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'Alpeon, arrange for all fighting termites to be stationed nearby. They should arrive promptly if called upon to fight. Also, bring the golden termites and the special arachnids to this room.
'I will see to it my Lord. '
'Alpeon, do you know what is down there?'
'I don't know, all that is known is what is passed down from each generation, which is not to dig past this point. '
Alpeon's antennas were bobbing up and down as he was in deep thought.
'What about the former King?'
'He didn't seem to have any interest in what lay below us. '
'Well. It seems there are creatures below us. '
'Huh?'
'Well...' Alpeon might have been hesitant to answer knowing my adventurous spirit.
'I'm going to hunt them!'
Below the bottom of the termite's nest, there were monsters called Void Scuttle.
Their status pages indicated that they were D- rank. It was the highest rank I had seen if we excluded Soleste. It seemed that because they were at the boundary of my territory, I could identify their name and rank, but not any other information. Still, it was clear that they were harvesting a certain portion of the Roots' nectar before it arrived to us.
'Lord, Did you summon us?'
The first to arrive was Arin, she was a bit willful, but a hard worker so I didn't scold her too much. The next to arrive was the golden termite Jenna, it was better now between them and they would bicker much less. I looked around the room and began giving out my instructions as everyone else joined.
'Below us lie numerous monsters known as Void Scuttles, they are our next targets because they've been stealing our nectar. Do you understand the situation? This is a punitive expedition to bring to justice those thieves!'
Actually, depending on who you asked it was hard to judge who was the rightful owner of such a precious commodity. But I claimed ownership, because whatever arrives to my home is rightfully mine!'
'I wonder if we will be able to deal with them. '
I had first come in contact with their status page when I was deeply submerged in the pool of nectar, training and discovering new skills. At first, I was worried about their high D- rank, but after my performance with the envoys, I gained some confidence.
'Alpeon, get started on the tunnel, make it deep and narrow. '
'Yes, my Lord. '
He sent the workers to start digging the ground. It was relatively close as I judged we were only separated from the other side by 10 meters of earth and rock. When the workers had gone about 8 meters deep, I had them stop.
'Legol, Arin, Hattan create a strong spiderweb around me to use as a harness.
'As you wish. '
'Jenna, Tagan, Mir make a pond near the hole and fill it with poison. '
'As you command. '
We were preparing our arsenal with poison spider webs and a poison liquid pond.
'On my command, bombard the enemy with everything you've got!'
'Alpeon, step back, there is no need for you to participate in this battle. '
'Lord, please allow me to witness this historical moment. '
I nodded slightly, it seemed Alpeon had a curious nature.
I stepped to the edge of the 8 meter deep hole and prepared myself mentally.
"Gravity Rise! Gravity Rise! Gravity Rise!"
Although I was able to control the spell to not affect me, I chose not to in this case, because I couldn't afford to have my attention split during the upcoming battle. Regardless, because I was just made up of bones, even if the gravity increased 8x it didn't affect me much.
"Fire Enchant"
I drew Excalibur and cast an enchant spell on it. It became bathed in fire, lighting up the room.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The termites were stomping on the floor in unison, like the beating of drums. It seemed everyone was excited for the upcoming battle, similar to an army with high morale before a war.
I pointed my hand downwards and cast my magic.
"Inferno!"
Warrrrrrr
Between its firepower and the vacuum effect, it tore threw the last 2 meters of rock, finally connecting the two spaces. I got my first look at these so called Void Scuttles.
'Huhuhu... they actually look like cockroaches, disgusting!'
They were large golden cockroach-like creatures, roughly 70 to 90 cm long. Noticing the disturbance caused by the Inferno, they all rushed towards the new entrance.
I used my strongest magic to greet the incoming swarm.
"Meteor!"
Kookookookooong! Kwaddddd!
'Shit!'
The magic was too strong for the narrow hole, and the entire cave shook. FInally, the edge where I was standing crumbled and I plummeted down like a rock.
'The Lord!'
'Lord!'
Twang!
In this case, the 8x gravity was a terrible idea! The spiderweb which was supposed to be my harness and lifeline snapped so easily.
'Bu Woong! Boo Woong!'
Golden flying termites took to the air, preparing to rush to my aid, but I simply waved them off.
'Circle above, but don't come down. Wait for my signal to smother them with your acid. '
I landed heavily on the ground, sinking almost knee deep into firm rock. I had fallen into what appeared to be a new cave which existed right below my territory.
Hundreds of critters used the opportunity to come and take a bite of me. Worried, I open my Status to check my HP, but was heartened to know that the damage was negligible.
'Luckily they can't break the defense of my Physical Immunity. '
"Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning!"
Pazzzik!
Although I didn't know how much damage it would cause, I was confident that the stun effect would go through. Those which were hit by my skill, fell down on their backs in a stunned state. I stabbed forth with Excalibur, piercing their exoskeleton like a hot knife through butter.
'Quazic'
[+10478 experience points]
[Acquired knowledge of Void Scuttle]
Golden liquid splashed in all direction, it was a one-hit kill!
Dudududuu
The other critters hesitated for a second, surprised by my chain lighting, but they soon rushed towards me once again.
"Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning!"
As soon as the surrounding opponents were stunned, I took the chance to examine their Statuses.
★
Name: N/A
Gender: N/A
Status: Blessed by the World Roots' Nectar, Stunned
Race: Void Scuttle
Class: Wizard
Rank: D-
Level: 34/50
HP: 6255/8762
MP: 1099/1099
Attack: 100
Defense: 1999
Agility: 315
Intelligence: 50
? Unique Skills
[Darkfield Lv6] [Division Lv3] [Hibernation Lv1] [Mana Steal Lv2] [Gluttony Lv4]
★
Although they had stats to match their rank, their skills were severely lacking. Still, because they had Mana Steal, if too many got close to me it could become problematic.
'This might be a bit troublesome, but the experience should be very rewarding. '
"Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning!"
The Scuttles were stunned and stayed immobile on their backs. Looking at them from above, they were completely helpless, as they they were just waiting there to be exterminated.
'Each hit from Chain Lightning deals about 300~400 damage, and they receive maybe 5-6 lightning strikes with the chain effect which is about 1300 damage. I should be able to clean them out with 6 spells. '
When I finished all these damage calculations in my head, I sent out the order to attack.
'Now! Aim for all of them which are flipped over on their backs! Take out as many as possible. '
These monsters might as well have been sacrifices for my experience. Although their defense was high, they had almost no magic resist and their attacks barely left a scratch.
"Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning!"
Shwooo! Ptuii!
My minions rained down Hell upon them. Poison, cold and flame spiderwebs, as well as the acidic pond from the termites was poured out, bombarding the helpless critters. I estimated there to be about 400 of them around me on death's door.
'Now is the time for the finishing blow!'
"Meteor!"
I widened the area of my Meteor strike to make sure to hit all the injured Void Scuttles.
[+10, 478 experience points]
[Acquired?Title: Void Scuttle's Grief Lv1?]
[+20, 956 experience points]
[+41, 912 experience points]
[Acquired?Title: Void Scuttle's Grief Lv2?]
...
[Acquired?Title: Void Scuttle's Grief Lv5?]
[Level increased 36? 50]
[Level has reached Max]
[Evolution is now possible]
[You can now learn new magic]
[Sage's Wisdom level 1? 2]
'Nice, I can finally use Sage's Wisdom again now that it has leveled up. '
Several messages filled my view, including one with an incredible amount of experience points. However, as far as the eye could see, countless more critters were making their way towards me. My gravity spell had worn off so I figured it was time to retreat and digest my gains.
'Alpeon, tell them to come lift me up and then block this pit. '
'Yes as you command. '
Boo Wooong! Boo Woooong!
Dozens of them flew down and grabbed hold of me, hoisting me to safety. Workers quickly worked hard to plug up the hole with rocks and dirt. Of course, there were a few critters which made it through and killed some of the workers, but after almost 30 minutes of working together to repel the intruders, we managed to cover the hole. Although it had come at the cost of several worker termite's lives, I felt the losses were acceptable.
Fortunately, once the hole was filled, the Void Scuttles seemed to have lost interest in the mysterious tunnel and didn't try to force their way through.
'Take the time to rest, make sure we are prepared for the next round of battle. '
All of my minions seemed to have benefited greatly from the skirmish and evolved. Even Alpeon who joined last minute in the attack, was ready to evolve. I took the time to check their status windows, but faced a multitude of options.
'Hmm... am I supposed to choose their evolutions?'
It seemed that their evolution process wasn't as simple as mine. There were three different branches and up to 10 evolutionary possibilities.
'Ugh, why so many choices? Too complicated, I'll just take a look at my status first.
Confused by all the choices, I decided to put off the decision for later. Excited, I opened up my own window
'Ah.... looks like it's my first big step towards overcoming Soleste. Which one should I choose?
After checking my status, I let out a scream in my mind.
'Olleh!'
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Glossary:
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