left by my colony. My clan, my tribe, my people-insects!

I have chosen the correct path. Clearly the scout from my colony originated down here somewhere and pursued the thieves who raided our nest higher into the caves. What a brave scout. How diligent and bold! Giving his all for the colony, just as I shall when I get home. This is the ant way after all!

Excited by my find I continue on my way downwards.

Another forty metres and the shaft ends abruptly. There’s a narrow tunnel branching to the left. This tunnel is not at all straight, jagged corners and bends come one after the other, slowing my progress to a crawl.

I refuse to barrel blindly around corners in this place. There could be more spiders or all sorts of horrible things hiding in there. This goes double since I’m worried the monsters will be stronger down here than what I’ve seen so far.

To the right is a wider, less deathy sort of opening, and I take a chance to poke my head around the corner. To my shock, the tunnel abruptly opens wide. What. The. Hell. Is this?