Deep within the mountain known as Mount Ignaz, there was an interconnect web of tunnels, that spanned several kilometers. They connected to most of the different areas of the mountain and continued to be expanded by the Emberants, that build them.
(I had considered this possibility, when the first ant showed up but this entire network being just outside my nest, would have been a problem without my new form)
Paul walked in line with the group of Emberants he encountered, as he followed them deeper into the tunnel. He marveled at the walls inside the tunnel, which looked like molded ceramic. Contrary to what he expected, the earth they had dug through was hard to the touch. It should have been somewhat loose and yet the walls were made of hardened earth.
(How did they do this? Aren't they simply burrowing through the ground?)
The Emberants made the tunnels by releasing heat stored in their bodies through their mandibles and shoveling aside the dirt with their fore legs. But what he didn't know, was that the ants spread a sweat like substance from their carapace, which stuck to the walls and hardened. This created stabler tunnels for them, reducing the possibility of cave ins.
Skreee!
The ant in front of the line let out a small shriek that echoed down the tunnel.
At first Paul was surprised, when the ant started periodically shrieking, thinking that there was an enemy nearby. After a while he realized that wasn't the case, which further confused him.
He didn't understand, why was it doing that?
It made him ponder different reasons that would explain this behavior, like, did they make this noise involuntarily? But the other ants weren't doing that? Then why was the one in front of the line shrieking?
As he continued imagining possible reasons, the group reached a crossroads that split into two different paths.
Suddenly they heard a shriek echoing from the left tunnel, causing the ant leading the group to enter the right tunnel.
This caused understanding to dawn on Paul.
The tunnels were barely wide enough for the grown ants to walk through it and they used sounds to identify oncoming groups. This way they traverse the tunnels without issues and continue gathering resources for the colony.
(Even if they are monsters, they still behave like the ants I know of. Just that they live in a volcano instead of an anthill I guess)
The group marched forward, as Paul made comparisons and tried to find use for the knowledge from his previous world. He had already confirmed that, even in a world of magic and monsters, the laws of physics still applied. This gave him an advantage he could use.
(I don't know how developed this world is, but that should be alright, as long as I'm dealing with low rank monsters)
He followed the other ants further down the tunnel, his mind preoccupied with the world outside the mountain, when the tunnel opened up to reveal a wide open space.
This was one of the hub spaces, where over a dozen tunnels converged. These tunnels went in many different directions, including other hub spaces leading deeper into the colony.
Paul came to an abrupt stop, as the scene before shocked him to no end. He shouldn't have been able to see anything in the darkness of the tunnels and the hub space, but the reasons why he could still see everything were scuttling around him.
Dozens upon dozens of Emberants were entering and leaving the hub space at any given moment. One group left through a tunnel and another group came out of a different tunnel. The glowing lines of heat on the ants bodies were like walking candles, making their overwhelming number painfully obvious.
He was surrounded on all sides. If he transformed back to a Phoenix on accident, it would result in instant death for him.
(This might be a little bad for me)
Paul stood rooted on the spot, as a couple of ants brushed against him while they went about their routine. The group he followed had already disappeared into the crowd, but that didn't mean the ants were ignoring him.
Some of them threw him an angry glare his way, when they saw him simply stand there. Others tried to nudge him to move, using their bodies to push him, causing him to nearly stumble and fall.
He had to catch his step in order to stay standing, stumbling closer to the center and accidentally dropping the ant remains he had carried there until now.
After this, it was impossible for him not to notice all the attention being centered on him.
(Oh shit … It feels super uncomfortable having all this eyes on me … Just play along for now)
He picked up the remains and looked around, spotting a group going down a tunnel leading further down. Without hesitation he followed them through the darkness, before the others around him got too jittery.
Trailing behind the new group, Paul noticed some differences between them and the former group. For starters, the ones before him were smaller and the heat lines on their carapaces glew less brightly.
(These guys are closer to my form … Ah, they must be young like me)
They continued further down, passing by another hub space, before going down a new tunnel. Several minutes of travel later, they reached the lowest level of the colony. Once Paul entered, he froze at the sight before him.
(What the hell is THAT?)
The space at the end was much larger than the prior hub spaces. But despite being the biggest space in the colony, there was an oddly small amount of ants.
Instead the few ones, who were around, constantly brought in food and created piles of food, which littered half of the room on the floor. The other half was filled with eggs strewn about.
And at the center of it all was the one in charge of the colony.
The Emberqueen.
While Paul was the size of a small dog and the adult ants were the size an average dog, she was several times bigger, reaching the size of horse. Her shovel like front legs were large enough to decapitate a man and her mandibles could tear a melon to pieces. The heat lines on her body depicted a strange pattern, that indicated a flow sorts towards her abdomen, where a deflated sack was visible. Beside her a couple eggs, smaller than the rest still connected to the sack by something resembling a glowing string.
The queen calmly munched on the food being delivered to her, not minding the her children, who continued to bring her more without rest.
Paul watched this scene for some time, until another ant walked up to him and took the food from him. He didn't protest or make any sudden movements. Rather, he would be glad if they simply ignored him completely from now on.
All because of the queen.
He felt it instinctively, ever since he first laid eyes on her. One bite from her and it's the end for him. Heck, he was absolutely sure, if she said the word, her children would rip him apart in a second.
(I gotta get the hell outta here before they notice I'm not one of them. This ain't the kind of shut-in lifestyle I wanna support)