Yessssss.

YESSSSSSSS!

Tier six perfection has been achieved. My form. My FINAL form. It has arrived at last! Looking over my status, I admire the wall to wall +30's. Every mutable organ in my body has reached its peak. Nothing more can be done until my next evolution. Then, the rat race will begin again. At tier seven, it'll cost me a hundred and sixty five to upgrade just from +30 to +35. For anything new, and anything that I reset, the journey from zero all the way to the new max will be an even more harrowing expense.

At least this time I have an opportunity to build up a reserve, something I haven't really been able to do before. The Colony helped out a lot last time, but with my frequent hunting trips and this war with the termites, getting food hasn't really been all that difficult for me. My family is becoming more and more independent, allowing me time and space to go chasing food and experience. Throw in the odd major conflict and I've got everything I need to rocket up to the next tier!

Speaking of which, what is my level?

133?!

No way! What in the heck?! That's insane! I must have killed way more termites than I thought I did…. Or they're giving more experience now. Either way, I've jumped up a great deal! Let the Skill points rain down on me! Gweheheheh.

My next evolution isn't that far away! At one sixty, I'll be able to make another quantum leap forward in strength. I can't wait to see what sort of options I get. Oh boy. The feeling of going to sleep and waking up as a whole new, better and more capable you is just so addictive.

Although, I have other complications now.…

My core will be getting stronger, which is obviously great news, giving me more evolutionary energy and a higher level of MP. That'll also mean that it'll become harder and harder for me to go higher in the Dungeon. Right now, I can still go to the second stratum. I might even be able to visit the first during a wave, but the surface is right out. I'll never feel the sun on my carapace again.

If I double the strength of my core? Perhaps even the second stratum will be off limits for me. I'm not sure if I can take that… all the grubs are in the second stratum!

Nooooo! My precious grub time! How will I live if I can't be healed by the pure and innocent joy of larvae tickling? I-I'm not sure I can bear the thought of it. I won't be deprived like this! I have to tell the council to start egg production in the third stratum as soon as possible. I will move heaven and earth to ensure that this isn't taken away from me… being formless was never an option!

The other thing I have to deal with is the Call. Damn Ancients. They think they're all that. The constant yanking on the guts of my soul is no more pleasant now than it was when it started. Like an itch that can't be scratched, it's almost impossible to ignore. If they think I'm going any deeper at tier six, then they're outside of their minds. I'm too weak to explore the fourth stratum, forget about the fifth. I feel like they're just trying to get me killed. If they happen to approve of my next evolution, I expect things will only get worse. Which sucks!

If I evolve and then head back up to the third to help with the demon problems… yuck. I don't even want to think about it, it's distressing.

I calm myself down over time and then get to checking in on my allies. The three of them are doing well, each of them having reached a level around a hundred. They too are closing in on the next milestone. It'll be an exciting time when they make it. Having the four of us at the seventh tier will create a far more formidable team than we are now.

With all of us having completed our round of mutations, we spend the rest of the day resting and healing up. It's a nice, relaxing time, chatting back and forth and needling each other, combined with the occasional light snack.

Spending time together like this, with just the four of us, is like food for the soul. The companionship I get from Crinis, Tiny and Invidia is something that I enjoy with all of my heart. I'm almost sad when it comes to an end and we find ourselves largely recovered.

Levering myself up onto my six legs, I lead the group to go and visit Sarah.

I find her in a nearby chamber, still injured, being fussed over by a full team of healers who clack their mandibles and apply waves of their specialised magic to her massive frame.

I try to engage her in some light chat, but I can tell her heart isn't in it. Subdued and dispirited, she is clearly a little lost in her own thoughts and so I back off and give her some space, but not before leaving her with some encouragement.

[Nothing that happened was your fault,] I reassure her. [Whether or not you believe it, that is the truth. But remember, you are always welcome among the Colony. You're part of the family. If you never fight again, that doesn’t change.]

And I leave her with that.

We make our way back out of the safe zone and head towards the front lines. The twisting roots of the Mother Tree curve and wind around the tunnels as we travel, but it's different now, more vibrant. The roots glow with life and there is more greenery than before. A sign of the Tree pushing more energy out now that the roots are no longer under threat?

The other noticeable change to these tunnels is the presence of the bruan'chii. They pop up here and there, smaller ones and Grove Keepers alike, tending to the sprouting gardens and interacting with each other in their own curious, silent way. It's strange, actually. I can feel the mana thickening down here. The energy that permeates the atmosphere is beginning to thrum with vibrant life.

It seems as though the Mother Tree and the ecosystem of… herself, that she creates down here actually works to… I don't know… enhance? Circulate? Brighten? Whatever she's doing, the mana is becoming more rich, which I'm going to assume she then begins to pull back into her roots.

No wonder she's been struggling. Cut off from these tunnels, the closest to her roots and trunk, she hasn't been able to utilise this harmonious cycle to her benefit, depriving her of all-important energy.

When we finally reach the front, right on the edges of the mountain the tree dominates, we find the Colony has already entrenched to an absurd degree. Thousands and thousands of ants teem through the tunnels and along the shoreline, building walls, traps, medical centres, tactical headquarters, resting chambers, Biomass storage and all of the other things necessary to prosecute the defence.

But I'm not here for the defence. I'm here for the offence.

In the distance, I can see, over the crystal blue waters of the lake, the white spires of the fungal gardens. Ripe for the burning.

998

Victor could feel a headache coming on. She paced around the model the carvers had made, studying every intricate detail over and over again as she ponders the upcoming battle.

The model itself is a work of art. Over twenty metres tall, it showed every twist and turn of the tunnels beneath the Mother Tree and every connection shared with the termite nest. The issue was, there's a lot. The invaders have been hard at work for a long time, building underground links between the two mountains. The termites were almost as adept at tunnelling as the Colony itself. The number of connections is one thing, the huge area they covered was another. The front between the two opposing colonies had expanded dramatically and keeping track of all the work going on is more than her brain could handle on its own.

"I need to evolve," she says quietly, "more brainpower would be so helpful right about now."

"More brainpower? You want to be a mage?" comes a potent scent from nearby.

Victor turned to see Propellant wander into the war room. The fire mage looks mighty pleased with herself after lighting up huge swathes of tunnel while driving the enemy back. Fortunately no-one has told her just how combustible the termite fungus is yet. She'd be insufferable.

"For some reason, I suddenly remembered that more brain power doesn't necessarily mean smarter."

"Hah! Don't be snide. You're just jealous of my crushing intellect and burning passion! What do you need to be smarter for anyway? Maybe this grand mage ant can help you out."

"I need to create a battle plan across dozens of fronts involving hundreds of thousands of combatants."

"… maybe Coolant is somewhere nearby? That sounds a little more like her thing."

"I thought as much."

The general can only sigh and turn back to her careful study of the model. Having this level of detailed information was a massive help, but for this battle, it couldn't be trusted. Scouts had done their best to map the enemy tunnels as far as they could, but with an enemy so adept at shaping the earth, and driven by such a cold intelligence, there was no saying what traps could be in store for them.

If she sent ten thousand ants down one tunnel, they might get flanked by twenty thousand termites leaping out of a concealed entrance! Or new passages could be dug after the scouts went through. The very thought of being outmanoeuvred in a tunnel war was unthinkable!

Curse these termites! So similar to the Colony, and yet so… so evil!

The instinctive hatred between the two monster types affected her thoughts in odd ways. She'd be glad when this was over and the termites were exterminated once and for all. How anyone could tolerate their existence at all, she had no idea.

"Have the scouts managed to find the Queens?" Propellant mused as she began to wander about the model. "If we can find them and burn the place down, we'd have solved our problems, no?"

Victor flicked her antennae with derision.

"You think they just leave their Queens out in the open? Do we? Obviously they are going to be held in the heart of the nest, as secure and safe as possible. If we could get there so easily then I wouldn't be so worried about this battle."

"That's not quite true though, is it? A normal monster termite nest might do that, but this isn't a normal nest. This colony is controlled by the ka'armodo, who want access to the queens in order to modify their cores and control the population."

Her mind ticking over, the general turned back to the model, her antennae swaying in thought.

"So there's a chance that the queens aren't being held in the depths?"

"I'm just guessing," the mage shrugged, "this could be right or completely wrong. I just think it’s something to consider."

"You make a good point… but unless we can confirm it, then I'm not sure what we can do with it."

Fighting through the tunnels beneath the nest would be painful, but it might take even longer if they had to then fight up higher into the above ground nest. The size of the termite mound was truly impressive, though she was loath to say so. From the bottom to the top, it was over ten kilometres according to their scouting reports. A truly vast amount of space that needed to be explored and conquered before they would be able to win.

At that moment the Eldest strolled into the war room, their massive frame looming over the other ants without even trying. Thankfully the space was built large in order to accommodate the model, so they fit well enough.

"Hey there, squad! Propellant, how are you? Looking forward to burning the place down?"

"Of course!"

"Victor, nice to see you hard at work. Holy moly, that model is nuts! Are there really that many connections between us? They couldn't just build one big tunnel and be done with it?"

"Greetings, Eldest," the general said. The presence of the strongest and oldest of them was always reassuring and she felt a little less pressure around them. "Yes, it's a tangle down there. I've been trying to figure out the most efficient battle plan for our invasion, but it's proving difficult."

"I'll say… what a mess."

The giant, glittering ant circled the model, stepping over the smaller siblings with ease.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," they finally declared. "Too many unknowns. I'm guessing if we come through there, the ka'armodo will just collapse the mountain on our heads. They don’t care how many termites die, after all. As long as they get rid of us, then they can repopulate and get back to attacking the tree."

It was true, but Victor was frustrated.

"Then how are we supposed to assault them? Dig our own tunnels? Reinforce and protect them against collapse? It's hard but we can do it…"

"What? Heck no," the Eldest said, "we should collapse all these tunnels and compress the stone to lock them off. We should be attacking over land. Build a bridge between the mountains and we go in from the top."

"From the top? But that would leave us wide open!"

The Eldest looked at her for a second before patting her on the head with one leg.

"Victor, you've gotten too focused on winning the tunnel war. Yes, they're a colony of digging monsters, just like us, but that doesn't mean we have to fight them in the tunnels."

She was confused.

"It doesn't? If we don't enter the tunnels, then how do we defeat them? They won't come onto the surface to fight us will they? Not with the ka'armodo controlling them…"

"Oh, they'll come up," the Eldest assured her with a pleased clack of the mandibles. "If we give them a reason, they'll come boiling up and straight into our jaws."