Chapter 95: Core room….

<Good Sally!> I yelled as she dodged my pincers. My tail quickly responded by jabbing at her at full speed. She quickly dashed to the left, just narrowly dodging my tail. In response, she lunged towards me with her arm blades. She swung towards me like a wild animal, but in a flash, I jumped back just in time to see the blades swing at me. Bingo. A gap.

I ducked and lunged forward just in time for her blades to sail over my head as I tackled her to the ground. As soon as we landed, 2 of my arms shot out and pinned her blades to the ground as the other set wrapped itself around her neck.

“THAT’S IT! I've seen enough. The victor is diva.” Penn yelled as she walked up towards us.

“That was fun” My hands eased up against Sally’s neck. I quickly pulled her off the ground and dusted her off.

“However, Sally, you’re holding back. It defeats the point of us sparring if you hold back.”

“I know, mother, it's just…… I can't hurt you…. I can't.”

I let out a sigh and gave her a hug. “It's fine, it can't be helped. We’ll find another way. We both need to get stronger. Apollinaris has grown so much in so little time. Imagine what we will be able to do if we applied ourselves the same”

“I know, mother, but how. We can't just go in and start fighting random monsters in the forest. There are creatures out there that could kill me just by looking at them. It's too risky.”

“I know. But we have to do something.”

“I may have a solution for that” Penn chipped in “After studying your fighting and technique. I think I'll be able to make something that can help you with that. The only problem is that it needs a good amount of space.”

“Hmmm, walk and talk with me” Sally and Penn followed me as the clearing broke open and we descended into the hive. During the descent, Penn explained what she had in mind.

“Golems?”

“Yes, or automatons if you’re dwarven. They can be programmed to fight with you and help build your strength. I can build them here no problem, but we are missing a few resources…”

“Like”

“Crystals. Importantly, infused crystals. They provide mana and allow for them to function without me having to constantly pour mana into them, and of course, the material to build them. The rule goes wood for non-destructive work like moving stuff from A to B. Stone for destructive work like mining and combat, and Iron is the same but for really destructive stuff. You can make a golem out of anything, of course, but the material is important.

“II see. It’s a good idea. I'll run it by azuura and the architects. However, we have a lot to build. Currently, so we won't see it for a while.”

“Just let me know when you want to go ahead.” She said as we arrived at the mushroom farm. “If you need me. I'll be in my usual spot,”  and with that, she instantly disappeared.

<Honestly, mother, why do you let her live here>

<Because I see an investment. She is peculiar, but her mind is sharp. We won't get much now, but I believe that in the future she will become a very essential asset.>

<And if she doesn’t…..>

<Well the hive can always use more hosts….. but hopefully it won't come to that. >

I walked deeper into the hive. It's weird just how settled everything is now. Food isn't an issue. The hive is healthy, and expansion is steady. Azuura and the workers have gotten to work expanding underground tunnels under all of my claimed territory. Meaning moving around has become trivial. I wonder just how many children are currently in the hive. I brought up the hive management screen out of curiosity.

HIVE STATS

EGG SPECIALISATION

: UNIT TYPES :

SELF IMPREGNATION

HOST IMPREGNATION

Just over 1.2k Damn. I've been busy. Hmm, if my memory serves me correctly, a milestone was tied to this.

A growing hive… [1]

Increase the hive population to 2000

Reward: 100 points and a unique Unit

That’s it. Hmmm, I am quite close. Maybe I should-

I paused as I felt someone tugging on my mind. It was azuura.

<Azuura? Is everything okay?>

<Yes, mother. The construction of the room for the hive core has been completed.>

<Oooh so quick. I'm on my way….. see you soon!>

He left my mind as I made my way into the mushroom farm. Where I found azuura and the 2 other architects waiting for me.

<Mother!> They cried as soon as they got wind of my presence.

<Yes, Yes. I'm happy to see you all too. But let's skip the greetings and get to the exciting bit. Where is the room?>

<Well, mother, you're standing on it.> On cue, azuura and the others stepped away as the floor broke open to reveal a deep hole. Instinctively, my wings buzzed wildly, letting me hover just over the open hole.

<That certainly is one place to put it.>

<Mother wanted it somewhere secure where it can't be reached easily, so we've made a place around 150 meters down from this point.>

<I see.> I looked down into the tunnel. There was no light down there at all; even with my night vision, it was pitch black.

<Impressive. But how did you get the floor to break open like that? The only ones who can do that are the nature work->

My mind stopped as soon as my eyes landed on 2 nature workers bound to the walls in wax. Was this Azuura's idea? I shook my head no. He wouldn’t do this. It was probably the architect's idea. I feel like I should be against this, but it works very well, and from what I can feel from the 2 workers, they seem happy where they are. Anything for the hive, I guess. Even if it means becoming a glorified door opener

< So… What are we waiting for?> I reached my hand out towards Sally, who was staring down into the hole. Don’t tell me….

< You're afraid of heights, aren't you?….> She looked up to me and gave me a meek nod.

I flew a little closer and grabbed her hand. She tried to protest, but soon she was in the air. I gave 2 of my other hands to the architects, and we started descending. Azuura's wings beat gently with mine as we slowly descended deep into the hole.

<Let it end, Let it end, Let it end, Let it end, Let it end, Let it end, Let it end, > Sally yammered as we moved deeper.

<I will drop you if you don’t stop that!.> Instantly, her mouth shut. It was tempting. I doubt it would hurt her. The alvearix are quite tough in that regard.

After a few moments, the ground finally came into view. My wings flapped wildly one last time before softly landing on the ground.

<You can let go of me now, Sally….>

< Are we on the ground yet!…> I rolled my eyes again and peeled her off my arm

<Now then. Lead the way> I said towards the architects. As they led me down a long winding tunnel. The tunnel itself descended deeper into the ground. I noticed along the wall, there were these small dugouts along the tunnel wall at set intervals.

<What are these dugouts for?>

<Those mothers are where we would put warriors for them to be sealed into the wall. The idea is to seal them into the walls with bio serum as food. They were to act as the last line of defence towards the hive core, buying time for us to move the core somewhere else.>

I looked towards the architects. They are surprisingly cold. They don’t expect the warriors down here to stop them, but just buy time. I can't blame the rationale if they’ve made it this far. Then, the chances are we have to relocate.

We kept on walking until we finally hit a dead end; however, like before, the wall broke open, revealing an altar made of wax. As I entered the room and looked to the side, I saw 2 workers sealed in wax like earlier. They really do like doing that, don’t they….

<Here it is, mother. The core room>

The room was large and barren except for the altar. Had a wide base that led up into a thin, narrow stalk that then spread out again into a clawed hand.

<So big>

Sally chimed. I didn’t notice, but it was quite tall, nearly as tall as me.

<One more thing, mother.> The architect walked to the walls and banged his fist against it. A dull, hollow thud sounded out across the room.

<the left and right walls are hollow. Our idea was to put some warriors or other combat-focused units behind these walls to act as a final sort of defence. >

<Hence the space. Good thinking. Hopefully, we won't have to use them. I'm pleased with what I've seen. You’ve all worked very hard.

<Thank you. Mother.> the architects said in unison.

<Im working on a tunnel to be made that connects your room to this place. Meaning you won't have to go the long way.> azuura chimed.

<Thank you. Azuura. Now then. We've got the room. We just need to make the core itself……>

……….

<MMMppphhhh I feel like a pig>

I stuffed another Handful of mushrooms in my mouth. Seriously, who thought  500k biomass was a reasonable amount!

The nurses charged back and forth with their hands filled with mushrooms that I quickly devoured. I hate this! Can I have something else, please? Don’t get me wrong, the mushrooms taste fine. But there are only so many times I can eat fine until it gets boring.

5000 biomass added

+500 (Hive optimisation bonus)

Total: 400,500 biomass

<Gahhhhh, even with the bonuses, it’s a slog!> I complained as another mouthful of mushrooms went into my mouth. I shouldn't complain too much, at least I still have a bonus. Maybe I should put some points into the skill. I mean, it is a very good skill.

Hive Optimisation LVL 1

A hive is already an efficient entity. Who said it could be even more efficient?

(Hive optimisation gives a 10 percent bonus to biomass gained from food and reduces the amount of biomass needed to fuel the hive by 10%)

Level 2

Bonuses increased to 20%

<mmmmpppphhhhh grhhhh.>

<Please, mother, can you at least try to eat with your mouth closed?>

<No! MMpppph. Need to get enough biomass and soon. How about you stop complaining and grab me some mushrooms, Sally>

She let out a sigh as she disappeared into the hive. I devoured more and more mushrooms. Trying my hardest not to gag at the sheer volume of food. An order roared from me into the nurses, demanding more food, More mushrooms, more mushrooms, More, more MORE! I'm getting this stupid hive core even if it kills me! Hell, I’ll even go past that! The hive always needs to be expanding, right? Let's make 500 more new children whilst we are here!

A nurse burst in with their arms filled with mushrooms and dumped them at my feet. Instantly, they were in my mouth and devoured. The same happened over and over again. I see mushroom, I eat a mushroom, I see mushroom, I eat mushroom, I see mushroom, I eat mushroom, I see mushroom, I eat  mushroom, I see mushroom, I eat Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom

<̴͍̝͉̂̈͑̒̍̓̊̓̽̀̽̀̚̕͘͜ͅm̴̡̨̛̪̮̼͉̖̣̰̪͓̬͆̔́͂̿͗̑̅̈́̇̓͋̚ó̵̢̯̖̣̼̣̤̥̿͛̏̔̐͜ͅţ̸͈̥̬̣̬͇͔̮̠̍̑̈́̑ͅḩ̵̢̬̱̙̮̥̔̎̿̄́̅̈́̆͂̄̆̈̽͐̈ͅḛ̵̛̣͔̄̽͆͋́́͌̅̀̆̈̂̄͝ṛ̵̛̥̺̻̠͕́͑̌̒̂͌͒͒̿̉̄ ̴̛̤̠̖̙̮͍̖̲̓̒̓̔̓̏̑̔̽>

Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom

̷͉̙͓͚̃̽̂̀̒M̴̢̨͉̘̘͉̜̹̮̻̜̑̇̍͊̊͌̃̃͘͠ͅO̷̧̰̺̘̙͍̻̭͔͕̲͔̖̻̓͂͝T̶̢̢̢̢̢̮̙̰̻͍͕̮͗̓̉͑̊͊̈́͑́̽͋̈́̕͝͝ͅH̵̢̘͇͙͉͇͍̯̤̥̫̥̺́̀̍̊̉̉̈́͝E̶̹̥̘͒̎̍̒͌̀̐͆̽R̸̛̫͔͖͊́̈́̅̂͆̚͠

Mush, mush, mush

<MOTHER!>

My mind instantly snapped back to reality and was met with Sally staring me dead in the face <Sally, what the hell id goin->

<WERE UNDER ATTACK!>

<…..What....>