Chrysalis

It didn't take much longer for the hatchling to complete her evolution. The jump from tier three to four isn't nearly as large as that of four to five. I imagine that my next evolution is going to put me out of commission for days, perhaps as long as a week! That does make me wonder about the further evolutions. Will going from tier nine to ten take a year? What about the ancients? If they evolve from where they are now, will they end up sleeping for a thousand years or something? Absurd!

When Invidia notices that Brilliant has begun to stir in her System-induced slumber he immediately lets me know and spits the little ant out onto the surface. Her size hasn't increased that much, which means she's continued to invest in almost purely mental stats, pretty much as I expected her to. In fact, she's probably still smaller than carvers, mages and core shapers at this tier, making her the smallest tier four ant in the Colony. I don't know what she spent her evolutionary energy on, but it sure as hell wasn't to beef up her physical form! When I'd initially created the different castes, I'd been sure to give at least a little boost to their Might and Toughness to make them a bit more durable. Dying is not the desired outcome for any of us!

It appears as though the hatchling hasn't put as much thought into that. She looks so flimsy I could probably break her carapace with one leg! If she's going to remain at this size then she's going to be easy pickings for the kinds of opponents that we face here in the third stratum. Surely she came up with a few alternative methods to protect her own life? Actually, considering the attitudes within the Colony, that's far from a guarantee.

After ten minutes of gradual movement, Brilliant eventually springs up to standing and greets us.

"Ah! Hello senior! I hope you weren't waiting long."

"I can already tell that you'd hoped I wouldn't be waiting when you woke up so you could sneak away and explore on your own."

"How?!"

"You're as clear as glass to me hatchling! How'd the evolution go? Manage to pick up something useful?"

"Definitely! I'm getting closer to being able to peel back all of the secrets of this world! Soon enough, nothing will be able to hide from me!"

"Really? What did you end up going with?"

"Muahahaha! Take a look and see!"

"Wait a second, did you just evil laugh? I'm the only one who is allowed to evil laugh!"

"It's not an evil laugh! It's an ominous chuckle! Not even remotely the same."

"Fair enough…"

Activating core shaping with one antenna pressed lightly against the hatchling's head I take a peek at her status.

Name: Brilliant

Level: 1 (Special) IV

Might: 40

Toughness: 40

Cunning: 80

Will: 65

HP: 80/80

MP: 0/110

Skills:

Advanced Digging (II) Level 8; Acid Shot (II) Level 2; Expert Grip (III) Level 7; Crushing Bite (II) Level 5; Rapid Dash (III) Level 7; Exo-Skeleton Defence (I) Level 2; Advanced Stamina (II) Level 7; Mana Moulding (IV) Level 12; Finer External Mana Manipulation (IV) Level 2;

Mutations:

Energy Reactive Exoskeleton +15; Vampiric Mandibles +15; Potent Gripping Legs +15; Mana Weave Eyes +15; Mana Sensitive Antennae +15; Melting Acid Gland +15; Diverse Pheromone Language Gland +15; Heightened Mana Core Lattice +15; Penetrating Dungeon Oracle +15; Dimensional Eye; Energy Stone;

Species: Omni - Seer (Formica)

Skill points: 21

Biomass: 24

The heck is this?!

"Did you spend all of your energy on sensory organs? The dimensional eye and energy stone?"

"I did! I also increased my mental stats. The things I can see right now are incredible! My sensitivity to mana is unbelievable!"

For an ant that always wanted to see everything for herself, I shouldn't be too surprised that she decided to go in this direction. She'll never be content until she's ferreted out every piece of information, every hidden secret for herself. Not satisfied with her current level of sensory information, despite having access to some level of information from the Dungeon itself, she had broadened her options. The dimensional eye in particular is a rather potent organ and likely the main benefit of her current species. Combined with the energy stone, she was now able to detect fluctuations of energy across dimensional boundaries! Nothing could remain hidden from her sight!

"In fact, I can sense energy flowing toward you, senior. And it's coming from me!"

What?!

"Don't worry about that!" I cut her off. "As long as you are happy with your choices, I'm satisfied. I can see you've been diligently practicing the foundational Skills of magic as well. Great work!"

Despite only having the one brain, Brilliant has shown incredible growth with her handling of internal and external mana. This further confirms my suspicion that she has a powerful natural predilection for these Skills.

"You'll need to start working on an elemental Skill before too long in order to work your way up the tiers," I instruct her. "Try a few different choices and see which ones you like. I wouldn't stress too much about which ones you pick, play with all if you want, but be wary of how you spend your Skill points."

I take a few minutes to instruct her on the upgrades and fusions available at the entry level of magic before bringing everyone else into the conversation.

[Alright then, with Brilliant finished with her evolution, it's time to move to the next phase. Are you ready to go on the offensive?]

Tiny nods and flexes eagerly.

[Good! Time to head over to Orpule and see what the next addition to the Colony's territory is going to look like!]

I'm no good sitting around here on my backside! The Colony is more than capable of fortifying and defending the city without me. Vibrant should already be out there causing chaos, time for me to make my approach as well! Our main strategy has never been to sit back and wait for the enemy to come to us. Since the 'rules' of demon combat allow us to attack during this timing window, we shall! Of course, we can't assault the city itself until the set date, but we can do a lot of other things. When they see what we have planned, the demons of Orpule won't dare put a toe out of their homes.

After declaring as much to my pets and the hatchling, we zoom off! The Colony has already been kind enough to establish a lift from the city to the ground, mainly to shift materials in and out of the city without having to climb the pillar holding them in a pair of mandibles, but it serves equally well in order to send a group of heavy monsters down. And I do mean heavy, since Sarah is joining us on this outing. With myself, the massive bear and Tiny standing on the platform, we are surely putting the thing through its paces. It does creak rather worryingly, but we make it to the bottom just fine in the end.

[Let's go everyone! Time to cause some ruckus.]

I love it when I get permission for this.