Chapter 66 Dungeon Core: “The Eternal Training Ground”

POV Enn

Enn was really, really nervous. She had kinda wanted this, but now that it had happened, everything she knew would be different. She waited in the office of Immigration, as she was no longer a citizen of this empire. She was going to get an identifier that would show she is now without a nation. This terrified her, especially how everything familiar had changed in a moment and now was just not.

She remembered walking here, escorted by guards, but everyone she had once been a part of now looked at her with disapproval or even hatred. There was one face amongst the crowd that looked at her in wonder. She would most likely be in the same spot she currently is if she doesn't change her outlook.

The office was a bit small for her as she was even for their large species a bit of an anomaly. Because of that, when she first finished the mandatory Army Service and wanted to join the army as a proper scout, she was rejected. They wanted her to be a front liner, but the only reason she wanted to join was so she could explore, and the training as a scout would be invaluable for that.

She remembered fondly when the recruiters knocked on her chamber wall. She had purposely not joined and said she only would if she could be a scout. It took them two weeks, but the war was approaching, a terrible thing it was, and they needed as many capable soldiers as possible.

If she knew things would get so bad, and that worker ants would get drafted, she would have joined no matter where she needed to go, as the training would have been preferable to being a worker with little training and then being forced to go and fight.

Her antennae twitched as some of the more horrible scenes replayed in her memory, but she forced her mind to calm. Finally, she could feel the scent of the official coming through the side tunnel. Her vibration sense was really good, but using it in a colony so large would be useless.

There was always a vibration because of all the work and movement going on. The official greeted her, and she was surprised at how reasonable and kind he seemed. I guess he worked here for longer than she expected and probably saw ants like her constantly.

The language of this empire was an old one, using clicks and antenna movements as much as pheromones. "Enn, I will be frank, we are sad that this colony couldn't be what you needed it to be. There are no legal problems with you, as you immediately called the authorities. The law is quite strict, but you followed it to the letter.”

“I have your new Talisman here, with your history and that you are now an ant without a colony. You can stay in this colony for a week. You can, of course, extend this through the proper channel, but I recommend you join the Champions Guild as that would give you a lot of freedom of movement."

He continued with the lawyer talk, and it was hard to keep amusement away, but the situation did help as I now knew my world would be completely different. But I was also excited; yes, now I could do what I wanted to do.

It was funny how many ants now study the law the best they could, in the hopes that they would one day be summoned by our father. 'Father' was a foreign word for ants, but when he gave us the Academy and we learned about the outside world and how other creatures functioned, we found it to be the best descriptor for what the dungeon core was. He was our father.

Before that, there were many names for him. Creator, maker, God and even true queen. Yet none was right and over time father became the only name used. Others didn’t really fit that well, perhaps God, but he never demanded or asked for worship. Many blamed him for our miseries and mistakes but now we all know those were all our own mistakes.

"I thank you for all the help," I said to the official when we were finally done. "It was my pleasure. Helping a war hero is the least of what I can do, even if the situation is unfortunate." With that, I left.

Fortunately, thanks to the token, ants around me no longer looked at me with hostility, but some still looked with disapproval, as no ant liked someone not of their colony inside their colony. The first thing I did was go back to my room and just rest for half a day, as this entire situation had exhausted me.

Our colony almost never slept, so when I reached The Champions Guild, there was still activity. I knew everything I needed to do, as I had researched everything needed. I had the credits needed to pay for everything.

My war record helped me gain the rank of veteran after a small combat test. I was now packed up with all my belongings inside a backpack and the veteran Champions Guild token proudly announcing my position, as I waited for the train to take me to my next destination.

It was expensive as she needed to purchase a ticket for an entire passenger cart. Even then her ass was sticking out as she was even too large for that. The last measurement put her length at one metre and 27 centimetres, and she was incredibly proud of that number.

Soon, the scenery changed from the multiple large colonies built close together to smaller and smaller colonies further apart. She finally got off the train in a small colony that mostly consisted of adventurers. The train would continue onwards and eventually reach another large empire, but this was an adventurer's paradise as untamed wilderness stretched for an incredibly large stretch of land.

This area was largely unmapped, and her explorer's heart thumped louder when she looked towards it. Registering at the guild, she needed to take on a few extermination missions so she could afford the proper gear needed for a truly long mission.

On one of those extermination missions, she was chasing a mammal called a rat that was skill-enhanced. Even after the long chase, it put up a decent fight, but she had faced stronger opponents, and she was the one who walked out of those fights.

When the fight was over, she realised that she was in an unknown place, but fortunately, she could use her pheromone trail to find her way back. Then she sensed rain. She started to run as fast as possible; it didn't take long for the trail to be washed away.

She couldn't call herself a scout if she couldn’t find her way out, but it was going to take a while. On her way back, however, she happened upon a curious site. It took her a moment to realise that these were ruins, and the only reason it took her so long was because they weren’t ant ruins.

What do we have here she pondered as she slowly got closer. The ruins were quite high, and they looked like stone cubes. It was when she saw a better-intact ruin that she realised these were the homes of outsiders - the humans and other races.

What were they doing here? At the centre of this ruin was a curious construction with different symbols on it. It was at this moment that her token beeped, something she didn't even know it could do.

She was then given information that she had unlocked a quest. Did Father give her this? ‘Unlock the secrets of this ruin,’ was all that it said. It took her a while to understand, but when she did, it was hard to contain her excitement.