RinoZ
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Chapter 1158 - Ball Sports?
🕑 Added 2023-05-06 05:27:32 +0000 UTCAfter thinking about it for a while, I decide I don’t want to think about it anymore and get some sleep.
I mean, there’s humans in there already, why not some demons? Who cares, the more the merrier. All that good stuff.
There’s definitely some serious ramifications of something like this, but I can’t work out what they are, so I’m going to stop trying.
When we wake up, we consume the second half of the Biomass, and then go back to sleep again. When I awake the second time, I see I’m the last to get up, Al has already taken off somewhere while Tiny, Invidia and Crinis have just been enjoying each other’s company, or so I assume.
To my surprise, someone else has decided to show their face.
“Sloan? Didn’t expect to see you here. Don’t you have some stuff to deal with? Like… the wave and such?”
The general gives herself a little shake and lets out a small laugh.
“You don’t think you’re important, Eldest?”
What a ridiculous question.
“All I’m doing is sleeping. There’s nothing important going on here.”
“And what about the powerful demons you took down to save the Colony on this stratum?”
“Well, that was yesterday. Don’t live in the past, Sloan, it’s the future that we need to be concerned with.”
Another little shake.
“Well, it’s good that I came here to talk to you about the future then. There’s something I’d like you to look into, Eldest.”
“Really? I thought I’d be heading down to the fourth as soon as possible to help relieve the pressure there. Things must be getting nuts down in the deep.”
The little general nods her head.
“Oh, they are, but I’d like you to head up, to the second.”
“To the second?! Why?”
She leans forward a little conspiratorially.
“We think we may have identified another unique individual.”
Ah, nards.
“She’s not as crazy as Brilliant, is she?”
Sloan hesitates.
“Nnnnooooo?” she says, extremely unconvincingly.
I stare down at her.
“She’s not like Brilliant,” the general assures me, “but she’s certainly not… usual.”
“Elaborate.”
“She’s some variety of general. A great leader, with unique and unconventional strategies. She’s been exceptionally successful. Her team is undefeated in every training exercise, including every Tunnel Ball match they’ve been part of. The fans are calling them the ‘Endless’ in honour of their win-streak.”
Interesting. A general this time, huh? I’m not mad about that. There’s something about the glint in Sloan’s eye that I find a bit odd.
“What’s the matter, Sloan? Not happy to be shown up in the strategy department?”
“Hmph,” the general flips her antennae haughtily. “Her tactics may be unexpected, but her grasp of overall strategy is still lacking.”
“For now.”
“Y-yes… for now.”
“So what do you want me to do, head up there and… what? Take her under my wing? Pass on my grand knowledge of warfare and how to lead armies?”
“No, of course not.”
That’s a little hurtful.
“I want you to beat her!” the general declares, clacking her mandibles with sudden passion. “Learning from failure is a key element in the Colony’s education, but she refuses to lose! Someone needs to put her in her place — I mean teach her a valuable lesson.”
I give her an even stare.
“You want me to go up to the second stratum to beat down on some ants barely out of training? And I should be doing this instead of going down to help our siblings on the fourth stratum?”
“You know it’s valuable to the Colony to ensure these individuals are raised as carefully as possible. So far, you’ve been involved each time and, as a result of your training, they’ve made great strides and contributions to the family. I’m sure this time will be no different.”
“Do you have any idea how painful it’s going to be for me to go up there? Being in the third isn’t exactly comfortable.”
“Your core is starving here?” Sloan asks, genuinely surprised.
I can’t be bothered explaining the call. Who knows what the Colony will do if they think I'm under attack from the Ancients.
“No, it isn’t. But it will be up there! Is there a reason I need to go to the second? Why can’t you just bring this ant down to me?”
“Well… that’s where the stadium is.”
“The stadium?!”
“Yes, for Tunnel Ball.”
“You mentioned this before, I thought it was a training exercise or something. Why the heck have we built a stadium?”
The general shifts a little uncomfortably.
“I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but the humans grew interested in Tunnel Ball, so we got more interested, and now the Colony has learned of the surface races interest in ‘sports’. So Tunnel Ball has been adopted as the Colony’s official sport. There’s a league and everything.”
I mean… what do I even say? I know I told the ants to learn from the humans, taking their wisdom and culture and making it our own, but BALL SPORTS?! FOR ANTS?!?!?
I heave a sigh. No point worrying about it now, what’s done is done. What harm can a bit of sport do anyway? If anything, it’s nice for the ants to have developed a distraction, something they can engage in other than work.
“Right. So I’m going to the second stratum to beat down on a young ant at sports to teach them a lesson about… losing… or something. And I’m doing this mainly because you’re sick of this new general winning all the time….”
“That’s not the reason!”
I glare at her.
“It’s… not… the main reason….”
“Fine. I’ll guess I’ll start making my way up then. The sooner I get it over with the better. Might be nice to the old nest again. This might be the last chance I get to head up there.”
“Oh, we’ll have Brilliant take you. That’ll be faster.”
“... Great.”
“You don’t sound very grateful, Eldest!” the little mad-scientist declares as she pops into existence nearby.
I’m going to have to find a method to prevent that from happening. I’ve no doubt there are monsters who could just teleport themselves inside my carapace. Yuck.
“I’m grateful for your help with the demons, that worked incredibly well. I’m not going to pretend that dimension hopping travel is all that comfortable though. It sucks! How far are we from a functional gate?”
“Closer than you think. Speaking of which, I’d like to get back to my lab, so let’s get moving!”
“... Fine.”
Comments
Edgar Delibo Jr.
Tier 7... but I also think it would be a great motivational move. Since sometimes all you need is a little *thwack at the back to push you to greater heights
ManguKing
I don't think that it is a good lesson to teach a tier 4 ants that it takes a tier 6 ant to best her. Not any random tier 6, but the top ant of the colony.
Sam Miller
We getting some more Anthony soon?
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
Nanashi
My money says... Anthony shows up and is surprised to find he has to put in real effort .. even having a few close calls do to her strategy.. no one realizes he had to put in any effort at all.. making it look easy.. he monologues that he does not want to have to face her again after she grows a bit because she might actually take him.. and he does not wanna see a statue of that.. Then Retires Except .. you know.. well written but tricks on you .. i don't have any money to bet Hahaha.... o 0_o
Anthony Romanov
Sometimes it better to lose then completely destroyed.
alt31415
I mean, that seems like it's the point. "Sometimes you come up against enemies so much more powerful than you, that you can't win. No matter how smart you are, how clever you are, you can't out-think your way out of it."
Moonspike
All they are going to teach her is that the only person that can beat her is the eldest. And that that is because he significantly out tiers her.
alt31415
True, I forgot it's not just tier, but overall core strength, that determines it.
Ibuks5
Especially with Arconi-butt angry at him
Buck
This should be fun. This must be the Tunnel Ball match Anthony participated in that was referenced previously in Chapter# 1041 - Stadiant.
Dan K
Feel bad for those kids. One weak gravity well later and they won’t even be able to stand let alone stop him from scoring.
Dan K
I agree with Gonvas. He’s gonna need to use some mental power to just funnel mana into himself to keep from bleeding energy. That won’t help that hook feeling like it’s trying to rip his guts out though.
Gonvas
Don't compare a regular T6 core with Anthony's. At T6, Anthony, Sarah, Crinis, Vibrant, ... can no longer stay in the 2nd strata (no wave) even if they drag mana to their cores (ch 721). T7 Anthony not only has a bigger core but both the core and his evolution rank up to Mythic rank, increasing his mana needs to a whole different lvl. IMO, even with the wave + dragging mana to his core, he can't stay indefinitely in the 2nd.
alt31415
Oh man, poor Anthony's going to get Called like nobody's business up there. His core... should be fine though, right? There was the Mama Spider up there who was Tier 6, and now there's a wave on.
Merf
Based on the way Garalosh and Grokus’ cores were treated the cores of the three Heralds will go to the shapers for study before they get absorbed. I doubt Anthony will absorb any of them though. It’s more likely that he’ll use them to pave the way for Tiny, Crinis, and Invidia to become mythic monsters.
Kenneth
it connects with the timeline of the notes on the history of tunnel ball x chapters ago, otherwise Anthony just never goes up there to begin with if he doesnt have a reason for it. sure its not a pressing concern, but in anthony's eyes its not like theres a crazy issue atm now that the heralds have been struck out
Koala Man
Awesome :) and now we learn about the time Anthony played ball and had another statue made 😂😂
A Table
Yes loving this more I need more
Kieran S.
Genuine question for you RhinoZ, how many hours do you think you’ve spent writing? I’m thinking about the whole 10,000 hours for mastery idea rn cause it sure seems like you have a level of mastery over writing consistently believable characters and amazing settings that is either savant like or the product of a lot of grinding
BelligerentGnu
This is pretty damned ridiculous, even for Anthony. Why is he indulging Sloan's pettiness? Especially to beat on the first non-annoying champion?
Wensber
I knew we had to see it soon. Next tier there was no way he'd make it up to a stadium. Wasn't expecting it now though. I was looking forward to seeing the gains from the fight.
taukid
Oh God, we're gonna see the one time Anthony played tunnel ball they Emily talked about in the Tully stadium chapter
Thunderhoof
For the cores, one should be useful to the shapers as a study material and the other as an enchantment for the gate(doors). Then he can have the last one.
Thunderhoof
Imagine if Anthony can contact this ant through the Nave and be like a control tower or the "Gal in the Chair".
William Harrison
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