After discussing a few possibilities back and forth, I bid the golgari trio goodbye and they make their way back to the gate. Mana sickness is no joke and I appreciate them taking the risk to help me out.

It’s a hard concept for me to grasp, being ill from too much mana. I literally need the stuff to survive, the more the better. One of the many benefits of being a monster, I suppose. I was born from mana, there’s no way it can hurt me.

The lack of it can hurt me. Severely, in fact.

Which is another thing I need to keep in mind. Evolving yet again, increasing the density of my core and further making my body dependent on mana to exist. More resets, more fancy, high-energy components in my body, more energy needed to sustain me.

Perhaps even the first stratum will be out of bounds for me, even during a wave. The second might just be in bounds, perhaps. But then I have to worry about the Call.

It’s a constant knife in my side. Even now, I can feel it trying to pull me down deeper. I’m worried this mythic evolution is only going to make it worse.

If I’d picked larval deity, it would have been agonising, I bet. An evolution with high potential like that, but with no ability to move around, I’d have been stuck on my backside for at least six months with a hook yanking on my soul.

“Eldest? It’s ready.”

Cobalt pops up in front of me and I’m pulled from my thoughts.

“What’s that?”

“The evolution chamber. We’re ready.”

Nice.

“Alright then, let’s get this show on the road.”

I lever myself up onto my feet for the first time in days, and immediately collapse onto the ground again as my insides shift against the oversized core.

“Oof! Uh… one sec.”

Second attempt.

“Aaaaand up! OUCH.”

And down.

Cobalt looks at me. I look back at Cobalt.

“You can’t move, can you Eldest?”

“It… it seems that I can’t. This is, ah, a little embarrassing.”

“Not to worry, Eldest, we’ll take care of you. Don’t mind a thing.”

In the end, the carvers lift me up, raising the ground beneath me and hardening it into a rock sled that they propel into the fortress that they’ve built.

It’s humiliating. Literally hundreds of thousands of my siblings watch as I lie flat on my carapace, being hovered into an evolution chamber that they’d purposely built for me.

The fact I can feel their respect and appreciation for me flowing through the Vestibule only makes me feel worse. This situation is pathetic and ridiculous! Mock me, dammit!

Eventually, I’m settled in place and the Colony takes up positions around me and throughout the fortress. Inside the chamber with me are Crinis, Tiny, Invidia and a few hundred dedicated guards. Thankfully, they managed to keep Beyn and the acolytes out. I saw them as I was hovering past and he looked like he was in the middle of a revelation of some sort. That guy needs a hobby. How in the hell are those idiots managing not to get sick?

[Well then, gang, I’m just about ready. Take it easy while I’m evolving, alright? Might be a few days this time. Possibly even a week or two, I don’t know. Eat, sleep, have fun. Make sure I don’t get eaten.]

[We will, Master,] Crinis says tearfully.

I’m not dying, oi!

[Your levelsssss, I wantssss them,] Invidia hisses at me.

[You might want the levels, but you do not want a mythic core in your midsection, let me tell you that.]

[Wantssss,] he contradicts me.

Tiny gives me a powerful thumbs up and a wink, which is a new thing for him. Who the heck taught him about winking? I’d wink back, but I’m not physically capable of it, or a thumbs up for that matter, so I just thank him mentally.]

[Thanks for that bud. I’ll catch you all on the other side.]

And I jump straight into the menu.

Not wasting time after my farewells, I confirm my new species and prepare to fiddle around the edges, deciding on what to do with my evolutionary energy, but before I can, I’m confronted by something else.

[The Collective Will of your people has funneled into you and you have welcomed them into your house. The energy and focus of your people must be given shape. Select a purpose for your Altar before you can proceed.

Altar of War Altar of Growth Altar of Culture Altar of Mind Altar of Strength Altar of Self Altar of Many]

Uhhh. Okay. The species notes did say that I needed to decide something regarding the altar, so I suppose this is it? There’s a lot of options here… might as well dive in and go through them all.

Altar of War: Direct the energy of your people to matters of War. You must fight to survive and survive to fight. Increase experience gain when engaged in warlike conduct.

That… is… ominous. I get a bad feeling reading this. Like, why does it sound like it's going to have an effect on the Colony as well as myself? We are already plenty warlike, I don’t need to make my siblings even more eager to fight!

What’s really spooky is that I don’t think the experience gain applies to just me either. I think it applies to every ant in range of the altar. That is… insane. Does it apply to Skills and levels as well? That can’t be right.

Altar of Growth: Direct the energy of your people to Expansion and Growth. The future of your people can only be ensured by development and securing the next generation. Reduced Biomass cost for eggs, increased experience gain when scouting or building.

You… whaaaaaaaaa?! Reduced Biomass cost? Are you freaking kidding me?! How? How does that even work?! Does the altar literally convert the collected Will of the Colony into… whatever it wants? Experience, Biomass, anything?

This is blowing my mind right now.

Calm down, Anthony. You need to chill. Think about this logically. It will only work for ants within the range of the Altar anyway. I’m never hanging around the queens these days, they are way higher in the Dungeon. I can’t pick this one, but holy moly, if the discount was even just 10%, that would be insane. If I fully mutated the Altar could I get it up to 20 or 30%?

Don’t think about it. It’d never work.

Altar of Culture: Direct the energy of your people to Dialogue and the Arts. What is the point of a people if they lack civilisation and culture?

Nope. Don’t care, not picking this one. Don’t even tell me the bonus in case I get tempted. It’s not that I disagree with Gandalf on this one, I actually would much rather pick this one than the Altar of War. My family has developed a wonderful culture of its own, with carvings, and tea, and sponge cake… for some reason. I love every bit of it, except for the fact that too much of it is focused on me.

You think I’m going to give a boost to those idiots who run around carving my face into everything they touch? I’ve seen cakes decorated with me on top of them! I refuse!

Altar of Mind: Direct the energy of your people to strengthen and develop their Mind and Will. Increased experience gain to those using Skills that utilise the mind. Decreased evolutionary cost for increasing Will and Cunning.

EVEN EVOLUTIONARY ENERGY!? This isn’t real. You’re lying to me, Gandalf.

This is revolutionary, this changes everything that I thought was possible. This is way too much responsibility.

Is this what they meant by the Colony Paragon? I thought I was supposed to be… like… a good example, or something. Be the best ant I could be and help the Colony sort of thing. This isn’t just about being the strongest ant in the Colony, this is about deciding the future direction and focus of my family!

I’m not cool with that! Is it alright if I become a formless energy ball instead?

Argh! One of these options must be up my alley. Give me something here.

Altar of Strength: Direct the energy of your people to develop and empower their Might and Toughness.

This is just the physical version of the Altar of Mind. Something else?

Altar of Self: Direct the energy of your people to empowering yourself. You are the Paragon, an exemplar for all who look to you. Now, that Will can become your sword and your shield. Enables you to utilise the Will of your people to empower your Skills, Body and Mind.

Noooooope. Surely not. I’m not about that life, Gandalf. If I wanted it all to be about me, then I’d have picked the Larval Deity evolution. One left, surely it’ll give me an outlet.

Altar of Many: Direct the energy of your people to empowering each other. You lead your people to bring out the best in each other. Disperse the Will of your people back to them, enriching and empowering them in turn.

Well. This is a little more like it. Making the Colony stronger is what I’m all about.

If I pick this, then at least I’m not shoehorning the Colony into a particular direction or mentality. We’ve become such a diverse group, each caste doing their best to serve the family in their own way, utilising their own strengths. I’d hate to advantage some over the others, that would destroy what makes us so strong. We can take on any challenge because we cover every base.

The Altar of Many will allow me to continue to give back to my family. Every ant around me will be that little bit stronger, have that little bit higher chance to survive. I’ve seen what my family can do, if I give them a little edge, they’ll be able to do so much more.

It’s the right choice. Except. Is it?

Is that really the right choice? There have been times where I pushed the Colony to fill in for me. I created the council so I wouldn’t have to be a leader, because I knew I would be terrible at it. I’m no leader, I know that, but I don’t think I want to be a cheerleader, either. I wanted to step forward and put myself between the Colony and danger, I wanted to protect and defend them.

If I pick the Altar of Many, aren’t I asking the Colony to fight for me? Aren’t I stepping back and telling them to take care of it? If that’s the case, then what’s my purpose?

Suddenly, I feel a cold shiver run through my entire body as a realisation washes over me, like a cold blast of air to the face.

If someone is going to step up against impossible odds, then I want it to be me. If someone is going to risk their life for the others, then I want it to be me.

If an ant is going to die, then I want it to be me. They can trust me. They can depend on me. If there’s a need, then I’ll step into the breach.

I want the strength to protect them from anything. So long as they believe in me, I can never let them down.

Altar of Self. That’s the correct choice. I won’t hide behind my family.