Perched upon a lofty heap of mouldy, ripped sheets, Linlin endured the onslaught of multiple thoughts galloping across his mind, passively awaiting the revelation of a practical answer. And that it did, grand yet without much fanfare. Life was breathed into the petrified crowd as the lurking watchers moved.

As if on a pious pilgrimage, they suddenly came together like an endless wave, zealously paving the path for their sovereign. A novel experience fraught with indescribable pressure and cold goosebumps mercilessly assaulted the singing siren that was Linlin's sense of danger.

It was much like a dream gone nightmare. A youthful, delicate voice thick with sweet authority redirected Linlin's attention to the parting chitinous waves below.

"Was the royal cradle to your liking?" Our hero barely registered the question as he gazed upon the teenager with the most natural expressionless face he could muster. Linlin’s abyssal black eyes never left her as she graciously neared like a goddess, stepping across docile antbacks.

"Is everything alright?" The girl asked with genuine concern, having received no answer except an unreadable stare. Linlin came back to his senses and nodded slowly to her delight.

"Great!" Having given plenty of voice to her relief, she added coyly, “like what you see?” She was a rare beauty, a stunning girl even apathetic Linlin found impossible not to ascertain as very appealing to the eyes. Caught off-guard by her sultry voice that washed over his body like sweet honey, he gulped unconsciously.

Silky, grey-blue hair cascaded down her doll face. She was endowed with rosy red lips, a straight nose, sharp eyebrows and an unseen element deep within her very essence Linlin couldn’t attribute to anything known to him. Combined, it blessed her with a dignified, almost holy presence.

The teenager’s body was slender and well-proportioned, but not of the kind considered sexy or alluring–––refreshing and pure were the words that came to his mind.

A lifeform full of exasperating contradictions our hero knew he could not handle. Neither could Pansy... or so was the frightening feeling he inexplicably got.

Most captivating, however, were her eyes, prison to a realm of unfathomable depths. Vivacious and amber, they stared unflinchingly into his own first chance she got, anxious to explore the world within... perhaps?

Linlin swallowed hard again. To which, the girl gave a smile that wavered ever so delicately between curiosity and contempt. This one was really a masterwork of godly art, slowly but surely stealing a man’s soul away and leaving him standing with vacant eyes–––or so it should've been.

Yet with Linlin on the receiving end of her otherworldly charms, the inevitable direction of development was starkly different. “You’ve… lost weight.” Linlin blurted out just as the inner romanticist resident to a funny farm had demanded, his voice laced with inappropriate sarcasm.

“…not that I’m aware of,” she pulled her red, loose make-shift dress into place as if to emphasise its exquisite existence. Then she touched her charming lips with dainty fingers while lifting an eyebrow, “is this what you deem a hard-pressing matter? To awkwardly hit on girls?”

An obvious allusion which Linlin, unfortunately, was way too dense to catch. According to his understanding, her question stemmed from a misunderstanding going in a certain direction he totally failed to shine light onto.

And a problematic misunderstanding had but one practical solution. “From a colossus weighing tonnes to a decent lady,” the girl flinched at his annoyingly monotone rendition that was so different from their earlier merry exchange, “that’s big money if divulged to the right man.”

She felt degraded, like reduced to the level of an object. ‘Pansy always preached jokes lighten the mood. Let’s just hope that is the case…’ As the girl’s smile turned increasingly forceful, she silently regretted dolling up for an idiotic pretender like the one in front. She'd been had.

As any other man would easily understand, the actual problem was not really his answer or the inappropriate joke at the end, more like the emotionless, more than just inappropriate monotone way in which he conveyed his inexistent feelings that called for a beating.

“Mmh, say,” indisputable authority suddenly radiated from her persona, as she seemingly became someone else altogether, “aren’t you a bit too different? Hours past you couldn’t stress your values enough, now this. Why can’t I help but feeling toyed with…?”

Her dangerous chuckle vaguely informing Linlin of the utter failure of his social skills was something he clearly desired not to see. ‘Wake up, we have a situation. … Oi, Pansy, trouble’s knocking!’ At the same time, our hero couldn’t believe he was this bad at small talk.

Wasn't that just wasting time by talking about shit and the world? He naturally understood it was more Pansy's domain that he encroached on this time. However, there was only one sentence in which he had no confidence at all... ‘How come there is killing intent in the air?

…are Pansy’s advice always so useless?’ He did start with a compliment after all–––which those of the opposite sex seemed to unreasonably like so much, according to a certain someone–––yet he didn’t come far before stepping on a landmine. 'Even though the compliment is the truth...?'

Linlin pushed that conflicting thought demanding further contemplation to the back of his mind, and crudely steered the flow of conversation away from useless banter. Small-talk be damned. “I was dying. You pulled me back and… did something?”

The teenage girl found his desperate attempt not-so-amusing and surely even less successful, for it was a far cry from what intrinsic elitist performance he’d shown her earlier. It was as if Linlin got the prize and forsook the deceitful facade. She'd been really had.

“Still no greeting. Forget it.” In accordance with her worsening mood, the temperature in the cave dropped by another couple of units. “Ill-described and improper but essentially yes.”

She ran two dainty fingers down her cleavage, fished out a snake she obviously found more entertaining, and started caressing it without bothering him with a second glance.

“Who are you again?” Linlin stroked his chin, relieved to hear straightforward questions that didn’t need much pondering at all, and relaxed a bit. Nonetheless, he felt strange at the sudden turn. “You initiated a binding contract and forgot my name?”

“Rather forget… let’s say your standing isn’t high enough to justify special attention.” ‘Well, it just sunk so low all thanks to you,’ she added angrily in her mind, 'trickery and foul play don't ingratiate you to people!'

“Linchester Linde, the one in deadly peril at your ceremony.” Our hero replied nonchalantly, wondering if she was also slightly forgetful or something. Should he reveal some of his personal tricks? Or... maybe it really was his imagination going rogue.

However, no matter the truth, he could’ve sworn she'd said his name and quite warmly at that. “So you’re aware.” “…” The girl looked as if Linlin had punched her in the face. 'Now what? Silence also worsens my cards? I do have a mouth to speak. Yet each and every time nothing good comes out of it!'

“Don’t give me that look. You seem to forget it was me, the Queen, that saved you, an ingrate.” Linlin clicking his tongue was certainly not the key towards improving her negative impression either.

And that small part holding him still in esteem was unintentionally killed off by the next barrage of explosive bombs shot from his overly candid mouth. “Fairly sure that wasn’t your only intention.”

That settled it. She'd undoubtedly been successfully fooled. Her mind refused to go beyond this affirmation. What’s the result of two overly mule-headed guys meeting?

A clash, just like what was in the making now! Something within her turned indifferent as she noticeably switched gears. “…frank, aren’t we?” She replied icily. “So what if you know?

There are things better kept buried if you don’t desire to incur my ire.” The ants had turned very antsy during their short verbal exchange, clicking irately with their mandibles and menacingly stomping on the ground which did little in easing our hero’s nerves.

“You won. For you’re unfortunately safe.” Linlin could have sworn there was deep resentment hidden within her voice. Possibly too deep to be a result of their short meeting, but in the absence of Miracle Doctor Pansy, he dared not jump to oftentimes terrible wrong conclusions either.

Linlin stubbornly kept his mouth shut. On enemy soil and without weapons nor preparation, he always ate a loss. No need to add explosives to the blaze. “As a sign of goodwill, I shall enlighten you.”

While Linlin awaited her verdict, she kept absentmindedly stroking the sleeping baby snake for what could only be described as an eternity before continuing.

“To us Queens, the ancestral chant is second only to our very life. The ancestor’s blessing that descents only once... is going against the natural law and, thus, is dangerous.

I wonder what face you make if I tell you it isn’t unusual for both parties to die a gruesome death.” Our hero’s face remained as impassive as ever, unintentionally adding fuel to the fire.

“Survival means complete recovery.” She snapped. “…Your Highness, there’s still–” “enough of that. We hardly know each other, and I for once don’t trust you. Your name was…?” Linlin sighed in defeat to her scathing demand but wasn’t chivalrous either. “Linchester. Linde. Remember that.” “And I’m Azariah.”

The self-proclaimed young Queen clicked her tongue indignantly, before turning around in a hurry and opening her arms as if to embrace every ant there was. “Your wellbeing is none of my concern, all I care about are my children.

Can’t you sense it? Life’s tickling away, they are starving much more than you do.” At her mean mention, his empty stomach’s angry barrage of punches hit Linlin like a wrecking ball.

“Your Highness…” “Your Highness here, Your Highness there. I care not about shallow titles. You surely don’t mean it and it’s unnecessary verbiage useful only for keeping sentences verbose,” her initial goodwill officially perished.

“You hopefully do not believe there is no price to pay for the service. Scammer, come, we're going somewhere else.” Azariah had Linlin hot on her heels. “My species,” The Queen stated after walking quietly for some time down deserted, wet tunnels leading further below, “is infamous in the universe.”

‘Pansy… Pansy… wake up, Pansy–’ While half-heartedly listening to her occasional ramblings, Linlin never gave up even once in rousing the sleepyhead, for he now finally knew he'd somehow really ticked her off.

“…I trusted the wrong one, fell into a trap and had only one option to choose. Seems my judgement’s as bad as ever.” The last sentence was added very quietly. A lot of emotions flutter through her eyes. Fear, anger for sure. Perhaps reproach. And a lot of weariness.

Yet Linlin caught on to none of them all. “I chose not to die due to unnecessary pride and vanity as I plot for sweet revenge. But that was at least 200 years ago.”

When Azariah stopped speaking, only her light steps rang out rhythmically down the vacant stone corridor she'd chosen out of many. Occasionally, they turned left, sometimes right, and more than once Linlin got the nagging suspicion they walked in cycles.

Not that he had anything against walking in cycles if doing so provided him with time to spend on necessary contemplation and angry bellows. ‘Paaaansyyyy~’ “I don’t know which foul wind swept you here, nor am I aware of your method to traverse the warden barrier.

You may have things to do, wishes to fulfil–––I don’t care. I’m not heartless, however. Unlike you.” The Queen glanced at him briefly, her gaze reproachful and razor-sharp. “If you help me, I shall provide help in return.”

They continued walking in silence until Linlin eventually found the courage to inquire further. “What barrier?” “That truly lets me wonder how you got here in the first place.

Still, since even you don’t know about the prison wall, the warden barrier shouldn’t be aware of your intrusion either. So you can leave…” “Your plan?” Azariah chuckled evilly. “There’s no plan.”

The Queen suddenly turned around and pressed her cool palm against his forehead. Before Linlin knew it, a picture of a giant stele appeared, then it changed to a similar stele in another location before swapping background once again.

“The barrier’s core. One’s under my control. But there are three pillars outside. Pillars you must find and destroy, ultimately obliterating the seal binding my State to this dying land.”

Linlin knew not how to respond nor what to do. While things just took a complicated turn for the worse, and Pansy was still fast asleep, Azariah continued, totally unconcerned with the mess in his mind she was responsible for. After all, she'd already planned to not give our hero a choice.

“We need resources, this Queen needs resources. And there is only one criterion they have to fulfil–––edible. After we devoured almost everything of nutritional value within this prison, it’s up to you to get us out. Fast.”

The Queen turned around and gestured at a forking that had appeared from the darkness like a menacing maw. “Enough of depressing topics, we’re here.”

Our burdened hero peeled his gaze off her and scrutinised the dimly lit corridor whose end vanished in a vastly bigger cave than the one from before.

Linlin could scarcely see in the dark thanks to many mottled crystals along the stony corridor. Pungent smelling, deadly poisonous mould that coated the walls was not a rare occurrence in abandoned mine shafts. Rot and slick mushrooms painted an abstract landscape on the stones.

And they stood in between. The further they'd progressed, the more organic wonders he met. There was nothing reassuring about this discovery.

The shadowy cave in front, on the other hand, suggested a distinct exposure to caretakes even time could not erase completely. Yet that was all as far as maintenance was concerned. Staring hard for some minutes, Linlin found out it was a warehouse.

Overstuffed with useless remains of age-old, rotten furnishings, rusted racks filled with ancient weapons, pieces of fabric many times worse off than the so-called cradle on which he had awoken, eroded bones of various sizes, and much more.

Azariah led him quietly into the depths of this junkroom, her mood worsening at the sight of how poorly serviced it was. “Looks quite different than I remember,” she sighed sourly, “which reminds me…”

“Why have you brought me here, Azariah?” “On a whim.” Linlin looked at her in bewilderment, to which she added nonchalantly, “a joke perfectly reflecting my feelings. One coming close to your rough preferences at that. Find it entertaining?” “…”

“No? That makes two of us. Though born a deplorable swindler, I can’t let the future saviour of my State venture out in rags.” The Queen said that with her back turned to Linlin. Although her voice was sweet and velvet, the tone it carried was anything but. ‘Pansy…’

“You see, I forgot to tell you, the steles are protected by weak guardians whose presence I can feel even over here.” She found sadistic pleasure in tearing down his false facade of bravado. What's more, her instincts approved of the notion.

‘Pansy, Pansy, Pansy…’ “By the way, they are deadly to you.” ‘Pansyyyy!!! Paaannsyyyyy~’ “Orcs to the north, lamias west and stonekin east–––if century-old memory can be trusted.

I strongly suggest you venture north first and bulk up a bit before mingling with the other two.” “Is the north less dangerous?” How Azariah hated cowards! They only thought of themselves first and others much, much later. Too late, in fact.

“No, less deadly.” Linlin stood there like a lamb before the butcher, speechless at her heartless remark. Wasn’t this an instance of death march Azariah forced upon him? She seemed to have read his mind and reacted accordingly.

“Human, all I want are some steles in shambles, no grand quest of racial extermination–––so use your insincere head as you did before! See it as a test. Oh, once done, I’ve ways to reinforce you immediately, so do not unnecessarily worry about the consequences.”

“In case I’m MIA?” “…then we’ll follow suit. You can try to escape, though I won’t recommend that. If the State kicks the bucket, so do you.” She had him believing his very life was in her hands. Which Linlin had no reason to doubt.

The beautiful Queen graced him with bell-like laughter, one our hero surely wouldn’t forget anytime soon, before she dove into one of many piles in search for something still remotely useful.

“Don’t stand there like a gawking idiot, and look for clothes. We must render you less suspicious.” Linlin weighed his options carefully, looked down only to see himself almost naked and came to the obvious conclusion he better did as told.

Given his limited understanding, there was no way to circumvent stepping onto deadly trails in the oh-too-near future, and Linlin on his own wasn’t apt at the art of convincing if the application of superior force was not an option.

Therefore, it was better to arm himself to the teeth with anything remotely useful and hope for Lady Luck’s blessing to make up for his shortcomings. Though, that good lady must be annoyed with him by now for always disturbing her rest with most demanding requests…

Linlin froze in his tracks. A rare second of enlightenment made him break out in cold perspiration. “Azariah,” he snappily demanded, after an extra injection of liquid courage. “Give me anything that looks like Cores, I need them. It will increase my chances.” 'And keep me from starving to death.'

The pile in front of him trembled impressively before a sweaty, dust-covered head burst out. “No lie?” There was something else hidden in her dead-pan expression that our hero knew not how to interpret.

She didn't even seem like the same person that had welcomed him as he felt the Queen's logic became a lot more... primitive. Linlin dismissed the uncanny impression with a shake of his head. “Fine. Better remember well, wantonly consuming Cores improves results and troubles alike.”

“Mmh,” and with that, Linlin no longer thought much about anything and followed her lead in fighting against dust, dirt and mouldiness. Hours past he raced through the woods in search of food, now he exerted the same passion in rummaging through a junk room.

The only thing that didn't change was the threat to his life. Now he could finally do what he was best at: Working with his hands. Materials never sprung a feisty question, after all. They had no politicians and lacked infighting. ...sometimes Linlin envied inanimate matter.

“That’s for you,” the Queen reached out her palm, showing him two antique knives. “Made by the same assholes responsible for the warden barrier. Take note, coming close to the steles heats them up.” Linlin nodded slightly, feeling relief wash over him at the sight of a weapon he had mastered.

Our hero happily packed away the delicately decorated pair of knives–––but not before convincing himself of their sharpness–––and looked back at the ill-humoured Queen.

“Here, your Cores.” She threw him a small leather bag with comparatively much room to spare. “23 in total, energy depleted to varying degrees. Use them wisely.”

Then she paused ponderingly, fought with herself, furrowed her brows and flickered a strand of naughty hair out of her field of vision before she came to a decision.

“As I mentioned in the storeroom, few of my children are still alive out there, hiding and surveying the area. What you do not know is that they feel your presence through our link like any other of my State does.

Make use of them if you deem it necessary, but keep in mind communication is hard between lifeforms not of our kind. And under no circumstances kill them off due to your incompetence.”

Linlin flashed a gruesome smile of the kind that could shatter rocks no matter how dense, before leaping onto the six-legged taxi she'd called over.

“One last thing.” Azariah’s captivating amber eyes expertly caught his own, waiting until she could be sure Linlin listened attentively to her words. “If we make it through, a lengthy conversation follows, like it or not.”

“Mmh.” With said parting grunt, Linlin took his hasty leave. How lucky he was to escape the lion's den with his life intact! The further away, the better it was! “Oh, the seals blow up if handled roughly.”

The Queen shouted after him after unearthing that particular detail from the State's murky collective consciousness, unsure if that swindler was still in reach. Seeing him disappear behind a giant tree, her face finally fell.

If not for his usefulness, she'd have killed the unscrupulous pretender without remorse. Now... Azariah had to wish him good luck and hope for Linlin's survival for her and her State's sake!

His disappearance was indeed timely. The irritation within her could no longer be kept in check by her rationality, as fiery instincts took over her cognitive centre for good. It'd take a dozen felled trees, tonnes of nutrients and a non-stop flexing legion before she sobered up. Kinda...

End of Chapter 1