The Antventure Begins

29. Croc Landing

New learnings!

I’m able to consume the cores of my fellow monsters in order to reinforce my own, and this has the effect of increasing my max MP.

Fantastic! This means I’ll be able to practice one extra time when I do my Mana Manipulation practice. It also means I’ve learned one more thing about the system that governs my growth in this place.

If I want to gain more and more MP, then I need to consume monster cores to do so.

That feels like it would be a massive challenge though. In order for a monster to have a monster core it must have reached max Level and spent an evolution on it. By definition that means the monster will be strong, not something I’ll usually be able to mess with.

I was lucky this time. I can’t expect I’ll be able to gain more monster cores this easily in the future.

Enough thinking! Time to chase after the titan-croc.

Even if it isn’t rushing, the sheer size of that monster means it moves fairly quickly and I really have to hustle to get back into my shadowing position behind the massive tail trailing the beast as it moves.

It isn’t long before we finally reach the place this unstoppable beast has been heading toward this whole time.

The forest gives way and an open vista appears before me.

It’s a lake.

A huge body of water, glowing with incredible light occupies a large clearing. After travelling for over an hour we’ve moved toward the centre of this huge cavern, but something tells me we haven’t even reached it yet.

This lake is easily a hundred metres across. There’s also small rivers and tributaries running off it. I suspect this lake is fed from an underground source, the water flowing up from beneath the rocky bed and overflowing to create these small streams.

What really dazzles me is the twisting ropes of blue light that rotate around each other in a stately dance within the water. Almost like a double helix pattern. These ropes appear to be connected to the source of the lake and drift around, pushed by some invisible current.

Mana!

I had seen this phenomenon before in the rock pool above, but it had been far, far weaker, the twisting ropes there almost invisible. Even so, the water had been suffused with Mana, causing it to draw monsters from all over the cavern to drink and absorb the energy, trying to condense their cores.

This water must contain truly dense Mana!

Just like before, all manner of creatures had been drawn to the water source to drink and absorb the energy. Perhaps a good chunk of these monsters had already condensed their core and were just restoring the MP they had used up. I have to test that idea.

A large tangle of the basic centipedes is here, and perhaps a slightly different one, something about its colour or shape, but it was concealed within the writhing bodies of the more basic kind. No way to be sure. Perhaps it was nothing.

An evolved version of the Wolf Dragon Cub is here. Larger and more intimidating than before, it has what looks almost like a lion’s mane around its neck, thick proud fur that projects pride and status.

I could swear the creature’s eyes were on fire. It’s hard to make out the details, but the air seems to be shimmering with a heat haze right around its eyes…

No, surely not.

There are other creatures I’ve never seen before. A gorilla looking thing with massive, thick arms and a bat-like face, and smaller monkey-like creatures swarming and screeching around its feet.

Over there are a few of those gargoyle-like monsters that descended from the roof. Past them is what I believe is an evolved Thorn Lizard. Not much larger than the original but more densely muscled, and its spikes are more menacing than before.

Another creature had the appearance of an armoured bison of some kind. Built with its legs low to the ground and thick plates of a rock type substance protecting its face and back.

More and more I spotted new types of monsters around the lake. The sheer variety was dizzying. Just how many different types of monsters are there down here?

It was going to be a real pain trying to remember all of this!

Unfortunately, most of them look too strong for me to deal with. I’ll have to continue to choose my targets very carefully.

As the giant titan-croc approaches the water’s edge, the nearby monsters wisely create space for it. The area the croca has settled in is a large, flattened muddy zone where the monster can stretch out its full length and lap up the Mana-charged water at leisure.

It sure looks good to be the king!

Even with all of these monster types around the lake, there isn’t anything that looks like it could go one-on-one with this guy.

What the heck was a Garralosh that it could produce such fearsome offspring?

Since the peace of the water seems to hold here as well, I move a little ways around from the croc and approach the water’s edge to get a taste.

ZAP!

Wow! That tingling, burning sensation is back in full force! The difference now is that after the feeling floods through my whole body, it then recedes back, like ocean water from a beach, drawing further and further in until it settles completely inside my core.

Checking my status, my MP has regained two points.

Right on!

I take another sip in order to refill myself to max and sit for a moment until the intense sensation fades.

Since I’m here at this lake and can essentially refill my MP for free, this is a perfect opportunity to train my Mana Manipulation skill. I can grind non-stop until hunger forces me to go out for a hunt.

Excited, I start snooping around for a place soft enough for me to construct a basic hiding hole. I manage to find a good spot close to where the titan-croc is currently flopping. I’m thinking that the presence of the dominant monster will help dissuade others from sneaking about here looking for prey.

With my small chamber excavated, I start training Mana Manipulation immediately, bringing it out of the core and directing it to my throat, letting it build up before releasing it in a small puff of magical energy.

Phew!

It’s still punishingly difficult, requiring fierce concentration on my part. Thankfully after my third attempt Gandalf chips in some moral support.

[Mana Manipulation has reached Level 2.]

Hooray! I’ve been waiting for those words.

I eagerly begin my routine again. There’s a barely noticeable change in the difficulty of drawing the energy out of my core and directing it to where I want it to go. One Level was never going to make much difference, I suppose…

However, with the support of my improved skills I’m able to completely exhaust my Mana, and my mind, with six complete sets of practice.

Completely drained, I drag myself back to the lake and start drinking to refill my MP. It takes a while to do this since I find the experience of absorbing Mana from the water to be quite intense.

The only thing I’m really disappointed in right now is that even though I covered so much ground when following the titan-croc about, I wasn’t able to find the pheromone trail laid down by the scouts from the colony at all.

Not even a sniff.

I ponder this as I continue to drink from the lake.

Wait!

If monsters from all over this area of the cavern have come here to drink, then there exists a possibility that members of my colony have also come to this location. I highly doubt a scout would pass such a rich Mana source as this and not mark it down for the rest of the colony to come and get a taste.

This could be it!

Once my MP is refilled, I immediately start to scurry around the lake, tippy tapping the ground with my antennae seeking the welcoming scent of my tribe. The severed one has continued to regrow and is about halfway back now, thankfully!

Other monsters eye me suspiciously but I don’t pay them much mind, even accidently walking over a Wolf Dragon’s tail without realising. Thankfully the monster was too shocked to react and too reluctant to break the water truce to do anything.

When I get halfway around the lake, my antennae start to tingle with a response to the now familiar scent. It’s here!