The sky had yet to brighten, and gray morning mist shrouded the lakeshore.
The expedition assembled before dawn.
Veylin, Ola, Barrett, and Kale, who all but melted into the shadows.
A nonhuman force stood quietly behind them.
Twenty giant dung beetles, each a size larger than an ox-these were Sarah's latest Tier Three Magical Beasts, [War Beetles].
Coldly gleaming barbs covered their carapaces, and their six jointed legs were sturdy and powerful.
Looking at these silent, ferocious creatures, Ola could not help swallowing.
The slightly smaller "Siege Borer" atop each giant insect's head looked capable of punching through a thick ironwood shield.
One by one, they drank their [Underwater Breathing Potions] and dove into the opening at the center of the lake.
Icy lake water enveloped them, its pressure seeping through the gaps in their leather armor.
With the aid of the Glimmer Potions, they could see through the darkness at the bottom of the lake.
Sarah led the way, wearing leather armor over her upper body. Still unaccustomed to swimming, she frequently looked back, copying Veylin's breaststroke with her arms while her lower limbs paddled somewhat awkwardly.
The War Beetles fared much better. Driven by instinct, they sank rapidly and spread out in concert, their jointed legs making faint scraping sounds against the rock walls as they formed a moving defensive array around Veylin and the others.
Meanwhile, the true command center-Veylin-was adapting to and debugging the information flowing up and down through the "Hive Matrix."
He sorted and screened the enormous stream of sensory information.
The visual feeds from the War Beetles' compound eyes automatically filtered out ninety-nine percent of redundant imagery, retaining only moving threats and changes in terrain. The live overhead view from the highest-positioned War Beetle was then overlaid as the primary perspective. Sarah integrated