'The SYSTEM rewards any unrecorded or unbelievable accomplishments or actions with either a Title or an Achievement. The two are characteristically different, however, Achievements contribute to the strength of its user no matter how many of them or recorded. Furthermore, it is known that Titles are generally more difficult to obtain compared to Achievements. But Titles on the other hand have a quota attached to their activation to compensate for this. That simply means that there is a limited amount of Titles that can be active at any given time which contributes to a user's strength. The way Titles compensate for that, however, is that some of them are hereditary. For example, the Title of High Noble is hereditary, and it ensures that future generations will have the ability to faster comprehend written information and be able to innately lead groups of the same species. However, a Title such as King would not be able to be passed down until the next in line achieves the acknowledgment of the previous holder. Another interesting fact about them is that certain Titles may demonstrate resonance are able to be combined to produce a stronger product. For example, the Titles High Noble and King may achieve resonance and the resulting Title would be Emperor. A mix of the benefits granted to both Titles, but the resulting bonus is more than the sum of its parts. It is unknown why Title and Achievements were implanted into the SYSTEM interface, but it allows Enlightened races and Monsters alike to receive tangible benefits for accomplishing extraordinary deeds.'
-An extract from "A Philosophical Approach to The Functions of the SYSTEM"
{Crete POV}
Looking at the carnage before my eyes I tried my best to understand how things had reached this point. I remember alerting the monster known as Fossio, as well as his entire pack but I just couldn't connect it to the dead termite bodies scattered around the Mother Tree.
I remember after realizing the creatures I'd just enraged were a few strong, running with more fervor than I thought possible. I was eating up distance as my legs carried me up the wall. The whole time, however, I could feel the rumblings in the earth getting closer and closer, and by the time I made it to the top of the dip, the first one of the creatures had intercepted me. Although it was a few sizes smaller and lacked the suppressing aura of Fossio, I didn't underestimate the creature frantically squirming its way towards me.
I didn't stop running, however, as I knew the moment I did it was going to be a wrap for me. And as the distance between us lessened I was starting to get anxious, but I didn't let it affect me. Redirecting more energy than I was already using to my legs, they tensed before carrying me over the creature, not without injury though. It had nicked me in one of my back legs, well more like grated me.
The injury was not the clean-cut I was used to. No, instead my leg was a mess of hanging flesh and veins, and it was a pain I wasn't used to. I hadn't noticed before, but the creature's mouth contained something similar to teeth in a serrated swirling pattern in their mouths. But landing in front of the creature it took a lot of concentration to ignore the wound and not topple over in agony. I didn't want my story to end like this, to be ravaged by underground noodles, I couldn't let it end like this.
The thought gave me enough energy to continue running ahead, doing my best to ignore the thrashing of the aggressor behind me. In fact, its thrashing had caused some of the soil in the tunnel to fall apart and collapse on itself, buying me more time to escape. Although a few seconds weren't much, I would gladly accept the extension to my life. I ran for a few minutes longer until they had caught up to me once more.
This time I could feel the soil rumbling almost all around me, to the sides, up above and down below. I imagined the creatures were intelligent to a certain degree to employ such a tactic. I was hopelessly being surrounded and the distance I maintained between life and death was decreasing. When I had made it to the winding paths, I could feel they were only a few meters behind me, thank the Queen I wasn't able to hear the deafening shaking of Fossio among the rest.
That meant I still had a chance, as long as he hadn't caught up, it was still possible for me to escape the grasp of his minions. Testing my assumptions, however, I felt one of the minions burst through the dirt above and leap at me, too bad it was off timing. I had already run a few feet ahead by the time its mouth had reached my previous position and I saw it faceplant into the soil before thrashing to face me.
As if the undetectable aggressors weren't bad enough, I had a writhing mass of muscle wiggling after me. I left it in my dust, however, and to be honest, I was starting to feel hopeful again. There probably weren't more than a few minutes of running left until I had made it to the surface again, I was going to make. Or not- because as I started hearing faint sounds of movement, louder than even the ones right behind me, I scolded myself for teasing fate.
{Rock POV}
Everything was peaceful, well other than the occasional weevil wave. The workers were relaying food to the mound at the same unbelievable pace I concluded only our kind was capable of. So industrious and non-problematic, we were without a doubt the most methodical species. Solid. But the special ones the Queen assigned to me were quite a nice change of pace to the continuous cycle.
They were all so unique, more than I've ever seen in our kind so far, especially at the 2nd Tier. When they told me they had evolved just evolved from being nymphs I almost couldn't believe it. Although not as strong as even the weakest general, they were indisputably stronger than any other worker or Tier 2 creature I had come across so far.
I remember being a Tier 2 worker, the good old days when I was desperate to separate myself from the rest of the colony. I wanted the Queen to see me, to recognize my ability and worth, but I had to grow up eventually. Solid. And the untimely demise of my closest friends ensured that is what happened.
So here I was now, no longer having hopes of being unique, just trying my best to fit in the colony and accomplish the goal I was intended for, to guard and lead. I wasn't jealous of their uniqueness, however, as the Queen had specifically made them be like that, it was their purpose… and I had mine. Solid.
Out of the 8, I was required to protect however, I had already developed a basic understanding of each of them. My personal favorite was the one known as Dynamis, he shared with me the love of physical strength. I chuckled inwardly at how he would always guffaw whenever I threw a boulder he had no chance of even lifting. Solid.
On the other hand, my least favorite so far was the one they called Crete. He appeared to always be doing something that would disturb the peace. Just recently he had discovered some unknown underground tunnels and took one of the 8 with him to explore. He should just be focusing on his strength in my opinion. Solid.
But the Queen was never wrong, so even if I couldn't understand his purpose at the moment, I knew he had one. The Queen never made or did anything without purpose. She was just- so- so-. Solid. A ruckus of noise and movement had kidnapped me from my thoughts however and seeing the growing number of termites surrounding something I made my way over.
{Meneo POV}
I ran with everything I had, a feeling that I had forgotten with my expansive stamina reserves. The tunnels zoomed past me as I thought of the monster I had left Crete in the room with. I was ashamed of my decision, but I understood the importance of alerting everyone else, and he did too. But that didn't make me feel like any less of a coward. So in a moment of seeking self-redemption, I pushed my body to carry me, and information about the underground threat to the surface.
The journey back took a fraction of the time, we used to make it down there, but when I broke the surface my stamina had hit 0, and I collapsed and was fighting the urge to pass out. Unable to move any further, and just a few meters away from the mouth of the Lab, which was a few tens of meters from anyone else.
I realized I had to do something to get someone, anyone's attention. So without the gradual increasing increments of stamina, I did the only thing I could, I made a mess. I thrashed and thrashed on the ground, throwing up large amounts of soil. The loud disturbance eventually caught the attention of a stray worker, who approached me with caution and nervousness, evident in the movement of its antenna.
"Help you need?" I still couldn't get over the way they spoke, but I knew it was due to the restrictions placed on skill levels. We didn't even know this until we made it out of the feeding chamber, but apparently
"Yes, I need help. Get help!" I emphasized the importance of my assistance the best I could but all I got for it was the worker shouting out "Help! Help! Help!" Although I grimaced at the level of miscommunication, it was effective to some extent, as a few more workers made their way over, and the first communicated my message to them. Well miscommunicated I corrected, for there were now a few more workers shouting out "Help! Help! Help!"… It snowballed until eventually one with the ability to speak to me properly appeared.
"General, request help immediately, we found a strong creature in the tunnels, and I had to leave Crete there to come to alert you. If he's still alive he would be escaping to the surface, I imagine. So we don't have much time, maybe a few tens of minutes." He took a while to process my words before nodding and running off somewhere. With the message successfully transmitted I asked the workers to carry me to a space underneath the Mother Tree while I took a quick nap.
{Rock POV}
The words of the one who accompanied the troublesome one had alarmed me. These regions were supposed to be relatively safe. Well, that is true for what we'd explored so far, I don't think mysterious tunnels underground would be included in that. It was my fault; I shouldn't have let him go down there. I had too much confidence in the Mother Tree's natural repulsive aura. Solid.
Any creatures Tier 3 and above would feel uncomfortable in its presence unless sanctioned by the tree itself. So I thought that even if there was danger, they would be able to handle it. Right when I was about to run back to the mound myself, I remembered there was a more suited termite for the job. Solid.
So scouring the area with my eyes I searched and found her on the other side of the tree. I didn't waste any time rushing over to her and transmitting the message to her. I could feel she was anxious and wanted to question the now resting one known as Meneo, but the gravity of my request took precedence. And watching the one known as Amore, shoot towards the mound, I focused my attention back onto the hole Meneo came out of. Making sure to organize the workers so they wouldn't get carelessly killed, I prepared the vanguard for this unknown enemy. Solid.
{Crete POV}
I was deep in contemplation, questioning the importance or the value of my escape. It was already as clear as day to me that Fossio was hot on my tail, and it didn't look like he was going to stop any time soon. So that meant even if I made it to the surface, I would bring the big lug with me. The angry, powerful lug, that could most likely flatten any immediate assistance my brother was able to secure.
I was torn between the decision to take one for the team, throwing myself right into the maw of the creatures pursuing me. And between the self-preserving route that would place every living termite on the surface in danger. But thinking back on the general, and the strength he demonstrated, I was leaning to dragging the fight to the surface.
I might not be able to take on the overgrown earthworm, but I had an irrational confidence Rock would, no pun intended, rock the living daylights out of it. So I continued my speedy escape, the smaller versions of the creature interrupting my way more than ever. However, I made quick work of the creatures, but with their dying screams came even more enraged ones from the behemoths behind me.
I was soon approaching the start of the tunnel, and the end of my getaway. Fossio wasn't having it though, as, in another attempt to slow me down, the creature let out a scream louder than all the ones before. And I could feel something was different with this one, it seemed almost like an announcement, one meant to be intentionally distracting.
It was only a moment after that notion, however, that something came burrowing through the earth at me, faster than anything else before. I only had my peripheral vision to thank for allowing me to avoid the spikes of earth that came piercing at me from behind from all different angles.
The attack was extremely close to achieving its goal as I only narrowly dodged 3 out of 5 of them. One had taken me on the top of my carapace, skimming it and taking a small amount of my flesh with it. The other was much closer to being the death of me as it came at my head from below, my only blind spot. It took me in the lower part of my jaw and exited from the other end right below my mouth, thankfully avoiding all the important tissue and nerves directly attached to my brain.
I wasn't thankful for the pain I couldn't avoid, however, as my pace slowed down enough because of it to cause much more of the small bastards to catch up to me. And although they were only a fraction my size they sure as hell packed a punch. They took me in the legs, and on the end of my abdomen, grinding away minuscule amounts of flesh before I could shake off their grip and continue sprinting.
Within the extremely short time between the entrance to the lab and the remainder of the tunnel, I'd sustained the most injuries since my evolution. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret running at this point, for I had drastically underestimated the lethality of the smaller creatures. If they could do so much damage to me, how much damage could they do to regular workers?
Flying through the hole and into the lab though, I resolved to believe in the resilience of the colony and wasted not a minute more underground. The sunlight beat down onto my face, momentarily causing me to lose sight. But when it returned what stood uniform in front of me nearly made me forget about the underground aggressors. Nearly.
I took only a second more to admire the organization of the termites before rushing across the. Dozens, maybe even more than a hundred workers were lined up a few meters from where I emerged, and I noted the few generals scattered among their ranks.
About halfway over to them, however, the first of the squirming nuisances burst through the ground. And with a painful screech, it flopped over and started thrashing on the ground. The confusion its actions brought me, slowed my charge, and a moment later a blurry figure rushed past me, leaping on the worm. The worker who charged the minion extended its mandibles before bringing them down on its head, separating it from the rest of its body.
That action was like a signal for all hell to break loose. The rest of the smaller worms erupted from the dirt around the worker, and one had surfaced directly under it, you could imagine what happened to it. It was about as big as one of my legs, and it left a clean hole right through the head of the worker before landing and rolling in pain due to the sunlight. But the rest of the army wasn't going to allow one of theirs to die without taking down at least two of the enemy's troops.
It was like two worlds collided. The wave of termite workers and generals swarmed forward, aiming to swallow up our dirt-loving adversaries, and the smaller worms stood no chance against the tide. Within seconds of colliding a majority of them had died, but then the larger ones started surfacing. Mouths big enough to swallow at least half of the workers poked through the ground, flinging half a head or pieces of worker abdomen all over. The generals were quick to control the situation, however, and I had recovered enough to do my part.
More than happy to finally enact vengeance on my pursuers, my body catapulted to the nearest adult worm. It had a worker between its maws and the upper part of its body sat upright, swinging around my still alive brethren. I was upon it in seconds and extending my legs, I pierced into its flesh aiming to climb the creature in order to decapitate it. However, my advance didn't go unnoticed as I heard a piercing screech originate from the creature as it now swung itself in a manic fervor.
Digging deeper into it, I braced myself and increased my ascent, keen on rescuing the worker at the very least. My hurried movement only resulted in making the creature forfeit the prey in its mouth, in exchange for slamming itself into the ground to rid itself of me. I held on tight though, not letting the sound of my carapace being crushed every now and then distract me. And I had almost made it to the monster's head until it did what I feared.
In another loud screech, It tossed its head upward before throwing it down, straight into the earth. Crap- I didn't have time to dislodge myself from its flesh before the grating feeling of carapace against soil hit me. The blasted thing had retreated to the underground, and I was on its back. Death wouldn't be fair if I didn't do something. So that's what I did.
Forcing my mandibles open, I ripped into its soft skin, and kept on ripping and ripping, until the opening was large enough for a termite my size. You could guess what I did next. Diving my face into the warm but soft insides of the creature, I forced the rest of my body inside it. A decision that resulted in the already frantic creature further panicking and beating up.
It felt as if I would empty the contents of my stomachs into it, but a loud authoritative SCREECH saved me from that experience. The worm physically tensed up, and it changed directions sharply. It was tearing through the earth, heading towards the source of the sound, completely ignorant of my presence. It was like I didn't even exist to it. That wasn't an opportunity I would pass up.
So I was now making my way up and through the worm, tearing apart any organs and tissue I could lay my mandibles on. Warm, fresh blood, flooded into my mouth and drowned my entire body as I moved but I wasn't going to stop. I knew the source of that sound; it was my dear friend Fossio. And judging by this worm's unreactive attitude to being torn apart from the inside, he was controlling it- and probably the rest of them. And the only reason to do that would be to fight my family above ground.