Basement, that’s a second room, with a second chest. No new rats, but maxing out the capacity on pack rats and evolving Ania should be enough for my plans. It’s all set up and will be ready in time. All I have to do is wait two more days and Lilliana will be ready to go.

My target, a wasp nest. They monopolised the best flower field in my reach. My plan is relatively simple. Lianna will go with a guard of regular acid moths. Hurl acid balls at range, to destroy large parts of the nest, and wasps residing there in. Then they will inevitably aggravate, but my acid moths will be there to battle them. Losses are to be expected, but this is a long-term investment.

I got my plan; I got my troops, nothing left to do but send them out and wait. Oh, the wait, this feels like ages. I watch my acid moth spawners. At first, it is inactive, peaceful even. Of course, I don’t expect any losses before contact with the nest. Eventually it activates, meaning it’s not a lossless battle, and eventually Liliana returns on her own two wings. This means victory. Sure enough, the map updates to remove the wasp hive.

What’s a bit odd is that she grew slightly in size, and majorly in mana capacity. That’s odd. What happened? I try to get an answer from her… and while not entirely fruitless; it is not very helpful. All I get is a vague motion of the nest, specifically its centre. Now clue how that relates to her growth, but I suppose I have another thing to investigate when an opportunity arises.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

For now, let’s focus on the fact that the patch is mine. I am a flower queen. Fly my moths, collect the spoils. Bounty is nice, and quite easily accessible. Wasps were holding this area quite tightly, and now I am here to fill the power vacuum.

With the packed flower patch, expansions are a lot more fruitful. Seems it was well maintained. Moths bring more mana and pulp. I suppose I will use the pulp to make two new spawners. I can maintain the patch with what I have, but I will need new ones to maintain my presence in the neighbourhood. However, as I am not adding much mana to the equation, this will take a long time. Enough time to battle the girl, twice.

For that battle, I will have upgraded Ania. Her pack rat evolution did not include any shrinking, just the swarming ability and mana capacity. Also, mana which can be used in two ways. The first one being calling the pack, pack rats are alerted and get a brush of seed running towards her. The second one is one I like even more. She can use it to keep her swarm together. On top of that, the surrounding rats seem more motivated. Probably won’t help them bite harder, but might prevent them from running away.

I don’t think I am large enough to have use for calling the pack, but swarm protection will make for a mighty boss fight. I hope the girl appreciates the extra challenge.