"This is not what I was expecting at all," Drake said, looking out at the expensive forest underground, "Did they decide to sink half the forest in here? How did we not notice that much of the land missing?"
"Perhaps they had sunk it from the beginning, and it had regrown above before anyone noticed? Or they grew this underground on their own. Regardless, it is irrelevant right now. What is important is why we were led here?" Natto posed.
Inside the dense trees that were lower down the slope leading up to their tunnel, there was movement.
Drake focused and tried to inspect the movement, stretching his aura as best he could to reach the trees. There were things moving in the forest, a lot of things.
[Forest Deer Level 10]
"Well, that explains where all the wildlife went. If we ever get out of here and we can release these back above ground, I think we'll be in good shape until the end of the tutorial," Drake mused.
Drake remained scanning the forest seeing Ants coming and going as well.
"So they're basically domesticating the wild life here to feed their numbers? Is that even possible on the scale of what they've been producing…?" Drake wondered aloud.
"The reproduction rate of the animals in the tutorial after ranking up is leaps and bounds faster than normal. You will notice more of this on your planet once you leave the tutorial as well. Ranking Up affects all beings differently. Including Mana Vessels, it is why we are lucky your oaf of a friend is seemingly so resilient…" Natto explained trailing off.
Drake raised a brow as he began walking down the slope towards the forest, needing to see what he was dealing with as well as figure out where to go from there. Theodore was safely hidden away for now, and Drake assumed he was staying within trailing distance of him.
I'll have to keep the spells and such in my back pocket for now, don't want to accidentally hit Theo. Drake thought, before speaking again.
"Care to explain more of that? It's the first you've mentioned of it, and what was that stuff before with Uta and a King Vote? You've been dodging me about that for weeks."
"Thankfully I can not divulge further about things outside of the tutorial until we are out of the tutorial. As I have told you multiple times! And do not worry about the Vote, all will fall into place where it should, fear not," Natto said, her smirk coming through her voice.
"Ok…. You know when people say that type of thing, it's never good, right? But fine, can you at least explain what you mean by Bjorn and the change?" Drake asked, pointing his question.
Drake reached the treeline before Natto spoke, seemingly hesitating about how to explain it.
"The… oaf.. Has shown remarkable resistance for ingesting two legendary stones, if what he said is to be true. In most instances, there is an immediate change within the Vessel. Whether that is their Race or in the function of some of their skills. Purer lineages receive more potent benefits from an earlier Rank. Primordials in particular receive such things at F Rank, and even more at E and so on. In some cases though, they do not manifest until E Rank, but no later. Which is what will happen with the overgrown ape."
"So what would happen to someone with less resistance? Turn into a cyclope like Lamar? Or a dwarf like the old man back at the outpost?" Drake asked.
"Precisely. Normally as I have said, the change is instant, for the more extreme cases or pure blood Primordial Races even more so," Natto sighed, "Which makes the fact that he has not even more distressing. It will mean that he is just that more powerful."
"So the longer he takes to change the more powerful he is?"
"Not necessarily, but the delayed change does more accurately indicate such. But that is for later."
"Don't try to dodge me again! We were just getting started!" Drake scoffed, raising his hands up in the air.
"I am not. You have a guest, if you haven't noticed," Natto spat.
"Oh I noticed, I'm just more interested in what's going to happen to Bjorn than some oversized cockroach," Drake sighed.
Drake had meandered through the trees for some time now and somehow only been met with the animal life that inhabited it. Surprisingly not coming into conflict with any of the ants he had seen earlier.
But instead, he had picked up something in his aura sense that had been moving casually to him, and alone.
[Braxor Trikk Level 29]
"Were you the one who led me here?" Drake asked, stopping.
Braxor did nothing. The Ant Prince had stopped and was what Drake could only call glaring back at him.
"Don't understand me? And I sure as hell can't understand you. Seems we're at an impasse," Drake said casually, "You know last time we met you tried to kill me, only to get your ass handed to you. Or wait, is thorax handed to you better?" Drake said, pausing to think for a moment.
Braxor again did and said nothing, waiting for Drake to seemingly do something. But Braxor may have not been moving, Drake could feel the Ant's gaze and pressure around it increase with every word he said.
"For someone or something that doesn't understand me. You seem to be getting pretty upset with every word I say," Drake chuckled.
"It can only be your grading voice…" Natto huffed.
Drake rolled his eyes and scoffed, but his focus remained on the Ant waiting for the Prince to make some kind of move.
"You don't seem to be one to carry accessories like your other brother…? Drake mused, looking at the hulking figure of an Ant in front of him, "Don't like bling, or is gold just not your color?"
Braxor remained stoic, his forearms crossed.
"I'm getting nowhere with this guy…" Drake sighed, opening his palm, a crimson magic circle forming on top of it, a flame forming.
"KREEEEE!!!!" Braxor screeched.
"Oh? Fire bad?" Drake said, pausing.
Braxor hadn't moved, only howled and tried to suppress Drake with its own aura. But Drake's was far out of the Ants league.
The Ant Prince raised a clawed limb toward Drake, curling its claws into a fist, its chitin around it creaking.
"Hmmm…. You want to bump fists?" Drake thought absentmindedly.
"You fool, why are you even entertaining this monster? Kill it!" Natto instructed.
"There's something telling me not to… How do I explain this? Instinct? Warrior's honor?" Drake thought aloud, scratching the back of his head, "I don't know how to place it. Besides the Prince came here all by himself," Drake smiled, "The least I could do is give him his last rights, and show him what a real Tyrant is."
—--------------
"Your Majesty! We have found the location of the human! It took us longer than-"
"I do not care for your excuses. Where is the disaster in human flesh," Braxor asked evenly.
"Y-yes! He is currently being led into the Food Chamber!" reported the guard.
Braxor stood up from his throne, heaving a chittering sigh.
"So Brother… It's come to this. You would jeopardize our mother, our food, and our entire foothold in the new universe. Just for a chance at being King?"
"Your Majesty?"
"Nothing. I will meet with the human abomination."
"Then we shall call for the rest of the guards-"
"No," Braxor said sternly, his voice booming throughout the chamber and shaking the walls, "I will face him alone, as the First Prince. Not one of you would be anything more than a hindrance in any event. Bring the Guards to the Queen's Chamber. It is your duty now to keep our Colony alive, to remain after all the scheming is finished."
The Guard tried to protest but was met by the backhand claw of Braxor.
"I am the First Prince of the Tyrant Ants. And my word is still law here until I take my last breath. And I am yet still breathing. You will do as you are told," Braxor sneered as he exited the chamber.
Braxor walked down the tunnel, his head held high as he flexed and relaxed his claws, checking for any lasting damage from the previous fight a week ago.
"That human was able to take on all three of us… He played with us like we were but fresh larvae, hatched but moments ago," he sneered as he spoke aloud, his voice echoing in the tunnel.
"Can I kill him…" Braxor mused, his mandibles clacking, "It matters not. I am a Prince, and I will do my duty for the hive regardless."
Braxor's mighty mandibles clacked once more, sending a rumble through the tunnel. His Tyrant's Aura becoming palpable in the air.
He walked for some time before he found the exit, but with every step, his legs felt more and more heavy. The weight of his colony, of the hive and its future, weighed on him.
Looking out to the green forest they had brought down below the surface to feed their brother and sisters. Braxor steeled himself.
Seeing Ants turn their heads in his direction, he chittered a command, commanding them all to return to the tunnels and close them off. Enforcing his command of protecting the Queen's Chambers that were close by.
Once done, all that remained was to find the human, but it was not hard.
Braxor walked through the forest towards the pressure he felt. He scoffed, his claws gripping the air in anticipation.
"Their Aura feels much like our own… But it is more… I did not notice it before," he muttered, bringing his hand to his face, "Am I afraid?" he asked.
Braxor's hand subtly trembled, but only for a moment before he gripped tightly, laughing to himself.
"A human more oppressive than a Tyrant Ant?"
Braxor scoffed once again, feeling the weighted aura in the surroundings. The human would find him soon.
So he waited.
Soon the human found Braxor just as he expected.
The human wore black robes trimmed in gold, his flesh exposed from the shoulder down on both sides, and his face seemed to be covered by something.
Odd armor. How does he move with such hindrances? Braxor thought.
The human seemed to be ignoring him, only now stopping and speaking to Braxor.
Braxor could not understand the human, but the tone of the human and the body language told him all he needed to know.
He is not taking me seriously. He does not even see me as a threat.
The human then lifted his hand forming fire from nothing.
"NO!" hissed Braxor.
A moment later Braxor raised his fist aimed right at the human. The human then squelched the flame, tilting its head slightly as if confused.
"We will fight like Tyrants, the honorable way!" Braxor shouted, " Your strength against mine!"
Braxor knew the human did not understand but he hoped his plea would work.
If this human is able to use magic, he should be weaker physically. He did get the upper hand when we fought but I could sense magic behind his blows. He must be using a skill. But I am prepared for it now, and I have skills of my own. I will topple him. I will win! For the colony!!
The man nodded, the hair on the top of his head shifting from blue to black. Then standing as if waiting this time for Braxor.
"So I get the first blow then, human?" Braxor sneered, "It will be the mistake that costs you, your life."
Braxor screeched, pulling his arms to his side as he prepared his own martial skill, pressing and condensing his aura around him.
"You are overconfident! You must not know that Princes of the Tyrant Ants have a special ability!" Braxor screeched, "For every ant that is under our command, we gain a status bonus. And I am the first Prince! This whole colony is loyal to me!"
The ground around Braxor cracked and dented. A whistle coming from the human.
"Prepare to die!" howled Braxor.
Pushing against the ground, Braxor crushed the earth below as he was shot forward, his every step denting the dirt underfoot into craters as he barreled forward. His outstretched pitch-black claw glowed in crimson red from his martial skill, the chitin armor around his arm cracking and splintering from the increase in status from his skill.
His claw roared forward moving faster than even Braxor himself could see.
But it was only stopped dead in its tracks.
The human's hands intertwined with Braxors, holding his hand at bay with seemingly little effort.
"W-what?!" Braxor screeched.
The human had embedded himself into the ground somehow, the earth beneath him pushed inward as it took the full force of Baxor's blow. But what was more astonishing to the prince was the eyes of the man.
Braxor's hand struggled to push forward to no avail, instead being moved by the human, his face slowly coming into view from behind Braxor's claw.
His eyes shifted color, from blue to yellow, to green.
"No!" Braxor shouted again, throwing his second hand forward.
But was only met with the same result. The human stopped the blow without effort.
Braxor tried to push forward, digging into the ground with his four legs, carving deep divots into the earth.
"No, no, no! I won't let it end like this!" he shrieked, "It is impossible for a Tyrant Ant to be outmatched by a human! I can- Ahhhh!"
Finally, the sound of crunching reverberated throughout the area as Braxor dropped to his knees.
His hands were being crushed by the human's bare hands.
Suddenly it felt as if the world was put on Braxor's shoulders, the pressure from the human's aura increasing to a level that paled in comparison to anything he had ever felt.
Braxor stiffened, feeling cold even through the pain. His mandibles clattering in fear.
The human pressed down more, looming over the Prince. His eyes glowed with glee and malicious intent.
"B-brother… What have you done."