[RUNNNNN!!!!!]

The whole group starts running away …except about 10 of them.

[How many times do I have to repeat myself! When I scream run you run! I don't care if you really hate the enemy the priority is surviving!]

*Apologetic cockroach noises. *

[Again. RUUNNNN!]

Only one screws it up this time.

[Be more careful. Next! DISPERSEEEEE!!!]

I see them going away from each other. This is going to be vital if we ever encounter an enemy with an AoE attack.

[You! Why are you hugging that guy?! We are dispersing right now! You can do better!]

I've figured out a few things. Before, I was just trying to teach them all. That was a mistake. I am now focusing on the bigger ones first. There are 6 of the 5 meters ones. The rest are all following these ones mostly.

Seems that whenever I relay a command these big ones send pheromones in the air with instructions to the others. If one of these misunderstands, 1/6 of the pack goes astray at least. Then the ones confused somehow confuse the other ones too.

It seems by instinct they kinda filter out my commands since they are custom-made ones. I think some reactions are literally coded in their DNA, that's how it feels anyway.

So I use a positive reinforcement method. One successful maneuver = one headpat. I would have preferred giving them treats or something …but I don't have mana. They are incapable of eating divine energy either.

Then whenever they mess up, I just scream at them. That gets the job done. By now I'm easily able to differentiate the *Yay success! Noises* From the *Apologetic cockroach noises*. I'm starting to think if I should release a book or something. How to tame your interdimensional giant cockroach step by step approach buy it now!

But seriously I feel like what I'm doing may actually relate to the beast taming discipline…eh, insect taming? The more I proceed, the more I feel like the way they taught it was bullshit. I mean I don't have a single soul link with any of them, yet they are learning and improving.

It may take a long time, but at least I'm training almost a hundred of them at once. Once I am done with this batch, I feel like I could replicate it easily with their help. Now the only question is are there friendly roaches out there? If there are we could bolster our numbers.

I'd like that just to increase the safety factor. Anyway, I simply keep at it. All until finally comes the day when none mess up. For a few days, I keep trying without a single mistake. Damn, I'm so proud of them!

Talking about days, I'm not sure how long has passed. The sky is always the same purple hue, there is never anything in sight either. To be frank I lost sense of time about the second day…I think. Even then I'm not sure.

That is when we resume our journey! Where are we going? Still no clue. But they are all excited about finally doing something else. I ride in style again! Ah, but the training isn't over. We practice our formations on the move.

Before, they kinda knew what and when it was coming. They had nothing better than to look at me. Now, I surprise them with mirages at the most unexpected moments. Yeah, it's kind of a disaster. They were able to succeed when it was calm but combine that with walking and it's too much for them.

At least, it doesn't take them long to adapt. The first to do so are the leaders are usual. Once they have mastered it the rate of improvement of the others goes up too. That's when I start adding more complex things.

For instance, I make them do a multi-layer defensive sphere. That one is a huge mess. At first, they can't do it for the life of them. How does one explain the concept of a sphere to a cockroach that has never gotten any geometry class?

Well, the answer is you physically stack them up. At first, they are utterly confused. They see this as a game of standing still following my directions. But they have no clue why I'm doing it.

Then at some point, there is a moment of enlightenment. One of the leaders notices something. It realizes that I'm always doing the same shape over and over. Then it tries it with some other roaches.

As soon as one gets it, the others start to analyze it and finally understand too. Then starts a competition. It seems to be about who can form its part of the sphere faster. This is surprising as Hell. They are starting to embrace the concept of games without my input!

For me, that's an absolute win. The rewards are heapats as usual. I still have no clue how that is so popular! I think on an instinctual level they see it as an assurance of protection? Or did at the beginning. Now it's devolved into a contest of who can get the most as a reward.

It doesn't do anything, but they are having a blast and it helps their training anyway. Before long appears in all its glory the rolling ball of cockroaches! While questionable on a tactical level it does have the advantage of really stacking them well. Good luck killing any in the middle! I mean they have no way to actually attack besides crushing the opponents.

Honestly, this one is almost a joke, but once they start rolling, they can actually go pretty fast too. Picture a rolling boulder. The exterior being the sturdy carapaces with no weak spot whatsoever. Of course one can always kill some by piercing right through, but that's easier said than done.

Oh yeah, the pressure they can resist is truly impressive too, for their size anyway. I'm thinking it's because of how their alimentation is pretty much only mana. In a way, they are totally magical creatures with their best feature being sturdy.

The only magical ability they seem to have is that blue cage ability. Except my cockroaches have never shown any sign of using it. I'm guessing they can but never felt the need to. After all the creatures themselves seemed immune to it.

In a cockroach versus cockroach match using it is a waste of energy. Let's just say whatever it was supposed to do, it didn't affect me one bit either.

At first, I'm thinking our journey will just continue peacefully like this, but then at the horizon, we hear something, then we see something. Angry screeches of cockroaches.

Honestly, why are all these wild packs so damn noisy! Hopefully this time it will go better than last. The issue is that we are now outnumbered 10 to 1…