After the mining team had finished collecting the last of the resources, and had their share of tasty crab, everyone packed up and headed to the dungeon gate. The mining captain was crying blood as he glared at Kailan. Though he had to admit, the crab was extremely well cooked.

Kailan could feet the mining captain’s cold stare and it sent a chill down his spine. “Maybe I should avoid him in the future.”

They eventually found their way back and as everyone lined up, Eva asked Gaia to send them back out. With a flash of light, they all disappeared from the dungeon and reappeared outside. Eva walked up to the check in counter to check them out. After a couple minutes she came back.

“Alright. I take it you don’t want anything else from the mining crew so they’ll take everything to the Bureau to sort through it and get back to you on the income you’ll receive.” She asked as she looked at Kailan. She had a suggestive expression with a slight grin and one eye-brow raised. Clearly referencing Kailan’s little indiscretion from earlier.

Kailan caught on quickly and nodded affirming her guess. “Alright. Captain take your team and head back to the Bureau, we’ll meet you there later. Come on Kailan, we’ll take you home.” Eva stated in a commanding tone.

Kailan acted well behaved as he followed closely behind Eva to the car, getting in without any fuss. Eva drove off, heading towards Kailan’s home. Everyone was quiet. Douglas started to become restless so he reached over and turned on the mid-sized display in the center console. After tapping on a number of options a news station broadcast started playing. They were detailing the trends of Hunters joining guilds across the nation.

Suddenly a strange sound like an alarm went off and a red banner started to run across the newsreel. Curious, Kailan leaned over and looked at the screen. The commentator was holding one ear as if they were receiving some information they were trying hard to listen to. The commentator’s expression slowly changed from one of intent listening to one of surprise.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have just received word that a dungeon break has occurred in Phoenix, Arizona. We have Bill Collins on site bringing us live updates.” The commentator turned back to the screen as she introduced the on-site reporter.

The scene shifted to a middle aged man with blonde hair and a reddened complexion, standing in front of a piece of land with ruined buildings surrounding a large 20 foot high blue dungeon gate. The gate was surrounded by a yellowish orange structure like a bee hive around it’s rim. And guarding all around it, in the sky and on the land, were swarming bug-like creatures.

The creatures were slightly above 7 feet tall, had the appearance of bees but with the arms of praying mantises. They had 3 sets of wings and a long tail that came to a bulb and spike like a scorpion. Surrounding their body was what appeared to be some kind of exoskeleton. The exoskeleton was ebony in color with red piercing out on the exposed flesh.

Kailan’s eyes lit up when he saw these creatures. “Turn it up.” He said hastily.

Douglas glanced back at Kailan only to be surprised at his expression. He reached over and turned up the volume a little. Eva also started paying attention to the news broadcast. Anything that would make Kailan serious was probably nothing good.

“We’re live in Phoenix, Arizona off of Happy Valley Road near the New River. Moments ago a dungeon that had formed in a local CVS broke open, expanding into the surrounding neighborhoods. Thankfully, citizens within the area had already been evacuated. As you can see behind me, this dungeon was filled with large bug-like creatures that have now escaped into our world. Thus far we have tracked several dozen more that have come through the field gate since its formation.” Bill, the on-site reporter, stated as he fought against the increasing wind currents.

“According to the Bureau’s database, this was a level 5 Plebeian rank dungeon. Though well within the mid range of dungeons, there were plenty of mid to high level Hunters in the city over the past month. And although the dungeon was quickly placed under quarantine after it’s formation, according to the dungeon registry, only the scout team entered and then left the dungeon. Begging the question, why was this dungeon left alone and allowed to break. Shannon, back to you.” Bill continued as he threw in his own speculations.

“Thank you Bill. We have yet to receive comments from the local guilds and Bureau office on how a dungeon in such a large city could have broken. Again, this was a dungeon break in Phoenix, Arizona. Which marks it as the 7th dungeon break on US soil. Stay tuned as we bring in experts to analyse the information that we know about the dungeon, it’s inhabitants and other creatures similar to it. I’m Shannon Gale, CNN News.” Shannon completed as they broke to a commercial.

“Laga…” Kailan stated under his breath.

“Laga? Is that what those bug things are called?” Douglas asked with a questioning expression.

“Yes. You should let the director know that he needs to contact the Bureau office in Arizona and tell them to form an army of hunters to eradicate those things.” Kailan replied as he crossed his arms, falling into contemplation.

As he sat back in his seat, he recalled a memory from Asgard. He had walked into a large golden room having heard strange sounds. There was a bright pool of murky water in it’s center. But instead of seeing his reflection, he saw a world on fire as giant insects flew everywhere, killing everything in sight. Odin, Thor and Freyja, three of the Gods were standing at the far edge of the murky pool, watching the carnage. Kailan approached them curiously. He had never seen them so serious before.

“Oh, little Kailan. Shouldn’t you be training?” Odin turned and smiled when he saw Kailan walk up.

“Allfather.” Kailan replied in greeting. “I’m in between classes so I thought I would go for a walk to clear my head, when I heard screaming.”

“Ah, yes. It is most disturbing.” Odin replied solemnly.

“What are they?” Kailan asked as he watched the grotesque creatures snatching up whatever they could find and crushing it.

“They are the Laga. A hive species that reproduces rapidly. They’ve invaded many worlds in many realms.” Freyja responded with a gentle smile.

“Yes. They are probably one of the most dangerous species in all the realms. Not because of their strength, but because of their numbers and their ability to rapidly evolve. But not to worry, they cannot invade Asgard.” Thor also chimed in as he patted Kailan on the shoulder reasuredly.

“Still. If you ever see a Laga, make sure that you track it to it’s hive and destroy them utterly. Lest a far greater tragedy occurs.” Odin turned to Kailan with a warning, before turning back to watch the war.

Kailan returned to the present having recalled the creatures known as Laga. “You need to destroy that gate immediately.” He stated as he looked up at Eva and Douglas. His expression showed a stern and unquestionable resolve.

“What’s so scary about a bunch of bugs?” Douglas asked. His face looked doubtful as he turned to stare straight at Kailan, awaiting his answer. Eva also looked at Kailan through the rear-view mirror.

“Not their strength, not right now anyway. But they reproduce at a geometric rate. They’ll start by building a hive around the gate. The hive will be heavily fortified. Once they succeed in building the hive they’ll focus on reproduction. Within a week there will easily be over a million of them. They feed on silicon so they won’t stay in one place for long, they’ll spread out and find new sources of food. Then they’ll build more hives in an area around the first. And they’ll continue to expand outward. Continually fortifying their position.” Kailan explained as he recalled everything that Odin, Thor and Freyja had conveyed to him.

“They’ll kill any lifeform they come across. Right now they’re Plebeian ranks, but the thing about this species is, that once a mutation occurs and a higher rank talent appears, that individual will be promoted to ‘Queen’ and start reproducing. Every child born after that will be of the same talent rank of the ‘Queen’. This process will continue until another mutation occurs providing an offspring of an even higher talent rank. So and so forth.” He continued his explanation.

“The best way to kill them is with poisons. Poisoning the hive is relatively easy, because the hive is also made of an organic material with a similar genetic makeup as the Laga themselves. Killing them individually, the best way is to attack the regions of the spiracle where it isn’t guarded by the exoskeleton. This section of the body is highly vulnerable so they’ll bleed out.”

“So basically they’re like a colony bug that just keeps expanding and invading new territory. As long as we keep their numbers under control…” Douglas summarized but was interrupted by Kailan.

“No. You don’t understand, you can’t keep them under control. The Laga are considered one of the most dangerous species in all the realms. Even the Gods are wary of them. Do not underestimate these creatures. Entire worlds burn when the Laga arrive. Every realm has suffered their assault and few have survived.” Kailan turned to stare out of the window, clearly still in thought. He had said his piece and warned them. Now it was up to them to do something about it.

Douglas and Eva turned to look at each other, both showing their seriousness. They needed to report this immediately up the chain. If what Kailan said was true then this could be one of the greatest threats the Earth has faced from a dungeon since the first dungeon breaks occurred.

The rest of the trip was silent. Douglas left the news on and continued to watch it with great interest. By the time they arrived at Kailan’s house it was nearly 4 PM. Kailan got out and thanked them for the ride before going inside.

Edward would be home soon so Kailan pulled out the honey roasted cashews he bought this morning to munch on as he sat on the couch, turning on the news. There was a report running on the dungeon break in Arizona. It was mostly a repeat of what was stated earlier but they were keeping up to date with reports from the guilds and bureau. When they displayed the scene of the dungeon gate again, it was now surrounded by mounds of strange orange goo.

“They’ve already started building the hive. Will the Bureau listen to my warning? Probably not. I’ll have to keep an eye on things.” Kailan thought as he crunched another cashew in his mouth.

Eventually Edward walked through the door. He looked dog tired as he sloppily threw his shoes to the side and his jacket on the coat rack. “Dad, you look like you just got beat up. What happened?”

“Oh, just an argument between two raid parties at one of the dungeon gates. It happens sometimes.” He replied as he plopped down next to Kailan on the couch.

“The news again?” He asked as his face twisted in disgust.

“I always watch the news, there’s lots to see. How about I switch it to something more relaxing?” Kailan asked as he noticed the horrid expression his father wore. He quickly changed the channel to cartoons.

“That’s more like it.” Edward leaned back, content.

Kailan chuckled at his childish father. But he just sat back and watched the show as well. Rebecca and Elias were the next to walk in. They arrived at about the same time. After saying their greetings they all sat down and joined Kailan and Edward.

Maria got home around 5:15. “Lazing about on the couch, figures. Is there at least anything good on?” She asked as she leaned on the back of the couch massaging Edward’s shoulders.

“The usual.” He replied to her.

“I can see that sweetie. What’ll we have for dinner?” She replied with some wit.

“How about crab?” Kailan interjected.

“Crab?” Maria looked at him curiously.

“I made some really delicious boiled crab in the dungeon today. I have quite a bit left over so we could have crab and boiled vegetables.” He explained.

“Wait, backup. You went into a dungeon today, to cook?” Elias stared at Kailan like he was crazy.

“Well, no. But the mining team couldn’t keep up so I was bored and made everyone a snack. Boiled boss crab. Apparently the seawater there is very nutritious, so I boiled the crab using the natural salt to bring out the flavor. The nutrients soaked into the meat, improving its nutritional value. Then I added some garlic, pepper, cinnamon and some nectar spices for flavoring.” Kailan explained as he recalled everything he had put into the pot.

“You boiled the boss crab with the local seawater and some spices? While the mining team was doing their collection work?” Elias was having trouble wrapping his brain around it. This was a dungeon, one of the most dangerous places in the world and his brother was playing house.

Kailan looked at him like he didn’t understand what the problem was.

“I think what Elias is trying to say is, you can cook?” Rebecca was just as flabbergasted as Elias.

“That’s definitely not what I was trying to say.” Elias corrected.

“Shut up Elias. Kailan, take out this crab meat for inspection.” Maria jumped in, interrupting the siblings.

Kailan laughed at his mother’s less than subtle request. In response he got up and went into the kitchen to prepare the food. Everyone looked at each other before following after. They all filed around the bar counter and watched as Kailan took out some pots from the cabinet. He lit the stove and placed the pots down before waving his hand with an intention of his will.

Suddenly, out of thin air, a large slab of crab meat fell into one of the pots and various vegetables and fluids flew into another. He didn’t turn the heat up too high as he was only reheating the food, not re-cooking it.

Everyone gawked as they watched this happening. “Kai, you have a dimensional space?” Rebecca asked in astonishment.

“Yes, it’s very convenient.” Kailan replied as he stirred the food.

It didn’t take long for everything to heat up. Kailan thought for a moment, before deciding that instead of eating everything as he did earlier in the dungeon he would chop up the crab meat, add in a broth and make a stew out of it. By the time he was done, the entire house smelled of Crab Stew. The rest of the family couldn’t help but to salivate over the smell.

After serving everyone a bowl, they all dug in. “Wow! This is so delicious!” Rebecca cried out as she bit into a piece of crab meat.

“Mmm, such a wonderful stew.” Maria also felt like she had gone to heaven.

“Kai, this is really good. Maybe you should reconsider your profession.” Elias was also impressed.

“Ah, now I have two amazing chefs in my life.” Edward fell into his own little world of tantalizing enjoyment as he savored each bite.

Kailan couldn’t help but to laugh at them. “If only I had some of the Honey Bread from Valhalla, they’d flip over the taste of simple bread.” He thought as he planned some future meals for the family.

“Since when can you cook so well?” Elias questioned as he continued to devour the crab stew.

“Cooking is a prerequisite for any warrior. You never know what environment you’re going to find yourself in. So it’s best to be able to recognize edible plants and animals, as well as know how to cook them properly to create a nutritious meal. An army marches on its stomach.” Kailan replied simply.

“So it was a part of your training in Asgard? Wow, combat training, cooking, mastery over Gaia. What exactly didn’t they teach you there?” Rebecca joked.

Kailan smiled as he heard this and continued eating. He had learned a lot in the past thousand years. His mind once again wandered off to Asgard as it would on occasion, as his expression became wistful. Everyone seemed to notice as they all glanced at Kailan simultaneously.

“Kai?” Rebecca called out.

Kailan quickly retreated from his thoughts as he responded. “Yeah. I really learned a lot while I was there.” Kailan seemed to stir his stew more than eat it as he blanked out again.

Maria reached over and smacked Rebecca on the shoulder with a begrudging look. Rebecca had realised too late what she had done wrong. She wore an apologetic look as she glanced back at her mother.

“That settles it. Kailan, from now on you must cook at least once a week.” Maria sounded out as if she were commanding a child to do his chores.

Kailan came back to himself as he smiled and replied. “Deal.”

Everyone was very satisfied to hear his answer. After finishing an amazing dinner, everyone retired into the living room for some relaxation and TV. As usual another argument over what they would watch, whether a marathon of some television series or a movie, and which one, began.