Chapter 883: Self Reflection...(!?) (993)

That… was exhausting. Holy moly I"m tired.

I managed to break the stalemate, but it wasn"t exactly the most subtle or efficient way to do it. This is why I leave the thinking to the Council. I nearly died, but hey, the problem has been solved!

The bruan"chii are more than happy to keep rolling the offensive forward. The poor dudes have been bottling up their aggression for so long, they"re practically about to burst! Now that the big Mum has let them off the leash, the pent up rage is quite the thing to see.

Nice to see them so full of beans. The bruan"chii can be a lively sort when the mood takes them. Good on "em. Go be the best wooden tree people that you can be.

I"m just going to chill for a bit. Maybe try and count all the holes I now have in my carapace.

"Master, are you well?" Crinis asks, worried.

"I"m just dandy. A little worse for wear, but nothing that won"t heal up in fairly short order. How about you?"

"I lost a great deal of flesh. Those filthy, worthless creatures… I will be glad when they no longer trouble us."

"Me too."

Going around the group, it seems as though we mostly pulled through ok. Tiny is exhausted, having drained his stamina completely. He barely has the energy to shovel some Bioma.s.s into his face, which is saying something. Invidia was barely scratched, which is a good thing considering how relatively squishy he is. One bite from a termite and those copious brains might have been leaking out again.

By far the most wounded is Sarah. Under the careful ministrations of our floating eyeball demon, she"s recovered a fair bit, but even healing magic has diminishing returns. To completely heal, she"ll need food, rest and ongoing treatment over a couple of days.

She seems to have fallen asleep in the meantime.

Although one can never be certain of safety within the Dungeon, I can feel an entire army of my family running through the area, so I don"t feel too threatened. It won"t be long before they converge on this area, so in the meantime, I might indulge in a quick bit of torpor.

"Eldest."

"BOOGAH!"

I jump back to alertness and find the tunnel around me has already become filled with ants. There"s a ton of Bioma.s.s to be carted off and my family is already hard at work. Shaking off my disorientation, I find Advant and Burke standing nearby.

"Who called me?" I say. "I"m awake!"

"We… can see that, Eldest. I was just hoping for a chance to thank you for what you"ve done. Our situation has been turned on its head because of what -"

"Whoa there!" I break in, prodding the soldier between the eyes with one antenna, freezing her in place. I turn to the scout leader. "Were you planning on saying something similar?"

"Uh… yes?"

Yuck.

"Don"t make it weird. There was a job to do that only I could do, so I did it. Every ant in the Colony would have done the same if they had the ability to do it."

I stare at them like they"ve gone weird. Then a thought strikes me and I dive into the Vestibule, actively sifting through the stream of Will that flows into me. To my surprise, I find this feeling of grat.i.tude is widespread amongst the ants around me. They are awed, filled with respect.

It"s strange. And a little worrying.

What sort of att.i.tude is this for an ant to have? Honestly, the only Colony member I expected to celebrate what I"d done was Leeroy, which obviously isn"t a good thing! What I said to the two council members, I meant. The ants are the most selfless creatures I"ve ever met or heard of, just like they are in their natural state on Earth. The intelligence they"ve gained hasn"t seemed to change that one bit. The only exception seems to be me.

I run off and risk my life in ways that I would frankly be annoyed if any other ant did, and to be honest, getting this grat.i.tude for it is making me uncomfortable. Not forgetting for a second just how un-antlike I find this behaviour. What is going on with them?

"Sarah deserves far more of the credit than I do," I tell them firmly, making sure to say it loud enough for all the ants around me to hear. "She threw herself into the fight and sustained the worst injuries of all of us. If you want to give someone some praise, then give it to her."

"Of course, she"s being treated well. We"re extremely grateful for what she did."

"Good. But don"t thank me, I did what any member of the Colony should. The work itself is the reward. Like I said, don"t make it weird."

"All right, Eldest," Burke holds up her antennae, "have it your way. What are you planning to do now? New fortifications are being dug and we need to be careful about counterattacks. There"s a mountain of work to do."

I stare at her.

"Are you kidding? I"m going to stuff my face and rest up until we storm the nests! I"m exhausted. We"re all exhausted. You need to give us a little time to recover…"

"Right you are then Eldest," Advant says, with a humorous roll of the antennae. "I suppose we"ll get back to it then. Rest well."

"Oh I will," I a.s.sure them. "I get the feeling that it"s going to be very peaceful."

I"ll be able to purge my grudge, after all. I"ll be shocked if that d.a.m.n worm is able to get away from Brilliant after all the insane things that crazy little champion has been able to figure out. She certainly lived up to her name in the end!

But as the ants begin to move away I worry about the changes in their att.i.tudes. Why are they acting this way? When did the change begin? There"s always been a level of… respect, from the Colony towards me.

Is it the Vestibule and Nave combo? Does it influence my family? If so, I"m not sure how comfortable I am with that… I"ll need to think long and hard on this before my next evolution.