Chapter 812: On the Trail
The discovery of the termite foe was of great import to the broader Colony. Of course, it precipitated several profound immediate changes, such as the large scale rescue mission that was launched into the fourth stratum, unlocking that most important realm to the family for the first time. More than that, there was a shift in the mentality of every ant, from the brood chambers to the mines. The Colony had always been in conflict, with the Dungeon, fighting off waves, with the golgari, or the Legion, but for the first time it felt as if we were at war.
We were all seized with strange, manic energy, even they who will not be mentioned seemed to relax their vigil as the Colony shifted to a new type of footing. Most of us had never seen a termite, and would never see one, yet we were possessed of new rage that drove us to work ever harder, be ever more perfect.
During this time the second wave of expansion was completed, bringing the number of completed nests to sixteen, the number of active, laying queens to seventeen. Shortly after each of them was elevated to the sixth tier through the relentless efforts of the workforce, maximising egg production and brood quality. It felt like the dawning of a golden age, as our numbers rapidly swelled and even greater swathes of the Dungeon fell beneath our influence, all the while we simmered as we contemplated our rivals below.
And once again, all at the behest of the Eldest. Their designs ever moved our family forward, from the very moment of our creation. I believe, as others do, that even back then the Eldest had seen what was to come, and the inevitable conclusions that would be reached.
Excerpt from "The History of the Colony Volume 2, by Historiant.
Seeing all this water is just a special type of bizarre. I mean, where the heck are we right now? We"re in the Dungeon! We are deep, deep underground right now. I don"t even know how far down we are now, hundreds of kilometres? A thousand? I have no idea how deep the third is, since we only touched the first layer of it, but how in the h.e.l.l am I looking at this freakin" lake right now?! It"s insane.
From far above, some unfathomable distance up in the air, water falls in a fine mist and I presume that somewhere up above there are a few of those islands that somehow manufacture limitless amounts of water. I"m super keen to figure out how that works, but for now we need to get over this water somehow.
I can smell the scent trail laid down by Vibrant and her crew, it"s right here in front of me and it leads directly over the water. How in the h.e.l.l they got over there, I haven"t the foggiest, but I"ll have to head to the mountain opposite to see if the trail gets picked up on the opposite side.
[Any ideas, folks?] I ask the group.
[We can ussse a platform to carry usssss,] Invidia hisses.
[Ah! Good call, I forgot you can do that now.]
[You helpsss. Givesss it to me!]
[I"m happy to help, but that"s a rude way of asking man, you need to work on that.]
Some things will never change.
Working together with my faithful, envy demon friend, we construct a platform shaped shield and everyone piles onto it before we lift off and begin to float across the water. Sometimes I forget how heavy I am. Keeping this thing aloft is serious work. I mean, Sarah is most definitely heavier than I am, not that I"ll ever say that to her out loud, and she happens to be wearing her armour, which doesn"t help. The end result is that I spend the time drifting over this vast lake straining all of my brains until they start to steam rather than admiring the scenery.
[Master, this water, looks very deep,] Crinis observes.
[Can you see much moving around down there?]
[There are many sources of powerful mana within range that I can sense. The water itself is also a potent source of mana, it"s not like anything I"ve ever seen.]
[Yeah, I can"t imagine what sort of things the monsters here are born with when the mana is this thick. Come to think of it, imagine what it"s like two strata down from here. It"s going to get crazy down there.]
[Do you really intend to go that deep, master?]
I shrug, more focused on the platform than on the conversation.
[Why not? I feel pulled in that direction. May as well go deeper if it"s there, right?]
[If that is what you want, then I"ll follow, of course.]
[How about you, Tiny? Want to go deeper and punch some super powerful monsters in the face?]
A big thumbs up from the bat-faced ape as a broad grin spreads across his face.
[Nice one, big guy. Invidia? What about you champ? Actually, never mind, I know what you"re going to say.]
The big green eye flashes with energy before he looks away, as if disappointed he didn"t get to chime in.
[miiiiiiine,] I hear a whisper trickle across our mental link.
Despite my concerns, we manage to land on the other island without incident, pa.s.sing beneath the falling mist to get my first shower in this new life. Didn"t take long, only… you know what? Doesn"t matter. Personal hygiene standards are different for ants. Just to be sure I clean off my antennae.
Before us, a brand new mountain looms, one not topped by a possessive plant. It doesn"t even feel right to call it a "mountain", really, it"s so d.a.m.n vast, and so stupidly tall. And these things probably ring the entire stratum, all around the planet. This whole world is just insane, how in the heck does it stay together.
Magic. It"s good stuff.
[Master, have you located the trail?]
Oh, right. I waggle my antennae this way and that, patrolling up and down the edge of the lake until I manage to catch the scent.
[Right here! Seems to head up that way.]
[That"s good,] Sarah says, [hopefully we can find them soon.]
[I sense something strange up ahead. A mana reading I haven"t seen before,] Crinis announces.
Curious, I wonder what she"s spotted?
[Any clues for us, Crinis?]
I try to look around, but I can"t see anything that might be considered dangerous right now. In fact, I hardly see any monsters at all. The mountain slopes up ahead of us, the rock being overtaken by greenery and forest, vibrant and lush as only a realm filled with life mana could be.
[It doesn"t feel like a monster,] the ball of shadow says, [I can"t sense a core, but it feels… big.]
Well that"s ominous.
[Let"s proceed cautiously and follow the trail,] I tell the others, [if it"s something we can"t handle, we go back and get reinforcements.]
They agree with the suggestion and we advance forward, leaving the water"s edge behind and entering the forest. It isn"t long before I begin to notice that something is off. The trees don"t look quite right, less healthy than they should. Even the ground has a strange sort of feel, almost sticky under my claws. Shortly after, I start to notice patches of white mould clinging to every surface. The stuff pings strangely to my mana sense, as if it were part monster, part plant, part… something else.
And there"s only more of it the further we go.
[Something is definitely off,] I announce. [Hold here for a second, I want to climb a tree and see what I can see.]
A tough looking behemoth of a tree isn"t far away so I wander over and claw my way up the side somewhat laboriously. Trees this large would be a rarity on Earth, but here they seem to be a dime a dozen. My legs strain to carry my weight, but eventually I clear the foliage around me and get a good glimpse of what lies ahead of us.
And it"s white.
An endless sea of white.
Come to think of it, don"t a lot of termites cultivate fungus?