The thing about the tunnels in the second stratum is that they're freezing cold, like really cold. What's more, when you get this deep, they reek of death mana, which when combined by the near total darkness makes them a rather unpleasant place to be. It's like being in a graveyard at night where it's permanently raining. As an insect, I can't say that this is the most pleasant environment for me, though I don't suffer as much as a regular ant would.
I mean, if us monstrous ants were that susceptible to temperature, the entire Colony would have gone straight into hibernation the moment we got too cold.
With the rising mana levels of the wave, the stink of death, which is usually more of a background scent, has risen to be an all-consuming assault on the senses, magical and mundane. Even worse than the smell? The monsters.
[Watch out behind you Tiny! You can't just hit 'em once! You need to turn them into paste!] I yell at the ape.
With a surprised grunt of irritation, Tiny turns around to see that the zombified mountain of flesh he'd thought was finished had gotten back up again to try and claw at his back. Hands igniting with energy, the giant ape unleashes a flurry of punches so fast his hands blur and the air comes alight with fists formed of his energy that pummel the monster into a blob, but he doesn't stop until he hears the notification, whereupon he nods to himself in satisfaction before flicking the muck off his fists.
I thought I'd seen the worst of the death monsters the second stratum had to offer, but I was far from correct. The generic sort of monster that housed death mana that we'd encountered was usually little more than a shadow beast that had a few too many bones sticking out, and more guts hanging out than one would expect to see. These types though?
[Invidia! Gimme the boom!]
[Yessssss! Give me your screamsssss!]
BOOM!
The monster I had gripped in my mandibles, pinning the serpentine creature covered in writhing strings of guts, detonates right in the middle, sending a shower of gristly guts flying through the air. The monster shrieks in what I'm pretty darn sure is not pain as its face of exposed bone tries to take a bite out of me. Oh no you don't! Eat flame! A burning jet of pure blue fire ignites in front of me and burns the creature's face as I apply more pressure with my mandibles.
Crunch!
With a horrific sound of snapping bone the monster's face disintegrates as the fire burns it away and voice of Gandalf rings out in my head at last. Gah! I'm sick of these damn zombie monsters! They're so damn hard to kill! It's not like they even regenerate or anything, they just don't stop! Slice one in half, it keeps on moving. Blow them up? Still moving. Just like in the classics, the only way to finally get them to stop is to destroy whatever houses the brain, be it the head or whatever else they have going on.
Burn you darn pains in the neck!
Using all of my brains, I concentrate hard and blast out three jets of fire at once, pushing back the darkness and burning away the cold, along with a handful of monsters. Gweheheheh! Yessss! Burn for me! Won't be long until that pupa hatches and I have a new little student to teach the ways of the Dungeon and Colony as well. Man, so much to do!
[Master! They're still swarming on this side!]
[Still?! Are you able to get rid of them!?]
[I'm holding them off, but they're still coming!]
Holy moly!
[Hold on, I'm on the way! Invidia and Tiny, you need to hold down this side for a while!]
I race toward the other side of the three way junction we've been holding toward the left side where Crinis has been slaughtering her way through the crush of monsters by herself. After all, mass de-limbing is something of her speciality. When I get there I see a wall of tentacles thrashing and twisting around hundreds of monsters, each roaring and tearing with maddened fury. In the few glimpses I get through the chaos I can see the tunnel beyond is completely filled with creatures tearing at each other in their rage and desire to push upward.
This is never ending! It's been bad the last few days, but this is just madness!
[Hold them for a minute, Crinis! I'll give them a bomb!]
[Got it, Master!]
Throwing away all my constructs and residual fire mana, I task all of my minds with one particular job: drawing out and crushing my gravity mana. With all of my brains working together, we can crunch one together pretty darn quick! Standing still, I allow Crinis to protect me as she works double time holding the monsters back, giving me time and space to work.
A minute later, doom announces its presence to the monsters with its signature welcome.
HOOOOOOOOOWLLLLL!
[Crinis! Get out of the way and brace!]
The bomb rotates with slow grace as it flies through the air, vanishing amidst the grasping claws of the onrushing monsters before it expands into an all devouring sphere of death. When the dust finally clears and the ring of notifications in my head has finally stopped the tunnel is clear. A tiny bit of breathing space before the crush starts again.
[How are you doing on flesh, Crinis?]
[I'm getting low.]
[Eat what you can while the numbers are low. It won't be long un-… what was that?]
Before I finish warning Crinis, my mana sense goes crazy as a huge pulse of energy floods through the Dungeon, racing up from the depths and past our position in less than a second.
[Did you pick up on that Crinis?] I ask her. With her much finer mana senses, she's sure to pick up on it better than I did.
[I did! Master, check the mana levels!] she cheers in my mind, full of exuberance.
In fact, her tentacles are doing a little dance as she hangs off the wall. What is going on? As she suggested, I turn my attention to the ambient mana around me, recoiling from the overwhelming fog of death mana that lays over us. I… don't think anything is different? Or is … wait… wait?!
[It's going down?] I ask, almost not willing to believe it.
[It's going down!] Crinis confirms, flinging her limbs into the air in celebration.
Oh so slowly, the mana level is creeping down, which means the wave is coming to an end! The moment the realisation hits me, my heart starts thudding in my carapace and I unconsciously turn to face the tunnels leading deeper into the Dungeon, excitement building inside me. It's finally going to end, after weeks of this nonsense! No longer are we going to be chained to these damned tunnels fighting the same monsters over and over again! I can't wait for a change of scenery!
I'm seriously looking forward to a warmer climate coming my way once we go lower, and I am determined to go lower. There's just something about this life that makes me want to keep pushing. I mean, it's not like I let things get me too down in the last one either, but this one is different. The things I've seen, the things I've been able to do, it's incredible. I don't often slow down to reflect on it, but the changes I've experienced in this life, ignoring the difference between my current incarnation and the previous, just within this second lifetime, I don't know… it makes me hungry for more.
I want to keep delving, I want to keep pushing further. I want to get into trouble, fly into danger, then fight my way out with Tiny, Crinis and Invidia by my side. I want to Grow stronger to defend my family. I want my family to become strong enough to defend themselves. I want more friends, Gandalf knows I could do with more of those. I have two lifetimes worth to accumulate, after all.
What's more, I want to see. I want to see what lives in the middle of this Dungeon. I want to see the heart of this planet and I want to see the most powerful monsters in existence, the slumbering Ancients. Wouldn't you?! A worm who can swallow a mountain?! I mean come on! This is only the beginning. I have everything I need, and soon enough, the Colony isn't going to need me to take care of them anymore. Not all the time at any rate.
Whatever's down there, I'm coming. There's no chance you're going to be ready when I get there!