She's really gonna kill me this time. I mean, Crinis was clingy to an absurd degree before based on my last disappearance, what's going to happen this time. I'm afraid, afraid GANDALF! The image of Crinis burrowing her tentacles through my carapace and taking residence within my skeleton rises in my mind, causing me to shudder.

She would do that! She would totally do that!

Nononono. Having her stuck to my carapace all the time was bad enough! It was like having a second skin that disapprove of my every decision. Imagine what that’s like! A disagreeable SKIN! I can't handle it getting worse, I just can't!

BOOM!

An impact detonates under my claws, sending me sprawling and I scramble to get my legs back under me and run. Can't you guys leave me alone? I'm trying to deal with real problems here!

The five heavily armoured soldiers chasing me don't seem all that sympathetic to my plight. In fact they seem rather insistent that they continue trying to poke holes in me with various pointy implements. Having foreign objects inside my carapace is exactly what I'm worried about right now. I don't need this as well!

I fire a quick air blade hoping to scatter them, but the big one steps forward with his shield, absorbing the impact as the others run around to flanking positions. Come on! How is this fair? If I had my full squad here, I'd show you!

With my legs under me once more, it's time to DASH! Blows slash into my carapace, carving deep slices into the precious diamond as I run down the tunnel, fleeing into the dark. Stop marking my shiny exterior, dammit! How am I supposed to lie to Crinis about this if she sees me covered in blade marks?!

DASH! DASH! DASH!

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

Acid launches from the rear zone as I run away into the darkness, trying to shake my pursuers. Just my luck that I decide to poke my antennae at the camp right when a patrol was coming back. How the heck was I supposed to know?! All I wanted was a little peek, just to see if I was needed, and I was being careful! They must have been using some kind of Skill or technique, because they practically tripped over me before I noticed they were there.

Not even heat signatures! How the heck are these people so damn cold?!

HAP!

BOOM!

I leap just in time to avoid a vicious thrust that fired a ray of sword light straight for my head. These people don't play around. In fact, with their bulky armour and helmets covering their faces, it's hard to believe that they aren't the monsters rather than me!

How do you like this then?

With a sound of tearing wind, I unleash three wind spears at once, the spells twisting and warping the air in the tunnel and spreading the acid in all directions. Chance! I've explored these tunnels before, at least somewhat, and I know that the tunnel wall right over there is super thin! I run with all speed, firing more acid and wind magic as I go, trying to conceal my movements.

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Made it to the wall! Here we go!

CHOMP! CHOMP!

I rip into the stone with wild abandon and in only a few bites I manage to open up a hole and dive into it! Only to get my abdomen stuck…

Again with this?! Am I fat?! Are you calling me fat, you stupid Dungeon!? Dammit, legs! PUSH! I force with my legs until I squeeze through the gap with a 'pop!' and land on the other side.

Gweheheheh.

With this gap, surely they won't be able to catch up to me. Dash!

BOOM!

Next to me the wall explodes as another arc of blade light cuts through the rock and cuts a deep gash on the opposite wall of the tunnel.

DAMMIT!

RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!

Part of me really wants to turn and shape up to these pests, but I'm worried. I'm too close to their base for one (not my fault, by the way) and I don't know that I would win, especially without my pets! Gah! They've forced me into unknown Dungeon territory here. This is all unexplored terrain. As I speed through, firing wind magic (gotta push for those levels, combat always helps!) I try to look for anything that might lend me an advantage.

All I find are the usual things, shadow beasts, stupid seaweed and deadly spike plants all over the place. Not to mention a decent number of what I've started to call 'dead fish'. Smaller creatures full of Death Mana that can swim through the air riding on the mana currents. They're a right pain in the backside, but I've not time to deal with them now. I'm sure a few will latch onto my carapace and I'll have to blast them off later.

Just another irritating thing caused by these damn murder hobos!

I cut around the corner just in time to avoid another coordinated strike that slices into the rock as if it were paper. Yikes! Not keen to test my head against that level of strike… Aha! What's that?

Up ahead I notice the tunnel opens up into a major passage and lo and behold, right in the middle, I find a HUGE root that connects the roof to the floor. I've never seen anything like this around this area, but this could be my chance! The soil around tree roots is usually far more loose than other places, since the ground gets broken up by the roots pushing through. I might be onto something here!

I zig and zag as I run and then skirt around the blind side of the root. This thing is massive, it must be thirty metres in diameter at least! Easily enough to block sight of me. Once there, I coil my legs and spring into the air! As I descend, I pull back my mandibles as I spin together an earth mana construct.

I land head first, digging into the soil in a frenzy of biting and shovelling with my legs even as my sub-brains weave mana to help drill into the ground as fast as possible. DIG! DIG! DIG! Gotta get as deep as possible! No chances can be taken!

Fully immersing myself in the power of zen, I dig with all of the efficiency that my ant body can muster, burrowing into the soil at a rate that would make Jim proud. Only when the business district has been fully submerged do I feel even remotely safe, but even then I don't stop digging.

Once I feel I've reached a significant enough depth, I freeze, hoping against hope that they won't be able to find me. I expand all of my senses, trying to get a sense of what is going on around me, only then do I notice something I really should have picked up on before.

This root, has a metric truck load of mana inside it… Like, holy moly that is a lot of mana. When I push my awareness inside the root, it's almost as if the pure, dense mana is slowly moving inside like sap within a tree.

What the heck is this thing? And why, if it's so loaded with mana and totally defenceless, aren't monsters chomping it to bits trying to get at the energy within? I raced around the thing rather quickly, but I don't think I saw a single monster close to it…

I'm getting a bad feeling about this.

Deciding to take my chances, I angle myself and dig my way back up, squeezing myself out between the root and the soil. To my vast surprise, I don't see any soldiers trying to cut me down, or indeed any monsters nearby. Did my digging ruse work?

Being exceptionally careful this time, I sneak my way back to where my pets left me, collapsing in a relieved heap the moment I make it. Not five minutes later, Crinis and Vibrant return.

[Hey there, Crinis,] I say, desperately acting casual, [did you have fun?]

I'm sure I'm okay. I even triggered my healing gland on the way back to take care of any minor wounds and I thoroughly cleaned myself. Please, for the love of the bearded one, let me get away with this!

[I did. Thank you, Master.]

The mass of tentacles and death unfolds from Vibrant's back and once again takes up residence wrapped around my abdomen.

[Did you manage to stay out of trouble, Master?]

[Trouble? Me? Of course not! Just practicing magic is all I've been doing.]

[Hmm. Alright then.]

PHEW!