In the transient shortage of worthless crumbs offering themselves for the growth of the greater whole, the drone was scavenging what little lay about, very careful not to get too far away from the others.

  Self-evidently, this much individuality and initiative was a deviation, born of severe dearth of fundamental resources, and mark of imminent dissolution.

  The most optimal endeavor during this lull without credible threats should be securing the terrain and preparing battlements. Regrettably the lack of synchronization and coordination with the greater whole hindered any complex endeavor, in the absence of the centerpiece. The drone was thus forced to contribute with simple, sub-optimal scavenging.

  Consequently, it was the closest when a resource approached at a dangerous speed and in an unusual trajectory.

  It readied, aware of similar preparations behind.

  The resource sailed through the air in a high arc, and impacted harshly onto the ground close by, fragments scattering about with the contact.

  No threat. But the drone could sense immediately that this was a very valuable resource. With a much more crucial detail hanging on.

  Traces of something outside the record, with a concentration and purity of the quintessence of this realm unprecedented in any other resource. Superior even to the one stolen beneath the centerpiece's very gaze.

  This could lead to a substitute, to repairing that devastating loss. Such a supremely valuable source of intel was right here for the taking, with no threats to complicate the recovery. It didn't hesitate moving forward.

  For once, the fragmentation of the greater consciousness and increased individuality of the drones might be useful, as it would allow this one to take initiative and recover the resource alone, in a very efficient manner.

  But alarmingly, when it got close, the resource -- what was left of it in one piece -- jolted away.

  The drone halted immediately and scanned the resource itself and the surroundings, trying to determine the cause.

  Despite the worrying event, the examination returned no threat nearby: live resources were keeping acceptably far back, and the objective itself was long extinguished.

  Satisfied, it started approaching again. For the objective must be recovered.

  ... Only for the resource to move away a second time, just before the drone could recover it.

  Again, it stopped and examined the surroundings.

  Again, it found nothing.

  So, it resumed approaching. This resource contained a lead to something far more valuable, that might finally repair the greater whole. Or even elevate it entirely. It must be claimed, no matter what.

  However, the same situation repeated an inefficient amount of times: the resource ever closer, but always just a bit out of reach. Until the drone found itself alarmingly far from the greater whole and out of sight of the others.

  So none of them could raise the alarm when its head was smoothly separated from the rest of its body.

  The being almost couldn't believe it had worked, as it snatched the spike from the beheaded guard and climbed on top of a boulder.

  The bait had smashed into the ground so hard, it had feared the tendon lasso would have snapped. It should definitely have been more careful when throwing...

  Of course, it could have simply ambushed a guard the old way in that case, but where was the fun in that? Even worse with simply snatching the thingy from the countless dead around. At this point, the being had 'slipped up' enough times, even while holding back, it was a wonder that there were still so many around. There actually seemed to be more than before it started! Where were they all coming from, and why were they always so intent on throwing their lives away? Hadn't they learn they'd best steer clear?

  Not that it should complain, of course. Going through them might be getting a bit boring, but they were the only source of training. It just needed more of these little stunts to diversify!

  Using things it found around, rather than just its body, was particularly satisfying. The being had become so smart! This way, it could copy other creatures' strengths and try so many approaches that would be impossible otherwise. Just like this little thing...

  It climbed the rest of the way up, so that it had a clear view on the line - unaware of what was about to befell them.

  The pilfered spike bounced on its hand. The being was easily getting a feel for it, shifting into a sideways stance, guided by its newfound awareness for its body and weight. It all felt very seamless, like a natural extension of what it had already learned.

  Forgetting momentarily its own decision to keep a low profile, aiming carefully, singling out a specific guard, it winded back all the way it could...

  And threw the spike with all its strength, giving that slight twist that seemed to help a bit with throwing things. Once again it felt something coalescing inside, giving its throw that little touch more.

  The spike flew fast towards its objective, but with all the times this had failed, the frog wouldn't cheer until it had--

  It hit the guard dead center, punching even through the first layer of that absurdly hard carapace, killing it instantly.

  Yes! Even the mysterious 'annoyance' acknowledged its success!

  This was another point in favor of using things it found. What other creature was capable of striking from a distance? Well, those guards up above that gave it the idea in the first place obviously could... but they were the only others!

  It should definitely try to come up with other ideas like this one. But now was not the time: since it had remained on top of the boulder in plain sight like a simple creature, the rest of the line had finally realized where the strike had come from, and quite a lot of them were making their way here, once again inexplicably eager to throw their lives away.

  They would all help with refining the being's throwing skills.

  The last guard in this latest contingent fell down with a spike through its neck.

  If not for how they kept bolstering it, the entire line would be gone by now. No, the being was fairly sure it had gone through the equivalent of multiple lines by now. So much for keeping a low profile!

  At least, its aim was finally accurate enough that it could hit things reliably, as long as they didn't try to dodge. Which wasn't exactly the guards' best suit.

  Barred the time it had gotten its moves, this might have been the most productive training session ever - certainly its best with the guards. Finally, finally, it could attack from range.

  And it had been so exhilarating! So refreshing!

  Spearing one guard, baiting the others away and then rushing over to the body to get its spike to strike another had been unexpectedly fun.

  Of course, in the time it had taken the being to do this, it could have annihilated much more than that in the old way. After all, it had gotten really strong, since it had decided to face the knight.

  It had reclaimed most of its previous capabilities... but doubted it could go much further. It felt as if its body had settled down, the eagerness to grow according to its wishes placated.Trying to recover its moves seemed like more of an impossible goal each fight that went by without inspiration. The being would probably have to make do with the imitation it had cobbled together from its memories. And the ineffable thing underneath the whisper was just completely out of reach.

  It could probably still improve some on what it already had... but even that was starting to hit a limit.

  This new approach on the other hand might be inferior for now, but it granted versatility and many more options to solve a problem other than simple brutality. And it would only grow more useful with time! Also, nothing stopped the being from bashing things in the head, if they didn't pan out.

  Alas, there was only so much it could improve and concoct while fighting such weaker creatures. The few disturbingly strong hummings that had struck since that stare down with the knight had only driven the point further in.

  Training was over.

  It was time.

  ...after one last little thing.

  First, it needed a way to carry more. After all, one spike was well and good, but it was single use: after throwing it, the being would be forced to engage.

  Trying to hold a bunch together in its grip was possible... but they were so cumbersome to carry. And if it was attacked or had to use its hands for any other reason, it would have to drop them all to the ground.

  But looking again at the guards... another brilliant idea was taking shape in its mind.

  What if it didn't carry them in its hands?

  Well on its way towards one of the steep sides of the hill, the being was struggling really hard to sneak by while carrying these things on its back. They had been a pain since the beginning.

  Scraping all of the guards out of their carapaces wasn't something it wanted to repeat any time soon, and plugging the unwanted holes with random skin hadn't been exactly pleasant either. It had gone through so many of those... Fortunately, there was no shortage of materials around.

  But inconveniences aside, how the being loved to gather knickknacks and build solutions to its problems! Maybe it should also find some more tendon to tighten the straps of its makeshift bags more? And bind the spikes together so they would stop bouncing around and banging against each other? The ever-present racket of the swarm covered it mostly, but that wasn't an excuse to be careless.

  A humming, one of the most violent since coming here, hit right then, as if in confirmation.

  Every creature around - and every guard - stopped what they were doing, struggling just to stay up. The being bore through much more readily, but even it was shaken and took a moment to recover.

  There really wasn't any more time to waste.

  Taking advantage of the general confusion, it dashed for the walls, not caring about how much noise it was making. It would be there by the time the first creature recovered in any case.

  Obviously, it could go directly towards the lines, now that it knew it was just a matter of going with the flow rather than fighting against it. But why not try something different, now that it could, something that hadn't even crossed its mind as the frog?

  For the novelty of it, of course. Nothing to do with how traumatic that whole experience had been.

  Soon it was nearing the slopes, and for the first time pushed through the inherent repulsiveness they radiated. It got closer... and finally understood the reason why creatures around never tried to climb these, even when the trails where barred by walls of death:

  the stench was unbearable.

  The being had thought its superior will would allow it to resist whatever compulsion made everything back away. But the closer it got, the worse it reeked. Forcing it to slow down to a crawl, trying to acclimate a bit. In the meantime, it looked around, struggling to find just what exactly was causing this. After all, the terrain and the rocks here looked just like anywhere else, and there were no strange creatures milling about. In fact, there weren't creatures at all!

  So what--

  The being stopped just in time and jumped back in disgust, retreating until it was safely away from that repulsive thing. It had been about to step on it!

  It was a substance that had the same texture as the thing that flowed out of creatures when they got wounded, but with a... guard-like twist to it. It felt as if it might be the guards' equivalent... which didn't make sense. Guards had nothing like this inside! The being knew that well, with how many it had checked. Why, it had just finished peeling a few open, and inside they were like gravel.

  Following along with its gaze, it found that the filth was flowing down from the top - far above the farthest line of guards - coating the entire hillside with a thin, repulsive film. Clearly, this was another of their countless tricks to keep the swarm back. One that had eluded the being's gaze till now but that had obviously been here since it had been the frog. Since before it had first arrived with its friends, actually.

  And whatever the source, this mucus would clearly do terrible things to anything it came into contact with. If it hadn't stopped in time and actually stepped onto it.... even if it turned out to be harmless somehow, the being would have probably still gnawed its own foot off.

  It was that disgusting.

  ...

  ...but it was probably useful, wasn't it?

  ...

  Of course, there was no time to waste on gathering this filth! It needed to figure out how to get past it, and then there was a long and difficult climb ahead. And that was only the first part! Now that it wasn't a simple frog anymore, it should really just stop getting tempted and sidetracked by ridiculous things, and act like the superior creature it was.

  There was so much to do. It should just get on with it.

  The being was having a really hard time climbing.

  The soles it had fashioned were sparing its feet from the misery of direct contact, and the spikes it was using for quick handholds made for very fast progress. Which was truly lucky as they were the only thing it had found that could actually penetrate the foul mucus rather than just slide away.

  Still, the sheer proximity to this foul thing was... straining its will. Less than at the start certainly, which suggested that its senses might inure to the abuse with enough exposure, but certainly not in good time.

  And the bags that kept smacking against its back after every jump certainly weren't making this any easier. In hindsight, it should have left at least the ones filled with filth at the base... but leaving its least favorite knickknacks and spare of the spare of the spare spikes to make room for it had hurt so bad inside, that the being wouldn't leave it for anything in the world.

  And so, it endured and suffered courageously. Until, finally, it reached the top. Alas, though it would have liked to just hoist itself all the way and rest, this was beyond the guards' line. So it had to carefully peek over the rim. Safety wasn't truly a concern at this point, maybe not even if they all swarmed it together. But that wasn't the way it wanted this to go.

  Fortunately, most of the guards were focused on their inscrutable tasks, and those that weren't were heading down towards the surge bearing on them, ready to intervene. Perfect.

  The being carefully pulled its body and cargo all the way up, and immediately plastered itself against the closest boulder, while entering its sneaky state.

  It felt its skin doing that marvelous thing, shifting so that its essence was similar to that of what it was standing against. Truly a major improvement on what it did as the frog - whatever that had been, as it couldn't remember.

  And while it waited for the process to finish, it looked carefully over the landscape, immediately identifying the most appropriate outcropping and analyzing what it would have to go through to reach it. Considering that the guards had had comparatively little time to fortify down here and that there seemed to be many access points to the same tunnel system it had used back then - some even wide enough for its now much bigger frame - it looked surprisingly easy.

  Squeezing this many bags in there would be harder, but...

  If it handled itself well and didn't lose its way too much - emerging right under the knight's own feet or something equally nefarious -- it should be doable.

  Maybe things could go smooth for once?