Alex crept forwards at a snail’s pace in small bursts of muffled movement, conserving his Energy by only activating his Muted Body ability when he was moving. After every burst of movement, he spent a few seconds listening ahead with Enhance Senses. His Will was in greater supply than his Energy, so he didn’t hesitate to use it. This slow process carried him gradually forwards until he finally saw light ahead. The dim blue glow of dungeon mushrooms were quite literally the lights at the end of the tunnel. Only with his senses heightened could he make out any details.

Alex could see the shaft as it opened up into a larger tunnel, he could even see the shadow that the idle maur cast across the opening. He was close enough to the creature that he feared discovery if he crawled any further.

“Zelda do you know how well these things can hear?” Alex sent to his construct.

“My knowledge of the maur is suspiciously non-existent beyond the encounters you have had with them so far. I do have much more information on the insects of your world courtesy of Mel’s memories.” Zelda sent back.

“You have Mel’s memories” Alex sent in surprise. With the poor mental attributes that Mel’s Character possessed Alex doubted she could remember any insect related trivia.

“I have the memories that Zelda thought could prove useful. Superfluous memories were discarded, my capacity is not infinite.” Zelda replied nonchalantly.

“I guess I’ll have to consider the implications of that later. For now, can you tell me if there is anything helpful in Mel’s insect memories?” Alex sent.

“As you have previously noted, the maur bear a high degree of similarity to ants. Ants do not have ears, instead they pick up vibrations in the ground with their feet. I noted several large antennae like hair on the lower legs of the maur, and I would hazard a guess that with those they can detect even exceedingly small vibrations in their tunnels. They did evolve to live down here after all. If you can tread lightly enough you might be able to avoid their detection. The bigger problem for you might be their sense of smell.” Zelda explained. She accompanied the words with one of Alex’s own memories of him kneeling over a dying maur with its clawed feet in the air. He hadn’t really stopped to look at its feet but apparently Zelda had.

“Their sense of smell?” Alex asked, concerned.

“Ants are supposed to have a keen sense of smell, similar to that of a dog. They use it not only to find food but also to communicate and coordinate behaviour.” Zelda sent to Alex.

Alex froze. He was practically spitting distance away from the end of the shaft where the maur waited. Shit. Can it smell me? Is it waiting for me with its jaws open?

“It is unlikely that it has smelt you, you are downwind from it. I also suspect that because the maur communicate telepathically that they rely less on their smell than ants.” Zelda sent.

“There is wind inside this dungeon?” Alex asked,

“If you think back to all the fire Ben was throwing around in the fight you might also remember that it came with a fair bit of smoke. You have limited attention so likely didn’t notice the smoke being sucked up by the runes on the ceiling. The runes don’t only seem to draw in ambient mana into light balls, but also circulate and filter air.” Zelda replied.

“Magical lights and air conditioning, maybe I can get a hold of a magical fridge for my horns of mead.” Alex joked nervously. He was a little shaken to hear how close he had been to being detected and still unaware.

“Enhance your senses for a moment and you will find it easier to feel the breeze.” Zelda sent back, clearly not appreciating Alex’s sense of humour.

Alex activated his Enhance Senses and found that now he was looking at it he could indeed feel the musky dungeon air flow past him. It reassured him that the maur hadn’t discovered him yet. Alex told himself that he was being overly paranoid. He didn’t even know if the maur ahead was a warrior or a worker, and if it was a warrior it was still alone. His teammates had just killed an entire swarm of the creatures. Alex prepared himself for his attack. He flexed his control over his Muted Body ability and began his approach.

Alex crawled forwards carefully but at a steady pace. He wanted to cover the last stretch in one careful dash. He kept both Muted Body and Enhance Senses active as he did so, with Zelda counting out the seconds. With five seconds left of his Muted Body Alex reached the end of his tunnel. The Maur was standing just to the left of the entrance, facing away from him. He already had his dagger in his right hand. He smoothly raised himself into a crouch. Two seconds left. He targeted the joint between the neck and the chest. He leapt, he landed. He sank his dagger in and the maur fell to the floor. Alex spang clear.

Your dagger attack hits for 16 damage (Sneak Attack x 4, Critical Hit x 2); 90% armour penetration of chitin armour.

Maur (Level 3 Beast)

0 / 16 Health

Alex stood over the maur, trembling with the built-up adrenaline surging through his body. Different emotions warred in mind. He had killed plenty of insects before but killing a fly in the kitchen was several steps removed from murdering a dog sized creature. The creature was still twitching, and Alex couldn’t help but feel sorry for the thing. I don’t know how it would have reacted to finding me down here, and those jaws could mess me up in a fair fight. Alex pulled out his dagger, green ichor spurted from the fatal wound he had inflicted. Alex stepped back from the flying droplets gracefully. He was increasingly noticing his elevated dexterity as he got used to his new form. As much as he would have loved to be a parkour master back on Earth, he definitely couldn’t have pulled off a move like he had moments before. The maur finally stopped moving.

You have killed the level 3 maur. You gain 22 essence.

Alex took a moment to process Zelda’s latest notification.

“I thought any maur lower than level four wouldn’t get me any experience?” He queried his construct.

“It is interesting that you did. The Coedan form that Zed grew for you must have a weak enough soul that even weaker creatures provide it with viable essence. I have very few memories regarding the Coeden people, they primarily reside in the great Juren forest and rarely interact with outsiders. For the necromancer who created you to have enough knowledge of their form to do so is impressive.” Zelda explained.

“Necromancer!? Am I some kind of undead?” Alex asked, surprised.

“No, but your body and soul had to be created from somewhere. Perhaps necromancer is a misleading description because of the implications of the word. Perhaps a better term in your language would be ‘flesh mage’ or if I might make up a term a ‘biomancer’.” Zelda responded.

“I thought Zed made me in that flesh pod.” Alex sent, still a little muddled.

“Zed is a mind mage, the Atevani system only allows for one subclass, even if it does allow multiple subclass specialisations. She could not be the flesh mage who made your body.” Zelda replied. There was a hint of curiosity in her mental undercurrent, she didn’t know the explanation to the growing mystery either.

Alex decided that when he returned to his party, they could solve the mystery together. At the moment he hadn’t found anything solid enough to go on. He was the party’s scout and he still had work to do. If he was being honest with himself, he now had a second and much greater motivation in exploring the tunnels. If he could find and kill enough maur he could get each of his available abilities to rank two, and maybe even level up.

Alex crept down the cavernous tunnels of the maur. He moved at a careful creep, with his Enhance Senses turned on as often as he could manage without straining it. He kept his Muted Body in reserve. His Energy supply was easily depleted and when he did encounter more maur he wanted to have it available when he needed it. He had left his mushroom basket in the previous tunnel and was sticking to the shadows. He was also moving against the faint breeze blowing in the hopes of avoiding his scent giving him away. He still didn’t really know how perceptive the maur were so would rather take too many precautions than too few.

As Alex slinked between the shadows, he continued his mental conversation with Zelda. One of the advantages of telepathy Alex had grown to appreciate was the silent nature of it. He could quiz Zelda to his heart’s content without a worry of being overheard. Perhaps Zed could hear his thoughts but the dumb maur certainly couldn’t. The conversation was casual, he didn’t want to distract himself too much. He mostly wanted to get a feel for the world of Onnari. It had recently pulled itself out of a bit of a dark age, recovering from an event known as the second cataclysm. Most of the civilised world was ruled by the Bhasmar empire, a loose collection of kingdoms dominated by a seemingly immortal ruler known as the Lady of Tears.

More than global politics Alex had wanted to get a feel for how advanced civilisation was. Alex had been interested to discover that gunpowder, or at least a substance similar to gunpowder, had already been discovered in this world. He had started to come up with a few ideas for how he could use his modern knowledge to get ahead in this world. He didn’t need to know how to make a gun; he was fairly sure he could make dynamite if he could find a way to concentrate sulfuric acid in practical quantities.

He was quizzing Zelda about the availability of different tools and reagents when his ears pricked up at noises ahead. Alex cut Zelda off, he needed to concentrate on what was ahead. He pressed himself against the wall in the darkest spot he could find. This time rather than staying still the source of the noise was moving towards him. Alex gripped his dagger tightly with his hand pulled into his chest. The tunnel ahead curved right and his enhanced senses placed the approaching creature as just beyond the bend.

“I count several approaching.” Zelda informed him.

“… are you sure?” Alex asked.

“Yes, I hear many different clicks.” Zelda replied.

“Shit. I wish I had something to hide behind.” Alex sent her, nervously.

“Stay motionless. In the dark movement is easier to see than individual shapes.” Zelda explained.

Alex followed Zelda’s advice as best he could, reassured by the confidence behind her words. One of the memory donors she drew from was a captured spy. The memories were stripped of personal history, but Alex got the impression that they hadn’t been extracted willingly. It made him uncomfortable to have such memories tucked away in his construct’s memory banks but he was glad to have some guidance on him class to draw from. Scout was a poorly regarded class most often taken by criminals, not the kind of class that books were written about, or that skill trainers admitted having memories on.

As the maur drew around the corner Alex kept each muscle in his body frozen in an attempt at perfect stillness. He took slow and shallow breaths so that his chest only rose a fraction in what he hoped was an imperceptible manner. He was glad for his caution when he saw the approaching emerging creatures. Two of the creatures he recognised as maur comparable in size to those his group had defeated before. Moments after their appearance Zelda labelled them in his vision as level five maur. They were flanking a larger creature that looked similar to the maur, but its body was larger, slimmer, and it had wings. This creature Zelda labelled as a maur princess, though this was a guess so she made it a question.

Maur (Level 4 Beast)

18 / 18 Health

Maur (Level 4 Beast)

20 / 20 Health

??Maur Princess?? (Level ?? Beast)

?? / ?? Health

Alex tried to tell his heart to beat more quietly as the insects rushed towards him. He let out a deep breath as they passed his hiding place. The guards ran slightly ahead of the princess as a miniature vanguard. They seemed to be going somewhere with purpose with their movements perfectly coordinated. Alex was glad that their senses appeared to be so unrefined. Perhaps living underground and relying on telepathy to communicate had weakened their other senses. Shit, they have telepathy.

Realization hit Alex like a bucket of icy water. They might not have good eyesight and they may not have acute hearing, but they could communicate telepathically. The maur he had jumped on had died in one hit, but it had taken several long moments before its twitching stopped and its life essence had been released. In those moments, the dying creature must have sent out a long telepathic cry for help.

Alex had stuffed the dead maur into the tunnel he had come from, thinking that would keep its body from being noticed. Will they know exactly where it died? What signal did it broadcast? Did it just say ‘I am dying’ or did it say I was just stabbed by a four-foot-tall ninja monkey called Alex who is now creeping down the tunnels. Alex was already holding himself motionless to stay undetected but now he was also frozen in indecision. His thoughts went to his catatonic friends in the nesting chamber. Zed had promised them safety, but she had also told them that her control over the maur colony was not absolute. That wasn’t even considering how reliable Zed was herself.

Alex didn’t want to run into danger, but he couldn’t just leave his defenceless friends at the mercy of the giant insects he had potentially sent their way. He ran after the maur. He ran on the balls of his feet, trying to stay low to the ground to stop his bare feet slapping too noisily against the stone. He also tried to time the activation on his Muted Body with his strides. By only activating it as his feet touched the ground, he reduced its Energy cost to about a quarter of the cost of just leaving it on. It was efficient but difficult to time right and every few steps he mistimed it. Zelda’s spy memories included a how-to guide in moving stealthily but being told the theory of a technique is miles apart from mastering that technique yourself.

As Alex drew close to the place, he had killed the maur he slowed down and flared his Enhance Senses. He arrived in time to see the two vanguard maur crawl into the shaft opening. The princess was standing over the dead maur; it had been dragged out from where he hid it. The princess was examining the carapace, running her front antennae over the wound in its neck. Alex made a snap decision to take advantage of its distraction.

Alex only had 13 Energy left from his muted run. He needed to land the perfect sneak attack, which meant he could afford to be detected. He hadn’t mastered synchronising his Muted Body with his steps so he would have to leave it on. If he could close the distance in two seconds and land the perfect attack he would win. If he didn’t kill it in one hit, he would have no energy left to do anything else. He likely couldn’t win in a prolonged fight anyway, the princess was almost as tall as he was, it was covered head to toe in thick carapace, and its giant mandibles were longer than his dagger.

Alex dashed forwards, launching himself forwards as quickly as he was able. As he reached his foe he sprang into the air, aiming to use his momentum to lend additional weight to his strike. He used his Enhance Senses to focus his vision on where he wanted his strike to land, aiming for the weak spot at the back of the neck. As his feet smacked against the floor his Muted Body wasn’t potent enough to silence the noise completely and the maur began to turn its head. Alex could no longer reach the back of its neck and so at the very last instant readjusted his attack. He drove his blade into the princess’ left eye, embedding the attack deep into the maur’s brain.

The princess died before it touched the ground. It didn’t twitch or make a sound, in an instant Alex has snuffed out its life.

Your dagger attack deals 36 damage (Sneak Attack x 2, Critical Hit x 6); 100% armour penetration of chitin carapace.

Maur Princess (Level 6 Beast)

0 / 32 Health

You have killed level 2 Maur Princess. You gain 204 essence.

“Damn that thing was worth way more than the drones. Can I buy any abilities before I chase after the two that went ahead?” Alex asked, hopeful. He had gotten lucky with two perfect kills that left him without so much as a scratch, but he couldn’t rely on things to keep going his way.

“No, you currently have 281 essence, the cheapest ability you could buy would be Swift Burst for 450.” Zelda replied, bursting Alex’s optimistic bubble.

“I suppose I will have to fight them as I am then.” Alex sent back as he crouched down into the shaft and began crawling to rescue his friends.