‘Should Willpower not dictate how many creatures you can control?’ the Core asked, confused on why that wasnt the case with the Queen. Did the functions of stats change from person to person? And if so, how excatly did such an thing make sense? In the grand scheme, the [System] shouldnt have allowed for such radical changes to the fundamentals so why excatly did it-

‘Oh, of course it does,’ the Queen replied, thoguh she sounded more understanding. ‘There is never a moment where I can directly control more than ten creatures at a time, just as my Willpower restricts. Anything more and the children start to act up no matter what. And you can trust me when I say that such an event is unfavourable. Creates too much tension.’

‘Then why did you talk about Wisdom in relation to controlling your underlings?’ the Entity asked, still not sure on where that was coming from. It was happy to know that limits existed for everybody in the same way, yet there was a piece that still hadn't fallen down correctly. ‘Should you not have hoped for Willpower not to fall instead?’

‘Little rock. If I was hoping to control all my children at the same time, I would be setting myself up for disaster. The mental capacity required for the handling of hundreds of minds would create so much pressure that I am not entirely sure anybody would be able to handle it. A hundred would bring me close to death no matter what. Even my old form wouldn’t have survived such a mental slaughter,’ the Queen said with some form of displasure. ‘I do rememebr tales of some Dread-Lords focusing on the micro-managament of underlings. While not entirely on the level of full control, they were able to take several thousands and naviaget them into millitary positions. While not on the level of actual millitaries, I do believe that they were able to culumatiely conquer an eight of the known-’

‘While I am interested in you retelling that story, later on, I need to know more about how you had an entire legion of underlings while not controlling them directly,’ the Core said, feeling some amount of its metaphorical heartbreak at the story getting discontinued. The idea of massive armies had been on its mind since the very start, but the lack of [Willpower] had stopped it from doing anything close to that. Restricted to only fourteen creatures in total, at the current moment, the sheer idea of having more than a hundred was impossible to have. The pain and pressure of having fifteen, just one above the max, was still remembered well. And it was not something it thought happily about.

The ideas about the [System] knowing excat limits and everything else was just the Core often wondered about. How did it do it? How did it know where the Entity would break, where the mind would start hurting, and when it woudl die due to lsot health? There was likely some way to see it even wtihout the [System] being there, yet it wondered about how a flat panel floating in its mind knew so much.

And how was [Health] even calculated? What factors were put when a limb was torn off? A head being ripped off equaled instant death with most yet some creatures could perhaps survive it. There was no way to know. The Entity just couldnt figure it out. A cut could take off five health yet would a thousand small cuts on a person’s toes mean instant death? It made no sense biologically but would the [System] respect that fact or would it force its own reality into all else? It was a frightening thought but not one that the Core believed was there to stay.

The [System] was not the decider but simply the translator. It showed the world in an abbriviated form, giving only the highlights so that the deatils wouldnt need to be worried about. How excatly those details worked, the Core didnt know, yet the results were still granted freely to all. And maybe being thankul instead of distrustful would work out more in the end rather than anything else.

But whatever. Secrets were secrets, and most of the things wondered abotu would be held to the palms of the gods for eternity. And enough time had finally passed for the Queen to answer.

‘I think I understand your confusion now. You believe that direct control is always needed for one to known as your underling,’ the Queen said, pausing for a moment as she likely felt the affimative sent her way by the Core. ‘Good to know I’m right, I suppose. But, underlings are more complicated than you think. I personally create mine through alternate means compared to yours, but both of ours have distnct pieces of Mana that match our own. These are the connections that allow us direct access to the creatures. Without them, we wouldn’t have the ability ot manipulate them so easily, creating more than enough issues for us. It’s the sole thing that sets them apart from everybody else’s.’

The dinstinct part of Mana… the Core’s first thought about what that could be was the small parts of itself that it could feel in all its creatures. It became more noticeable when entering and leaving its Domain, but it was always nested inside there. Yet that wasn’t really true. It was a part of the Entity, yes, but there was another, more omnipresent part as well, that being the Mana-Nodes. While every creature had them in some form, all the creatures had it in the same colouring and consistnecy as the Core. It was what set them apart from all the other ants the Core had met when it ignored the literal fragments of itself also rooted inside.

‘I am sure you could find them in your own creatures as well,’ the Queen countiued, after waiting long enough for attention to fall on her once again. The Core yet again noted the lack of it needing to ask her to countiue, the ant instead just knowing when she was focused on again. It needed to figure out how to do that as well. ‘This piece of Mana does not dissapere throughout the creature’s entire life, for it is as much a part of the body as anything else. The bonus are not able to be removed, just as the Mana-Veins must stay inside, lest it all comes falling down into a bloody heap. But… this should also mean that direct contanct with the creature isnt needed, right? Exactly! It is not needed at all. Since the ability to connect easily continues to exist whether or not you’re connected, it becomes possible to near-fully disconnect yourself from your underlings.’

…

‘Why only near-fully?’ the Core asked, happy to be indulged in its curiousty but still being left with a few questions that needed answers as well. ‘If the connection stays open like you say, shouldnt it be possible to just disengage fully?’

‘Technically? Yes, there is no issue with disconnecting fomr a creature fully,’ the Queen answer, though the Core could already guess the next word. ‘But, this is something I must stress is a bad idea overall. It might not have been obvious from the start, btu fully disconnecting does bear the consuquences of your creature being stolen in some sense. By not having any connection at all, you leave the create open to invasions from that side. While any forgein Mana-Sources might not be able to enter as easily as you, forceful entry is not out of the realm of possibilities with enough time and dedication. And when fighting against somebody equally leveled and with equal skill, they would easily be able to take over any creature that you left fully disconnected. Again, I must stress that it is not something you should do intentionally or without reason.’

‘But what is the middle-ground then? I need to be connected so I don’t spend mental capacity on it yet I also need to not be connected lest I open the creature up for mental attacks?’ the Core qusetioned. It didnt make sense.

‘You think about it as an ultimatum instead of an spectrum. You need to removed a large parth of the Tether that connects you to your creature. You need to remove your own personality from it, if you need that ingrained inside yourself, and instead allow a bare-basic string of Mana to connect you to it. And while that piece of meaningless Energy won’t allow you to order the creature around or anything, it will most certainly allow for the protection required. Any attempted intrusions in the creatures mind will be felt, at least. If they are more powerful than you, there is no chance to stop it anyway.’

That was certainly a boost of information to be told. It seemed like quite a bit to take in, though the Core knew it wasn’t like it could stop wanting more. The potential of had just been heard… it was incredble.

‘So is that how you do it? You create a horde, send them out with each having an order already implanted inside themself, and then just allow chaos to reign?’ the Core asked, feeling the tactic could be used in emergencies. Just keeping a few hundred ants in a room for safety reasons wouldn’t be too bad an idea, though it would be annoying to do.

‘In a sense, it is a tactic that could be used. Not that I would recommend it, however,’ the Queen stated, elaborating before the Core could even begin to question the reasons behidn that idea. ‘Without you directly controlling the creature, they go back to what their former intelligence is. Since my children are still… ants, they can’t do much in the way of following orders. They can’t comprehend longer works, if you understand what I mean.’

‘They’re mentally deficient?’ the Core supplied.

‘I would have put it in a nicer way, since they are still my children,’ the Queen said with a slightly sharper tone. ‘But I will allow it since it explains it fine enough. They are unable to comprehend much else but charging or defending. They can make sure farms work correctly, but there is no reason to use that order on hordes. And… when you get to a certain level, hordes don’t work that well either way. Battles of attrition against a [Warmonger] will always end in you failing, after all. Whole numbers might increase chances of winning to some extent, yet the difference between one and two thousand is minor. Having proper strategies other than simply charging at the enemy is better most of the time and you need to remember that. Hordes work well against hordes and not much else.’

Thinking back to it, the horde of Undead that had been sent against the Core had likely been one of the easier fights it had been through. Only in the times where the Queen had been in the background. coordinating attacks, did it truly pressure the Entity into fearing every move. Some parts were luck and others couldn't have been done without a strategist. Yet the idea of an large reserve army still wasn’t-

‘It is not hard to see those gears inside your mind moving, you know,’ the Queen said, some amusement to her voice again. ‘I can’t say I blame you for it, however. Many of my former comrades thought the same thing as you. While not being able to control an large army, you could control an smaller force. If you then just swapped out every dead creature on the force with one of your reserves, it would be entirely possible to just win any war, right? Your lack of answer tells me everything on that front.’

‘But would it work, though?’ the Core had to ask. It seemed such an ingenious idea. ‘I will be able to not worry about losing my numbers. Sure, the travel time between the reserves storage-unit would likely take some time, but it couldn’t be that hard.’

‘You’re thinking too much into things like that while not focusing on one single detail,’ the ant Queen said, clearly amused at the new thoughts sprotuing inside the Entity. ‘What do creatures need most of all? And don’t say war of pourpose, because that is just as wrong as you could possibly be. No… the right answer is nutriotion. Every creature needs that.’

Nutrition? Well, that shoudlnt have been an issue since the connection was perfectly abel to sustaion… oh.

‘Couldn’t I just routeinly switch between all those in the reserves to make sure they get their nutrionial values?’ the Core asked.

‘Do you honestly believe that you will spend several hours each day doing that and not forget a single time? Because that would be all that it would take for them all to wither right up. Dungeon-Borns take more Mana and being deprived of it for longer times would not be healthy at all.’

The Core knew that! Yet, having to cross off the idea of a massive army was ruined at that moment.

‘But twenty or thirthy creatures shouldnt be too hard to keep filled up if you remind me, right?’ was asked after a few moments of deliberation.

‘If you want to make both our lives slightly more annoying then no, it would not,’ the Queen answered, though already sounding a little tired at having to be the new alarm clock.

The reserve army was back on the board!