There were a total of 1023 dead ends and only one entrance to the queen's chamber. While the queen's chamber was mega sized, the other dead ends were very small and shallow in depth. "Damn it! Damn it!" Nine screamed while bashing his head against his giant hammer. It was the third day from when the group had split and he had taken a full day grinding only to reach a dead end basement. The thought of simply digging through the last floor occurred to him but he ultimately decided against it. It was unclear the direction he was going to dig towards and the impact it would have on the overall stability of the structure was uncertain.it was now no secret that for the trio to search all the possible paths, they required at least 340 days if they each cleared a basement every single day without fail. The number of spiders for some reason did not appear diminishing. Every path was lined up with tens of thousands of mid-level spiders which resulted in a battle of attrition against the invaders. "Damn you Spider Witch. Who the hell even comes up with something like this?" Seven complained. It was now the tenth day after the trio split and she had encountered her tenth dead end. She was at her wits end and was growing more agitated with each passing day. Eight continued strong until the fortieth day where he shouted at the top of his voice. "What the hell! Is there an opening in this garbage place? What do you mean I have spent so much time here only to get another dead end?" Eight shouted. There was a secret that they would later find out. There was a sixth floor that was covered by earth in one of the five basement floors. It was possible that they had overlooked the entrance and were now on a wild goose chase. This however was not bad news to the rest of the species occupying this planet. In fact, it offered a chance for the fighters to get well prepared. Nine had most likely lost his marbles at this point and was now concentrating on 'revenge' against spiders. Finding a path was now his secondary concern. Eight had given up on completing the tsk at a quicker pace. It took her three days to reach the basement down from one it took earlier. Eight was now the opposite of Seven as he destroyed his body countless times trying to push through his limits. In a day, he would complete one and a half paths. Only despair filled their minds at the end of the Seventieth day. One thing in common among all three of them is that they would regularly mumble things to themselves and react to those words by either laughing or lamenting. This was more of a mental trial than a physical one for this group and they had lost spectacularly.
**
Zari and I changed into human form and flew towards the Orthon Kingdom. We stopped by the gate and I informed the guards about my subordinate who would be joining me. The soldiers had taken a liking to our group for saving them against the Lokain invaders. This request was therefore not a bother to them. It was in the afternoon and I stopped by to eat something at an inn. We walked towards the entrance and grabbed a table. I ordered some beef and begun enjoying my meal. Zari was not hungry but insisted on accompanying me. "Did you hear the news from Lokain?" "Apparently a dragon as large as a mountain showed up." "What are you? A kid? Those are just rumors. " "What did you call me? Come here you…" A brawl then begun which spiraled onto our table. Zari begun to laugh and was just about to join in o the 'fun' as she put it. I quickly cautioned her. "Do you want to kill somebody?" I asked. "Of course not. I am going to limit my strength." She said. She then went on to look for the biggest guy around and picked a fight with him. A few minutes later she was sitting at the top of the pile of people she had just beaten and laughing hysterically. "See, I didn't hurt them." Zari shouted. I didn't hurt them my a…She calmed down and walked towards the table. I had finished my meal and was now waiting for her so we could leave. "Your meal is on the house." The innkeeper said. I didn't have money anyway and was going to pass off the bill to either the crown or the temple. "Thank you." I replied. We walked out of the inn and went to the temple to wait for Zari's subordinates to return from their duties. "You know, I think this continent is too dependent on us." I said. "Well yeah. I mean look at them. They are all weaklings. This kingdom could band together but could still not defeat any of my subordinates." Zari answered. There was truth to that statement but I figured that it was imperative for them to improve their military strength. It is very likely that we were not always going to be present. A familiar contraption had caught my eye the first time I landed on this kingdom. Cannons! If I could help improve their cannons with my previous world knowledge then they could at least deal with low level spiders. Their metal working skills were a far cry compared to the gnomes. If their skills came up short, I could always have the weapons manufactured in the gnomish territory and transported here. Thus I resolved on this day to modernize the military of this continent. Zari's subordinates eventually came back and we passed on our technique to them. I however added a small request that they should capture at least three mid-level spiders and six low level ones. "Why do you need to capture the spiders?" Zari asked. I explained to her that we needed to instill fear into the hearts of all the leaders. They needed to know what is coming and that investing on their military was the right choice. The spiders would be distributed evenly among Capel, the kingdom I was born in, Orthon the kingdom I was staying and in the gnomish capital to test effectiveness of various weapons. The priestess of the temple was occupied and so we met with each other a week later.The technique we gave to Zari's subordinate was very effective and from their own words, it was possible to deal with over ten times the number of spiders they normally did. They also completed my request by the second day. They flew in with the spiders at the dead of night and placed them in an abandoned room within the temple. It was eye opening to see the creativity the subordinates showed when subduing the spiders. Some were frozen, others bound by earth and others were hand held as they were brought over. Zari had really competent subordinates which made me self-conscious. Luton was weak and over seventy years old by my account. I could not evolve humans as easily as I did dragons because the species was too young. A young species meant that the foundation of its existence was continually evolving and adapting. This is a kin to passing a thread through a needle while riding a bumpy road. I was the exception because I wielded the Supreme magic Life Manipulation. Was there another way to evolve him?
[Affirmative. The process however is very risky with a 3% chance of success.]
[Turning sir Luton into one of your kin…]
[Negative. A dragonoid which is a fusion between human and dragon. With master's powerful dragon species as a foundation, in a few centuries it is likely that Luton will be as powerful as some dragons.]
Jenga explained that a concoction was mixed with few drops of my blood and Luton would ingest it. The concoction contained massive amounts of pain reliever herbs and herbs that would slow down the flow of blood. My dragon's blood had the opposite effect where it would quicken the rate of heart beat and induce massive amounts of pain while rebuilding Luton's body. The result would be a mixture that was balanced to ensure that life was not lost. The final decision was up to Luton if he wanted to take the risk or not but I had a feeling that this old man was more adventurous than he let on. Luton arrived at the Orthon Kingdom within four days after my departure. There was some necessary research that he said he could not leave behind. He stated his name at the gate and was led to the temple where I was staying. "I have arrived sir." Luton started as soon as he saw me. Why does he have to be so formal? He should loosen up a bit. We then got to talking because I realized that I did not really know much about him. He explained that he was a foreigner to this continent. He escaped with his lover from the Northern Continent by a sea ship and was on his way here. But during that journey, the ship that they travelled on was capsized by a sea monster and he was the sole survivor. "Why were you escaping?" I asked. "Our love was forbidden. She was a ware wolf while I was a human. The species were mortal enemies of each other." Luton answered. Huh? A ware wolf? That species exist? He then explained more about the continent and I got to learn about some shocking turn of events. At the most northern part of his homeland, there resides dragooned that were as a result of interaction between humans and ice dragons. "Are there ice dragons now?" I asked. "No. they grew extinct about eight millennia ago." Luton answered. That was a shame. I had seen the fire dragons, Zari and his crew and was looking forward to seeing true ice dragons. The species I dragon species I had altered were not true ice dragons just fire dragons that could manipulate water.