Chrysalis

It does seem as though the mage ants have evolved slightly in terms of their practice regimen. In some larger areas we find something I hadn't seen them do before: squad based competition. Ten mages per side, twenty in total battling against each other in a dazzling display of coordinated spellcraft. Defence and offense on both sides operates at a furious pace as both sets of ants do their best to break down the other. The contest of Will is so fierce I can practically feel their minds arm wrestling in the air between them as they tussle for control of the mana.

"What brought this on?" I ask Propellant.

"Ah, this. This was inspired by a couple of things. One of the things we learned from Torrina and Corun when they arrived was the way that golgari shapers train, as well as golgari in general."

"You mean, in groups of three?"

"Right," she nods. "The number three is sacred to the golgari for a few reasons, but the group training is also important. Mages being able to mesh their minds together in order to better coordinate is one of the fundamental Skills that the shapers, and other mages around the world employ."

"Huh… I wonder if the kaarmodo we ran into did a similar thing with the slaves that they kept."

"Most likely they did. Once our mages have reached tier four, as well as trained their basic magic Skills to the rank that we need, this becomes their primary mode of training. Group combat. Their job is to mesh their thoughts with the rest of their squad and overcome the enemy. It's highly competitive and the squads work extremely hard at it."

"Do they always train with the same members?"

She shakes her head.

"No. This is somewhere that we differ from the golgari. They like to keep their groups the same in order to deepen their level of cooperation and fellowship, but we decided that the mages should be ready to team up with any other group of mages in the Colony. We don't even always keep the group size the same, forcing them to mix it up and adjust on the fly."

"Is there a Skill associated with this 'thought mesh' that you keep referring to?"

"There is a couple actually. Sense Thought and Harmonic Thinking."

A quick scan of my available Skills list reveals that they haven't been offered to me.

"I'm guessing you need to engage in some group spell casting or some such in order to unlock the Skill?" I ask.

"That's right," Propellant confirms, "so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have it in your list."

I've always preferred to go solo, I suppose. At least in terms of my offense. As we chat the two teams in front of us continue their contest, wrestling at the mana around them as they fling ice, fire and whatever else they can manage as other members of the group focus on breaking down the incoming spells or utilising their mana manipulation to break down their forms before they can land. It's high speed, high octane training and it's a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

Especially for the hatchling.

"What's this!? It's so cool!" she cries as she hops back and forth watching the dazzling display of magic.

"This is training for ant mages," I tell her, "they're practicing to work better in groups and coordinate their thoughts with each other."

"That sounds fun!" she cheers. "I bet I can do it the best!"

"No words without proof," I scold her. "Alright, come on then, it's time to get going."

"Already?" she complains, but I drag her away from the ongoing training exercise as Propellant waves us off with one antenna.

Looks like the mages are still working hard, though I'm a little bothered that they're sticking to the basic magic forms. I might have to have a word with Coolant if I run into her. Raising your rank in the basic elements is fine, but unless you plan to rely on them for a while, it's better for the mages to move onto more advanced constructs. I suppose they might have stayed with basic elements when the majority were tier three. They just wouldn't have had the needed stats to throw into harder spells, but now that the majority are tier four, they should be able to take it up to the next level. I want to see lightning ants dammit! That'll be awesome!

Our next visit is the research and training domicile of the core shapers, and surprise, surprise they are hard at work when we arrive. With the wave dying down, the thousands of core shapers that they sent out to harvest resources have started to return and apparently the records are indicating it was a massive haul. Naturally the ants aren't actually returning with anything, all the cores and Biomass that they harvested went straight into their pets, but when we consider the fighting strength that the Colony has gained, with resources gathered outside our territory, it's a massive windfall for the Colony over all.

"I'm impressed as hell," I congratulate the two core shaper council members, Bella and Ellie. "What your caste has managed to achieve is nothing short of amazing. We'll have need of your people in the future, I'm sure."

"We'll be ready, Eldest!" the two of them are greatly cheered by my words.

"I believe that the core shapers are going to really show what they can do in the near future," I tell them, "you've been working with pets that are too low tier and without reinforced cores and insufficient mutations. Now that you have those things in abundance, you're going to shock the other castes, I guarantee it!"

The two of them are greatly cheered by my encouragement and we leave their area on a high note. I truly believe what I told them. My pets are living proof of how effective reconstituting monsters can be, the primary issue that needs to be overcome is that of Biomass and cores. Even for myself, the requirements of getting to tier seven are enough to make me spit blood, but in reality I'm going to have to pay that price four times in order to get my full squad up to that level of strength. It's exorbitant to say the least. The core shapers have been experiencing this problem as well, but on a far grander scale. Even if they only wanted to raise their pets up to tier four, the Colony would be forking out cores and Biomass for thousands and thousands of tier four monsters, taking food away from the mandibles of the young.

By seizing the moment, shouldering the risk and sending their people out, the core shapers have braved the dangers of the wave and come back stronger for it. By sticking to the lower areas of the first strata, they managed to avoid the worst of the danger as well. It'll be a laugh when I see that demon city overrun by an army of ten thousand monsters, not a single one of them ants!