Regina felt like she hadn’t really appreciated the scale involved in her own little hive, a group of just a few dozen at best, dealing with a proper, nation-sized state like the elves. Granted, a very small one by the standards of her memories, even historically, since it was basically just a city-state. But the elves still outclassed her in terms of firepower, infrastructure and information gathering.

She had started to realize their strength when they fought together with her drones down below, and in the aftermath. Anuis especially had been enlightening. For all her helpful and generally nice demeanor, the woman was amazing with a sword. In a way that would probably be terrifying if you were on the other side. It was even more impressive because Regina knew that swordfighting wasn’t really the focus of her Class, but she’d still managed to defeat a dedicated Swordsman in, like, one move. I guess those long lifespans are good for something. How old was she, anyway? Enais was eight hundred, and she might not have been able to have children past a certain point, but Regina didn’t know how aging worked for them.

Anyway, Regina decided that she didn’t regret allying with the elves, instead of the humans, at all. Not that they’d even officially agreed to an alliance, but that did seem to be how things had developed. She still resolved to be mindful of the fact that she didn’t have any official hold over them.

In some ways, cleaning up after the battle in the tunnels took longer than it did in the first place. Regina paced up above, having too much restless energy to sit still. She hadn’t liked sitting back and letting others fight for her, but her ability to coordinate them had obviously been more important, and she’d probably have to get used to the feeling, anyway. They’d gathered the bodies and equipment of the humans, worked out and implemented a method to distribute the latter, and healed anyone who needed it. The deliberations and preparations after that had taken even longer.

No one had actually confirmed it, but Regina was pretty sure Anuis had been given some artifact or other method of communicating with the city. Several times, she’d excused herself with the justification of having to run things by her superiors or get permission, and generally come back a few hours later with some new idea, requirement or adjustment.

At the moment, Regina stood before the wooden wall of the hut she slept in and hesitated. She was blocking the path a little bit, so passing drones had to veer around her, but she barely noticed. Instead, she looked at the scratches in the wood. She’d taken to putting these claw marks in the wood, one for each morning she spent in this forest. They had already spread slightly over the plank in neat little rows.

One of them was marked with a rough circle around it. The day she’d made the truce agreement with the local humans. Regina glanced from it to the last scratch she’d edged into the wood. Twenty-eight days.

She mentally went over the last few weeks, considering the progress she’d made after the negotiation. The pattern of escalating incidents and violence. She stood there for a few minutes, until a notification from the System brought her back to her surroundings.

You have leveled up

Regina glanced in the direction of the building where they stored the eggs in development and smiled. So another few drones had hatched. She’d gotten better at it and could now roughly sense those. She’d been too distracted to notice them hatching, but she could get an idea of how many eggs there still were based on the incipient links and how they drained her mana regeneration. She’d been a little disappointed that she hadn’t gained a level after the fight with the Delvers, although she hadn’t participated directly. It seemed it had still pushed her close to the Experience threshold. There was more to this System message, though.

Congratulations, you have unlocked a new Swarm Template: Winged Drones

Not for the first time, Regina wondered about the names the System gave the drone types and everything else. But she wasn’t going to complain about this one. It sounded like they would be flying drones. Just the thing I needed. Or one of them, anyway. I wonder if they’re going to have some kind of ranged capability? Even if not, a flock of flying drones is still going to be handy in a fight and very useful otherwise.

Regine turned away finally and headed towards the hut, considering how many of them she wanted to try out and get in development right away. There were still a few War Drones developing, but she decided to go all in and get eight more eggs of the new Template. They probably wouldn’t be too strong, so having more of them would be better, and she was confident that they would be useful. Even if not, it wasn’t like having a few more level 1 War Drones instead would make that much of a difference.

Once she was done with that, Regina was about to check on the warriors in the training yard, before she noticed the people gathering. She glanced around, then up at the sky to gauge the time, then went over to join them.

“I hope you finally got a conclusive decision from the city,” Regina said to Anuis as she joined them.

The elf nodded at her. “Not to worry, I believe everything has been settled.” Anuis looked exactly the same as before, but Regina still hadn’t gotten used to the faint sensation in her mana sense she got from her. She glanced at the System notification again.

Anuis — Level ? Forest’s Elite

It was clearly a third-tier Class (or second-tier, if you started counting with the first Class Evolution). While Regina couldn’t see it, she knew Anuis had to be level 40. She wouldn’t have gotten another level so quickly, especially with the elves’ lower leveling speed she’d heard about.

“I see you leveled up again,” Anuis commented after a moment. She smiled and shook her head slightly. “My congratulations. Your speed truly is legendary.”

Regina ducked her head, feeling a little embarrassed, before she straightened up again. It was weird to think she’d gotten this far after only a few months in this world, but she had a few special advantages no one else did. Especially considering her Class was clearly unique. Her drones had the same, really, if probably in a different way.

“I may also be able to have winged drones to put to use,” she said. “But I can’t guarantee that, we’ll have to see.”

Anuis’ look sharpened, but she only nodded. She clearly knew about Regina’s eggs, but was tactful enough not to talk about it. And it was probably obvious Regina had unlocked something in the System just now.

“We shouldn’t need them, although other hidden trumps will, of course, be welcome,” the elf replied. She glanced at the other elves standing around the open table, who Regina had met as her subordinate commanders. They all looked focused, if not eager to get started. “We have received our final orders, and I’ve confirmed that I will get my full Three Centuries. As I mentioned, that does not mean we will actually have three hundred soldiers, but they will be more than up to the task.”

Regina let out a relieved breath and smiled. She could have tried with only her own hive, and the fighters Anuis had already brought, but more soldiers would definitely be better. She’d flown a few reconnaissance flights, or more accurately piloted Dark on a few, but she still wasn’t entirely sure of the power level of the castle’s garrison.

“That’s great news,” she replied. “Then we are good to go?”

“From our side, certainly,” Anuis replied. Her lips curled up into a small, slightly lopsided smile, that felt like she had seen or knew something amusing, or knew more than she was telling. As the two of them had gotten more comfortable with each other, Regina had seen an expression like that more often. She knew the elf wasn’t trying to be condescending and generally didn’t mind. “Will you be ready as well, Lady Regina?”

“Definitely,” she answered firmly. “The drones are all itching to get started. If they weren’t, well, themselves, I’d be worried about discipline holding up if we had to wait much longer.”

“Your drones are remarkably disciplined,” another elf remarked. Niolin, the Commissar.

Regina shrugged noncommittally. The elfish soldiers seemed very disciplined, themselves. Who was he comparing her drones to? Children or ‘savage primitives’? Well, they are very young, and we haven’t had years to train. I guess that’s not unreasonable to say. She wasn’t going to explain about the psychic connection she was almost sure had something to do with the matter, though.

“Do we have a final accounting of our forces?” Bianorn asked. Unlike the rest, he seemed almost cheerful. He’d shown up along with some reinforcements from Ariedel a day after the fight with the Delvers underground. Regina assumed that he was part of another unit, but had been assigned to Anuis for the time being. Or maybe he’d been detached previously. She’d learned that the single long line on the jacket, when the elves wore what was presumably their uniform, if not a formal version, indicated his rank as a Century Captain. That might mean he had been promoted, as well.

Anuis tapped one of the sheets of paper she’d laid on the table, then glanced at Regina and raised a questioning eyebrow. “I don’t think we have a final version of the hive’s contribution yet?”

“I’m planning to take around fifty War Drones,” Regina said. “I planned to adjust that depending on the situation, your forces and what we know of the humans. They will be led by all except for three of the Warriors, all of the Shooters, a few other high-level drones, and, of course, myself.”

Anuis nodded. “That should be plenty to carry out the plan. I assume you have a command structure set up?”

“Yeah. Max is going to stay with me and play defense, so Tim will be leading the assault. After him, Ben will be in charge, then Tia and Zoe.” She’d excluded Dan from what was otherwise a list of their most senior fighting drones, since he was better at fighting on his own and absolutely didn’t want to command anyone. “We also have a unit structure set up and assigned Swarm Drones.”

“Excellent.” Anuis pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. “Then I suggest you bring them to the advance briefing we have set up.”

Regina nodded. Who knew working with a professional military would involve so many briefings? At least they weren’t making her sign paperwork. She resolved there and then to push all of that onto the drone commanders when her hive’s forces got big enough to need more of that kind of thing.

They continued talking for a few minutes longer, discussing the forces the elves would field, Anuis’ Three Centuries, and how best to apply the units. Regina listened intently, wishing she’d thought to bring something to take notes.

There was no one else also in the third tier of Classes like Anuis. From what Regina had heard, those often functioned as single high-value assets or special units. They’d been assured that if it was necessary, some of these would be sent to support them. The unstated assumption was, she figured, that the elves didn’t expect them to meet anyone who would need these strong fighters, but they would hopefully be ready if they did. Their stronger fighters were probably off to fight at the actual front.

“Don’t forget the bigger picture, people,” Anuis said at the end, as if to wrap up the meeting. “We are not trying to win the war by ourselves.” She panned her gaze over the assembled officers. “We will be dealing in a major part with locals, and one of our aims is to use the rift between the local noble and the Cernlian king. Be mindful of it, both in the course of the operation and in planning.”

After that, the meeting dissolved and people started heading out. Regina looked out and sighed. She’d have preferred to keep meeting the elves at the old outpost, but it just wasn’t really practical. So now most of their fighters were there, but some of them here, camping in the field beyond the hive’s small settlement.

“I hope we have not lost you with our discussions, Lady Regina,” Anuis said, coming up to her. “I did not intend to exclude you.”

Regina turned to face her again and waved a hand to brush off her concern. “Not at all. I found it interesting, and I’m sure the others will, too, when I bring them.” Some of them had already been at meetings with the elves, of course, but not all. “I’ll need to complete my personal preparations. I assume you’re doing the same?”

“Indeed. I was hoping to take some time this evening for reflection and prayer.” Anius smiled slightly, then looked at her with an expression Regina found difficult to read. “I assume you will wish to do that as well.”

“Taking some time for reflection and maybe trying a round of meditation might be a good idea,” Regina responded thoughtfully. “I’m not the type for prayer, though.”

“Oh? Maybe I have been misinterpreting something, then.” Anuis shook her head slightly as if to chase away an unwelcome thought.

“I don’t know what I might have done to give the impression I was religious,” Regina laughed lightly and awkwardly tugged on her mandible. She had no idea about who she might have been before her hatching, of course, and she barely knew anything about the gods of this world. “Is there something I should know about religion among the elves? And do you follow a specific god, by the way?”

“Oh, yes, I do. I follow Alianais.” Anuis ducked her head, looking slightly embarrassed. Or maybe that was just an act, Regina didn’t know anything about their cultural norms, and maybe you weren’t supposed to talk about this. “Not the usual patron of my profession, I suppose, but it is the norm in my family, since my mother owes particular respect to her. That was why I mentioned it at all. I am still coming to grips with the new abilities of my Class Progression.”

Regina frowned. She felt like she was missing something. “Your new Class has abilities relating to the gods?”

“It’s nothing much,” Anuis said dismissively. “But my Class seems to branch out for - or from - several possible paths and has some features of many such. That includes a small bit of divine magic, I have discovered.” She paused and looked at Regina, frowning slightly. “I can see something of it clinging to you, for lack of a better word, Lady Regina. That is why I assumed that you were a disciple of the divine, so to speak.”

Regina stared at her for a moment, before she managed to school her expression. Internally, she felt like someone had just dumped cold water on her. “I see, thank you for your trust and for telling me this,” she said slowly. “What else can you see about this? Who does it come from?”

Anuis sighed softly. “You truly didn’t know? I am not a scholar or priest, but as far as I can tell, it seems clear enough. You bear the Mark of Alianais, Regina.”

Regina shook her head. Maybe I should have expected something like this, she thought distantly. “Really? That’s a thing? Wait, it might be why the humans were open to negotiations, right?”

“That is a possibility. Few people would be prepared to kill a god’s champion lightly. Or someone they had cause to believe to be such.”

Regina nodded slowly. She recalled that the human diplomatic party had talked among themselves and had obviously been surprised at what they must have seen when they met her and her hive. She’d just chalked that up to their levels. But she hadn’t been able to hear what they said. “But there was a cleric of Alianais with the people who attacked us first, the mercenaries turned soldiers. Shouldn’t he have been able to tell?”

Anuis shrugged. “I do not know.”

Perhaps he didn’t recognize what he saw. Or perhaps something happened in the time between those two encounters. Regina supposed it didn’t matter much now, except for what it meant regarding her interactions with other people.

“Well, this is good to know,” she finally said with a sigh. “But I guess it doesn’t change things now. Unless there are any other things I should expect related to this?”

The elf shook her head again. “I couldn’t tell you anything more about your situation, I’m afraid.”

“Then we have more immediate things to worry about,” Regina decided. Not that she was happy to let this go, but at least it didn’t seem like that goddess intended her any harm.

Regina looked around again to double-check that no one had listened in on their conversation, then finally started walking away from the conference table. She definitely had a lot to think about, and more and more questions she wanted answers to.

“I hope you’re up for a real conversation, sometime soon, if you’re listening to me,” she muttered as she walked. The idea that there might be someone listening to her did not sit too well with her.

There was no answer.