Resource distribution amongst the young in the Colony is far more generous than one might expect from ants. Of course, grubs are given high priority for food, ensuring they grow into their full potential in the proper time. Hatchlings always form a core before evolving to tier two, and they always do so with maxed mutations.

Naturally, this requires a tremendous amount of Biomass. That phrasing doesn’t really do justice to the reality…. The Colony requires an OCEAN of Biomass on a daily basis, not just to fuel the growth of the young, but to feed the millions and millions of grown ants. Vast tracts of Dungeon are routinely swept clean by them, with an efficiency that none can rival, but even that isn’t enough. Other solutions, such as the aphid herd, are required to extract additional Biomass in unconventional ways in order to make up the shortfall.

Cores, of course, are the true limiting factor. The Colony would love to have each and every ant evolve with flawless cores, fully reinforced and with a special core absorbed on top, but it simply isn’t possible.

There is only one type of ant who is given this luxury as a matter of course: the Queens.

- Excerpt from “Evolutions of the Ant” by Granin Lazus

“An impressive win-streak, to say the least!” Poppant praised the hatchlings, and they nodded seriously. “A completely undefeated run! I know how hard you all worked for this. The other Tenders are wondering just how long your streak will be.”

“Endless,” Solant said simply.

She didn’t intend to fail, ever. Anything less than perfection would be a blemish on the Colony as a whole, and that wasn’t to be tolerated. She’d expressed this view to her teachers several times, and they had warned her it was dangerous to hold unrealistic expectations, that a belief in an unobtainable victory was as deadly as an undefeatable enemy.

What they had said was wise, yet Solant knew, deep down, that if there was a chance to win, she would find it. The longer the training course went on, the more her ideas were put to the test, and the more they were proven correct. The Soldier trainers told her to be more direct, less reliant on trickery and deception, the General trainers said her strategies were too elaborate, with too many points of failure, the Scout trainers said that she couldn’t always rely on perfect information, the Mage trainers said that as they and their opponents grew stronger, the battlefield would become too difficult to predict, the Carver trainers said she couldn’t be smart enough to foresee every outcome, the Shaper trainers said her allies weren’t pets and couldn’t always execute her intentions flawlessly, and the Healers told her that victory without sacrifice was the ideal, but often unattainable.

Even still, she would win.

The more her confidence grew, the more her broodmates believed in her. An unshakable unit with complete trust in each other, a group with complete and total knowledge of the capabilities and intentions of every other member.

“Our victory is determined by our training and preparation,” Solant said to Poppant, “every advantage we use was honed there.”

Poppant looked down on the little superior hatchling, her antennae waggling cheerfully.

“Nobody knows how hard and efficiently you train more than I do,” she said, “I’ve been with you the whole journey, after all!”

Of course, there was a little more to it. It was unusual for a single hatchling to have such wildly divergent ideas, and to command such respect from their peers. By this time, the administration of the Antcademy heavily suspected they had a Champion on their claws. The first that they knew of to come through their classes and not found by the Eldest.

“But now it’s time for your next evolution, and as a reward for your exemplary record in Tunnel Ball and every other training exercise, you’ve been granted special evolutions once again!”

Some of the ants winced, but Poppant hastened to reassure them.

“Fear not! I’ve brought the tea and sugar,” she said, as she clacked her mandibles happily and bustled from one ant to the next.

It was painful, extremely so, but Solant endured the process as best she could before she engaged the menu and chose to evolve.

[Congratulations on reaching the maximum level for your current species. Evolution will allow you to change your form and increase your stats as a monster.

Warning: evolving will make securing XP and Biomass difficult as fewer rewards are given for preying on creatures less evolved than yourself.

Your evolution options are as follows:

- Superior Soldier (Special)

- Superior Scout (Special)

- Superior General (Special)

- Superior Ant Mage (Special)

- Superior Core Shaper (Special)

- Superior Carver (Special)

- Superior Brood Tender (Special)

- Superior Juvenile Queen (Special)

- Superior Healer Ant (Special)

- Juvenile Great General (Special)

- Juvenile War Brain (Special)

- Battle Leader (Special)

- War Planner (Special)

Some interesting special evolution options had appeared and Solant looked at each with interest. Despite how well the Eldest designed the Superior evolutions for each caste, she knew it would be a waste to throw away the precious opportunity to select a special evolution. Each of her choices related to leadership in some way, and she wondered what had caused the System to lean that way.

Perhaps her relatively high ranked leadership or tactics Skills? Or the Eagle Eye mutation which allowed her to envision the battlefield as it would be seen from above? Or the Tactical Awareness mutation she’d added to her brain?

Whatever the reason, she examined each carefully.

The Juvenile War Brain was easy to eliminate. Despite the hefty bonuses it gave to Cunning, it required her to become semi-immobile, basically transforming her into a symbiotic entity that would be grafted onto another general that she would possess. It didn’t gel with her picture of herself, nor the Colony as a whole.

War Planner was suited to directing the course of an entire war, away from the battlefield itself. It helped to organise logistics, plan movements that played out over days and weeks. Important, necessary even, but that wasn’t for Solant. She wanted to feel the heat of battle on her carapace.

The Battle Leader was an interesting evolution, giving solid bonuses and auras that would allow Solant to become a potent presence on the front line, enhancing her allies and directing the fight from up close.

It was good, but not exactly what she wanted.

Instead, her gaze fell on the Great General evolution. Only a juvenile, which meant there was potential growth in the future.

[The Juvenile Great General is a leader who has displayed tactical brilliance and a grasp for grand strategy. Lead your troops in a brilliant dance, bewilder and confuse the foe, achieve victory.]

Now this, spoke to her.