Lair

Chapter 043 - To Advance

By Skalsar

>I'm sorry daddy!

I really am!

From now on, I will listen, I swear!

Hugging her.. father.

Being resummoned into his body with a core, has left him irritated.

'Congratulations.

You are now part of our little hive.', Danar told him with a smile.

The knowledge that flooded Odas was overwhelming and left him spaced out for a moment.

On the other hand, we acquired information too.

Having him back with his [Soul] intact as a [Ghoul] has its good sides.

Let's sum some important information up..

The land we a live on is called [West Sifall], on the continent [Sifall Ignaria], which is named after an [Emporer] who lived a thousand years ago. After his death, the continent was devided into two kingdoms. [Ne'fra Lim Empire] in the south-east and [Magora Kingdom] in the north-west.

We are part of the [Magora Kingdom] and on the border to the empire. For now that is.

'I.. can't believe it.. All my live.. and now..', Odas stuttered with his mind.

'Am I but a puppet to you?', he asks.

We nod in unison.

I can feel his mind surrendering.

Not that he has much of a choice.

Being bound with his [Soul] to the hive, he is but a slave to our will.

>What a surprise.

Seems like your father is exhausted after this, but how lucky for him to survive.

She nods with clouded, teary eyes.

>I.. I see.

I'm sorry for clinging so much.

>He will need to rest some bit.

For now, you two may stay here.

We will make sure to take care of the village in the meantime.

She nods weakly.

Both will go into the [Lair] to rest.

Odas needs to adjust to his new existence.

>Master..'I hate you!

Nefarious creature!', the [Soul] that belongs to the voice is shouting.

>How may I serve you..

It would have been wasteful to just let that [Paladin] disappear, right?

Not that I have any use for him, or want to turn him into a real creature.

I simply trapped his [Soul] into the core of a [Formling].

He is but a shadow of his former glory, so to speak.

I didn't even connect him to the hive.

'How dare you humiliate me like that!', he shouts.

With his [Soul] bound to me, I will make him suffer in days to come, for looking down on the hive.

'I shall name you Squishi, because your weak little [Soul] is all squishi.', I tell Squishi.

'I will end you!', Squishi screams.

Danar took Squishis magic power instead.

And let me tell you.. that is a tremendous amount.

We could harvest a [Hero] for like half a year for that much.

Maybe a [Soul] isn't magic power on its own, but more like it is bound to this realm with the magic power of a being? Because seeing his weak little [Soul], you would never guess this amount.

On the other hand, if he hadn't taken us lightly..

If he had just one moment thought of us as a danger..

Stopping to play with us for his pleasure..

With one magic infused swing of his sword, he could have destroyed us.

The whole hive.

Without a sweat.

The earth is shaking.

'And there I thought, we would have to wait longer.', Danar says as he focusses the magic power into the three [Dungeon Hearts] and the hive.

From the ground, walls start to grow.

He is carrying over part of the hive into this realm.

This is one of the main reasons Danar was saving magic power and increasing our livestock.

Evolution and getting more creatures is important, as well as the new [Watchers], sure.

But what matters isn't our numbers or strength.

It is how we interact with the other races.

What Danar wants to do, is build a city and get rid of the possibility of simple destruction for being monsters to the other races.

Before this, through the captured livestock and Sora, we had the hive increase in size.

It already consisted of a hundred and twentysix layers.

Remember how fifty meant that we were a [Greater Dungeon]?

Seventyfive is called a [Massiv Dungeon], and it is a threat to the land according to Odas.

Adventurers would walk it with [Magic Orbs] to lower the magic power in it.

Well, a hundred was only seen once and called [Grave Dungeon].

It nearly destroyed the [Ne'fra Lim Empire] before being destroyed by [Paladins].

Imagine their faces if they knew.

But being even over that point, I guess we need a title for ourselves.

'All in favor?', Danar was asking and earned acceptance.

'Then I hereby declare the hive to be called a [Great Necropolis].'

We applauded, watching the great walls that now surrounded the tower.

Under its surface, a great maze has been created, which humans would call a labyrinth.

The maze as well as the tower are filled with inhabitants of the hive.

And because the whole area is part of the hive, we can freely travel between points with [Portals].

'You know.. I have been thinking.

With all that livestock of yours, I was wondering why you didn't get the villagers too.

Being afraid of attacks and all, needing more magic power.', Lysk suddenly stated.

Danar was grinning.

'But seeing how the [Paladin] attacked the village first and how you grew the [Great Necropolis] this large.. You are planning to get them settled here, right?', Lysk added.

If what Lysk was saying is right, it made sense.

I thought it wasteful to build such a large structure, even with all our inhabitants.

We could easily fit into the zone between the tower and the inner wall.

'That's right. I'm planning to create a city with many races, to give us magic power and political influence. And we will start with absorbing [Mafay Village].', he said.

And that was a good thought.

The village was still in a panic.

Being attacked like that wasn't new to the hive, but humans can't control their fear that easily.

Houses burning, they panic and break down.

Some tried to stop the fire from spreading and succeeded, but the damage done is large.

Being creatures on the other hand, we simply regrow what was lost.

Collect magic power were we can and try to learn from the experience.

As soon as Odas has adapted, we will send him to gather the first villagers to resettle.