I've been out here for hours and I still haven't levelled up. Oops, here comes another one. Thirty metres down the tunnel, the dirt bulges before crumbling away to reveal a newly spawned shadow crawler. Despite having six legs, I really can't approve of these things, their faces look like a mosquito, with a piercing snout almost a metre long. My minds churn and, in a few moments, a condensed fireball whizzes forward, smacking into the creature and detonating with a wave of heat that rolls all the way back to me, lighting up my antennae and drying out my eyeballs.

Dammit.

[You have slain level 1 - …]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A tier one, level one enemy isn't going to do squat for me. It's pretty much not even worth the time to go and eat the Biomass. I've seen a couple of monsters make their way up the tunnel who were rank three and I happily consumed them, but for the most part I've been content to let the masses of creatures have it out with each other, occasionally deploying the flame thrower like fire magic to keep them away from the gate. Only twice has anything above tier three come close enough for me to fight and those battles were at least interesting. Despite the near deafening noise of screaming, screeching and roaring, accompanied by the visually stimulating sight of hundreds of monsters fighting for dear life within eyeshot, I'm bored. I’M SO DAMN BORED. All I'm doing is sitting here picking on small fries whilst the Colony goes insane working their abdomens off behind me.

Already the remains of the gate have been raised and sealed into place. I can still see the carvers at work now, guarded by teams of soldiers as they crawl all over the metal surface of the once mighty bulwark, doing whatever they can to repair the metal and the enchantments that were woven into the structure of the steel. I have to say, despite their best efforts, the gate still looks like garbage. Huge rents, dents and tears are still evident all over the place and the once mighty ant head carved into the surface is looking much worse for wear. If I'm being honest, it's so ugly it could pass for a centipede.

I know that me being here is buying the Colony precious time, and that it's valuable, but it's just not all that stimulating. Still, I remain. If I were to go do something else, they'd need to station a whole team of soldiers and scouts to replace me and both of those castes saw massive casualties during the siege, and there are still thousands of injured who need time to get their legs back under them. And this is a wave, after all. I'm sure that the inside of the nest is a complete mess, with soldiers on duty every twenty metres of tunnel and clinging to walls all around the chambers.

Ah well, hopefully I'll be able to move on soon and do something a little more exciting. I have to admit, being this close to my next evolution is tantalising. Evolving is such a massive boost of power for a monster and I've been in my current form for quite a while. Amassing eighty levels is no easy feat, especially when I'm sharing a lot of experience with my pets and my twenty bodyguards. Just thinking about what juicy options may appear gets me excited. What body parts will I make mutable this time? What could I add to my perfect ant form? So many questions…

Even just planning out the possible stat distribution is exciting. Gah! I need to distract myself and think about something else.

At least all this spare time has removed any excuse I might have had to continue avoiding my status. Trawling through the numbers has always been a bit of a pain, but I have to admit it was pleasant to see the number of upgrades I've managed to accrue. Turns out fighting non-stop for days on end is pretty helpful when it comes to levelling skills. Who'd have thunk it?

Name: Anthony

Level: 73 (Rare) (V)

Might: 91

Toughness: 79

Cunning: 64

Will: 45

HP: 158/158

MP: 300/300

Skills:

General:

Master Excavation (IV) Level 3; Expert Grip (III) Level 9; Expert Stealth (III) Level 6; Tunnel Guide (III) Level 11; Iron Mind (IV) Level 30; Master Stamina (IV) Level 6; Still Meditation (IV) Level 12; Snap Dash (IV) Level 11;

Mana:

Mana Craft (V) Level 24; Condensed Mana (IV) Level 18; Finer External Mana Manipulation (IV) Level 16; Mana Hoarder (IV) Level 22; Master Mind Magic Affinity (IV) Level 20; Directed Mana Sensing (IV) Level 12; Expert Healing Magic Affinity (III) Level 14; Omni-Elemental Affinity (V) Level 4; Mana Masking (II) Level 6;

Pet:

Further Pet Communication (III) Level 7; Core Crafting (IV) Level 13; Pet Growth Speed (I) Level 5;

Defensive:

Grandmaster Exo-Skeleton Defence (V) Level 11; Master Dodge (IV) level 25; Master Endure (IV) Level 6; Expert Grace (III) Level 14;

Offensive:

Unerring Acid Shot (IV) Level 6; Master Precise Shooting (IV) Level 23; Doom Chomp (V) Level 23;

Mutations:

Senses:

Perimeter Eyes +20, Far-sight Oracle Antennae +25;

Defence:

Complete Diamond Carapace +25, Braced Healing Inner Carapace Plating +25;

Physical:

Hardened Rapid Absorption Legs +25, Mana Flooded Mandibles +25, Frequent Potent Regeneration Gland +25, Loquacious Pheromone Gland +15, Vast Hungering Stomach +25; Lock Hyper-Twitch Musculature +25, Instant Transmission Sub-Neural Network +20;

Acid:

Propagating Mana-Feasting Bind Acid Gland +25, Hyper Pressurised Scattershot Acid Nozzle +20; Thickened Weakening Acid concentration gland +20, Fatiguing Acid Stimulation Gland +10;

Mental:

Unyielding Coordination Cortex +25;

Mana:

Bottomless Gravity Magic Gland +20, Endless Collective Will Vestibule +25;

Species: Juvenile Colony Paragon (Formica Sapiens)

Skill points: 14

Biomass: 224

A lot of Skill upgrades have come in, which cost me more than a small number of Skill points. All in all, my physical Skills as well as my generic mana Skills have seen a massive upgrade. One of the most impactful is probably the often-under-appreciated Stamina Skill, which has made it all the way up to rank four. At this level, the knowledge of how to move and rest my body in order to minimise the expenditure of energy has seeped into the deepest crevices of my mind. Combined with the Vestibule, it's this Skill that allowed me to fight for as long as I did. Grandmaster exo-skeleton defence is likely what kept me alive during that final battle, rank five Skills are no joke and my precision when shifting my body to best utilise my carapace has grown to a new height. Combined with the Endure Skill reaching rank four, I was able to deflect, absorb and otherwise tank a heck of a lot more damage than I otherwise would have. Although I didn't achieve too many rank ups in my magic skills, the levels are progressing nicely. I can already tell that when some of these Skills hit rank five I'll see a huge upgrade in my spell casting capacity. With a few Skill points in the bank, all I really need to worry about now is finalising my mutations and capping out my core before I'm ready to evolve! I'm getting pumped up!

After hosing down a few more piddling monsters with blue flames, I continue to wait until my reverie is disrupted by an exhausted looking Sloan.

"Hey, Sloan! You look rough! Be careful you don't get caught out skipping torpor."

The general waves a droopy antenna in dismissal.

"I'm so far gone I'm sure they're on their way right now," she says, "besides, you're my last stop before I go get some rest."

"Oho! Does this mean you don't need me here on the gate anymore? Got another job that needs doing?"

She nods.

"Yes. Well, no. Sort of. I'm so damn tired…"

I give her second to gather her thoughts as the weary ant literally sways on her legs.

"You're setting a bad example Sloan."

"I know, I know. We can hold the gates here now, and there really isn't anything that we need your help with urgently, except level up. We need you to evolve as quickly as possible in order to help us deal with the monsters from the third strata when they come."

That's … a good call. Invidia is an example of a third strata demon, albeit a finely crafted and powerful one. If a swarm of creatures on his level come charging up the tunnels, things will get really hairy, real fast.

"So you just want me to charge off into the Dungeon with my crew and try to level up? You sure about that?" I ask dubiously.

That's the sort of thing I usually do when I'm trying to avoid my responsibilities. Now it turns out that it's exactly what the council wants me to do?

"We're sure. Even more than that, we're going to start stockpiling Biomass here at the nest for you. Get all the experience you can, as fast as you can. Once you reach level eighty come home and we'll make sure everything is ready for the evolution."

"Sounds good to me, Sloan! I'm off!"

Whoo! By the time she finishes talking, I'm already gone, dashing through the monsters littering the tunnel and making my way around the nest to collect my pets. After bashing my head into the Legion for so long, I'm about ready to find someone my own size to pick on! Tier six, here I come!