[Fortis Adamas Scolopendra: Strong Diamond Centipede (IV). These creatures are an advanced breed of a simpler species. A Living Diamond carapace and claws are their primary attributes, along with enhanced mana sensitivity and a potent mana toxin in their tail spike. Be warned, this monster hits much harder than it looks.]

Stupid system and your stupid favouritism! Straight up Living Diamond for a carapace, along with all sorts of other fancy bits and bobs only available to monsters born in the deeper sections of the Dungeons.

Meanwhile, most of the ants in the Colony are walking around with basic, first stratum bodies with nary a reset to be seen amongst them. This level of bias is unacceptable. Next time I see Gandalf, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. I mean, I know he said that he’s not directly responsible for this stuff, but he won’t tell me who is, so he’s the one who’s going to cop it.

The journey back to the former termite nest is as smooth as one might expect when moving through territory controlled by the Colony. Already the patrols are out, marching along paths created by the carvers, culling the monster population and harvesting Biomass for the family.

When the mountain itself comes back into view, I can’t help but clack my mandibles in appreciation. Those crazy ants, they really went ahead and did it. We’ve only been gone for a few days, but the work is basically done, as far as I can tell.

As expected, they’ve reforged the entire mountain into a giant anthill, the sides smoothly rising to the main entrance close to the top. It’s not so simple, of course, the carvers can’t help but add complexity to their designs. There are walls, parapets, towers, wrinkles and folds all over the place, somehow arranged in such a way as to be pleasing to the eye, even from this distance. This is a grand fortress even beyond what they constructed on the third stratum beneath the demon city of Roklu. Imagining trying to launch an attack makes my head hurt.

We head under the water, taking a reinforced tunnel that the Colony has created that connects to the neighbouring mountain we were hunting on. Basically an undersea highway. How on Pangera did they manage to engineer it to withstand the incredible pressure?

I won’t even bother asking, there’s no chance I’ll understand the answer.

Wait a second!

I freeze for a moment and turn my many minds inward, sifting through the hundreds of thousands of strands of Will flowing into me. I thought I’d spotted something, something I’ve been looking for… there it is!

Finally found you! I seize the thread with delight and work out where it’s coming from. Of course you’d come to this new fortress, so much space, so many walls for you to work on, it’s basically a blank canvas, one that you could never resist!

Michealangelant! The rogue artist, with her gang of sculptors and painters, is here, inside the mountain! I’ve been wanting to catch her for ages, and try to get her to agree to stop making so many damn statues of me! Not to mention the murals! I don’t even want to think about the paintings. Those are new and even more embarrassing. The Colony’s continual absorption of new cultural artefacts from the various races we encounter has only accelerated with time, and the main way they seem to be applied is in finding new ways to depict me looking high and mighty.

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I saw a vase with me painted on the side the other day.

A VASE.

What do we even need vases for?! We’re ants, for goodness’ sake!

Oh, no. I’ve got you this time. You won’t get away without getting an antenna-full of complaints from the subject of your supposed ‘works’!

I rush forward through the tunnel, excited, only to be held up at the massive, enormous, absurd gates the carvers have installed blocking the path. They’re open a crack, just wide enough for a constant stream of traffic to move both in and out, but due to my unusual size, I don’t fit. Tiny can suck in his gut and squeeze through, but I don’t have the ability to shrink my exoskeleton.

So I’m stuck while they open it up a touch, a rather difficult feat considering the things must weigh thousands of tons. Another remarkable construction effort that I have no idea how they achieved.

Once I’m through and within the nest properly, I make to rush off, ready to hunt down that damned artist, but I’m held up before I get the chance.

“Hey there, Eldest! It’s your lucky day!”

I look down at the tiny ant in front of me.

“Brilliant? Why are you here? What’s lucky?”

“You’re lucky, because you get to talk to me again! What an honour!”

THWACK.

“Stop being ridiculous and tell me why you’re here,” I tell her irritably. I need to get that damn artist!

“Ouch. That’s not necessary. I was asked to tell you about the situation on the third.”

Oh? My curiosity is piqued.

“Go on then.”

“I believe they’ve started to sense the tier eights rising up through the layers. The fighting is getting more intense all the time. I think they’re going to want you back up there soon.”

Ahhhhh nards. Am I going to miss my chance? My antenna twitches and Brilliant vanishes in a flash, reappearing ten metres away.

“Easy with the antenna, I’m only delivering the message!”

“You won’t get whacked for delivering a message,” I retort, “but you will for getting too full of yourself!”

She has the gall to look confused.

“That’s not even possible,” she boasts, “I’m BRILLIANT.”

“You’re due for a thwacking, that’s what you are,” I grumble.

But she’s gone, vanishing in another flash. Hopefully she’s gone back to her lab. The sooner we can work out gate technology, the sooner I won’t be reliant on a mad-ant to rip me through dimensions.

Sounds like things are really heating up in the third, which isn’t good news. Going back up there is painful in the extreme, thanks to the hook lodged in my guts. I’ll have to brace myself for it. I should track down Sloan or Victor as well, get an update on what’s going on.

Damn you, Michaelangelant, you win this time….

A quick flash and Brilliant reappears.

“Oh, and there’s another wave coming. Big one.”

Then she’s gone again.