Not long after the Eldest had departed the colony, Cobalt stood in the Queens chamber watching the small Aphid Queen amble about under the watchful eye of his mother. Another ridiculous, unheard of practice, brought to life with a seeming absence of effort at the hands of the first of their kind.
The Eldest puzzled the Council of twenty, as the first hatchling of Formica Sapiens were beginning of think of themselves. Respect and deference was due to ...
2019-05-26 11:47:43 +0000 UTC
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It takes several more hours of hard travel before we make it to the first group of building we've seen on our journey. A small cluster of farmhouses built close to each other, a family holding perhaps or a collection of folks gathering together for protection and company.
We spot the buildings a long way out. The tall, pointed roofs of the barns poked themselves above the tree line letting us know well in advance we were close to our destinatio...
2019-05-26 11:17:21 +0000 UTC
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Couldn't keep up eh? The monster kind is supreme, huh? We can faster, further, longer! Morrelia must have been laughing up her sleeve whilst looking down at my stupid, fat face. After we left the Village, giving Morrelia a short period of time to inform her squad and pack her essentials we set off, leaving a concerned looking Enid behind as we journeyed to the north, heading back towards the ravaged lands of the former kingdom of Liria.
My budding at...
2019-05-24 05:14:50 +0000 UTC
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There must be something serious going on up there for there to be all of this smoke and noise, but what could it be? We haven't had an attack for a few days now, perhaps there is another one massing? Someone definitely needs to go and check it out, and I can't deny that the best person for that role would have to be me. There's only one major problem.
"I'm happy to go and scout on the surface, but due to my core strength if I spend too long up there ...
2019-05-21 11:14:36 +0000 UTC
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The idea of peaceful cooperation between nations or even species is quite the foreign concept to these ants and I shouldn't be surprised. They are Dungeon monsters after all. I may have made them smarter but their fundamental nature as ants is to serve the colony to the exclusion of all else. Convincing them not to throw their lives away in pointless sacrifice was hard enough of a chore, diplomacy and trade may be a bridge too far!
It seems that Vibr...
2019-05-20 09:02:21 +0000 UTC
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The Queen seemed quite taken with her new pet. After giving a little advice regarding skills such as Pet Communication, Pet Growth among others. The Queen eventually decided to take the communication skill, the growth skill and the skill that allowed her to view the status of Aphy, the aphid Queen.
Those decisions made sense, since she wouldn't be able to communicate with her new pet without spending a skill on it. Mind magic is not on the hori...
2019-05-19 11:58:56 +0000 UTC
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As the villagers return to their homes and the rapidly expanding buildings that make up their new town, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. That was not something I had expected to have to deal with upon my return. Turning to one side I face Sloan, the general and organiser of this human round up.
[Gather your siblings together Sloan] I growl at him, [I need to have a word.]
[Of course Senior.]
He scuttled off to find his siblings. I'm sure...
2019-05-19 06:30:48 +0000 UTC
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As he walked towards me Beyn displayed a face splitting grin, his eyes alight with energy and passion. This moron is still obsessed with the colony, the ants and me in particular. He probably thinks the village is being 'blessed' with a visitation to the nest, when in fact the twenty have arranged the village for a surprisingly peaceful slaughter!
I weave a mind bridge and connect it to the fool. What on earth am I going to say? How can I explain thi...
2019-05-18 10:43:31 +0000 UTC
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Holy moly, I'm completely wrecked. Each of my three brains feels like seared mush; soft and jelly-like, yet wreathed in hot, hot flames. I managed to gain two whole levels in cerebral endurance in just under two hours, that's how mentally intensive this work was. However, I have been successful.
I have triumphed!
Despite being some of the most draining and mind bogglingly difficult mental work I've done, I managed to complete the project as wel...
2019-05-16 11:32:19 +0000 UTC
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After collecting my small collection of aphid cores I get Tiny to carry them and we descend from the trees to battle amongst the monsters once more as we make our way back to the shortcut. To be honest he non-stop grind and battering of battle against the monsters is strangely refreshing. It feels nice to exercise, something that I didn't really understand as a human. But now, with my mandibles crunching down on my foes and the endless tide of monsters bat...
2019-05-14 11:29:04 +0000 UTC
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In my quest to domesticate the aphid, there are a few options available. I could try and tame them as they are, not changing them in anyway, though I'm not sure exactly how that would go. Aren't monsters supposed to be brutal, ruthless and cold-hearted killing machines? The very idea of a monster that seems this peaceful doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Although, when you think about it, the life of insects on Earth are just as bloody and merciless...
2019-05-12 13:08:58 +0000 UTC
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The Marsh Expanse is teeming with monsters and the constant roar of battle. I have a ton of Biomass that I need to collect and a whole host of skills that I need to grind. With Tiny and Crinis by my side I feel perfectly confident wading into the expanse and beginning to battle.
Monsters are fighting in every tree, on every mound of earth and inside every tepid pool of marsh water. The three of us barrel into the expanse and begin to battle everythin...
2019-05-11 04:02:16 +0000 UTC
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Moving with some hesitation so as not to tax my aching body we advance down into the Dungeon, fulling in any gaps on my tunnel map as we go and earning me another level in that skill for my troubles. Unlike before we liberated the Marsh, the tunnels are filled with plants and beasts fighting their maddened little hearts out, tearing at each other as a near endless supply of them continues to rip out of the walls and throw themselves into the fray.
In...
2019-05-09 11:13:36 +0000 UTC
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Checking in with Tiny and Crinis status before delving. :)
I briefly contemplated paying a visit to the village and checking in, I just don't know what I would say. I don't think I'd explain the changes in the colony, I'm not exactly sure how humans would react to the creation of this new species. Knowing the people in the village, their fervour for all things ant may only increase, an outcome I'd rather avoid. If they get even more fired up in their ant obs...
2019-05-07 11:23:55 +0000 UTC
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My immediate goals have mostly been achieved. The twenty hatchlings of the new era have made a successful debut and with my teachings ringing in their ears and the ideal start to life that they've enjoyed they have already begun to lift the burden of leadership from my shoulders. Even if it does make me feel somewhat despondent, this is what I craved! The only question now is, what am I supposed to do with myself? I could work on grinding up my skills I su...
2019-05-05 12:15:38 +0000 UTC
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Knowledge of Demon societies of the Third Strata is limited, to put it mildly. I've no idea why you would contact me seeking such knowledge, it's hardly my area of expertise! I suppose it is true that my academy has amassed the most records regarding deep delves of the Dungeon, but that doesn't mean I've had the opportunity to read them all!
Honestly Ranlon, I don't know why you waste your time in that third rate college of yours. ...
2019-05-04 10:25:26 +0000 UTC
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The twenty young ants depart the chamber of the eldest in silence, allowing their Senior the rest and quiet that they seem to crave. They don't quite understand it, this desire for solitude and a reprieve from work, an unnatural concept for an ant, but due to the individual making the request, they respect it.
Without communicating they move as one, through the Queens chamber and towards the upper chambers. Now there are six hundred of their ki...
2019-05-03 11:46:44 +0000 UTC
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Took ages to write this one, coming up with the names was a pain. Thanks to those who suggested names.
HAZZAT!
I'm up!
My mind sprung to alertness and the first thing I noticed was that the pain inside me had eased a minute amount. JOY! The pain was still intense, to be sure, I felt a like a giant roll of cracked toffee, but the simple fact that I could expect the pain to reduce over time was such a relief that I...
2019-05-01 11:39:57 +0000 UTC
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Finally back!
In reality it probably didn't take that long, but leading these hatchlings around and making sure that they don't get themselves killed has been a royal pain in the global financial markets. Although they displayed surprising tactical acumen, organising themselves and operating as only a team of ants could, stamping out the remaining impulse towards sacrifice and martyrdom from their minds has proven to be difficult.
"It's the mos...
2019-04-30 09:54:29 +0000 UTC
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Dropping some more bombs here today. Enjoy! ^^
"Then we were fighting theshe monsters and they are like freaking shombies, I'm tellin' you. No matter what I hit them with they just don't shtay down. Finally I burn the shtoopid thing so much it falsh down and this ugly ass bug breaksh out of iz back and jush crawlsh off!"
"Donnelan, I think you've had enough. I can't understand what on earth you're saying."
"I'm...
2019-04-29 12:01:56 +0000 UTC
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Back with the Legion for a two part, gritty special. Enjoy folks :)
Trying to flesh out the world a little more in these chapters. Let me know how it works.
'The Civilised Races' is a term often bandied about casually in scholarship, yet many people remain ignorant of it's true meaning and origins. The lines that become drawn between the races are often no so clear cut as 'these races are civilised, ...
2019-04-28 06:14:12 +0000 UTC
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"Stop your slacking, aren't you ready to work for the colony?!"
"Ugh. Of course, Senior!"
The hatchlings are once again suffering from the effects of being stuffed full of cores and then absorbing a special core. Packing all of them full has depleted my stash to basically nothing but it'll be worth it. These twenty are getting the best start in life an ant could possibly hope for.
Each and every one of them has taken the 'superior h...
2019-04-27 12:21:37 +0000 UTC
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[We need more of this. As soon as you can get it.]
…
[Uh, okay? Maybe take it out of my face a little so I can see it?]
An unusually forceful and intent Enid is waving something in my face with shaking hands. As soon as I waddled my way into the village someone had gone to fetch her and the normally dignified older lady had arrived at a dead run, her skirts hiked up with one hand and the other clutching this, object.
As she withdr...
2019-04-26 10:42:55 +0000 UTC
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The rare core sat on the ground in front of me and I knew it was time to pay the piper. As much as I'd derived a strange sense of joy forcing the hatchlings to absorb a special core, this process seriously hurts. I've already maxed out my core AND absorbed a special core. If I absorb this rare core, will I really be able to take it?
Or will my core just detonate and rip me apart from the inside?
Hoo boy.
Here we go.
Taking a deep br...
2019-04-24 04:52:03 +0000 UTC
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The hatchlings are herded into my chamber where Tiny is instructed to keep a keen eye on the situation whilst I go to find Vibrant and see what the situation with the workers is like. I find Vibrant hovering around the two hundred larvae that recently hatched, fetching chunks of food that my class had brought in and just dumping it close to the grubs as she races back and forth, trying to make sure the ravenous little things get fed.
Whoops!
Th...
2019-04-22 08:26:44 +0000 UTC
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After speaking to the Queen I took my class down into the farms for further instruction. I honestly can't say what Mother was thinking when I spoke to her, she seemed a mix of happy and mad. I have to say, I was quite nervous talking to her. I mean, how am I supposed to know how she would feel about having her species changed?! She might have been very attached to it. I don't know!
Having her species changed by the acts of one of her own children as ...
2019-04-21 11:20:35 +0000 UTC
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Sensation returned to the Queen in increments. A leg twitched, then one of her antenna crackled into life, overloading her fuzzed mind with sensory information she wasn't ready to process.
As she drowsed, the feeling of change, of difference, rose within her. Even without being fully alert she knew that she was not the same as she had been when she'd gone to sleep. Her thoughts continued to swirl in languid circles as her body came to life p...
2019-04-20 11:22:47 +0000 UTC
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After a couple of hours I was able to get the hatchlings to operate in a reasonable way. The first few enemies we defeated with acid and then let the little workers chow down after I'd dragged the Biomass clear of the farm. They ran out of acid quickly though and I was forced to incapacitate the prey before letting the young ants swarm it, training their bite skills and gaining experience.
We repeated this process until the farm was empty, then I had...
2019-04-19 12:38:47 +0000 UTC
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"Ok. Let's try this again. The enemy is down there. We can see them, we are in a superior position where they cannot fight back. All of the advantages are ours. So, what are you going to do? What is your strategy?"
The twenty hatchlings and I are positioned in one of the original four farms, clinging to the ceiling out of harm's way. I lured a monster out of the towards the edge of the open space and tied it down with a gravity bolt. The poor creatur...
2019-04-17 14:30:27 +0000 UTC
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As the voices of the new hatchlings ring throughout the room, and I start to wonder just what it is that I've done, another voice sounds within my mind.
[Original Species has been detected. New species type has been assigned.]
Gandalf?! What the heck are you on about?!
Is he saying that the new hatchlings are recognised by the system as a different species to mine? I did make a lot of changes…
Does this mean that the workers...
2019-04-16 11:16:48 +0000 UTC
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