Dungeon Life

Chapter Three-Hundred Two

It took a bit of convincing, but my nerd squad is finally willing to leave the topic of kaboom for later. Thing, Honey, Queen, and Poppy are back to working on how to help with the tree now, and acting like it’s just a coincidence they’re looking into fertilizers.

Well, joke’s on them. I don’t know much about what goes into making proper boom. Honestly, I don’t think that part of Teemo’s explanation held too much water for them. But the safety concerns did get through their eager heads that it should be something to explore later, and in very small scale. Because it’s not difficult at all to make something that explodes. The trick is in making it only explode when you want it to.

Still, I’m content to let everyone pretend nobody knows about any ulterior motives. Unless they get into the really big booms, I think magic’s existence will make them more parlor tricks than weapons. Fireworks could be cool, though.

Anyway, I’m just glad they’re back on track, and Teemo is relieved to have headed that particular disaster off at the pass.

My new scions are settled into their spawners, letting their new scion status settle in. I don’t think they’re going to change too much, at least on the outside. Leo didn’t. Teemo didn’t. Fluffles is the outlier, honestly. Though speaking of scions that might change, I take a moment to track down Nova to see what she’s up to. She’s not in her spawner, but rather deep in the labyrinth, toying with some magma.

I still don’t know why she didn’t get a title for beating the Redcap. He was a Conduit, and she beat him! That should earn a title, right? It seems unfair to me, but maybe the real credit went to the Harbinger, since it subsumed the Maw? Either way, I might be indignant about it, but Nova isn’t. A mix of concentration and happiness bubbles from her bond with me as she works the magma like a sculptor might work clay.

I’m pretty sure she’s gotten fire affinity, and a quick peek at her stats confirms that. I would have expected earth first, but from what I can tell, she’s focusing on controlling the heat to only let the magma solidify exactly where she wants, instead of letting it solidify mostly in place and use earth affinity to add the finishing touches.

She’s probably not far from making that leap, though. She’s working on little figurines of the other scions, and though she’s getting a lot of detail into them, it’d probably be more accurate to call them statuettes. I think she’s limited in what kind of scale she can manage until she can start manipulating the solidified stone directly. Still, they look great. If she keeps this up, I’m going to start decorating the labyrinth and beyond with her work.

She pauses as she feels that idea, but pushes her worry aside as she continues working. Her small Tiny is her most intricate yet, so she can’t afford to let distractions keep her from making it just right. I pat the bond with encouragement before turning my attention to my High Priestess as she works with the antkin.

Right now, she’s meeting with the newly-selected leaders of the enclave. The antkin were waiting for her input before they chose, but she had to admit most of the thesis projects were beyond her. She did at least encourage them that it seemed like a fine way to choose leadership to her. They still wrangled her into being the one to read the names of the winners.

The rest of the enclave is partying, with my other enclaves mingling and chatting, too. The leaders and Aranya are gathered in the city hall, which the new Worker Dean and Headmaster worked on. It’s not the only city hall candidate, but the others will be used for things like a library, a school, a church, and so on. His name’s Ed, and I think most of the antkin have single-syllable names. Ed sits at the front of the table with Aranya, with the former looking like he maybe should have thought about what being the Headmaster meant before volunteering for the role.

And though I say head of the table, it’s a hexagon, so each of the Deans could be considered to be sitting at their own head. Going around clockwise is Tam the medical Dean, Jeb the Ranching Dean, Nik the Engineering Dean, Zac the alchemy Dean, and Liv the Enchanting Dean. Jeb, Nik, and Zak are guys, along with Ed of course, while Tam and Liv are ladies. They’re a little bigger than the guys, but not nearly like I was expecting. The spiderkin have a way more pronounced size difference between the sexes, and I don’t think the antkin are going to be changing much more. While they’ve all filled in a bit, the only real obvious change has been in the enchanter ants.

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The subtle runes now dimly pulse with power, and I think the color correlates to their affinity. Magma is still the most common, but there’s still a lot of others represented. I’d examine everyone closer, but Ed decides it’s time to start.

“Well, welcome to city hall, Deans. Is there any business we need to discuss right now?”

“Food,” says Jeb simply, and Aranya nods at that.

“Now you have your leadership sorted, you need to be self-sufficient to complete the transition from denizen to dweller.”

“Can we just eat the things you ranch?” asks Nik, probing the obvious solution.

Jeb thinks for a few moments before shaking his head. “Some of ‘em are good eating, but I don’t think we have the space to scale up ranching for food.”

“Perhaps as a supplement, then?” suggests Tam. “Having a variety of food sources will make it easier to deal with anything unfortunate in a single method.”

“Some kind of farm, then?” mentions Zak. “We have some small gardens for reagents, but we also don’t have the room to scale up to feed everyone.”

“We should consider hunting, too,” suggests Liv. “The other enclaves hunt outside for food and other interesting things. While we appear to be losing some of our heat resistance, we should still be able to hunt deeper, especially with some proper enchantments.”

“I’d love to learn the construction of the bows and spears Lord Thediem showed the other enclaves. It’d give us a good starting point for things beyond defensive traps,” adds Nik.

Ed nods at the suggestions and carves a few notes on a slate. “I think the workers can easily expand the ranching and gardening areas to include some food production. I imagine the Alchemists would like us to handle that portion of the growing?” At Zac’s nod, Ed turns to Jeb. “And the Ranchers?”

“Hmm. I think we could use a hand with some of it, but I think we’ll be able to handle being in charge of livestock. Some of the more exotic beasts are a handful. Livestock should be easier to handle for the ones still learning, and for the more experienced to be able to relax with.”

Ed nods and jots down a few numbers. “Who will handle the hunting?

The antkin look conflicted as they weigh their individual faction’s ability, even Ed. Aranya steps in and speaks up with an encouraging smile. “If there’s no clear choice, try comparing notes.”

They nod to that, and Ed organizes his thoughts first. “I think the workers could do it. We’re very versatile, but I don’t know if we’d have what it takes to be proficient hunters.”

Tam speaks next. “The medics prefer not to shed blood, but I think we would be able to identify weaknesses in potential prey. Unfortunately, I don’t know if we’d actually be able to take something down.”

“The Ranchers should be able to handle anything out there,” proclaims Jeb. “But we’re not exactly stealthy. I’m pretty sure anything we could take would see us coming, and make themselves scarce.”

Nik takes a few more seconds to think before answering in turn. “I think we could make something to make hunting easier, but most of the engineers will probably be preoccupied in our workshops, and only be able to go out to hunt when testing a prototype.”

Zac and Liv both nod at that, with the former speaking up first. “The alchemists will be the same, and by the look on Liv’s face, the enchanters are similar?”

She nods. “Indeed. We could outfit someone very well, but time spent hunting would be time not spent creating improvements.”

“Perhaps you should try small, mixed teams?” suggests Aranya. “A Worker, a Rancher, and a Medic, equipped with gear from the other three factions.” The ants seem to like the sound of that, so Aranya continues. “After the meeting, you should talk with the other enclaves, especially Vernew. If anyone can help you figure out hunting, it’ll be her.”

Ed nods and speaks up. “Then I think that’s all we need for the moment, unless anyone has anything else to bring up?” Heads shake, so he continues. “Then meeting adjourned. Jeb, Tam. Let’s go see if we can find Vernew in the celebration. Crafters, please bring up the need for hunting with your factions tomorrow. Otherwise, let’s go have some fun.”

The antkin and Aranya cheer that, though she stays behind for a moment as they head out to join the revelry. “I’m glad I was able to get back for this. It’s so fulfilling to see them grow into themselves.” She smiles towards my core, not caring about the distance and caves and such between her and it. “No wonder You do things the way You do.”

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