Once again, I've managed to pile up a respectable amount of Biomass, though far less than I could have. The priority was given to pumping up those around me on recent trips, on the next one I can afford to be more… dare I say it… selfish. It's not selfish to feed myself dammit! I need to max out my mutations before I can even think about evolving. Anyone who thinks I'm going to miss out on that juicy, free bonus evolutionary energy for maxed evolutions is insane! Insane I tell you!

To that end, I need to stuff my face. I won't apologise for it!

The other thing I need to do is use combat to pump up my Skills as fast as possible. Elemental magic needs to be the priority. Once I finally achieve the rank five fusion, I'll be able to finally push my practice in other directions. Mind magic will probably be the next area of magical study I need to push. Those mind constructs will allow me to push my prowess to a whole new level once I evolve and pump my brain power.

I feel like it's been a long time since I've even considered evolving. The Colony has been expanding so quickly, and conflict has come to find us at such a rapid pace, that I haven't had any time at all to consider my own progress. I guess in the back of my mind I'd kind of pushed all thought of evolution away since level eighty was such a ridiculously long way away. Not anymore though! Only twenty nine more levels! Sounds like a lot, but it's a heck of a lot less than eighty!

I'm getting excited just thinking about it. Evolution is so addictive, I swear.

Alright, let's get busy, if I sit around here and keep pondering my next evolution then nothing is going to get done. Leaving my pets to sort out their own numbers (even Tiny appears to be counting on his fingers, his face a mask of concentration), I duck out into the corridor and flag down a passing ant.

"Hey there, any chance you can get word to the golgari Torrina and Corun to come and drop by here?"

"Sure thing. Work hard!"

"When am I not?"

"…"

"Alright already! Geez!"

Everyone's a critic. Just because I'm not currently doing something, doesn't mean I'm not doing something. Sort of. I quickly brush up on the Skills that I've upgraded recently whilst I wait for my two advisors to arrive.

Flicker Dash ranking up into Snap Dash was a nice one. The improved dash skill has a dramatically shorter wind up than before. Not that the charging time was long, but if you cut half a second down to a quarter of a second, you notice. It's similar to the feeling of gathering strength in your legs before you jump. With flicker dash, there was a brief moment of wind up before the explosive speed was unleashed, now that time is almost gone. Combined with my reflexes, even faster dodging is now possible. Gweheheheh.

My digging Skill has once more ranked up, Master Excavation taking my ability to move serious dirt to a whole new level. The pursuit of ant zen will never stop! Meditation ranked up once again, which is handy. The Skill is basically a form of enhanced concentration, allowing the Skill user to push emotion and distractions to one side and draw out 100% of their strength. This new rank improves the ability of the Skill to be utilised when moving in high speed, stressful situations. Allowing me to stay centered and focused, even when dashing all over the place.

Directed mana sensing is a handy one, essentially allowing me to extend my sensing range by focusing on a particular direction, like focusing a beam of concentration. Ranking up grace is just helping me with my balance, never a thing to be underestimated when you can run up multiple surfaces and have six legs. All in all, my progress has been decent without being overwhelming. My strength has been steadily ticking up, without any major leaps.

That has to change! MOAR power will be needed if I'm going to defend the Colony and fight off the invaders! It's unlikely I'll manage to evolve before the golgari arrive, but I can push my Skills as far as possible before then and see what happens.

Ten minutes later my advisors arrive and I welcome them into my chamber.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

[Wait, this is where you live?] Corun asks, blank faced.

[Sort of, I suppose? I don't really live anywhere. This is just the chamber we use to sleep and plan. Does any ant really have a place where they live? I mean, we live in the nest, right?]

[I suppose,] he looks at the bare, smooth walls. [You were a human though, once upon a time. I guess I would have expected you to have more of a need for a personal space?]

I'm a bit confused.

[I have my own room,] I point out, [how many ants in the Colony have their own room? It's more than enough.]

Corun looks like he wants to say more but Torrina cuts him off ruthlessly.

[Who cares about this!? What did you want to talk to us about?]

I shrug.

[I was planning on purchasing some mutations and doing some serious power levelling over the next few days, so I thought I'd consult my resident experts? Isn't that what you wanted?]

She nods.

[It is. Although I kind of feel like you're doing this out of courtesy rather than because you feel any real desire for our help. Regardless, I'm happy to discuss your plans. Are you still aiming for the rank five elemental fusion?]

[Yep,] I confirm, [I'm getting close, too. Fire magic is already there. The others are getting closer by the day.]

Corun shakes his head.

[Rank five? I mean… why though?]

Torrina rolls her eyes at him.

[Still, Corun? He made up his mind, leave it alone.]

[Nobody goes for tier five,] he protests, [that's so many Skill levels for such basic magic!]

[But it synergises well with my current build,] I tell him firmly, [I've split my mental power across too many brains to be able to handle the more powerful magics. With this fusion, I'll be able to maximise the offensive output I can achieve from my sub-brain setup.]

He blinks.

[That sounds like a lot more sense than I'm used to hearing from you, Anthony.]

[I'm trying to get better at being assertive. I think it's working?]

[It's working fine,] Torrina assures me, [and I agree with your choices. If you continue to progress and rank up your other core Skills, your bite, movement and defensive ones mainly, then you shouldn't have any issues up until it's time to evolve. Just make sure you consult with us before you do it.]

[Why?]

[I presume you mean to absorb that core, before you do?]

That core, Garralosh's, is buried in the wall next to where I'm standing as a matter of fact. Old habits die hard and stashing cores in my own chamber has worked for me so far.

[Yep.]

[Tier five to tier six is a big evolution for a monster,] she tells me seriously, [not that any evolution is unimportant, but the jump in evolutionary energy available at this tier is huge, and you'll be sitting at tier six for a long time. One hundred and sixty levels takes a long time to get, even if you're being fed by others.]

[As if the Colony would stand it if I made them all force feed me experience,] I laugh, [that's a totally shameful level of laziness.]

She shrugs.

[I think they'd only be too happy to do it, and it might not be the wrong call. You can do a lot of work at tier six. At that tier, normal delvers would need to dispatch several teams of experts to beat such a monster. Even elites in the second strata wouldn't dare go one on one with a tier six. At tier seven? That's basically as powerful as it gets up here. Though, you wouldn't be able to remain at this depth for long, you'd be a powerful deterrent to attackers.]

I hesitate. Would it really be okay to have the Colony feed me experience? Bring already crippled monsters up to me to last hit like they do for the Queens?

[No,] I say, [it feels wrong. Besides, the Queens need that sort of treatment because they have important work to do in the nests and can't be risked. The regular members of the Colony need experience and Biomass also. I'm perfectly capable of getting my own and not stealing from their plate. Every ant is part of strength, not just me.]

She watches me carefully.

[It's your call,] she says, [I won't tell you what to do, ever. All I will do is present ideas.]

[That one's out,] I say.

[Have you considered what path you'll take for the rest of your mutations?] Corun asks.

I consider for a moment.

[I'm not sure exactly where I want to go. I have a few thoughts,] I hedge, [but I don't know what to do that'll best suit a monster like me.]

[I'm not surprised,] Corun chuckles, [there hasn't really been a monster like you. High tier ants are basically unheard of outside of the founding Queen. Quantity and not quality are the usual way the ants like to play. You're a bit unique in that sense.]

[So you don't know of any sweet combos I can use?] I ask, a touch disappointed.

[That's not exactly true,] he muses, [there's tons of research done on other insect archetypes, just not ants. Some of it should apply though.]

[We studied what we could before we left,] Torrina assures me, [and we brought some documents with us, I'd love to go through them with you.]

She starts to rummage through a document satchel strapped to her side and I begin to feel a headache coming on. I didn't realise there'd be book learning! How long does she want to take?

[Look,] I break in, [I'll take a look at the options and sort something out and then we can go through the more advanced stuff together later? Ok?]

Torrina frowns at me doubtfully, which is hard to notice on a golgari what with the stone skin.

[They're your mutations,] she tells me, [you can do what you want. Just try to make sure that you always build on what you already have. Even weaker mutations that have lost their usefulness can fold into a new plan.]

[Think about it carefully, Anthony,] Corun urges me, [next time we'll give you the full rundown, alright? Your sixth tier is going to be fearsome, I guarantee it.]

[Alright, thanks, I appreciate it. If there's nothing else. I'll get to itching.]