«Don't you want to find out where they lead?» Sensei casually offered. It seemed he was more than willing to take the risk, so perhaps there wasn't much danger ahead.

"Probably..."

Before I could finish, I heard the 'ding' of the system and a screen flashed in front of me showing an alert that made me annoyed the more I read.

[Emergency Quests Issued!]

This asshole.

[Novice Level Quest - Explore Till Tunnel End. Reward [150XP]

Status: [0/15]]

[Novice Level Quest - Defeat a Hesperia. Reward [90XP]

Status: [0/3]]

[Adept Level Quest - Find the Queen's Chambers. Reward [100XP]]

Did this guy just...

"Do you have a death wish for me, Sensei?" I asked with gritted teeth. I wasn't able to beat a single one of those wasps and he was asking for three! Does he like seeing me get beaten up? Was he a sadist?

Find the Queen? What for? Do I look insane enough to go seek death?

This evil maniacal bastard!

I cursed Sensei a thousand times in my thoughts. Just what was he thinking?

I thought about my other two quests that were still ongoing and sighed. Wasn't it getting a little too crowded?

Sensei simply chuckled. «It's not what you're thinking. These quests are purely there for your benefit. It is up to you to decide if you want to complete them or not. There will be no penalty for you if you don't. Think of it as an additional means to earn rewards.»

I was suspicious but now that I knew these quests were optional I kept glancing at them and all the EXP points I could collect were extremely tempting. However, if they had a time limit they wouldn't be worth undertaking. I was still pressed for time on my other main quests, and despite all the rewards, keeping my life was my only concern.

"Do they expire?" I asked tentatively.

«They will be available until you either complete or abandon them.» Was Sensei's unexpectedly pleasant reply. «They are arranged in order from the easiest to the hardest for this reason.»

The tunnel quest in particular was simple compared to the other two, yet it had the highest EXP reward. The only thing was, I could only attempt the five tunnels that were open.

The debris blocking the others were unnaturally placed. Unlike a cave-in because of old age, the tunnels showed signs of damage like their walls had been deliberately destroyed to obstruct their passages.

I couldn't help thinking where the tunnels would lead for such actions to be taken. Was the quest really as straightforward as it seemed?

The blocked tunnels were filled with sandy debris and parts of solid wall. With enough force, these things could be pushed back, but for something as small as me there was no need. There were still gaps I could use to fit my way through.

«Exploring the tunnels is entirely your choice, there are two more options if you're unhappy.» Sensei's voice was light and easy but that only made me more suspicious.

The chances of heavy things falling down on me or getting trapped inside made it risky to force my way through. If there happened to be a dead end, or a wasp approaching on the other side I would be stuck with nowhere to retreat.

It was a simple quest but it still contained an unknown level of risk, perhaps that was why the points were so high!

As for the second quest, killing a Hesperia was out of the question. I couldn't begin to attack a hunter wasp or a builder wasp when the difference in our strength was that high.

That only left the smaller worker wasps as an option. To target one, I would have to wait until it was alone, but those wasps moved around in groups and they were only seen near the egg chambers.

To avoid discovery it was better not to attack them unless it was absolutely necessary.

That left me with the last quest.

It was a little ambiguous because it said nothing about finding the Queen herself, just her chambers. So, if I proceeded carefully enough I'd likely have no need to engage the Queen at all.

And if one of these tunnels could lead me to her chambers, that'd be even better. I could essentially complete two quests at once!

I finally made a decision and entered one of the open tunnels. I would find the Queen's chambers and search for an exit along the way.

Slithering along the tunnel I scanned ahead with [Heat Sense] for any occupants, but aside from the dust and fallen debris, there was nothing. It kept a constant width all through, aside from places where the floor or ceiling had collapsed but there were no major obstructions and I came to a stop when I was met with a dead end.

A wall blocked the tunnel's path, sealing off its exit. It was made of the same grey substance as the tunnels, only it was new and clean compared to the old tunnel walls.

I found this unusual so I scanned over the wall with [Heat sense] but I was unable to detect anything beyond it, so I retreated back to the central room to try another tunnel.

I repeated this for the four other open tunnels but was met with the same result. It looked like they had been built over following an extension of the hive and were no longer in use. The new wall was proof.

It seemed these tunnels had genuinely been abandoned, so I took the risk of entering one of the rubble filled ones. I travelled carefully through the slim gaps between the rubble to see what I would discover, making sure nothing got shaken loose in the process until I reached another dead end.

Once again the tunnel was blocked off but this time the new wall was thinner. I could not see past the debris but with [Heat Sense] I picked up warm outlines just past the tunnels end.

Beyond the wall, there was a wide open area where the outlines of various wasps soared through the air like a swarm. When one of those wasps flew very close to the tunnels seal, I immediately retreated back into the rubble.

The wasp's outline continued past in a quick blur without taking notice and occasionally more would fly past.

The wall it seemed, was now part of a different room after getting sealed shut. If I was to break through, I would enter a completely different part of the hive but rather than a quiet chamber it was somewhere many wasps gathered.

Deeming it too unsafe to enter, I returned to the central room to try another tunnel.

This time I was led to a sealed wall overlooking a host cavern. The end of the tunnel overlooked the host chamber from above and I could see many hexagonal cells filled with Hosts below. There were no wasps in sight, however the wall covering the tunnel's end made it impossible to enter so I returned to try the other tunnels.

Back in the central room I began entering the rubble filled tunnels one by one. One tunnel led to an egg chamber where I encountered more worker wasps. It was highly likely Sensei hoped these tunnel exploits would lead me towards places where I would meet more wasps to attack.

But counting the heat traces, there were ten worker wasps in this cavern alone, attacking them all by myself would be suicide, so I returned to the hive core to try another tunnel.

This time, however, I was led to a dead end, placed high over a dangerous drop that was filled with many wasps below. This tunnel end wasn't sealed like the others so if I wasn't moving carefully, I would have fallen right through.

Excluding the dangerous wasps below, the drop was so high that if I fell I would be so gravely injured I wouldn't put up much of a fight. Perhaps rather than forcing me to fight the wasps, Sensei was actually trying to kill me!

I slithered back to the central room in a dark mood to try another tunnel, and this time I was led to a sealed end overlooking a cavern filled entirely with heat traces numbering up to twenty.

All the forms gathered were split into groups of five and as I watched, more outlines began to file into the cavern, swelling until their numbers increased up to forty.

From the speed at which they moved, these outlines could only be hunting wasps. With so many in one place, their numbers were formidable, and at this point I was convinced Sensei had bad intentions.

What was I supposed to do here?

No, what could I do here? Other than to die.

I quickly retreated into the tunnel when one of the inquisitive wasps flew close to the tunnel's seal.

If I came out, my snakeskin would definitely be shredded within seconds. By this time, I'd explored 10 of the 15 available tunnels and there was still no sign of the Queen's chambers or an exit, but one thing was clear.

The hive's core was indeed linked to everywhere and was a convenient means of getting from one end of the hive to another and I was lucky to have discovered it.

I checked the system window.

[Novice Level Quest - Explore Till Tunnel End. Reward [150XP] Status: [10/15]].

And I was close to completing the quest and getting full points!