The disappearing figure of the bulky wasps gave me a bad feeling. If they disposed of the dead creatures and kept the living as hosts for their larvae, what happened to the ones that were too injured to be useful?

Food - the answer seemed to be obvious.

They were most likely being used as food.

Injured creatures would be much better, compared to dead ones that would not keep for long.

I shivered, those bulky wasps were just carrying them off to their deaths!

The wasps flying through the openings slowly reduced the longer I watched, but no bulky wasp or their injured cargo ever resurfaced. With the hunting wasps depositing the last of their cargo, the steady stream petered out to a stop, until there were no new wasps emerging from below the chamber.

I spent time observing them, but all that was left was the activity of the wasps who navigated the egg chambers. Most of it was empty but as the wasps inside continued to separate the clustered eggs from their viscous coating, the empty placeholders that covered the walls and floor were gradually refilled.

But like a never ending routine, more wasps appeared to remove the refilled eggs, transporting them back up the sloped corridor to the host tunnels, depleting the egg room once more.

And with the bustling wasps gone, the corridor fell back into silence again.

I scanned around for any passing wasps with [Heat Sense], and when the path was clear, I scaled down the corridor wall.

There was only one worker wasp left behind to tend to the eggs and it was one of the weak looking ones. My confidence increased enough to slip out of my hiding spot into the egg room, but the wasp was not my target.

I located one of the remaining egg clusters and entered it to refill my HP. I couldn't eat the eggs in the host chambers but these ones were just right. They were nowhere close to hatching and they were so many of them in a single cluster no one would realise if a few went missing.

I had eaten about three eggs when the remaining wasp worker started moving around suspiciously.

It flew over to an egg cluster in a hidden corner at the far end of the chamber and slowly pushed it aside. As the cluster moved out of the way, it revealed a hole underneath where the wasp retrieved a small clutch of eggs and quickly separated the eggs from their protective membrane.

I watched it working and sighed helplessly. The traitor finally revealed itself! I knew it couldn't stay hidden for long.

The hole must lead to a tunnel where the eggs were fed through to reach here. Like little smugglers, the wasps must be working hard behind the scenes.

What a brilliantly sneaky scheme!

I wondered if the hole would lead somewhere to the lower hive if I entered it, but I quickly crossed off that idea. It likely fed directly to the quarters of the weaker queen and I definitely could not enter there.

The wasp refilled the shelves with the new eggs and quickly exited the chamber, leaving me completely alone.

With it gone I could eat more eggs without a care for how much noise I was making and I stuffed my face, watching my Health and Stamina points increase!

But I couldn't stand to eat more.

Why?

Because these eggs weren't tasty at all! These were nasty and nothing like the eggs I was expecting.

Bleh! So Bitter! I had to force myself to continue eating.

〚Devour has reached maximum satiation for specimen『Novus Hesperia』Evolution tree of 『Ailith Vespoidea』has been unlocked.〛

〚Would you like to acquire attribute『Mind Chain』(Accept | Reject)〛

The system alert came so suddenly that I nearly choked.

Hold on. Mind Chain?

Wasn't that the thing that made the wasps control others?

I was surprised, I hadn't expected to gain any ability from just eating eggs alone since they couldn't even class as a species yet. Should I really accept it?

Did I really want to become such a loathsome parasite?

The answer was no, but I was really curious as to what sort of form it would take. Would it be just like the larvae or like [Obsidian Horn], that had evolved into something more suited to a snake?

«Why are you hesitating?» Sensei prodded. «It can become a powerful ability if you train it well.»

I hit [Accept], and immediately felt a burning sensation, like the skin on my body was being peeled back and reshaped by hot coals. My scales felt extremely hot and I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to twist about in pain. The eggs felt especially cool over my skin, so I rubbed myself against them to try and ease the pain.

Gradually, the burning sensation faded and once I recovered, I looked over my body to see that not much had changed. My scales were still the same marbled black and white pattern.

I was partly disappointed but a little glad as well.

It was silly of me to think my body would actually change into that of a larvae. I wouldn't know what to do if that happened! Save for never looking at my reflection again - as if becoming a snake wasn't already bad enough.

I checked my status window.

______________

Name: Aurelia LV7 [Neonate Snake] |Poisoned|

Specie: Cerastes Vipera

HP: 75/75 Defence: 66

MP: 49/49 Intellect: 64

SP: 70/70 Magic: 27

Attack: 76 Agility: 68

Skills:

[Poison Fang: LV3] [Bite: LV4]

[Venom Rain: LV1] [Grip: LV3]

[Scent: LV2] [Heat Sense: LV4]

[Silence: LV4] [Rapid Strike: LV1]

[Stealth: LV3] [Appraisal: LV2]

[Buoyancy: LV1] [Steel Skin: LV3]

[Leap: LV2] [Rugged Scales: LV3]

Title:

[Apostle] [Coldblooded]

[Commander] [Hero]

Unique Skill:

[Devour]

Attributes:

[Obsidian Horn] [Mind Chain]

Resistances:

[Impact Resistance: LV4]

[Pain Resistance: LV4]

[Wind Resistance: LV1]

[Shock Resistance: LV2]

[Faint Resistance: LV1]

[Paralysis Resistance: LV1]

Experience Points: [234]

______________

It was too late now to regret the skill, I might as well practice using it.

I activated [Mind Chain] and felt a tingling sensation over my skin. I expected to feel a headache or some sort of mental strain, but I felt nothing which was odd. Wondering whether it was because there was no creature in range of me, I started to leave the egg cluster when I realised my scales had become wet.

I looked down at the slimy film of ichor that covered my body and I almost gagged with revulsion. What sort of attribute is this? I want a redo.

It was exactly like a larvae!

If the fluid I secreted was something like a cocktail of chemicals to numb a host to compliance, did I always have to be inside a body for it to work?

The heck was I supposed to do with that?

What creature would casually let me enter it without resisting? It didn't even come with paralysis to assist me! What a trash skill!

Sensing my discontent, Sensei laughed. «You can't undo it once you've accepted it.»

"This has to be one of the most useless abilities I've ever seen." I grumbled.

«I disagree. It can become your safety net depending on how you use it.»

"And let myself live inside another creature? I knew you had poor taste, but this is too much."

«Suit yourself, you can choose not to use it if it bothers you so much. But keep an open mind.»

I wanted to wring his neck.

Keep an open mind? I had to essentially become a worm. I was more pissed off than anything.

I'd avoided eating the lizard to prevent myself getting any slimy sort of ability yet I ended up getting one anyway. I might as well just eat the lizard now.

I slipped out of the egg cluster, trying to shake off the wetness coating my body by rubbing against the ground, but to no avail. Wherever I slithered, I left behind a slimy trail without meaning to.

Ugh. It even felt so dirty to use.

With the egg chamber empty and my HP refilled, I exited the chamber. Before long my body dried but it took a lot of brushing against surfaces to achieve. I definitely wasn't using that again.

I already knew where the dead creatures were taken to, and that the living ones became hosts. All that was left was to follow the path the bulky wasp took to find out where the injured ones were held, and hopefully find an exit.

I followed the opening to the lower level, mapping out a safe route using [Heat Sense] to detect any wasps in the passage. So far the corridor was empty but I used the curved walls to my advantage, scaling up them whenever I detected any movements.

I was perched on the wall overlooking the corridor, when I spotted another one of those bulky wasps. It was carrying a heap of injured bodies and its tall height combined with the stacked bodies, made it look like a moving mountain.

The staggered weight of the bodies also made its walk quite slow so I craftily followed it from above, making sure to keep a good distance. It was soon joined by other wasps of the same kind carrying similar, but smaller loads. Since they all couldn't fly and neither of them bothered to look up, my position remained safe.

They all headed in the same direction except the wasp carrying the heaviest load. It veered away from the rest, in the opposite direction, which I found odd.

Its actions were weird so I paid more attention to it, choosing to pursue this wasp instead of the majority that followed a single path.

To diverge away from the others, it had to be up to something.