In a large circular conference hall sat all the head priests of the churches in Yggdres. The room was made of white marble and the table of polished White Elf wood, one of the most precious magic wood the elves can make.

The tables of the priests were on an elevated platform about 1.5 meters up and below was a separate ‘Floor’ where an elder priest was with a scroll in hand. The room looked like a trial room where they were about to pass judgement on someone.

At the center seat was the head priest of the church of light.

“Please tell us of the investigations on Beelzebub's cult, have any new members been encountered or any hints of them?” The elder asked.

The man with the scroll opened the rolled up scroll and began to read what had been brought to him.

“As per request of all the great churches of the light realm, the paladins have done countless investigations speaking with people near the location each of the cultists had lived. Not much is known but it was found that every few days they would leave and go into the sewers. Though we would have entered in there to investigate, the recent rise of the rats uprising outside has not only drawn out disease carriers but also made the travellers nearly plug up all the entrances so we can't enter into the sewers.” the old priest said.

“Can’t we simply send them there?” The head priest that had bloody red garments with black trims asked. This was the head priest of the war gods church.

“Travellers have shown countless times that when large organizations move it would be some kind of event. They gather worse than flies around the event and may impede us.” The elder priest said.

“I suggest we disguise some paladins in weaker armor until they enter a good distance before putting on proper armor and investigate.” The high priest of the magic goddess’s church said.

“That is a logical idea, not all sewer pipes are connected, if i remember correctly the city has five separate systems in a pentagon formation and only the final room which holds the so called rat king connects the five sections.” The priest of the light church said.

“Yes, that is correct. Once the sewers became a dungeon it was said to have had the structure changed to what we see today. What we know is that the sewer dungeon is 3 floors deep and mostly infested with rats though recently one of them has begun to release slimes which magic class travellers have been using as a training target. It may be possible that with the constant fighting a traveller or two would resolve the problem we face with the cultists but the dangers of an official being here is large since only officials can recruit.” The elder priest said.

“Yes… anything else to report?” The priest of the light church asked.

“Yes, apparently there is a traveller that has been seen by a large group displaying a high level of control of insects. Unlike the cultists that can’t use anything but simple flies of the blowfly family this man was seen with several types. One of which was publicly seen when he executed the hidden rabbitman boss with a swarm of flies that released a bolt of lighting on par with the intermediate lightning system spell [Lightning Strike]. This man was investigated by our paladins and it was found that he worked in the city's library and was the only man that helped clean a large amount of the corpses of rats and animals that the cultists had killed to cause bugs they couldn’t control to breed in large numbers.” The elder priest explained.

“He must have taken a good number of the corpse to breed and feed his own bugs to get elemental type insects he must have already bred ones that would be categorized as monsters. In my opinion it would be impossible for him to be a cultist due to his diversity of the bugs he has.” The war god’s priest said.

“Still, to house so many insects is no easy feat. The cultists have researched a unique branch of magic that mixes light and dark magic branches known as space magic. They created a space they could house their armies yet they still need to let it out to feed. This man can’t be any different, where he learned this can’t be from many places. If he took it from the cultists it would explain it but it would make him a cultist then.” the light god’s priest said.

“If I may, your highnesses.” the elder priest being questioned interjected.

“Speak.” The war god’s priest said.

“I think it would be best to put someone to watch this man. If he is a cultist we can catch him and pass divine judgement completely destroying his soul so that he can never return to this world but if he isn’t a cultist then he could become a powerful ally.” The elder said.

The word ally was a cover for ‘tool’ for whatever cause they needed. Someone that could get the blame shoved on them.

“I see no fault in this. I shall leave it to you to arrange the spy to follow this man and find out his secrets.” The god of light’s priest said towards the elder priest in the center of the room.

One by one the other church high priests agree.

The elder priest bowed and left to get to his duties of setting up a spy or assassin to follow Droso.

***

Finally done my several minute lecture to the now teary eyed little bug queen who i made sit in a seiza sitting position i finally let out a sigh and turned around at my party of burly policemen who were more than stunned by what i was doing.

“Okay, i guess i should explain this as well.” I said massaging my head.

“This is a companion I gained when I obtained my class. She came as an egg from the class giver and is a companion and not a tamed pet. As you can already tell this little one is far from tamed.” I said making a few chuckles come from the men.

“So what is she exactly?” Avent asked.

“She is called a queen. A race that can only be born from the care of those who have my class.” I tell them.

I’m not the first one that would have gained something like this. Breeders normally get baby animals to start off from since normal breeders don’t fight in the front. That said Queens are more like Aides to help grow the hive.

“I’m Levi…” She said shyly and looked down.

The men were really quiet seeing the shyness of the girl that had made the pompous princess display before. The change was so drastic that it was both cute and frightening.

“So how strong is she?” Tyson asked crouching down to look at her better.

“She could probably lift you up with one arm behind her back.” I told them. I didn’t doubt it either. I have no idea what bug queens originated from but they definitely had to be strong.

“Her current level is 13 and her physical stats are in the 40’s.” I tell them, making them look at me skeptical.

“Anyway, Levi return to the hive. Until we get deep enough and I call you, don’t come out.” I tell her with a stern voice.

She nods and a portal opens under her making her drop down into the ground.

“Sorry about that.” I said but Gelot shakes it off.

“No need, kids can be like that so don’t worry, still she should be more sensible and soon because it could cause lots of trouble.” He said

“Anyway, the formation we could use is this.” I say and pull out a piece of paper.

Vanguard: Ripley, Avent

Front line: Droso, Gelot, Tyson, Orion, Levi (later on)

Dps: Harm

Backline: Florista, Hawk

Looking at the party set up it was the common type, Vanguards are scout and rogue class and they check for traps and monsters ahead.

Frontline is the main fighters which are close range combat classes.

Dps is damage per second which is mostly always mage who can dish out heavy amounts of damage in one moment with large spells.

Backline are long range fighters besides mage, in other words archer.

I could easily go into the dungeon by myself since I can cover up for the vanguard with bugs but one that is too strong or too filled with enemies i would still be reluctant.

“This formation seems logical. Besides adding you, Florista and the little kid, we already use this setup.” Harm said after i had shown them.

“That makes it easy. Shall we go then?” I asked.

Everyone nodded. With that we finally head down the road towards the sewers.

As we had expected, the place was filled. Not only that, this was the stinkiest exit as well as the largest one which made the smell come out stronger.

Though i wasn’t affected, i couldn’t say the same about my party members.

I don’t really know how long they would last in there and was a bit worried.

“Don’t mind us, we may gag a bit but it’s nothing we can’t handle especially in our line of work where we have been called to murder cases and the bodies have been dead for a few weeks.” Gelot says.

I couldn’t help but force a smile as i nod.

Near the entrance of the sewers was what i could only call a market. Players were offering to repair armor for pay or others were selling potions and so on.

I looked at Flor.

“Oh right…” she muttered. “Hey guys, i have lots of potions, i make them so take some so we are prepared.” She said to them.

She begins trading with each of them and hands over 30 hp and mp potions each. This was probably a small price to pay for all the ingredients she would be getting from rat teeth and tails.

After our preparations we walk through the crowd and walk into the dungeon.

You have entered Yggdres Sewer’s

Seeing how we had officially entered we start moving. Walking about 100 meters in without any rats we reached a large room where we found hundreds of people.

The room had stone floors but all around the side of the room the floor was lower and the water from the sewage flowed there.

The room and doors entrances that were connected to the room by metal grated bridges. In the center were the numerous parties that were planning which way to go.

Besides the entrance we came in from the west side, there was one for each direction heading deeper into the dungeon.

“So which way should we go?” I asked.

“I think the south is fine. I heard the lower floor rats have come to this floor so no matter which way it will lead to meeting monster rats.” Flor said.

“Is that fine with you all?” I asked.

“Yep, nothing wrong with that since we will be fighting no matter which way we go.” Gelot said.

With that we go to the southern door and pass through.

As we walked into the tunnel we found a mossy corridor with a glow coming from above similar to the moss from the rabbit dungeon.

With the dull glow it was enough to see in the dungeon but I would have prefered something better but there were too many players around.

Wherever we passed we would see one party fighting a group of rats.

Dire rats and plague rats were really common. Dire rats were about as big as a dog and had wild spiked hair and long claws and fangs.

Plague rats were about the size of a cat and had a large amount of their fur fall off and had lots of marks of their body that signal the diseases they carry. I think plague rats will be the first thing I can't feed my bugs because they will start to spread around and I would prefer to keep that from happening.

It wasn’t until ten minutes after we entered that we found a group of rats to fight.

It was 4 plague rats, 6 dire rats and 2 bull rats each with a ratman on their backs. Bull rats are just like they are described. About 2 meters long from nose to the base of the tail and 1.5 high when on all fours. It had a savage look in its eyes but it had some kind of bradle on its mouth so the ratman could control it.

The way we took this group on was to get rid of the most troublesome ones first.

“Flor, Hawk, Harm. Get rid of the Plague rats before they get close.” I tell the others behind me.

They nod and the archers pull arrows out while harm pulls the staff from behind him and starts to focus.

“”[Double Shot]”” both archers shout as both release two arrows quickly.

“[Flame Spear]” Harm says, pointing his staff making a long flame spear shoot out.

All of them hit dead center. The arrows first weakened the four rats and when the flame spear hit one of them it exploded doing AoE damage. It was an instant 4 rat kill while injuring the other ones.

The ratmen spot us and screeches in rage while they kick the bull rats making them rush us.

Gelot and I walk forward.

I was holding the glaive to use the blade side and one rat came at me so sidestepping with a spin i spun the Glaive while connecting with the back of the rat man's head causing a critical hit to occur and making him stagger and fall off the rat before being killed by the vanguards.

Gelot went on a more brute force approach and ran forward while swinging the great sword down onto the head of the bull rat causing a fatal hit after the head of the rat caved it. Because of all the momentum the ratman was launched forward and had his heart pierced by Orion who thrust his sword up. Following that he pulled it out and swung at the ratman’s neck while he was in pain and shock killing it.

Coming from behind were the dire rats that had rushed but were slower then bull rats. Harm sent out another fire spear which was dodged by 4 of them while catching two of the rats near the back injuring them while the archers sent arrow after arrow missing about 7 out of 10 but they still hit.

When one approached me I spun the Glaive around catching the rat’s lower jaw with the blunt side causing its mouth to close with a snap and cutting its own tongue while making it flip backwards onto another rat.

With a quick turn of the Glaive I stab into the body of both rats then while stepping on their body I pull the glaive out leaving them with a fatal wound that was bleeding a lot.

When I looked at the others I saw that Gelot had completely split one rat in half while Orion had filled another with stabs and it had died because of that.

“These rats are easy, I thought it was much harder!” Tyson said with his arms crossed since he didn’t get any action.

You have killed 4 plague rats, 6 dire rats, 2 bull rats and 2 ratman.

You have gained

260 exp

Plague rat fang x5

Plague rat tail x2

Dire rat Claw x7

Dire rat fang x3

Bull rat tail x1

Bull rat Fang x3

Rat man Claw x4

The exp was low, something I got from a few rabbits I got in larger numbers from them but i think this is also for being in the party.

“Alright, the orders were to gather the bodies to burn.” Gelot said.

“Mind if i keep them?” I asked.

“Oh right you have the bugs to feed. Sure we don’t really mind.” Gelot said and looked at the others who agreed.

With them agreeing we gather the bodies in a pile.

“Wait, leave the plague rats separate!” I tell Harm who goes to pick them up.

He was confused by this.

“They are plague rats so it’s possible they may kill my bugs instead of feed them so i will be using them differently.” I explain.

He somewhat understands though still confused.

We gather the other rats in a pile and I drop them into the palace and it opens into the freezer directly.

I was happy to see it automatically went where it needed to.

I then go to the plague rats and drop them as well but this time i specifically order them to drop into the oven like room where i dry my meat.

[Levi, tell the drone to burn the plague rats I drop into the hive. Bring the Flare Flies to feed through them.]

[Okay daddy!] She says and I close the connection.

“Okay, let’s go.” I say and we get moving.

From that moment we began to meet more groups. It was slowly rising in numbers the amount of rats we encountered. It went to show that most parties weren’t actually going deep that fast. I had already decided that I would call out Levi after we descended to the next floor. I don’t want her to keep getting grumpy by not being able to leave.

After about half an hour we were already fighting with everyone against over 30 rats.

The levels of the first group had originally been between 3-5 for the plague rats, 7-9 for Dire rats, 11-13 for the bull rats and 8-10 for the rat men. Now both minimum and max for these rat races had gone up by 3 levels.

We were now being pushed back by the numbers. It was only thanks to the fact that we had lots of frontliners to keep the rats from reaching the mage and archers who sniped from behind.

We had forgotten a critical position and that was Healer and I was forced to the back so that I could spam the healing spell I learned. I have been doing this every time things got a bit pressed. My Light magic has leveled up to level 3 already and healing has already hit level 4 from all the healing.

I really thank god for the extra 10% off mana from the hive getting more dense. It seems it’s a 10% passive status on top of my base mana so i would always constantly be getting 10% more mana for every Int and Wis i add on.

Just as things were getting pressed with the pack of rats that were 6 plague rats 10 Dire rats, 4 bull rats, 4 ratman on their back and another 6 armored with weapons, Levi suddenly comes rushing out of the Hive right into the side of a bull rat that was near Gelot who takes this chance to smash its head getting a critical hit.

With the addition of one more fighter I finish healing the fighters and head back in. After 20 long minutes we finally killed the last one.

You have killed 6 plague rats 10 Dire rats, 4 bull rats, 4 ratman and 6 Ratman warriors

You have gained

780 exp

Plague rat fang x3

Plague rat tail x4

Plague rat claw x2

Dire rat Claw x7

Dire rat fang x3

Bull rat tail x1

Bull rat Fang x3

Rat man Claw x4

Rat bone dagger

Tail Bone spear

Seeing the reward I sigh as I drink a mana potion and start healing myself. Harm who was doing the same thing suddenly casts a kind of aura spell that makes the area glow yellow before vanishing then again a green glow goes out and I see my HP go up.

“What was that?” I asked.

“The first one is the spell [Status Healing Aura] to get rid of any disease anyone may have been poisoned with, the other is the spell [Healing Aura]. I can’t use it in combat which is a pain since it targets everything in the radius of the circle.” He says with a frown.

It made sense since it would heal the enemy as well.

I get up and separate the plague rats and drop them to be burned, which is going nicely as the pile grows and fuels the fire. The Flare flies are enjoying the flames and growing stronger.

The rest of the rats were dropped in the freezer to be distributed later on.

“Damn, my body feels sore.” Gelot says. And begins messing with his menu. Suddenly he sharply gets up and turns to the others.

“Fuck! It’s already time to leave! DAMN!” He said.

“Going to work?” I asked.

“Yeah, we need to leave to find a safe place to rest.” He said with a frown.

I look at Flor and she nods.

“Then i can provide that.” I say as a large portal opens behind me.

“Come and let me show you my hive.” I tell them while walking inside.

They looked strangely at me but followed.

I looked back inside and as soon as they walked in, their jaws dropped.

They looked mystified at the room that belonged to Levi.

She also came inside and remained flying with her chest puffed out.

“Drone!” I shout, making the bug maid appear.

“You called master.”

Her sudden appearance makes them all jump.

“Is there a way to prepare guest rooms for my friends.” I asked.

“Yes master…” She closes her eye and after a moment she opens them again.

“It is done, guest rooms have been made. Master’s prey has already been organized in the freezer and the Flare flies are currently feeding.” She says.

“Good thank you for the help.”

“OI!! What the hell is this place!?” Gelot said.

“It's kind of like a home for the bugs I get. This place is called the palace which is where Levi lives. It's a… dimension I think, it’s what the descriptions said, inside my body.” I said.

“So a world of your own, unlimited storage space beyond the Inventory, a home for hundreds of thousands of bugs making an army.” Avent mutters and I nod.

“”””“This is too much of a cheat class.”””” They all shout.

“Hey, my class is a bug breeder class. The normal bugs you see all originally have 0.1 as all their stats. I have to breed them into monsters to be able to use them. It's the hardest breeder class since you need to be careful about a few things when breeding them.” I say in my defense.

“Let’s leave the slandering of Droso’s completely broken class for after work guys.” Gelot says while getting his word in.

“Drone, guide them to the guest rooms.” I say.

“Yes master.” She says and gestures to follow out the door.

“So what now?” Flor asked.

“I guess i will look around a bit. I gained several habits i can visit.” I say.

“Oh yeah daddy. The herbs and vegetation daddy gathered has been integrated into all the terrains you have.” Levi says.

“Terrains?” I asked.

“Oh right daddy doesn’t know.” Levi says and closes her eyes a moment and a notification appears.

Hive Terrain

A Hive Terrain is a large expanse of land created by ‘the power’ for both Bugs of the hive and wild animals to live in. The Wilderness is the first Terrain that appears first and has the features of a mountainous tropical rainforest, forest and grassy plains with abundant water once the owner of ‘The Power’ returns life to the wilderness zones.

Other terrains will appear when the appropriate conditions are set such as the integration of Magic Crystals or gems.

Hive Habits

Hive habits are locations specially made for a single or several groups of bugs that are made specifically for them. Bugs living in habits are peaceful with each other even if they are from other races and will never hurt each other. Instead they would leave to hunt other beings for consumption.

So there is a difference. In other words, the Wilderness zone isn’t the only one I get. This is getting fun. I will need to travel a lot to gather animals to fill all these places up.