Chapter 111: 3 of me….

<NOW!> Sally said as she lunged forward, blades erect from her arms. The warriors and skirmishers joined in with her. Sally landed square in the middle of the pack, causing the creatures to scream with anger. One of them lunged at her, and Sally turned around to catch a glimpse of the beast. Suddenly, a splurt of black and red blood sprayed into the air as the 2 halves of the beast splattered onto the ground.

<How disappointing.> she said coldly as she flicked the blood of the creature from her blade. Suddenly, without warning, she started slicing and dicing with her blades. The warriors and skirmishers joined her in the fray, turning the whole thing into a one-sided blood bath.

< I'm pretty sure this is overkill> I muttered. It probably was, but even so, the hive won't take any chances.

I watched as one of the black creatures darted in between and around the warriors, diving past their legs.

<Incredible> I muttered as I watched how they coordinated with each other, everyone had each other, you wouldn’t think it, but more than likely this is the first time they’ve fought together, it’s incre-

<Behind you. Enemy.>

<AHHH!> I screamed as my pincer moved. I just managed to catch a glimpse of the yellow-eyed creature as my pincer buried into its side. The creature let out a vile hiss as it snapped at me like the crazed animal it is.

I looked closer at the creature, more specifically, my pincer; It was one I hadn't used yet. It was a long, clear tube that had a sharp, pointed needle at the end. Now that I think about it, it looks like a syringe with a needle. Suddenly, a sharp tingling feeling danced down that pincer. I looked towards the dead creature as its body slowly shrank and shrivelled. The glass tube on the pincer itself quickly filled with a green glowing liquid. Just what is-

<AGHHHAAAA!>

A Jolt stronger than lightning danced through my brain as an array of information blitzed through it. Everything about it was read and inserted into my mind like a machine. How many hairs it had, what it ate, the day it was born, its genetic family tree going back to the last 15 years, was inserted into my mind. It was… so much. Too much. I tried to resist pulling away, but the information kept coming and coming. Like a....a....

<UNNNNGHHHGHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!>  Suddenly, everything went black.

Some time later...

<Penn....Penn. Wake up.... everything's dead....>

My eyes slowly opened. Pain riddled my head all over, making it hard to think.

< What.....happened> I asked weakly. Sally shrugged as she helped me to my feet.

< I was hoping you could tell me.>

I gently rubbed my temples. The pain was still there, just a lot weaker.

<unnngha. I don’t…..really know? I stabbed that thing then->

New ability enabled:

Genetic siphon

A unique racial pincer ability allowing the user to extract genetic information from all creatures and convert existing DNA  into Genetic substrate

New resource: Genetic Substrate

A resource unique to the user that comes from creatures killed by the genetic siphon

New ability enabled

Genetic modification

The other side of the gentic siphin. When the genetic siphon the user may choose to alter its genetic code to use traits learned and stored in the cataloguer.  Doing so puts the hive creature into a reincubation period

The current incubation period is 5 days.

New ability enables. Cataloguer

A catalogue of all the creatures and traits that have been absorbed by the genetic siphon.

New entry:

mana corrupted fox.

A fox corrupted by a strange mana. Increasing its aggression and strength at the cost of cognitive function.

(1/3) collect 2 more to unlock traits.

New entry:

Fox

A normal woodland fox. Found in forests and woodland. An effective solitary hunter that is clever and adaptable.

(1/3) Collect 2 more to unlock traits

< that's…… a lot of boxes> sally said in awe

I read through the boxes again and again in awe. Incredible. The doors this opens are limitless, even now, hundreds of thousands of ideas are rushing through my head. yes I can see it now. I could make some of the most perfect creatures in the world, we would be unstoppable! Haha yes! Yes! YES!

<PENN!>

My head snapped to Sally, who was standing in front of me. Her face had a slight twinge of concern

< Are you okay? It looks like a lot…>

<Its….its not that. Sorry, I was in my own head, Sally.>

<Good. Now let's finish the mission. And hopefully find out what happened to my mother.>

<About that Sally. I might know what happened to mother> Sally's eyes lit up.

<That’s good! Really good!> Suddenly, Sally pulled me into a hug. <thank you. Thank you so much…>

My mind froze….<t….thank you?> I squeaked out as her arms squeezed around my body tightly. Sally was so warm, uncharacteristically warm. It reminds me of… of…. My brother…

<Luke….>

<Huh>

My mind instantly snapped together as I gently pushed her away. Not now. I can't focus on that now….

<Is everything okay?> she asked. I gave her a false smile.

<Y..yeah I'm fine. Sorry, I don’t do hugs>

Sally nodded and smiled at me.

<I understand...>

Sally turned her attention back to the dragon.

<What a headache this entire thing has been. Mother…why did you have to get yourself involved with this dragon. Honestly mother. I should really stop leaving you to your own devices…>

Meanwhile, back at the hive

<Okay, guys, one more time! were so close.>

<Yes, mother!> the three workers eagerly got into position. I sat back on the bed and took a deep breath/I've been trying for a few hours now, it's been hard work, but. It’s slowly starting to make sense. I think with one more push, I'll have it partially solved.

I closed my eyes and let my consciousness sink into the weave. A feeling that I've been getting very familiar with over the past few hours. As I entered, my attention quickly fell on the 3 workers I summoned earlier.

< Let's try this again>

I imagined 3 hands stretching out towards the workers as I did the weave trembled as my will forced it to obey. Soon, the 3 hands manifested themselves and started moving towards them simultaneously. 3 streams of information entered my mind.

<focus. Don’t get distracted.>

I pushed the hands forward until they reached each of the workers. I took a deep breath and prepared myself, and with one simple move, I pushed my metaphysical hands into the workers. Unlike before, where I was just connecting sight, now I'm connecting all my senses. Sight, smells, touch, sound and something else, not a sense, but just as important. Consciousness.

I felt the senses in my body dull as 3 sets of new ones emerged. more and more of myself poured into them until eventually nothing was left on my original body. I waited for a moment, making sure everything was settled, before finally opening all my eyes.

<DID IT WORK>  3 voices said in unison.

<I THINK I DID IT! HOWEVER, I NEED TO STOP SPEAKING LIKE THIS!>

Damit focus…. Focus..

<How about now>

<Yes that’s much better>

<it still has its kinks doesn’t it, though?>

<We can work those out later but right now this is a good stepping stone>

<Look at me already talking to myself.>

< Now then. We can communicate. But can we do something a bit more complex. Lets try walking….>

All 3 of me exchanged a glance at each other. This was gonna be a massive mistake but nothing ventured nothing gained.

<Alright on 3.>

<1>

<2>

<3>

All 3 of me suddenly moved. As I did a barrage of information and a new sense hit my consciousness. I felt all my legs slip as I suddenly fell flat on all 3 of my faces.

<Sorry, children> we all said in unison. Maybe I should start with something with 2 legs instead of 6, and maybe one at a time instead of 3, and luckily for me, I know the exact candidate

A small distance away from the hive….

Mole man pov:

“Can I have a moment to rest?” The large monster turned to look at me before continuing to walk. I let out a sigh. Why am I surprised? That has been the response to everything I've asked, and I don’t think it’s a language barrier. They can understand me; they choose to ignore me.

I picked up my aching feet and kept marching. The footsteps of 4 other monsters joined mine; however, they had much smaller frames, but something told me they were just as dangerous as the big guy up front.

“However, compared to that lady. This guy is nothing…”

I placed my hand on my chest, her claw mark still throbs with pain now, even after they tended to it; well, if we call spraying brown gunk onto it tending to the wound. I've thought about escaping, but every time I look upwards, I'm reminded why. 2 large flying monstrosities circled above. I have a feeling that if I tried to escape, I would be dead before I knew it. So instead, I have to keep marching forward to the place where this hell started. I wonder what they will do with me once I’ve told them what they want… maybe if I lie. Drag them on a wild goose chase, maybe they will…… what am I thinking they’ll kill me if I'm lucky, or worse, leave me alone with her…

My body quaked at the thought. No, absolutely not. All I could do was keep marching, and that’s what I did, for miles and miles, until a familiar sight came into view.

“There… that’s where they captured me.” I pointed towards a large grey boulder covered in moss.

“I was collecting moss for healing ointments when they captured me.”

The monster glared at me briefly before looking towards the boulder. I noticed its antennae twitch and move rapidly. Was it communicating with someone? Was it talking to her? suddenly the monster let out a loud screech. All the creatures escorting me suddenly piled into the clearing and started scanning every inch. Are they looking for something? A way to find those spiders? WAIT! Are they gonna give me back to-

“aghhhhA!” I yelped as the big creature pushed me forward. My feet carried me face-first into the dirt in the clearing.

I let out a pained groan.

“Was that necessary?” I yelled as I slowly lifted my body out of the dirt. “Why yes, it was….” A shrill, familiar voice hit

My heart stopped. That voice. How did she….

“If you're wondering how I'm here…. turn around.”

I slowly turned around to see the same hulking monster from before, but something was different. the first thing I noticed was its eyes. They weren't just pure black anymore; they had a slight golden glow.

“h….h….how are you here?”

“That doesn’t concern you. Show me. show me where this all started.

The creature offered me a hand. A part of me didn’t want to accept it. But then again, I'd rather not lose my hand as well.

I tentatively placed my hand on hers. Suddenly, its claw clasped around mine, and with the force of a thousand people she yanked me up off the ground

“OWWWW! OWWWWW! STOP! STOP! PLEASE!”

Suddenly, she let go.

“Oh my, it is a lot more different than I thought it would be. ill have to ease off a little…”

My hand ached and throbbed in pain. I think she’s broken it.

“Don’t make that face, Mole Man. Hands easily heal. Now, where did they capture you?”

I glared towards her. Every fibre of my being wanted to hit her; thankfully, the rational part of me was strong enough to resist. I held my broken arm as I  walked towards the spot where this whole awful affair began.

“It was around here…”

I stomped on the spot where they jumped me. Exactly four steps away from the boulder.

“I see”, the monster with her voice walked to where I was standing and looked around.

“There. See that patch of grass?” I turned around and looked to where she was looking. The patch of grass was just like any other, so what was so important about it?

“You don’t see it, don’t you…” I nodded.

“If you look closely, it’s brighter and shorter than the other patches around it. Do you see it.>

I squinted at the patch, trying to see what she saw, but I came up blank.

“I guess your eyes aren't as good as my child's, but it is different. Now, why would that be? Any guesses?"

I shook my head. I'm not going to answer. She is unpredictable; if I get an answer wrong, she might cut my hand off at best.

“Guess you mole men aren't as smart as I thought. I'll answer. It's because recently the ground in that area was broken and destroyed.”

She walked over to the supposed shorter patch of grass.

“If my hypothesis is correct, then underneath here should be “

The creature raised its right leg and smashed into the ground. Immediately, it broke through the ground. The creature quickly leapt on its left leg just in time to not fall down the hole that suddenly appeared.

“Bingo. We found our spiders.”

I slowly walked towards the edge of the hole. It was deep. Very deep. So deep that I couldn’t even think about the bottom, let alone see it.

“Well, thank you, mole man. This was a very good find.”

The monster raised its finger on cue a giant fly landed on her finger.

“I trust you know what to do. don’t be seen. This is a vital mission.”

She gently tapped the fly on the head before it flew down into the hole.

“Good, now let's clear out before they realise what we've done. Children grab him and let's go.”

I turned around just in time to see more of the monsters approaching I dropped my shoulders and accepted my fate. I guess it's too much to hope for a miracle, huh.

I started walking towards them when suddenly a large grey pellet landed at my feet. A smile slowly crept up my face. Maybe my luck is beginning to turn. Suddenly, a large plume of grey smoke exploded in my face.

Diva POV:

<attack!>

The order rang out across the group; however, before I could react, more and more smokebombs went off, blocking the vision of the mole man. I tried to use my other one, but the smell of the smokebombs made it impossible to find him among the grey clouds.

<DAMMIT, I'm blind out here!> and unlike my actual body, the warriors don’t have the ability to see through smoke. Dammit. This couldn’t happen at such a worse time!.> I wanted to push the attack, but charging in blind is a sure-fire way to get killed, and we are too close to comfort to those spiders DAMMIT!

< Everybody pull back towards the tree line.>

On cue, several of my children retreated from the smoke behind the tree line where we waited, and waited. Until finally the smoke dissipated, leaving an annoyingly empty clearing. I stepped out into the clearing where the smoke was. The mole man was long gone.

<someone stole my prey….>

<Mother, should we pursue?>

I shook my head. <We already have enough on our plate with the spiders. We'll find him. I already made sure of that...>

A few hours prior…

So how does this skill work again?

Pheromone production.

What hive queen would you be if you couldn’t make your own pheromones?

(Pheromones are created in your mouth and can be used to mark people as yours to the hive)

I quickly read over the system prompt. sounds simple enough. I put as much of my hand into my mouth and focused. All I want is some pheromones, come on.

Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation bubble at the back of my throat. Am I doing it? I slowly pulled my hand out of my mouth. Strands of yellow mucus stretched from my mouth to my hand as I pulled it out.

<gross>

I sniffed the air, and suddenly a strong smell of me hit my nose. Perfect.

<Mother. Why are you making pheromones?>

I looked to my shoulder where a royal fly was waiting for me. This one is new, I can tell from his scent.

<its just an insurance policy. Not that I think it will happen, but it pays to be cautious...>

Who knows what could happen when he's out there…