《Path of the Hive Queen》Chapter 28: Two and Two
Advertisement
The monster horde had already lasted for several days, but it would go on for a few more. Tim had managed to get that information from one of the elven rangers in the group. He didn’t mind it much, since it would offer him and his Hive the opportunity to gain more experience and, hopefully, levels. But listening to the constant sounds of monsters from the forest around them wore on his nerves, even if he did his best not to show it.
He and Max both reached level 8 the day after they arrived at the elven outpost. They fought another pack of Lionits, with the elves watching them. One of the monsters was higher level than them, but they were never in real danger. Regina leveled up again in the same fight.
After that, she took Mia and followed Anuis and a few others into the forest again, heading for the site where their new hive would be built. She hadn’t said so in so many words, but Tim was sure of it anyway. He might not be as smart as Max or his Queen, but he tried to keep his eyes and ears open, and he could put two and two together.
They were only gone for a minute when Tia sought him out. She crouched on a branch half a meter above the wooden platform some distance from the main structure where he was practicing with his blade. “Teach me how to fight,” she asked.
Tim nodded and tossed her the wooden sword he’d begged off Bianorn to practice fighting with different kinds of blades. He wasn’t too surprised at this request. He’d seen how fervently she’d thrown herself into the fights with monsters lately.
“Hold the sword like this,” he told her. “No, a little tighter, you don’t want it to slip out of your hand.”
The wooden sword was a short one, roughly carved out of a piece of wood in a way that made him suspect that the elves had just made it during the trip on a whim. But it worked well enough. They’d had to leave their weapons behind at the human village, so he appreciated it.
He led Tia through some exercises, mostly about how to hold the weapon and some basic movements. This was all instinctual to him, and teaching someone else often made him pause uncertainly. He’d never received any training himself. But he did his best to convey what he knew about fighting, and it even helped him better understand what he was doing. Even if he probably wasn’t the best teacher.
But at least this way, he could help Tia. He wouldn’t put it past her to sneak off and try to train on her own. Tim watched her closely, trying to see if she was overexerting herself. Her injury was mostly healed, but he could tell that it still bothered her. Besides, why else would their Queen have left her behind? So he focused on basics that weren’t physically demanding, just holding the weapon and a few stances.
Advertisement
"Alright,” he said after a while when it was clear she was getting frustrated. “Give it back to me, please, then we can work on some exercises using your work-limbs.”
“For all the good they are,” she muttered as she handed the wooden sword back.
Tim frowned. “They are,” he said. “Besides, if you have to fight and we’re not there, it’ll most likely be when there’s a surprise attack by monsters, so you probably won’t have any weapons on you.”
Tia mirrored his frown. “But -“ She hesitated.
They were interrupted by Max jumping onto the platform from a neighboring one. He landed with a thump and straightened to his full height. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m just showing Tia a few things,” Tim replied. “Do you want to join in? We could do a bit of group training.”
The other Warrior looked at both of them for a moment, narrowing his eyes. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he said. “Don’t we have better things to do, and what if someone gets hurt?”
Tim paused. It hadn’t occurred to him that Max might not approve. He opened his mouth, but he wasn’t sure what to say.
“We’ll be careful, and why not?” Tia asked, putting her hands on her hips and stretching her work-limbs a little to the side. “I need to fight better.”
Max shook his head. “You’re doing fine, and you’re a Worker, not a Warrior. Maybe you should focus on what you can do in that area?”
“But Max! I need to learn how to fight. I don’t want to keep being useless.”
Oh. Tim took half a step back before he caught himself. “You’re not useless,” he said. He had felt pretty frustrated trying to build the shelters, but he wasn’t sure how to say that, and he didn’t really want to talk about that. So he just said, “So what if you’re not as good at fighting as us? We’re higher level and Warriors.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect you from that monster.” Max’s tone was a lot gentler now, and he brushed the side of his blade-limb against her shoulder for a moment. “I promise I’ll do better from now on.” He glanced at Tim, who nodded. “We both will.”
“But we’ve been fighting all the time, and we need it to level and grow stronger for the hive.”
“You won’t need to fight to level,” Max countered. “If Mother had wanted only drones who could fight, don’t you think she would have laid only Warrior eggs?”
Tia hesitated for a moment before she responded. “But that was before the monster horde!”
"Which will be over soon.”
Tim cleared his throat. He interjected hesitantly, “Maybe we should ask our Queen when she gets back?”
Max paused, then nodded. “You’re right. In the meantime …” He glanced around and raised an eyebrow. “We should patrol the perimeter. And someone needs to move the eggs to a better spot, and Tia should study the treehouse to see how the elves built it and assess if we could do something like that. You’re not going to argue that you’re obviously the best suited of us for this task, are you, Tia?”
Advertisement
Tia winced and stood up straighter. “I’ll get right on it, Max!” Then she turned and vaulted over a branch to the next platform.
Tim nodded at Max and grabbed one of the ropes to descend to the ground. He’d start looking for signs of monsters around the base of the outpost. Glancing up, he caught an elf watching them, who quickly turned once he caught his gaze. Tim winced. In the future, they really needed to make sure conversations like this were more private. Maybe our low Wisdom stats are a problem after all.
Their Queen returned after several hours, looking tired, but also smiling slightly. Mia, on the other hand, was looking more excited than he’d ever seen her. Granted, that wasn’t saying much.
Tim hopped onto a branch near them and sat down, waiting for the rest of the Hive to gather. As he did, he glanced at his status sheet again.
Tim Drone Warrior Level: 8 Mana: N/A Con: 11 Str: 13 Dex: 10 End: 11 Int: 13 Wis: 9
He’d gained another point in Str with his newest level. The next one would probably go to Con. His Int and Wis hadn’t risen since he hatched, so he had no idea when their turn might come. Although he felt like he was smarter now than when he’d just hatched, so how well did they really describe someone’s intelligence or wisdom?
Max and Tia showed up shortly, and Regina smiled at them all. “We’re going to be staying here,” she announced. “In the place they showed me, I mean. We’ll wait out the end of the monster horde with the elves, then we’ll get started on building a proper hive. They’ll leave by then. I also got promises for a bit of help, so it should hopefully go better than last time.”
Tim smiled, and saw the others grinning, too. He couldn’t help but feel excited. A real hive! A place to stay and build, at least. He knew it would mean a lot of work, but he didn’t mind that. And if his Queen thought they could handle the humans they would undoubtedly have to deal with, that was a bit of a relief, too.
“What can we do to prepare?” Max asked.
Regina chewed on her lower lip. “Try and learn as much as we can from the elves, I guess. We can also keep fighting monsters, but we’ll have to do that once we’re on our own, anyway.”
“What about the eggs?” Tim asked in a low voice. That bothered him. Did they trust the elves enough to show them new drones hatching? It would probably be pretty obvious what was going on.
Regina glanced around, presumably checking to make sure they were alone. He couldn’t hear or smell anyone else close by, though, and that was probably a more reliable indicator.
“We’ll take them to a secluded spot in the forest,” she replied. “Then we’ll just come back with a few more people. I kind of already told Alenas that would happen, and they’ll probably figure it out soon no matter what we do. If they haven’t already.”
Tim cocked his head. The way his Queen was frowning slightly, the way she spoke that last sentence, implied that she suspected they did. And considering what he’d heard Anuis say, that made sense.
And if the elves had, could the humans figure it out as well?
He shook his head and made himself focus on the conversation. Tia was asking about getting combat training.
“Sure,” Regina answered easily. “If you have the time, I don’t see why not. Actually …” She frowned thoughtfully. “I guess I could make that a rule, once we have more Workers. They all need to get some self-defense training, at least. And more advanced training if they want, as long as it doesn’t interfere with everyone’s work.”
Tia gave Max a pointed look. He glanced away, scratching the base of his right blade-limb. Mia, on the other hand, looked apprehensive, if anything.
“Go take a nap or something, Tia, I don’t like your color,” their Queen said. “Mia, go see about tools like we discussed. Max, I’d like to go on a patrol around the camp with you. Tim - do what you do, I guess.”
Tim felt his chest puff up a bit before he made himself stop. He’d seen the small smile on his Queen’s face, before she turned to jump to the ground with Max. He felt gratified that she didn’t feel the need to give him any specific instructions.
Gods knew (if they were real) she had more than enough to deal with already. He didn’t want to add to her burden. Even this crap with Tia and Max arguing over combat training. Tim shook his head and resolved then and there to solve problems, not make them.
He knew that he would probably end up in a leadership position once they had more, younger Warriors. Even if he would rather act on his own, fight without having to worry about others, he’d do his best.
He climbed to the higher platform where most of the elves had set up camp to talk to Bianorn again. Maybe he could get him to make them some more training weapons. They could use those. Or even real weapons.
Anything was better than a stone ax.
Advertisement
- In Serial188 Chapters
Strongest Talent In Naruto
Arriving in Naruto World with the strongest talent.
8 8536 - In Serial16 Chapters
All Stats Random
Un-reality, the greatest game in the century just launched and Chris starts to play it. He wants to change his circumstances, which are through no fault of his own. But fate doesn't let it be that simple. He gets a hidden unique class, but that class has a special ability, one that randomizes all his stats whenever it wants? What? The world truly can't be fair to him. Not even in a game. Now he has to figure out a way to make this odd quirk of his class work. When he smiles, the world loves him.When he laughs, the world fears him. (and that was my stab at trying to imitate those chinese synopses) Regular chapters, once or twice per week. On the weekends usually. I will finish this novel, be it takes 1 year or 2. It will get a proper ending. Afterall, the ending is paramount. Also, the readers might feel rewarded if they look closely while reading. I try to be quite mindful and put in interesting details or things that would come into play later. And, personally i think that reviews on this site might as well be pointless. Unless you know the reviewer and think that you share his views. Your thoughts on a particular thing (like a novel) can differ from others. So, do give it a try before arbitrarily deciding. This is my try to perfect the 'master of all/everything' type of MC, inside a proper, realistic VR world, from a game design perspective and immersion and no convenient 'convert gold to irl currency' button. It is going to be a game first of all. Not a fantasy world overloaden with status screens and skills you can't possibly keep track of. A game with all of the real world aspects to it. Not a cheap fantasy world with shoehorned in stats.
8 154 - In Serial6 Chapters
Cosmic Creator
Jay Thomas was your typical high school boy obsessed with sports, video games, and girls. He has his whole life planned out ahead of him after graduating from high school, or at least he did until having a fateful encounter with God. During the summer between his junior and senior year Jay was confronted by a strange voice in his head that asked him to become the first ever “Cosmic Entity.” At first Jay thought he was going crazy, but soon he learned just how real the voice in his head was. Overnight Jay’s world was flipped inside out after being turned into an immortal and becoming the Infinity Plane’s first Cosmic Entity. Now he’s tasked with creating entire universes and managing over existence itself! Cosmic entities! The Infinity Plane! World Games! A world where imagination and creativity are the only limits! Kind of... Join Jay as he enters an entirely new world of...well, world creation! What are World Games? Will Jay become the most powerful Cosmic Entity of all? And is it okay to make it rain dogs on Sundays? Honestly? Only time will tell. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Important things to know for this series: This story is told through our main character's perspective, however, the setting and lens of the story changes frequently to see what's going on throughout his universes. You will experience various adventures, cultures, civilizations, wars, and story-lines throughout the entire book. I'm always willing to take new ideas or answer questions about the book, so feel free to leave a comment and let me hear your thoughts! It's important to note that this book is inspired by karami92’s World Keeper.
8 145 - In Serial19 Chapters
The Last Immortal
My name is Arthur and I am dying.I am the last of my kind as I slew the restTo some I am the greatest hero to walk the earth, To others, I am the Devil made manifest. Some call my race The Immortals, Some call my race The Scourge. I walked the earth during Ragnarok. I have burned worlds, destroyed continents, and slew gods. I am the last of my kind. Will you listen to this old man's tale? This story is a litrpg/ summoned hero. We all know the tales about the hero triumphing over evil, about the story of the hero saving the world, but what happens if there is no great hero if no one saves the day, what happens if after Ragnarok is completed and the world is over, what happens to those left behind. It is a tale of loss and growth pain and happiness, sadness and joy. About a broken man learning to live again. Releases SUNDAY: guaranteed release, I will release a chapter every Sunday. THURSDAY: Due to a busy schedule I am often unable to write on weekdays. If I manage to write a chapter in the weekdays it will be realised on Wednesday, I am often unable to write so expect this maybe once every month.
8 151 - In Serial98 Chapters
The One and Only
Harima has confessed his love to the ones that he thought were "the one and only" so many times that he lost the count, one day all those who rejected Harima, all those who Harima felt love for at some point, come back to his life and he will have to go through several trials in order to decide which one is the One and Only
8 139 - In Serial10 Chapters
The Asshole with a Motorcycle
He has a big mouth, is a pain in the ass and owns a motorcycle which just makes things worst. But I can't help falling for him and that was the stupidest decision I had ever made.
8 205