I somehow found the entire situation exciting.

It didn't matter what sort of pact we made - if the chaos in the hive continued, the scary wasp would eventually get his chance. But, it would be a different matter if the wasps managed to subdue the crisis and everything returned to normal.

If that happened then the scary wasp would have no reason to work with me and I might actually lose my head.

I trembled at the thought. It was a risk, but right now it was better to support the "friendly" devil before it became an evil one.

With my HP filled, I approached it with more confidence than before.

[Since we are friends now, I will do all I can to help.] I proclaimed.

The scary wasp paused his practice. [Friends?]

[Acquaintances…or allies maybe?]

[I am only loyal to my queen.]

I scowled at his stubbornness and the scary wasp scoffed before looking away. I had to make sure he would keep me alive afterwards but the wasp stopped speaking.

"That's why you don't have any friends." I hmphed angrily at him, which made Sensei laugh.

«I imagine loyalty to someone else would be a foreign concept for him.»

I was perplexed, from what I had seen so far, the wasps were the cold and unfeeling sort. Even this scary wasp was every bit as vicious as the rest, plus more. Was it stupid of me to consider it an ally when it could kill me at any time?

I helplessly sighed. "Is this sort of loyalty usually the norm? Maybe the hidden queen is much stronger than him and is pressuring him to support her?"

«Not exactly, this one is just unusual. It stayed longer than usual in its host's body and its host species was one that thrived off the concept of loyalty to superiors. He likely imbibed more of these traits in his developmental stage than was necessary.»

I didn't even think that was possible! So, was he like, a quasi-hybrid wasp?

«All wasps return to the hive. The longer they take, the powerful they become, but there is always a downside. Too long in the host bodies and they can get confused over their own skills or what they are. Most of them will have their loyalties to their queen subverted and challenge her. Others will resist the hive and go off on their own.»

The scary wasp fit every criteria of the renegade wasp, so why was he still here?

"Surely, it would never submit if it was strong enough to overthrow its own queen." I questioned.

Sensei's explanation made the scary wasp's behaviour far too odd. It was more likely the queen had him under some sort of control. As I was yet to appraise a queen, I couldn't exactly conclude, they lost their [Mind Chain] skill when they hatched from their host bodies like the other wasps did, or if they developed a better skill as a replacement?

As if sensing where my thoughts were going, Sensei responded.

«He did not rebel. He actually became more loyal because of his "upbringing". You could say he is a unique case.»

His answer did not entirely convince me. I still suspected the hidden queen had something to do with it.

"Is this usual with Hesperia?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.

«What do you think?» Sensei added sombrely. «Lots of things affect how loyal a subject will be. Most times it depends on the qualities of their leader. It's up to you to come to your own conclusion.»

There was an unspoken agreement, our new "friendship" depended solely on the approval of a third party. The only thing keeping him here was the loyalty for his queen and if that queen ordered him to kill me, he would do so with no hesitation.

Even if I didn't want to admit it - I felt this was deeply unfair. Did we really have to be enemies?

But just then, the scary wasp spoke.

[I have to take care of some things. You stay here until I return.]

He immediately took off in the air, and I had to hold back what I was going to say. And right on queue, I heard the buzzing of numerous wasps approaching.

Outside the cavern, I could make out many wasps with the help of [Mana Sense], the largest source being the scary wasp in their middle, with more wasps joining him.

Soon they numbered more than forty and soon an entire squadron of wasps was meeting in the opposite tunnel. I wondered if he had left to meet them outside so I wouldn't be noticed by any of them.

After a brief instruction, the scary wasp led him away from the tunnel to the main hive and with that, our communication link finally broke.

In the now quiet cavern, suddenly I missed talking and wished more than anything to possess a communication skill.

"Can you make that available in the store?" I asked Sensei jokingly.

«It's a naturally occurring skill.» Sensei replied. «Keep levelling up and you will get it on your own.»

"Tch. How Stingy." I scoffed.

The scary wasp had said to wait, but I had other ideas. Although the scary wasp's lair provided safety, the things I could do here were limited. If I wanted to hunt and improve, I knew I had to leave. After fighting with it for a while, my skills had improved quite a bit.

----------------

Name: Aurelia LV9 [Neonate Snake]

Specie: Cerastes Vipera

HP: 107/107 Defence: 92

MP: 53/68 Intellect: 73

SP: 95/95 Magic: 47

Attack: 96 Agility: 110

Skills:

[Poison Fang: LV8] [Bite: LV6]

[Venom Rain: LV3] [Scent: LV4]

[Dragon Scales: LV4]

[Silence: LV6] [Rapid Strike: LV5]

[Heat Sense: LV9] [Grip: LV8]

[Stealth: LV8] [Appraisal: LV5]

[Buoyancy: LV3] [Steel Skin: LV9]

[Rugged Scales: LV8]

[Leap: LV5] [Pain Toxin: LV4]

[Mana Sense: LV4] [Detox: LV4]

Title:

[Apostle] [Coldblooded]

[Commander] [Hero] [Trickster]

Unique Skill:

[Devour]

Attributes:

[Obsidian Horn] [Mind Chain]

[Stinger]

Resistances:

[Impact Resistance: LV7]

[Pain Resistance: LV7]

[Wind Resistance: LV3]

[Shock Resistance: LV6]

[Faint Resistance: LV4]

[Poison Resistance: LV5]

[Paralysis Resistance: LV4]

Experience Points: [270]

----------------

But it want enough to beat him. When he returned, a rematch was certainly in order to avenge my mistreatment! Before that, I had to improve myself further.

With [Heat Sense] activated to scan for presences, I moved through the damaged walls with multiple blade marks and crumbled debris until I reached l the end of the chamber, where I found an opening leading down below.

It was a vertical tunnel, overlooking a steep drop below whose views looked vaguely familiar. Through it I could see a large chamber below that contained many rows of aged hexagonal walls that were worn to disrepair and sections of walls had collapsed to dust like a blizzard had run through it. There were obvious signs that some of its fixtures had been blown right open in the chaos.

It was no longer a surprise, I was clearly looking at the old crumbling maze - or what remained of it. The wreckage caused by the escaping creatures had utterly destroyed it, and what was left was a barren wasteland of dust.

If I continued down this way I would eventually see the Hive core - if there was anything left of it. But then I remembered, I still had to complete the [Explore till tunnel's end] quest, so either way this was good news.

However, this steep drop leading to it was not. It was clearly an exit meant for beings that could fly and I remembered seeing the scary wasp enter through here during our first encounter. I knew I could not cross its steep drop, so I explored in the opposite direction to find another passage.

I soon came across another chamber's entrance that made me pause. It was directly above where the hive core should be and its entrance was completely concealed behind the walls.

I would have walked past it, if I did not detect a faint heat signature coming from the inside. To be sure I wasn't imagining it, I used [Mana Sense] and sure enough I picked up a faint aura from inside.

Its mana presence wasn't as strong as that of the scary wasp, yet it was noticeably stronger than that of a regular wasp and it was certainly not average.

My heart thudded in my chest as I scanned the outside of the room. From what I could tell, it wasn't really aware of my presence, or if it was, it chose to remain unnoticed or was perhaps asleep.

Was that really what I thought it was?

If I entered the chamber I was sure my quest would 'ding', but, I ignored the temptation and continued to move past it into the tunnel below. It didn't move, so I didn't dwell on it and made the decision to ask the scary wasp about it when he returned.

I would not expose his secrets, since we made a deal, but I just couldn't believe the scary wasp would keep the hidden queen in plain sight!

I soon arrived at the crumbled remains of the Hive Core and almost immediately the system dinged with a notification.

[Novice Level Quest - Explore Till Tunnel End. Status: [15/15]]

[Complete!]

[Reward [150XP] issued.]